EX-1.1 2 tm2520017d3_ex1-1.htm EXHIBIT 1.1

 

Exhibit 1.1

 

VERTICAL AEROSPACE LTD.

 

12,000,000 Ordinary Shares

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

July 8, 2025

 

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

William Blair & Company, L.L.C.

 

As Representatives of the several Underwriters

named in Schedule I hereto,

 

c/o Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

1 Columbus Circle

New York, NY 10019

 

c/o William Blair & Company, L.L.C.

150 N. Riverside Plaza

Chicago, IL 60606

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Vertical Aerospace Ltd., a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated with limited liability (the “Company”), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated herein, to issue and sell to the Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”) for whom Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (“Deutsche Bank”) and William Blair & Company, L.L.C. (“William Blair”) are acting as representatives (the “Representatives” or “you”) an aggregate of 12,000,000 ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.001 per share (each, an “Ordinary Share”) (the Ordinary Shares sold hereunder, the “Firm Shares”) and, at the election of the Underwriters, up to 1,800,000 additional ordinary shares (the “Optional Shares”). To the extent that you are the only Underwriters, all references to “each Underwriter,” “the Underwriters” or “Representatives” shall refer to just you. The Firm Shares and the Optional Shares are hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Securities.”

 

1. The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each of the Underwriters that:

 

(a) A registration statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-287207) (the “Initial Registration Statement”) in respect of the Securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”); the Initial Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, each in the form heretofore delivered to you and, excluding exhibits to the Initial Registration Statement, but including all documents incorporated by reference in the prospectus included therein, have been declared effective by the Commission in such form; other than a registration statement, if any, increasing the size of the offering (a “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement”), filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), which became effective upon filing, no other document with respect to the Initial Registration Statement or document incorporated by reference therein has heretofore been filed with the Commission and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Initial Registration Statement, any post-effective amendment thereto or the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, has been issued and no proceeding for that purpose has been initiated or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened by the Commission (the base prospectus filed as part of the Initial Registration Statement, in the form in which it has most recently been filed with the Commission on or prior to the date of this Agreement relating to the Securities, is hereinafter called the “Base Prospectus”); any preliminary prospectus, including any preliminary prospectus supplement (together with the Base Prospectus), relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act is hereinafter called the “Preliminary Prospectus”; the various parts of the Initial Registration Statement and the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, including all exhibits thereto and including any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities filed with the Commission and deemed by virtue of Rule 430B under the Act to be part of the Initial Registration Statement at the time it was declared effective, each as amended at the time such part of the Initial Registration Statement became effective or such part of the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, became or hereafter becomes effective, are hereinafter collectively called the “Registration Statement”; the Base Prospectus relating to the Securities, as amended and supplemented immediately prior to the Applicable Time (as defined in Section 1(c) hereof), is hereinafter called the “Pricing Prospectus”; the form of the final prospectus relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act, is hereinafter called the “Prospectus”; any reference herein to the Base Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 6 of Form F-3 under the Act, as of the date of such prospectus; any reference to any amendment or supplement to the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act and any documents filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and incorporated therein, in each case after the date of the Base Prospectus, such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be; any reference to any amendment to the Registration Statement shall be deemed to refer to and include any annual report of the Company filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the effective date of the Registration Statement that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement; and any “issuer free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 433 under the Act relating to the Securities is hereinafter called an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”).

 

 

 

 

(b) No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and each Preliminary Prospectus, at the time of filing thereof, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and did not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein.

 

(c) For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Applicable Time” is 7:30 p.m. (New York City time) on the date of this Agreement. The Pricing Prospectus, as supplemented by the information listed in Schedule II(c) hereto, taken together (collectively, the “Pricing Disclosure Package”), as of the Applicable Time, did not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed on Schedule II(a) hereto does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus and each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time, did not 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 under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements or omissions made in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein.

 

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(d) The documents incorporated by reference in and forming part of the Registration Statement, when they became effective or were filed with the Commission, as the case may be, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and none of such documents contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; the documents incorporated by reference in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, when they became effective or were filed with the Commission, as the case may be, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and none of such documents contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Prospectus or any further amendment or supplement thereto, when such documents become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein; and no such documents were filed with the Commission since the Commission’s close of business on the business day immediately prior to the date of this Agreement and prior to the execution of this Agreement, except as set forth on Schedule II(b) hereto.

 

(e) The Registration Statement conforms at the time it was declared effective, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus on the date when such prospectus, amendment or supplement is first filed will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and do not and will not, as of the applicable effective date as to each part of the Registration Statement and as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein.

 

(f) The consolidated financial statements of the Company included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus comply in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the rules and regulations of the Commission with respect thereto as in effect at the time of filing (or to the extent corrected by a subsequent amendment). Such consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”) applied on a consistent basis during the periods involved, except as may be otherwise specified in such financial statements or the notes thereto and except that unaudited financial statements may not contain all footnotes required by IFRS, and fairly present in all material respects the consolidated financial position of the Company as of and for the dates thereof and the results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended, subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal, immaterial year-end audit adjustments.

 

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(g) The statistical and market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes to be reliable and accurate in all material respects.

 

(h) The Company and each of its subsidiaries set forth in Exhibit 8.1 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Commission on March 11, 2025 (each, a “Subsidiary” and collectively, the “Subsidiaries”) (i) has accurately and timely prepared and filed (or requested valid extensions thereof) all foreign, federal and state income and all other tax returns, reports and declarations required by any jurisdiction to which it is subject, (ii) has paid all taxes and other governmental assessments and charges that are material in amount, shown or determined to be due on such returns, reports and declarations, except those being contested in good faith, with respect to which adequate reserves have been set aside on the books of the Company and (iii) has set aside on its books provisions reasonably adequate for the payment of all taxes for periods subsequent to the periods to which such returns, reports or declarations apply, except, in the case of clauses (i) and (ii) above, where the failure to so pay or file any such tax, assessment, charge or return would not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. As used herein, “Material Adverse Effect” shall mean any material adverse change or effect in or affecting (i) the business, properties, general affairs, management, financial position, shareholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, or (ii) the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Company has not received written notice of any unpaid taxes in any material amount claimed to be due by the Company or any Subsidiary by the taxing authority of any jurisdiction, which taxes remain unpaid.

 

(i) Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except as specifically disclosed, (i) there have been no events, occurrences or developments that have had or would reasonably be expected to have, either individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect, (ii) the Company has not incurred any material liabilities (contingent or otherwise) other than (A) trade payables and accrued expenses incurred in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and (B) liabilities not required to be reflected in the Company’s financial statements pursuant to IFRS or required to be disclosed in filings made with the Commission, (iii) the Company has not declared or made any dividend or distribution of cash or other property to its shareholders or purchased, redeemed or made any agreements to purchase or redeem any Ordinary Shares (other than in connection with repurchases of unvested Ordinary Shares issued to employees of the Company) and (iv) the Company has not issued any equity securities to any officer, director or affiliate, except Ordinary Shares issued in the ordinary course as issued pursuant to existing Company share option or equity purchase plans or executive and director compensation arrangements disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

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(j) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries has good and marketable title to all tangible personal property owned by it that is material to its business, in each case free and clear of any lien, encumbrance or defect except 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. Any real property and facilities held under lease by the Company and any of its Subsidiaries are held by it 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, as the case may be.

 

(k)  Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries (i) is in violation of any order of any court, arbitrator or governmental body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or their properties or assets, or (ii) is in violation of, or in receipt of written notice that it is in violation of, any statute, rule or regulation of any governmental authority applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, except in each case as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(l) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries is an entity duly incorporated or otherwise organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization (as applicable), with the requisite corporate power and authority to own or lease and use its properties and assets and to carry on its business as currently conducted. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation or default of any of the provisions of its articles of incorporation or bylaws or other organizational documents. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries is duly qualified to conduct business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation or other entity in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business conducted or property owned by it makes such qualification necessary, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing, as the case may be, would not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(m) The Company has no direct or indirect subsidiaries other than as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company owns, directly or indirectly, the share capital or comparable equity interests of each Subsidiary free and clear of any and all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims, and all the issued and outstanding share capital or comparable equity interest of each Subsidiary are validly issued and are fully paid, non-assessable and free of preemptive and similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities.

 

(n)  The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder. The Company’s execution and delivery of this Agreement and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby (including, but not limited to, the sale and delivery of the Securities) have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part of the Company, and no further corporate action is required by the Company, its Board of Directors or its shareholders in connection therewith other than in connection with the Required Approvals (as defined below). This Agreement has been duly executed by the Company and constitutes the legal, valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except (i) as such enforceability may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation or similar laws relating to, or affecting generally the enforcement of, creditors’ rights and remedies or by other equitable principles of general application, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by applicable law.

 

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(o) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is required to obtain any consent, waiver, approval, authorization or order of, give any notice to, or make any filing or registration with, any court or other federal, state, local or other governmental authority, holder of outstanding securities of the Company or other person in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement (including the issuance of the Securities), other than (i) the filing with the Commission of any prospectus supplements with respect to the Securities pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act, (ii) filings required by applicable state securities laws, (iii) the filing of any requisite notices and/or application(s) to the New York Stock Exchange for the issuance and sale of the Securities and the listing of the Securities for trading or quotation, as the case may be, thereon in the time and manner required thereby, and (iv) those that have been made or obtained prior to the date of this Agreement (collectively, the “Required Approvals”).

 

(p) The Company has an authorized share capital as set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and all of the issued Ordinary Shares of the Company, including the Securities to be purchased by the Underwriters, have been duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, and conform in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. None of such issued Ordinary Shares were issued in violation of any preemptive rights or similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities which violation would have or would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no shareholders agreements, voting agreements or other similar agreements with respect to the Company’s share capital to which the Company is a party or, to the Company’s knowledge, between or among any of the Company’s shareholders.

 

(q) The Securities have been duly authorized and, when issued and paid for in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims and shall not be subject to preemptive or similar rights of shareholders.

 

(r) The execution, delivery and performance of the obligations under this Agreement by the Company, the issuance and sale of the Securities and the consummation of the other transactions contained in this Agreement will not (i) violate any provision of the Fourth Amended and Restated Articles of Association of the Company, (ii) conflict with or result in a violation of or default (with or without notice or lapse of time, or both) under, or give rise to a right of termination, cancellation or acceleration of any obligation, a change of control right or to a loss of a benefit under any agreement or instrument, credit facility, franchise, license, judgment, order, statute, law, ordinance, rule or regulations, applicable to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or their respective properties or assets, or (iii) result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment, injunction, decree or other restriction of any court or governmental authority to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is subject (including federal and state securities laws and regulations) and the rules and regulations of any self-regulatory organization to which the Company or its securities are subject, or by which any property or asset of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is bound or affected, except, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), as would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(s) The statements set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus under the caption “Description of Share Capital and Articles of Association,” insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Companies securities, under the captions “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” and “Underwriting,” insofar as they purport to describe the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are accurate in all material respects.

 

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(t) [Reserved].

 

(u) The Company is not, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof, will not be, an “investment company” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

(v) At the time of the filing of the Initial 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 Act) of the Securities, at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act.

 

(w)  PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, who have audited certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, is an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).

 

(x) The Company maintains a system of “internal control over financial reporting” (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder) that is designed to comply with the Exchange Act and 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 permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with IFRS and to maintain asset and liability accountability, (iii) access to assets or incurrence of liabilities is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, and (v) the recorded accountability for assets and liabilities is compared with the existing assets and liabilities at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. Except as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, (i) the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective; and (ii) the Company is not aware of any “material weaknesses” (each as defined by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) in its internal control over financial reporting. The interactive data in the eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.

 

(y) [Reserved].

 

(z) Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Disclosure Package, there has been no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially adversely affected, or is reasonably likely to materially adversely affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

(aa) The Company is in compliance in all material respects with all of the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which are applicable to it. The Company has designed a system of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that are designed to comply with the Exchange Act within the time period required, and such disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company and its subsidiaries is made known to the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer by others within those entities; and such disclosure controls and procedures are effective in all material respects.

 

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(bb) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus, to the Company’s knowledge, the Company and each of its Subsidiaries owns, possesses, licenses or has other rights to use, all patents, patent applications, trade and service marks, trade and service mark applications and registrations, trade names, trade secrets, inventions, copyrights, licenses, technology, know-how and other intellectual property rights and similar rights necessary or material for use in connection with its businesses as described in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus and which the failure to so would have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect (collectively, the “Intellectual Property Rights”). To the Company’s knowledge, none of the Intellectual Property Rights used by the Company or any Subsidiary violates or infringes upon the patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary rights of any Person in a manner which would have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. There is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened suit, investigation or proceeding or claim by any person that the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s business as now conducted infringes or otherwise violates any patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary rights of another. To the Company’s knowledge and except as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, there is no existing infringement by another person of any of the Intellectual Property Rights that would have or would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, other than in respect of which the Company has commenced legal action. There is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened suit, investigation or proceeding or claim by another person challenging the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s rights in or to any material Intellectual Property Rights, or challenging inventorship, validity or scope of any such Intellectual Property Rights. The Company has taken reasonable security measures to protect the secrecy, confidentiality and value of all of its and its Subsidiaries’ Intellectual Property Rights, except where failure to do so would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. None of the technology employed by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries has been obtained or is being used by the Company or any Subsidiary in violation of any contractual obligation binding on the Company or any Subsidiary or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its or its Subsidiaries’ officers, directors or employees or otherwise in violation of the rights of any person, which violations would have or would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(cc) [Reserved].

 

(dd) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries possesses all certificates, authorizations and permits issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign regulatory authorities necessary under applicable law to conduct its business as currently conducted, except as set forth in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus, or such that where the failure to possess such permits, individually or in the aggregate, has not and would not have or would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect (“Material Permits”), and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has received any notice of revocation or modification of any such Material Permits, which, individually or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, has or would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(ee) Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus, to the Company’s knowledge, none of the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries (i) is in violation of any statute, rule, regulation, decision or order of any governmental agency or body or any court, domestic or foreign, relating to the use, disposal or release of hazardous or toxic substances or relating to the protection or restoration of the environment or human exposure to hazardous or toxic substances (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (ii) owns or operates any real property contaminated with any substance that is in violation of any Environmental Laws, (iii) is liable for any off-site disposal or contamination pursuant to any Environmental Laws, or (iv) is subject to any claim relating to any Environmental Laws; which violation, contamination, liability or claim has had or would have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect; and there is no pending investigation or, to the Company’s Knowledge, investigation threatened in writing that might lead to such a claim.

 

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(ff) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries have complied, and are presently in compliance, in all material respects, with its privacy and security policies, and with all obligations, laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, transfer, storage, protection, disposal and/or disclosure of personally identifiable information and/or any other information collected from or provided by third parties, except such as has not resulted or would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company and its Subsidiaries have taken commercially reasonable steps to protect the information technology systems and data used in connection with the operation of the Company and/or its Subsidiaries, except such as has not resulted or would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company and its Subsidiaries have used reasonable efforts to establish, and have established, commercially reasonable disaster recovery and security plans, procedures and facilities for the business, including, without limitation, for the information technology systems and data held or used by or for the Company and/or any of its Subsidiaries. Except as set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there has been no security breach or attack or other compromise of or relating to any such information technology system or data which would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(gg) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries is insured by insurers of recognized financial responsibility against such losses and risks and in such amounts as the Company believes to be prudent and customary in the businesses and locations in which the Company and the Subsidiaries are engaged. Other than customary end-of-policy notifications from insurance carriers, since January 1, 2025, the Company has not received any notice or other communication regarding any actual or possible: (i) cancellation or invalidation of any material insurance policy or (ii) refusal or denial of any coverage, reservation of rights or rejection of any material claim under any insurance policy.

 

(hh) There are no contracts or other documents which are of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or to be filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement which have not been described or filed as required.

 

(ii) Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus, none of the executive officers or directors of the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, none of the employees of the Company is presently a party to any transaction with the Company (other than for services as employees, officers and directors) that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Act.

 

(jj) [Reserved].

 

(kk) No material labor dispute exists or, to the Company’s knowledge, is imminent with respect to any of the employees of the Company which would have or would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(ll) Except as disclosed in the Pricing Disclosure Package, there are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company or its Subsidiaries and any person (A) that would give rise to a valid claim against the Company or any Underwriter for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or other like payment in connection with this offering; or (B) granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Act with respect to any securities of the Company owned or to be owned by such person or to require the Company to include such securities in the securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or in any securities being registered pursuant to any other registration statement filed by the Company under the Act.

 

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(mm) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus, no person has any right to cause the Company to effect the registration under the Act of any securities of the Company.

 

(nn) None of the Company, its Subsidiaries, nor any of their respective directors, officers or employees, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of their respective agents or affiliates is, nor since April 24, 2019 has done or currently does business with any court, administrative agency, regulatory body, commission or other governmental authority, board, bureau or instrumentality, domestic or foreign, any subdivision thereof, or with any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, estate, trust, business association, organization or other entity that is, (A) located in any country or territory that is the subject of any country-wide or territory-wide economic sanctions of the United States as administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department , the United Nations Security Council, the European Union (including its member states), or His Majesty’s Treasury (“Sanctions”) or (B) the subject or target of Sanctions that prohibit dealings with such individuals or entities; and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to its Subsidiaries or any joint venture partner or other person or entity, in a manner that violates any Sanctions.

 

(oo) The operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in the past five years in compliance with applicable requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the applicable money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company and the Subsidiaries conduct business, the applicable rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar 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 knowledge of the Company, threatened.

 

(pp) In the past five years, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “FCPA”), the UK Bribery Act 2010 (“UKBA”) or other applicable anti-corruption, anti-bribery or related law, statue or regulation (collectively, “Anti-Corruption Laws”), including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA or the UKBA, and the Company, its Subsidiaries and its affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with the Anti-Corruption Laws have instituted and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote and achieve, and which are reasonably expected to continue to promote and achieve, continued compliance therewith.

 

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(qq) Subject to the qualifications, limitations, exceptions and assumptions set forth in the Pricing Disclosure Package and Prospectus, the Company does not believe it was a “passive foreign investment company” within the meaning of Section 1297 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (a “PFIC”) , for the taxable year that ended on December 31, 2024, and the Company does not expect to be a PFIC for the foreseeable future.

 

(rr) The Company satisfies the eligibility requirements for the use of a registration statement on Form F-3 under the Act for the offering of the Securities.

 

(ss) The Company’s Ordinary Shares are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act, and the Company has taken no action designed to terminate the registration of the Ordinary Shares under the Exchange Act, nor has the Company received any notification that the Commission is contemplating terminating such registration. The Company has not, in the 12 months preceding the date hereof, received written notice from any trading market on which the Ordinary Shares are listed or quoted to the effect that the Company is not in compliance with the listing or maintenance requirements of such trading market. The Company is in compliance with all listing and maintenance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange on the date hereof and the issuance of the Securities will not violate any such listing or maintenance requirements.

 

(tt) 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 the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any Underwriter for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities.

 

(uu) [Reserved].

 

(vv) Neither the Company, nor any of its affiliates, nor any person acting on its or their behalf has, directly or indirectly, made any offers or sales of any security or solicited any offers to buy any security, under circumstances that would cause this offering of the Securities to be integrated with prior offerings by the Company for purposes of the Act that would require the registration of any such securities under the Act.

 

(ww) The choice of the laws of the State of New York as the governing law of this Agreement is a valid choice of law under the laws of the Cayman Islands and will be honored by courts in the Cayman Islands. The Company has the corporate power to submit, and pursuant to Section 19 of this Agreement, has legally, validly, effectively and irrevocably submitted, to the personal jurisdiction of the federal courts of the United States of America located in the Borough of Manhattan in the City of New York or the courts of the State of New York in each case located in the Borough of Manhattan in the City of New York (collectively, the “Specified Courts”) and has validly and irrevocably waived any objection to the laying of venue of any suit, action or proceeding brought in any such court; and the Company has the power to designate, appoint and empower an authorized agent for service of process in any action arising out of or relating to this Agreement, the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus, the Prospectus or the offering of the Securities in any Specified Court and service of process effected on such authorized agent will be effective to notify the Company of any action under this Agreement.

 

(xx) The Company has the power to submit, and pursuant to Section 19 of this Agreement, has legally, validly, effectively and irrevocably submitted, to the jurisdiction of the Specified Courts, and the Company has the power to designate, appoint and authorize, and pursuant to Section 19 of this Agreement, has legally, validly, effectively and irrevocably designated, appointed and authorized an agent for service of process in any action arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Securities in such court, and service of process effected on such authorized agent will be effective to confer valid jurisdiction over the Company as provided in Section 19 hereof.

 

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(yy) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries nor any of their respective properties, assets or revenues enjoy any rights of immunity under the laws of the Cayman Islands, the United States or the State of New York from any legal proceedings (whether through service or notice, attachment prior to judgment, attachment in aid of execution or otherwise) or the execution of judgement or other attachment, in any such court with respect to its obligations, liabilities or any other matter under or arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or the Securities. To the extent that the Company or any of its respective properties, assets or revenues may have or may hereafter become entitled to any such right of immunity in any such court in which proceedings may at any time be commenced, the Company waives or will waive such right to the extent permitted by law and has consented to such relief and enforcement as provided in Section 19 of this Agreement.

 

(zz) Any final judgment for a fixed or readily calculable sum of money rendered by a Specified Court having jurisdiction under its own domestic laws in respect of any suit, action or proceeding against the Company based upon this Agreement and any instruments or agreements entered into for the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and therein would be declared enforceable against the Company, without reconsideration or re-examination of the merits of the cause of action, by the courts of the Cayman Islands, provided that such judgment: (i) is given by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction; (ii) imposes on the judgment debtor a liability to pay a liquidated sum for which the judgment has been given; (iii) is final; (iv) is not in respect of taxes, a fine or a penalty; and (v) was not obtained in a manner and is not of a kind the enforcement of which is contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands.

 

(aaa) Except as provided by laws or statutes generally applicable to transactions of the type described in this Agreement, neither the Company nor any of its respective properties, assets or revenues has any right of immunity under the laws of the Cayman Islands, the United States or the State of New York, from any legal action, suit or proceeding, from the giving of any relief in any such legal action, suit or proceeding, from set-off or counterclaim, from the jurisdiction of any law of the Cayman Islands, the United States or the State of New York, from service of process, attachment upon or prior judgment, or attachment in aid of execution of judgment, or from execution of a judgment, or other legal process or proceeding for the giving of any relief or for the enforcement of a judgment, in any such court, with respect to its obligations, liabilities or any other matter under or arising out of or in connection with this Agreement. To the extent that the Company or any of its respective properties, assets or revenues may have or may hereafter become entitled to any such right of immunity in any such court in which proceedings may at any time be commenced, the Company waives or will waive such right to the extent permitted by law and has consented to such relief and enforcement as provided in Section 19 of this Agreement.

 

2.            Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, (a) the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price per share of $4.811, the number of Firm Shares set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and (b) in the event and to the extent that the Underwriters shall exercise the election to purchase Optional Shares as provided below, the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at the purchase price per share set forth in clause (a) of this Section 2 (provided that the purchase price per Optional Share shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Shares but not payable on the Optional Shares), that portion of the number of Optional Shares as to which such election shall have been exercised (to be adjusted by you so as to eliminate fractional shares) determined by multiplying such number of Optional Shares by a fraction, the numerator of which is the maximum number of Optional Shares which such Underwriter is entitled to purchase as set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and the denominator of which is the maximum number of Optional Shares that all of the Underwriters are entitled to purchase hereunder.

 

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The Company hereby grants to the Underwriters the right to purchase at their election up to 1,800,000 Optional Shares, at the purchase price per share set forth in the paragraph above. Any such election to purchase Optional Shares may be exercised only by written notice from you to the Company, given within a period of 30 calendar days after the date of this Agreement, setting forth the aggregate number of Optional Shares to be purchased and the date on which such Optional Shares are to be delivered, as determined by you but in no event earlier than the First Time of Delivery (as defined in Section 4 hereof) or, unless you and the Company otherwise agree in writing, earlier than two or later than ten business days after the date of such notice.

 

3.            Upon the authorization by you of the release of the Securities, the several Underwriters propose to offer the Securities for sale upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Prospectus.

 

4.

 

(a) The Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representatives may request upon at least 48 hours’ prior notice to the Company shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representatives, through the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified by the Company to the Representatives at least 48 hours in advance. The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be, with respect to the Firm Shares, 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on July 10, 2025 or such other time and date as the Representatives and the Company may agree upon in writing, and, with respect to the Optional Shares, 9:30 a.m., New York time, on the date specified by the Representatives in the written notice given by the Representatives of the Underwriters’ election to purchase such Optional Shares, or such other time and date as the Representatives and the Company may agree upon in writing. Such time and date for delivery of the Firm Shares is herein called the “First Time of Delivery”, such time and date for delivery of the Optional Shares, if not the First Time of Delivery, is herein called the “Second Time of Delivery”, and each such time and date for delivery is herein called a “Time of Delivery”.

 

(b) The documents to be delivered at the Time of Delivery by or on behalf of the parties hereto pursuant to Section 8 hereof, including the cross-receipt for the Securities and any additional documents requested by the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8(k) hereof, will be delivered at the offices of Goodwin Procter LLP, at The New York Times Building, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 (the “Closing Location”), and the Securities will be delivered at the office of DTC (or its designated custodian), all at the Time of Delivery. A meeting will be held at the Closing Location at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day immediately preceding the Time of Delivery, at which meeting the final drafts of the documents to be delivered pursuant to the preceding sentence will be available for review by the parties hereto.

 

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5.             The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters:

 

(a) To prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by you and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act prior to the earlier of (i) the First Time of Delivery and (ii) the latest date within the time periods specified by Rule 424(b) under the under the Act or such earlier time as may be required under the Act; to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus or the Prospectus prior to the Time of Delivery which shall be disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus has been filed and to furnish you with copies thereof; to file promptly all other materials required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act, within the time required by such rule; to file promptly all reports and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date of the Prospectus and for so long as the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus in respect of the Securities, of the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus or suspending any such qualification, to promptly use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal of such order;

 

(b) Promptly from time to time to take such action as you may reasonably request to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as you may request and to use its commercially reasonable efforts to comply with such laws so as to permit the continuance of sales and dealings therein in such jurisdictions for as long as may be necessary to complete the distribution of the Securities, provided that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction or subject itself to taxation in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise subject to taxation on the date hereof;

 

(c) Prior to 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and from time to time, to furnish the Underwriters with written and electronic copies of the Prospectus in New York City in such quantities as you may reasonably request, and, if the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required at any time prior to the expiration of nine months after the time of issue of the Prospectus in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities and if at such time any event shall have occurred as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an 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 under which they were made when such Prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary during such same period to amend or supplement the Prospectus or to file under the Exchange Act any document incorporated by reference in the Prospectus in order to comply with the Act or the Exchange Act, to notify you and upon your request to file such document and to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many written and electronic copies as you may from time to time reasonably request of an amended Prospectus or a supplement to the Prospectus which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and in case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) in connection with sales of any of the Securities at any time nine months or more after the time of issue of the Prospectus, upon your request but at the expense of such Underwriter, to prepare and deliver to such Underwriter as many written and electronic copies as you may request of an amended or supplemented Prospectus complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;

 

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(d) [Reserved];

 

(e) To make generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable (which may be satisfied by filing its Annual Report on Form 20-F with the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system), but in any event not later than sixteen months after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) under the Act), an earnings statement of the Company and its Subsidiaries (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (including, at the option of the Company, Rule 158);

 

(f) During the period beginning from the date hereof for a period of 60 days (the “Lock-Up Period”), not to (i) offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with the Commission a registration statement under the Act relating to, any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Securities, including but not limited to any options or warrants to purchase Ordinary Shares or any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, Ordinary Shares, or any such substantially similar securities, or publicly disclose the intention to make any offer, sale, pledge, disposition or filing or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of 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 (A) the Securities to be sold hereunder, (B) the issuance of options, restricted share units, restricted shares or other equity awards to acquire Ordinary Shares granted pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive plans that are described in the Prospectus, as such plans may be amended, (C) the issuance of Ordinary Shares upon the exercise of any such options, restricted share units or other equity awards to acquire Ordinary Shares, (D) the filing by the Company of any amendment to its registration statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-263815) or the filing by the Company of registration statements on Form S-8 with respect to the Company’s benefit plans that are referred to in the Prospectus, and (E) Ordinary Shares issued upon exercise of warrants or options of the Company, but only if the holders of such Ordinary Shares or options issued under (B) and (C) above are contained in Schedule III hereof and agree to execute a lock-up letter described in Section 8(i) hereof (to the extent such holder has not previously signed a lock-up letter). The Company also agrees that during the Lock-Up Period, no director or executive officer of the Company may establish a trading plan pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act providing for dispositions or sales of Ordinary Shares;

 

(g) If the Company elects to rely upon Rule 462(b), the Company shall file a Rule 462(b) Registration Statement with the Commission in compliance with Rule 462(b) by 10:00 p.m., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement, and the Company shall at the time of filing either pay the Commission the filing fee for the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or give irrevocable instructions for the payment of such fee pursuant to Rule 111(b) under the Act;

 

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(h) To use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement in the manner specified in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds”;

 

(i) To use its best efforts to list, subject to notice of issuance, the Securities on the New York Stock Exchange;

 

(j) [Reserved]; and

 

(k) Upon reasonable request of any Underwriter, to furnish, or cause to be furnished, to such Underwriter an electronic version of the Company’s trademarks, servicemarks and corporate logo for use on the website, if any, operated by such Underwriter for the purpose of facilitating the on-line offering of the Securities (the “License”); provided, however, that the License shall be used solely for the purpose described above, is granted without any fee and may not be assigned or transferred.

 

6.

 

(a) The Company represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act, other than any such free writing prospectus the use of which has been consented to by the Representatives and which is listed on Schedule II(a) hereto; each Underwriter represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a free writing prospectus, other than any such free writing prospectus the use of which has been consented to by the Company and the Representatives is listed on Schedule II(a) hereto;

 

(b) The Company has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 under the Act applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission or retention where required and legending; and

 

(c) The Company agrees that if at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus any event occurred or occurs as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus would conflict with the information in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or would include an 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 then prevailing, not misleading, the Company will give prompt notice thereof to the Representatives and, if requested by the Representatives, will prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or other document which will correct such conflict, statement or omission; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein.

 

7.            The Company covenants and agrees with the several Underwriters that the Company will pay or cause to be paid the following: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company’s counsel and accountants in connection with the registration of the Securities under the Act and all other expenses in connection with the preparation, printing, reproduction and filing of the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and amendments and supplements thereto and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers; (ii) the cost of printing or producing any Agreement among Underwriters, this Agreement, the Blue Sky Memorandum, closing documents (including any compilations thereof) and any other documents in connection with the offering, purchase, sale and delivery of the Securities; (iii) all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Securities for offering and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section 5(c) hereof, excluding the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky survey; (iv) all fees and expenses in connection with listing the Securities on the New York Stock Exchange; (v) the filing fees incident to any required review by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Securities, excluding the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such filings; (vi) the costs incidental to the issuance of the Securities; (vii) the cost of preparing share certificates, if applicable; (viii) the cost and charges of any transfer agent or registrar; (ix) the costs and expenses of the Company relating to investor presentations on any “road show” undertaken in connection with the marketing of the Securities, including without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers of the Company and any such consultants, and the cost of aircraft and other transportation chartered in connection with the road show; and (x) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder which are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Section in an aggregate amount not to exceed $75,000. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in this Section 7, and Sections 9 and 12 hereof, the Underwriters will pay all of their own costs and expenses, including the fees of their counsel, transfer taxes on resale of any of the Securities by them, and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.

 

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8.            The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder, as to the Securities to be delivered at the Time of Delivery, shall be subject, in their discretion, to the condition that all representations and warranties and other statements of the Company herein are, at and as of the Time of Delivery, true and correct, the condition that the Company shall have performed all of its obligations hereunder theretofore to be performed, and the following additional conditions:

 

(a) The Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by the rules and regulations under the Act and in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof; all material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act shall have been filed with the Commission within the applicable time period prescribed for such filings by Rule 433; if the Company has elected to rely upon Rule 462(b) under the Act, the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement shall have become effective by 10:00 p.m., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; no stop order suspending or preventing the use of the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to your reasonable satisfaction;

 

(b) Goodwin Procter LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to you such written opinion or opinions, dated as of the Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to the matters you may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;

 

(c) Latham & Watkins LLP, U.S. counsel to the Company, and Walkers (Cayman) LLP, Cayman Islands counsel to the Company, shall have furnished to you their written opinions in the form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to the matters you may reasonably request;

 

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(d) On the date of the Prospectus at a time prior to the execution of this Agreement, at 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the effective date of any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement filed subsequent to the date of this Agreement and also at the Time of Delivery, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP shall have furnished to you a comfort letter or letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives;

 

(e)(i) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall have sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Disclosure Package any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Disclosure Package, and (ii) since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Pricing Disclosure Package there shall not have been any change in the share capital or long-term debt of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, shareholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Disclosure Package, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii), is in your judgment so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Securities being delivered at the Time of Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus;

 

(f) The Company shall have furnished to you a certificate of the Chief Executive Officer of the Company in the form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to the matters you may reasonably request;

 

(g) On or after the Applicable Time there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) a suspension or material limitation in trading in securities generally on the New York Stock Exchange; (ii) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities on the New York Stock Exchange; (iii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities declared by either Federal or New York authorities or a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States; (iv) the outbreak or escalation of hostilities involving the United States or the declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war; or (v) the occurrence of any other calamity or crisis or any change in financial, political or economic conditions in the United States or elsewhere, if the effect of any such event specified in clause (iv) or (v) in your judgment makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Securities being delivered at such Time of Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus;

 

(h) The Securities to be sold at the Time of Delivery shall have been duly listed, subject to notice of issuance, on the New York Stock Exchange;

 

(i) The Company shall have obtained and delivered to the Underwriters executed copies of a lock-up agreement from each of the persons and entities listed on Schedule III hereto substantially in the form attached hereto as Annex I;

 

(j) The Company shall have complied with the provisions of Section 5(c) hereof with respect to the furnishing of prospectuses on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement; and

 

(k) The Company shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to you at the Time of Delivery certificates of officers of the Company satisfactory to you as to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company herein at and as of such time, as to the performance by the Company of all of its obligations hereunder to be performed at or prior to such time, as to the matters set forth in subsections (a) and (e) of this Section 8 and as to such other matters as you may reasonably request.

 

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9. (a) The Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433 under the Act) not constituting an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus (a “Non-Prospectus Road Show”) or any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and will reimburse each Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or Non-Prospectus Road Show, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter (the “Underwriter Information”) through the Representatives expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only Underwriter Information is the information contained in the first paragraph under “Underwriting - Commissions and Discounts; Expenses” and the first paragraph, the second and third sentences of the second paragraph, and the third paragraph under “Underwriting - Price Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids” in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

(b) Each Underwriter will, severally and not jointly, 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 against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which the Company may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Non-Prospectus Road Show, in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information.

 

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(c) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under such subsection, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; provided that the failure to so notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have to any indemnified party under this Section 9, except to the extent that the indemnifying party 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 party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an indemnified party otherwise than under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 9. In case any such action shall be brought against any indemnified party and it shall notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it shall wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party (who shall not, except with the consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying party), and, after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party under this Section 9(c) for any legal expenses of other counsel or any other expenses, in each case subsequently incurred by such indemnified party, in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation; provided, however, that the indemnified party shall have the right to employ counsel to represent jointly the indemnified party and those other indemnified parties and their respective directors, officers, employees and controlling persons who may be subject to liability arising out of any claim in respect of which indemnity may be sought under this Section 9 if (i) the indemnified party and the indemnifying party shall have so mutually agreed; (ii) the indemnifying party has failed within a reasonable time to retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party; (iii) the indemnified party and its directors, officers, employees and controlling persons shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to them that are different from or in addition to those available to the indemnifying party; or (iv) the named parties in any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) include both the indemnified parties or their respective directors, officers, employees or controlling persons, on the one hand, and the indemnifying party, on the other hand, and representation of both sets of parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them, and in any such event the fees and expenses of such separate counsel shall be paid by the indemnifying party. No indemnifying party shall, without the written consent of the indemnified party, effect the settlement or compromise of, or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to, any pending or threatened action or claim in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified party is an actual or potential party to such action or claim) unless such settlement, compromise or judgment (i) includes an unconditional release of the indemnified party from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

 

(d) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 9 is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Securities. If, however, the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is not permitted by applicable law or if the indemnified party failed to give the notice required under subsection (c) above, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to such amount paid or payable by such indemnified party in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof), as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the net proceeds from the offering (net of underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting any other expenses) received by the Company bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus. The relative fault 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 on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this subsection (d) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this subsection (d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to above in this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d), no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which 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 Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations in this subsection (d) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint.

 

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(e) The obligations of the Company under this Section 9 shall be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each affiliate of any Underwriter within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act, including, without limitation, the officers, directors, partners and members of each such Underwriter and its broker-dealer affiliates; and the obligations of the Underwriters under this Section 9 shall be in addition to any liability which the respective Underwriters may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each officer and director of the Company (including any person who, with his or her consent, is named in the Registration Statement as about to become a director of the Company) and to each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of the Act.

 

10. (a) If any Underwriter shall default in its obligation to purchase the Securities which it has agreed to purchase hereunder at a Time of Delivery, you may in your discretion arrange for you or another party or other parties to purchase such Securities on the terms contained herein. If within thirty-six hours after such default by any Underwriter you do not arrange for the purchase of such Securities, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of thirty-six hours within which to procure another party or other parties satisfactory to you to purchase such Securities on such terms. In the event that, within the respective prescribed periods, you notify the Company that you have so arranged for the purchase of such Securities, or the Company notifies you that it has so arranged for the purchase of such Securities, you or the Company shall have the right to postpone such Time of Delivery for a period of not more than seven days, in order to effect whatever changes may thereby be made necessary in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any other documents or arrangements, and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus which in your opinion may thereby be made necessary. The term “Underwriter” as used in this Section shall include any person substituted under this Section with like effect as if such person had originally been a party to this Agreement with respect to such Securities.

 

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(b) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Securities which remains unpurchased does not exceed one eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Securities to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, then the Company shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the number of Securities which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder at such Time of Delivery and, in addition, to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase its pro rata share (based on the number of Securities which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder) of the Securities of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

 

(c) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Securities which remains unpurchased exceeds one eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Securities to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, or if the Company shall not exercise the right described in subsection (b) above to require non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters, then this Agreement (or, with respect to the Second Time of Delivery, the obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and of the Company to sell the Optional Shares) shall thereupon terminate, without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except for the expenses to be borne by the Company and the Underwriters as provided in Section 7 hereof and the indemnity and contribution agreements in Section 9 hereof; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

 

11. The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company and the several Underwriters, as set forth in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of them, respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation (or any statement as to the results thereof) made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or any controlling person of any Underwriter, or the Company, or any officer or director or controlling person of the Company, and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Securities.

 

12. If this Agreement shall be terminated pursuant to Section 10 hereof, the Company shall not then be under any liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 7 and 9 hereof; but, if for any other reason, any Securities are not delivered by or on behalf of the Company as provided herein, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters through you for all reasonable and documented out of pocket expenses approved in writing by you, including reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of counsel, reasonably incurred by the Underwriters in making preparations for the purchase, sale and delivery of the Securities not so delivered, but the Company shall then be under no further liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 7 and 9 hereof.

 

13. In all dealings hereunder, you shall act on behalf of each of the Underwriters, and the parties hereto shall be entitled to act and rely upon any statement, request, notice or agreement on behalf of any Underwriter made or given by you.

 

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All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to you as the Representatives in care of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 1 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10019, Attention: General Counsel, Facsimile:: (646) 374-1071) or William Blair & Company, L.L.C., 222 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60606, Attention: General Counsel, Facsimile: (312) 551-4646; and if to the Company shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to the address of the Company set forth on the cover of the Registration Statement, Attention: General Counsel (with copies to those parties specified thereon); and if to any shareholder, officer or director of the Company that has delivered a lock-up letter described in Section 8(i) hereof shall be delivered or sent by mail to his or her respective address provided in writing to the Company. Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect upon receipt thereof.

 

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, 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.

 

14. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure solely to the benefit of, the Underwriters, the Company and, to the extent provided in Sections 9 and 11 hereof, the officers and directors of the Company and each person who controls the Company or any Underwriter, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, and no other person shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement. No purchaser of any of the Shares from any Underwriter shall be deemed a successor or assign by reason merely of such purchase.

 

15. Time shall be of the essence of this Agreement. As used herein, the term “business day” shall mean any day when the Commission’s office in Washington, D.C. is open for business and “New York Business Day” shall mean each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which is not a day on which banking institutions in New York City are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.

 

16. The Company acknowledges and agrees that (i) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other, (ii) in connection therewith and with the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is acting solely as a principal and not the agent or fiduciary of the Company, (iii) no Underwriter has assumed an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to the offering contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters) or any other obligation to the Company except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement and (iv) the Company has consulted its own legal and financial advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate. The Company agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters, or any of them, has rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owes a fiduciary or similar duty to the Company, in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto.

 

17. The Company acknowledges that the Underwriters’ research analysts and research departments are required to be independent from their respective investment banking divisions and are subject to certain regulations and internal policies, and that such Underwriters’ research analysts may hold views and make statements or investment recommendations and/or publish research reports with respect to the Company and/or the offering that differ from the views of their respective investment banking divisions. The Company hereby waives and releases, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims that the Company may have against the Underwriters with respect to any conflict of interest that may arise from the fact that the views expressed by their independent research analysts and research departments may be different from or inconsistent with the views or advice communicated to the Company by such Underwriters’ investment banking divisions. The Company acknowledges that each of the Underwriters is a full service securities firm and as such from time to time, subject to applicable securities laws, may effect transactions for its own account or the account of its customers and hold long or short positions in debt or equity securities of the companies that may be the subject of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

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18. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company and the Underwriters, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

 

19. (a) THIS AGREEMENT AND ANY MATTERS RELATED TO THIS TRANSACTION SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK WITHOUT REGARD TO PRINCIPLES OF CONFLICT OF LAWS THAT WOULD RESULT IN THE APPLICATION OF ANY LAW OTHER THAN THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. The Company agrees that any suit or proceeding arising in respect of this Agreement or your engagement will be tried exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York or, if that court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, in any state court located in The City and County of New York and the Company agrees to submit to the jurisdiction of, and to venue in, such courts.

 

(b) The Company irrevocably submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Specified Courts over any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement, the Pricing Prospectus, the Prospectus, the Registration Statement or the offering of the Securities (each, a “Related Proceeding”). The Company irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any Related Proceeding brought in such a court and any claim that any such Related Proceeding brought in such a court has been brought in an inconvenient forum. To the extent that the Company has or hereafter may acquire any immunity (on the grounds of sovereignty or otherwise) from the jurisdiction of any court of (i) the Cayman Islands, 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 itself or its property, the Company irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, such immunity in respect of its obligations under this Agreement, including, without limitation, any immunity pursuant to the United States Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, as amended.

 

20. The Company irrevocably appoints Cogency Global Inc., located at 122 East 42nd Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10168 as its authorized agent upon which process may be served in any such suit or proceeding, and agrees that service of process upon such authorized agent, and written notice of such service to the Company by the person serving the same to the address provided in this Section 20, shall be deemed in every respect effective service of process upon the Company in any such suit or proceeding. The Company hereby represents and warrants that its authorized agent has accepted such appointment and has agreed to act as such authorized agent for service of process.

 

21. If for the purposes of obtaining judgment in any court it is necessary to convert a sum due hereunder into any currency other than United States dollars, the parties hereto agree, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that the rate of exchange used shall be the rate at which in accordance with normal banking procedures the Underwriters could purchase United States dollars with such other currency in The City of New York on the business day preceding that on which final judgment is given. The obligation of the Company with respect to any sum due from it to any Underwriter or any person controlling any Underwriter shall, notwithstanding any judgment in a currency other than United States dollars, not be discharged until the first business day following receipt by such Underwriter or controlling person of any sum in such other currency, and only to the extent that such Underwriter or controlling person may in accordance with normal banking procedures purchase United States dollars with such other currency. If the United States dollars so purchased are less than the sum originally due to such Underwriter or controlling person hereunder, the Company agrees as a separate obligation and notwithstanding any such judgment, to indemnify such Underwriter or controlling person against such loss. If the United States dollars so purchased are greater than the sum originally due to such Underwriter or controlling person hereunder, such Underwriter or controlling person agrees to pay to the Company an amount equal to the excess of the dollars so purchased over the sum originally due to such Underwriter or controlling person hereunder.

 

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22. The Company and each of the Underwriters hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

23. This Agreement may be executed by any one or more of the parties hereto in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument. Executed counterparts may be delivered via facsimile, electronic mail (including any electronic signature covered by the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the Electronic Signatures and Records Act or other applicable law, e.g., www.docusign.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.

 

24. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company is authorized to disclose to any persons the U.S. federal and state income tax treatment and tax structure of the potential transaction and all materials of any kind (including tax opinions and other tax analyses) provided to the Company relating to that treatment and structure, without the Underwriters imposing any limitation of any kind. However, any information relating to the tax treatment and tax structure shall remain confidential (and the foregoing sentence shall not apply) to the extent necessary to enable any person to comply with securities laws. For this purpose, “tax structure” is limited to any facts that may be relevant to that treatment.

 

25. (a) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity 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.

 

(b) 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.

 

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(c) As used in this section:

 

“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.

 

26. If any term or other provision of this Agreement shall be held invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality or enforceability of the other provisions of this Agreement shall not be affected thereby, and there shall be deemed substituted for the provision at issue a valid, legal and enforceable provision as similar as possible to the provision at issue.

 

27. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, the provisions of this Agreement may be amended or waived at any time only by the written agreement of the parties hereto. Any waiver, permit, consent or approval of any kind or character on the part of any such holders of any provision or condition of this Agreement must be made in writing and shall be effective only to the extent specifically set forth in writing. The failure of any party hereto to enforce at any time any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed to be a waiver of such provision, nor in any way to affect the validity of this Agreement or any part hereof or the right of any party thereafter to enforce each and every such provision. No waiver of any breach of this Agreement shall be held to constitute a waiver of any other or subsequent breach.

 

[signature page follows]

 

 

 

 

If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please sign and return to us, and upon the acceptance hereof by you, on behalf of each of the Underwriters, this letter and such acceptance hereof shall constitute a binding agreement between each of the Underwriters and the Company. It is understood that your acceptance of this letter on behalf of each of the Underwriters is pursuant to the authority set forth in a form of Agreement among Underwriters, the form of which shall be submitted to the Company for examination upon request, but without warranty on your part as to the authority of the signers thereof.

 

Please indicate your acceptance of this Agreement as of the date first written above by signing in the space provided below.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  VERTICAL AEROSPACE LTD.
   
  By: /s/ Stuart Simpson
    Name: Stuart Simpson
    Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

[Signature page to the Underwriting Agreement]

 

 

 

 

 

Accepted as of the date hereof:

 

DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES INC.  
   
By: /s/ Ben Selinger  
  Name: Ben Selinger  
  Title: Managing Director  
   
By: /s/ Samir Abu-Khadra  
  Name: Samir Abu-Khadra  
  Title: Director  
   
WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY, L.L.C.  
   
By: /s/ Bryan P. Finkel  
  Name: Bryan P. Finkel  
  Title: Managing Director  

 

On behalf of each of the Underwriters

 

[Signature page to the Underwriting Agreement]

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE I

 

Underwriter  Number of
Firm
Shares
to be
Purchased
  Number of
Optional
Shares
to be
Purchased
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.  6,000,000  900,000
William Blair & Company, L.L.C.  6,000,000  900,000
Total  12,000,000  1,800,000

 

Schedule I-1

 

 

SCHEDULE II

 

(a)  Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses not included in the Pricing Disclosure Package

 

None

 

(b)  Additional documents incorporated by reference

 

None

 

(c)  Information other than the Pricing Prospectus that comprise the Pricing Disclosure Package

 

The public offering price per Ordinary Share is $5.00.

 

The number of Firm Securities to be purchased by the Underwriters is 12,000,000.

 

The number of Optional Securities to be purchased by the Underwriters is up to 1,800,000.

 

Schedule II-1

 

 

SCHEDULE III

 

List of Persons Locked Up

 

Stuart Simpson

 

John Maloney

 

Benjamin Story

 

Dómhnal Slattery

 

Lord Andrew Parker

 

James Keith (JK) Brown

 

Kris Haber

 

Carsten Stendevad

 

Mudrick Capital Management L.P.

 

Schedule III-1

 

 

Annex I

 

Form of Lock-Up Letter

 

Annex I-1