possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of a Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise, and (iii) the term “Material Adverse Effect” means any change, effect, event, occurrence or development that is materially adverse to the financial condition, assets, business or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; provided, that no change, effect, event, occurrence or development to the extent resulting from the following shall constitute or be taken into account in determining whether there is a Material Adverse Effect:
(A) changes in the economy or financial, debt, credit or securities markets or capital market conditions generally, including changes in interest or exchange rates, in the United States or any other country or region in the world in which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries conducts business;
(B) changes generally affecting the industries in which the Company and its Subsidiaries conduct business;
(C) changes or proposed changes in United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) or other accounting standards or interpretations thereof or in any Law, or enforcement or interpretations thereof;
(D) changes in any political conditions, acts of war (whether or not declared, and including the current conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine), hostilities, military actions or acts of terrorism, or any escalation or worsening of the foregoing;
(E) any acts of God, including storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, hurricanes, weather conditions, natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics, or disease outbreaks (including, for the avoidance of doubt, SARS-CoV-2 and its disease known as COVID-19 and any evolutions or additional strains, variations or mutations thereof or any related or associated epidemics, pandemic or disease outbreaks (“COVID-19”) and any quarantine, “shelter in place,” “stay at home,” workforce reduction, social distancing, shut down, closure, sequester, safety or similar Law, directive, guidelines or recommendations promulgated by any Governmental Authority, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (“COVID-19 Measures”), in each case, in connection with or in response to COVID-19, or the effects thereof), or any escalation or worsening of any of the foregoing;
(F) a decline in the price or trading volume of the Shares on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) or any other securities market or in the trading price of any other securities of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any change in the ratings or ratings outlook for the Company or any of its Subsidiaries; provided, that the exception in this clause (F) shall not prevent or otherwise affect a determination that any change, effect, event, occurrence or development underlying such decline, if not otherwise excluded hereby, has resulted in a Material Adverse Effect;
(G) any failure by the Company to meet any internal or published projections, forecasts, estimates or predictions of revenues, earnings, cash flow or cash position or other financial, accounting or operating measures or metrics (whether such projections, forecasts, estimates or predictions were made by the Company or independent third parties) for any period; provided, that the exception in this clause (G) shall not prevent or otherwise affect a determination that any change, effect, event, occurrence or development underlying such failure, if not otherwise excluded hereby, has resulted in a Material Adverse Effect;
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