EX-1.1 2 d496227dex11.htm EX-1.1 EX-1.1

Exhibit 1.1

Viking Holdings Ltd

_____ Ordinary Shares

Underwriting Agreement

[ ● ], 2024

BofA Securities, Inc.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

As Representatives of the

several Underwriters listed

in Schedule 1 hereto

c/o BofA Securities, Inc.

One Bryant Park

New York, New York 10036

c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10179

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Viking Holdings Ltd, an exempted company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Bermuda (the “Company”), proposes to issue and sell to the several underwriters listed in Schedule 1 hereto (the “Underwriters”), for whom you are acting as representatives (the “Representatives”), an aggregate of [ ● ] ordinary shares, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company, and certain shareholders of the Company named in Schedule 2 hereto (the “Selling Shareholders”) propose to sell to the several Underwriters an aggregate of [ ● ] ordinary shares of the Company (collectively, the “Underwritten Shares”). In addition, the Selling Shareholders propose to sell, at the option of the Underwriters, up to an additional [ ● ] ordinary shares of the Company (the “Option Shares”). The Underwritten Shares and the Option Shares are herein referred to as the “Shares.” The ordinary shares of the Company to be outstanding after giving effect to the sale of the Shares are referred to herein as the “Ordinary Shares.”

The Company and the Selling Shareholders hereby confirm their agreement with the several Underwriters concerning the purchase and sale of the Shares, as follows:

1.   Registration Statement. The Company has prepared and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (collectively, the “Securities Act”), a registration statement (File No. 333-278515), including a prospectus, relating to the Shares. Such registration statement, as amended at the time it became effective, including the information, if any, deemed pursuant to Rule 430A, 430B or 430C under the Securities Act to be part of the registration statement at the time of its effectiveness (“Rule 430 Information”), is referred to herein as the “Registration Statement”; and as used herein, the term “Preliminary


Prospectus” means each prospectus included in such registration statement (and any amendments thereto) before effectiveness, any prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(a) under the Securities Act and the prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the time of its effectiveness that omits Rule 430 Information, and the term “Prospectus” means the prospectus in the form first used (or made available upon request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173 under the Securities Act) in connection with confirmation of sales of the Shares. If the Company has filed an abbreviated registration statement pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act (the “Rule 462 Registration Statement”), then any reference herein to the term “Registration Statement” shall be deemed to include such Rule 462 Registration Statement. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings given to such terms in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.

At or prior to the Applicable Time (as hereinafter defined), the Company had prepared the following information (collectively with the pricing information set forth on Annex A, the “Pricing Disclosure Package”): a Preliminary Prospectus dated [ ● ], 2024 and each “free-writing prospectus” (as defined pursuant to Rule 405 under the Securities Act) listed on Annex A hereto.

“Applicable Time” means [ ● ] [A/P].M., New York City time, on [ ● ], 2024.

2.   Purchase of the Shares. (a) The Company agrees to issue and sell, and each of the Selling Shareholders agrees, severally and not jointly, to sell, the Underwritten Shares to the several Underwriters as provided in this underwriting agreement (this “Agreement”), and each Underwriter, on the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements set forth herein and subject to the conditions set forth herein, agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase at a price per share of $[ ● ] (the “Purchase Price”) from the Company the respective number of Underwritten Shares set forth opposite such Underwriter’s name in Schedule 1 hereto and from each of the Selling Shareholders the number of Underwritten Shares (to be adjusted by you so as to eliminate fractional shares) determined by multiplying the aggregate number of Underwritten Shares to be sold by each of the Selling Shareholders as set forth opposite their respective names in Schedule 2 hereto by a fraction, the numerator of which is the aggregate number of Underwritten Shares to be purchased by such Underwriter as set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule 1 hereto and the denominator of which is the aggregate number of Underwritten Shares to be purchased by all the Underwriters from all of the Selling Shareholders hereunder.

In addition, each of the Selling Shareholders agrees, severally and not jointly, as and to the extent indicated in Schedule 2 hereto, to sell, the Option Shares to the several Underwriters as provided in this Agreement, and the Underwriters, on the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements set forth herein and subject to the conditions set forth herein, shall have the option to purchase, severally and not jointly, from each Selling Shareholder the Option Shares at the Purchase Price less an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Underwritten Shares but not payable on the Option Shares. If any Option Shares are to be purchased, the number of Option Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter shall be the number of Option Shares which bears the same ratio to the aggregate number of Option Shares being purchased as the number of Underwritten Shares set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule 1 hereto (or such number increased as

 

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set forth in Section 12 hereof) bears to the aggregate number of Underwritten Shares being purchased from the Selling Shareholders by the several Underwriters, subject, however, to such adjustments to eliminate any fractional Shares as the Representatives in their sole discretion shall make. Any such election to purchase Option Shares shall be made in proportion to the maximum number of Option Shares to be sold by each Selling Shareholder as set forth in Schedule 2 hereto.

The Underwriters may exercise the option to purchase Option Shares at any time in whole, or from time to time in part, on or before the thirtieth day following the date of the Prospectus, by written notice from the Representatives to the Company and the Selling Shareholders. Such notice shall set forth the aggregate number of Option Shares as to which the option is being exercised and the date and time when the Option Shares are to be delivered and paid for, which may be the same date and time as the Closing Date (as hereinafter defined) but shall not be earlier than the Closing Date nor later than the tenth full business day (as hereinafter defined) after the date of such notice (unless such time and date are postponed in accordance with the provisions of Section 12 hereof). Any such notice shall be given at least two business days prior to the date and time of delivery specified therein.

(b)  The Company and the Selling Shareholders understand that the Underwriters intend to make a public offering of the Shares, and initially to offer the Shares on the terms set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package. The Company and the Selling Shareholders acknowledge and agree that the Underwriters may offer and sell Shares to or through any affiliate of an Underwriter.

(c)  Payment for the Shares shall be made by wire transfer in immediately available funds to the accounts specified by the Company and the Selling Shareholders, to the Representatives in the case of the Underwritten Shares, in New York City at 10:00 A.M. New York City time on [ ● ], 2024, or at such other time or place on the same or such other date, not later than the fifth business day thereafter, as the Representatives, the Company and the Selling Shareholders may agree upon in writing or, in the case of the Option Shares, on the date and at the time and place specified by the Representatives in the written notice of the Underwriters’ election to purchase such Option Shares. The time and date of such payment for the Underwritten Shares is referred to herein as the “Closing Date,” and the time and date for such payment for the Option Shares, if other than the Closing Date, is herein referred to as the “Additional Closing Date.”

Payment for the Shares to be purchased on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, shall be made against delivery to the Representatives for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters of the Shares to be purchased on such date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, with any transfer taxes payable in connection with the sale of such Shares duly paid by the Company and the Selling Shareholders, as applicable. Delivery of the Shares shall be made through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) unless the Representatives shall otherwise instruct. The certificates for the Shares, if any, will be made available for inspection and packaging by the Representatives at the office of DTC or its designated custodian not later than 1:00 P.M., New York City time, on the business day prior to the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.

 

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(d)  Each of the Company and each Selling Shareholder, severally and not jointly, acknowledges and agrees that the Representatives and the other Underwriters are acting solely in the capacity of an arm’s length contractual counterparty to the Company and the Selling Shareholders with respect to the offering of Shares contemplated hereby (including in connection with determining the terms of the offering) and not as a financial advisor or a fiduciary to, or an agent of, the Company, the Selling Shareholders or any other person. Additionally, neither the Representatives nor any other Underwriter is advising the Company, the Selling Shareholders or any other person as to any legal, tax, investment, accounting or regulatory matters in any jurisdiction. The Company and the Selling Shareholders shall consult with their own advisors concerning such matters and each shall be responsible for making its own independent investigation and appraisal of the transactions contemplated hereby, and neither the Representatives nor any other Underwriter shall have any responsibility or liability to the Company or the Selling Shareholders with respect thereto. Any review by the Representatives and the other Underwriters of the Company, the transactions contemplated hereby or other matters relating to such transactions will be performed solely for the benefit of the Representatives and the other Underwriters and shall not be on behalf of the Company or the Selling Shareholders. Moreover, each Selling Shareholder acknowledges and agrees, severally and not jointly, that, although the Representatives may be required or choose to provide certain Selling Shareholders with certain Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS disclosures in connection with the offering, the Representatives and the other Underwriters are not making a recommendation to any Selling Shareholder to participate in the offering, enter into a “lock-up” agreement, or sell any Shares at the price determined in the offering, and nothing set forth in such disclosures is intended to suggest that the Representatives or any Underwriter is making such a recommendation.

3.   Representations and Warranties of the Company. The Company represents and warrants to each Underwriter and the Selling Shareholders that:

(a)  Preliminary Prospectus. No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and each Preliminary Prospectus included in the Pricing Disclosure Package, at the time of filing thereof, complied in all material respects with the Securities Act, and no Preliminary Prospectus, at the time of filing thereof, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in any Preliminary Prospectus, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 9(c) hereof.

(b)  Pricing Disclosure Package. The Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time did not, and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and

 

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in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in such Pricing Disclosure Package, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 9(c) hereof. No statement of material fact included in the Prospectus has been omitted from the Pricing Disclosure Package and no statement of material fact included in the Pricing Disclosure Package that is required to be included in the Prospectus has been omitted therefrom.

(c)  Issuer Free Writing Prospectus. Other than the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company (including its agents and representatives, other than the Underwriters in their capacity as such) has not prepared, made, used, authorized, approved or referred to and will not prepare, make, use, authorize, approve or refer to any “written communication” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act) that constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the Shares (each such communication by the Company or its agents and representatives (other than a communication referred to in clause (i) below) an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”) other than (i) any document not constituting a prospectus pursuant to Section 2(a)(10)(a) of the Securities Act or Rule 134 under the Securities Act or (ii) the documents listed on Annex A hereto, each electronic road show and any other written communications approved in writing in advance by the Representatives. Each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus complies in all material respects with the Securities Act, has been or will be (within the time period specified in Rule 433) filed in accordance with the Securities Act (to the extent required thereby) and does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Disclosure Package, and, when taken together with the Preliminary Prospectus filed prior to the first use of such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, did not, and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Preliminary Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Preliminary Prospectus, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 9(c) hereof.

(d)  Testing-the-Waters Materials. The Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communications other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the consent of the Representatives with entities the Company reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act or institutions that are accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Securities Act and otherwise in compliance with the requirements of Rule 163B under the Securities Act and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representatives have been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. “Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Rule 163B under the Securities Act. The Company has not

 

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distributed or approved for distribution any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications other than those listed on Annex B hereto. “Written Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act. Any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Disclosure Package, complied in all material respects with the Securities Act, and when taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time, did not, and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

(e)  Registration Statement and Prospectus. The Registration Statement has been declared effective by the Commission. No order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued by the Commission, and no proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act against the Company or related to the offering of the Shares has been initiated or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened by the Commission; as of the applicable effective date of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, the Registration Statement and any such post-effective amendment complied and will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act, and did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading; and as of the date of the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, the Prospectus will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 9(c) hereof.

(f)  Financial Statements. The financial statements and the related notes thereto of the Company included in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its subsidiaries as of the dates indicated and the results of their operations and the changes in their cash flows for the periods specified; except as set forth in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”), and applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods covered thereby; and the other historical financial information included in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus has been derived from either the relevant financial statements included in each of the Registration Statement, the

 

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Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or the accounting records or operating systems of the Company and its subsidiaries and gives a true and fair view of the information shown thereby.

(g)  No Material Adverse Change. Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, (i) there has not been any change in the issued and outstanding shares or share capital (as applicable) or long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, set aside for payment, paid or made by the Company or any of its subsidiaries on any class of issued and outstanding shares or share capital, or any material adverse change, or any development involving a material adverse change, in or affecting business, properties, financial condition, results of operations or prospects of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, (ii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has entered into any transaction or agreement that is material to the Company and any of its subsidiaries taken as a whole or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and any of its subsidiaries taken as a whole and (iii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries taken as a whole has sustained any material loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or any action, order or decree of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except in each case as otherwise disclosed in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(h)  Title to Real and Personal Property. The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title to all real property and good and marketable title to all personal property (including all ships or vessels owned by the Company or any of its subsidiaries) owned by them, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects, except such as are disclosed in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or such as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its subsidiaries; and any real property (including any ships or vessels leased by the Company or any of its subsidiaries) and buildings held under lease by the Company and its subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its subsidiaries, and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries have breached the terms of any such lease, except as would not have a material adverse effect on the condition (financial or other) business, prospects, properties or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole (a “Material Adverse Effect”); and any ships or vessels that have been mortgaged by the Company and its subsidiaries are validly and exclusively owned by them, and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries have materially breached the terms of any such mortgage.

(i)   Vessels’ Registration and Good Standing. Each ship and vessel listed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (each such ship or vessel, a “Vessel”) that is managed, leased or owned, directly or indirectly by the Company or any of its subsidiaries has been duly registered as a vessel under the laws and regulations and flag of the applicable jurisdiction in the sole ownership of the Company or its relevant subsidiary (each a “Vessel Owner”), and no other action is necessary to establish and perfect such Vessel

 

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Owner’s title to and interest in such Vessel as against any charterer or third party; each such owned Vessel is in good standing with respect to the payment of past and current taxes, fees and other amounts payable under the laws of the jurisdiction where it is registered as would affect its registry with the ship registry of such jurisdiction except for failures to be in good standing which would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect;

(j)  Organization and Good Standing. The Company and its subsidiaries have each been duly organized or incorporated (as the case may be) and are each validly existing and in good standing (where such concept is recognized) as a company under the laws of their respective jurisdictions of organization or incorporation, except to the extent that the failure to be in good standing would not have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company and each of its subsidiaries has power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as disclosed in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and is duly qualified under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified in any such jurisdiction would not have a Material Adverse Effect.

(k)  Capitalization. The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the heading “Capitalization”; all of the issued and outstanding share capital of the Company (including the Shares to be sold by the Selling Shareholders) have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and are not subject to any pre-emptive or similar rights, except as described in or expressly contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; except as described in or expressly contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no outstanding rights (including, without limitation, pre-emptive rights), warrants or options to acquire, or instruments convertible into or exchangeable for, any Ordinary Shares or other equity interest in the Company, or any contract, commitment, agreement, understanding or arrangement of any kind relating to the issuance of any Ordinary Shares of the Company, any such convertible or exchangeable securities or any such rights, warrants or options; the share capital of the Company conforms in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and all the outstanding equity interests of each subsidiary of the Company owned by the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable, free and clear of any lien, charge, encumbrance, security interest or any other claim of any third party.

(l)   Due Authorization. The Company has full right, power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and to perform its obligations hereunder; and all action required to be taken for the due and proper authorization, execution and delivery by it of this Agreement and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby has been duly and validly taken.

(m)  The Shares. The Shares to be issued and sold by the Company hereunder have been duly authorized by the Company and, when issued and delivered and paid for as provided herein, will be duly and validly issued, will be fully paid and non-assessable and will conform to the descriptions thereof in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and the issuance of the Shares is not subject to any preemptive or similar rights.

 

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(n)  No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement, the issuance and sale of the Shares by the Company and compliance by the Company with the terms thereof and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement will not conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default, or result in the imposition of any lien upon any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries under (i) any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, except any such conflict, breach, violation, default or imposition of a lien as would not have a Material Adverse Effect or otherwise prevent or conflict with the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby, (ii) the provisions of the certificate of incorporation, memorandum of association, articles of association or bye-laws or similar organizational documents of the Company or (iii) any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties, except any such conflict, breach, violation, default or imposition of a lien as would not have a Material Adverse Effect or otherwise prevent or conflict with the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration, filing or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the issue and sale of the Shares or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement except such consents, approvals, authorizations, registrations, filings or qualifications as have already been obtained, made or waived or as may be required under applicable securities laws or Blue Sky laws of the various states in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Shares by the Underwriters or except for filings as required under the Companies Act 1981 of Bermuda, as amended.

(o)  Margin Rules. Neither the issuance, sale and delivery of the Shares nor the application of the proceeds thereof by the Company as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus will violate Regulation T, U or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any other regulation of such Board of Governors.

(p)  No Violation or Default. None of the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation of its certificate of incorporation, memorandum of association, articles of association or bye-laws or similar organizational documents, or in violation, except as would not have a Material Adverse Effect, of any applicable law, statute, order, rule or regulation or in default in the performance or observance of any material obligation, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound.

(q)  Legal Proceedings. Other than as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental investigations, actions, suits or proceedings (“Actions”) pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject which, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, would individually or in the aggregate have a Material Adverse Effect; and to the Company’s

 

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knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others; and (i) there are no current or pending Actions that are required under the Securities Act to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus that are not so described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus; and (ii) there are no statutes, regulations or contracts or other documents that are required under the Securities Act to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus that are not so filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(r)  Investment Company Act. The Company and any of its subsidiaries are not, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Shares and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus will not be, required to register as, an “investment company,” as such term is defined in the United States Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

(s)  Independent Accountants. Ernst & Young AS, who have audited certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries within the applicable rules and regulations adopted by the Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) and as required by the Securities Act.

(t)  Taxes. The Company and its subsidiaries have paid all national, regional, local and other taxes and filed all material tax returns required to be paid or filed through the date hereof except for (i) failures to pay taxes where the amount is undetermined or in dispute and for which reserves required by IFRS have been created in the financial statements of the Company, or (ii) failures to pay taxes or file a tax return which would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect; and except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, there is no material tax deficiency that has been asserted by any taxing authority against the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties or assets (except for any such tax deficiency for which reserves required by IFRS have been created in the financial statement of the Company, or which would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect).

(u)  Stamp Taxes. No stamp, registration, documentary, issuance, transfer or other similar taxes or duties (“Stamp Taxes”) are payable by or on behalf of the Underwriters in Bermuda, or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein, or the United States, or any other relevant taxing jurisdiction thereof or therein, solely on (i) the creation, issue or delivery by the Company of the Shares contemplated by this Agreement, (ii) the purchase by the Underwriters of the Shares in the manner contemplated by this Agreement, (iii) the resale and delivery by the Underwriters of the Shares contemplated by this Agreement or (iv) the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

(v)  Licenses and Permits. The Company and each of its subsidiaries possess all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations, including certificates of seaworthiness, authorizations, registration documents, certifications by any classification society and any other

 

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certificates with respect to each Vessel, issued by, and have made all declarations and filings with, the appropriate supranational, national, regional, local or other governmental or regulatory authorities that are necessary for the ownership or lease of their respective properties or the conduct of their respective businesses, in each case, as disclosed in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except where the failure to possess or make the same would not have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received notice of any revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, permit or authorization or has any reason to believe that any such license, certificate, permit or authorization will not be renewed in the ordinary course, except where such revocation or modification would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect.

(w)  No Violation of Maritime Laws. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or operations are in violation of any terms or provisions of any statute, rule, regulation, decision or order of any supranational, national, regional, local or other governmental or regulatory authorities or bodies, or any court, including any terms of any conventions, codes, regulations and standards such as those issued, negotiated or adopted by the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, relating to the operation and management of any Vessel, the building or improvement of any vessel or the provision of river or ocean cruise services except for any such violation that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

(x)  No Labor Disputes. No material labor disturbance by or dispute with employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is contemplated or threatened; and no labor disturbance by or dispute with the employees or agents of any principal supplier, contractor or customer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is imminent or, to the Company’s knowledge, contemplated or threatened which could, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.

(y)  Intellectual Property. Except as disclosed in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company and its subsidiaries own, possess or can acquire on reasonable terms, adequate trademarks, trade names and other rights to domain names, inventions, know-how, patents, copyrights, customer databases, confidential information, computer programs, technical data and information and other intellectual property (collectively, “Intellectual Property Rights”) necessary to conduct the business now operated by them, or presently employed by them, free and clear of and without violating any right, claimed right, charge, encumbrance, pledge, security interest, restriction or lien of any kind of any other person, and have not received any notice of infringement of, misappropriation or conflict with asserted rights of others with respect to any Intellectual Property Rights necessary to conduct the business now operated by them that, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, would, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.

(z)  Certain Environmental Matters. The Company and its subsidiaries (i) are in compliance with any and all applicable international, federal, national, regional, local and other laws, rules, regulations, decisions and orders relating to the protection of human health and safety, the environment or hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (ii) have received and are in compliance with all permits,

 

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licenses or other approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses (collectively, “Environmental Permits”), (iii) do not own or operate any real property, including any Vessel, contaminated with any substance that is subject to any Environmental Laws, (iv) will not require material expenditures to maintain such compliance with Environmental Laws or Environmental Permits and (v) have not received notice of any actual or potential liability for the investigation or remediation of any disposal or release of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, except in any such case for any such failure to comply with, or failure to receive required permits, licenses or approvals, or liability or contamination, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; and the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any pending investigation which might reasonably be expected to lead to a claim of such liability, except any such liability as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.

(aa)  Compliance with ERISA. (i) Each employee benefit plan, within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), for which the Company or any member of its “Controlled Group” (defined as any entity, whether or not incorporated, that is under common control with the Company within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(14) of ERISA or any entity that would be regarded as a single employer with the Company under Section 414(b),(c),(m) or (o) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”)) would have any liability (each, a “Plan”) has been maintained in compliance with its terms and the requirements of any applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations, including but not limited to ERISA and the Code; (ii) no prohibited transaction, within the meaning of Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, has occurred with respect to any Plan, excluding transactions effected pursuant to a statutory or administrative exemption; (iii) for each Plan that is subject to the funding rules of Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA, no Plan has failed (whether or not waived), or is reasonably expected to fail, to satisfy the minimum funding standards (within the meaning of Section 302 of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code) applicable to such Plan; (iv) no Plan is, or is reasonably expected to be, in “at risk status” (within the meaning of Section 303(i) of ERISA) and no Plan that is a “multiemployer plan” within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA is in “endangered status” or “critical status” (within the meaning of Sections 304 and 305 of ERISA); (v) the fair market value of the assets of each Plan exceeds the present value of all benefits accrued under such Plan (determined based on those assumptions used to fund such Plan); (vi) no “reportable event” (within the meaning of Section 4043(c) of ERISA and the regulations promulgated thereunder) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur; (vii) each Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified, and nothing has occurred, whether by action or by failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification; (viii) neither the Company nor any member of the Controlled Group has incurred, nor reasonably expects to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA (other than contributions to the Plan or premiums to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, in the ordinary course and without default) in respect of a Plan (including a “multiemployer plan” within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA); and (ix) none of the following events has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur: (A) a material increase in the aggregate amount of contributions required to be made to all Plans by the Company or its Controlled Group affiliates in the current fiscal year of the Company and its Controlled Group affiliates compared to the amount of such contributions made in the Company’s and its Controlled Group affiliates’ most recently completed fiscal year; or (B) a material increase in the

 

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Company and its subsidiaries’ “accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations” (within the meaning of Accounting Standards Codification Topic 715-60) compared to the amount of such obligations in the Company and its subsidiaries’ most recently completed fiscal year, except in each case with respect to the events or conditions set forth in (i) through (ix) hereof, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.

(bb)  Insurance. The Company and its subsidiaries have insurance covering their respective properties, operations, personnel and businesses, including casualty insurance coverage, third party liability insurance and insurance policies in connection with the vessels such as protection and indemnity coverage, hull and machinery insurance and war risk insurance, which insurance is in amounts and insures against such losses and risks as the Company reasonably believes are prudent and customarily adequate to protect the Company and its subsidiaries and their respective businesses; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries have received notice from any insurer or agent of such insurer that material capital improvements or other material expenditures are required or necessary to be made in order to continue such insurance. Each of the Company and its subsidiaries, as applicable, believes that it will be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or obtain similar coverage at a reasonable cost from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(cc)  Disclosure Controls; Accounting Controls. The Company and its subsidiaries maintain “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”)) designed to comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act and to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is made known to the principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Company by others within the Company and its subsidiaries, and such disclosure controls and procedures are reasonably effective to perform the functions for which they were established subject to the limitations of any such control system; the Company and its subsidiaries maintain systems of “internal control over financial reporting” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) designed to comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act, including, but not limited to, internal controls over accounting matters and financial reporting, that are sufficient to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and, except as disclosed in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the preparation of financial statements in conformity with IFRS and include policies and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to maintain accountability for its assets, (iii) unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements is prevented or detected in a timely manner, and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies (as defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X of the Commission), in the internal control over financial reporting of the Company. There has been no fraud, whether or not material, involving management or

 

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other employees who have a role in the Company’s internal controls, in each case that occurred or existed, or was first detected, at any time during the three most recent fiscal years covered by the Company’s audited financial statements included in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or at any time subsequent thereto. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company shall not be required to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith as of an earlier date than it would otherwise be required to do so under applicable law.

(dd)  No Unlawful Payments. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (i) has used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity, (ii) has made or taken an act in furtherance of an offer, promise or authorization of any direct or indirect unlawful payment to any government official or employee from corporate funds, (iii) is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that has resulted or would result in a violation of any provision of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010, the Swiss Criminal Code, the Bermuda Bribery Act 2016, any laws or regulations implementing the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions or any similar laws regarding corruption or bribery in any other relevant jurisdictions or (iv) made any bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment. The Company and its subsidiaries have instituted and maintain policies designed to ensure continued compliance with all of the laws listed above.

(ee)  Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements of the anti-money laundering laws and regulations of Bermuda, the European Union or other applicable jurisdictions, and any related or similar applicable statutes, rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened.

(ff)  No Conflicts with Sanctions Laws. (i) None of the Company, any of its subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, any affiliate, director, officer, agent, employee or other person associated with, or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, is a person described or designated in the most current “Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons” list or is otherwise a person with whom transactions are currently prohibited under:

(A)  the laws, regulations and executive orders administered by the U.S. government, including, without limitation, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the U.S. Department of State (“US Economic Sanctions Law”); or

 

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(B)  any equivalent European Union, United Nations or U.K. measure, including sanctions imposed against certain states, organizations and individuals;

(ii)   none of the Company, any of its subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, any affiliate, director, officer, agent, employee or other person associated with, or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, is engaged, or proposes to engage, in any dealing or transaction in violation of any applicable US Economic Sanctions Law or equivalent European Union, United Nations or U.K. measure; and

(iii)  the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Ordinary Shares hereunder or knowingly lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing, directly or indirectly, any business activities whatsoever with, or for the benefit of, a government, national, resident or legal entity to the extent such actions would result in the Company or any of its subsidiaries violating applicable US Economic Sanctions Law, or contravene any equivalent European Union, United Nations or U.K. measures applicable to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, including sanctions imposed against certain states, organizations and individuals under the European Union’s Common Foreign & Security Policy.

(gg)  Military Sanctions. None of the issue and sale of the Shares, the execution, delivery and performance of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the use of proceeds from the offering, or the consummation of any other transaction contemplated hereby or the fulfillment of the terms hereof, or the provision of services to any of the foregoing will result in a violation by any person (including, without limitation, the Underwriters) of any trade, economic or military sanctions issued against any nation by the United Nations or any governmental or regulatory authority of a jurisdiction where the Company or its subsidiaries conduct their respective operations, or any orders or licenses publicly issued under the authority of any of the foregoing.

(hh)  Anti-Trust Compliance. Neither Company nor any of its subsidiaries is directly or indirectly concerned in, an agreement, arrangement, understanding or practice (whether or not legally binding) which is, to the knowledge of the Company, the subject of any investigation by any competent authority with jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries in respect of any provision of any competition legislation, trade regulation or similar legislation in any applicable jurisdiction.

(ii)  No Restrictions on Subsidiaries. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no subsidiary of the Company is currently prohibited, directly or indirectly, under any agreement or other instrument to which it is a party or is subject, from paying any dividends to the Company, from making any other distribution on such subsidiary’s capital stock or similar ownership interest, from repaying to the Company any loans or advances to such subsidiary from the Company or from transferring any of such subsidiary’s properties or assets to the Company or any other subsidiary of the Company.

 

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(jj)   No Broker’s Fees. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding with any person (other than this Agreement) that would give rise to a valid claim against any of them or any Underwriter for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment in connection with the offering and sale of the Shares.

(kk)  Statistical and Market Data. The industry, statistical, market-related and similar data included in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources which the Company reasonably and in good faith believes are reliable and accurate and the disclosure of such data in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus is not misleading in any material respect.

(ll)   Valid Choice of Law. The Company has the power to submit, and pursuant to this Agreement, has submitted, or at the time of delivery will have submitted, legally, validly, effectively and irrevocably, to the jurisdiction of any U.S. federal or New York State court in the Borough of Manhattan in the City of New York, New York; and the Company has the power to designate, appoint and empower, and pursuant to this Agreement and each other relevant transaction document has, or at the time of delivery will have, designated, appointed and empowered, validly, effectively and irrevocably, an agent for service of process in any suit or proceeding based on or arising under this Agreement and each such transaction document in any U.S. federal or New York State court in the Borough of Manhattan in the City of New York, as provided herein and in such transaction documents.

(mm)  No Immunity. None of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, and none of their respective properties or assets, has any immunity from the jurisdiction of any court or from any legal process (whether through service or notice, attachment prior to judgment, attachment in aid of execution, executing or otherwise) under the laws of any jurisdiction in which it has been incorporated or in which any of its property or assets are held.

(nn)  No Undisclosed Relationships. No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the one hand, and the directors, officers, shareholders, customers, suppliers or other affiliates of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the other, which is material or would otherwise be required by the Securities Act to be described in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and that is not so described in such documents and in the Pricing Disclosure Package.

(oo)  No Stabilization. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates has taken, directly or indirectly, without giving effect to activities by the Underwriters, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Shares.

(pp)  No Registration Rights. Except for such rights as have been validly waived or as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no person has the right to require the Company or any of its subsidiaries to register any securities for sale under the Securities Act by reason of the filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission, the issuance and sale of the Shares by the Company or, to the knowledge of the Company, the sale of the Shares to be sold by the Selling Shareholders hereunder.

 

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(qq)  Cybersecurity; Data Protection. Except as would not reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect, (i) to the Company’s knowledge, there has been no security breach or incident, unauthorized access or disclosure, or other compromise of or relating to any of the Company’s or any of its subsidiaries’ information technology and computer systems, networks, hardware, software, data and databases (including the data and information of their respective customers, employees, suppliers, vendors and any third party data maintained, in each case, processed or stored by the Company and any of its subsidiaries, and any such data processed or stored by third parties on behalf of the Company and any of its subsidiaries), equipment or technology (collectively, “IT Systems and Data”), (ii) neither the Company or any of its subsidiaries have been notified of, and each of them have no knowledge of any event or condition that could result in, any security breach or incident, unauthorized access or disclosure or other compromise to their IT Systems and Data, (iii) the Company and any of its subsidiaries have implemented appropriate controls, policies, procedures, and technological safeguards to maintain and protect the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of their IT Systems and Data reasonably consistent with industry standards and practices, or as required by applicable regulatory standards, and (iv) the Company and any of its subsidiaries are presently in compliance with all applicable laws or statutes and all judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, internal policies and contractual obligations relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Data and to the protection of such IT Systems and Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification.

(rr)  Forward-Looking Statements. No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) included or incorporated by reference in any of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith.

(ss)  Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any applicable provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith, including Section 402 related to loans.

(tt)  Status under the Securities Act. At the time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or any offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Securities Act) of the Shares and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act. The Company has paid the registration fee for this offering pursuant to Rule 456(b)(1) under the Securities Act or will pay such fee within the time period required by such rule (without giving effect to the proviso therein) and in any event prior to the Closing Date.

(uu)  Enforcement of Foreign Judgments. The courts of Bermuda would recognize as a valid judgment any final monetary judgment (other than a sum of money payable in respect of multiple damages, taxes or other charges of a like nature or in respect of a fine or other penalty) obtained against the Company in the courts of the State of New York; provided that (i) such courts had proper jurisdiction over the parties subject to such judgment, (ii) such courts did not

 

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contravene the rules of natural justice of Bermuda, (iii) such judgment was not obtained by fraud, (iv) the enforcement of the judgment would not be contrary to the public policy of Bermuda, (v) no new admissible evidence relevant to the action is submitted prior to the rendering of the judgment by the courts of Bermuda and (vi) there is no due compliance with the correct procedures under the laws of Bermuda.

(vv)  Indemnification and Contribution. The indemnification and contribution provisions set forth in Section 9 hereof do not contravene Bermuda law or public policy.

(ww)  Passive Foreign Investment Company. Subject to the limitations, qualifications, exceptions and assumptions in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company does not presently expect to be a “passive foreign investment company” as defined in Section 1297 of the Code for the current taxable year or the foreseeable future.

(xx)  Dividends. Under the current laws and regulations of Bermuda all dividends and other distributions declared and payable on the Shares in cash (payable in any currency other than Bermuda dollars, which would attract a Foreign Currency Purchase Tax at a rate of 1.25%) may be freely remitted out of Bermuda and may be paid in, or freely converted into, United States dollars, in each case without there being required any consent, approval, authorization or order of, or qualification with, any court or governmental agency or body in Bermuda; and except as disclosed in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, all such dividends and other distributions paid by the Company will not be subject to withholding under the laws and regulations of Bermuda. Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, (i) the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, have not incurred any material liability or obligation, direct or contingent, nor entered into any material transaction; (ii) the Company has not purchased any of its outstanding share capital, nor declared, paid or otherwise made any dividend or distribution of any kind on its share capital other than ordinary and customary dividends; and (iii) there has not been any material change in the share capital, short-term debt or long-term debt of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

(yy)  Legality. This Agreement is in proper form under the laws of the Bermuda for the enforcement thereof against the Company, and to ensure the legality, validity, enforceability or admissibility into evidence in Bermuda of this Agreement.

(zz)  Legal Action. A holder of the Shares and each Underwriter are each entitled to sue as plaintiff in the court of the jurisdiction of formation and domicile of the Company for the enforcement of their respective rights under this Agreement and the Shares and such access to such courts will not be subject to any conditions which are not applicable to residents of such jurisdiction or a company incorporated in such jurisdiction except that plaintiffs not residing in Bermuda may be required to provide security for the payment of a defendant’s legal costs.

(aaa)  Foreign Issuer. The Company is a “foreign private issuer” as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

 

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4.   Representations and Warranties of the Selling Shareholders. Each of the Selling Shareholders, severally and not jointly, represents and warrants to each Underwriter and the Company that:

(a)  Required Consents; Authority. All consents, approvals, authorizations and orders necessary for the execution and delivery by or on behalf of such Selling Shareholder of this Agreement hereinafter referred to, and for the sale and delivery of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder, have been obtained; and such Selling Shareholder has full right, power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to sell, assign, transfer and deliver the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder; this Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by or on behalf of such Selling Shareholder.

(b)  No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance by such Selling Shareholder of this Agreement, the sale of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder and the consummation by such Selling Shareholder of the transactions contemplated herein or therein will not (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, result in the termination, modification or acceleration of, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property, right or asset of such Selling Shareholder pursuant to, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which such Selling Shareholder is a party or by which such Selling Shareholder is bound or to which any of the property, right or asset of such Selling Shareholder is subject, (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or bylaws or similar organizational documents of such Selling Shareholder or (iii) result in the violation of any law or statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory agency having jurisdiction over such Selling Shareholder applicable to such Selling Shareholder, except, in the case of each of (i) and (iii), for any such conflict, breach, violation or default that would not impair in any material respect the ability of such Selling Shareholder to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

(c)  Title to Shares. The Selling Shareholder has, and at the Closing Date will have, valid title to, or a valid “security entitlement” (as defined in Section 8-102 of the New York Uniform Commercial Code) in respect of, the Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder free and clear of all security interests, claims, liens, equities or other encumbrances and the legal right and power, and all authorization and approval required by law, to enter into this Agreement and to sell, transfer and deliver the Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder or a security entitlement in respect of such Securities.

(d)  No Stabilization. Such Selling Shareholder has not taken and will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Shares.

(e)  Pricing Disclosure Package, Registration Statement and Prospectus. The Pricing Disclosure Package, at the Applicable Time did not, and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; as of the applicable effective date of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, the Registration

 

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Statement and any such post-effective amendment did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading; and as of the date of the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto and as of the Closing Date and as of the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, the Prospectus will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that this representation and warranty shall only apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information related to such Selling Shareholder furnished to the Company in writing by such Selling Shareholder expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that for purposes of this Agreement, the only information furnished by such Selling Shareholder consists of the name of such Selling Shareholder, the number of offered shares and the address and other information with respect to such Selling Shareholder (excluding percentages) which appear in the Registration statement or the Prospectus in the table (and corresponding footnotes) under the caption “Principal and Selling Shareholders” (with respect to each Selling Shareholder, the “Selling Shareholder Information”).

(f)  Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and Written Testing-the-Waters Communication. Other than the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, such Selling Shareholder (including its agents and representatives, other than the Underwriters in their capacity as such) has not prepared, made, used, authorized, approved or referred to and will not prepare, make, use, authorize, approve or refer to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, other than (i) any document not constituting a prospectus pursuant to Section 2(a)(10)(a) of the Securities Act or Rule 134 under the Securities Act or (ii) the documents listed on Annex A, each electronic road show and any other written communications approved in writing in advance by the Company and the Representatives.

(g)  Organization and Good Standing. Such Selling Shareholder has been duly organized and is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its respective jurisdictions of organization.

5.   Further Agreements of the Company. The Company covenants and agrees with each Underwriter that:

(a)  Required Filings. The Company will file the final Prospectus with the Commission within the time periods specified by Rule 424(b) and Rule 430A, 430B or 430C under the Securities Act, will file any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to the extent required by Rule 433 under the Securities Act; and the Company will furnish copies of the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus (to the extent not previously delivered) to the Underwriters in New York City prior to 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the business day next succeeding the date of this Agreement in such quantities as the Representatives may reasonably request.

(b)  Delivery of Copies. The Company will deliver, upon written request, without charge, (i) to the Representatives, three signed copies of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto, in each case including all exhibits and consents filed therewith; and (ii) to each Underwriter (A) a conformed copy of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto (without exhibits) and (B) during the Prospectus

 

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Delivery Period (as defined below), as many copies of the Prospectus (including all amendments and supplements thereto and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus) as the Representatives may reasonably request. As used herein, the term “Prospectus Delivery Period” means such period of time after the first date of the public offering of the Shares as in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters a prospectus relating to the Shares is required by law to be delivered (or required to be delivered but for Rule 172 under the Securities Act) in connection with sales of the Shares by any Underwriter or dealer.

(c)  Amendments or Supplements, Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses. Before making, preparing, using, authorizing, approving, referring to or filing any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and before filing any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, the Company will furnish to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters a copy of the proposed Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, amendment or supplement for review and will not make, prepare, use, authorize, approve, refer to or file any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which the Representatives reasonably object, unless the Company is advised by its’ counsel that such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, amendment or supplement is required by law.

(d)  Notice to the Representatives. The Company will advise the Representatives promptly, and confirm such advice in writing, (i) when the Registration Statement has become effective; (ii) when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective; (iii) when any supplement to the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or any amendment to the Prospectus has been filed or distributed; (iv) of any request by the Commission for any amendment to the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus or the receipt of any comments from the Commission relating to the Registration Statement or any other request by the Commission for any additional information including, but not limited to, any request for information concerning any Testing-the-Waters Communication; (v) of the issuance by the Commission or any other governmental or regulatory authority of any order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any of the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act; (vi) of the occurrence of any event or development within the Prospectus Delivery Period as a result of which the Prospectus, any of the Pricing Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication as then amended or supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing when the Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package, any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading; and (vii) of the receipt by the Company of any notice with respect to any suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offer and sale in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose; and the Company will use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any of the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or

 

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any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or suspending any such qualification of the Shares and, if any such order is issued, will use reasonable best efforts to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal thereof.

(e)  Ongoing Compliance. (1) If during the Prospectus Delivery Period (i) any event or development shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing when the Prospectus is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading or (ii) it is necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus to comply with law, the Company will immediately notify the Underwriters thereof and forthwith prepare and, subject to paragraph (c) above, file with the Commission and furnish to the Underwriters and to such dealers as the Representatives may designate such amendments or supplements to the Prospectus as may be necessary so that the statements in the Prospectus as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances existing when the Prospectus is delivered to a purchaser, be misleading or so that the Prospectus will comply with law and (2) if at any time prior to the Closing Date (i) any event or development shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which the Pricing Disclosure Package as then amended or supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing when the Pricing Disclosure Package is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading or (ii) it is necessary to amend or supplement the Pricing Disclosure Package to comply with law, the Company will immediately notify the Underwriters thereof and forthwith prepare and, subject to paragraph (c) above, file with the Commission (to the extent required) and furnish to the Underwriters and to such dealers as the Representatives may designate, such amendments or supplements to the Pricing Disclosure Package as may be necessary so that the statements in the Pricing Disclosure Package as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances existing when the Pricing Disclosure Package is delivered to a purchaser, be misleading or so that the Pricing Disclosure Package will comply with law.

(f)  Blue Sky Compliance. The Company will qualify the Shares for offer and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives shall reasonably request and will continue such qualifications in effect so long as required for distribution of the Shares; provided that the Company shall not be required to (i) qualify as a foreign corporation or other entity or as a dealer in securities in any such jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to so qualify, (ii) file any general consent to service of process in any such jurisdiction or (iii) subject itself to taxation in any such jurisdiction if it is not otherwise so subject.

(g)  Earning Statement. The Company will make generally available to its security holders and the Representatives as soon as practicable an earning statement that satisfies the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 of the Commission promulgated thereunder covering a period of at least twelve months beginning with the first fiscal quarter of the Company occurring after the “effective date” (as defined in Rule 158) of the Registration Statement; provided that the Company will be deemed to have complied with such requirement by furnishing such earning statement on the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system (or any successor system) (“EDGAR”).

 

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(h)  Clear Market. For a period of 180 days after the date of the Prospectus, the Company will not (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or submit to, or file with, the Commission a registration statement under the Securities Act relating to, any Ordinary Shares or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares, or publicly disclose the intention to undertake any of the foregoing, or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Ordinary Shares or any such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Ordinary Shares or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, other than the Shares to be sold hereunder.

The restrictions described above do not apply to (i) the issuance of Ordinary Shares or securities convertible into or exercisable for Ordinary Shares pursuant to the conversion or exchange of convertible or exchangeable securities, in each case outstanding on the date of this Agreement and described in the Prospectus; (ii) the issuance of Ordinary Shares or securities convertible into or exercisable for Ordinary Shares pursuant to the conversion or exchange of convertible or exchangeable securities or the exercise of warrants or options (including net exercise) or the settlement of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) (including net settlement), in each case outstanding on the date of this Agreement and described in the Prospectus; (iii) grants of stock options, stock awards, restricted stock, RSUs, or other equity awards and the issuance of Ordinary Shares or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Ordinary Shares (whether upon the exercise of stock options or otherwise) to the Company’s employees, officers, directors, advisors, or consultants pursuant to the terms of an equity compensation plan in effect as of the Closing Date and described in the Prospectus; (iv) the sale or issuance or entry into an agreement to sell or issue up to 10% of the fully diluted Ordinary Shares, or securities convertible into, exercisable for, or which are otherwise exchangeable for, Ordinary Shares, immediately following the Closing Date, in acquisitions or other similar strategic transactions, provided that such recipients enter into a lock-up agreement with the Underwriters; (v) facilitating the establishment of a trading plan on behalf of a shareholder, employee, officer or director of the Company pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act for the transfer of Ordinary Shares, provided that such plan does not provide for the transfer of Ordinary Shares during the 180 day period (except as otherwise permitted under the form of lock-up agreement) and no public disclosure of such plan shall be required or shall be made by any person during such period; or (vi) the filing of any registration statement on Form S-8 relating to securities granted or to be granted pursuant to any plan in effect on the date of this Agreement and described in the Prospectus or any assumed benefit plan pursuant to an acquisition or similar strategic transaction.

If the Representatives, in their sole discretion, agree to release or waive the restrictions set forth in a lock-up letter described Section 8(n) hereof, an officer or director of the Company and provide the Company with notice of the impending release or waiver substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto at least three business days before the effective date of the release or waiver, the Company agrees to announce the impending release or waiver substantially in the

 

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form of Exhibit B hereto through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver.

(i)  Use of Proceeds. The Company will apply the net proceeds from the sale of the Shares as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the heading “Use of proceeds.”

(j)  No Stabilization. Neither the Company nor its subsidiaries or affiliates will take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Ordinary Shares.

(k)  Exchange Listing. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to list, subject to notice of issuance, the Shares on the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”).

(l)   Reports. During a period of three years from the effective date of the Registration Statement, so long as the Company is subject to the reporting requirements of either Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, the Company will furnish to the Representatives, upon written request, as soon as they are available, copies of all reports or other communications (financial or other) furnished to holders of the Shares, and copies of any reports and financial statements furnished to or filed with the Commission or any national securities exchange or automatic quotation system; provided the Company will be deemed to have furnished such reports and financial statements to the Representatives to the extent they are filed on EDGAR.

(m)  Record Retention. The Company will, pursuant to reasonable procedures developed in good faith, retain copies of each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not filed with the Commission in accordance with Rule 433 under the Securities Act.

(n)  Filings. The Company will file with the Commission such reports as may be required by Rule 463 under the Securities Act.

(o)  Foreign Private Issuer. The Company will promptly notify the Representatives if the Company ceases to be a “foreign private issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act and (ii) completion of the 180-day restricted period referred to in Section 5(h) hereof.

(p)  Tax Indemnity. The Company will indemnify and hold harmless the Underwriters against any Stamp Taxes, including any interest and penalties, on the creation, issue or delivery by the Company of the Shares contemplated by this Agreement, on the sale of the Shares by the Company to the Underwriters, on the resale and delivery by the Underwriters of the Shares contemplated by this Agreement and on the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby. All indemnity payments to be made by the Company hereunder in respect of this Section 5(p) shall be made without withholding or deduction for or on account of any present or future taxes, duties or governmental shares whatsoever in Bermuda, the United States or any applicable jurisdiction or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein unless the Company is compelled by law to deduct or withhold such taxes, duties or charges.

 

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(q)  Additional Amounts. In the event any amount is withheld or deducted from payments made hereunder, except for any net income, capital gains or franchise taxes imposed on the Underwriters by Bermuda, the United States or any applicable jurisdiction or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein as a result of any present or former connection (other than any connection resulting from the transactions contemplated by this Agreement) between the Underwriters and the jurisdiction imposing such withholding or deductions, the Company shall pay additional amounts as may be necessary in order to ensure that the net amounts received after such withholding or deductions shall equal the amounts that would have been payable hereunder if no withholding or deduction has been made; provided that the Company shall not be required to pay any additional amounts for any withholding or deduction that would not have been imposed but for a failure of any Underwriter to timely provide any properly completed certification or other documentation to the extent necessary in order to eliminate or reduce such withholding or deduction.

6.   Further Agreements of the Selling Shareholders. Each of the Selling Shareholders severally, and not jointly, covenants and agrees with each Underwriter that:

(a)  Lock-Up Agreements. Such Selling Shareholder has duly executed and delivered to the Representatives a lock-up agreement substantially in the form of Exhibit C hereto.

(b)  No Stabilization. Such Selling Shareholder will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Ordinary Shares.

(c)  Tax Form. It will deliver to the Representatives prior to or at the Closing Date a properly completed and executed United States Internal Revenue Service Form W-9 or an applicable United States Internal Revenue Service Form W-8 (or other applicable form or statement specified by the Treasury Department regulations in lieu thereof), in each case, establishing a complete exemption from U.S. backup withholding tax, in order to facilitate the Underwriters’ documentation of their compliance with the reporting and withholding provisions of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 with respect to the transactions herein contemplated.

7.   Certain Agreements of the Underwriters. Each Underwriter hereby severally represents and agrees that:

(a)  It has not and will not use, authorize use of, refer to or participate in the planning for use of, any “free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act (which term includes use of any written information furnished to the Commission by the Company and not incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement and any press release issued by the Company) other than (i) a free writing prospectus that contains no “issuer information” (as defined in Rule 433(h)(2) under the Securities Act) that was not included (including through incorporation by reference) in the Preliminary Prospectus or a previously filed Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, (ii) any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed on Annex A or prepared pursuant to Section 3(c) or Section 4(f) above (including any electronic road show), or (iii) any free writing prospectus prepared by such underwriter and approved by the Company in advance

 

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in writing (each such free writing prospectus referred to in clauses (i) or (iii), an “Underwriter Free Writing Prospectus”).

(b)  It has not and will not, without the prior written consent of the Company, use any free writing prospectus that contains the final terms of the Shares unless such terms have previously been included in a free writing prospectus filed with the Commission; provided that Underwriters may use a term sheet substantially in the form of Annex C hereto without the consent of the Company; provided further that any Underwriter using such term sheet shall promptly notify the Company, and provide a copy of such term sheet to the Company, prior to, or substantially concurrently with, the first use of such term sheet.

(c)  It is not subject to any pending proceeding under Section 8A of the Securities Act with respect to the offering (and will promptly notify the Company and the Selling Shareholders if any such proceeding against it is initiated during the Prospectus Delivery Period).

8.   Conditions of Underwriters Obligations. The obligation of each Underwriter to purchase the Underwritten Shares on the Closing Date or the Option Shares on the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, as provided herein is subject to the performance by the Company and each of the Selling Shareholders of their respective covenants and other obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions:

(a)  Registration Compliance; No Stop Order. No order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall be in effect, and no proceeding for such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A under the Securities Act shall be pending before or threatened by the Commission; the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been timely filed with the Commission under the Securities Act (in the case of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, to the extent required by Rule 433 under the Securities Act) and in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof; and all requests by the Commission for additional information shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the Representatives.

(b)  Representations and Warranties. The respective representations and warranties of the Company and the Selling Shareholders contained herein shall be true and correct on the date hereof and on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be; and the statements of the Company and its officers and of each of the Selling Shareholders and their officers made in any certificates delivered pursuant to this Agreement shall be true and correct on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.

(c)  No Downgrade. Subsequent to the earlier of (A) the Applicable Time and (B) the execution and delivery of this Agreement, (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded any debt securities, convertible securities or preferred shares issued or guaranteed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization,” as such term is defined under Section 3(a)(62) under the Exchange Act and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, or has changed its outlook with respect to, its rating of any such debt securities or preferred shares issued or guaranteed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries (other than an announcement with positive implications of a possible upgrading).

 

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(d)  No Material Adverse Change. No event or condition of a type described in Section 3(g) hereof shall have occurred or shall exist, which event or condition is not described in the Pricing Disclosure Package (excluding any amendment or supplement thereto) and the Prospectus (excluding any amendment or supplement thereto) and the effect of which in the judgment of the Representatives makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Shares on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, on the terms and in the manner contemplated by this Agreement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(e)  Officer’s Certificate. The Representatives shall have received on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, (x) a certificate of the chief financial officer or chief accounting officer of the Company and one additional senior executive officer of the Company who is satisfactory to the Representatives (i) confirming that such officers have carefully reviewed the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and, to the knowledge of such officers, the representations of the Company set forth in Sections 3(b) and 3(d) hereof are true and correct, (ii) confirming that the other representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct and that the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and (iii) to the effect set forth in paragraphs (a), (c) and (d) above, and (y) a certificate of each of the Selling Shareholders, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, (A) confirming that, to the knowledge of such officers, the representations of such Selling Shareholder set forth in Sections 4(e) and 4(f) hereof is true and correct and (B) confirming that the other representations and warranties of such Selling Shareholder in this agreement are true and correct and that such Selling Shareholder has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on their part to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to the Closing date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.

(f)  Comfort Letters. (i) On the date of this Agreement and on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, Ernst & Young AS shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Company, letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, containing statements and information of the type customarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; provided that the letter delivered on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, shall use a “cut-off” date no more than two business days prior to such Closing Date or such Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.

(ii)  On the date of this Agreement and on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof and addressed to the Underwriters, of its chief financial officer with respect to certain financial data contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, providing “management comfort” with respect to such information, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

 

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(g)  Opinion and 10b-5 Statement of Counsel for the Company. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Company, their written opinion and 10b-5 statement, dated the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

(h)  Opinion of Bermuda Counsel for the Company. Conyers Dill & Pearman Limited, Bermuda counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Company, their written opinion, dated the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

(i)   Opinions of Counsel for the Selling Shareholders. Each of Ropes & Gray LLP, counsel for the Selling Shareholders, Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, Cayman counsel for TPG VII Valhalla Holdings, L.P., and Torys LLP, Canadian counsel for CPP Investment Board PMI-3, Inc., shall have furnished to the Representatives, at the request of the Selling Shareholders, their written opinion, dated the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives.

(j)   Opinion and 10b-5 Statement of Counsel for the Underwriters. The Representatives shall have received on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, an opinion and 10b-5 statement, addressed to the Underwriters, of Latham & Watkins LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, with respect to such matters as the Representatives may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such documents and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.

(k)  No Legal Impediment to Issuance and/or Sale. No action shall have been taken and no statute, rule, regulation or order shall have been enacted, adopted or issued by any federal, state or foreign governmental or regulatory authority that would, as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, prevent the issuance or sale of the Shares by the Company or the sale of the Shares by the Selling Shareholders; and no injunction or order of any federal, state or foreign court shall have been issued that would, as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, prevent the issuance or sale of the Shares by the Company or the sale of the Shares by the Selling Shareholders.

(l)   Good Standing. The Representatives shall have received on and as of the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, satisfactory evidence of the good standing of the Company and its material subsidiaries listed on Schedule 3 hereto in their respective jurisdictions of organization and their good standing in such other jurisdictions as the Representatives may reasonably request, in each case in writing or any standard form of telecommunication from the appropriate governmental authorities of such jurisdictions.

(m)  Exchange Listing. The Shares to be delivered on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, shall have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange, subject to official notice of issuance.

 

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(n)  Lock-up Agreements. The “lock-up” agreements, each substantially in the form of Exhibit C hereto, between you and certain shareholders, officers and directors of the Company, including the Selling Shareholders, relating to sales and certain other dispositions of Ordinary Shares or certain other securities, delivered to you on or before the date hereof, shall be in full force and effect on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be.

(o)  Additional Documents. On or prior to the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall have furnished to the Representatives such further certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request.

All opinions, letters, certificates and evidence mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall be deemed to be in compliance with the provisions hereof only if they are in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriters.

9.   Indemnification and Contribution.

(a)  Indemnification of the Underwriters by the Company. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its affiliates, directors and officers and each person, if any, who controls such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities (including, without limitation, reasonable and documented legal fees and other reasonable and documented expenses incurred in connection with any suit, action or proceeding or any claim asserted, as such fees and expenses are incurred), joint or several, that arise out of, or are based upon, (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, not misleading, or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, any road show as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act (a “road show”) or any Pricing Disclosure Package, or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, in each case except insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in paragraph (c) below.

(b)  Indemnification of the Underwriters by the Selling Shareholders. Each of the Selling Shareholders severally and not jointly in proportion to the number of Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its affiliates, directors and officers and each person, if any, who controls such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act to the same

 

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extent as the indemnity set forth in paragraph (a) above, but only with respect to any losses, claims, damages or liabilities that arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with such Selling Shareholder’s Selling Shareholder Information. The liability of each Selling Shareholder under the indemnity agreement contained in this paragraph shall not exceed an amount equal to the aggregate net proceeds (after underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses) received by such Selling Shareholder for the Shares sold by such Selling Shareholder under this Agreement (with respect to each Selling Shareholder, the “Selling Shareholder Proceeds”).

(c)  Indemnification of the Company and the Selling Shareholders. Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act and each of the Selling Shareholders to the same extent as the indemnity set forth in paragraph (a) above, but only with respect to any losses, claims, damages or liabilities that arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, any road show or any Pricing Disclosure Package, it being understood and agreed upon that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the concession and reallowance figures appearing in the [third] paragraph under the caption “Underwriting,” the information contained in the [first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth and eleventh sentences of the tenth] paragraph under the caption “Underwriting.”

(d)  Notice and Procedures. If any suit, action, proceeding (including any governmental or regulatory investigation), claim or demand shall be brought or asserted against any person in respect of which indemnification may be sought pursuant to the preceding paragraphs of this Section 9, such person (the “Indemnified Person”) shall promptly notify the person against whom such indemnification may be sought (the “Indemnifying Person”) in writing; provided that the failure to notify the Indemnifying Person shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 9 except to the extent that it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided, further, that the failure to notify the Indemnifying Person shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an Indemnified Person otherwise than under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 9. If any such proceeding shall be brought or asserted against an Indemnified Person and it shall have notified the Indemnifying Person thereof, the Indemnifying Person shall retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Person (who shall not, without the consent of the Indemnified Person, be counsel to the Indemnifying Person) to represent the Indemnified Person and any others entitled to indemnification pursuant to this Section that the Indemnifying Person may designate in such proceeding and shall pay the reasonable and documented fees and expenses in such proceeding and shall pay the reasonable

 

30


and documented fees and expenses of such counsel related to such proceeding, as incurred. In any such proceeding, any Indemnified Person shall have the right to retain its own counsel, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Indemnified Person unless (i) the Indemnifying Person and the Indemnified Person shall have mutually agreed to the contrary; (ii) the Indemnifying Person has failed within a reasonable time to retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Person; (iii) the Indemnified Person shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to it that are different from or in addition to those available to the Indemnifying Person; or (iv) the named parties in any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) include both the Indemnifying Person and the Indemnified Person and representation of both parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them. It is understood and agreed that the Indemnifying Person shall not, in connection with any proceeding or related proceeding in the same jurisdiction, be liable for the fees and expenses of more than one separate firm (in addition to any local counsel) for all Indemnified Persons, and that all such fees and expenses shall be paid or reimbursed as they are incurred. Any such separate firm for any Underwriter, its affiliates, directors and officers and any control persons of such Underwriter shall be designated in writing by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and any such separate firm for the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and any control persons of the Company shall be designated in writing by the Company and any such separate firm for the Selling Shareholders shall be designated in writing by any one of them. The Indemnifying Person shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent, the Indemnifying Person agrees to indemnify each Indemnified Person from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an Indemnified Person shall have requested that an Indemnifying Person reimburse the Indemnified Person for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by this paragraph, the Indemnifying Person shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 30 days after receipt by the Indemnifying Person of such request and (ii) the Indemnifying Person shall not have reimbursed the Indemnified Person in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement. No Indemnifying Person shall, without the written consent of the Indemnified Person, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened proceeding in respect of which any Indemnified Person is or could have been a party and indemnification could have been sought hereunder by such Indemnified Person, unless such settlement (x) includes an unconditional release of such Indemnified Person, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to such Indemnified Person, from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such proceeding and (y) does not include any statement as to or any admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any Indemnified Person.

(e)  Contribution. If the indemnification provided for in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) above is unavailable to an Indemnified Person or insufficient in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to therein, then each Indemnifying Person under such paragraph, in lieu of indemnifying such Indemnified Person thereunder, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such Indemnified Person as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company and such Selling Shareholder, as applicable, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, from the offering of the Shares or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) is not permitted by

 

31


applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) but also the relative fault of the Company such Selling Shareholder, as applicable, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company and such Selling Shareholder, as applicable, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the net proceeds (before deducting expenses) received by the Company and such Selling Shareholder, as applicable, from the sale of the Shares and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters in connection therewith, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover of the Prospectus, bear to the aggregate offering price of the Shares. The relative fault of the Company and such Selling Shareholder, as applicable, on the one hand, and the Underwriters on the other, shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company and such Selling Shareholder, as applicable, or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the liability of each Selling Shareholder under the contribution agreement contained in this Section 9(e) and the indemnity agreement contained in Section 9(b) shall not exceed in the aggregate an amount equal to the Selling Shareholder Proceeds of such Selling Shareholder.

(f)  Limitation on Liability. The Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to paragraph (e) above were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Selling Shareholders or the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in paragraph (e) above. The amount paid or payable by an Indemnified Person as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to in paragraph (e) above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth above, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Indemnified Person in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (e) and (f), in no event shall an Underwriter be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by such Underwriter with respect to the offering of the Shares exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations to contribute pursuant to paragraphs (e) and (f) are several in proportion to their respective purchase obligations hereunder and not joint.

(g)  Non-Exclusive Remedies. The remedies provided for in this Section 9 are not exclusive and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available to any Indemnified Person at law or in equity.

10.  Effectiveness of Agreement. This Agreement shall become effective as of the date first written above.

 

32


11.  Termination. This Agreement may be terminated in the absolute discretion of the Representatives, by notice to the Company and the Selling Shareholders, if after the execution and delivery of this Agreement and on or prior to the Closing Date or, in the case of the Option Shares, prior to the Additional Closing Date (i) trading generally shall have been suspended or materially limited on or by any of the New York Stock Exchange or The Nasdaq Stock Market; (ii) trading of any securities issued or guaranteed by the Company shall have been suspended on any exchange or in any over-the-counter market; (iii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities shall have been declared by federal or New York State authorities; or (iv) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities or any change in financial markets or any calamity or crisis, either within or outside the United States, that, in the judgment of the Representatives, is material and adverse and makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Shares on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, on the terms and in the manner contemplated by this Agreement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

12.  Defaulting Underwriter.

(a)  If, on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, any Underwriter defaults on its obligation to purchase the Shares that it has agreed to purchase hereunder on such date, the non-defaulting Underwriters may in their discretion arrange for the purchase of such Shares by other persons satisfactory to the Company and the Selling Shareholders on the terms contained in this Agreement. If, within 36 hours after any such default by any Underwriter, the non-defaulting Underwriters do not arrange for the purchase of such Shares, then the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall be entitled to a further period of 36 hours within which to procure other persons satisfactory to the non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase such Shares on such terms. If other persons become obligated or agree to purchase the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter, either the non-defaulting Underwriters or the Company and the Selling Shareholders may postpone the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, for up to five full business days in order to effect any changes that in the opinion of counsel for the Company, counsel for the Selling Shareholders or counsel for the Underwriters may be necessary in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus or in any other document or arrangement, and the Company agrees to promptly prepare any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus that effects any such changes. As used in this Agreement, the term “Underwriter” includes, for all purposes of this Agreement unless the context otherwise requires, any person not listed in Schedule 1 hereto that, pursuant to this Section 12, purchases Shares that a defaulting Underwriter agreed but failed to purchase.

(b)  If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the non-defaulting Underwriters, the Company and the Selling Shareholders as provided in paragraph (a) above, the aggregate number of Shares that remain unpurchased on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, does not exceed one-eleventh of the aggregate number of Shares to be purchased on such date, then the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the number of Shares that such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder on such date plus such Underwriter’s pro rata share (based on the number of Shares that such Underwriter agreed to purchase on such date) of the Shares of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made.

 

33


(c)  If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the non-defaulting Underwriters, the Company and the Selling Shareholders as provided in paragraph (a) above, the aggregate number of Shares that remain unpurchased on the Closing Date or the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, exceeds one-eleventh of the aggregate amount of Shares to be purchased on such date, or if the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall not exercise the right described in paragraph (b) above, then this Agreement or, with respect to any Additional Closing Date, the obligation of the Underwriters to purchase Shares on the Additional Closing Date, as the case may be, shall terminate without liability on the part of the non-defaulting Underwriters. Any termination of this Agreement pursuant to this Section 12 shall be without liability on the part of the Company, except that the Company and the Selling Shareholders will continue to be liable for the payment of expenses as set forth in Section 13 hereof and except that the provisions of Section 9 hereof shall not terminate and shall remain in effect.

(d)  Nothing contained herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter of any liability it may have to the Company, the Selling Shareholders or any non-defaulting Underwriter for damages caused by its default.

13.  Payment of Expenses.

(a)  Whether or not the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, the Company will pay or cause to be paid all costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder, including without limitation, (i) the costs incident to the authorization, issuance, sale, preparation and delivery of the Shares and any taxes payable in that connection; (ii) the costs incident to the preparation, printing and filing under the Securities Act of the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (including all exhibits, amendments and supplements thereto) and the distribution thereof; (iii) the fees and expenses of the Company’s counsel and independent accountants; (iv) the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the registration or qualification and determination of eligibility for investment of the Shares under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives may designate and the preparation, printing and distribution of a Blue Sky Memorandum (including the related reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for the Underwriters not to exceed $5,000); (v) the cost of preparing share certificates; (vi) the costs and charges of any transfer agent and any registrar; (vii) all expenses and application fees incurred in connection with any filing with, and clearance of the offering by, FINRA not to exceed $30,000; (viii) all expenses incurred by the Company in connection with any “road show” presentation to potential investors; and (ix) all expenses and application fees related to the listing of the Shares on the Exchange. The provisions of this Section shall not supersede or otherwise affect any agreement that the Company and the Selling Shareholders may otherwise have for the allocation of such expenses among themselves.

(b)  If (i) this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 11, (ii) the Company or the Selling Shareholders for any reason fail to tender the Shares for delivery to the Underwriters (other than as a result of a termination pursuant to Section 12 hereof, or the default by one or more of the Underwriters in its or their respective obligations hereunder, in which case only such defaulting Underwriters shall not be entitled to reimbursement) or (iii) the Underwriters decline

 

34


to purchase the Shares for any reason permitted under this Agreement (other than the default by one or more of the Underwriters in its or their respective obligations hereunder, in which case only such defaulting Underwriters shall not be entitled to reimbursement), the Company agrees to reimburse the Underwriters for all reasonable out-of-pocket costs and expenses (including the reasonable fees and expenses of their counsel) reasonably incurred by the Underwriters in connection with this Agreement and the offering contemplated hereby.

14.  Persons Entitled to Benefit of Agreement. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers and directors and any controlling persons referred to herein and the affiliates of each Underwriter referred to in Section 9 hereof. Nothing in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any other person any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision contained herein. No purchaser of Shares from any Underwriter shall be deemed to be a successor merely by reason of such purchase.

15.  Survival. The respective indemnities, rights of contribution, representations, warranties and agreements of the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters contained in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of the Company, the Selling Shareholders or the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement or any certificate delivered pursuant hereto shall survive the delivery of and payment for the Shares and shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any termination of this Agreement or any investigation made by or on behalf of the Company, the Selling Shareholders or the Underwriters or the directors, officers, controlling persons or affiliates referred to in Section 9 hereof.

16.  Certain Defined Terms. For purposes of this Agreement, (a) except where otherwise expressly provided, the term “affiliate” has the meaning set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act; (b) the term “business day” means any day other than a day on which banks are permitted or required to be closed in New York City; and (c) the term “subsidiary” has the meaning set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

17.  Compliance with USA PATRIOT Act. In accordance with the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company and the Selling Shareholders, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.

18.  Miscellaneous.

(a)  Notices. All notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given if mailed or transmitted and confirmed by any standard form of telecommunication. Notices to the Underwriters shall be given to the Representatives c/o BofA Securities, Inc. at One Bryant Park, New York, New York 10036, Attention: Syndicate Department, with a copy to: ECM Legal; Attention: Equity Syndicate Desk and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179 (fax: (212) 622-8358). Notices to the Company shall be given to it at 5700 Canoga Avenue, Ste 200, Woodland Hills, CA 91367 (fax: (818) 594-8446); Attention: Leah Talactac, with a copy to Skadden, Arps, Slate,

 

35


Meagher & Flom LLP, 525 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301, Attention: Gregg A. Noel. Notices to the Selling Shareholders shall be given to Ropes & Gray LLP, 800 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02199, Attention: Thomas Fraser.

(b)  Governing Law. This Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

(c)  Submission to Jurisdiction. Each of the Company and the Selling Shareholders hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. federal and New York state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. Each of the Company and the Selling Shareholders waive any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any such suit or proceeding in such courts. Each of the Company and the Selling Shareholders agree that final judgment in any such suit, action or proceeding brought in such court shall be conclusive and binding upon the Company and each Selling Shareholder, as applicable, and may be enforced in any court to the jurisdiction of which Company and each Selling Shareholder, as applicable, is subject by a suit upon such judgment.

(d)  Judgment Currency. The Company and each Selling Shareholder agree to indemnify each Underwriter, its directors, officers, affiliates and each person, if any, who controls such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, against any loss incurred by such Underwriter as a result of any judgment or order being given or made for any amount due hereunder and such judgment or order being expressed and paid in a currency (the “judgment currency”) other than U.S. dollars and as a result of any variation as between (i) the rate of exchange at which the U.S. dollar amount is converted into the judgment currency for the purpose of such judgment or order, and (ii) the rate of exchange at which such indemnified person is able to purchase U.S. dollars with the amount of the judgment currency actually received by the indemnified person. The foregoing indemnity shall constitute a separate and independent obligation of the Company and each Selling Shareholder and shall continue in full force and effect notwithstanding any such judgment or order as aforesaid. The term “rate of exchange” shall include any premiums and costs of exchange payable in connection with the purchase of, or conversion into, the relevant currency.

(e)  Waiver of Immunity. To the extent that the Company or any Selling Shareholder has or hereafter may acquire any immunity (sovereign or otherwise) from jurisdiction of any court of (i) Bermuda or any political subdivision thereof, (ii) the United States or the State of New York, or (iii) any jurisdiction in which it owns or leases property or assets or from any legal process (whether through service of notice, attachment prior to judgment, attachment in aid of execution, execution, set-off or otherwise) with respect to themselves or their respective property and assets or this Agreement, the Company and each Selling Shareholder hereby irrevocably waive such immunity in respect of its obligations under this Agreement to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

(f)  Waiver of Jury Trial. Each of the parties hereto hereby waives any right to trial by jury in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement.

 

36


(g)  Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes.

(i)   In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity (as hereinafter defined) becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

(ii)  In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

As used in this Section 18(g):

“BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k).

“Covered Entity” means any of the following:

(i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b);

(ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or

(iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b).

“Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable.

“U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

(h)  Counterparts. This Agreement may be signed in counterparts (which may include counterparts delivered by any standard form of telecommunication (including pdf or any electronic signature complying with the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, e.g., www.docusign.com or www.echosign.com)), each of which shall be an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

 

37


(i)   Amendments or Waivers. No amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement, nor any consent or approval to any departure therefrom, shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be in writing and signed by the parties hereto.

(j)   Headings. The headings herein are included for convenience of reference only and are not intended to be part of, or to affect the meaning or interpretation of, this Agreement.

(k)  Cayman exempted limited partnerships. Where the Selling Shareholder is a Cayman exempted limited partnership, any reference to any action taken or any undertaking, confirmation, representation, or warranty given by such Selling Shareholder shall be to such Selling Shareholder’s general partner taking such action or giving such undertaking, confirmation, representation or warranty for and on behalf of such Selling Shareholder.

 

 

38


If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please indicate your acceptance of this Agreement by signing in the space provided below.

 

Very truly yours,
VIKING HOLDINGS LTD
By:  

   

  Name:
  Title:
CPP INVESTMENT BOARD PMI-3, INC.
By:  

 

  Name:
  Title:
TPG VII VALHALLA HOLDINGS, L.P.
By:  

 

  Name:
  Title:

 

39


Accepted: As of the date first written above

BOFA SECURITIES, INC.

J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC

For themselves and on behalf of the

several Underwriters listed

in Schedule 1 hereto.

BOFA SECURITIES, INC.

 

By:  

   

  Authorized Signatory
J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC
By:  

   

  Authorized Signatory

 

40


Schedule 1

 

Underwriter

   Number of Shares  

BofA Securities, Inc.

  

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

  

UBS Securities LLC

  

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC

  

HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.

  

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

  

Rothschild & Co US Inc.

  

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated

  

Drexel Hamilton, LLC

  

Loop Capital Markets LLC

  

R. Seelaus & Co., LLC

  
  

 

 

 

Total

  

 

Sch. 1


Schedule 2

 

Selling Shareholders:

   Number of
Underwritten Shares:
     Number of
Option Shares:
 

CPP Investment Board PMI-3, Inc.

     

TPG VII Valhalla Holdings, L.P.

     

 

Sch. 2


Schedule 3

Material Subsidiaries

 

Subsidiary

  

Country of Incorporation

Viking Cruises Ltd    Bermuda
Viking Expedition Ltd    Bermuda
Viking Ocean Cruises Finance Ltd    Bermuda
Viking Ocean Cruises Ltd    Bermuda
Viking Ocean Cruises II Ltd    Bermuda
Viking River Cruises (Bermuda) Ltd    Bermuda
Viking River Cruises (International) LLC    Delaware
Viking River Cruises AG    Switzerland
Viking River Cruises Ltd (Bermuda entity)    Bermuda
Viking USA LLC    Delaware

 

Sch. 3-1


Annex A

 

a.

Pricing Disclosure Package

 

  1.

Preliminary Prospectus dated [  ], 2024

 

  2.

[List each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to be included in the Pricing Disclosure Package]

 

[b.

Pricing Information Provided Orally by Underwriters

 

  3.

[Set out key information included in script that will be used by Underwriters to confirm sales]]

 

Annex A-1


Annex B

Written Testing-the-Waters Communications

 ]

 

Annex B-1


Annex C

Viking Holdings Ltd

Pricing Term Sheet

[TO COME]

 

Annex C-1


Exhibit A

Form of Waiver of Lock-up

[ ● ], 2024

[Name and Address of

Officer or Director

Requesting Waiver]

Dear Mr./Ms. [Name]:

This letter is being delivered to you in connection with the offering by Viking Holdings Ltd (the “Company”) of [ ● ] ordinary shares, $0.01 par value (the “Ordinary Shares”), of the Company and the lock-up letter dated [ ● ], 2024 (the “Lock-up Letter”), executed by you in connection with such offering, and your request for a [waiver] [release] dated [ ● ], 2024, with respect to [ ● ] Ordinary Shares (the “Shares”).

BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC hereby agree to [waive] [release] the transfer restrictions set forth in the Lock-up Letter, but only with respect to the Shares, effective [ ● ], 2024; provided, however, that such [waiver] [release] is conditioned on the Company announcing the impending [waiver] [release] by press release through a major news service at least two business days before effectiveness of such [waiver] [release]. This letter will serve as notice to the Company of the impending [waiver] [release].

Except as expressly [waived] [released] hereby, the Lock-up Letter shall remain in full force and effect.

 

  

      Yours very truly,

 

[Signature of BofA Securities, Inc. Representative]

 

[Name of BofA Securities, Inc. Representative]

 

[Signature of J.P. Morgan Securities LLC Representative]

 

[Name of J.P. Morgan Securities LLC Representative]

                

cc: Company

 

1


Exhibit B

Form of Press Release

Viking Holdings Ltd

 ], 2024

Viking Holdings Ltd (“Company”) announced today that BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, the lead book-running managers in the Company’s recent public sale of [ ● ] of its ordinary shares, is [waiving] [releasing] a lock-up restriction with respect to the Company’s ordinary shares held by [certain officers or directors] [an officer or director] of the Company. The [waiver] [release] will take effect on [ ● ], 2024, and the shares may be sold on or after such date.

This press release is not an offer for sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

 

2


Exhibit C

FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT

[ ● ], 2024

BofA Securities, Inc.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

As Representatives of the

several Underwriters listed

in Schedule 1 to the Underwriting Agreement referred to below

c/o BofA Securities, Inc.

One Bryant Park

New York, New York 10036

c/o J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10179

 

  Re:

Viking Holdings Ltd — Initial Public Offering

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The undersigned understands that you, as Representatives of the several Underwriters, propose to enter into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Viking Holdings Ltd, an exempted company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Bermuda (the “Company”), and the Selling Shareholders listed on Schedule 2 to the Underwriting Agreement, providing for the initial public offering (the “Public Offering”) by the several Underwriters named in Schedule 1 to the Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriters”) of ordinary shares, par value $0.01 per share of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”). Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the meanings set forth in the Underwriting Agreement.

In consideration of the Underwriters’ agreement to purchase and make the Public Offering, and for other good and valuable consideration receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the undersigned hereby agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, the undersigned will not, and will not cause any of its controlled affiliates to, during the period beginning on the date of this letter agreement (this “Letter Agreement”) and ending at the close of business 180 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to the Public Offering (the “Prospectus”) (such period, the “Restricted Period”), (1) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any Ordinary Shares or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Ordinary Shares (including without limitation, Ordinary Shares or such other securities which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by the undersigned in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and securities which may be issued upon exercise of a share option or warrant) (collectively, the “Lock-Up

 

3


Securities”), (2) enter into any hedging, swap or other agreement or transaction that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Lock-Up Securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of Lock-Up Securities, in cash or otherwise, (3) make any demand for, or exercise any right with respect to, the registration of any Lock-Up Securities provided that, to the extent the undersigned has demand and/or piggyback registration rights, the foregoing shall not prohibit the undersigned from notifying the Company privately that it is or will be exercising its demand and/or piggyback registration rights following the expiration of the Restricted Period and undertaking any preparations related thereto; provided, further, that undersigned shall not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, file or confidentially submit, or cause to be filed or confidentially submitted, during the Restricted Period, a registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), in connection with such preparations, or (4) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing. The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the foregoing precludes the undersigned from engaging in any hedging or other transactions or arrangements (including, without limitation, any short sale or the purchase or sale of, or entry into, any put or call option, or combination thereof, forward, swap or any other derivative transaction or instrument, however described or defined) designed or intended, or which could reasonably be expected to lead to or result in, a sale or disposition or transfer (whether by the undersigned or any other person) of any economic consequences of ownership, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, of any Lock-Up Securities, whether any such transaction or arrangement (or instrument provided for thereunder) would be settled by delivery of Lock-Up Securities, in cash or otherwise. The undersigned represents and warrants that the undersigned is not, and has not caused or directed any of its affiliates to be or become, currently a party to any agreement or arrangement that provides for, is designed to or which reasonably could be expected to lead to or result in any transfer during the Restricted Period.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the undersigned may:

(a)   transfer, distribute, cause the disposition of or surrender (as the case may be) the undersigned’s Lock-Up Securities:

(i)   as a bona fide gift or gifts, or for bona fide estate planning purposes,

(ii)  by will, testamentary document or intestacy,

(iii)   to any immediate family member, or to any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned or the immediate family of the undersigned, or if the undersigned is a trust, to a trustor or beneficiary of the trust or to the estate of a beneficiary of such trust (for purposes of this Letter Agreement, “immediate family” shall mean any relationship by blood, current or former marriage, domestic partnership or adoption, not more remote than first cousin), or from such trust to the undersigned,

(iv)  to a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity of which the undersigned and the immediate family of the undersigned are the legal and beneficial owner of all of the outstanding equity securities or similar interests,

 

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(v)   to a nominee or custodian of a person or entity to whom a disposition or transfer would be permissible under clauses (i) through (iv) above,

(vi)  if the undersigned is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity, (A) to another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity that is an affiliate (as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act) of the undersigned, or to any investment fund or other entity controlling, controlled by, managing or managed by or under common control with the undersigned or affiliates of the undersigned (including, for the avoidance of doubt, where the undersigned is a partnership, to its general partner or a successor partnership or fund, or any other funds managed by such partnership), or (B) as part of a distribution to members, limited partners, beneficiaries or shareholders of the undersigned,

(vii)   by operation of law, such as pursuant to a qualified domestic order, divorce settlement, divorce decree or separation agreement or other court or regulatory agency order,

(viii)  to the Company from an employee or service provider of the Company upon death, disability or termination of employment, in each case, of such employee or service provider,

(ix)  as part of a sale of the undersigned’s Lock-Up Securities acquired in open market transactions or in the Public Offering, in each case, on or after the closing date for the Public Offering,

(x)   to the Company [(or, solely in connection with the settlement of restricted stock units in connection with the Public Offering to an affiliate of the Company for cash)]1 in connection with the vesting, settlement, or exercise of restricted stock units, options, warrants or other rights to purchase Ordinary Shares (including, in each case, by way of “net” or “cashless” exercise), including for the payment of exercise price and tax withholdings or remittance payments due as a result of the vesting, settlement, or exercise of such restricted stock units, options, warrants or other rights, provided that any such Ordinary Shares received upon such exercise, vesting or settlement shall be subject to the terms of this Letter Agreement, and provided further that any such restricted stock units, options, warrants or rights are held by the undersigned pursuant to an agreement or equity awards granted under a share incentive plan or other equity award plan, each such agreement or plan which is described in the Registration Statement on Form F-1 to be filed with the SEC (the “Registration Statement”), the Pricing Disclosure Package (as defined in the Underwriting Agreement) and the Prospectus,

(xi)  to the Company in connection with (A) the repurchase of Ordinary Shares issued pursuant to equity awards granted under a share incentive plan or other equity award plan, limited only to a plan that is described in the Registration Statement, in the Pricing Disclosure Package and in the Prospectus or (B) a right of first refusal that the Company has with respect to transfers of such shares or securities, or

(xii)   pursuant to a bona fide third-party tender offer, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction that is approved by the Board of Directors of the Company and made to all holders of the Company’s share capital involving a Change of Control (as defined below) of the Company (for purposes hereof, “Change of Control” shall mean the transfer (whether by tender

 

 

1 

To be included in lock-up agreements with certain non-U.S. employees.

 

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offer, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction), in one transaction or a series of related transactions, to a person or group of affiliated persons, of shares of capital stock if, after such transfer, such person or group of affiliated persons would hold at least a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Company (or the surviving entity)); provided that in the event that such tender offer, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction is not completed, the undersigned’s Lock-Up Securities shall remain subject to the provisions of this Letter Agreement;

provided that (A) in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to clause (a)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi) and (vii), such transfer shall not involve a disposition for value and each donee, devisee, transferee or distributee shall execute and deliver to the Representatives a lock-up letter in the form of this Letter Agreement; (B) in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to clause (a)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (ix) and (x), no filing by any party (including, without limitation, any donor, donee, devisee, transferor, transferee, distributer or distributee) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or other public announcement shall be required or shall be made voluntarily during the Restricted Period in connection with such transfer or distribution (other than a filing on a Form 5 made after the expiration of the Restricted Period referred to above) and (C) in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to clause (a)(vii) and (viii) it shall be a condition to such transfer that no public filing, report or announcement shall be voluntarily made and if any such filing, report or announcement shall be legally required during the Restricted Period, such filing, report or announcement shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto the circumstances of such transfer;

(b)  exercise outstanding options, settle restricted share units or other equity awards or exercise warrants pursuant to plans or other equity compensation arrangements described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; provided that any Lock-Up Securities received upon such exercise, vesting or settlement shall be subject to the terms of this Letter Agreement;

(c)  convert outstanding preferred shares, warrants to acquire preferred shares or convertible securities into Ordinary Shares or warrants to acquire Ordinary Shares; provided that any such Ordinary Shares or warrants received upon such conversion shall be subject to the terms of this Letter Agreement;

(d)  establish trading plans pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act for the transfer of shares of Lock-Up Securities (a “10b5-1 Plan”); provided that (1) such plans do not provide for the transfer of Lock-Up Securities during the Restricted Period and (2) no filing by any party under the Exchange Act or other public announcement shall be required or made voluntarily in connection with such trading plan (other than any required SEC disclosure of the entrance into any trading plan, provided that such disclosure includes a statement to the effect that no transfers may be made pursuant to such trading plan during the Restricted Period); and

(e)  sell the Ordinary Shares to be sold by the undersigned pursuant to the terms of the Underwriting Agreement.

 

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If the undersigned is an officer or director of the Company, the undersigned further agrees that the foregoing provisions shall be equally applicable to any Company-directed Ordinary Shares the undersigned may purchase in the Public Offering.

If the undersigned is an officer or director of the Company, (i) the Representatives agree that, at least three business days before the effective date of any release or waiver of the foregoing restrictions in connection with a transfer of Lock-Up Securities, the Representatives will notify the Company of the impending release or waiver, and (ii) the Company has agreed in the Underwriting Agreement to announce the impending release or waiver through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver. Any release or waiver granted by the Representatives hereunder to any such officer or director shall only be effective two business days after the publication date of such announcement. The provisions of this paragraph will not apply if (a) the release or waiver is effected solely to permit a transfer not for consideration or that is to an immediate family member and (b) the transferee has agreed in writing to be bound by the same terms described in this Letter Agreement to the extent and for the duration that such terms remain in effect at the time of the transfer.

In furtherance of the foregoing, the Company, and any duly appointed transfer agent for the registration or transfer of the securities described herein, are hereby authorized to decline to make any transfer of securities if such transfer would constitute a violation or breach of this Letter Agreement.

The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned has full power and authority to enter into this Letter Agreement. All authority herein conferred or agreed to be conferred and any obligations of the undersigned shall be binding upon the successors, assigns, heirs or personal representatives of the undersigned.

[If, prior to the expiration of the Restricted Period, the Representatives consent to release or waive any prohibition set forth in this Letter Agreement on the transfer of shares of Lock-Up Securities held by any directors, officers, shareholders of 5% or more of the Ordinary Shares (a “Triggering Release” and the holder that is the subject of such Trigger Release, the “Triggering Release Party”), then a number of the undersigned’s Ordinary Shares subject to this Letter Agreement shall also be released from the restrictions hereunder on a pro rata basis, such number of securities being the total number of securities held by the undersigned on the date of the Triggering Release with respect to the Company that are subject to this Letter Agreement multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of Ordinary Shares released pursuant to the Triggering Release and the denominator of which shall be the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Triggering Release Party on such date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph will not apply (i) if the release or waiver is effected solely to permit a transfer not involving a disposition for value and the transferee agrees in writing to be bound by the same terms described in this Letter Agreement to the extent and for the duration that such terms remain in effect at the time of transfer, (ii) in the case of any secondary underwritten public offering of Ordinary Shares, (iii) if the release or waiver is granted to any individual party by the Representatives in an amount, individually or in the aggregate, less than or equal to 1% of the Company’s total outstanding Ordinary Shares (calculated as of the closing date of the Public Offering, but after giving effect to the extent of the exercise of the Underwriters’ overallotment option in the Public Offering) or (iv) if the

 

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release or waiver is granted due to circumstances of an emergency or hardship as determined by the Representatives in their sole judgment. The undersigned further acknowledges that the Representatives are under no obligation to inquire into whether, or to ensure that, the Company notifies the undersigned of the consent by the Representatives of any such release or waiver, which is a matter between the undersigned and the Company.]2

The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the Underwriters have not provided any recommendation or investment advice nor have the Underwriters solicited any action from the undersigned with respect to the Public Offering of the Ordinary Shares, and the undersigned has consulted their own legal, accounting, financial, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent deemed appropriate. The undersigned further acknowledges and agrees that, although the Representative may be required or choose to provide certain Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS disclosures to you in connection with the Public Offering, the Representative and the other Underwriters are not making a recommendation to you to participate in the Public Offering, enter into this Letter Agreement, or sell any Ordinary Shares at the price determined in the Public Offering, and nothing set forth in such disclosures is intended to suggest that the Representative or any Underwriter is making such a recommendation.

This Letter Agreement shall automatically terminate and the undersigned shall be automatically released from all obligations hereunder upon the earlier of (i) May 13, 2024, in the event that the Underwriting Agreement has not been executed by such date (provided, however, that the Company may, by written notice to the undersigned prior to such date, extend such date by a period of up to an additional 90 days), (ii) the date on which for any reason the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the Ordinary Shares to be sold thereunder, (iii) the date on which either the Company, on the one hand, or the Representatives, on the other hand, notifies the other in writing that it does not intend to proceed with the Public Offering, and (iv) the date on which the Registration Statement filed with the SEC in connection with the Public Offering is withdrawn. The undersigned understands that the Underwriters are entering into the Underwriting Agreement and proceeding with the Public Offering in reliance upon this Letter Agreement.

This Letter Agreement may be delivered via facsimile, electronic mail (including pdf or any electronic signature complying with the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, e.g., www.docusign.com or www.echosign.com) or other transmission method and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.

[Signature page follows]

 

2 

To be included in lock-up agreements with the selling shareholders.

 

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This Letter Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this Letter Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

 

Very truly yours,
By:  

 

  Name:
  Title:

 

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