Exhibit 2.1
EXECUTION VERSION
BUSINESS COMBINATION AGREEMENT
by and among
SILICON VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP.,
SVAQ MERGER SUB INC.,
and
EIGENQ, INC.
dated as of June 17, 2026
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page | ||
| ARTICLE I CERTAIN DEFINITIONS | 3 | |
| Section 1.1 | Definitions | 3 |
| ARTICLE II MERGER | 19 | |
| Section 2.1 | Closing Transactions | 19 |
| Section 2.2 | Closing of the Transactions Contemplated by this Agreement | 21 |
| Section 2.3 | Allocation Schedule | 21 |
| Section 2.4 | Treatment of Company SARs and Company Warrants | 21 |
| Section 2.5 | Treatment of SVAQ Securities | 22 |
| Section 2.6 | Transfer Agent Matters | 22 |
| Section 2.7 | Company Dissenting Shares | 23 |
| Section 2.8 | Withholding | 23 |
| ARTICLE III REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE GROUP COMPANIES | 24 | |
| Section 3.1 | Organization and Qualification | 24 |
| Section 3.2 | Capitalization of the Group Companies | 24 |
| Section 3.3 | Authority | 25 |
| Section 3.4 | Financial Statements; Undisclosed Liabilities | 26 |
| Section 3.5 | Consents and Requisite Governmental Approvals; No Violations | 27 |
| Section 3.6 | Permits | 27 |
| Section 3.7 | Material Contracts | 27 |
| Section 3.8 | Absence of Changes | 29 |
| Section 3.9 | Litigation | 29 |
| Section 3.10 | Compliance with Applicable Law | 30 |
| Section 3.11 | Employee Plans | 30 |
| Section 3.12 | Environmental Matters | 32 |
| Section 3.13 | Intellectual Property | 33 |
| Section 3.14 | Labor Matters | 36 |
| Section 3.15 | Insurance | 37 |
| Section 3.16 | Tax Matters | 38 |
| Section 3.17 | Brokers | 39 |
| Section 3.18 | Real and Personal Property | 40 |
| Section 3.19 | Transactions with Affiliates | 40 |
| Section 3.20 | Data Privacy and Security | 41 |
| Section 3.21 | Compliance with International Trade & Anti-Corruption Laws | 42 |
| Section 3.22 | Information Supplied | 43 |
| Section 3.23 | Investigation; No Other Representations | 43 |
| Section 3.24 | EXCLUSIVITY OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES | 43 |
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| ARTICLE IV REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE SVAQ PARTIES | 44 | |
| Section 4.1 | Organization and Qualification | 44 |
| Section 4.2 | Authority | 44 |
| Section 4.3 | Consents and Requisite Governmental Approvals; No Violations | 44 |
| Section 4.4 | Brokers | 45 |
| Section 4.5 | Information Supplied | 45 |
| Section 4.6 | Capitalization of the SVAQ Parties | 45 |
| Section 4.7 | SEC Filings | 46 |
| Section 4.8 | Trust Account | 47 |
| Section 4.9 | Transactions with Affiliates | 47 |
| Section 4.10 | Litigation | 47 |
| Section 4.11 | Compliance with Applicable Law | 47 |
| Section 4.12 | Business Activities | 48 |
| Section 4.13 | Internal Controls; Listing; Financial Statements | 48 |
| Section 4.14 | No Undisclosed Liabilities | 49 |
| Section 4.15 | Tax Matters | 49 |
| Section 4.16 | Investigation; No Other Representations | 50 |
| Section 4.17 | Compliance with International Trade & Anti-Corruption Laws | 51 |
| Section 4.18 | Employees and Employee Benefit Plans | 51 |
| Section 4.19 | EXCLUSIVITY OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES | 52 |
| ARTICLE V COVENANTS | 52 | |
| Section 5.1 | Conduct of Business of the Company | 52 |
| Section 5.2 | Efforts to Consummate; Litigation | 55 |
| Section 5.3 | Confidentiality and Access to Information | 56 |
| Section 5.4 | Public Announcements | 58 |
| Section 5.5 | Tax Matters | 59 |
| Section 5.6 | Exclusive Dealing; Change in Recommendation | 60 |
| Section 5.7 | SVAQ Shareholder Approval | 61 |
| Section 5.8 | Merger Sub Shareholder Approval | 61 |
| Section 5.9 | Conduct of Business of SVAQ | 62 |
| Section 5.10 | Stock Exchange Listing | 63 |
| Section 5.11 | Trust Account | 63 |
| Section 5.12 | Company Stockholder Approval | 63 |
| Section 5.13 | SVAQ Indemnification; Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance | 64 |
| Section 5.14 | Company Indemnification; Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance | 65 |
| Section 5.15 | Post-Closing Directors and Officers | 66 |
| Section 5.16 | PCAOB Financials | 67 |
| Section 5.17 | Equity Incentive Plan | 68 |
| Section 5.18 | FIRPTA Certificates | 68 |
| Section 5.19 | Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement | 68 |
| Section 5.20 | Financing Cooperation | 68 |
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| ARTICLE VI CONDITIONS TO CONSUMMATION OF THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED BY THIS AGREEMENT | 68 | |
| Section 6.1 | Conditions to the Obligations of the Parties | 68 |
| Section 6.2 | Other Conditions to the Obligations of the SVAQ Parties | 69 |
| Section 6.3 | Other Conditions to the Obligations of the Company | 70 |
| Section 6.4 | Frustration of Closing Conditions | 71 |
| ARTICLE VII TERMINATION | 71 | |
| Section 7.1 | Termination | 71 |
| Section 7.2 | Effect of Termination | 72 |
| ARTICLE VIII MISCELLANEOUS | 73 | |
| Section 8.1 | Non-Survival | 73 |
| Section 8.2 | Entire Agreement; Assignment | 73 |
| Section 8.3 | Amendment | 73 |
| Section 8.4 | Notices | 73 |
| Section 8.5 | Governing Law | 74 |
| Section 8.6 | Fees and Expenses | 74 |
| Section 8.7 | Construction; Interpretation | 75 |
| Section 8.8 | Exhibits and Schedules | 75 |
| Section 8.9 | Parties in Interest | 76 |
| Section 8.10 | Severability | 76 |
| Section 8.11 | Counterparts; Electronic Signatures | 76 |
| Section 8.12 | Knowledge of Company; Knowledge of SVAQ | 76 |
| Section 8.13 | No Recourse | 77 |
| Section 8.14 | Extension; Waiver | 77 |
| Section 8.15 | Waiver of Jury Trial | 77 |
| Section 8.16 | Submission to Jurisdiction | 78 |
| Section 8.17 | Remedies | 78 |
| Section 8.18 | Trust Account Waiver | 79 |
| Section 8.19 | Legal Representation; Privilege | 79 |
| ANNEXES AND EXHIBITS | ||
| Annex A | Key Supporting Company Stockholders | |
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BUSINESS COMBINATION AGREEMENT
This BUSINESS COMBINATION AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of June 17, 2026, is made by and among Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“SVAQ”), SVAQ Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Merger Sub”), and EigenQ, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”). SVAQ, Merger Sub and the Company shall be referred to herein from time to time collectively as the “Parties”. Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein have the meanings set forth in Section 1.1.
WHEREAS, (a) SVAQ is a blank check company incorporated (i) as a Cayman Islands exempted company on July 21, 2025, and (ii) for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, and (b) Merger Sub is, as of the date of this Agreement, a wholly-owned Subsidiary of SVAQ that was formed for purposes of consummating the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Governing Documents of SVAQ, SVAQ is required to provide an opportunity for its shareholders to have their outstanding SVAQ Class A Shares redeemed on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein in connection with obtaining the SVAQ Shareholder Approval;
WHEREAS, concurrently with the execution of this Agreement, the Sponsor and the Company are entering into the sponsor support agreement (the “Sponsor Support Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, the Sponsor shall agree to (a) vote in favor of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby (including the Merger), (b) waive any adjustment to the conversion ratio set forth in the Governing Documents of SVAQ, any other anti-dilution or similar protections with respect to the SVAQ Class B Shares and any redemption rights and (c) agree to (i) use up to 2,165,950 SVAQ Class B Shares to incentivize the Transaction Financing as set forth therein and (ii) subject fifty percent (50%) of any such SVAQ Class B Shares not used to incentivize the Transaction Financing to forfeiture upon the Closing;
WHEREAS, at least one day prior to the Closing Date, prior to the time at which the Effective Time occurs, SVAQ shall transfer by way of continuation from the Cayman Islands to Delaware and domesticate as a Delaware corporation in accordance with Section 388 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) and Part Twelve of the Cayman Islands Companies Act (2025 Revision) (the “Domestication”), on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement;
WHEREAS, on the Closing Date, following the Domestication, (a) Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company (the “Merger”), with the Company as the surviving company in the Merger and, after giving effect to the Merger, the Company will be a wholly-owned Subsidiary of SVAQ and (b) each Company Share will be automatically converted as of the Effective Time into the right to receive a portion of the Transaction Share Consideration, in each case, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement;
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WHEREAS, at the Closing, SVAQ, certain SVAQ Shareholders, the Company and certain Company Stockholders will enter into a Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement, in a form mutually agreed upon by SVAQ and the Company (the “Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, such SVAQ Shareholders and Company Stockholders party thereto will (a) be granted certain registration rights with respect to their respective SVAQ Shares, and (b) for the designated period specified therein, shall not transfer their Company Shares, in each case, subject to the terms and upon the conditions set forth in the Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement;
WHEREAS, the SVAQ Board has (a) approved this Agreement, such other Ancillary Documents to which SVAQ is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Domestication and the Merger) and (b) recommended, among other things, approval of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including the Domestication and the Merger) by the holders of SVAQ Shares entitled to vote thereon (the “SVAQ Board Recommendation”);
WHEREAS, the board of directors of Merger Sub has approved this Agreement, such other Ancillary Documents to which Merger Sub is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger);
WHEREAS, SVAQ, as the sole stockholder of Merger Sub will, as promptly as reasonably practicable (and in any event within one (1) Business Day) following the date of this Agreement, approve this Agreement, such other Ancillary Documents to which Merger Sub is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger);
WHEREAS, the board of directors of the Company (the “Company Board”) has (a) approved this Agreement, such other Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger) and (b) recommended, among other things, the approval of this Agreement, such other Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger) by the holders of Company Shares entitled to vote thereon;
WHEREAS, each Company Stockholder listed on Annex A attached hereto (collectively, the “Key Supporting Company Stockholders”) will duly execute and deliver to SVAQ a stockholder support agreement (collectively, the “Stockholder Support Agreements”), pursuant to which, among other things, each such Key Supporting Company Stockholder will agree to, among other things, (a) support and vote (or provide a written consent) in favor of this Agreement, such other Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger), and (b) take, or cause to be taken, any actions necessary or advisable to cause certain agreements to be terminated effective as of the Closing; and
WHEREAS, each of the Parties intends for U.S. federal income tax purposes that (a) this Agreement constitute a “plan of reorganization” within the meaning of Section 368 of the Code and Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder, (b) the Domestication be treated as a “reorganization” within the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(F) of the Code and (c) the Merger be treated as (i) a transaction that qualifies as a “reorganization” within the meaning of Section 368 of the Code and/or (ii), taken together with the Transaction Financing, an integrated transaction qualifying under Section 351(a) of the Code (clauses (a)-(c), the “Intended Tax Treatment”).
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NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual promises set forth herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Parties, each intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:
Article I
CERTAIN DEFINITIONS
Section 1.1 Definitions. As used in this Agreement, the following terms have the respective meanings set forth below.
“Affiliate” means, with respect to any Person, any other Person who directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such Person. The term “control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise, and the terms “controlled” and “controlling” have meanings correlative thereto.
“Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph to this Agreement.
“AI Tools” means artificial intelligence or machine learning tools, applications Software or other artificial intelligence-enabled items of Company IT Systems.
“AI Training Inputs” means any and all data, content or materials of any nature (including text, numbers, images, photos, graphics, video, audio or computer code, or any synthetic derivations thereof) used to train, validate, test, improve or deploy any AI Tools.
“Allocation Schedule” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.3.
“Ancillary Documents” means the (a) Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement, (b) Sponsor Support Agreement, (c) Financing Agreements, (d) Stockholder Support Agreements, and (e) each other agreement, document, instrument and/or certificate contemplated by this Agreement executed or to be executed in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby.
“Anti-Corruption Laws” means, collectively, (a) the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (FCPA), (b) the UK Bribery Act 2010 and (c) any other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption Laws related to combatting bribery, corruption and money laundering.
“Antitrust Laws” means any Laws that are designed to prohibit, restrict or regulate actions having the purpose or effect of monopolization or restraint of trade.
“Business” means the business of, directly or indirectly, developing and commercializing quantum-enhanced cybersecurity, quantum communication networks (including quantum internet architectures), and quantum computing systems.
“Business Day” means a day, other than a Saturday or Sunday, on which commercial banks in (i) the Cayman Islands and (ii) New York, New York are open for the general transaction of business.
“Certificate of Merger” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1(b)(ii).
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“Certificates” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1(b)(vii).
“Change of Control Payment” means (a) any success, change of control, retention, transaction bonus or other similar payment or amount to any Person as a result of this Agreement, any Ancillary Document or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby or (b) any payments made or required to be made pursuant to or in connection with or upon termination of, and any fees, expenses or other payments owing or that will become owing in respect of, any Company Related Party Transaction (in the case of this clause (b), regardless of whether paid or payable prior to, at or after the Closing or in connection with or otherwise related to this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or one or more circumstances, matters, transactions or events unrelated to this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents). Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, Change of Control Payments shall not include (i) any payments made in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and not accelerated, increased or enhanced as a result of the transactions contemplated hereby, (ii) any payments required under existing Contracts entered into prior to the date of this Agreement in the ordinary course of business and not in contemplation of the transactions contemplated hereby, and (iii) any severance payments made pursuant to existing severance policies or agreements in effect prior to the date of this Agreement that are triggered solely by termination of employment without cause or resignation for good reason (and not solely by the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby).
“Closing” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.2.
“Closing Company Audited Financial Statements” means the audited consolidated balance sheet of the Group Companies as of December 31, 2025 and the related audited consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss and stockholders’ deficit and cash flows of the Group Companies for the period ended December 31, 2025.
“Closing Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.2.
“Closing Filing” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.4(b).
“Closing Press Release” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.4(b).
“COBRA” means Part 6 of Subtitle B of Title I of ERISA, Section 4980B of the Code and any similar state Law.
“Code” means the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
“Company” has the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph to this Agreement.
“Company Acquisition Proposal” means any transaction or series of related transactions under which any Person(s), directly or indirectly, (i) acquires or otherwise purchases the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or a majority of the voting power of Equity Securities of the Company, or (ii) acquires, is granted, leased or licensed or otherwise purchases all or substantially all of assets, properties or businesses of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole (in the case of each of clause (i) and (ii), whether by merger, consolidation, liquidation, dissolution, recapitalization, reorganization, amalgamation, scheme of arrangement, purchase of assets, share exchange, business combination, purchase or issuance of Equity Securities, tender offer or otherwise), or (b) any issuance, sale or acquisition of any portion of the Equity Securities or voting power or similar investment in the Company or any of its Subsidiaries (other than the issuance of the applicable class of shares of capital stock of the Company in connection with the exercise or conversion of Company SARs or Company Warrants as expressly contemplated by this Agreement). Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, none of this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby (including any Company Pre-Closing Financing or Transaction Financing) shall constitute a Company Acquisition Proposal.
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“Company Board” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Company Board Recommendation” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.12.
“Company Certificate of Incorporation” means the Certificate of Incorporation of the Company, dated as of February 13, 2025, as amended.
“Company D&O Persons” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.14(a).
“Company D&O Tail Policy” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.14(c).
“Company Disclosure Schedules” means the disclosure schedules to this Agreement delivered to SVAQ by the Company on the date of this Agreement.
“Company Dissenting Shares” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.7.
“Company Dissenting Stockholders” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.7.
“Company Equity Award” means, as of any determination time, each outstanding award to any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service provider of any Group Company of rights of any kind to receive any Equity Security of any Group Company under any Company Equity Plan or otherwise including, without limitation, each Company SAR.
“Company Equity Plan” means, collectively, (a) the EigenQ Inc. Amended and Restated SAR Framework and (b) each other plan or program that provides for an award to any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service provider of any Group Company of rights of any kind to receive Equity Securities of any Group Company or benefits measured in whole or in part by reference to Equity Securities of any Group Company.
“Company Fundamental Representations” means the representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.1(a) and Section 3.1(b) (Organization and Qualification), Section 3.2(a) and Section 3.2(f) (Capitalization of the Group Companies), Section 3.3 (Authority) and Section 3.17 (Brokers).
“Company Intellectual Property” means collectively, Company Owned Intellectual Property and Company Licensed Intellectual Property.
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“Company IT Systems” means all computer systems, computer software and hardware, communication systems, servers, network equipment and related documentation, in each case, owned, licensed or leased by a Group Company.
“Company Licensed Intellectual Property” means Intellectual Property Rights owned by any Person (other than a Group Company) that is licensed to any Group Company.
“Company Material Adverse Effect” means any change, event, effect or occurrence that, individually or in the aggregate with any other change, event, effect or occurrence, has had or would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on (a) the business, results of operations or financial condition of the Group Companies, taken as a whole, or (b) the ability of the Company to consummate the Merger in accordance with the terms of this Agreement; provided, however, that, in the case of clause (a), none of the following shall be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur: any adverse change, event, effect or occurrence arising after the date of this Agreement from or related to (i) general business or economic conditions in or affecting the United States, or changes therein, or the global economy generally, (ii) any national or international political or social conditions in the United States or any other country, including the engagement by the United States or any other country in hostilities, whether or not pursuant to the declaration of a national emergency or war, or the occurrence in any place of any military or terrorist attack, sabotage or cyberterrorism, (iii) changes in conditions of the financial, banking, capital or securities markets generally in the United States or any other country or region in the world, or changes therein, including changes in interest rates in the United States or any other country and changes in exchange rates for the currencies of any countries, (iv) changes in any applicable Laws or the interpretation or enforcement thereof by any Governmental Entity, (v) any change, event, effect or occurrence that is generally applicable to the industries or markets in which any Group Company operates, (vi) the execution or public announcement of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including the impact thereof on the relationships, contractual or otherwise, of any Group Company with employees, customers, investors, contractors, lenders, suppliers, vendors, partners, licensors, licensees, payors or other third parties related thereto (provided that the exception in this clause (vi) shall not apply to the representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.5(b) to the extent that its purpose is to address the consequences resulting from the public announcement or pendency or consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the condition set forth in Section 6.2(a) to the extent it relates to such representations and warranties), (vii) any failure by any Group Company to meet, or changes to, any internal or published budgets, projections, forecasts, estimates or predictions (although the underlying facts and circumstances resulting in such failure may be taken into account to the extent not otherwise excluded from this definition pursuant to clauses (i) through (vi) or (viii) through (x)), or (viii) any hurricane, tornado, flood, earthquake, tsunami, natural disaster, mudslides, wild fires, epidemics, pandemics or quarantines, acts of God or other natural disasters or comparable events in the United States or any other country or region in the world, or any escalation of the foregoing, (ix) any actions taken or omitted to be taken by any Group Companies at the written request or with the written consent of SVAQ, (x) any changes in GAAP or other applicable accounting standards or the interpretation thereof, (xi) any loss of employees, customers, suppliers, distributors, licensors, licensees or other business partners to the extent resulting from the public announcement or pendency of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, or (xii) any litigation arising from or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby; provided, however, that any change, event, effect or occurrence resulting from a matter described in any of the foregoing clauses (i) through (v) or (viii) through (x) may be taken into account in determining whether a Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur to the extent such change, event, effect or occurrence has had or would reasonably be expected to have a disproportionate adverse effect on the Group Companies, taken as a whole, relative to other participants operating in the industries or markets in which the Group Companies operate.
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“Company Non-Party Affiliates” means, collectively, each Company Related Party and each former, current or future Affiliates, Representatives, successors or permitted assigns of any Company Related Party (other than, for the avoidance of doubt, the Company).
“Company Owned Intellectual Property” means all Intellectual Property Rights owned or purported to be owned by a Group Company.
“Company Pre-Closing Financing” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.20(a).
“Company Product” means any products or services, developed, owned, performed, offered, marketed, out-licensed, sold, distributed or other otherwise made available by or on behalf of any Group Company, (a) from which any Group Company has derived in the three (3) years prior to the date of this Agreement, is currently deriving, or is scheduled to derive, revenue from the sale, license or provision thereof, including products or services under development, or (b) for which any Group Company has an ongoing obligation to provide warranties, or other support or maintenance services.
“Company Registered Intellectual Property” means all Registered Intellectual Property owned or purported to be owned by, or filed in the name of any Group Company.
“Company Related Party” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.19.
“Company Related Party Transactions” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.19.
“Company SAR” means, as of any determination time, each stock appreciation right that is exercisable for Company Shares that is outstanding and unexercised, whether granted under a Company Equity Plan or otherwise.
“Company Shares” means shares of common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, of the Company designated as “Common Stock” pursuant to the Company Certificate of Incorporation.
“Company Stockholder” means the holders of Company Shares as of any determination time prior to the Effective Time. For the avoidance of doubt, the holders of Company Warrants will become Company Stockholders immediately prior to the Closing to the extent such Company Warrants are exercised or converted prior to the Effective Time.
“Company Stockholder Written Consent” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.12.
“Company Stockholder Written Consent Deadline” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.12.
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“Company Warrants” means, as of any determination time, each warrant to purchase any capital stock of the Company that is outstanding and unexercised.
“Confidentiality Agreement” means that certain Confidentiality Agreement, dated as of January 27, 2026, by and between the Company and SVAQ.
“Consent” means any notice, authorization, qualification, registration, filing, notification, waiver, order, consent or approval to be obtained from, filed with or delivered to, a Governmental Entity or other Person.
“Contract” or “Contracts” means any written agreement, contract, license, lease, obligation, undertaking or other commitment or arrangement that is legally binding upon a Person or any of his, her or its properties or assets.
“DGCL” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Domestication” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Effective Time” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1(b)(ii).
“Employee Benefit Plan” means each “employee benefit plan” (as such term is defined in Section 3(3) of ERISA, whether or not subject to ERISA) and each other benefit or compensatory plan, program, policy or Contract that any Group Company maintains, sponsors or contributes to, or under or with respect to which any Group Company has any Liability, other than any plan sponsored or maintained by a Governmental Entity.
“Environmental Laws” means any federal, state, local, municipal, foreign, international, or multinational law, regulation, or other applicable requirement, policy, guidance or treaty relating to (a) releases or threatened release of Hazardous Substance; (b) pollution or protection of employee health or safety, public health or the environment; or (c) the manufacture, handling, transport, use, treatment, storage, or disposal of Hazardous Substances, including without limitation the following: the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (including as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986), 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.; the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. § 11001 et seq.; the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act 49 U.S.C. § 5101 et seq.; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (including as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (including Subtitle I relating to underground storage tanks)) 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.; the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 33 U.S.C. §§ 1151, 1251 et seq.; the Clean Air Act 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.; the Toxic Substances Control Act 15 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.; the Safe Drinking Water Act 42 U.S.C. § 300f et seq.; the Occupational Safety and Health Act 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act 7 U.S.C. § 136 et seq.; the Endangered Species Act 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.; the National Environmental Policy Act 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.; and the River and Harbors Appropriation Act 33 U.S.C. § 403 et seq.
“Equiniti” means Equiniti Trust Company, LLC.
“Equity Securities” means any share, share capital, capital stock, partnership, membership, joint venture or similar interest in any Person (including any stock appreciation, phantom stock, profit participation or similar rights), and any option, warrant, right or security (including debt securities) convertible, exchangeable or exercisable therefor.
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“Equity Value” means $2,930,000,000.
“ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.
“ERISA Affiliate” means any entity that together with any Group Company would be deemed a “single employer” for purposes of Section 4001(b)(1) of ERISA and/or Sections 414(b), (c) and/or (m) of the Code.
“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
“Exchange Ratio” means the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the Transaction Share Consideration, by (b) the number of Fully-Diluted Shares.
“Expenses” means all fees, costs and expenses, including all out-of-pocket expenses (including all such fees, costs and expenses with respect to counsel, accountants, investment bankers, financial advisors, financing sources, experts and consultants to a Party hereto or any of its Affiliates, exchange listings, SEC filings, compliance with HSR Act and obtaining the D&O Tail Insurance), incurred by a Party or on its behalf in connection with or related to the authorization, preparation, negotiation, execution or performance of this Agreement or any Ancillary Document related hereto and all other matters related to the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. With respect to SVAQ, Expenses shall include any and all deferred expenses (including fees or commissions payable to the underwriters and any legal fees) of the IPO upon consummation of a Business Combination, including any Working Capital Loans that have not been converted into SVAQ Units pursuant to the Prospectus prior to the Closing Date. For the avoidance of doubt, any fees, costs and expenses of holders of Equity Securities of the Company that do not arise from such holder’s position with the Company shall not be “Expenses”.
“Financial Statements” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.4(a).
“Foreign Benefit Plan” means each Employee Benefit Plan maintained by any of the Group Companies for its current or former employees, officers, directors or other individual service providers located outside of the United States.
“Fraud” means an act or omission by a Party, and requires: (a) a false or incorrect representation or warranty expressly set forth in this Agreement, (b) with actual knowledge (as opposed to constructive, imputed or implied knowledge) by the Party making such representation or warranty that such representation or warranty expressly set forth in this Agreement is false or incorrect, (c) an intention to deceive another Party, to induce such Party to enter into this Agreement, (d) an intention to deceive another Party, in justifiable or reasonable reliance upon such false or incorrect representation or warranty expressly set forth in this Agreement, causing such Party to enter into this Agreement, and (e) an intention to deceive another Party, to suffer damage by reason of such reliance. For the avoidance of doubt, “Fraud” does not include any claim for equitable fraud, promissory fraud, unfair dealings fraud or any torts (including a claim for fraud or alleged fraud) based on negligence or recklessness.
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“Fully-Diluted Shares” means an amount equal to, without duplication, (a) the aggregate number of Company Shares and any other shares of capital stock of the Company that are issued and outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time calculated on a fully-diluted basis, plus (b) the aggregate Company Shares issuable upon the exercise of the Company SARs that are outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, plus (c) the aggregate number of Company Shares issuable upon the full exercise, exchange or conversion of Company Warrants that are outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, treating such outstanding Company Warrants as having been exercised in full (calculated using the treasury stock method of accounting).
“GAAP” means United States generally accepted accounting principles.
“Governing Documents” means the legal document(s) by which any Person (other than an individual) establishes its legal existence or which govern its internal affairs. For example, the “Governing Documents” of a U.S. corporation are its certificate or articles of incorporation and by-laws, the “Governing Documents” of a U.S. limited partnership are its limited partnership agreement and certificate of limited partnership, the “Governing Documents” of a U.S. limited liability company are its operating or limited liability company agreement and certificate of formation and the “Governing Documents” of a Cayman Islands exempted company are its memorandum and articles of association.
“Governmental Entity” means any United States or non-United States (a) federal, state, local, municipal or other government, (b) governmental entity of any nature (including any governmental agency, branch, department, official, or entity and any court or other tribunal) or (c) body entitled under applicable Law to exercise any administrative, executive, judicial, legislative, police, regulatory, or taxing authority or power of any nature, including any arbitral tribunal (public or private).
“Group Company” and “Group Companies” means, collectively, the Company and its Subsidiaries.
“Hazardous Substance” means any (i) substance, chemical, material, compound, waste, pollutant, contaminant, special waste, product or derivative regulated or subject to rules of liability under any present or future Environmental Law or that is listed, classified, defined, or regulated as hazardous, toxic, corrosive, ignitable, reactive, radioactive, dangerous, a pollutant, a contaminant, or words of similar meaning or effect under any present or future Environmental Law or constitutes a danger, nuisance, trespass or health or safety hazard to persons or property; (ii) petroleum and petroleum products and their refined or derived products (including waste or used oil, gasoline, heating oil, kerosene or any other petroleum products or substances or materials derived from or commingled with any petroleum products); (iii) lead, lead-based paint, toxic mold, radon, polychlorinated biphenyls, radioactive materials, per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) “hazardous wastes,” or “hazardous constituents” or the subject of a cleanup standard or sampling requirement promulgated by a properly authorized Governmental Entity, aqueous film forming foam, or other emerging contaminants, urea formaldehyde or asbestos or asbestos containing materials; and (iv) any compound, mixture, solution, product, or other substance or material that contains any substance or material referred to in clause (i), (ii) or (iii) above.
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“HSR Act” means the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
“Indebtedness” means, as of any time, without duplication, with respect to any Person, the outstanding principal amount of, accrued and unpaid interest on, fees and expenses arising under or in respect of (a) indebtedness for borrowed money, (b) other obligations evidenced by any note, bond, debenture or other debt security, (c) obligations for the deferred purchase price of property or assets, including “earn-outs” and “seller notes” (but excluding any trade payables arising in the ordinary course of business), (d) reimbursement and other obligations with respect to letters of credit, bank guarantees, bankers’ acceptances or other similar instruments, in each case, solely to the extent drawn, (e) leases required to be capitalized under GAAP, (f) derivative, hedging, swap, foreign exchange or similar arrangements, including swaps, caps, collars, hedges or similar arrangements, and (g) any of the obligations of any other Person of the type referred to in clauses (a) through (f) above directly or indirectly guaranteed by such Person or secured by any assets of such Person, whether or not such Indebtedness has been assumed by such Person, and (h) all break-fees, prepayment penalties, premiums, costs and other amounts payable in connection with the prepayment or repayment of any of the items described in clauses (a) through (g).
“Incentive Plan” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.17.
“Intellectual Property Rights” means all intellectual property rights and related priority rights protected, created or arising under the Laws of the United States or any other jurisdiction or under any international convention, including all (a) patents and patent applications, industrial designs and design patent rights, including any continuations, divisionals, continuations-in-part and provisional applications and statutory invention registrations, and any patents issuing on any of the foregoing and any reissues, reexaminations, substitutes, supplementary protection certificates, extensions of any of the foregoing (collectively, “Patents”); (b) trademarks, service marks, trade names, service names, brand names, trade dress rights, logos, Internet domain names, corporate names and other source or business identifiers, together with the goodwill associated with any of the foregoing, and all applications, registrations, extensions and renewals of any of the foregoing (collectively, “Marks”); (c) copyrights and works of authorship, database and design rights, mask work rights and moral rights, whether or not registered or published, and all registrations, applications, renewals, extensions and reversions of any of any of the foregoing (collectively, “Copyrights”); (d) trade secrets, know-how and confidential and proprietary information, including invention disclosures, inventions and formulae, whether patentable or not; (e) rights in or to Software or other technology; (f) any other intellectual or similar proprietary rights protectable, arising under or associated with any of the foregoing, including those protected by any Law anywhere in the world; and (g) all legal rights arising from items (a) through (f), including the right to prosecute, enforce and perfect such interests and rights to sue, oppose, cancel, interfere, enjoin and collect damages based upon such interests, including such rights based on past infringement, if any, in connection with any of the foregoing.
“Intended Tax Treatment” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Investment Company Act” means the Investment Company Act of 1940.
“IPO” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.18.
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“JOBS Act” means the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012.
“Key Supporting Company Stockholders” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Latest Balance Sheet” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.4(a).
“Law” means any federal, state, local, foreign, national or supranational statute, law (including common law), act, statute, ordinance, treaty, rule, code, regulation or other legally binding directive or guidance issued, promulgated or enforced by a Governmental Entity having jurisdiction over a given matter.
“Leased Real Property” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.18(b).
“Liability” or “liability” means any and all debts, liabilities and obligations, whether accrued or fixed, absolute or contingent, known or unknown, matured or unmatured or determined or determinable, including those arising under any Law (including any Environmental Law), Proceeding or Order and those arising under any Contract, agreement, arrangement, commitment or undertaking.
“Lien” means any mortgage, pledge, security interest, encumbrance, lien, license or sub-license, charge, or other similar encumbrance or interest (including, in the case of any Equity Securities, any voting, transfer or similar restrictions).
“Lookback Date” means February 13, 2025.
“Material Contracts” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.7(a).
“Material Permits” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.6.
“Merger” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Merger Sub” has the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph to this Agreement.
“Multiemployer Plan” has the meaning set forth in Section 3(37) or Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA.
“Nasdaq” means the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
“Non-Party Affiliate” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.13.
“Off-the-Shelf Software” means any Software that is made generally and widely available to the public on a commercial basis and is licensed to any of the Group Companies on a non-exclusive basis under standard terms and conditions.
“Officers” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.15(a).
“Order” means any outstanding writ, order, judgment, injunction, decision, determination, award, ruling, subpoena, verdict or decree entered, issued or rendered by any Governmental Entity.
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“Outside Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 7.1(d).
“Parties” has the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph to this Agreement.
“PCAOB” means the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
“Permits” means any approvals, authorizations, clearances, declarations of conformity, licenses, registrations, permits or certificates of a Governmental Entity.
“Permitted Liens” means (a) mechanic’s, materialmen’s, carriers’, repairers’ and other similar statutory Liens arising or incurred in the ordinary course of business for amounts that are not yet due and payable or are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which sufficient reserves have been established in accordance with GAAP, (b) Liens for Taxes, assessments or other governmental charges not yet due and payable as of the Closing Date or which are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which sufficient reserves have been established in accordance with GAAP, (c) encumbrances and restrictions on real property (including easements, covenants, conditions, rights of way and similar restrictions) that do not prohibit or materially interfere with any of the Group Companies’ use or occupancy of such real property, (d) zoning, building codes and other land use Laws regulating the use or occupancy of real property or the activities conducted thereon which are imposed by any Governmental Entity having jurisdiction over such real property and which are not violated by the use or occupancy of such real property or the operation of the businesses of the Group Company and do not prohibit or materially interfere with any of the Group Companies’ use or occupancy of such real property, (e) cash deposits or cash pledges to secure the payment of workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, social security benefits or obligations arising under similar Laws or to secure the performance of public or statutory obligations, surety or appeal bonds, and other obligations of a like nature, in each case in the ordinary course of business and which are not yet due and payable, (f) grants by any Group Company of non-exclusive rights in Intellectual Property Rights in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and (g) other Liens that do not materially and adversely affect the value, use or operation of the asset subject thereto.
“Person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, joint stock company, unincorporated organization or association, trust, joint venture or other similar entity, whether or not a legal entity or Governmental Entity.
“Personal Information” means any information that (a) identifies or makes identifiable, relates to, describes, is linked to, could reasonably be linked to, directly or indirectly, any identified or identifiable individual or household (e.g., name, address telephone number, email address, or government-issued identifier), or can reasonably be associated with or used to identify, contact, or precisely locate an individual or household, (b) is payment card information, or (c) is otherwise protected or governed by any applicable Privacy Law or defined in any applicable Privacy Law as “personal information,” “personal data,” “personally identifiable information,” “sensitive information,” or a substantially similar term.
“Proxy Statement” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.7.
“Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders” means the holders of SVAQ Shares at any time prior to the Effective Time, together with their successors and assigns.
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“Privacy and Data Security Policies” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.20(a).
“Privacy Laws” means all Laws relating to the Processing or protection of Personal Information, data breach and notification, website and mobile application privacy policies and practices, Social Security number protection, Processing and security of payment card information (including, to the extent applicable, Payment Card Industry Security Standards), and email, text message, or telephone communications that apply to the Group Companies.
“Proceeding” means any lawsuit, litigation, action, audit, investigations, examination, claim, complaint, charge, proceeding, suit or arbitration (in each case, whether civil, criminal or administrative and whether public or private) pending by or before or otherwise involving any Governmental Entity.
“Process” (or “Processing” or “Processes”) means the collection, use, storage, processing, recording, distribution, transfer, import, export, protection (including security measures), disposal or disclosure or other activity regarding data (whether electronically or in any other form or medium).
“Prospectus” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.18.
“Public Shareholders” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.18.
“Public Software” means any Software that contains, includes, incorporates, or has instantiated therein, or is derived in any manner (in whole or in part) from, any Software that is licensed pursuant to: (a) any license that is a license approved by the Open Source Initiative and listed at http://www.opensource.org/licenses, which licenses include all versions of the GNU General Public License (GPL), the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), the GNU Affero GPL, the MIT license, the Eclipse Public License, the Common Public License, the CDDL, the Mozilla Public License (MPL), the Artistic License, the Netscape Public License, the Sun Community Source License (SCSL), and the Sun Industry Standards License (SISL); (b) any license to Software this is considered “free” or “open source software” by the Open Source foundation or the Free Software Foundation or (c) any similar licensing or distribution models, including under any terms or conditions that impose any requirement that any Software using, linked with, incorporating, distributed with or derived from such Public Software (i) be made available or distributed in source code form; (ii) be licensed for purposes of making derivative works; or (iii) be redistributable at no, or a nominal, charge.
“Real Property Leases” means all leases, sub-leases, licenses or other agreements, in each case, pursuant to which any Group Company leases or sub-leases any real property.
“Registered Intellectual Property” means all issued Patents, pending Patent applications, registered Marks, pending applications for registration of Marks, registered Copyrights, pending applications for registration of Copyrights and Internet domain name registrations.
“Registration Statement” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.7.
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“Representatives” means with respect to any Person, such Person’s Affiliates and its and such Affiliates’ respective directors, managers, officers, employees, accountants, consultants, advisors, attorneys, agents and other representatives.
“Required SVAQ Shareholder Approval” means the approval of the SVAQ Shareholder Approval Matters by the affirmative vote of the holders of the requisite number of SVAQ Shares entitled to vote thereon, whether in person or by proxy at the SVAQ Shareholders Meeting (or any adjournment thereof), in accordance with the Governing Documents of SVAQ and applicable Law.
“Sanctioned Countries” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.17(a).
“Sanctions and Export Control Laws” means any applicable Law related to (a) import and export controls, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, (b) economic sanctions, including those administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of State, the European Union, any European Union Member State, the United Nations, and His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom or (c) anti-boycott measures.
“Sarbanes-Oxley Act” means the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
“Schedules” means, collectively, the Company Disclosure Schedules and the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules.
“SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Securities Act” means the U.S. Securities Act of 1933.
“Securities Laws” means Federal Securities Laws and other applicable foreign and domestic securities or similar Laws.
“Signing Filing” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.4(b).
“Signing Press Release” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.4(b).
“Software” shall mean any and all (a) computer programs, including any and all software implementations of algorithms, models and methodologies, whether in source code or object code; (b) databases and compilations, including any and all data and collections of data, whether machine readable or otherwise; (c) descriptions, flowcharts and other work product used to design, plan, organize and develop any of the foregoing, screens, user interfaces, report formats, firmware, development tools, templates, menus, buttons and icons; and (d) all documentation, including user manuals and other training documentation, related to any of the foregoing.
“Sponsor” means Silicon Valley Acquisition Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
“Sponsor Support Agreement” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Stock Exchange” means the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE American or Nasdaq.
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“Stockholder Support Agreements” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“Subsidiary” means, with respect to any Person, any corporation, limited liability company, partnership or other legal entity of which (a) if a corporation, a majority of the total voting power of Equity Securities entitled (without regard to the occurrence of any contingency) to vote in the election of directors, managers or trustees thereof is at the time owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by such Person or one or more of the other Subsidiaries of such Person or a combination thereof, or (b) if a limited liability company, partnership, association or other business entity (other than a corporation), a majority of the partnership or other similar ownership interests thereof is at the time owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by such Person or one or more Subsidiaries of such Person or a combination thereof and for this purpose, a Person or Persons own a majority ownership interest in such a business entity (other than a corporation) if such Person or Persons shall be allocated a majority of such business entity’s gains or losses or shall be a, or control any, managing director or general partner of such business entity (other than a corporation). The term “Subsidiary” shall include all Subsidiaries of such Subsidiary.
“Surviving Company” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1(b)(i).
“Surviving Company Share” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1(b)(v).
“SVAQ” has the meaning set forth in the introductory paragraph to this Agreement.
“SVAQ Acquisition Proposal” means (a) any transaction or series of related transactions under which SVAQ or any of its Subsidiaries, directly or indirectly, (i) acquires or otherwise purchases any other Person(s), (ii) engages in a business combination with any other Person(s) or (iii) acquires or otherwise purchases all or a material portion of the assets or businesses of any other Person(s) (in the case of each of clause (i), (ii) and (iii), whether by merger, consolidation, recapitalization, purchase or issuance of equity securities, tender offer or otherwise) or (b) any equity, debt or similar investment in SVAQ or any of its Subsidiaries. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, none of this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby shall constitute a SVAQ Acquisition Proposal.
“SVAQ Board” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“SVAQ Board Recommendation” has the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.
“SVAQ Bylaws” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1(a).
“SVAQ Certificate of Incorporation” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1(a).
“SVAQ Common Stock” means from and after the consummation of the Domestication, the shares of common stock of SVAQ (which shall be entitled to one (1) vote per share).
“SVAQ Class A Shares” means, prior to the Domestication, SVAQ’s Class A ordinary shares.
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“SVAQ Class B Shares” means, prior to the Domestication, SVAQ’s Class B ordinary shares.
“SVAQ D&O Persons” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.13(a).
“SVAQ Disclosure Schedules” means the disclosure schedules to this Agreement delivered to the Company by SVAQ on the date of this Agreement.
“SVAQ Financial Statements” means all of the financial statements of SVAQ included in the SVAQ SEC Reports.
“SVAQ Fundamental Representations” means the representations and warranties set forth in Section 4.1 (Organization and Qualification), Section 4.2 (Authority), Section 4.4 (Brokers) and Section 4.6(a) and Section 4.6(b) (Capitalization of the SVAQ Parties).
“SVAQ Material Adverse Effect” means any change, event, effect or occurrence that, individually or in the aggregate with any other change, event, effect or occurrence, has had or would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the ability of any SVAQ Party to consummate the Merger in accordance with the terms of this Agreement; provided, however, that none of the following shall be taken into account in determining whether a SVAQ Material Adverse Effect has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur: any adverse change, event, effect or occurrence arising after the date of this Agreement from or related to (i) general business or economic conditions in or affecting the United States, or changes therein, or the global economy generally, (ii) any national or international political or social conditions in the United States or any other country, including the engagement by the United States or any other country in hostilities, whether or not pursuant to the declaration of a national emergency or war, or the occurrence in any place of any military or terrorist attack, sabotage or cyberterrorism, (iii) changes in conditions of the financial, banking, capital or securities markets generally in the United States or any other country or region in the world, or changes therein, including changes in interest rates in the United States or any other country and changes in exchange rates for the currencies of any countries, (iv) changes in any applicable Laws, (v) any change, event, effect or occurrence that is generally applicable to the industries or markets in which any SVAQ Party operates, or (vi) the execution or public announcement of this Agreement or the pendency or consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including the impact thereof on the relationships, contractual or otherwise, of any SVAQ Party with investors, contractors, lenders, suppliers, vendors, partners, licensors, licensees, payors or other third parties related thereto (provided that the exception in this clause (vi) shall not apply to the representations and warranties set forth in Section 4.3(b) to the extent that its purpose is to address the consequences resulting from the public announcement or pendency or consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the condition set forth in Section 6.2(a) to the extent it relates to such representations and warranties); provided, however, that any change, event, effect or occurrence resulting from a matter described in any of the foregoing clauses (i) through (v) may be taken into account in determining whether a SVAQ Material Adverse Effect has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur to the extent such change, event, effect or occurrence has had or would reasonably be expected to have a disproportionate adverse effect on SVAQ relative to other similarly situated special purposes acquisition companies operating in the industries or markets in which SVAQ operates.
“SVAQ Non-Party Affiliates” means, collectively, each SVAQ Related Party and each of the former, current or future Affiliates, Representatives, successors or permitted assigns of any SVAQ Related Party (other than, for the avoidance of doubt, any SVAQ Party).
“SVAQ Parties” means, collectively, SVAQ and Merger Sub (and each, individually, a “SVAQ Party”).
“SVAQ Related Parties” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.9.
“SVAQ Related Party Transactions” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.9.
“SVAQ SEC Reports” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.7.
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“SVAQ Shareholder” means each holder of SVAQ Class A Shares and each holder of SVAQ Class B Shares, in its capacity as holder.
“SVAQ Shareholder Redemption” means the right of the holders of SVAQ Class A Shares to redeem all or a portion of their SVAQ Class A Shares (in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or otherwise) as set forth in Governing Documents of SVAQ.
“SVAQ Shareholders Meeting” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.7.
“SVAQ Shares” means (a) prior to the consummation of the Domestication, collectively, the SVAQ Class A Shares and SVAQ Class B Shares and (b) from and after the consummation of the Domestication, collectively, the SVAQ Common Stock, each with par value $0.0001 per share. Any reference to the SVAQ Shares in this Agreement or any Ancillary Document shall be deemed to refer to clause (a) and/or clause (b) of this definition, as the context so requires.
“SVAQ Units” means units of SVAQ consisting of one SVAQ Class A Share and one-half (1/2) of one SVAQ Warrant, which, for the avoidance doubt, shall include any units of SVAQ converted from Working Capital Loans.
“SVAQ Warrant Agreement” means that certain Warrant Agreement, dated as of December 22, 2025, by and between SVAQ and Equiniti, as warrant agent.
“SVAQ Warrants” means warrants to purchase SVAQ Class A Share as contemplated under the SVAQ Warrant Agreement, with each warrant exercisable for one SVAQ Class A Share at an exercise price of $11.50.
“Tax” means any federal, state, local or non-United States income, gross receipts, franchise, estimated, alternative minimum, sales, use, transfer, value added, excise, stamp, customs, duties, ad valorem, real property, personal property (tangible and intangible), capital stock, social security, unemployment, payroll, wage, employment, severance, occupation, registration, environmental, communication, mortgage, profits, license, lease, service, goods and services, withholding, premium, turnover, windfall profits or other taxes of any kind whatever, whether computed on a separate or combined, unitary or consolidated basis or in any other manner, together with any interest, deficiencies, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts imposed by any Governmental Entity with respect thereto, whether disputed or not, and including any secondary Liability for any of the aforementioned.
“Tax Authority” means any Governmental Entity responsible for the collection or administration of Taxes or Tax Returns.
“Tax Return” means returns, information returns, statements, declarations, claims for refund, schedules, attachments and reports relating to Taxes required to be filed with any Governmental Entity.
“Transaction Financing” means a capital raising transaction in connection with the Transactions structured as one or a combination of common equity, preferred equity, convertible equity or debt or non-redemption with respect to the Trust Account, in each case, whether such investment is into SVAQ or the Company; provided, however, that a Company Pre-Closing Financing shall not be considered a Transaction Financing.
“Transaction Litigation” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.2(c).
“Transaction Proposals” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.7.
“Transaction Share Consideration” means an aggregate amount of shares of SVAQ Common Stock equal to the quotient of (a) the Equity Value divided by (b) $10.00.
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“Trust Account” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.18.
“Trust Account Released Claims” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.18.
“Trust Agreement” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.8.
“Trustee” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.8.
“WARN” means the Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act of 1988, as well as analogous applicable foreign, state or local Laws.
“Working Capital Loans” means the working capital loans that the SVAQ Related Parties may loan to SVAQ as described in the Prospectus, up to $1,500,000 of which may be convertible into units of SVAQ at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender.
Article II
MERGER
Section 2.1 Closing Transactions. On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement, the following transactions shall occur in the order set forth in this Section 2.1:
(a) Domestication. Immediately prior to the Closing, SVAQ shall cause the Domestication to occur in accordance with Section 388 of the DGCL and Part Twelve of the Cayman Islands Companies Act (2025 Revision), including by filing with the Delaware Secretary of State a Certificate of Domestication with respect to the Domestication, in form and substance reasonably acceptable to SVAQ and the Company, together with the SVAQ Certificate of Incorporation and completing and making all filings required to be made with the Cayman Registrar to effect the Domestication. In connection with (and as part of) the Domestication, SVAQ shall cause (i) each SVAQ Class A Share and SVAQ Class B Share that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Domestication to be converted into one share of SVAQ Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share of SVAQ, (ii) the Governing Documents of SVAQ to become the certificate of incorporation, in a form to be mutually agreed upon by SVAQ and the Company (such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) as soon as reasonably practicable following the date hereof, the “SVAQ Certificate of Incorporation”), and the bylaws, in a form to be mutually agreed upon by SVAQ and the Company (such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) as soon as reasonably practicable following the date hereof (the “SVAQ Bylaws”) and (iii) SVAQ’s name to be changed to a name selected by the Company. SVAQ and its Representatives shall give the Company and its pertinent Representatives a reasonable opportunity to review any applicable documents, certificates or filings in connection with the Domestication and will consider, in good faith, any comments thereto. Following the consummation of the Domestication and prior to the Closing, the board of directors of SVAQ will resolve to ratify and approve such matters as may be required to effect the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and any such other matters as the Company and SVAQ may mutually agree.
(b) The Merger.
(i) On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement and in accordance with the DGCL, following the consummation of the Domestication, on the Closing Date, Merger Sub shall merge with and into the Company at the Effective Time. Following the Effective Time, and as a result of the Merger, the separate existence of Merger Sub shall cease, and the Company shall continue as the surviving company of the Merger (the “Surviving Company”).
(ii) At the Closing, the Parties hereto shall cause the Merger to be consummated by filing with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware a certificate of merger, in a form reasonably satisfactory to the Company and SVAQ (the “Certificate of Merger”), to be executed and filed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the DGCL. The Merger shall become effective on the date and time at which the Certificate of Merger is accepted for filing by the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware or at such later date and/or time as is agreed by SVAQ and the Company and specified in the Certificate of Merger (the time the Merger becomes effective being referred to herein as the “Effective Time”).
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(iii) The Merger shall have the effects set forth in Section 251 of the DGCL. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, and subject thereto, at the Effective Time, all of the assets, properties, rights, privileges, powers and franchises of the Company and Merger Sub shall vest in the Surviving Company and all debts, liabilities, obligations, restrictions, disabilities and duties of each of the Company and Merger Sub shall become the debts, liabilities, obligations and duties of the Surviving Company, in each case, in accordance with the DGCL.
(iv) At the Effective Time, the Governing Documents of Merger Sub shall be the Governing Documents of the Surviving Company, in each case, until thereafter changed or amended as provided therein or by applicable Law.
(v) At the Effective Time, the directors and officers of the Surviving Company shall be the individuals determined in accordance with Section 5.15, each to hold office in accordance with the Governing Documents of the Surviving Company until such director’s or officer’s successor is duly elected or appointed and qualified, or until the earlier of their death, resignation or removal.
(vi) At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of any Party or any other Person, each share of capital stock of Merger Sub issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be automatically cancelled and extinguished and converted into one share of common stock, par value $0.0001, of the Surviving Company (each such share, a “Surviving Company Share”).
(vii) At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of any Party or any other Person, each Company Share (other than (A) the Company Shares cancelled and extinguished pursuant to Section 2.1(b)(ix) or (B) any Company Dissenting Shares) issued and outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be automatically canceled and extinguished and converted into the right to receive a number of shares of SVAQ Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio.
(viii) From and after the Effective Time, each Company Stockholder’s certificates (the “Certificates”), if any, evidencing ownership of the Company Shares and the Company Shares held in book-entry form issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall each cease to have any rights with respect to such Company Shares except as otherwise expressly provided for herein or under applicable Law.
(ix) At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of any Party or any other Person, each Company Share held immediately prior to the Effective Time by the Company as treasury stock shall be automatically canceled and extinguished, and no consideration shall be paid with respect thereto.
(x) For purposes of calculating the aggregate number of SVAQ Shares issuable to each Company Stockholder pursuant to the terms of Section 2.1(b), all Company Shares held by such holder shall be aggregated, and the Exchange Ratio shall be applied to that aggregate number of shares held by such holder, and not on a share-by-share basis, and the number of SVAQ Shares to be issued shall be rounded down to the nearest whole share.
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(xi) If, between the date of this Agreement and the Closing, the outstanding SVAQ Shares shall have been changed into a different number of shares or a different class, by reason of any stock dividend, subdivision, reclassification, recapitalization, split, combination or exchange of shares, or any similar event shall have occurred, then any number, value (including dollar value) or amount contained herein which is based upon the number of SVAQ Shares will be appropriately adjusted to provide to the holders of Company Shares the same economic effect as contemplated by this Agreement; provided, however, that this Section 2.1(b)(x) shall not (A) be construed to permit SVAQ, Merger Sub or the Company to take any action with respect to their respective securities that is prohibited by the terms and conditions of this Agreement, or (B) apply to the Domestication or any other transactions expressly contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document to the extent consummated in accordance with the terms contemplated by this Agreement and/or such Ancillary Document, as applicable.
Section 2.2 Closing of the Transactions Contemplated by this Agreement. The closing of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (the “Closing”) shall take place electronically by exchange of the closing deliverables by the means provided in Section 8.11 as promptly as reasonably practicable, but in no event later than the second (2nd) Business Day, following the satisfaction (or, to the extent permitted by applicable Law, waiver) of the conditions set forth in Article VI (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at the Closing, but subject to satisfaction or waiver of such conditions) (the date upon which the Closing actually occurs is referred to herein as “Closing Date”) or at such other place, date and/or time as SVAQ and the Company may agree in writing.
Section 2.3 Allocation Schedule. At least five (5) Business Days prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall deliver to SVAQ an allocation schedule (the “Allocation Schedule”) setting forth (i) the number of Company Shares held by each Company Stockholder (including the number of Company Shares subject to Company SARs and Company Warrants) and (ii) the Transaction Share Consideration, the Fully-Diluted Shares and the Exchange Ratio. The Company will review any comments to the Allocation Schedule provided by SVAQ or any of its Representatives and consider in good faith any comments proposed by SVAQ or any of its Representatives. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, (A) the aggregate number of SVAQ Shares that each Company Stockholder will have a right to receive pursuant to Section 2.1(b)(vii) and Section 2.1(b)(viii) will be rounded down to the nearest whole share, (B) in no event shall the aggregate number of SVAQ Shares set forth on the Allocation Schedule that are allocated in respect of the Equity Securities of the Company exceed the Transaction Share Consideration, and (C) the SVAQ Parties and the Transfer Agent will be entitled to rely upon the Allocation Schedule for purposes of allocating the transaction consideration to the Company Stockholders under this Agreement, as applicable.
Section 2.4 Treatment of Company SARs and Company Warrants.
(a) On the Closing Date, upon the Effective Time, each Company SAR that is outstanding and unexercised immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically, without any action on the part of the holder thereof, be substituted by SVAQ for a stock appreciation right exercisable for that number of shares of SVAQ Common Stock equal to the product of (x) the number of Company Shares issuable upon the exercise of such Company SAR multiplied by (y) the Exchange Ratio (each such SAR, a “Substituted SAR”). Each Substituted SAR shall be in a form mutually agreed by SVAQ and the Company, acting reasonably, prior to the Closing and, except as otherwise set forth in this Agreement, shall be subject to substantially the same terms and conditions as were applicable under the respective Company SAR immediately prior to the Effective Time. Upon exercise of any Substituted SAR, no evidence of book-entry shares representing fractional shares of SVAQ Common Stock shall be issuable thereunder; in lieu of the issuance of any such fractional share, SVAQ shall round down to the nearest whole share of SVAQ Common Stock.
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(b) On the Closing Date, upon the Effective Time, each Company Warrant that is outstanding and unexercised immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically, without any action on the part of the holder thereof, be assumed by SVAQ and converted into a warrant to purchase that number of shares of SVAQ Common Stock equal to the product of (x) the number of Company Shares subject to such Company Warrant multiplied by (y) the Exchange Ratio (each such warrant, an “Assumed Warrant”). Each Assumed Warrant shall be in a form mutually agreed by SVAQ and the Company, acting reasonably, prior to the Closing and, except as otherwise set forth in this Agreement, shall be subject to the same terms and conditions (including as to vesting and exercisability) as were applicable under the respective Company Warrant immediately prior to the Effective Time, except that each Assumed Warrant shall have an exercise price per share equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the per share exercise price of the Company Warrant by (y) the Exchange Ratio (which price per share shall be rounded down to the nearest whole cent). Upon exercise of any Assumed Warrant, no evidence of book-entry shares representing fractional shares of SVAQ Common Stock shall be issuable thereunder; in lieu of the issuance of any such fractional share, SVAQ shall round down to the nearest whole share of SVAQ Common Stock.
(c) Prior to the Closing, the Company shall take, or cause to be taken, all necessary or appropriate actions under the Company Equity Plan, under the underlying grant, award or similar agreement, if required by the holders of Company SARs or Company Warrants, and otherwise to give effect to the provisions of this Section 2.4, and shall provide SVAQ with evidence reasonably satisfactory to SVAQ of the foregoing.
Section 2.5 Treatment of SVAQ Securities.
(a) On the Closing Date and prior to the Effective Time, each SVAQ Class B Share issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall, in accordance with SVAQ’s Governing Documents, automatically convert into one (1) SVAQ Class A Share.
(b) On the Closing Date and prior to the Effective Time, to the extent any SVAQ Units remain outstanding and unseparated, immediately prior to the Effective Time, the SVAQ Class A Shares and the SVAQ Warrants comprising each such issued and outstanding SVAQ Unit immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be automatically separated, and the holder of each SVAQ Unit shall be deemed to hold one (1) SVAQ Class A Share and one-half (1/2) of one (1) SVAQ Warrant (provided, that upon separation, no fractional SVAQ Warrants shall be issued, and the aggregate number of SVAQ Warrants to be held by each holder thereof shall be rounded down to the nearest whole SPAC Warrant); and all SVAQ Units shall cease to be outstanding and shall automatically be canceled and retired and shall cease to exist.
(c) At the Effective Time, each SVAQ Warrant shall remain outstanding but shall no longer be exercisable for SVAQ Class A Shares and shall instead be exercisable for SVAQ Common Stock.
Section 2.6 Transfer Agent Matters.
(a) Appointment of Transfer Agent. At least three Business Days prior to the Closing Date, SVAQ shall appoint a transfer agent reasonably acceptable to the Company (the “Transfer Agent”) (it being understood and agreed that Equiniti, or any of its Affiliates, shall be deemed to be acceptable to the Company) for the purposes of issuing the Transaction Share Consideration to each Company Stockholder pursuant to Section 2.1(b)(vii). The Company shall, and shall cause its Representatives to, reasonably cooperate with the Transfer Agent in connection with the covenants and agreements in this Section 2.6, including the provision of any information, or the entry into any agreements or documentation, necessary or advisable, as reasonably determined by the Company and SVAQ, or otherwise required by the Transfer Agent to fulfill its duties as the Transfer Agent in connection with the Transactions.
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(b) Transfer Agent Procedures. At the Effective Time, SVAQ shall, or shall cause the Transfer Agent to, issue the Transaction Share Consideration to the record holders of Company Shares entitled to receive a portion of the Transaction Share Consideration in book-entry form. All shares of SVAQ Common Stock issued in accordance with this Section 2.6 shall be deemed to have been issued in full satisfaction of all rights pertaining to the Company Shares, and there shall be no further registration of transfers on the records of the Surviving Company of the Company Shares that were outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time. If, after the Effective Time, Company Shares are presented to SVAQ or the Surviving Company for any reason, they shall be cancelled and exchanged as provided in this Section 2.6
Section 2.7 Company Dissenting Shares. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, any Company Shares for which a Company Stockholder (a) has not voted in favor of the Merger or consented to it in writing and (b) has demanded the appraisal of such Company Shares in accordance with, and has complied in all respects with, Section 262 of the DGCL (collectively, such stockholders, the “Company Dissenting Stockholders”, and such shares, the “Company Dissenting Shares”) shall not be converted into the right to receive the Transaction Share Consideration pursuant to Section 2.1(b)(vi). From and after the Effective Time, (i) the Company Dissenting Shares shall be cancelled and extinguished and shall cease to exist and (ii) the Company Dissenting Stockholders shall be entitled only to such rights as may be granted to them under Section 262 of the DGCL and shall not be entitled to exercise any of the voting rights or other rights of a stockholder of SVAQ, the Surviving Company or any of its Affiliates (including SVAQ); provided that if any Company Dissenting Stockholder effectively withdraws or loses such appraisal rights (whether through failure to perfect such appraisal rights or otherwise), then the Company Shares held by such Company Dissenting Stockholder (A) shall no longer be deemed to be Company Dissenting Shares and (B) shall be treated as if they had been converted automatically at the Effective Time into the right to receive the Transaction Share Consideration pursuant to Section 2.1(b)(vi) (subject, in the case of Company Shares represented by Certificates, to the surrender of such Certificates or affidavits of loss in lieu thereof). Each Company Dissenting Stockholder who becomes entitled to payment for his, her or its Company Dissenting Shares pursuant to the DGCL shall receive payment thereof from the Company in accordance with the DGCL. The Company shall give SVAQ prompt notice of any written demands for appraisal of any Company Share, attempted withdrawals of such demands and any other documents or instruments served pursuant to the DGCL and received by the Company relating to stockholders’ rights of appraisal in accordance with the provisions of Section 262 of the DGCL, and SVAQ shall have the opportunity to participate in, but not control, all negotiations and proceedings with respect to all such demands. The Company shall not, except with the prior written consent of SVAQ (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned, or delayed), settle, or make any payment, or deliver any consideration, with respect to, any such demand.
Section 2.8 Withholding. SVAQ, the Group Companies and the Transfer Agent shall be entitled to deduct and withhold (or cause to be deducted and withheld) from any consideration payable pursuant to this Agreement such amounts as are required to be deducted and withheld under applicable Tax Law. To the extent that amounts are so withheld and timely remitted to the applicable Governmental Entity, such withheld amounts shall be treated for all purposes of this Agreement as having been paid to the Person in respect of which such deduction and withholding was made. In the case of any such withholding payable in SVAQ Shares, SVAQ, the Surviving Company or the Transfer Agent, as applicable, shall be permitted to sell such portion of the SVAQ Shares otherwise issuable to such Person as is necessary to generate cash to satisfy such withholding obligations. The Parties shall cooperate in good faith to eliminate or reduce any such deduction or withholding (including through the request and provision of any statements, forms or other documents to reduce or eliminate any such deduction or withholding).
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Article III
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE GROUP COMPANIES
Subject to Section 8.8, except as set forth in the Company Disclosure Schedules, the Company hereby represents and warrants to the SVAQ Parties, as follows:
Section 3.1 Organization and Qualification.
(a) Each Group Company is a corporation, limited liability company or other applicable business entity duly organized, incorporated or formed, as applicable, validly existing and in good standing (or the equivalent thereof, if applicable, in each case, with respect to the jurisdictions that recognize the concept of good standing or any equivalent thereof) under the Laws of its jurisdiction of organization, incorporation or formation (as applicable) and in each jurisdiction in which the property and assets owned, leased or operated by it, or the nature of the business conducted by it, makes such qualification or licensing necessary, except where the failure to be so duly qualified or licensed and in good standing would not be material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole. Section 3.1(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth the jurisdiction of organization, incorporation or formation (as applicable) for each Group Company. Each Group Company has the requisite corporate, limited liability company or other applicable business entity power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to carry on its businesses as presently conducted, except where the failure to have such power or authority would not be material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
(b) True and complete copies of the Governing Documents of the Group Companies have been made available to SVAQ, in each case, as amended and in effect as of the date of this Agreement. The Governing Documents of the Group Companies are in full force and effect, and the Group Companies are not in breach or violation of any provision set forth in its Governing Documents.
Section 3.2 Capitalization of the Group Companies.
(a) Section 3.2(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete statement as of the date of this Agreement of (i) the number and class or series (as applicable) of all of the Equity Securities of the Company issued and outstanding, (ii) the identity of the Persons that are the record and beneficial owners thereof, (iii) with respect to each Company Equity Award, (A) the date of grant, (B) any applicable exercise (or similar) price, (C) the expiration date, and (D) any applicable vesting schedule (including acceleration provisions), and (iv) with respect to each Company Warrant, (A) the date of grant and (B) any applicable exercise or similar price. All of the outstanding Company Shares are fully paid and non-assessable. The Equity Securities of the Company (1) were not issued in violation of the Governing Documents of the Company or any Contract to which the Company is party or bound, (2) were not issued in violation of any preemptive rights, call option, right of first refusal or first offer, subscription rights, transfer restrictions or similar rights of any Person and (3) have been offered, sold and issued in material compliance with applicable Law, including Securities Laws. Except for the Company SARs, the Company has no outstanding Company Equity Awards, including no (x) equity appreciation, phantom equity or profit participation rights or (y) options, restricted stock units, phantom stock, warrants, purchase rights, subscription rights, conversion rights, exchange rights, calls, puts, rights of first refusal or first offer or other Contracts that could require the Company to issue, sell or otherwise cause to become outstanding or to acquire, repurchase or redeem any Equity Securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Equity Securities of the Company.
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(b) Section 3.2(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete statement of (i) the number and class or series (as applicable) of all of the Equity Securities of each Subsidiary of the Company issued and outstanding and (ii) the identity of the Persons that are the record and beneficial owners thereof. There are no outstanding (A) equity appreciation, phantom equity or profit participation rights or (B) options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, phantom stock, warrants, purchase rights, subscription rights, conversion rights, exchange rights, calls, puts, rights of first refusal or first offer or other Contracts that could require any Subsidiary of the Company to issue, sell or otherwise cause to become outstanding or to acquire, repurchase or redeem any Equity Securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Equity Securities of the Subsidiaries of the Company. There are no voting trusts, proxies or other Contracts with respect to the voting or transfer of any Equity Securities of any Subsidiary of the Company. There are no outstanding bonds, debentures, notes or other indebtedness of the Company having the right to vote (or convertible into, or exchangeable for, securities having the right to vote) on any matter for which holders of Company Shares may vote.
(c) Except as set forth on Section 3.2(c) of the Company Disclosure Schedules, there are no voting trusts, proxies or other Contracts with respect to the voting or transfer of the Company’s Equity Securities between the Company and any other Person.
(d) None of the Group Companies owns or holds (of record, beneficially, legally or otherwise), directly or indirectly, any Equity Securities in any other Person or the right to acquire any such Equity Security, and none of the Group Companies are a partner or member of any partnership, limited liability company or joint venture.
(e) Section 3.2(e) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a list of all Indebtedness of the Group Companies as of the date of this Agreement, including the principal amount of such Indebtedness, the outstanding balance as of the date of this Agreement, and the debtor and the creditor thereof.
(f) Section 3.2(f) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a list of all Change of Control Payments of the Group Companies.
(g) There are no debt instruments outstanding convertible into or otherwise entitling the holder thereof to any of the Company’s Equity Securities.
Section 3.3 Authority.
(a) The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which it is or will be a party, to perform its obligations hereunder and thereunder, and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. Subject to the receipt of the Company Stockholder Written Consent, the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or will be a party, the performance of the Company’s obligations hereby and thereby and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been (or, in the case of any Ancillary Document entered into after the date of this Agreement, will be upon execution thereof) duly authorized by all necessary corporate (or other similar) action on the part of the Company. This Agreement and each Ancillary Document to which the Company is or is contemplated to be a party has been or will be, upon execution thereof, as applicable, duly and validly executed and delivered by the Company and constitutes or will constitute, upon execution and delivery thereof, as applicable, a valid, legal and binding agreement of the Company (assuming that this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or will be a party are or will be upon execution thereof, as applicable, duly authorized, executed and delivered by the other Persons party thereto), enforceable against the Company in accordance with their respective terms (subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other Laws affecting generally the enforcement of creditors’ rights and subject to general principles of equity). The Company Stockholder Written Consent is the only vote of the holders of any class or series of capital stock of the Company required to approve and adopt this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or is contemplated to be a party, the performance of the Company’s obligations hereunder and thereunder and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger).
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(b) The Company Board duly adopted resolutions (a) determining that entry into this Agreement and the other Ancillary Documents to which the Company is party, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, including the Merger, are advisable and fair to, and in the best interest of, the Company and its stockholders, (b) approving this Agreement, such other Ancillary Documents and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, including the Merger, and (c) directing that this Agreement be submitted to the Company Stockholders entitled to vote thereon for adoption thereby and resolving to make the Company Board Recommendation, which resolutions have not been subsequently withdrawn or modified in a manner adverse to SVAQ or Merger Sub.
Section 3.4 Financial Statements; Undisclosed Liabilities.
(a) The Company has made available to SVAQ a true and complete copy of the following financial statements, which are attached as Section 3.4(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules: the unaudited consolidated balance sheet of the Group Companies as of December 31, 2025 (the “Latest Balance Sheet”) and the related unaudited consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss and stockholders’ deficit and cash flows of the Group Companies for the period ended December 31, 2025 (the “Financial Statements”). Each of the Financial Statements (including the notes thereto) (A) was prepared in accordance with GAAP applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods indicated (except as may be indicated in the notes thereto) and (B) fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the Group Companies as at the date thereof and for the period indicated therein, except as otherwise specifically noted therein.
(b) Except (i) as set forth on the face of the Latest Balance Sheet, (ii) for Liabilities incurred in the ordinary course of business since the date of the Latest Balance Sheet (none of which are Liabilities directly or indirectly related to a breach of Contract, breach of warranty, tort, infringement, Proceeding or violation of, or non-compliance with, Law), (iii) for Liabilities incurred in connection with the negotiation, preparation or execution of this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents, the performance of their respective covenants or agreements in this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby and (iv) for Liabilities that are not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies taken as a whole, no Group Company has any Liabilities of the type required to be set forth on a balance sheet prepared in accordance with GAAP.
(c) The Group Companies have established and maintain systems of internal accounting controls that are designed to provide, in all material respects, reasonable assurance (i) that all transactions are executed in accordance with management’s authorization, (ii) that all transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of proper and accurate financial statements in accordance with GAAP and to maintain accountability for the Group Companies’ assets, and (iii) regarding prevention or timely detection of the unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Group Company’s properties or assets. The Group Companies maintain and, for all periods covered by the Financial Statements, have maintained books and records of the Group Companies in the ordinary course of business that are accurate and complete and reflect the revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities of the Group Companies in all material respects.
(d) Except as set forth in Section 3.4(d) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, since the Lookback Date, no Group Company has received any written complaint, allegation, assertion or claim that there is (i) “significant deficiency” in the internal controls over financial reporting of the Group Companies, (ii) a “material weakness” in the internal controls over financial reporting of the Group Companies or (iii) fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees of the Group Companies who have a significant role in the internal controls over financial reporting of the Group Companies.
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Section 3.5 Consents and Requisite Governmental Approvals; No Violations.
(a) No consent, approval or authorization of, or designation, declaration or filing with, any Governmental Entity is required on the part of the Company with respect to the Company’s execution, delivery or performance of its obligations under this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or will be party or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, except for (i) compliance with and filings under the HSR Act, (ii) the filing with the SEC of (A) the Registration Statement / Proxy Statement and the declaration of the effectiveness thereof by the SEC and (B) such reports under Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as may be required in connection with this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, (iii) the filing of the Certificate of Merger or (iv) any other consents, approvals, authorizations, designations, declarations, waivers or filings, the absence of which would not be material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
(b) None of the execution or delivery by the Company of this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party, the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder or thereunder, or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby will, directly or indirectly (with or without due notice or lapse of time or both) (i) result in a violation or breach of any provision of the Company’s Governing Documents, (ii) result in a violation or breach of, or constitute a default or give rise to any right of termination, Consent, cancellation, amendment, modification, suspension, revocation or acceleration under, any of the terms, conditions or provisions of (A) any Material Contract to which any Group Company is a party or (B) any Material Permits, (iii) violate, or constitute a breach under, any Order or applicable Law to which any Group Company or any of its properties or assets are subject or bound or (iv) result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the assets or properties (other than any Permitted Liens) or Equity Securities of any Group Company, except, in the case of any of clauses (ii) through (iv) above, as would not be material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
Section 3.6 Permits. Each of the Group Companies has all Permits (the “Material Permits”) that are required to own, lease or operate its properties and assets and to conduct its business as currently conducted, except where the failure to hold the same would not be material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole. Except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole, (i) each Material Permit is in full force and effect in accordance with its terms and (ii) no notice of suspension, limitation, revocation, cancellation, modification or termination of any Material Permit has been received by the Group Companies.
Section 3.7 Material Contracts.
(a) Section 3.7(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a list of the following Contracts to which a Group Company is a party as of the date of this Agreement, excluding any Employee Benefit Plan (each Contract required to be set forth on Section 3.7(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules, together with each of the Contracts entered into after the date of this Agreement that would be required to be set forth on Section 3.7(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules if entered into prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, collectively, the “Material Contracts”):
(i) any Contract relating to Indebtedness for borrowed money of any Group Company in an amount exceeding $200,000 or to the placing of a Lien (other than any Permitted Lien) on any material assets or properties of any Group Company;
(ii) any Contract under which any Group Company is lessee of or holds or operates, in each case, any tangible property (other than real property), owned by any other Person, except for any lease or agreement under which the aggregate annual rental payments do not exceed $200,000;
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(iii) any Contract under which any Group Company is lessor of or permits any third party to hold or operate, in each case, any tangible property (other than real property), owned or controlled by such Group Company, except for any lease or agreement under which the aggregate annual rental payments do not exceed $200,000;
(iv) any joint venture, profit-sharing, partnership, collaboration, co-promotion, commercialization or research or development Contract, in each case, which requires, or would reasonably be expected to require (based on any occurrence, development, activity or event contemplated by such Contract), aggregate payments to or from any Group Company in excess of $500,000 over the life of the Contract;
(v) any Contract that (A) limits or purports to limit, in any material respect, the freedom of any Group Company to engage or compete in any line of business or with any Person or in any area or that would so limit or purport to limit, in any material respect, the operations of SVAQ or any of its Affiliates after the Closing, (B) contains any exclusivity, “most favored nation” or similar provisions, obligations or restrictions or (C) contains any other provisions restricting or purporting to restrict the ability of any Group Company to sell, develop, or commercialize products, directly or indirectly through third parties, or to solicit any potential employee or customer, in each case, in any material respect or that would so limit or purports to limit in any material respect, SVAQ or any of its Affiliates after the Closing;
(vi) any Contract requiring any future capital commitment or capital expenditure (or series of capital expenditures) by any Group Company in an amount in excess of (A) $500,000 annually or (B) $1,000,000 over the life of the agreement;
(vii) any Contract requiring any Group Company to guarantee the Liabilities of any Person (other than the Company or a Subsidiary) or pursuant to which any Person (other than the Company or a Subsidiary) has guaranteed the Liabilities of a Group Company;
(viii) any Contract under which any Group Company has, directly or indirectly, made or agreed to make any loan, advance, or assignment of payment to any Person or made any capital contribution to, or other investment in, any Person, in each case, in excess of $500,000;
(ix) any Contract required to be disclosed on Section 3.19 of the Company Disclosure Schedules;
(x) any Contract governing the terms of the employment, engagement or services of any current director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service provider of a Group Company whose annual base salary (or, in the case of an independent contractor, annual base compensation) is in excess of $300,000;
(xi) any Contract for the disposition of any portion of the assets or business of any Group Company or for the acquisition by any Group Company of the assets or business of any other Person (other than acquisitions or dispositions made in the ordinary course of business), or under which any Group Company has any continuing obligation with respect to an “earn-out”, contingent purchase price or other contingent or deferred payment obligation;
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(xii) any settlement, conciliation or similar Contract (A) the performance of which would be reasonably likely to involve payments in excess of $500,000 after the date of this Agreement, (B) with a Governmental Entity or (C) that imposes or is reasonably likely to impose, at any time in the future, any material, non-monetary obligations on any Group Company (or SVAQ or any of its Affiliates after the Closing); and
(xiii) any other Contract the performance of which requires either (A) annual payments to or from any Group Company in excess of $200,000 or (B) aggregate payments to or from any Group Company in excess of $500,000 over the life of the agreement and, in each case, that is not terminable by the applicable Group Company without penalty upon less than thirty (30) days’ prior written notice.
(b) (i) Each Material Contract is valid and binding on the applicable Group Company and, to the knowledge of the Company, the counterparties thereto, and is in full force and effect and enforceable in accordance with its terms against such Group Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, the counterparties thereto, (ii) the applicable Group Company and, to the knowledge of the Company, the counterparties thereto are not in material breach of, or default under, any Material Contract and (iii) no event has occurred that (with or without due notice or lapse of time or both) would result in a material breach of, or default under, any Material Contract by the applicable Group Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, the counterparties thereto. The Company has made available to SVAQ true and complete copies of all Material Contracts in effect as of the date hereof (other than purchase orders, invoices, and similar confirmatory or administrative documents that are ancillary to the main contractual relationship between the parties to a particular Contract or group of Contracts and that, in each case, do not contain any material executory or continuing terms, conditions, obligations or rights).
Section 3.8 Absence of Changes. Except as set forth in Section 3.8 of the Company Disclosure Schedule, during the period beginning on January 1, 2026 and ending on the date of this Agreement, (a) no Company Material Adverse Effect has occurred and (b) except as expressly contemplated by this Agreement, any Ancillary Document or in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, (i) the Company has conducted its business in the ordinary course in all material respects and (ii) no Group Company has taken any action that would require the consent of SVAQ if taken during the period from the date of this Agreement until the Closing pursuant to Section 5.1(b)(i) (making dividends and distributions), Section 5.1(b)(iv)(A) (sell, license, dispose of material assets), Section 5.1(b)(viii) (increase compensation and bonuses), Section 5.1(b)(xi) (liquidate, restructure, reorganize), Section 5.1(b)(xiv) (make any change of control payments) or Section 5.1(b)(xv) (amend, modify or terminate any Material Contract, or waive any material benefit or right under any Material Contract).
Section 3.9 Litigation. There is (and since the Lookback Date there has been) no Proceeding pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened against any Group Company that, if adversely decided or resolved, would reasonably be expected to result in a Liability in excess of $500,000. Neither the Group Companies nor any of their respective properties or assets is subject to any material Order. As of the date hereof, there are no material Proceedings by a Group Company pending against any other Person.
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Section 3.10 Compliance with Applicable Law. Each Group Company (a) conducts (and since the Lookback Date has conducted) its business in accordance with all Laws and Orders applicable to such Group Company and is not in violation of any such Law or Order and (b) has not received any communications from a Governmental Entity that alleges that such Group Company is not in compliance with any Law or Order, except in each case of clauses (a) and (b), as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies.
Section 3.11 Employee Plans.
(a) Section 3.11(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete list of all material Employee Benefit Plans (including, for each such Employee Benefit Plan, its jurisdiction). With respect to each material Employee Benefit Plan, the Group Companies have provided SVAQ with true and complete copies of the material documents pursuant to which the plan is maintained, funded and administered.
(b) No Employee Benefit Plan is or was within the past six (6) years, nor does any Group Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates have or had within the past six (6) years any Liability with respect to or under: (i) a Multiemployer Plan; (ii) a “defined benefit plan” (as defined in Section 3(35) of ERISA, whether or not subject to ERISA) or a plan that is or was subject to Title IV of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code; (iii) a “multiple employer plan” within the meaning of Section of 413(c) of the Code or Section 210 of ERISA; or (iv) a “multiple employer welfare arrangement” as defined in Section 3(40) of ERISA. No Group Company has any material Liabilities to provide any retiree or post-termination health or life insurance or other welfare-type benefits to any Person other than health continuation coverage pursuant to COBRA or similar Law and for which the recipient pays the full cost of coverage or for a limited period of time following a termination of employment pursuant to the terms of an Employee Benefit Plan in effect as of the date hereof and set forth in Section 3.11(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules. No Group Company has any material Liabilities by reason of at any time being considered a single employer under Section 414 of the Code with any other Person.
(c) Each Employee Benefit Plan is in compliance, in all material respects, with its terms and the requirements of all applicable Laws including, without limitation, ERISA and the Code. Each Employee Benefit Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code has timely received a favorable determination or opinion or advisory letter from the Internal Revenue Service that the Employee Benefit Plan is so qualified and, to the Company’s knowledge, no fact or event has occurred since the date of such determination or opinion letter or letters from the IRS that would reasonably be expected to result in the loss of the qualified status of any such Employee Benefit Plan. None of the Group Companies has incurred (whether or not assessed) any material penalty or Tax under Section 4980H, 4980B, 4980D, 6721 or 6722 of the Code.
(d) As of the date of this Agreement, there are no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened in writing claims or Proceedings with respect to any Employee Benefit Plan (other than routine claims for benefits). There have been no non-exempt “prohibited transactions” within the meaning of Section 4975 of the Code or Sections 406 or 407 of ERISA and no breaches of fiduciary duty (as determined under ERISA) with respect to any Employee Benefit Plan, except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole. With respect to each Employee Benefit Plan, all contributions, distributions, reimbursements and premium payments that are due have been timely made, except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
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(e) The execution and delivery of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not materially (alone or in combination with any other event) (i) result in any payment or benefit becoming due to or result in the forgiveness of any indebtedness of any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service providers of any of the Group Companies, (ii) increase the amount or value of any compensation or benefits payable to any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service providers of any of the Group Companies or (iii) result in the acceleration of the time of payment or vesting, or trigger any payment or funding of any compensation or benefits to any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service providers of any of the Group Companies.
(f) No amount that could be received (whether in cash or property or the vesting of property) by any “disqualified individual” of any of the Group Companies under any Employee Benefit Plan or otherwise as a result of the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement could, separately or in the aggregate, be nondeductible under Section 280G of the Code or subjected to an excise tax under Section 4999 of the Code.
(g) Each Employee Benefit Plan or Contract (or any other agreement, program, policy or arrangement by or to which any of the Group Companies is a party, is bound or is otherwise liable) that provides “nonqualified deferred compensation” as defined in Section 409A of the Code (or any corresponding provision of state, local or foreign Tax Law) is and has been in compliance in all material respects with Section 409A of the Code and all applicable guidance from the Internal Revenue Service. Each Company SAR has been granted with an exercise price at least equal to the fair market value of a Company Share on the date of grant of such Company SAR as determined in accordance with Section 409A of the Code and all treasury regulations and guidance promulgated thereunder. The Group Companies have no material obligation to make a “gross-up” or similar payment in respect of any taxes that may become payable under Section 4999 or 409A of the Code.
(h) Each Foreign Benefit Plan that is required to be registered or intended to be tax exempt has been registered (and, where applicable, accepted for registration) and is tax exempt and has been maintained in good standing, to the extent applicable, with each Governmental Entity. No Foreign Benefit Plan is a “defined benefit plan” (as defined in ERISA, whether or not subject to ERISA) or has any material unfunded or underfunded Liabilities. All material contributions required to have been made by or on behalf of the Group Companies with respect to plans or arrangements maintained or sponsored a Governmental Entity (including severance, termination indemnities or other similar benefits maintained for employees outside of the U.S.) have been timely made or fully accrued.
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Section 3.12 Environmental Matters.
(a) None of the Group Companies have received any written notice or communication from any Governmental Entity or any other Person regarding any actual, alleged, or potential violation in any respect of, or a failure to comply in any respect with, any Environmental Laws.
(b) The Group Companies are and have been since the Lookback Date in compliance with all applicable Environmental Laws. The Group Companies are not subject to any Proceedings by any Governmental Entity or any Person related to (i) Environmental Laws; (ii) the release or threatened release of, or exposure to, any Hazardous Substances; or (iii) seeking to adversely amend, revoke, materially change the status of or terms of or terminate any material Permits required for the operations of the Group Companies under applicable Environmental Laws (“Environmental Permits”), and there is (and since the Lookback Date there has been) no Proceeding pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened in writing against any Group Company pursuant to Environmental Laws.
(c) There has been no manufacture, release, treatment, storage, disposal, arrangement for disposal, transport or handling of, contamination by, or exposure of any Person to, any Hazardous Substances at any Owned Real Property, Leased Real Property, or at any property formerly owned or leased by the Group Companies.
(d) The Group Companies have obtained and are in material compliance with all Environmental Permits, and there is no fact or circumstance that would prevent or materially delay the Group Companies from obtaining the Environmental Permits necessary to operate.
(e) There are no facts, conditions, situations or circumstances that would reasonably be expected to form the basis of any material violation of any Environmental Law by any Group Company or a material liability or obligation of a Group Company arising under Environmental Laws.
(f) Each of the Group Companies has not assumed, by contract or, to the Company’s knowledge, by operation of Law, any liability under any Environmental Law or relating to the release of any Hazardous Substances, or is an indemnitor in connection with any threatened or asserted claim by any third-party indemnitee for any liability under any Environmental Law or relating to the release of any Hazardous Substances.
(g) The Group Companies do not own or operate, and to the Company’s knowledge, none of the following are present at, on, in, or under any Owned Real Property or Leased Real Property: (i) underground storage tanks, (ii) dumps or landfills, (iii) surface impoundments, or (iv) other units for the treatment, storage or disposal of Hazardous Substances.
(h) This Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not result in any liabilities for site investigation or cleanup, or require the consent of any Person, pursuant to any Environmental Law, including any so-called “transaction-triggered” or “responsible property transfer” requirements.
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(i) The Group Companies have not manufactured or imported any products, mixtures, or items containing PFAS, and none of the products used in the operations of the Group Companies contain any PFAS.
(j) The Group Companies have made available to SVAQ copies of all environmental assessments, audits and reports and all other material environmental, health and safety documents that are in any Group Company’s possession or control relating to the Owned Real Property, Leased Real Property, and current or former operations, properties or facilities of the Group Companies.
Section 3.13 Intellectual Property.
(a) Section 3.13(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete list of (i) all currently issued or pending Company Registered Intellectual Property and (ii) material unregistered Marks and Software constituting Company Owned Intellectual Property and either incorporated into or used in connection with any Company Products or otherwise material to the business of the Group Companies, listing for each item of Company Registered Intellectual Property (A) the record owner of such item, (B) the jurisdictions in which such item has been issued or registered or filed, (C) the issuance, registration or application date, as applicable, (D) the issuance, registration or application number, as applicable, and (E) registrar.
(b) As of the date of this Agreement, all necessary fees and filings with respect to any material Company Registered Intellectual Property have been timely submitted to the relevant intellectual property office or Governmental Entity and Internet domain name registrars to maintain such material Company Registered Intellectual Property in full force and effect. As of the date of this Agreement, no issuance or registration obtained and no application filed by the Group Companies for any Intellectual Property Rights has been cancelled, abandoned, allowed to lapse or not renewed, except where such Group Company has, in its reasonable business judgment, decided to cancel, abandon, allow to lapse or not renew such issuance, registration or application. As of the date of this Agreement there are no material Proceedings pending, including litigations, interference, re-examination, inter parties review, reissue, opposition, nullity, or cancellation proceedings pending that relate to any of the Company Registered Intellectual Property and, to the Company’s knowledge, no such material Proceedings are threatened by any Governmental Entity or any other Person.
(c) A Group Company exclusively owns all right, title and interest in and to all material Company Registered Intellectual Property and has valid and enforceable rights under all Company Licensed Intellectual Property, free and clear of all Liens (other than Permitted Liens). No Group Company has (i) transferred ownership of any material Company Registered Intellectual Property to any other Person, (ii) granted any exclusive license with respect to any material Company Registered Intellectual Property or material Company Licensed Intellectual Property to any other Person or (iii) granted any customer the right to use any material Company Product or service on anything other than a non-exclusive basis.
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(d) Section 3.13(d) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a list of all current Contracts pursuant to which a Group Company (i) is granted a license, covenant not to sue, assert, or enforce, option, right of purchase or first or last refusal, or other right in or to any Company Licensed Intellectual Property (each, an “In-bound License”) or (ii) grants to any third party a license, covenant not to sue, assert, or enforce, option, right of purchase or first or last refusal, or other right in or to or under any Company Owned Intellectual Property or Company Licensed Intellectual Property (each, an “Out-bound License”), provided that, (x) Section 3.13(d)(i) of the Company Disclosure Schedule may, with respect to In-Bound Licenses, exclude (A) licenses to Off-the-Shelf Software with aggregate annual license and maintenance fees of less than $100,000, (B) licenses to Public Software, (C) non-disclosure agreements and (D) Contracts under which a non-exclusive license is granted to a Group Company that is incidental to the receipt of services or deliverables and (y) Section 3.13(d)(ii) of the Company Disclosure Schedule may, with respect to Out-bound Licenses, exclude (A) Contracts under which a Group Company grants non-exclusive licenses of Company Products to customers in the ordinary course of business and (B) Contracts under which a Group Company grants non-exclusive licenses of Company Owned Intellectual Property that is incidental to the receipt of services or deliverables.
(e) The Company Registered Intellectual Property and the Company Licensed Intellectual Property constitutes all of the Intellectual Property Rights used in, or necessary for, the operation of the Group Companies’ respective businesses, and is sufficient to enable the Group Companies to conduct their respective businesses as currently conducted in all material respects. The Company Owned Intellectual Property is valid, subsisting and enforceable. No third person has ownership rights in any derivative works created by or on behalf of such third person of the Company Owned Intellectual Property.
(f) Each Group Company has taken all reasonable steps to safeguard and maintain the secrecy of any trade secrets, know-how and other confidential information owned by each Group Company or by any Person to which any Group Company has an obligation of confidentiality. Without limiting the foregoing, each Group Company has not disclosed any trade secrets, know-how or confidential information to any other Person unless such disclosure was under an appropriate written non-disclosure agreement containing appropriate limitations on use, reproduction and disclosure. To the Company’s knowledge, there has been no violation or unauthorized access to or disclosure of any trade secrets, know-how or confidential information of or in the possession or control of each Group Company, or of any written obligations with respect to such. All Persons who have contributed, developed or conceived any Company Products or any other material Company Owned Intellectual Property have executed valid and enforceable written agreements with a Group Company pursuant to which such persons assigned to a Group Company all of their entire right, title, and interest in and to any Intellectual Property Rights created, conceived or otherwise developed by such Person in the course of and related to his, her or its relationship with such Group Company, without further consideration or any restrictions or obligations whatsoever, including on the use or other disposition or ownership of such Intellectual Property Rights.
(g) No loss or expiration of any of the Company Owned Intellectual Property is threatened in writing or pending. None of the Company Registered Intellectual Property and, to the Company’s knowledge, none of the Company Licensed Intellectual Property is subject to any outstanding Order that restricts in any manner the use, sale, transfer, licensing or exploitation thereof by the Group Companies or affects the validity, use or enforceability of any such Company Registered Intellectual Property.
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(h) To the Company’s knowledge, neither the conduct of the business of the Group Companies nor any of the Company Products infringes, misappropriates of or otherwise violates, or has, in the past six (6) years, infringed, misappropriated, or otherwise violated any Intellectual Property Rights of any other Person, except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
(i) In the past six (6) years, there is no Proceeding pending nor has any Group Company received any written communications (i) alleging that a Group Company has infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated any Intellectual Property Rights of any other Person, (ii) challenging the validity, enforceability, use or exclusive ownership of any Company Registered Intellectual Property or (iii) inviting any Group Company to take a license under any Patent or consider the applicability of any Patents to any products or services of the Group Companies or to the conduct of the business of the Group Companies.
(j) To the Company’s knowledge, no Person is infringing, misappropriating, misusing, diluting or violating any Company Registered Intellectual Property in any material respect. Since December 31, 2020, no Group Company has made any written claim against any Person alleging any infringement, misappropriation or other violation of any Company Registered Intellectual Property in any material respect.
(k) Each Group Company has obtained, possesses and is in compliance with valid licenses to use all of the Software present on the computers and other Software-enabled electronic devices that it owns or leases or that is otherwise used by such Group Company and/or its employees in connection with the Group Company business, except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as whole. No Group Company has disclosed or delivered to any escrow agent or any other Person, other than employees or contractors who are subject to confidentiality obligations, any of the source code to any Company Products, and no other Person has the right, contingent or otherwise, to obtain access to or use any such source code. To the Company’s knowledge, no event has occurred, and no circumstance or condition exists, that (with or without notice or lapse of time or both) will, or would reasonably be expected to, result in the delivery, license or disclosure of any source code to any Company Product to any Person who is not, as of the date the event occurs or circumstance or condition comes into existence, a current employee or contractor of a Group Company subject to confidentiality obligations with respect thereto.
(l) Section 3.13(j) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete list of all material Public Software that is incorporated or embedded in any proprietary Software of a Group Company by any Group Company as of the date of this Agreement. No Group Company has accessed, used, modified, linked to, created derivative works from or incorporated into any proprietary Software that constitutes a Company Product in a manner that (i) requires any Company Owned Intellectual Property to be licensed, sold, disclosed, distributed, hosted or otherwise made available, including in source code form and/or for the purpose of making derivative works, for any reason, (ii) grants, or requires any Group Company to grant, the right to decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise derive the source code or underlying structure of any Software constituting a Company Product, (iii) limits in any manner the ability to charge license fees or otherwise seek compensation in connection with marketing, licensing or distribution of any such Software or (iv) otherwise imposes any limitation, restriction or condition on the right or ability of any Group Company to use, hold for use, license, host, distribute or otherwise dispose of any such Software, other than compliance with notice and attribution requirements, in each case, except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
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(m) To the Company’s knowledge, none of the Company Products (i) contains any bug, defect, or error that materially and adversely affects the use, functionality, or performance of such Company Product or any product or system containing or used in conjunction with such Company Product or (ii) fails to comply with any applicable warranty or other contractual commitment relating to the use, functionality, or performance of such Company Product or any product or system containing or used in conjunction with such Company Product, in each case, except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
(n) Section 3.13(n) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete list and description of all material internal or third-party AI Tools used, held for use or planned to be used in the operation of the business of the Group Companies, including a list and description of all material AI Training Inputs used in and material to the development, operation or improvement of any Company Products. Each Group Company has (i) obtained all licenses, consents and permissions, provided all notices and disclosures, and otherwise holds all rights, in each case as required under applicable law, to collect and use all such AI Training Inputs in the conduct of the operation of its business and (ii) complied in all material respects with all use restrictions and other requirements of any license, consent, permission or other Contract and any website terms of use, terms of service or other terms governing the such Group Company’s collection and use of such AI Training Inputs, including the extraction of AI Training Inputs using web scraping, web harvesting or similar technology. The Group Companies have each adopted policies and adhered with applicable Laws in relation to their use and development of AI Tools and no Proceeding by any Governmental Entity or other Person has been asserted or instituted, or, threatened against any Group Company relating thereto alleging a violation of any applicable Laws or any rights thereunder.
Section 3.14 Labor Matters.
(a) The Company is, and since the Lookback Date has been, in material compliance with all applicable Laws respecting employment, employment practices, terms and conditions of employment, worker classification, prohibited discrimination, equal employment opportunities, fair employment practices, meal and rest periods, immigration status, employee safety and health, wages and hours (including overtime wages), compensation and hours of work. Since the incorporation of the Company, (i) none of the Group Companies (A) has or has had any material Liability for any arrears of wages or other compensation for services (including salaries, wage premiums, commissions, fees or bonuses), or any penalty or other sums for failure to comply with any of the foregoing, and (B) has or has had any material Liability for any payment to any trust or other fund governed by or maintained by or on behalf of any Governmental Entity with respect to unemployment compensation benefits, social security, social insurances or other benefits or obligations for any employees of any Group Company (other than routine payments to be made in the normal course of business and consistent with past practice); and (ii) the Group Companies have withheld all amounts required by applicable Law or by agreement or Contract to be withheld from wages, salaries and other payments to employees or independent contractors or other service providers of each Group Company, except as has not and would not reasonably be expected to result in, individually or in the aggregate, material Liability to the Group Companies. The Company is not, and since the Lookback Date has not been, a party to a conciliation agreement, consent decree or other agreement or Order with any federal, state, or local agency or governmental authority with respect to employment practices. The services provided by each current employee is terminable at the will of the Company and any such termination would result in no liability to the Company. The Company has no material Liability, or to the knowledge of the Company, threats or claims of material liability, with respect to any misclassification of: (1) any independent contractor rather than as an employee, (2) any employee leased from another employer, or (3) any employee currently or formerly classified as exempt from overtime wages.
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(b) Since the incorporation of the Company, there has been no “mass layoff” or “plant closing” as defined by WARN related to any Group Company, and the Group Companies have not incurred any material Liability under WARN nor will they incur any Liability under WARN as a result of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(c) No Group Company is, or has been, a party to or bound by any collective bargaining agreements or other agreements with any labor organization, labor union, works council or other employee representative or any other Contract with a labor union, labor organization, works council, employee delegate, representative or other employee collective group nor is there any duty on the part of any Group Company to bargain with any labor union, labor organization, works council, employee delegate, representative or other employee collective group. Since December 31, 2020, there has been no actual or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened unfair labor practice charges, material grievances, arbitrations, strikes, lockouts, work stoppages, slowdowns, picketing, hand billing or other material labor disputes against or affecting any Group Company. To the Company’s knowledge, since December 31, 2020, there have been no labor organizing activities with respect to any employees of any Group Company.
(d) No employee layoff, facility closure or shutdown (whether voluntary or by Order), reduction-in-force, furlough, temporary layoff, material work schedule change or reduction in hours, or reduction in salary or wages, or other workforce changes affecting employees of the Group Companies has occurred within the past six (6) months or is currently contemplated, planned or announced.
(e) No allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct or retaliation while employed by, or providing services to, the Company have been made against any employee (in their capacity as such), and the Company has not entered into any settlement agreement or conducted any investigation related to allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct or retaliation by or regarding any employee or other representative of the Company (in their capacity as such). To the extent required by applicable Law, the Company has established and distributed to its employees a policy against harassment and a complaint procedure, and it has required all current employees, independent contractors and advisors to undergo anti-harassment training.
Section 3.15 Insurance. Section 3.15 of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a list of all material policies of fire, liability, workers’ compensation, property, casualty and other forms of insurance owned or held by any Group Company as of the date of this Agreement. Except as set forth on Section 3.15 of the Company Disclosure Schedules, all such policies are in full force and effect, all premiums due and payable thereon as of the date of this Agreement have been paid in full as of the date of this Agreement, and true and complete copies of all such policies have been made available to SVAQ. As of the date of this Agreement, no claim by any Group Company is pending under any such policies as to which coverage has been denied or disputed, or rights reserved to do so, by the underwriters thereof.
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Section 3.16 Tax Matters.
(a) Each Group Company has prepared and filed all income and other material Tax Returns required to have been filed by it, all such Tax Returns are true and complete in all material respects and prepared in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Laws and Orders, and each Group Company has paid all material Taxes required to have been paid by it regardless of whether shown on a Tax Return.
(b) Each Group Company has timely withheld and paid to the appropriate Tax Authority all material amounts required to have been withheld and paid in connection with amounts paid or owing to any employee, individual independent contractor, other service providers, equity interest holder or other third party.
(c) No Group Company is currently the subject of a Tax audit or examination with respect to material Taxes. No Group Company has been informed in writing of the commencement or anticipated commencement of any Tax audit or examination that has not been resolved or completed in each case with respect to material Taxes.
(d) No Group Company has consented to extend or waive the time in which any material Tax may be assessed or collected by any Tax Authority, other than any such extensions or waivers that are no longer in effect or that were extensions of time to file Tax Returns obtained in the ordinary course of business.
(e) No “closing agreement” as described in Section 7121 of the Code (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or non-U.S. income Tax Law), private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda or similar agreements or rulings have been entered into or issued by any Tax Authority with respect to a Group Company which agreement or ruling would be effective after the Closing Date.
(f) No Group Company is or has been a party to any “listed transaction” as defined in Section 6707A of the Code and Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4 (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or non-U.S. income Tax Law).
(g) There are no Liens for material Taxes on any assets of the Group Companies other than Permitted Liens.
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(h) During the two (2)-year period ending on the date of this Agreement, no Group Company was a distributing corporation or a controlled corporation in a transaction purported or intended to be governed by Section 355 of the Code.
(i) No Group Company (i) has been a member of an affiliated group filing a consolidated federal income Tax Return (other than a group the common parent of which was a Group Company or any of its current Affiliates) or (ii) has any material Liability for the Taxes of any Person (other than a Group Company or any of its current Affiliates) under Section 1.1502-6 of the Treasury Regulations (or any similar provision of state, local or non-United States Law), as a transferee or successor or by Contract (other than any Contract the principal purpose of which does not relate to Taxes).
(j) No written claims have ever been made by any Tax Authority in a jurisdiction where a Group Company does not file Tax Returns that such Group Company is or may be subject to taxation by that jurisdiction, which claims have not been resolved or withdrawn.
(k) No Group Company is a party to any Tax allocation, Tax sharing or Tax indemnity or similar agreements (other than one that is included in a Contract entered into in the ordinary course of business that is not primarily related to Taxes) and no Group Company is a party to any joint venture, partnership or other arrangement that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income Tax purposes.
(l) Each Group Company is tax resident only in its jurisdiction of formation.
(m) No Group Company has a permanent establishment (within the meaning of an applicable Tax treaty) or otherwise has an office or fixed place of business in a country other than the country in which it is organized.
(n) No Group Company has taken or agreed to take any action not contemplated by this Agreement and/or any Ancillary Document that could reasonably be expected to prevent the Merger from qualifying for the Intended Tax Treatment. To the knowledge of the Company, no facts or circumstances exist, other than any facts or circumstances to the extent that such facts or circumstances exist or arise as a result of or related to any act or omission occurring after the signing date of any SVAQ Party or any of their respective Affiliates not contemplated by this Agreement and/or any of the Ancillary Documents, that could reasonably be expected to prevent the Merger from qualifying for the Intended Tax Treatment.
Section 3.17 Brokers. Except for fees (including the amounts due and payable assuming the Closing occurs) set forth on Section 3.17 of the Company Disclosure Schedules (which fees shall be the sole responsibility of the Company, except as otherwise provided in Section 8.6), no broker, finder, investment banker or other Person is entitled to any brokerage fee, finders’ fee or other commission in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement based upon arrangements made by or on behalf of the Company or any of its Affiliates for which any of the Group Companies has any obligation.
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Section 3.18 Real and Personal Property.
(a) Owned Real Property. Section 3.18(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete list of all real property owned by the Group Companies (“Owned Real Property”).
(b) Leased Real Property. Section 3.18(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete list (including street addresses) of all real property leased by any of the Group Companies (the “Leased Real Property”) and all Real Property Leases pursuant to which any Group Company is a tenant or landlord as of the date of this Agreement. True and complete copies of all such Real Property Leases have been made available to SVAQ. Each Real Property Lease is in full force and effect and is a valid, legal and binding obligation of the applicable Group Company party thereto, enforceable in accordance with its terms against such Group Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, each other party thereto (subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other Laws affecting generally the enforcement of creditors’ rights and subject to general principles of equity). There is no material breach or default by any Group Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any third party under any Real Property Lease, and, to the Company’s knowledge, no event has occurred which (with or without notice or lapse of time or both) would constitute a material breach or default under any Real Property Lease or would permit termination of, or a material modification or acceleration thereof, by any counterparty to any Real Property Lease. The Group Companies’ possession and quiet enjoyment of the Leased Real Property under any Real Property Lease has not been materially disturbed, and to the Company’s knowledge there are no material disputes with respect to any Real Property Lease. Except as set forth in Section 3.18(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedules, as of the date hereof, no Group Company has (i) subleased, licensed or otherwise granted any Person the right to use or occupy the Leased Real Property or any portion thereof; or (ii) collaterally assigned or granted any other security interest in any Real Property Lease or any interest therein.
(c) Personal Property. Each Group Company has good, marketable and indefeasible title to, or a valid leasehold interest in or license or right to use, all of the material assets and properties of the Group Companies reflected in the Financial Statements or thereafter acquired by the Group Companies, free and clear of all Liens (other than Permitted Liens), except for assets disposed of in the ordinary course of business.
(d) Assets. As of immediately after the Effective Time, the assets (which, for the avoidance of doubt, shall include any assets held pursuant to valid leasehold interest, license or other similar interests or right to use any assets) of the Group Companies will constitute all of the assets necessary to conduct the Business in materially the same manner (for the Group Companies, taken as a whole) as it is conducted on the date of this Agreement.
Section 3.19 Transactions with Affiliates. Section 3.19 of the Company Disclosure Schedules sets forth all Contracts between (a) any Group Company, on the one hand, and (b) any officer, director, employee, partner, member, manager, direct or indirect equityholder or Affiliate of any Group Company (other than, for the avoidance of doubt, any other Group Company) or any family member of the foregoing Persons, on the other hand (each Person identified in this clause (b), a “Company Related Party”), other than (i) Contracts with respect to a Company Related Party’s employment with (including benefit plans and other ordinary course compensation from) any of the Group Companies entered into in the ordinary course of business, (ii) Contracts with respect to a Company Stockholder’s or a holder of Company Equity Awards’ status as a holder of Equity Securities of the Company and (iii) Contracts entered into after the date of this Agreement that are either permitted pursuant to Section 5.1(b) or entered into in accordance with Section 5.1(b). No Company Related Party (A) owns any interest in any material asset used in any Group Company’s business, or (B) possesses, directly or indirectly, any material financial interest in, or is a director or executive officer of, any Person which is a supplier, vendor, partner, customer, lessor or other material business relation of any Group Company, (C) is a supplier, vendor, (D) owes any material amount to, or is owed any material amount by, any Group Company (other than accrued compensation, employee benefits, employee or director expense reimbursement, in each case, in the ordinary course of business or pursuant to any transaction entered into after the date of this Agreement that is either permitted pursuant to Section 5.1(b) or entered into in accordance with Section 5.1(b)). All Contracts, arrangements, understandings, interests and other matters that are required to be disclosed pursuant to this Section 3.19 are referred to herein as “Company Related Party Transactions”.
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Section 3.20 Data Privacy and Security.
(a) Each Group Company has implemented commercially reasonable, written policies relating to the Processing of Personal Information as and confidential information (“Privacy and Data Security Policies”).
(b) Each Group Company and, to the knowledge of Company, all vendors, processors, or other third parties Processing or otherwise with authorization to access information that is Processed by or on behalf of any Group Company (“Company Personal Information”) in the course of their respective performance of services to any Group Company, comply and, since December 31, 2020, have complied with (i) all Privacy Laws, (ii) all applicable Company Privacy and Data Security Policies, and (iii) all contractual commitments that any Group Company has entered into with respect to the Processing of Personal Information or protection of confidential information (collectively, the “Data Privacy Commitments”), except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole. To the extent required by Privacy Laws, each Group Company has in place written agreements with all of their customers regarding the Processing of any Personal Information on behalf of such customers except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
(c) Except as is not and would not reasonably be expected to be, individually or in the aggregate, material to the Group Companies, taken as a whole, the execution, delivery, and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby do not and will not: (i) conflict with or result in a violation or breach of any Data Privacy Commitments; (ii) require the consent of or notice to any person concerning such person’s Personal Information; (iii) give rise to any right of termination or other right to impair or limit SVAQ’s rights to own and Process any Company Personal Information used in or necessary for the operation of the business of the Group Companies; or (iv) otherwise prohibit the transfer of Personal Information in the possession or control of a Group Company as contemplated by the transactions hereunder.
(d) No Group Company has received notice of any pending Proceedings, nor has there been any Proceedings against any Group Company initiated by (i) any Person; (ii) the United States Federal Trade Commission, any state attorney general or similar state official; or (iii) any other Governmental Entity, in each case, alleging that any Processing of Personal Information by or on behalf of a Group Company is in violation of any Data Privacy Commitments.
(e) The Group Companies have implemented and, since December 31, 2020, maintained, and required all vendors, processors, or other third parties authorized to Process any Personal Information or confidential information for or on behalf of any Group Company to implement and maintain commercially reasonable security measures, plans, procedures, controls, and programs (including a written information security program with respect to the Group Companies), to (i) protect Personal Information and/or confidential information which is Processed by or on behalf of the Group Companies against any accidental or unauthorized access, use, loss, disclosure, alteration, destruction, compromise, or other unauthorized Processing (a “Security Incident”); (ii) identify and address internal and external risks to the privacy and security of such Personal Information and/or confidential information; (iii) implement, monitor, and maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect Company IT Systems and such Personal Information and/or confidential information and its software, systems, applications, and websites involved in the Processing of Personal Information; and (iv) provide prompt notification in compliance with Privacy Laws in the case of any Security Incident. The employees and contractors of Group Companies receive commercially reasonable training on information security issues.
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(f) Since the incorporation of the Company, (i) there has been no unauthorized access, use or disclosure of Personal Information or confidential information Processed by or on behalf of the Group Companies; (ii) there have been no security breaches; including unauthorized intrusions or breaches of security into any Company IT Systems, except, in the case of clauses (i) and (ii), as would not have a Company Material Adverse Effect.
(g) To the knowledge of the Company, no Company Software contains any “back door,” “drop dead device,” “time bomb,” “Trojan horse,” “virus,” “worm,” “malware,” “vulnerability,” “spyware” or “adware” (as such terms are commonly understood in the software industry) or any other code designed or intended to have any of the following functions: (i) disrupting, disabling, harming, or otherwise impeding in any manner the operation of, or providing unauthorized access to, a computer system or network or other device on which such code is stored or installed; or (ii) compromising the privacy or security of any data or damaging or destroying any data or file without consent (collectively, “Malicious Code”). Each Group Company implements industry standard measures designed to prevent the introduction of Malicious Code into Company Software, including firewall protections and regular virus scans.
(h) Each Group Company owns or has a license to use the Company IT Systems as necessary to operate the business of each Group Company as currently conducted, and such Company IT Systems are sufficient for the current needs of the business of the Group Companies as currently conducted. The Group Companies maintain commercially reasonable disaster recovery, business continuity and risk assessment plans, procedures and facilities and each Group Company has taken reasonable steps and implemented reasonable procedures to ensure the Company IT Systems under its control are free from Malicious Code. There has not been any material failure with respect to any of the Company IT Systems that has not been remedied or replaced in all material respects.
Section 3.21 Compliance with International Trade & Anti-Corruption Laws.
(a) None of the Group Companies, any of their respective officers, directors, or employees or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of their other Representatives, or any other Persons acting for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, is or has been, since January 1, 2025, (i) a Person named on any Sanctions and Export Control Laws-related list of designated Persons maintained by a Governmental Entity; (ii) located, organized or ordinary resident in a country or territory which is itself the subject of or target of any Sanctions and Export Control Laws (at the time of this Agreement, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the Crimea, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, and the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine, collectively, “Sanctioned Countries”); (iii) an entity 50% or more owned, directly or indirectly, by one or more Persons described in clause (i) or (ii); or (iv) otherwise engaging in dealings with or for the benefit of any Person described in clauses (i) - (iii) or any Sanctioned Country in violation of Sanctions and Export Control Laws.
(b) Since the Lookback Date, none of the Group Companies, any of their respective officers, directors, or employees or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of their other Representatives, or any other Persons in each case, while acting for or on behalf of any of the foregoing has (i) made, offered, promised, paid or received any unlawful bribes, kickbacks or other similar payments to or from any Person, (ii) made or paid any unlawful contributions, directly or indirectly, to a domestic or foreign political party or candidate or (iii) otherwise made, offered, received, authorized, promised or paid any improper payment under any Anti-Corruption Laws.
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Section 3.22 Information Supplied. None of the information supplied or to be supplied by or on behalf of the Group Companies expressly for inclusion or incorporation by reference prior to the Closing in the Registration Statement will, when the Registration Statement is declared effective or when the Proxy Statement is mailed to the Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders or at the time of the SVAQ Shareholders Meeting, and in the case of any amendment thereto, at the time of such amendment, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading.
Section 3.23 Investigation; No Other Representations.
(a) The Company, on its own behalf and on behalf of its Representatives, acknowledges, represents, warrants and agrees that (i) it has conducted its own independent review and analysis of, and, based thereon, has formed an independent judgment concerning, the business, assets, condition, operations and prospects of, the SVAQ Parties and (ii) it has been furnished with or given access to such documents and information about the SVAQ Parties and their respective businesses and operations as it and its Representatives have deemed necessary to enable it to make an informed decision with respect to the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby.
(b) In entering into this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party, the Company has relied solely on its own investigation and analysis and the representations and warranties expressly set forth in and in the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party and no other representations or warranties of any SVAQ Party, any SVAQ Non-Party Affiliate or any other Person, either express or implied, and the Company, on its own behalf and on behalf of its Representatives, acknowledges, represents, warrants and agrees that, except for the representations and warranties expressly set forth in Article IV and in the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party, none of the SVAQ Parties, any SVAQ Non-Party Affiliate or any other Person makes or has made any representation or warranty, either express or implied, in connection with or related to this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby.
Section 3.24 EXCLUSIVITY OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES. NOTWITHSTANDING THE DELIVERY OR DISCLOSURE TO ANY SVAQ PARTY OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE REPRESENTATIVES OF ANY DOCUMENTATION OR OTHER INFORMATION (INCLUDING ANY FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS OR OTHER SUPPLEMENTAL DATA), EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS ARTICLE III OR THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS, NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR ANY OTHER PERSON MAKES, AND THE COMPANY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS, ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND OR NATURE, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS OR ANY OF THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY, INCLUDING AS TO THE MATERIALS RELATING TO THE BUSINESS AND AFFAIRS OR HOLDINGS OF THE GROUP COMPANIES THAT HAVE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE TO ANY SVAQ PARTY OR ANY OF THEIR REPRESENTATIVES OR IN ANY PRESENTATION OF THE BUSINESS AND AFFAIRS OF THE GROUP COMPANIES BY THE MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPANY OR OTHERS IN CONNECTION WITH THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR BY THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS, AND NO STATEMENT CONTAINED IN ANY OF SUCH MATERIALS OR MADE IN ANY SUCH PRESENTATION SHALL BE DEEMED A REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY HEREUNDER OR OTHERWISE OR DEEMED TO BE RELIED UPON BY ANY SVAQ PARTY IN EXECUTING, DELIVERING AND PERFORMING THIS AGREEMENT, THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY. EXCEPT FOR THE REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS ARTICLE III OR THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS, IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT ANY COST ESTIMATES, PROJECTIONS OR OTHER PREDICTIONS, ANY DATA, ANY FINANCIAL INFORMATION OR ANY MEMORANDA OR OFFERING MATERIALS OR PRESENTATIONS, INCLUDING ANY OFFERING MEMORANDUM OR SIMILAR MATERIALS MADE AVAILABLE BY OR ON BEHALF OF ANY GROUP COMPANY ARE NOT AND SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO BE OR TO INCLUDE REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY OR ANY OTHER PERSON, AND ARE NOT AND SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO BE RELIED UPON BY ANY SVAQ PARTY IN EXECUTING, DELIVERING OR PERFORMING THIS AGREEMENT, THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY.
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Article IV
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE SVAQ PARTIES
Subject to Section 8.8, except (a) as set forth on the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules, or (b) except as set forth in any SVAQ SEC Reports (excluding any disclosures in any “risk factors” section that do not constitute statements of fact, disclosures in any forward-looking statements disclaimers and other disclosures that are generally cautionary, predictive or forward-looking in nature), each SVAQ Party, jointly and not severally, hereby represents and warrants to the Company, as follows:
Section 4.1 Organization and Qualification. Each SVAQ Party is an exempted company, corporation, limited liability company or other applicable business entity duly organized, incorporated or formed, as applicable, validly existing and in good standing (or the equivalent thereof, if applicable, in each case, with respect to the jurisdictions that recognize the concept of good standing or any equivalent thereof) under the Laws of its jurisdiction of organization, incorporation or formation (as applicable).
Section 4.2 Authority.
(a) Each SVAQ Party has the requisite exempted company, corporate, limited liability company or other similar power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and each of the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. Subject to the receipt of the Required SVAQ Shareholder Approval and the approvals and consents to be obtained by Merger Sub pursuant to Section 5.8, the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents to which a SVAQ Party is or will be a party and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been (or, in the case of any Ancillary Document entered into after the date of this Agreement, will be upon execution thereof) duly authorized by all necessary exempted company, corporate, limited liability company or other similar action on the part of such SVAQ Party. This Agreement has been and each Ancillary Document to which a SVAQ Party is or will be a party will be, upon execution thereof, duly and validly executed and delivered by such SVAQ Party and constitutes or will constitute, upon execution thereof, as applicable, a valid, legal and binding agreement of such SVAQ Party (assuming this Agreement has been and the Ancillary Documents to which such SVAQ Party is or will be a party are or will be, upon execution thereof, as applicable, duly authorized, executed and delivered by the other Persons party hereto or thereto, as applicable), enforceable against such SVAQ Party in accordance with their terms (subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other Laws affecting generally the enforcement of creditors’ rights and subject to general principles of equity).
Section 4.3 Consents and Requisite Governmental Approvals; No Violations.
(a) No consent, approval or authorization of, or designation, declaration or filing with, any Governmental Entity is required on the part of a SVAQ Party with respect to such SVAQ Party’s execution, delivery or performance of its obligations under this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be party or the consummation of the transactions contemplated by hereby or thereby, except for (i) compliance with and filings under the HSR Act, (ii) the filing with the SEC of (A) the Registration Statement and the declaration of the effectiveness thereof by the SEC and (B) such reports under Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as may be required in connection with this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, (iii) such filings with and approvals of the Stock Exchange to permit the SVAQ Shares to be issued in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the other Ancillary Documents to be listed on the Stock Exchange, (iv) such filings and approvals required in connection with the Domestication, (v) the filing of the Certificate of Merger, (vi) the approvals and consents to be obtained by Merger Sub pursuant to Section 5.8, (vii) the Required SVAQ Shareholder Approval or (viii) any other consents, approvals, authorizations, designations, declarations, waivers or filings, the absence of which would not have an SVAQ Material Adverse Effect.
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(b) None of execution or delivery by a SVAQ Party of this Agreement or any Ancillary Document to which it is or will be a party, the performance by a SVAQ Party of its obligations hereunder or thereunder or the consummation by a SVAQ Party of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby will, directly or indirectly (with or without due notice or lapse of time or both) (i) result in a violation or breach of any provision of the Governing Documents of a SVAQ Party, (ii) result in a violation or breach of, or constitute a default or give rise to any right of termination, cancellation, amendment, modification, suspension, revocation or acceleration under, any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any Contract to which a SVAQ Party is a party, (iii) violate, or constitute a breach under, any Order or applicable Law to which any such SVAQ Party or any of its properties or assets are subject or bound or (iv) result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the assets or properties (other than any Permitted Liens) or Equity Securities of a SVAQ Party, except in the case of any of clauses (ii) through (iv) above, as would not have a SVAQ Material Adverse Effect.
Section 4.4 Brokers. Except for fees (including the amounts due and payable assuming the Closing occurs) set forth on Section 4.4 of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules (which fees shall be the sole responsibility of the SVAQ, except as otherwise provided in Section 8.6), no broker, finder, investment banker or other Person is entitled to any brokerage fee, finders’ fee or other commission in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement based upon arrangements made by or on behalf of any SVAQ Party or any of its Affiliates for which a SVAQ Party has any obligation.
Section 4.5 Information Supplied. None of the information supplied or to be supplied by or on behalf of either SVAQ Party expressly for inclusion or incorporation by reference prior to the Closing in the Registration Statement will, when the Registration Statement is declared effective or when the Proxy Statement is mailed to the Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders or at the time of the SVAQ Shareholders Meeting, and in the case of any amendment thereto, at the time of such amendment, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading; provided, however, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 4.5, no representation or warranty is made by any SVAQ Party with respect to information or statements made or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement that were not supplied by or on behalf of the SVAQ Parties for use therein.
Section 4.6 Capitalization of the SVAQ Parties.
(a) Section 4.6(a) of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules sets forth a true and complete statement of the number and class or series (as applicable) of the issued and outstanding SVAQ Shares prior to the consummation of the Domestication. All outstanding Equity Securities of SVAQ (except to the extent such concepts are not applicable under the applicable Law of SVAQ’s jurisdiction of organization, incorporation or formation, as applicable, or other applicable Law) prior to the consummation of the Domestication have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and non-assessable. Except as set forth in Section 4.6(a) of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules, such Equity Securities (x) were not issued in violation of the Governing Documents of SVAQ, (y) are not subject to any preemptive rights, call option, right of first refusal, subscription rights, transfer restrictions or similar rights of any Person (other than transfer restrictions under applicable Securities Laws or under the Governing Documents of SVAQ) and were not issued in violation of any preemptive rights, call option, right of first refusal, subscription rights, transfer restrictions or similar rights of any Person and (z) have been offered, sold and issued in compliance with applicable Law, including Securities Laws, in each case under clause (y) and (x), in all material respects. Except for the SVAQ Shares set forth on Section 4.6(a) of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules (taking into account, for the avoidance of doubt, any changes or adjustments to the SVAQ Shares as a result of, or to give effect to, the Domestication), immediately prior to Closing and before giving effect to the Transaction Financing and the SVAQ Shareholder Redemption, there shall be no other Equity Securities of SVAQ issued and outstanding.
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(b) Except as set forth on Section 4.6(a) of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules, there are no outstanding (A) equity appreciation, phantom equity or profit participation rights or (B) options, restricted stock, phantom stock, warrants, purchase rights, subscription rights, conversion rights, exchange rights, calls, puts, rights of first refusal or first offer or other Contracts, in each case, that could require SVAQ to issue, sell or otherwise cause to become outstanding or to acquire, repurchase or redeem any Equity Securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Equity Securities of SVAQ.
(c) The Equity Securities of Merger Sub outstanding as of the date of this Agreement (i) have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and nonassessable and (ii) were issued in compliance in all material respects with applicable Law, and (iii) were not issued in breach or violation of any preemptive rights or Contract to which Merger Sub is a party or bound. All of the outstanding Equity Securities of Merger Sub are owned directly by SVAQ free and clear of all Liens (other than transfer restrictions under applicable Securities Law or under the Governing Documents of Merger Sub). As of the date of this Agreement, SVAQ has no Subsidiaries other than Merger Sub and does not own, directly or indirectly, any Equity Securities in any Person other than Merger Sub.
Section 4.7 SEC Filings. SVAQ has timely filed or furnished all statements, forms, reports and documents required to be filed or furnished by it prior to the date of this Agreement with the SEC pursuant to Securities Laws since its initial public offering (collectively, and together with any exhibits and schedules thereto and other information incorporated therein, and as they have been supplemented, modified or amended since the time of filing, the “SVAQ SEC Reports”), and, as of the Closing, will have filed or furnished all other statements, forms, reports and other documents required to be filed or furnished by it subsequent to the date of this Agreement with the SEC pursuant to Securities Laws through the Closing (collectively, and together with any exhibits and schedules thereto and other information incorporated therein, and as they have been supplemented, modified or amended since the time of filing, but excluding the Registration Statement, the “Additional SVAQ SEC Reports”). Each of the SVAQ SEC Reports, as of their respective dates of filing, and as of the date of any amendment or filing that superseded the initial filing, complied and each of the Additional SVAQ SEC Reports, as of their respective dates of filing, and as of the date of any amendment or filing that superseded the initial filing, will comply, in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Laws (including, as applicable, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder) applicable to the SVAQ SEC Reports or the Additional SVAQ SEC Reports (for purposes of the Additional SVAQ SEC Reports, assuming that the representation and warranty set forth in Section 3.22 is true and correct in all respects with respect to all information supplied by or on behalf of Group Companies expressly for inclusion or incorporation by reference therein). As of their respective dates of filing, the SVAQ SEC Reports did not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made or will be made, as applicable, not misleading (for purposes of the Additional SVAQ SEC Reports, assuming that the representation and warranty set forth in Section 3.22 is true and correct in all respects with respect to all information supplied by or on behalf of Group Companies expressly for inclusion or incorporation by reference therein). As of the date of this Agreement, there are no outstanding or unresolved comments in comment letters received from the SEC with respect to the SVAQ SEC Reports.
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Section 4.8 Trust Account. As of June 15, 2026, SVAQ has an amount in cash in the Trust Account equal to $218,661,411. The funds held in the Trust Account are (a) invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations or in cash and (b) held in trust pursuant to that certain Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of December 22, 2025 (the “Trust Agreement”), between SVAQ and Equiniti, as trustee (the “Trustee”). There are no separate agreements, side letters or other agreements or understandings (whether written or unwritten, express or implied) that would cause the description of the Trust Agreement in the SVAQ SEC Reports to be inaccurate in any material respect or, to SVAQ’s knowledge, that would entitle any Person to any portion of the funds in the Trust Account (other than (i) in respect of deferred underwriting commissions or Taxes, (ii) the Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders who shall have elected to redeem their SVAQ Shares pursuant to the Governing Documents of SVAQ or (iii) SVAQ (in limited amounts to permit SVAQ to pay the expenses of the Trust Account’s liquidation, dissolution and winding up of SVAQ) and then the Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders, if SVAQ fails to complete a business combination within the allotted time period set forth in the Governing Documents of SVAQ and liquidates the Trust Account, subject to the terms of the Trust Agreement). Prior to the Closing, none of the funds held in the Trust Account are permitted to be released, except in the circumstances described in the Governing Documents of SVAQ and the Trust Agreement. SVAQ has performed all material obligations required to be performed by it to date under, and is not in material default or delinquent in performance or any other respect (claimed or actual) in connection with the Trust Agreement, and, to the knowledge of SVAQ, no event has occurred which, with due notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such a material default thereunder. As of the date of this Agreement, there are no claims or proceedings pending with respect to the Trust Account. SVAQ has not released any money from the Trust Account (other than interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account as permitted by the Trust Agreement). Upon the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, including the distribution of assets from the Trust Account (A) in respect of deferred underwriting commissions or Taxes or (B) to the Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders who have elected to redeem their SVAQ Shares pursuant to the Governing Documents of SVAQ, each in accordance with the terms of and as set forth in the Trust Agreement, SVAQ shall have no further obligation under either the Trust Agreement or the Governing Documents of SVAQ to liquidate or distribute any assets held in the Trust Account, and the Trust Agreement shall terminate in accordance with its terms.
Section 4.9 Transactions with Affiliates. Section 4.9 of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules sets forth all Contracts between (a) SVAQ, on the one hand, and (b) any officer, director, employee, partner, member, manager, direct or indirect equityholder or Affiliate of either SVAQ or the Sponsor, on the other hand (each Person identified in this clause (b), an “SVAQ Related Party”), other than Contracts with respect to a SVAQ Related Party’s employment with, or the provision of services to, SVAQ entered into in the ordinary course of business (including benefit plans, indemnification arrangements and other ordinary course compensation). All Contracts, arrangements, understandings, interests and other matters that are required to be disclosed pursuant to this Section 4.9 are referred to herein as “SVAQ Related Party Transactions”.
Section 4.10 Litigation. There is (and since its organization, incorporation or formation, as applicable, there has been) no Proceeding pending or, to SVAQ’s knowledge, threatened against or involving any SVAQ Party that, if adversely decided or resolved, would be material to the SVAQ Parties, taken as a whole. As of the date of this Agreement, none of the SVAQ Parties nor any of their respective properties or assets is subject to any material Order. As of the date of this Agreement, there are no material Proceedings by any SVAQ Party pending against any other Person.
Section 4.11 Compliance with Applicable Law. Each SVAQ Party is (and since its organization, incorporation or formation, as applicable, has been) in compliance with all applicable Laws, except as would not have a SVAQ Material Adverse Effect.
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Section 4.12 Business Activities.
(a) Since its incorporation, SVAQ has not conducted any business activities other than activities (i) in connection with or incident or related to its incorporation or continuing corporate (or similar) existence, (ii) directed toward the accomplishment of a business or similar combination, including those incident or related to or incurred in connection with the negotiation, preparation or execution of this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents, the performance of its covenants or agreements in this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby or (iii) those that are administrative, ministerial or otherwise immaterial in nature. Except as set forth in this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents, there is no Contract binding upon any SVAQ Party or to which any SVAQ Party is a party which has or would reasonably be expected to have the effect of prohibiting or materially impairing any business practice of it or its Subsidiaries, any acquisition of property by it or its Subsidiaries or the conduct of business by it or its Subsidiaries (including, in each case, following the Closing).
(b) Merger Sub was organized solely for the purpose of entering into this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and consummating the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby and has not engaged in any activities or business, other than those incident or related to or incurred in connection with its organization, incorporation or formation, as applicable, or continuing corporate (or similar) existence or the negotiation, preparation or execution of this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents, the performance of its covenants or agreements in this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby.
Section 4.13 Internal Controls; Listing; Financial Statements.
(a) Except as is not required in reliance on exemptions from various reporting requirements by virtue of SVAQ’s status as an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, or “smaller reporting company” within the meaning of the Exchange Act, since its initial public offering, (i) SVAQ has established and maintained a system of internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15 and Rule 15d-15 under the Exchange Act) sufficient to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of SVAQ’s financial reporting and the preparation of SVAQ’s financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP and (ii) SVAQ has established and maintained disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15 and Rule 15d-15 under the Exchange Act) designed to ensure that material information relating to SVAQ is made known to SVAQ’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer by others within SVAQ.
(b) SVAQ has not taken any action prohibited by Section 402 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
(c) Since its initial public offering, SVAQ has complied in all material respects with all applicable listing and corporate governance rules and regulations of Nasdaq. The classes of securities representing issued and outstanding SVAQ Class A Shares are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and are listed for trading on Nasdaq. As of the date of this Agreement, there is no Proceeding pending or, to the knowledge of SVAQ, threatened against SVAQ by Nasdaq or the SEC with respect to any intention by such entity to deregister SVAQ Class A Shares or prohibit or terminate the listing of SVAQ Class A Shares on Nasdaq. SVAQ has not taken any action that is designed to terminate the registration of SVAQ Class A Shares under the Exchange Act.
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(d) The SVAQ SEC Reports contain true and complete copies of the applicable SVAQ Financial Statements. The SVAQ Financial Statements (i) fairly present in all material respects the financial position of SVAQ as at the respective dates thereof, and the results of its operations, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the respective periods then ended (subject, in the case of any unaudited interim financial statements, to normal year end audit adjustments (none of which is expected to be material) and the absence of notes thereto), (ii) were prepared in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis during the periods indicated (except, in the case of any audited financial statements, as may be indicated in the notes thereto and subject, in the case of any unaudited financial statements, to normal year-end audit adjustments (none of which is expected to be material) and the absence of notes thereto), (iii) in the case of the audited SVAQ Financial Statements, were audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB and (iv) comply in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements and with the rules and regulations of the SEC, the Exchange Act and the Securities Act in effect as of the respective dates thereof (including Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K, as applicable).
(e) SVAQ has established and maintains systems of internal accounting controls that are designed to provide, in all material respects, reasonable assurance that (i) all transactions are executed in accordance with management’s authorization and (ii) all transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of proper and accurate financial statements in accordance with GAAP and to maintain accountability for SVAQ’s and its Subsidiaries’ assets. SVAQ maintains and, for all periods covered by the SVAQ Financial Statements, has maintained books and records of SVAQ in the ordinary course of business that are accurate and complete and reflect the revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities of SVAQ in all material respects.
(f) Since its incorporation, SVAQ has not received any written complaint, allegation, assertion or claim that there is (i) a “significant deficiency” in the internal controls over financial reporting of SVAQ to SVAQ’s knowledge, (ii) a “material weakness” in the internal controls over financial reporting of SVAQ to SVAQ’s knowledge or (iii) fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees of SVAQ who have a significant role in the internal controls over financial reporting of SVAQ.
Section 4.14 No Undisclosed Liabilities. Except for the Liabilities (a) set forth in Section 4.14 of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules, (b) incurred in connection with the negotiation, preparation or execution of this Agreement or any Ancillary Documents, the performance of its covenants or agreements in this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby (it being understood and agreed that the expected third parties that are, as of the date hereof, entitled to fees, expenses or other payments in connection with the matters described in this clause (b) shall be set forth on Section 4.14 of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules), (c) incurred in connection with or incident or related to a SVAQ Party’s organization, incorporation or formation, as applicable, or continuing corporate (or similar) existence, in each case, which are immaterial in nature, (d) that are incurred in connection with activities that are administrative or ministerial, in each case, which are immaterial in nature, or (e) set forth or disclosed in the SVAQ Financial Statements included in the SVAQ SEC Reports, none of the SVAQ Parties has any Liabilities of the type required to be set forth on a balance sheet in accordance with GAAP.
Section 4.15 Tax Matters.
(a) SVAQ has prepared and filed all income and other material Tax Returns required to have been filed by it, all such Tax Returns are true and complete in all material respects and prepared in compliance in all material respects with all applicable Laws and Orders, and SVAQ has paid all material Taxes required to have been paid or deposited by it regardless of whether shown on a Tax Return.
(b) SVAQ has timely withheld and paid to the appropriate Tax Authority all material amounts required to have been withheld and paid in connection with amounts paid or owing to any employee, individual independent contractor, other service providers, equity interest holder or other third party.
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(c) SVAQ is not currently the subject of a Tax audit or examination with respect to material taxes. SVAQ has not been informed in writing of the commencement or anticipated commencement of any Tax audit or examination that has not been resolved or completed, in each case with respect to material Taxes.
(d) SVAQ has not consented to extend or waive the time in which any material Tax may be assessed or collected by any Tax Authority, other than any such extensions or waivers that are no longer in effect or that were extensions of time to file Tax Returns obtained in the ordinary course of business, in each case with respect to material Taxes.
(e) No “closing agreement” as described in Section 7121 of the Code (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or non-U.S. income Tax Law), private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda or similar agreements or rulings have been entered into or issued by any Tax Authority with respect to any SVAQ Party which agreement or ruling would be effective after the Closing Date.
(f) None of the SVAQ Parties is and none of the SVAQ Parties has been a party to any “listed transaction” as defined in Section 6707A of the Code and Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4 (or any corresponding or similar provision of state, local or non-U.S. income Tax Law).
(g) None of the SVAQ Parties is a party to any Tax allocation, Tax sharing or Tax indemnity or similar agreements (other than one that is included in a Contract entered into in the ordinary course of business that is not primarily related to Taxes).
(h) Each SVAQ Party is tax resident only in its jurisdiction of organization, incorporation or formation, as applicable.
(i) None of the SVAQ Parties has taken or agreed to take any action not contemplated by this Agreement and/or any Ancillary Documents that could reasonably be expected to prevent the Merger or the Domestication from qualifying for the Intended Tax Treatment. To the knowledge of SVAQ, no facts or circumstances exist, other than any facts or circumstances to the extent that such facts or circumstances exist or arise as a result of or related to any act or omission occurring after the signing date by a Group Company or a Company Stockholder or any of their respective Affiliates in each case not contemplated by this Agreement and/or any of the Ancillary Documents, that could reasonably be expected to prevent the Merger or the Domestication from qualifying for the Intended Tax Treatment.
Section 4.16 Investigation; No Other Representations.
(a) Each SVAQ Party, on its own behalf and on behalf of its Representatives, acknowledges, represents, warrants and agrees that (i) it has conducted its own independent review and analysis of, and, based thereon, has formed an independent judgment concerning, the business, assets, condition, operations and prospects, of the Group Companies and (ii) it has been furnished with or given access to such documents and information about the Group Companies and their respective businesses and operations as it and its Representatives have deemed necessary to enable it to make an informed decision with respect to the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby.
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(b) In entering into this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party, each SVAQ Party has relied solely on its own investigation and analysis and the representations and warranties expressly set forth in Article III and in the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party and no other representations or warranties of the Company, any Company Non-Party Affiliate, or any other Person, either express or implied, and each SVAQ Party, on its own behalf and on behalf of its Representatives, acknowledges, represents, warrants and agrees that, except for the representations and warranties expressly set forth in Article III and in the Ancillary Documents to which it is or will be a party, none of the Company, any Company Non-Party Affiliate, nor any other Person makes or has made any representation or warranty, either express or implied, in connection with or related to this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby.
Section 4.17 Compliance with International Trade & Anti-Corruption Laws.
(a) Neither SVAQ nor, to SVAQ’s knowledge, any of their Representatives, or any other Persons acting for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, is or has been, (i) a Person named on any Sanctions and Export Control Laws-related list of designated Persons maintained by a Governmental Entity; (ii) located, organized or ordinarily resident in a country or territory which is itself the subject of or target of any Sanctions and Export Control Laws; (iii) an entity owned, directly or indirectly, by one or more Persons described in clause (i) or (ii); or (iv) otherwise engaging in dealings with or for the benefit of any Person described in clauses (i) - (iii) or any Sanctioned Country in violation of Sanctions and Export Control Laws.
(b) In the past three (3) years, neither SVAQ nor, to SVAQ’s knowledge, any of their Representatives, or any other Persons (in each case, while acting for or on behalf of any of the foregoing) has (i) made, offered, promised, paid or received any unlawful bribes, kickbacks or other similar payments to or from any Person, (ii) made or paid any unlawful contributions, directly or indirectly, to a domestic or foreign political party or candidate or (iii) otherwise made, offered, received, authorized, promised or paid any improper payment under any Anti-Corruption Laws.
Section 4.18 Employees and Employee Benefit Plans. SVAQ does not (a) now have, nor at any time previously has had, any paid employees or other service providers, or (b) have any obligation to maintain, sponsor, contribute to after the Closing or otherwise have any Liability that will survive the Closing under, any employee benefit plan, program or arrangement. The consummation of the transactions contemplated under this Agreement will not: (i) entitle any individual to severance pay, unemployment compensation or other benefits or compensation, (ii) accelerate the time of payment, funding or vesting, or increase the amount of any compensation due, or in respect of, any individual, or (iii) result in or satisfy a condition to the payment of compensation that would, in combination with any other payment, result in an “excess parachute payment” within the meaning of Code Section 280G.
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Section 4.19 EXCLUSIVITY OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES. NOTWITHSTANDING THE DELIVERY OR DISCLOSURE TO THE COMPANY OR ANY OF ITS REPRESENTATIVES OF ANY DOCUMENTATION OR OTHER INFORMATION (INCLUDING ANY FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS OR OTHER SUPPLEMENTAL DATA), EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS ARTICLE IV AND THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS, NONE OF THE SVAQ PARTIES NOR ANY OTHER PERSON MAKES, AND EACH SVAQ PARTY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS, ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND OR NATURE, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS OR ANY OF THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY, INCLUDING AS TO THE MATERIALS RELATING TO THE BUSINESS AND AFFAIRS OR HOLDINGS OF ANY SVAQ PARTY THAT HAVE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE TO THE COMPANY OR ANY OF ITS REPRESENTATIVES OR IN ANY PRESENTATION OF THE BUSINESS AND AFFAIRS OF ANY SVAQ PARTY BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE MANAGEMENT OF SUCH SVAQ PARTY OR OTHERS IN CONNECTION WITH THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR BY THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS, AND NO STATEMENT CONTAINED IN ANY OF SUCH MATERIALS OR MADE IN ANY SUCH PRESENTATION SHALL BE DEEMED A REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY HEREUNDER OR OTHERWISE OR DEEMED TO BE RELIED UPON BY THE COMPANY OR ANY OF ITS REPRESENTATIVES IN EXECUTING, DELIVERING AND PERFORMING THIS AGREEMENT, THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY. EXCEPT FOR THE REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THIS ARTICLE IV OR THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS, IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT ANY COST ESTIMATES, PROJECTIONS OR OTHER PREDICTIONS, ANY DATA, ANY FINANCIAL INFORMATION OR ANY MEMORANDA OR OFFERING MATERIALS OR PRESENTATIONS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY OFFERING MEMORANDUM OR SIMILAR MATERIALS MADE AVAILABLE BY OR ON BEHALF OF ANY SVAQ PARTY ARE NOT AND SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO BE OR TO INCLUDE REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY SVAQ PARTY NOR ANY OTHER PERSON, AND ARE NOT AND SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO BE RELIED UPON BY THE COMPANY OR ANY OF ITS REPRESENTATIVES IN EXECUTING, DELIVERING OR PERFORMING THIS AGREEMENT, THE ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY.
Article
V
COVENANTS
Section 5.1 Conduct of Business of the Company.
(a) From and after the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, the Company shall, and the Company shall cause its Subsidiaries to, except as expressly contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document, as required by applicable Law, as set forth on Section 5.1(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules, Company Pre-Closing Financing or a Transaction Financing or as consented to in writing by SVAQ (it being agreed that any request for a consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), (i) operate the business of the Group Companies in the ordinary course in all material respects and (ii) use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain and preserve intact in all material respects the business organization, assets, properties and material business relations of the Group Companies, taken as a whole.
(b) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, from and after the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, the Company shall, and the Company shall cause its Subsidiaries to, except as expressly contemplated by this Agreement, any Ancillary Document, any Company Pre-Closing Financing or a Transaction Financing, as required by applicable Law, as set forth on Section 5.1(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedules or as consented to in writing by SVAQ (which consent shall not be unreasonably conditioned, withheld or delayed) not do any of the following:
(i) declare, set aside, make or pay a dividend on, or make any other distribution or payment in respect of, any Equity Securities of any Group Company or repurchase or redeem any outstanding Equity Securities of any Group Company, or pay any transaction bonuses, Change of Control Payments or similar payments to Company Stockholders (other than ordinary course compensation), other than dividends or distributions, declared, set aside or paid by any of the Company’s Subsidiaries to the Company or any Subsidiary that is, directly or indirectly, wholly owned by the Company;
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(ii) (A) merge, consolidate, combine or amalgamate any Group Company with any Person or (B) purchase or otherwise acquire (whether by merging or consolidating with, purchasing any Equity Security in or a substantial portion of the assets of, or by any other manner) any corporation, partnership, association or other business entity or organization or division thereof;
(iii) adopt any amendments, supplements, restatements or modifications to any Group Company’s Governing Documents;
(iv) (A) sell, assign, abandon, lease, exclusively license or otherwise dispose of any material assets or properties of the Group Companies, other than inventory or obsolete equipment in the ordinary course of business, or (B) subject any material assets or properties of the Group Companies to any Lien (other than any Permitted Liens);
(v) transfer, issue, sell, grant or otherwise directly or indirectly dispose of, or subject to a Lien, (A) any Equity Securities of any Group Company or (B) any options, warrants, rights of conversion or other rights, agreements, arrangements or commitments obligating any Group Company to issue, deliver or sell any Equity Securities of any Group Company, other than the issuance of Company Shares upon (i) the conversion or exercise any Company Warrants or Company SARs outstanding as of the date of this Agreement in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Company Warrants or the Company Equity Plan, as applicable, or (ii) as set forth on Section 5.1(b)(v) of the Company Disclosure Schedules;
(vi) incur, create or assume any Indebtedness in excess of $250,000, other than ordinary course trade payables, or guarantee any Liability of any Person;
(vii) make any loans, advances or capital contributions to, or guarantees for the benefit of, or any investments in, any Person, other than (A) intercompany loans or capital contributions between the Company and any of its wholly owned Subsidiaries, and (B) the reimbursement of expenses of employees or advancements in the ordinary course of business;
(viii) except (x) as required under the terms of any Employee Benefit Plan of any Group Company that is set forth on the Section 3.11(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules, or (y) in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice (it being understood and agreed, for the avoidance of doubt, that in no event shall the exception in this clause (y) be deemed or construed as permitting any Group Company to take any action that is not permitted by any other provision of this Section 5.1(b)), (A) materially increase the compensation or benefits payable to any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service provider of any Group Company, (B) take any action to accelerate any payment, right to payment, or benefit, or the funding of any payment or benefit, right to payment or benefit, payable or to become payable to any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service provider of any Group Company, (C) waive or release any noncompetition, non-solicitation, no-hire, nondisclosure or other restrictive covenant obligation of any current or former director, manager, officer, employee, individual independent contractor or other service provider of any Group Company or (D) amend or modify in any material respect, adopt, enter into or terminate any material Employee Benefit Plan of any Group Company or any material benefit or compensation plan, policy, program or Contract that would be an Employee Benefit Plan if in effect as of the date of this Agreement;
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(ix) make, change or revoke any material election concerning Taxes, enter into any material Tax closing agreement, settle any material Tax claim or assessment, or consent to any extension or waiver of the limitation period applicable to or relating to any material Tax claim or assessment, other than any such extension or waiver that is obtained in the ordinary course of business;
(x) enter into any settlement, conciliation or similar Contract the performance of which would involve any payment by the Group Companies in excess of $500,000, in the aggregate, or that imposes, or by its terms will impose at any point in the future, any material, non-monetary obligations on any Group Company (or SVAQ or any of its Affiliates after the Closing);
(xi) authorize, recommend, propose or announce an intention to adopt, or otherwise effect, a plan of complete or partial liquidation, dissolution, restructuring, recapitalization, reorganization or similar transaction (other than, for the avoidance of doubt, the transactions expressly contemplated by this Agreement) involving any Group Company;
(xii) change any Group Company’s methods of accounting in any material respect, other than changes that are made in accordance with PCAOB standards;
(xiii) enter into any Contract with any broker, finder, investment banker or other Person under which such Person is or will be entitled to any brokerage fee, finders’ fee or other commission in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document;
(xiv) make any Change of Control Payment that is not set forth on Section 3.11(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules or make any payment with respect to a Company Related Party Transaction that is not set forth on Section 5.1(b)(xiv) of the Company Disclosure Schedules;
(xv) (A) amend, modify or terminate any Material Contract, or (B) waive any material benefit or right under any Material Contract; or
(xvi) enter into any Contract to take, or cause to be taken, any of the actions set forth in this Section 5.1.
Notwithstanding anything in this Section 5.1 or this Agreement to the contrary, nothing set forth in this Agreement shall give SVAQ, directly or indirectly, the right to control or direct the operations of the Group Companies prior to the Closing.
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Section 5.2 Efforts to Consummate; Litigation.
(a) Subject to the terms and conditions herein provided, each of the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts to take, or cause to be taken, all actions and to do, or cause to be done, all things reasonably necessary or advisable to consummate and make effective as promptly as reasonably practicable the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including (i) the satisfaction, but not waiver, of the closing conditions set forth in Article VI and, in the case of any Ancillary Document to which such Party is contemplated to be a party after the date of this Agreement, to execute and delivery such Ancillary Document when required pursuant to this Agreement and (ii) using reasonable best efforts to consummate the Transaction Financing). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each of the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts to obtain, file with or deliver to, as applicable, any Consents of any Governmental Entities or other Persons necessary, proper or advisable to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents. Each Party shall bear its out-of-pocket costs and expenses in connection with the preparation of any such Consents. Each Party shall (i) make any appropriate filings pursuant to the HSR Act with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement promptly following the date of this Agreement, and (ii) respond as promptly as reasonably practicable to any requests by any Governmental Entity for additional information and documentary material that may be requested pursuant to the HSR Act. SVAQ shall promptly inform the Company of any communication between any SVAQ Party, on the one hand, and any Governmental Entity, on the other hand, and the Company shall promptly inform SVAQ of any communication between the Company, on the one hand, and any Governmental Entity, on the other hand, in either case, regarding any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document. Without limiting the foregoing, (a) the Parties agree to request early termination of the applicable waiting period under the HSR Act, and (b) each Party and their respective Affiliates shall not extend any waiting period, review period or comparable period under the HSR Act or enter into any agreement with any Governmental Entity not to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby or by the Ancillary Documents, except with the prior written consent of SVAQ and the Company.
(b) From and after the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, the SVAQ Parties, on the one hand, and the Company, on the other hand, shall give counsel for the Company (in the case of any SVAQ Party) or SVAQ (in the case of the Company), a reasonable opportunity to review in advance, and consider in good faith the views of the other in connection with, any proposed written communication to any Governmental Entity relating to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Ancillary Documents; provided that documents and information provided to the other Party pursuant to this paragraph (i) may be redacted (A) to remove references to valuation of the Company, (B) to comply with contractual arrangements or (C) to preserve legal privilege and/or (ii) may be designated as “outside counsel only,” in which case such documents and information shall be provided only to outside counsel and consultants retained by such counsel. Each of the Parties agrees not to participate in any substantive meeting or discussion, either in person or by telephone with any Governmental Entity in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement unless it consults with, in the case of any SVAQ Party, the Company, or, in the case of the Company, SVAQ in advance and, to the extent not prohibited by such Governmental Entity, gives, in the case of any SVAQ Party, the Company, or, in the case of the Company, SVAQ, the opportunity to attend and participate in such meeting or discussion.
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(c) From and after the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, SVAQ, on the one hand, and the Company, on the other hand, shall each notify the other in writing promptly after learning of any shareholder demands or other shareholder Proceedings (including derivative claims) relating to this Agreement, any Ancillary Document or any matters relating thereto (collectively, the “Transaction Litigation”) commenced against, in the case of SVAQ, any of the SVAQ Parties or any of their respective Representatives (in their capacity as a representative of an SVAQ Party) or, in the case of the Company, any Group Company or any of their respective Representatives (in their capacity as a representative of an SVAQ Party). SVAQ and the Company shall each (i) keep the other reasonably informed regarding any Transaction Litigation, (ii) give the other the opportunity to, at its own cost and expense, participate in the defense, settlement and compromise of any such Transaction Litigation and reasonably cooperate with the other in connection with the defense, settlement and compromise of any such Transaction Litigation, (iii) consider in good faith the other’s advice with respect to any such Transaction Litigation and (iv) reasonably cooperate with each other. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall, subject to and without limiting the covenants and agreements, and the rights of SVAQ, set forth in the immediately preceding sentence, control the negotiation, defense and settlement of any such Transaction Litigation brought against the Company or its Directors or Officers; provided however, that in no event shall the Company, any other Group Company or any of their respective Representatives settle or compromise any Transaction Litigation without the prior written consent of SVAQ (not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed, provided that it shall be deemed to be reasonable for SVAQ to withhold, condition or delay its consent if any such settlement or compromise (A) does not provide for a legally binding, full, unconditional and irrevocable release of each SVAQ Party and Representative that is the subject of such Transaction Litigation, (B) provides for (x) the payment of cash any portion of which is payable by any SVAQ Party or Representative thereof or would otherwise constitute an Liability of SVAQ or (y) any non-monetary, injunctive, equitable or similar relief against any SVAQ Party or (C) contains an admission of wrongdoing or Liability by an SVAQ Party or any of its Representatives) and SVAQ shall control the negotiation, defense and settlement of any such Transaction Litigation brought against SVAQ or its Directors or Officers; provided, however, that in no event shall SVAQ settle or compromise any such Transaction Litigation without the prior written consent of the Company (not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed).
Section 5.3 Confidentiality and Access to Information.
(a) The Parties hereby acknowledge and agree that the information being provided in connection with this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby is subject to the terms of the Confidentiality Agreement, the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary in this Agreement, in the event that this Section 5.3(a) or the Confidentiality Agreement conflicts with any other covenant or agreement contained herein or any Ancillary Document that contemplates the disclosure, use or provision of information or otherwise, then such other covenant or agreement contained in this Agreement or such Ancillary Document, as applicable, shall govern and control to the extent of such conflict.
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(b) From and after the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing Date or the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, upon reasonable advance written notice, the Company shall provide, or cause to be provided, to SVAQ and its Representatives during normal business hours reasonable access to the directors, officers, books and records and properties of the Group Companies (in a manner so as to not interfere with the normal business operations of the Group Companies) for the purpose of consummating the Merger. Notwithstanding the foregoing, none of the Group Companies shall be required to provide, or cause to be provided, to SVAQ or its Representatives any information (i) if and to the extent doing so would (A) violate any Law to which any Group Company is subject, (B) result in the disclosure of any trade secrets of third parties in breach of any Contract with such third party, (C) violate any legally binding obligation of any Group Company with respect to confidentiality, non-disclosure or privacy or (D) jeopardize protections afforded to any Group Company under the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine (provided that, in case of each of clauses (A) through (D), the Company shall, and shall cause the other Group Companies to, use commercially reasonable efforts to (x) provide such access as can be provided (or otherwise convey such information regarding the applicable matter as can be conveyed) without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law and (y) provide such information in a manner without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law), or (ii) if any Group Company, on the one hand, and any SVAQ Party, any SVAQ Non-Party Affiliate or any of their respect Representatives on the other hand, are adverse parties in a litigation or other Proceeding and such information is reasonably pertinent thereto; provided that the Company shall, in the case of clause (i) or (ii), provide prompt written notice of the withholding of access or information on any such basis unless such written notice is prohibited by applicable Law or Order.
(c) From and after the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing Date or the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, upon reasonable advance written notice, SVAQ shall provide, or cause to be provided, to the Company and its Representatives during normal business hours reasonable access to the directors, officers, books and records of the SVAQ Parties (in a manner so as to not interfere with the normal business operations of the SVAQ Parties). Notwithstanding the foregoing, SVAQ shall not be required to provide, or cause to be provided to, the Company or any of its Representatives any information (i) if and to the extent doing so would (A) violate any Law to which any SVAQ Party is subject, (B) result in the disclosure of any trade secrets of third parties in breach of any Contract with such third party, (C) violate any legally binding obligation of any SVAQ Party with respect to confidentiality, non-disclosure or privacy or (D) jeopardize protections afforded to any SVAQ Party under the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine (provided that, in case of each of clauses (A) through (D), SVAQ shall use, and shall cause the other SVAQ Parties to use, reasonable best efforts to (x) provide such access as can be provided (or otherwise convey such information regarding the applicable matter as can be conveyed) without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law and (y) provide such information in a manner without violating such privilege, doctrine, Contract, obligation or Law), or (ii) if an SVAQ Party or the Sponsor or any of their respective Representatives, on the one hand, and any Group Company, any Company Non-Party Affiliate or any of their respective Representatives, on the other hand, are adverse parties in a litigation or other Proceeding and such information is reasonably pertinent thereto; provided that SVAQ shall, in the case of clause (i) or (ii), provide prompt written notice of the withholding of access or information on any such basis unless such written notice is prohibited by applicable Law or Order.
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Section 5.4 Public Announcements.
(a) Subject to Section 5.4(b), and Section 5.7, none of the Parties or any of their respective Representatives shall issue any press releases or make any public announcements with respect to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby without the prior written consent of, prior to the Closing, the Company and SVAQ or, after the Closing, SVAQ; provided, however, that each Party, the Sponsor and their respective Representatives may make any such announcement or other communication (i) if such press release, announcement or other communication is required by applicable Law, in which case (A) prior to the Closing, the disclosing Person shall, to the extent permitted by applicable Law use reasonable best efforts to consult with the Company, if the disclosing Person is a SVAQ Party, the Sponsor, or SVAQ, if the disclosing party is the Company or any of its Representatives, and give the Company or SVAQ, as applicable, the opportunity to review such announcement or communication and comment thereon and the disclosing Person shall consider such comments in good faith, or (B) after the Closing, the disclosing Person and/or its Representatives, as applicable, shall, to the extent permitted by applicable Law, use reasonable best efforts to consult with SVAQ and give SVAQ the opportunity to review such announcement or communication and comment thereon and the disclosing Person shall consider such comments in good faith, (ii) to the extent such press release, announcement or other communication contains only information previously disclosed in a public statement, press release or other communication previously approved in accordance with this Section 5.4 and (iii) to Governmental Entities in connection with any Consents required to be made under this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents or in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 5.4 or otherwise in this Agreement, the Parties agree that the SVAQ Shareholders and their respective Representatives may provide general information about the subject matter of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby to any direct or indirect current or prospective investor or in connection with normal fund raising or related marketing or informational or reporting activities.
(b) The initial press release concerning this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be a joint press release in the form agreed by the Company and SVAQ prior to the execution of this Agreement and such initial press release (the “Signing Press Release”) shall be released as promptly as reasonably practicable after the execution of this Agreement. Promptly after the execution of this Agreement, SVAQ shall file a current report on Form 8-K (the “Signing Filing”) with the Signing Press Release and a description of this Agreement as required by, and in compliance with, the Securities Laws, which the Company shall have the opportunity to review and comment upon prior to filing and SVAQ shall consider such comments in good faith. The Company, on the one hand, and SVAQ, on the other hand, shall mutually agree upon (such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed by either the Company or SVAQ, as applicable) a press release announcing the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (the “Closing Press Release”) prior to the Closing, and, on the Closing Date (or such other date as may be mutually agreed to in writing by the Company and SVAQ prior to the Closing), the Parties shall cause the Closing Press Release to be released. Promptly after the Closing (but in any event within four (4) Business Days after the Closing), SVAQ shall file a current report on Form 8-K (the “Closing Filing”) with the Closing Press Release and a description of the Closing as required by Securities Laws, which Closing Filing shall be mutually agreed upon by the Company and SVAQ prior to the Closing (such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed by either the Company or SVAQ, as applicable). In connection with the preparation of each of the Signing Press Release, the Signing Filing, the Closing Press Release and the Closing Filing, each Party shall, upon written request by any other Party, furnish such other Party with all information concerning itself, its directors, officers and equityholders, and such other matters as may be reasonably necessary for such press release or filing.
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Section 5.5 Tax Matters.
(a) Tax Treatment.
(i) The Parties intend that the Domestication shall constitute a transaction treated as a “reorganization” within the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(F) of the Code and SVAQ shall (and shall cause its respective Affiliates to) use reasonable best efforts to cause it to so qualify. The Parties intend that (A) the Merger shall be treated as a transaction that qualifies as a “reorganization” within the meaning of Section 368 of the Code and/or (B) the Merger and the Transaction Financing, taken together, shall be treated as an integrated transaction qualifying under Section 351(a) of the Code, and each Party shall, and shall cause its respective Affiliates to, use reasonable best efforts to so qualify. The Parties shall file all Tax Returns consistent with, and take no position inconsistent with (whether in audits, Tax Returns or otherwise), the treatment described in this Section 5.5(a)(i) unless required to do so pursuant to a “determination” that is final within the meaning of Section 1313(a) of the Code.
(ii) SVAQ and the Company hereby adopt this Agreement as a “plan of reorganization” within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Sections 1.368-2(g) and 1.368-3(a). From the date hereof through the Closing, and following the Closing, the Parties shall not, and shall not permit or cause their respective Affiliates to, take any action, or knowingly fail to take any action, which action or failure to act prevents or impedes, or would reasonably be expected to prevent or impede, (A) the Merger qualifying for the Intended Tax Treatment, and (B) in the case of SVAQ, the Domestication qualifying for the Intended Tax Treatment.
(iii) If, in connection with the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement, the SEC requests or requires that tax opinions be prepared and submitted in such connection, each of SVAQ and the Company shall deliver to GT and EGS, respectively, customary Tax representation letters satisfactory to GT or EGS (as applicable), dated and executed as of the date the Registration Statement shall have been declared effective by the SEC and such other date(s) as determined reasonably necessary by such counsel in connection with the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement; provided that this Section 5.5(a)(iii) shall not require (A) any counsel to the Company to provide an opinion with respect to any Tax matters relating to SVAQ or the SVAQ Shareholders or (B) any counsel to SVAQ to provide an opinion with respect to any Tax matters relating to the Company or the Company Stockholders.
(b) Tax Matters Cooperation. Each of the Parties shall (and shall cause their respective Affiliates to) use commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate fully, as and to the extent reasonably requested by another Party, in connection with the filing of relevant Tax Returns, and any audit or tax proceeding. Such cooperation shall include the retention and (upon the other Party’s request) the provision (with the right to make copies) of records and information reasonably relevant to any tax proceeding or audit, making employees available on a mutually convenient basis to provide additional information and explanation of any material provided hereunder and making available to the Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders information reasonably necessary to compute any income of any such holder (or its direct or indirect owners) arising (i) if applicable, as a result of SVAQ’s status as a “passive foreign investment company” within the meaning of Section 1297(a) of the Code or a “controlled foreign corporation” within the meaning of Section 957(a) of the Code for any taxable period ending on or prior to the Closing, including timely providing (A) a PFIC Annual Information Statement to enable such holders to make a “Qualifying Electing Fund” election under Section 1295 of the Code for such taxable period, and (B) information to enable applicable holders to report their allocable share of “subpart F” income under Section 951 of the Code for such taxable period and (ii) under Section 367(b) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder as a result of the Domestication.
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(c) SVAQ Taxable Year. The Parties agree to treat the taxable year of SVAQ as ending on the date of the Domestication for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
(d) Transfer Taxes. Any transfer, documentary, sales, use, stamp, registration, excise, recording, registration, value added and other such similar Taxes (including any penalties and interest) that become payable in connection with or by reason of the execution of this Agreement and the transactions set forth herein shall be borne and paid equally between SVAQ and the Company.
Section 5.6 Exclusive Dealing; Change in Recommendation.
(a) From the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, the Company shall not, and shall cause the other Group Companies and its and their respective Representatives not to, directly or indirectly: (i) solicit, initiate, induce, encourage (including by means of furnishing or disclosing information), facilitate, discuss or negotiate, directly or indirectly, any inquiry, proposal or offer (written or oral) that constitutes, or that could reasonably be expected to lead to, a Company Acquisition Proposal; (ii) furnish or disclose any non-public information to any Person in connection with, or that could reasonably be expected to lead to, a Company Acquisition Proposal; (iii) enter into any Contract or other arrangement or understanding regarding a Company Acquisition Proposal; (iv) prepare or take any steps in connection with a public offering of any Equity Securities of any Group Company (or any Affiliate or successor of any Group Company); (v) approve, endorse or recommend, or publicly propose to approve, endorse or recommend, any Company Acquisition Proposal, or otherwise change, withdraw, withhold, qualify or modify, or publicly propose to change, withdraw, withhold, qualify or modify, the Company Board Recommendation; or (vi) otherwise cooperate in any way with, or assist or participate in, or knowingly facilitate or encourage any effort or attempt by any Person to do or seek to do any of the foregoing. The Company agrees to (A) notify SVAQ promptly upon receipt of any Company Acquisition Proposal by any Group Company, and to describe the material terms and conditions of any such Company Acquisition Proposal in reasonable detail (including the identity of the Persons making such Company Acquisition Proposal) and (B) keep SVAQ reasonably informed on a current basis of any modifications to such offer or information.
(b) From the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, the SVAQ Parties shall not, and each of them shall cause their Representatives not to, directly or indirectly: (i) solicit, initiate, induce, encourage (including by means of furnishing or disclosing information), facilitate, discuss or negotiate, directly or indirectly, any inquiry, proposal or offer (written or oral) that constitutes, or that could reasonably be expected to lead to a SVAQ Acquisition Proposal; (ii) furnish or disclose any non-public information to any Person in connection with, or that could reasonably be expected to lead to, a SVAQ Acquisition Proposal; (iii) enter into any Contract or other arrangement or understanding regarding an SVAQ Acquisition Proposal; (iv) prepare or take any steps in connection with an offering of any securities of any SVAQ Party (or any Affiliate or successor of any SVAQ Party) (other than in connection with the Transaction Financing or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement); (v) approve, endorse or recommend, or publicly propose to approve, endorse or recommend, any SVAQ Acquisition Proposal, or otherwise change, withdraw, withhold, qualify or modify, or publicly propose to change, withdraw, withhold, qualify or modify, the SVAQ Board Recommendation; or (vi) otherwise cooperate in any way with, or assist or participate in, or knowingly facilitate or encourage any effort or attempt by any Person to do or seek to do any of the foregoing. SVAQ agrees to (A) notify the Company promptly upon receipt of any SVAQ Acquisition Proposal by any SVAQ Party, and to describe the material terms and conditions of any such SVAQ Acquisition Proposal in reasonable detail (including the identity of any person or entity making such SVAQ Acquisition Proposal) and (B) keep the Company reasonably informed on a current basis of any modifications to such offer or information.
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Section 5.7 SVAQ Shareholder Approval. As promptly as practicable after the date hereof, SVAQ and the Company shall prepare, and, after receiving the prior written consent of the Company, file with the SEC, a registration statement on Form S-4 (as amended or supplemented from time to time, and including the Proxy Statement contained therein, the “Registration Statement”) in connection with the registration under the Securities Act of (i) the SVAQ Common Stock to be issued under this Agreement to the holders of the Company Stockholders pursuant to the Merger and (ii) the SVAQ Common Stock and SVAQ Warrants to be held by the holders of SVAQ Shares and SVAQ Warrants following the Closing, which Registration Statement will also contain a proxy statement (as amended, the “Proxy Statement”) for the purpose of soliciting proxies from SVAQ shareholders for the matters to be voted on at an extraordinary general meeting of SVAQ shareholders to be called and held for such purpose (the “SVAQ Shareholders Meeting”) and providing the Public Shareholders with the SVAQ Shareholder Redemption. The Proxy Statement shall include (i) the SVAQ Board Recommendation and (ii) proxy materials for the purpose of soliciting proxies from SVAQ shareholders to vote, at the SVAQ Shareholders Meeting, in favor of resolutions approving (i) the adoption and approval of this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby or referred to herein, including the Merger (and, to the extent required, the issuance of any shares in connection with Transaction Financing or Company Pre-Closing Financing, if any) and the Domestication, by the holders of SVAQ Shares in accordance with SVAQ’s Governing Documents, the Companies Act, the DGCL and the rules and regulations of the SEC and the Stock Exchange; (ii) the adoption and approval of the SVAQ Certificate of Incorporation, (iii) adoption and approval of the Incentive Plan, (iv) the appointment of the members of the Post-Closing SVAQ Board in accordance with Section 5.15 hereof, (v) such other matters (or, to the extent applicable, excluding such approval matters) as the Company and SVAQ shall hereafter mutually determine to be necessary or appropriate in order to effect the Domestication, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement (the approvals described in foregoing clauses (i) through (v), collectively, the “SVAQ Shareholder Approval Matters”), and (vi) the adjournment of SVAQ Shareholders Meeting to a later date or dates, if necessary or desirable in the reasonable determination of the chairman of the SVAQ Shareholders Meeting. If on the date for which SVAQ Shareholders Meeting is scheduled, SVAQ has not received proxies representing a sufficient number of shares to obtain the Required SVAQ Shareholder Approval, SVAQ may make one or more successive postponements or, with the consent of the Shareholders Meeting, adjournments of SVAQ Shareholders Meeting; provided that, without the consent of the Company, in no event shall SVAQ adjourn the SVAQ Shareholders Meeting to a date that is beyond the Outside Date. In connection with the Registration Statement, SVAQ and the Company will file with the SEC financial and other information about the transactions contemplated by this Agreement in accordance with applicable Law and applicable proxy solicitation and registration statement rules set forth in SVAQ’s Governing Documents, the Companies Act, the DGCL and the rules and regulations of the SEC and the Stock Exchange. The Company shall promptly provide SVAQ with such information concerning the Group Companies and their stockholders, officers, directors, employees, assets, Liabilities, condition (financial or otherwise), business and operations that may be required or appropriate for inclusion in the Registration Statement, or in any amendments or supplements thereto, which information provided by the Company shall be true and correct and not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
Section 5.8 Merger Sub Shareholder Approval. As promptly as reasonably practicable (and in any event within one Business Day) following the date of this Agreement, SVAQ, as the sole shareholder of Merger Sub, will approve and adopt this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents to which Merger Sub is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger).
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Section 5.9 Conduct of Business of SVAQ. From and after the date of this Agreement until the earlier of the Closing or the termination of this Agreement in accordance with its terms, SVAQ shall not, and shall cause Merger Sub not to, except as expressly contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document (including, for the avoidance of doubt, in connection with the Domestication or any Transaction Financing), as required by applicable Law, as set forth on Section 5.9 of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules or as consented to in writing by the Company (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), do any of the following:
(a) adopt any amendments, supplements, restatements or modifications to the Trust Agreement or the Governing Documents of any of the SVAQ Parties;
(b) declare, set aside, make or pay a dividend on, or make any other distribution or payment in respect of, any Equity Securities of any SVAQ Party, or repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire, or offer to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire, any outstanding Equity Securities of any of the SVAQ Parties, as applicable;
(c) split, combine or reclassify any of its capital stock or other Equity Securities or issue any other security in respect of, in lieu of or in substitution for shares of its capital stock; provided, however, that nothing in this Section 5.9 shall prohibit the conversion of SVAQ Class B Shares into SVAQ Class A Shares at the option of the holder thereof pursuant to the terms of the Governing Documents of SVAQ.
(d) incur, create or assume any Indebtedness or other Liability (including any Working Capital Loans), in excess of $250,000;
(e) make any loans or advances to, or capital contributions in, any other Person, other than to, or in, any of the SVAQ Parties;
(f) issue any Equity Securities or grant any additional options, warrants or stock appreciation rights with respect to its Equity Securities;
(g) enter into, renew, modify or revise any SVAQ Related Party Transaction (or any Contract or agreement that if entered into prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement would be a SVAQ Related Party Transaction), other than for the avoidance of doubt, any expiration or automatic extension or renewal of any Contract pursuant to its terms or Working Capital Loans;
(h) engage in activities or business, other than any activities or business (i) in connection with or incident or related to such Person’s organization, incorporation or formation, as applicable, or continuing corporate (or similar) existence, (ii) contemplated by, or incident or related to, this Agreement, any Ancillary Document, the performance of covenants or agreements hereunder or thereunder or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby or (iii) those that are administrative or ministerial in nature;
(i) make, change or revoke any material election concerning Taxes, enter into any material Tax closing agreement, settle any material Tax claim or assessment, or consent to any extension or waiver of the limitation period applicable to or relating to any material Tax claim or assessment, other than any such extension or waiver that is obtained in the ordinary course of business;
(j) authorize, recommend, propose or announce an intention to adopt a plan of complete or partial liquidation or dissolution;
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(k) enter into any Contract with any broker, finder, investment banker or other Person under which such Person is or will be entitled to any brokerage fee, finders’ fee or other commission in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; or
(l) enter into any Contract to take, or cause to be taken, any of the actions set forth in this Section 5.9.
Notwithstanding anything in this Section 5.9 or this Agreement to the contrary, (a) nothing set forth in this Agreement shall give the Company, directly or indirectly, the right to control or direct the operations of any of the SVAQ Parties and (b) nothing set forth in this Agreement shall prohibit, or otherwise restrict the ability of, any of the SVAQ Parties from using the funds held by SVAQ outside the Trust Account to pay any SVAQ Expenses or from otherwise distributing or paying over any funds held by SVAQ outside the Trust Account to the Sponsor or any of its Affiliates, in each case, prior to the Closing.
Section 5.10 Stock Exchange Listing. SVAQ and the Company shall use their respective reasonable best efforts and shall cooperate in good faith to cause: (a) SVAQ’s initial listing application and the continuing listing requirements with the Stock Exchange in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement to have been approved: (b) SVAQ, taking into account its contemplated combination with the Company, to satisfy all applicable initial and continuing listing requirements of the Stock Exchange, including sufficient round lot holders, unrestricted publicly-held SVAQ shares and public float (including those expected to be held by historic stakeholders of the Company); and (c) the SVAQ Shares issuable in accordance with this Agreement, including the Domestication and the Merger, to be approved for listing on the Stock Exchange, subject to official notice of issuance, in each case, as promptly as reasonably practicable after the date of this Agreement, and in any event prior to the Effective Time.
Section 5.11 Trust Account. Upon satisfaction or, to the extent permitted by applicable Law, waiver of the conditions set forth in Article VI and provision of notice thereof to the Trustee, at the Closing, SVAQ shall (i) cause the documents, certificates and notices required to be delivered to the Trustee pursuant to the Trust Agreement to be so delivered, and (ii) make all appropriate arrangements to cause the Trustee to pay (a) SVAQ’s accrued and unpaid Expenses as of Closing (including cash amounts payable to the underwriter in the IPO, any legal fees, any loans owed by SVAQ to the Sponsor for any Expenses and deferred Expenses), and (b) any accrued and unpaid Expenses of the Company as of the Closing. Any remaining cash will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes of SVAQ and the Surviving Company following the Closing.
Section 5.12 Company Stockholder Approval. As promptly as reasonably practicable (and in any event within five (5) Business Days) following the date on which the Registration Statement has become effective (the “Company Stockholder Written Consent Deadline”), the Company shall obtain and deliver to SVAQ a true and correct copy of the adoption and approval of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby by the Company Stockholders acting by written consent in lieu of a meeting (in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to SVAQ) approving this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents to which the Company is or will be a party and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including the Merger) that is duly executed by the Company Stockholders that hold at least the requisite number of issued and outstanding Company Shares required to approve and adopt such matters in accordance with the DGCL and the Company’s Governing Documents (the “Company Stockholder Written Consent”). The Company Board shall recommend to the holders of Company Shares the approval and adoption of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including the Merger) (the “Company Board Recommendation”).
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Section 5.13 SVAQ Indemnification; Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance.
(a) Each Party agrees that (i) all rights to indemnification or exculpation now existing in favor of the directors and officers of each SVAQ Party, as provided in the applicable SVAQ Party’s Governing Documents or otherwise in effect as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, in either case, solely with respect to any matters occurring on or prior to the Effective Time shall survive the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and shall continue in full force and effect from and after the Effective Time for a period of six (6) years and (ii) SVAQ will perform and discharge, or cause to be performed and discharged, all obligations to provide such indemnity and exculpation during such six (6)-year period. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Law, during such six (6)-year period, SVAQ shall advance, or caused to be advanced, expenses in connection with such indemnification as provided in the applicable SVAQ Party’s Governing Documents or other applicable agreements as in effect immediately prior to the Effective Time. The indemnification and liability limitation or exculpation provisions of the SVAQ Parties’ Governing Documents shall not, during such six (6)-year period, be amended, repealed or otherwise modified after the Effective Time in any manner that would materially and adversely affect the rights thereunder of individuals who, as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, or at any time prior to such time, were directors or officers of any SVAQ Party (the “SVAQ D&O Persons”) entitled to be so indemnified, have their liability limited or be exculpated with respect to any matters occurring on or prior to the Effective Time and relating to the fact that such SVAQ D&O Person was a director or officer of any SVAQ Party on or prior to the Effective Time, unless such amendment, repeal or other modification is required by applicable Law.
(b) SVAQ shall not have any obligation under this Section 5.13 to any SVAQ D&O Person when and if a court of competent jurisdiction shall ultimately determine (and such determination shall have become final and non-appealable) that the indemnification of such SVAQ D&O Person in the manner contemplated hereby is prohibited by applicable Law.
(c) For a period of six (6) years following the Effective Time, SVAQ shall maintain, without any lapses in coverage, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance for the benefit of each of SVAQ’s directors and officers with respect to matters occurring on or prior to the Effective Time. Such insurance policies shall provide coverage on terms (with respect to coverage and amount) that are substantially the same as (and no less favorable in the aggregate to the Persons covered thereby than) the coverage provided under SVAQ’s directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies in effect as of the date of this Agreement; provided that SVAQ shall not be obligated to pay annual premiums in excess of three hundred percent (300%) of the most recent annual premium paid by SVAQ prior to the date of this Agreement and, in such event, SVAQ shall purchase the maximum coverage available for three hundred percent (300%) of the most recent annual premium paid by SVAQ prior to the date of this Agreement.
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(d) If SVAQ or any of its successors or assigns (i) shall merge or consolidate with or merge into any other corporation or entity and shall not be the surviving or continuing corporation or entity of such consolidation or merger or (ii) shall transfer all or substantially all of their respective properties and assets as an entity in one or a series of related transactions to any Person, then in each such case, proper provisions shall be made so that the successors or assigns of SVAQ shall assume all of the obligations set forth in this Section 5.13.
(e) The SVAQ D&O Persons entitled to the indemnification, expense reimbursement, liability limitation, exculpation and insurance set forth in this Section 5.13 are intended to be third-party beneficiaries of this Section 5.13. This Section 5.13 shall survive the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and shall be binding on all successors and assigns of SVAQ.
Section 5.14 Company Indemnification; Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance.
(a) Each Party agrees that (i) all rights to indemnification or exculpation now existing in favor of the directors and officers of the Group Companies, as provided in the Group Companies’ Governing Documents or otherwise in effect as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, in either case, solely with respect to any matters occurring on or prior to the Effective Time, shall survive the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and shall continue in full force and effect from and after the Effective Time for a period of six (6) years and (ii) SVAQ will cause the applicable Group Companies to perform and discharge all obligations to provide such indemnity and exculpation during such six (6)-year period. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Law, during such six (6)-year period, SVAQ shall cause the applicable Group Companies to advance expenses in connection with such indemnification as provided in the Group Companies’ Governing Documents or other applicable agreements in effect as of immediately prior to the Effective Time. The indemnification and liability limitation or exculpation provisions of the Group Companies’ Governing Documents shall not, during such six (6)-year period, be amended, repealed or otherwise modified following the Effective Time in any manner that would materially and adversely affect the rights thereunder of individuals who, as of the Effective Time or at any time prior to the Effective Time, were directors or officers of the Group Companies (the “Company D&O Persons”) entitled to be so indemnified, have their liability limited or be exculpated with respect to any matters occurring prior to Closing and relating to the fact that such Company D&O Person was a director or officer of any Group Company on or prior to the Effective Time, unless such amendment, repeal or other modification is required by applicable Law.
(b) None of SVAQ or the Group Companies shall have any obligation under this Section 5.14 to any Company D&O Person when and if a court of competent jurisdiction shall ultimately determine (and such determination shall have become final and non-appealable) that the indemnification of such Company D&O Person in the manner contemplated hereby is prohibited by applicable Law.
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(c) The Company shall purchase, at or prior to the Closing, and SVAQ shall maintain, or cause to be maintained, in effect for a period of six (6) years following the Effective Time, without lapses in coverage, a “tail” policy providing directors’ and officers’ liability insurance coverage for each of the Company’s officers or directors with respect to matters occurring on or prior to the Effective Time (the “Company D&O Tail Policy”). Such “tail” policy shall provide coverage on terms (with respect to coverage and amount) that are substantially the same as (and no less favorable in the aggregate to the Persons covered thereby) the coverage provided under the Group Companies’ directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies as of the date of this Agreement; provided that none of the Company, SVAQ or any of their respective Affiliates shall pay a premium for such “tail” policy in excess of three hundred percent (300%) of the most recent annual premium paid by the Group Companies prior to the date of this Agreement and, in such event, the Company, SVAQ or one of their respective Affiliates shall purchase the maximum coverage available for three hundred percent (300%) of the most recent annual premium paid by the Group Companies prior to the date of this Agreement.
(d) If SVAQ or any of its successors or assigns (i) shall merge or consolidate with or merge into any other corporation or entity and shall not be the surviving or continuing corporation or entity of such consolidation or merger or (ii) shall transfer all or substantially all of their respective properties and assets as an entity in one or a series of related transactions to any Person, then in each such case, proper provisions shall be made so that the successors or assigns of SVAQ to assume all of the obligations set forth in this Section 5.14.
(e) The Company D&O Persons entitled to the indemnification, liability limitation, exculpation and insurance set forth in this Section 5.14 are intended to be third-party beneficiaries of this Section 5.14. This Section 5.14 shall survive the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and shall be binding on all successors and assigns of SVAQ.
Section 5.15 Post-Closing Directors and Officers.
(a) SVAQ shall take all such action within its power as may be necessary or appropriate such that effective immediately after the Effective Time (i) the SVAQ Board shall initially consist of seven (7) directors; (ii) the members of the SVAQ Board are the individuals determined in accordance with Section 5.15(b); (iii) the members of the compensation committee, audit committee and nominating committee of the SVAQ Board are the individuals determined in accordance with Section 5.15(c); and (iv) the officers of SVAQ (the “Officers”) are the individuals determined in accordance with Section 5.15(d).
(b) The Company shall have the right to designate all seven (7) individuals to be the directors on the SVAQ Board immediately after the Effective Time, a majority of whom shall qualify as “independent directors” under the applicable Nasdaq listing regulations, with the Company designating one such individual to serve as chairman of the SVAQ Board.
(c) Prior to the mailing of the Proxy Statement to the Pre-Closing SVAQ Holders, (i) the Company may designate independent directors to serve as members of the compensation committee, the audit committee or the nominating committee of the SVAQ Board immediately after the Effective Time, subject to SVAQ’s consent (not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed) based on the qualifications of the independent directors, subject to applicable listing rules of Nasdaq and applicable Law, and (ii) the Company shall, subject to clause (i), designate each other director that will serve on the compensation committee, the audit committee and the nominating committee of the SVAQ Board immediately after the Effective Time, based on the qualifications of each director, subject to applicable listing rules of Nasdaq and applicable Law.
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(d) The Company shall have the right to designate the individuals to be the Officers immediately after the Effective Time, including the Chief Executive Officer and the other members of the initial management team.
(e) SVAQ shall have the right to designate one (1) individual to serve as a board advisor to the SVAQ Board and/or in such other role as may be mutually agreed by the Parties.
Section 5.16 PCAOB Financials.
(a) As promptly as reasonably practicable, but no later than July 31, 2026, the Company shall deliver to SVAQ (i) the Closing Company Audited Financial Statements, and (ii) any other audited or unaudited consolidated balance sheets and the related audited or unaudited consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss and stockholders’ deficit and cash flows of the Group Companies as of and for a year-to-date period ended as of the end of any other different fiscal quarter (and as of and for the same period from the previous fiscal year) or fiscal year (and as of and for the prior fiscal quarter), as applicable that is required to be included in the Registration Statement (collectively, the “PCAOB Financials”). All such financial statements, together with any audited or unaudited consolidated balance sheet and the related audited or unaudited consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss and stockholders’ deficit and cash flows of the Group Companies as of and for a year-to-date period ended as of the end of a different fiscal quarter (and as of and for the same period from the previous fiscal year) or fiscal year (and as of and for the prior fiscal quarter) that is required to be included in the Registration Statement (A) will fairly present in all material respects the financial position of the Group Companies as at the date thereof, and the results of its operations, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the respective periods then ended (subject, in the case of any unaudited interim financial statements, to normal year end audit adjustments (none of which is expected to be material) and the absence of footnotes), (B) will be prepared in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis during the periods involved (except, in the case of any audited financial statements, as may be indicated in the notes thereto and subject, in the case of any unaudited financial statements, to normal year-end audit adjustments (none of which is expected to be material) and the absence of footnotes), (C) in the case of any audited financial statements, will be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB and contain an unqualified report of the Company’s auditor and (D) will comply in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements and with the rules and regulations of the SEC, the Exchange Act and the Securities Act in effect as of the respective dates thereof (including Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K, as applicable).
(b) The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts (i) to assist, upon advance written notice, during normal business hours and in a manner such as to not unreasonably interfere with the normal operation of any member of such Group Company, SVAQ in causing to be prepared in a timely manner any other financial information or statements (including customary pro forma financial statements) that are required to be included in the Registration Statement and any other filings to be made by SVAQ with the SEC in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Document and (ii) to obtain the consents of its auditors with respect thereto as may be required by applicable Law or requested by the SEC.
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Section 5.17 Equity Incentive Plan. Upon Closing, the SVAQ Board shall approve and adopt an equity incentive plan to the benefit of certain members of management (the “Incentive Plan”), in the manner prescribed under applicable Laws, effective as of the Closing Date, (i) reserving for grant thereunder a number of SVAQ Shares representing, in the aggregate, approximately ten percent (10%) of the then issued and outstanding SVAQ Shares on a fully-diluted basis, determined as of the time immediately after the Effective Time. The structure, recipients, vesting terms, performance conditions and administration of the Incentive Plan shall be determined by the SVAQ Board after Closing, and shall include an “evergreen” provision that will provide for an automatic increase on the first day of each fiscal year of one percent (1%) of the issued and outstanding SVAQ Shares on a fully-diluted basis at the beginning of each fiscal year.
Section 5.18 FIRPTA Certificates. At or prior to the Closing, the Company shall deliver, or cause to be delivered, to SVAQ a certificate, duly executed by the Company, complying with Treasury Regulations Section 1.1445-2(c)(3), together with evidence that the Company has provided notice to the Internal Revenue Service in accordance with the provisions of Treasury Regulations Section 1.897-2(h)(2), in each case, in a form and substance reasonably acceptable to SVAQ.
Section 5.19 Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement. The Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement to be duly executed by the Company Stockholders that are parties thereto.
Section 5.20 Financing Cooperation.
(a) During the Interim Period, SVAQ shall use reasonable best efforts to (i) enter into written agreements (the “Financing Agreements”) for Transaction Financings and (ii) facilitate the Company in obtaining of equity or debt financing which is funded during the Interim Period (the “Company Pre-Closing Financing”); in each case, on such terms as SVAQ and the Company shall mutually agree-.
(b) SVAQ and the Company shall, and shall cause their respective Representatives to cooperate with each other and their respective Representatives in connection with such Transaction Financing and Financing Agreements and SVAQ and the Company will use their respective reasonable best efforts to cause such Transaction Financing to occur (including having the Company’s senior management participate in any investor meetings and roadshows as reasonably requested by SVAQ or the Company).
Article VI
CONDITIONS TO CONSUMMATION OF THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED BY THIS AGREEMENT
Section 6.1 Conditions to the Obligations of the Parties. The obligations of the Parties to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are subject to the satisfaction or, if permitted by applicable Law, written waiver by the Party for whose benefit such condition exists of the following conditions:
(a) each applicable waiting period under any Antitrust Laws relating to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement shall have expired or been terminated;
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(b) no Order or Law or other legal restraint or prohibition issued by any court of competent jurisdiction or other Governmental Entity enjoining, prohibiting or preventing the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including the Domestication and the Merger) shall be in effect;
(c) the Registration Statement shall have become effective in accordance with the provisions of the Securities Act, no stop order shall have been issued by the SEC and shall remain in effect with respect to the Registration Statement, and no proceeding seeking such a stop order shall have been threatened or initiated by the SEC and remain pending;
(d) the Company Stockholder Written Consent shall have been obtained;
(e) the Required SVAQ Shareholder Approval shall have been obtained; and
(f) SVAQ’s initial listing application with the Stock Exchange in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement shall have been approved and, immediately following the Effective Time, SVAQ shall satisfy any applicable initial and continuing listing requirements of Nasdaq, and SVAQ shall not have received any notice of non-compliance therewith that has not been cured or would not be cured at or immediately following the Effective Time, and the SVAQ Shares (after giving effect, for the avoidance of doubt, to the Domestication and, including, for the avoidance of doubt, the SVAQ Shares to be issued pursuant to the Merger) shall have been approved for listing on the Stock Exchange.
Section 6.2 Other Conditions to the Obligations of the SVAQ Parties. The obligations of the SVAQ Parties to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are subject to the satisfaction or, if permitted by applicable Law, prior written waiver by SVAQ (on behalf of itself and the other SVAQ Parties) of the following further conditions:
(a) (i) the Company Fundamental Representations (other than the representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.2(a)) shall be true and correct (without giving effect to any limitation as to “materiality” or “Company Material Adverse Effect” or any similar limitation set forth herein) in all material respects as of the Closing Date, as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent that any such representation and warranty is made as of an earlier date, in which case such representation and warranty shall be true and correct in all material respects as of such earlier date), (ii) the representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.2(a) shall be true and correct in all respects (except for de minimis inaccuracies and except for any changes as a result of Company Pre-Closing Financing) as of Closing Date, as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent that any such representation and warranty is made as of an earlier date, in which case such representation and warranty shall be true and correct in all respects (except for de minimis inaccuracies) as of such earlier date); provided, however, that this clause (ii) shall be deemed to be satisfied if no Company Material Adverse Effect is continuing), and (iii) the representations and warranties of the of the Company set forth in Article III (other than the Company Fundamental Representations) shall be true and correct (without giving effect to any limitation as to “materiality” or “Company Material Adverse Effect” or any similar limitation set forth herein) in all respects as of the Closing Date, as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent that any such representation and warranty is made as of an earlier date, in which case such representation and warranty shall be true and correct in all respects as of such earlier date), except where the failure of such representations and warranties to be true and correct, taken as a whole, does not cause a Company Material Adverse Effect;
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(b) the Company shall have performed and complied in all material respects with the covenants and agreements required to be performed or complied with by the Company under this Agreement at or prior to the Closing;
(c) since the date of this Agreement, no Company Material Adverse Effect shall have occurred that is continuing;
(d) at or prior to the Closing, the Company shall have delivered, or caused to be delivered, to SVAQ the following documents:
(i) a certificate duly executed by an authorized officer of the Company, dated as of the Closing Date, to the effect that the conditions specified in Section 6.2(a), Section 6.2(b) and Section 6.2(c) are satisfied, in a form and substance reasonably satisfactory to SVAQ;
(ii) the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreements, duly executed by the Company Stockholders.
Section 6.3 Other Conditions to the Obligations of the Company. The obligations of the Company to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are subject to the satisfaction or, if permitted by applicable Law, written waiver by the Company of the following further conditions:
(a) (i) the SVAQ Fundamental Representations (other than the representations and warranties set forth in Section 4.6(a)) shall be true and correct in all material respects as of the Closing Date, as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent that any such representation and warranty is made as of an earlier date, in which case such representation and warranty shall be true and correct in all material respects as of such earlier date), (ii) the representations and warranties set forth in Section 4.6(a) shall be true and correct in all respects (except for de minimis inaccuracies) as of the Closing Date, as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent that any such representation and warranty is made as of an earlier date, in which case such representation and warranty shall be true and correct in all respects (except for de minimis inaccuracies) as of such earlier date), (iii) the representations and warranties of the SVAQ Parties (other than the SVAQ Fundamental Representations) contained in Article IV of this Agreement shall be true and correct (without giving effect to any limitation as to “materiality” or “SVAQ Material Adverse Effect” or any similar limitation set forth herein) in all respects as of the Closing Date, as though made on and as of the Closing Date (except to the extent that any such representation and warranty is made as of an earlier date, in which case such representation and warranty shall be true and correct as of such earlier date), except where the failure of such representations and warranties to be true and correct, taken as a whole, does not cause a SVAQ Material Adverse Effect;
(b) the SVAQ Parties shall have performed and complied in all material respects with the covenants and agreements required to be performed or complied with by them under this Agreement at or prior to the Closing;
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(c) since the date of this Agreement, no SVAQ Material Adverse Effect shall have occurred that is continuing;
(d) the SVAQ Board shall consist of the number of directors, and be comprised of the individuals, determined pursuant to Section 5.15;
(e) the Domestication shall have been consummated prior to the Effective Time; and
(f) at or prior to the Closing, SVAQ shall have delivered, or caused to be delivered, the following documents:
(i) a certificate duly executed by an authorized officer of SVAQ, dated as of the Closing Date, to the effect that the conditions specified in Section 6.3(a), Section 6.3(b) and Section 6.3(c) are satisfied, in a form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Company; and
(ii) the Registration Rights and Lock-up Agreement, duly executed by SVAQ and the Sponsor.
Section 6.4 Frustration of Closing Conditions. The Company may not rely on the failure of any condition set forth in this Article VI to be satisfied if such failure was proximately caused by the Company’s failure to use reasonable best efforts to cause the Closing to occur, as required by Section 5.2. None of the SVAQ Parties may rely on the failure of any condition set forth in this Article VI to be satisfied if such failure was proximately caused by a SVAQ Party’s failure to use reasonable best efforts to cause the Closing to occur, as required by Section 5.2.
Article VII
TERMINATION
Section 7.1 Termination. This Agreement may be terminated, and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement may be abandoned at any time prior to the Closing, solely:
(a) by mutual written consent of SVAQ and the Company;
(b) by SVAQ, if any of the representations or warranties set forth in Article III shall not be true and correct or if the Company has failed to perform or has otherwise breached any of its covenants or agreements set forth in this Agreement (including an obligation to consummate the Closing) such that the condition to Closing set forth in either Section 6.2(a) or Section 6.2(b) would not be satisfied (assuming the Closing occurred as of such date) and the breach or breaches causing such representations or warranties not to be true and correct, or the failures to perform any covenant or agreement, as applicable, is (or are) not cured or cannot be cured within the earlier of (i) thirty (30) days after written notice thereof is delivered to the Company by SVAQ, and (ii) the Outside Date; provided, however, that none of the SVAQ Parties is then in breach of this Agreement so as to prevent the condition to Closing set forth in either Section 6.3(a) or Section 6.3(b) from being satisfied (assuming the Closing occurred as of such date);
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(c) by the Company, if any of the representations or warranties set forth in Article IV shall not be true and correct or if any SVAQ Party has failed to perform any covenant or agreement on the part of such applicable SVAQ Party set forth in this Agreement (including an obligation to consummate the Closing) such that the condition to Closing set forth in either Section 6.3(a) or Section 6.3(b) could not be satisfied (assuming the Closing occurred as of such date) and the breach or breaches causing such representations or warranties not to be true and correct, or the failures to perform any covenant or agreement, as applicable, is (or are) not cured or cannot be cured within the earlier of (i) thirty (30) days after written notice thereof is delivered to SVAQ by the Company and (ii) the Outside Date; provided, however, the Company is not then in breach of this Agreement so as to prevent the condition to Closing set forth in Section 6.2(a) or Section 6.2(b) from being satisfied (assuming the Closing occurred as of such date);
(d) by either SVAQ or the Company, if the transactions contemplated by this Agreement shall not have been consummated on or prior to February 14, 2027 (the “Outside Date”); provided, that (i) the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 7.1(d) shall not be available to SVAQ if any SVAQ Party’s breach of any of its covenants or obligations under this Agreement, or any Ancillary Documents to which it is a party, shall have proximately caused the failure to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement on or before the Outside Date, and (ii) the right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 7.1(d) shall not be available to the Company if the Company’s breach of any of its covenants or obligations under this Agreement, or any Ancillary Documents to which it is a party, shall have proximately caused the failure to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement on or before the Outside Date;
(e) by either SVAQ or the Company, if any Governmental Entity shall have issued an Order or taken any other action permanently enjoining, restraining or otherwise prohibiting the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (including the Merger) and such Order or other action shall have become final and nonappealable;
(f) by either SVAQ or the Company if the SVAQ Shareholders Meeting has been held (including any adjournment thereof), has concluded, SVAQ’s shareholders have duly voted and the Required SVAQ Shareholder Approval was not obtained;
(g) by SVAQ, if the Company has not delivered, or caused to be delivered, to SVAQ, the written consents of the Company Stockholders sufficient to constitute the Company Stockholder Written Consent in accordance with Section 5.12 on or prior to the Company Stockholder Written Consent Deadline; or
(h) by SVAQ, if the Company has not delivered the PCAOB Financials in accordance with (including within the timeframe set forth in) Section 5.16(a).
Section 7.2 Effect of Termination. In the event of the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 7.1, (a) this entire Agreement shall forthwith become void (and there shall be no Liability or obligation on the part of the Parties and their respective Non-Party Affiliates) with the exception of Section 5.3(a), this Section 7.2, Article VIII and Article I (to the extent related to the foregoing), each of which shall survive such termination and remain valid and binding obligations of the Parties and (b) the Confidentiality Agreement, which shall survive such termination and remain valid and binding obligations of the parties thereto in accordance with their respective terms. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, but subject to Section 8.18, the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 7.1 shall not affect any Liability on the part of any Party for any willful breach of any covenant or agreement set forth in this Agreement prior to such termination or Fraud.
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Article VIII
MISCELLANEOUS
Section 8.1 Non-Survival. All of the representations and warranties set forth in this Agreement, shall terminate at the Effective Time, such that no claim for breach of any such representation, warranty, agreement or covenant, detrimental reliance or other right or remedy (whether in contract, in tort, at law, in equity or otherwise) may be brought with respect thereto after the Effective Time against any Party, any Company Non-Party Affiliate or any SVAQ Non-Party Affiliate, except in the case of Fraud. Each covenant and agreement contained herein that, by its terms, expressly contemplates performance after the Effective Time shall so survive the Effective Time in accordance with its terms, and each covenant and agreement contained in any Ancillary Document that, by its terms, expressly contemplates performance after the Effective Time shall so survive the Effective Time in accordance with its terms and any other provision in any Ancillary Document that expressly survives the Effective Time shall so survive the Effective Time in accordance with the terms of such Ancillary Document.
Section 8.2 Entire Agreement; Assignment. This Agreement (together with the Ancillary Documents and the Confidentiality Agreement) constitutes the entire agreement among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all other prior agreements and understandings, both written and oral, among the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. This Agreement may not be assigned by any Party (whether by operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written consent of SVAQ and the Company.
Section 8.3 Amendment. This Agreement may be amended or modified only by a written agreement executed and delivered by SVAQ and the Company. This Agreement may not be modified or amended except as provided in the immediately preceding sentence and any purported amendment by any Party or Parties effected in a manner which does not comply with this Section 8.3 shall be void, ab initio.
Section 8.4 Notices. All notices, requests, claims, demands and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be given (and shall be deemed to have been duly given) by delivery in person, by e-mail (having obtained electronic delivery confirmation thereof (i.e., an electronic record of the sender that the e-mail was sent to the intended recipient thereof without an “error” or similar message that such e-mail was not received by such intended recipient)), or by registered or certified mail (postage prepaid, return receipt requested) (upon receipt thereof) to the other Parties as follows:
| (a) | If to any SVAQ Party, to: |
Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp.
228 Hamilton Avenue, 3rd Floor
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Attention: Daniel Nash
Email: dnash@svacquisitioncorp.com
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with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
One Vanderbilt Avenue
New York, New York 10017
Attention: Adam Namoury; Tricia Branker
E-mail: adam.namoury@gtlaw.com; brankert@gtlaw.com
| (b) | If to the Company, to: |
EigenQ, Inc.
9175 Guilford Road, Suite 300
Columbia, MD 21046
Attention: Dr. José R. Rosas-Bustos; Dr. Jesse Van Griensven
Email: jose@eigenq.com; jesse@eigenq.com
with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
1345 Avenue of the Americas, 11th Floor
New York, New York 10105
Attn: David Landau, Esq.; Meredith Laitner, Esq.
Telephone No.: (212) 370-1300
Email: dlandau@egsllp.com; mlaitner@egsllp.com
or to such other address as the Party to whom notice is given may have previously furnished to the others in writing in the manner set forth above.
Section 8.5 Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of New York or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the law of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York (except that the laws of the Cayman Islands shall also apply to the Domestication).
Section 8.6 Fees and Expenses. Except as otherwise set forth in this Agreement, all Expenses incurred in connection with this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be paid by the Party incurring such expenses; provided that (i) if the Closing occurs, all expenses incurred by SVAQ will be paid or reimbursed by SVAQ from the Trust Account, the Transaction Financing, or other cash sources available to SVAQ or its Subsidiaries at the Closing, (ii) all fees, costs and expenses (including filing fees) paid or payable by any Party or any of its Affiliates as a result of or in connection with or arising under any applicable Antitrust Laws, including fees and expenses relating to any pre-merger notification required under the HSR Act shall be shared equally between the Parties, (iii) all fees, costs and expenses (including filing fees and printer costs) paid or payable by any Party or any of its Affiliates as a result of or in connection with or arising from filing the Registration Statement and Proxy Statement with the SEC shall be shared equally between the Parties, and (iv) all fees, costs and expenses (including filing fees) paid or payable by any Party or any of its Affiliates as a result of or in connection with or arising from submitting to the Stock Exchange a listing application for the shares of SVAQ Common Stock and SVAQ Warrants (including any filing fees arising therefrom) shall be shared equally between the Parties.
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Section 8.7 Construction; Interpretation. The term “this Agreement” means this Business Combination Agreement together with the Schedules and Exhibits hereto, as the same may from time to time be amended, modified, supplemented or restated in accordance with the terms hereof. The headings set forth in this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and shall not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement. No Party, nor its respective counsel, shall be deemed the drafter of this Agreement for purposes of construing the provisions hereof, and all provisions of this Agreement shall be construed according to their fair meaning and not strictly for or against any Party. Unless otherwise indicated to the contrary herein by the context or use thereof: (a) the words, “herein,” “hereto,” “hereof” and words of similar import refer to this Agreement as a whole, including the Schedules and Exhibits, and not to any particular section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph or clause set forth in this Agreement; (b) masculine gender shall also include the feminine and neutral genders, and vice versa; (c) words importing the singular shall also include the plural, and vice versa; (d) the words “include,” “includes” or “including” shall be deemed to be followed by the words “without limitation”; (e) references to “$” or “dollar” or “US$” shall be references to United States dollars; (f) the word “or” is disjunctive but not necessarily exclusive; (g) the words “writing”, “written” and comparable terms refer to printing, typing and other means of reproducing words (including electronic media) in a visible form; (h) the word “day” means calendar day unless Business Day is expressly specified; (i) references from or through any date mean from and including or through and including such date, respectively, (j) the word “extent” in the phrase “to the extent” means the degree to which a subject or other thing extends, and such phrase shall not mean simply “if”; (k) all references to Articles, Sections, Exhibits or Schedules are to Articles, Sections, Exhibits and Schedules of this Agreement; (l) the words “made available” (regardless of whether capitalized or not) shall mean, when used with reference to documents or other materials required to be provided or made available to SVAQ, any documents or other materials posted to the electronic data room made available to SVAQ and its advisors as of 10:00 p.m., Eastern Time, at least one (1) Business Day prior to the date of this Agreement; (m) all references to any Law will be to such Law as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified or re-enacted from time to time; and (n) all references to any Contract are to that Contract as amended or modified from time to time in accordance with the terms thereof (subject to any restrictions on amendments or modifications set forth in this Agreement). If any action under this Agreement is required to be done or taken on a day that is not a Business Day, then such action shall be required to be done or taken not on such day but on the first succeeding Business Day thereafter.
Section 8.8 Exhibits and Schedules. All Exhibits and Schedules, or documents expressly incorporated into this Agreement, are hereby incorporated into this Agreement and are hereby made a part hereof as if set out in full in this Agreement. The Schedules shall be arranged in sections and subsections corresponding to the numbered and lettered Sections and subsections set forth in this Agreement. Any item disclosed in the Company Disclosure Schedules or in the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules corresponding to any Section or subsection of Article III (in the case of the Company Disclosure Schedules) or Article IV (in the case of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules), respectively, shall be deemed to have been disclosed with respect to every other section and subsection of Article III (in the case of the Company Disclosure Schedules) or Article IV (in the case of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules), respectively, where the relevance of such disclosure to such other Section or subsection is reasonably apparent on the face of the disclosure. The information and disclosures set forth in the Schedules that correspond to the section or subsections of Article III or Article IV may not be limited to matters required to be disclosed in the Schedules, and any such additional information or disclosure is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily include other matters of a similar nature.
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Section 8.9 Parties in Interest. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure solely to the benefit of each Party and its successors and permitted assigns and, except as provided in Section 5.13 and Section 5.14, nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to or shall confer upon any other Person any rights, benefits or remedies of any nature whatsoever under or by reason of this Agreement. Each of the Non-Party Affiliates shall be an express third-party beneficiary of Section 8.13.
Section 8.10 Severability. Whenever possible, each provision of this Agreement will be interpreted in such a manner as to be effective and valid under applicable Law, but if any term or other provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable under applicable Law, all other provisions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect so long as the economic or legal substance of the transactions contemplated hereby is not affected in any manner materially adverse to any Party. Upon such determination that any term or other provision of this Agreement is invalid, illegal or unenforceable under applicable Law, the Parties shall negotiate in good faith to modify this Agreement so as to effect the original intent of the Parties as closely as possible in an acceptable manner in order that the transactions contemplated hereby are consummated as originally contemplated to the greatest extent possible.
Section 8.11 Counterparts; Electronic Signatures. This Agreement and each Ancillary Document (including any of the closing deliverables contemplated hereby) may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all of which shall constitute one and the same agreement. Delivery of an executed counterpart of a signature page to this Agreement or any Ancillary Document (including any of the closing deliverables contemplated hereby) by e-mail, or scanned pages shall be effective as delivery of a manually executed counterpart to this Agreement or any such Ancillary Document.
Section 8.12 Knowledge of Company; Knowledge of SVAQ. For all purposes of this Agreement, the phrase “to the Company’s knowledge”, “to the knowledge of the Company” and “known by the Company” and any derivations thereof shall mean as of the applicable date, the actual knowledge of the individuals set forth on Section 8.12(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules, assuming reasonable due inquiry. For all purposes of this Agreement, the phrase “to SVAQ’s knowledge”, “to the knowledge of SVAQ” and “known by SVAQ” and any derivations thereof shall mean as of the applicable date, the actual knowledge of the individuals set forth on Section 8.12(b) of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules, assuming reasonable due inquiry. For the avoidance of doubt, none of the individuals set forth on Section 8.12(a) of the Company Disclosure Schedules or Section 8.12(b) of the SVAQ Disclosure Schedules shall have any personal Liability or obligations regarding such knowledge.
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Section 8.13 No Recourse. Except for claims pursuant to any Ancillary Document by any party(ies) thereto against any Company Non-Party Affiliate or any SVAQ Non-Party Affiliate (each, a “Non-Party Affiliate”), and then solely with respect to claims against the Non-Party Affiliates that are party to the applicable Ancillary Document, each Party agrees on behalf of itself and on behalf of the Company Non-Party Affiliates, in the case of the Company, and the SVAQ Non-Party Affiliates, in the case of SVAQ, that (a) this Agreement may only be enforced against, and any action for breach of this Agreement may only be made against, the Parties, and no claims of any nature whatsoever arising under or relating to this Agreement, the negotiation hereof or its subject matter, or the transactions contemplated hereby shall be asserted against any Non-Party Affiliate, and (b) none of the Non-Party Affiliates shall have any Liability arising out of or relating to this Agreement, the negotiation hereof or its subject matter, or the transactions contemplated hereby, including with respect to any claim (whether in tort, contract or otherwise) for breach of this Agreement or in respect of any written or oral representations made or alleged to be made in connection herewith, as expressly provided herein, or for any actual or alleged inaccuracies, misstatements or omissions with respect to any information or materials of any kind furnished by the Company, SVAQ or any Non-Party Affiliate concerning any Group Company, any SVAQ Party, this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.
Section 8.14 Extension; Waiver. The Company may (a) extend the time for the performance of any of the obligations or other acts of the SVAQ Parties set forth herein, (b) waive any inaccuracies in the representations and warranties of the SVAQ Parties set forth herein or (c) waive compliance by the SVAQ Parties with any of the agreements or conditions set forth herein. SVAQ may (i) extend the time for the performance of any of the obligations or other acts of the Company set forth herein, (ii) waive any inaccuracies in the representations and warranties of the Company set forth herein or (iii) waive compliance by the Company with any of the agreements or conditions set forth herein. Any agreement on the part of any such Party to any such extension or waiver shall be valid only if set forth in a written instrument signed on behalf of such Party. Any waiver of any term or condition shall not be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach or a subsequent waiver of the same term or condition, or a waiver of any other term or condition of this Agreement. The failure of any Party to assert any of its rights hereunder shall not constitute a waiver of such rights.
Section 8.15 Waiver of Jury Trial. THE PARTIES EACH HEREBY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ANY RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY OF ANY PROCEEDING, CLAIM, DEMAND, ACTION, OR CAUSE OF ACTION (I) ARISING UNDER THIS AGREEMENT OR UNDER ANY ANCILLARY DOCUMENT OR (II) IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH OR RELATED OR INCIDENTAL TO THE DEALINGS OF THE PARTIES IN RESPECT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY ANCILLARY DOCUMENT OR ANY OF THE TRANSACTIONS RELATED HERETO OR THERETO OR ANY FINANCING IN CONNECTION WITH THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR ANY OF THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED THEREBY, IN EACH CASE, WHETHER NOW EXISTING OR HEREAFTER ARISING, AND WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, EQUITY, OR OTHERWISE. THE PARTIES EACH HEREBY AGREES AND CONSENTS THAT ANY SUCH PROCEEDING, CLAIM, DEMAND, ACTION OR CAUSE OF ACTION SHALL BE DECIDED BY COURT TRIAL WITHOUT A JURY AND THAT THE PARTIES MAY FILE AN ORIGINAL COUNTERPART OF A COPY OF THIS AGREEMENT WITH ANY COURT AS WRITTEN EVIDENCE OF THE CONSENT OF THE PARTIES HERETO TO THE WAIVER OF THEIR RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY. EACH PARTY CERTIFIES AND ACKNOWLEDGES THAT (A) NO REPRESENTATIVE, AGENT OR ATTORNEY OF ANY OTHER PARTY HAS REPRESENTED, EXPRESSLY OR OTHERWISE, THAT SUCH OTHER PARTY WOULD NOT, IN THE EVENT OF LITIGATION, SEEK TO ENFORCE THE FOREGOING WAIVER, (B) EACH SUCH PARTY UNDERSTANDS AND HAS CONSIDERED THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS WAIVER, (C) EACH SUCH PARTY MAKES THIS WAIVER VOLUNTARILY AND (D) EACH SUCH PARTY HAS BEEN INDUCED TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT BY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE MUTUAL WAIVERS AND CERTIFICATIONS IN THIS SECTION 8.15.
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Section 8.16 Submission to Jurisdiction. Each of the Parties irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of any New York State court or Federal court of the United States of America sitting in New York City in the borough of Manhattan for the purposes of any Proceeding, claim, demand, action or cause of action (a) arising under this Agreement or under any Ancillary Document or (b) in any way connected with or related or incidental to the dealings of the Parties in respect of this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or any of the transactions contemplated hereby or any of the transactions contemplated thereby, and irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection to the laying of venue of any such Proceeding in any such court, and further irrevocably and unconditionally waives and agrees not to plead or claim in any such court that any such Proceeding has been brought in an inconvenient forum. Each Party hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waives, and agrees not to assert, by way of motion or as a defense, counterclaim or otherwise, in any Proceeding claim, demand, action or cause of action against such Party (i) arising under this Agreement or under any Ancillary Document or (ii) in any way connected with or related or incidental to the dealings of the Parties in respect of this Agreement or any Ancillary Document or any of the transactions contemplated hereby or any of the transactions contemplated thereby, (A) any claim that such Party is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of the courts as described in this Section 8.16 for any reason, (B) that such Party or such Party’s property is exempt or immune from the jurisdiction of any such court or from any legal process commenced in such courts (whether through service of notice, attachment prior to judgment, attachment in aid of execution of judgment, execution of judgment or otherwise) and (C) that (x) the Proceeding, claim, demand, action or cause of action in any such court is brought against such Party in an inconvenient forum, (y) the venue of such Proceeding, claim, demand, action or cause of action against such Party is improper or (z) this Agreement, or the subject matter hereof, may not be enforced against such Party in or by such courts. Each Party agrees that service of any process, summons, notice or document by registered mail to such party’s respective address set forth in Section 8.4 shall be effective service of process for any such Proceeding, claim, demand, action or cause of action.
Section 8.17 Remedies. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, any and all remedies provided herein will be deemed cumulative with and not exclusive of any other remedy conferred hereby, or by law or equity upon such Party, and the exercise by a Party of any one remedy will not preclude the exercise of any other remedy. The Parties agree that irreparable damage for which monetary damages, even if available, would not be an adequate remedy, would occur in the event that the Parties do not perform their respective obligations under the provisions of this Agreement (including failing to take such actions as are required of them hereunder to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) in accordance with their specific terms or otherwise breach such provisions. It is accordingly agreed that the Parties shall be entitled to an injunction or injunctions, specific performance and other equitable relief to prevent breaches of this Agreement and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions of this Agreement, in each case, without posting a bond or undertaking and without proof of damages and this being in addition to any other remedy to which they are entitled at law or in equity. Each of the Parties agrees that it will not oppose the granting of an injunction, specific performance and other equitable relief when expressly available pursuant to the terms of this Agreement on the basis that the other parties have an adequate remedy at law or an award of specific performance is not an appropriate remedy for any reason at law or equity.
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Section 8.18 Trust Account Waiver. Reference is made to the final prospectus of SVAQ, filed with the SEC (File No. 333-290366) on December 23, 2025 (the “Prospectus”). The Company acknowledges and agrees and understands that SVAQ has established a trust account (the “Trust Account”) containing the proceeds of its initial public offering (the “IPO”) and from certain private placements occurring simultaneously with the IPO (including interest accrued from time to time thereon) for the benefit of SVAQ’s public shareholders (including overallotment shares acquired by SVAQ’s underwriters, the “Public Shareholders”), and SVAQ may disburse monies from the Trust Account only in the express circumstances described in the Prospectus. For and in consideration of SVAQ entering into this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the Company hereby agrees on behalf of itself and its Representatives that, notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary in this Agreement, none of the Company nor any of their respective Representatives does now or shall at any time hereafter have any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the Trust Account or distributions therefrom, or make any claim against the Trust Account (including any distributions therefrom), regardless of whether such claim arises as a result of, in connection with or relating in any way to, this Agreement or any proposed or actual business relationship between SVAQ or any of its Representatives, on the one hand, and, the Company or any of its respective Representatives, on the other hand, or any other matter, and regardless of whether such claim arises based on contract, tort, equity or any other theory of legal liability (any and all such claims are collectively referred to hereafter as the “Trust Account Released Claims” ). The Company (on its own behalf and on behalf of its Representatives) hereby irrevocably waives any Trust Account Released Claims that it or any of its Representatives may have against the Trust Account (including any distributions therefrom) now or in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, or Contracts with SVAQ or its Representatives and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account (including any distributions therefrom) for any reason whatsoever (including for an alleged breach of any agreement with SVAQ or its Affiliates).
Section 8.19 Legal Representation; Privilege.
(a) The Parties agree that, notwithstanding the fact that Greenberg Traurig, LLP (“GT”) may have, prior to Closing, jointly represented SVAQ, Merger Sub, and/or the Sponsor in connection with this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and has also represented SVAQ and/or its Affiliates in connection with matters other than the transaction that is the subject of this Agreement, GT will be permitted in the future, after Closing, to represent the Sponsor or its Affiliates in connection with matters in which such Persons are adverse to SVAQ or any of its Affiliates, including any disputes arising out of, or related to, this Agreement. The Company, hereby agrees, in advance, to waive (and to cause their Affiliates to waive) any actual or potential conflict of interest that may hereafter arise in connection with GT’s future representation of one or more of the Sponsor or its respective Affiliates in which the interests of such Person are adverse to the interests of SVAQ, the Company or any of its respective Affiliates, including any matters that arise out of this Agreement or that are substantially related to this Agreement or to any prior representation by GT of SVAQ, Merger Sub, any Sponsor, or any of their respective Affiliates. The Parties acknowledge and agree that, for the purposes of the attorney-client privilege, the Sponsor shall be deemed the client of GT with respect to the negotiation, execution and performance of this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents. All such communications shall remain privileged after the Closing and the privilege and the expectation of client confidence relating thereto shall belong solely to the Sponsor shall be controlled by the Sponsor and shall not pass to or be claimed by SVAQ or the Surviving Company; provided, further, that nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a waiver by SVAQ or any of its Affiliates (including, after the Effective Time, the Surviving Company and its Affiliates) of any applicable privileges or protections that can or may be asserted to prevent disclosure of any such communications to any third party.
(b) The Parties agree that, notwithstanding the fact that Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP (“EGS”) may have, prior to Closing, jointly represented the Company and/or its Affiliates in connection with this Agreement, the Ancillary Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and has also represented the Company and/or its Affiliates in connection with matters other than the transaction that is the subject of this Agreement, EGS will be permitted in the future, after Closing, to represent the Company or its Affiliates in connection with matters in which such Persons are adverse to SVAQ or any of its Affiliates, including any disputes arising out of, or related to, this Agreement. SVAQ, Merger Sub, and/or the Sponsor, who are or have the right to be represented by independent counsel in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, hereby agree, in advance, to waive (and to cause their Affiliates to waive) any actual or potential conflict of interest that may hereafter arise in connection with EGS’s future representation of one or more of the Company or its respective Affiliates in which the interests of such Person are adverse to the interests of SVAQ, Merger Sub, and/or the Sponsor or any of their respective Affiliates, including any matters that arise out of this Agreement or that are substantially related to this Agreement or to any prior representation by EGS of the Company or any of its respective Affiliates. The Parties acknowledge and agree that, for the purposes of the attorney-client privilege, the Company shall be deemed the client of EGS with respect to the negotiation, execution and performance of this Agreement and the Ancillary Documents. All such communications shall remain privileged after the Closing and the privilege and the expectation of client confidence relating thereto shall belong solely to the Company shall be controlled by the Company and shall not pass to or be claimed by SVAQ or the Surviving Company; provided, further, that nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a waiver by SVAQ or any of its Affiliates (including, after the Effective Time, the Surviving Company and its Affiliates) of any applicable privileges or protections that can or may be asserted to prevent disclosure of any such communications to any third party.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the Parties has caused this Business Combination Agreement to be duly executed on its behalf as of the day and year first above written.
| SILICON VALLEY ACQUISITION CORP. | ||
| By: | /s/ Dan Nash | |
| Name: | Dan Nash | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
| SVAQ MERGER SUB INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ Dan Nash | |
| Name: | Dan Nash | |
| Title: | President | |
| EIGENQ, INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ Dr. José R. Rosas-Bustos | |
| Name: | Dr. José R. Rosas-Bustos | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
Annex A
Key Supporting Company Stockholders
Tikdema Trust 2025