NOW THEREFORE, the Parties, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:
-
1. Non-Disclosure
The Receiving Party agrees (a) it is requesting the Information for itself in good faith for the sole purpose of its own direct Investment in NC to be made with its own funds and not as agent or representative of, or conduit for or using the funds of, any other person, whether or not such other person Is affiliated or related to the Potential Investor, (b) to hold all of its Information in confidence, (c) to use such Information solely for the Permitted Purpose and (d) to share, save and retain internally such Information solely on a “need-to-know” basis for the Permitted Purpose.
• “Information” means, all information supplied to the Receiving Party or its advisors or Affiliates (as defined below) by the Disclosing Party or its advisors and Affiliates, whether in writing or orally that relates to NC or its affiliates or that is otherwise clearly identified or labeled as proprietary or confidential when supplied and includes, in any event, (x) all pitchbooks, private placement memoranda and financial statements of NC and (y) all notes, analyses, compilations, studies or other documents or records prepared by the Disclosing Party or others, which contain or reflect or are generated from such information; provided, that non-financial information disclosed orally that is not clearly identified as proprietary or confidential when supplied shall nevertheless constitute “Information” hereunder if it is identified as confidential or proprietary in a written email or memorandum delivered to the Receiving Party within sixty (60) days after such disclosure.
• Notwithstanding the definition above the term “Information” does not include information that satisfies the following:
is or becomes publicly available other than through a breach of this Agreement;
is obtained by the Receiving Party on a non-confidential basis from anyone other than the Disclosing Party, whether before or after its receipt from the Disclosing Party; or
is developed independently by the Receiving Party without relying on, and using personnel having had access to, its Information.
-
2. Affiliates and Advisors
Notwithstanding Section 1 above, the Receiving Party may disclose its Information to each of the following persons: its Affiliates and any of its or its Affiliates’ directors, officers, employees and each of their respective attorneys, in each case only if they were made aware of, and have agreed to comply with, this Agreement. “Affiliate” of a Party means any legal entity that controls, or is controlled by, or is under common control with, such Party - where “control” means the direct or indirect ownership of fifty (50) percent or more of the voting rights. The Receiving Party shall ensure that all persons receiving Information pursuant to this Section 2 comply with this Agreement as if they were the Receiving Party and the Receiving Party shall be responsible hereunder for their failure to do so.
-
3. Disclosures Required by Law
Notwithstanding Section 1 above, the Receiving Party may, without liability, make any disclosure that is required under any law or regulation or required in connection with any action, investigation or proceeding; provided, that the Receiving Party agrees to limit such disclosure to what is legally required, to request any protection for the Information legally available to it and, to the extent legally permissible, to notify the Disclosing Party of any disclosure made pursuant to this sentence either (x) to the extent legally permissible, prior to such disclosure in order to provide the Disclosing Party with sufficient time to obtain legal protection appropriate to prevent or limit such disclosure or (y) in any case, promptly thereafter. The Receiving Party agrees that, at the expense of the Disclosing Party and except as Legally Required, the Receiving Party shall cooperate with reasonable requests of the Disclosing Party with respect to any such disclosure and any legal protection the Receiving Party seeks to obtain with respect thereto.
-
4. Securities Laws
The Receiving Party represents and warrants that it is familiar with the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and other applicable securities laws and regulations (the “Securities Laws”) and understands that the Information contains non-public information. The Receiving Party represents and warrants that it has adequate internal policies, procedures and safeguards in place to prevent the misuse of any material non-public information and to ensure that all of the trading of the Receiving Party and all persons receiving the Information pursuant to this Agreement is and will be conducted in compliance with all Securities Laws.
-
5. Termination
This Agreement shall expire on the earlier of (a) the third anniversary of the date of the last receipt of Information by the Receiving Party and (b) the date of execution of definitive agreements with respect to the Investment between, among others, the Parties and their Affiliates and that contain a confidentiality undertaking by the Parties. The Receiving Party agrees that, on the date of expiration of this Agreement, it shall, at its option, return to the Disclosing Party or destroy all Information; provided that it may keep any copies required to be kept by its compliance procedures of general application and any back-up copies automatically generated by computer systems so long as, in each case, such copies remain subject to this Agreement regardless of the termination hereof until such copies are destroyed.
-
6. Indemnification
The Receiving Party hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Disclosing Party and its Affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and advisors (the “Indemnified Parties”), from and against any damages, losses, costs, liabilities and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and the cost of enforcing this indemnity) suffered by the Indemnified Party arising out of or resulting from any unauthorized use or disclosure of Information by the Receiving Party, its Affiliates or any other party to whom such Receiving Party has disclosed Information or otherwise as a result of a breach of this Agreement by the Receiving Party, its Affiliates or any such other party.
-
7. No Joint Venture
No Transfer of Intellectual Property or Securities. Neither this Agreement nor the discussions between the Parties of the Permitted Purposes create a joint venture or similar arrangement, constitute a transfer of any intellectual property (other than a revocable license to use the Information in accordance with the Permitted Purpose and this Agreement) or constitute a commitment by any Party to accept, make, enter into, or to continue to negotiate an agreement to enter into, the Investment or other transaction with the other Party, or to avoid entering into any other transaction or discussion with any other person, in each case whether or not related to the Investment or the Permitted Purpose. This Agreement is merely a non-disclosure agreement to share information and is not an offer to make an Investment or an offer to sell or purchase any security, loan or other financial instrument or any participation in any of the foregoing, each of which shall be made with appropriate documentation therefor, such as a private placement memorandum and other disclosures.
-
8. Agreement to Use Electronic Signatures
Each party hereto agrees that the electronic signatures, whether digital or encrypted, included in this Agreement are intended to authenticate this Agreement and to have the same force and effect as manual signatures of these parties. “Electronic signature” means any electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed and adopted by a party with the intent to sign such record, including facsimile or email electronic signatures. Each party hereto expressly agrees that this Agreement is a “transferable record” as defined in applicable laws relating to electronic transactions and that it may be created, authenticated, stored, transmitted and transferred in a manner consistent with and permitted by applicable laws.
