UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

 

Form 10-Q

 

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2018      

OR

For the transition period from              to             

Commission file number 000-25711

 

EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (408) 579-2800

 

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 229.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” and “an emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by checkmark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

The number of shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock, $.001 par value, outstanding at October 30, 2018, was 118,337,479

 

 

 

 

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EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

FORM 10-Q

QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED

September 30, 2018

 

INDEX

 

 

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EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

 

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EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

 

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EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

 

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EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

 

 

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

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 EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Extreme Networks, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “Extreme” or the “Company”), is a leader in providing software-driven networking solutions for enterprise customers.  The Company conducts its sales and marketing activities on a worldwide basis through distributors, resellers and the Company’s field sales organization. Extreme was incorporated in California in 1996 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1999.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Extreme included herein have been prepared under the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).  Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or omitted under such rules and regulations.  The condensed consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2018 was derived from audited financial statements as of that date but does not include all disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. These interim financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments that, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented and the financial condition of Extreme at September 30, 2018. The results of operations for the three months ended September 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for fiscal 2019 or any future periods.

Fiscal Year

The Company uses a fiscal calendar year ending on June 30.  All references herein to “fiscal 2019” or “2019” represent the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019.  All references herein to “fiscal 2018” or “2018” represent the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Extreme and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

The Company predominantly uses the United States Dollar as its functional currency.  The functional currency for certain of its foreign subsidiaries is the local currency.  For those subsidiaries that operate in a local currency functional environment, all assets and liabilities are translated to United States Dollars at current month end rates of exchange; and revenue and expenses are translated using the monthly average rate.

Accounting Estimates

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

2. Business Combinations

Fiscal 2018 Acquisitions

Data Center Business

The Company completed its acquisition of the data center business (the “Data Center Business”) of Brocade Communication Systems, Inc.’s (“Brocade”) on October 27, 2017 (the “Data Center Closing Date”), pursuant to an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Data Center Business APA”) dated as of October 3, 2017, by and between the Company and Brocade for an aggregate purchase consideration of $84.3 million. Under the terms and conditions of the Data Center Business APA, the Company acquired customers, employees, technology and other assets of the Data Center Business as well as assumed certain contracts and other liabilities of the Data Center Business.

The following table below summarizes the final allocation of the tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed (in thousands):

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Campus Fabric Business

The Company completed its acquisition of Avaya Inc.’s (“Avaya”) fabric-based secure networking solutions and network security solutions business (the “Campus Fabric Business”) on July 14, 2017, (the “Campus Fabric Business Closing Date”) pursuant to an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Campus Fabric Business APA”) dated March 7, 2017.  Under the terms and conditions of the Campus Fabric Business APA, the Company acquired the customers, employees, technology and other assets of the Campus Fabric Business, as well as assumed certain contracts and other liabilities of the Campus Fabric Business, for total consideration of $79.4 million. 

The following table below summarizes the final allocation of the tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed (in thousands):

   Capital Financing Business

On December 1, 2017, Company completed its acquisition of a capital financing business (the “CF Business”), pursuant to a Bill of Sale and Assignment and Assumption Agreement (the “Assumption Agreement”) between the Company and Broadcom.  Under the terms and conditions of the Assumption Agreement, the Company acquired customers, employees, contracts and lease equipment of the CF Business equal to the earn out payments to Broadcom of 90% of acquired financing receivables to be collected commencing at the closing date.

Net assets acquired included financing receivables of $13.7 million, lease equipment of $3.5 million and identifiable intangible assets of $0.8 million, and the fair value of the contingent consideration was $13.0 million. As the preliminary fair value of the net assets acquired exceeded the fair value of the purchase consideration, the Company recorded a bargain purchase gain of $5.0 million.

Pro forma financial information

The following unaudited pro forma results of operations are presented as though the acquisitions of the Data Center Business, CF Business and Campus Fabric Business had occurred as of the beginning of fiscal 2017 presented after giving effect to purchase accounting adjustments relating to inventories, deferred revenue, depreciation and amortization on acquired property and equipment and intangibles, acquisition costs, interest income and expense and related tax effects.

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The pro forma results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the combined results that would have occurred had the acquisition been consummated as of the beginning of fiscal 2017, nor are they necessarily indicative of future operating results. The unaudited pro forma results do not include the impact of synergies, nor any potential impacts on current or future market conditions which could alter the unaudited pro forma results.

The unaudited pro forma financial information for the three months ended September 30, 2017, combines the historical results for Extreme for that period, which includes the results of the Campus Fabric Business subsequent to the acquisition date, with the historical results of the Data Center Business, CF Business and Campus Fabric Business, prior to the acquisition date, for the three months ended September 30, 2017.

Pro forma results of operations from the Data Center Business, CF Business and Campus Fabric Business acquisitions included in the pro forma results of operations for the three months ended September 30, 2017, have not been adjusted for the adoption of Topic 606 because the Company determined that it is impractical to estimate the impact of the adoption.

The following table summarizes the unaudited pro forma financial information (in thousands, except per share amounts):

 

For a description of significant accounting policies, see Note 3, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. There have been no material changes to the Company’s significant accounting policies since the filing of the Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2016-01, Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, which provides guidance for the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial assets and liabilities. The guidance was adopted effective July 1, 2018 and the Company reclassified a $0.5 million unrealized gain, net of tax, related to its available-for-sale investments from accumulated other comprehensive loss to accumulated deficit as a cumulative-effect adjustment in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.  Future changes in fair value will be included in earnings in each period.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments to provide guidance on the classification of eight cash flow issues in order to reduce diversity in practice.  The Company adopted the new guidance effective July 1, 2018. The amendments in this update have been applied on a retrospective transition method to each period presented. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Company’s presentation of cash flows.  

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740) - Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, which requires an entity to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs. Historical GAAP prohibits the recognition of current and deferred income taxes for an intra-entity asset transfer until the asset has been sold outside the consolidated group.  The new guidance is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company adopted ASU 2016-16 effective July 1, 2018 on a modified retrospective basis. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements. 

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting, which amends the scope of modification accounting for share-based payment arrangements and provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modification accounting under Topic 718.  Specifically, an entity would not apply modification accounting if the fair value, vesting conditions, and classification of the awards are the same immediately before and after the modification. The Company adopted this guidance effective July 1, 2018, on a prospective basis.  The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

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Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40), which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a service contract hosting arrangement with those of developing or obtaining internal-use software. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the new standard will have on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820), which removes, modifies and adds various disclosure requirements around the topic in order to clarify and improve the cost-benefit nature of disclosures. For example, disclosures around transfers between fair value hierarchy Levels will be removed and further detail around changes in unrealized gains and losses for the period and unobservable inputs determining Level 3 fair value measurements will be added. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the new standard will have on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220), this standard that allows the reclassification from AOCI to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Reform Act"). The amount of the reclassification is the effect of the change in the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate on the gross deferred tax amounts and related valuation allowances related to items remaining in AOCI. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period, for reporting periods for which financial statements have not yet been issued. The new standard is to be applied either in the period of adoption or retrospectively to each period (or periods) in which the effects of the change in the income tax rate in the Tax Reform Act are recognized. Management is currently evaluating implementation options and impact on the Company's financial statements and related disclosures.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities, which is intended to allow companies to better align risk management activities and financial reporting for hedging relationships through changes to both the designation and measurement guidance for qualifying hedging relationships and the presentation of hedge results by expanding and refining hedge accounting for both nonfinancial and financial risk components and aligning the recognition and presentation of the effects of the hedging instrument and the hedged item in the financial statements. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is evaluating the accounting, transition and disclosure requirements of the standard and cannot currently estimate the financial statement impact of adoption. This guidance is effective for the Company beginning with its fiscal year 2020, beginning on July 1, 2019.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires the identification of arrangements that should be accounted for as leases by lessees. In general, for lease arrangements exceeding a twelve-month term, these arrangements must now be recognized as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet of the lessee. Under Topic 842, a right-of-use asset and lease obligation will be recorded for all leases, whether operating or financing, while the statement of operations will reflect lease expense for operating leases and amortization/interest expense for financing leases. The balance sheet amount recorded for existing leases at the date of adoption of Topic 842 must be calculated using the applicable incremental borrowing rate at the date of adoption. In addition, Topic 842 requires the use of the modified retrospective method, which will require adjustment to all comparative periods presented in the consolidated financial statements. The Company is currently assessing the impact that adopting this new accounting standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and footnote disclosures.  The Company believes that Topic 842 will have a material impact on its financial position, as a result of recognizing right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on its consolidated balance sheets. The Company continues to evaluate the impact the new standard will have on its condensed consolidated statement of operations and statement of cash flows. This guidance will become effective for the Company beginning with its fiscal year 2020, beginning on July 1, 2019.

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The Company accounts for revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which the Company adopted on July 1, 2017, using the retrospective method.  The Company derives the majority of its revenue from sales of its networking equipment, with the remaining revenue generated from service fees relating to maintenance contracts, professional services, and training for its products. The Company sells its products and maintenance contracts direct to customers and to partners in two distribution channels, or tiers. The first tier consists of a limited number of independent distributors that stock its products and sell primarily to resellers.  The second tier of the distribution channel consists of a non-stocking distributors and value-added resellers that sell directly to end-users.  Products and services may be sold separately or in bundled packages.

Revenue Recognition         

Performance Obligations. A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is the unit of account in Topic 606. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied.  Certain of the Company’s contracts have multiple performance obligations, as the promise to transfer individual goods or services is separately identifiable from other promises in the contracts and, therefore, is distinct.  For contracts with multiple performance obligations, the Company allocates the contract’s transaction price to each performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price.  The stand-alone selling prices are determined based on the prices at which the Company separately sells these products.  For items that are not sold separately, the Company estimates the stand-alone selling prices using the best estimated selling price approach.  

The Company’s performance obligations are satisfied at a point in time or over time as work progresses.  Substantially all of the Company’s product sales revenues as reflected on the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 are recognized at a point in time. Substantially all of the Company’s service revenue is recognized over time.  For revenue recognized over time, the Company uses an input measure, days elapsed, to measure progress.  

On September 30, 2018, the Company had $183.9 million of remaining performance obligations, which is comprised of deferred maintenance revenue and services not yet delivered.  The Company expects to recognize approximately 65 percent of its remaining performance obligations as revenue in fiscal 2019, an additional 22 percent in fiscal 2020 and 13 percent of the balance thereafter.

Contract Balances. The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in billed accounts receivable and deferred revenue in the consolidated balance sheet. Services provided under renewable support arrangements of the Company are billed in accordance with agreed-upon contractual terms, which are typically at periodic intervals (e.g., quarterly or annually).  The Company sometimes receives payments from its customers in advance of services being provided, resulting in deferred revenues.  These liabilities are reported on the consolidated balance sheet on a contract-by-contract basis at the end of each reporting period.

Revenue recognized for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, that was included in the deferred revenue balance at the beginning of each period was $50.6 million and $42.0 million, respectively.

Contract Costs. The Company recognizes the incremental costs of obtaining contracts as an expense when incurred if the amortization period of the assets that the Company otherwise would have recognized is one year or less.  Management expects that commission fees paid to sales representative as a result of obtaining service contracts and contract renewals are recoverable and therefore the Company capitalized them as contract costs in the amount of $4.9 million and $2.5 million at September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  Capitalized commission fees are amortized on a straight-line basis over the average period of service contracts of approximately three years, and are included in “Sales and marketing” in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.  Amortization recognized during the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, was $0.7 million and $0.4 million, respectively.  There was no impairment loss in relation to the costs capitalized.

Estimated Variable Consideration. There were no material changes in the current period to the estimated variable consideration for performance obligations which were satisfied or partially satisfied during previous periods. 

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Revenue by Category

The following table sets forth the Company’s revenue disaggregated by sales channel and geographic region based on the customer’s ship-to locations (in thousands):

Customer Concentrations

The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers and generally does not require collateral in exchange for credit.

The following table sets forth major customers accounting for 10% or more of the Company’s net revenues:

 

The following table sets forth major customers accounting for 10% or more of the Company’s accounts receivable balance:

 

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Securities

The following is a summary of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities (in thousands):

The Company considers highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Marketable equity securities are recorded in “Prepaid expense and other current assets” in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets as these securities are publicly-traded with readily determinable values. Marketable equity securities are classified as available-for-sale and reported at fair value with unrealized gains and losses included in “Other (expense) income, net” in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.

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Inventories

The Company values its inventory at lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost, on a first-in, first-out basis. The Company has established inventory allowances when conditions exist that suggest that inventory may be in excess of anticipated demand or is obsolete based upon assumptions about future demand. At the point of the loss recognition, a new, lower-cost basis for that inventory is established, and subsequent changes in facts and circumstances do not result in the restoration or increase in that newly established cost basis. Any written down or obsolete inventory subsequently sold has not had a material impact on gross margin for any of the periods disclosed.

Inventories consist of the following (in thousands):

Property and Equipment, Net

Property and equipment consist of the following (in thousands):

Intangibles

The following tables summarize the components of gross and net intangible asset balances (dollars in thousands)

 

 

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The amortization expense of intangibles for the periods presented is summarized below (in thousands):

The amortization expense that is recognized in “Cost of revenues: Product” is comprised of amortization for developed technology, license agreements and other intangibles.

Deferred Revenue

The Company offers for sale to its customers, renewable support arrangements that range from one to five years as well as professional and training services, which results in deferred revenue.

Debt

The Company’s debt is comprised of the following (in thousands):

                 

  On May 1, 2018, the Company entered into a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”), by and among the Company, as borrower, BMO Harris Bank N.A., as an issuing lender and swingline lender, Bank of Montreal, as administrative and collateral agent, and the financial institutions or entities that are a party thereto as lenders.  The Credit Agreement provides for i) $40 million five-year revolving credit facility (the “New Revolving Facility”) ii) a $190 million five-year term loan (the “New Term Loan”) and iii) an uncommitted additional incremental loan facility in the principal amount of up to $100 million (“New Incremental Facility”).  On May 1, 2018, the Company borrowed $200 million under the Credit Agreement to pay off existing debt and for general corporate purposes.

Borrowings under the Credit Agreement will bear interest, at the Company’s election, as of May 1, 2018, at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR plus 1.50% to 2.75%, or the adjusted base rate plus 0.50% to 1.75%, based on the Company’s Consolidated Leverage Ratio.  In addition, the Company is required to pay a commitment fee of between 0.25% and 0.40% quarterly (currently 0.35%) on the unused portion of the New Revolving Facility, also based on the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio.  Principal installments are payable on the New Term Loan in varying percentages quarterly starting June 30, 2018 and to the extent not previously paid, all outstanding balances are to be paid at maturity.  The Credit Agreement is secured by substantially all of the Company’s assets.

The Credit Agreement requires the Company to maintain certain minimum financial ratios at the end of each fiscal quarter. The Credit Agreement also includes covenants and restrictions that limit, among other things, the Company’s ability to incur additional indebtedness, create liens upon any of its property, merge, consolidate or sell all or substantially all of its assets. The Credit Agreement also includes customary events of default which may result in acceleration of the outstanding balance.

Financing costs incurred in connection with obtaining long-term financing are deferred and amortized over the term of the Credit Agreement.  Amortization of deferred financing costs included in “Interest expense” in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations totaled $0.2 million for each of the three month periods ended September 30, 2018 and 2017.

The Company had $38.7 million of availability under the New Revolving Facility as of September 30, 2018.  The Company had $1.3 million of outstanding letters of credit as of September 30, 2018.

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Guarantees and Product Warranties

Networking products may contain undetected hardware or software errors when new products or new versions or updates of existing products are released to the marketplace. The Company’s standard hardware warranty period is typically 12 months from the date of shipment to end-users and 90 days for software. For certain access products, the Company offers a limited lifetime hardware warranty commencing on the date of shipment from the Company and ending five (5) years following the Company’s announcement of the end of sale of such product. Upon shipment of products to its customers, the Company estimates expenses for the cost to repair or replace products that may be returned under warranty and accrue a liability in cost of product revenue for this amount. The determination of the Company’s warranty requirements is based on actual historical experience with the product or product family, estimates of repair and replacement costs and any product warranty problems that are identified after shipment.  The Company estimates and adjusts these accruals at each balance sheet date in accordance with changes in these factors.

Upon issuance of a standard product warranty, the Company discloses and recognizes a liability for the obligations it assumes under the product warranty. The following table summarizes the activity related to the Company’s product warranty liability during the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 (in thousands):

 

To facilitate sales of its products in the normal course of business, the Company indemnifies its resellers and end-user customers with respect to certain matters. The Company has agreed to hold the customer harmless against losses arising from a breach of intellectual property infringement or other. These agreements may limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim.  It is not possible to estimate the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, payments made by the Company under these agreements have not had a material impact on its operating results or financial position.

Other long-term liabilities

The following is a summary of long-term liabilities (in thousands):

Advertising

All advertising costs are expensed as incurred. Advertising expenses for three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, were immaterial.

Concentrations

The Company may be subject to concentration of credit risk as a result of certain financial instruments consisting of accounts receivable and marketable securities. The Company does not invest an amount exceeding 10% of its combined cash or cash equivalents in the securities of any one obligor or maker, except for obligations of the United States government, obligations of United States government agencies and money market accounts.

 

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A three-tier fair value hierarchy is utilized to prioritize the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). The three levels are defined as follows:

The following table presents the Company’s fair value hierarchy for its financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis (in thousands):

 

 

Level 1 investments:    

The Company holds an investment in marketable equity securities which is classified as available-for-sale marketable securities at Level 1 as the investments have readily determinable fair value (see below, Level 3 investments). An unrealized holding gain on the investments was $0.5 million as of June 30, 2018.   

Level 2 assets and liabilities:    

The Company includes U.S. government and sovereign obligations, most government agency securities, investment-grade corporate bonds, and state, municipal and provincial obligations for which quoted prices are available as Level 2. There were no transfers of assets or liabilities between Level 1 and Level 2 for the periods presented.

The fair value of the borrowings under the Credit Agreement is estimated based on valuations provided by alternative pricing sources supported by observable inputs which is considered Level 2.  Due to the short duration until maturity of the Credit Agreement, the fair value approximates the face amount of the Company’s indebtedness of $187.6 million and $200.0 million as of September 30, 2018 and June 30, 2018, respectively. Such differences are immaterial for all periods presented.

Level 3 assets and liabilities: 

Certain of the Company’s assets, including intangible assets and goodwill are measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis if impairment is indicated.                 

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At June 30, 2018, the Company reflected a liability for contingent consideration related to a certain acquisition completed in Fiscal 2018. The fair value measurement of the contingent consideration obligation is determined using Level 3 inputs. The fair value of contingent consideration obligations is based on a discounted cash flow model.  These fair value measurements represent Level 3 measurements as they are based on significant inputs not observable in the market. Significant judgment is employed in determining the appropriateness of these assumptions as of the acquisition date and for each subsequent period.  Accordingly, changes in assumptions could have a material impact on the amount of contingent consideration expense the Company records in any given period.  Changes in the value of the contingent consideration obligations would be recorded in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.                

The change in the acquisition-related contingent consideration obligations is as follows (in thousands):

There were no transfers of assets or liabilities between Level 2 and Level 3 during the three months ended September 30, 2018 or 2017. There were no impairments recorded for the three months ended September 30, 2018 or 2017.

7.Share-based Compensation

Shares reserved for issuance

The Company had reserved for issuance for the periods noted (in thousands):

 

Share-based compensation expense recognized in the condensed consolidated financial statements by line item caption is as follows (in thousands):

During the three months ended September 30, 2018 or 2017, the Company did not capitalize any share-based compensation expense in inventory, as the amounts were immaterial.

Stock Awards

Stock awards may be granted under the 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2013 Plan”) on terms approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. Stock awards generally provide for the issuance of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) including performance or market-based RSUs which vest over a fixed period of time or based upon the satisfaction of certain performance criteria.  The Company uses the straight-line method for expense attribution, and beginning with fiscal 2017, the Company does not estimate forfeitures, but accounts for them as incurred.

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The following table summarizes stock award activity for the three months ended September 30, 2018 (in thousands, except grant date fair value):

The following table summarizes stock option activity for the three months ended September 30, 2018 (in thousands, except per share and contractual term):

The fair value of each stock option grant under the 2013 Plan and 2005 Equity Incentive Plan is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes-Merton option valuation model with the weighted average assumptions noted in the following table.  The Company uses the Monte-Carlo simulation model to determine the fair value and the derived service period of stock awards with market conditions, on the date of the grant.  The expected term of options granted is derived from historical data on employee exercise and post-vesting employment termination behavior.  The risk-free rate is based upon the estimated life of the option and the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant. Expected volatility is based on the historical volatility on the Company’s stock. 

The fair value of each RSUs grant with performance-based vesting criteria (“PSUs”) under the 2013 Plan is estimated on the date of grant using the Monte-Carlo simulation model to determine the fair value and the derived service period of stock awards with market conditions, on the date of the grant.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company approved the grant of 1,269,800 stock awards to its vice president level employees or above (“VPs”), including 278,000 stock awards to its Executive Officers, and 2,067,074 stock awards to its other employees.  Fifty percent (50%) of the stock awards granted to the VPs and the chief executive officer, were in the form of PSUs, with grant date fair values of $6.40, and fifty percent (50%) of the stock awards granted were in the form of service-based RSUs.  The RSUs vest from the original grant date as to one-third (1/3) on the one-year anniversary and one-twelfth (1/12) each quarter thereafter, subject to continued service to the Company.

For the PSUs referenced in the preceding paragraph, they will be considered earned once the Company’s combined earnings per share equals or exceeds $0.20 over two consecutive quarters (the “FY19 Performance Threshold”).  Upon satisfying the FY19 Performance Threshold, the PSUs shall vest with respect to the same number of RSUs that have vested which were granted on the same date and thereafter, shall vest on the same schedule as the RSUs, subject to continued service to the Company.  If the FY19 Performance Threshold is not met by the third anniversary of the grant date the award is canceled.  In addition, the FY19 Performance Threshold shall be deemed satisfied upon the closing of a Change in Control (within the meaning of the Company’s 2013 Equity Incentive Plan) in the event the per share consideration received by the Company’s stockholders equals or exceeds $10.00 per share.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company granted 851,700 Performance Stock Options (“PSOs”) to certain officers and executive vice presidents that will vest if the Company’s stock price achieves a price hurdle of $10.00 during the three-year performance period from August 29, 2018 through August 31, 2021. The price hurdle will be deemed to have been achieved if, at any time over the performance period, the Company’s stock maintains a price of $10.00 for 30 consecutive days.  If the price hurdle is achieved, the PSOs will vest as follows:

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If the price hurdle is met before or on August 31, 2019, one-third of the PSOs will vest on August 31, 2019 and the remainder will vest quarterly over two years.

If the price hurdle is met after August 31, 2019, a number of the PSOs will vest (ratably calculated based upon the time elapsed between August 31, 2018 and the date the hurdle is met) and the remainder will vest quarterly through August 31, 2021.  The grant date fair value was $2.62.

2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The fair value of each share purchase option under the Company’s 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes-Merton option valuation model with the weighted average assumptions noted in the following table.  The expected term of the ESPP represents the term of the offering period of each option.  The risk-free rate is based upon the estimated life and on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant.  Expected volatility is based on the historical volatility on the Company’s stock.

There were 1,280,708 and 1,267,930 shares issued under the ESPP during the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The following assumptions were used to calculate the fair value of shares granted under the ESPP during the following periods:

 

 

 

The weighted-average fair value of shares granted under the ESPP during the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 was $2.73 and $2.41, respectively.

 

8.Restructuring Charges, net of reversals

Restructuring liabilities consisted of obligations pertaining to the estimated future obligations for non-cancelable lease payments, as well as severance and benefits obligations. The restructuring liabilities are recorded in “Other accrued liabilities” and “Other long-term liabilities” in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Company recorded $0.8 million of additional restructuring charges, net of reversals during the three months ended September 30, 2018, associated with a reduction-in-force in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.

Cash payments of $3.4 million were paid during the first three months of fiscal 2019.  The balance of the severance and benefits obligations are expected to be paid by the end of fiscal 2019.  The excess facilities obligations will continue through fiscal year 2023.

Total restructuring and related liabilities consist of (in thousands):

 

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9.Commitments and Contingencies  

Purchase Commitments

The Company currently has arrangements with contract manufacturers and suppliers for the manufacture of its products. Those arrangements allow the contract manufactures to procure long lead-time component inventory based upon a rolling production forecast provided by the Company. The Company is obligated to purchase long lead-time component inventory that its contract manufacturer procures in accordance with the Company’s forecast, unless the Company gives notice of order cancellation outside of applicable component lead-times. As of September 30, 2018, the Company had non-cancelable commitments to purchase $158.7 million of such inventory.  As of September 30, 2018 the Company had non-cancelable commitments to purchase $117.5 million of software and new product support services.

Legal Proceedings

The Company may from time to time be party to litigation arising in the course of its business, including, without limitation, allegations relating to commercial transactions, business relationships or intellectual property rights. Such claims, even if not meritorious, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Litigation in general, and intellectual property and securities litigation in particular, can be expensive and disruptive to normal business operations. Moreover, the results of legal proceedings are difficult to predict.

In accordance with applicable accounting guidance, the Company records accruals for certain of its outstanding legal proceedings, investigations or claims when it is probable that a liability will be incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated.  The Company evaluates, at least on a quarterly basis, developments in legal proceedings, investigations or claims that could affect the amount of any accrual, as well as any developments that would result in a loss contingency to become both probable and reasonably estimable.  When a loss contingency is not both probable and reasonably estimable, the Company does not record a loss accrual.  However, if the loss (or an additional loss in excess of any prior accrual) is at least a reasonable possibility and material, then the Company would disclose an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss, if such estimate can be made, or disclose that an estimate cannot be made.  The assessment whether a loss is probable or a reasonable possibility, and whether the loss or a range of loss is estimable, involves a series of complex judgments about future events.  Even if a loss is reasonably possible, the Company may not be able to estimate a range of possible loss, particularly where (i) the damages sought are substantial or indeterminate, (ii) the proceedings are in the early stages, or (iii) the matters involve novel or unsettled legal theories or a large number of parties. In such cases, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the ultimate resolution of such matters, including the amount of any possible loss, fine or penalty.  Accordingly, for current proceedings, except as noted below, the Company is currently unable to estimate any reasonably possible loss or range of possible loss.  However, an adverse resolution of one or more of such matters could have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations in a particular quarter or fiscal year.

Brazilian Tax Assessment Matter

On May 28, 2007, the Public Treasury Department of the State of Sao Paolo, Brazil (the “Tax Authority”) assessed the Company’s Brazilian subsidiary, Enterasys Networks do Brasil Ltda. (“Enterasys Brasil”), based on an alleged underpayment of taxes.  The Tax Authority also charged interest and penalties with respect to the assessment (collectively, the “ICMS Tax Assessment”).  The Tax Authority denied Enterasys Brasil the use of certain presumed tax credits granted by the State of Espirito Santo, Brazil under the terms of the FUNDAP program for the period from February 2003 to December 2004.  The value of the disallowed presumed tax credits is BRL 3.4 million (USD $0.8 million), excluding interest and penalties. All currency conversions in this Legal Proceedings section are as of September 30, 2018.

Unable to resolve the matter at the administrative level, on October 1, 2014, Enterasys Brasil filed a lawsuit in the 11th Public Treasury Court of the Sao Paolo State Court of Justice (Judiciary District of Sao Paolo) to overturn or reduce the ICMS Tax Assessment. As part of this lawsuit, Enterasys Brasil requested a stay of execution, so that no tax foreclosure could be filed and no guarantee would be required until the court issued its final ruling.  On or about October 6, 2014, the court granted a preliminary injunction staying any execution on the assessment, but requiring that Enterasys Brasil deposit the assessed amount with the court.  Enterasys Brasil appealed this ruling and, on or about January 28, 2015, the appellate court ruled that no cash deposit (or guarantee) was required.  In a decision dated August 28, 2017, and published on October 3, 2017, the court validated the assessment and penalty imposed by the Tax Authority, but ruled that the Tax Authority was charging an unlawfully high interest rate on the tax assessment and penalty amounts, and ordered the interest rate reduced to the maximum Federal rate. The August 28, 2017 decision, were it to become final, would require Enterasys Brasil to pay a total of BRL 19.6 million (USD $4.8 million), which includes penalties, court costs, attorneys’ fees, and accrued interest as of September 30, 2018. The Company believes the ICMS Tax Assessment against Enterasys Brasil is without merit and has appealed the lower court’s decision.  The appellate court ruled that no cash deposit (or guarantee) is required during the pendency of the appeal.

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Based on the currently available information, the Company believes the ultimate outcome of the ICMS Tax Assessment litigation will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position or overall results of operations. However, due to the complexities and uncertainty surrounding the judicial process in Brazil and the nature of the claims asserted, there can be no assurance of a favorable outcome for Enterasys Brasil, which recorded an accrual of BRL 9.4 million (USD $2.3 million) as of the date the Company acquired Enterasys Networks.

The Company made a demand on April 11, 2014 for a defense from, and indemnification by, the former equity holder of Enterasys Networks, Inc. (“Seller”) in connection with the ICMS Tax Assessment. Seller agreed to assume the defense of the ICMS Tax Assessment on May 20, 2014. In addition, through the settlement of an indemnification-related lawsuit with the Seller on June 18, 2015, Seller agreed to continue to defend the Company with respect to the ICMS Tax Assessment and to indemnify the Company for losses related thereto subject to certain conditions. These conditions include the offsetting of foreign income tax benefits realized by the Company in connection with the acquisition of Enterasys.  Based upon current projections of the foreign income tax benefits to be realized, and the potential liability in the event of an adverse final judgment in the ICMS Tax Assessment litigation, the Company does not presently anticipate that any amounts under the indemnification will be due from the Seller in connection with the ICMS Tax Assessment.

In re Extreme Networks, Inc. Securities Litigation

On October 23 and 29, 2015, punitive class action complaints alleging violations of securities laws were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Company and three of its former officers (Charles W. Berger, Kenneth B. Arola, and John T. Kurtzweil).  Subsequently, the cases were consolidated (In re Extreme Networks, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 3:15-CY-04883-BLF).  Plaintiffs allege that defendants violated the securities laws by disseminating materially false and misleading statements and concealing material adverse facts regarding the Company’s financial condition, business operations and growth prospects. Plaintiffs seek unspecified damages on behalf of a purported class of investors who purchased the Company’s common stock from September 12, 2013 through April 9, 2015.  On June 28, 2016, the Court appointed a lead plaintiff.  On September 26, 2016, the lead plaintiff filed a consolidated complaint. On November 10, 2016, defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which the Court granted with leave to amend on April 27, 2017.  On June 2, 2017, the lead plaintiff filed an amended complaint, which, on July 10, 2017, defendants again moved to dismiss.  In a March 21, 2018 Order (the “March 2018 Order”), the Court granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ motion. The March 2018 Order narrowed the scope of the case, but allowed certain claims to proceed.  The parties have signed a term sheet to settle the litigation and are preparing further documentation for the settlement to submit for court approval.  

 

On February 18, 2016, a shareholder derivative case was filed in the Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County (Shaffer v. Kispert et al., No. 16 CV 291726).  The complaint names current and former officers and directors as defendants, and seeks recovery on behalf of the Company based on substantially the same allegations as the securities class action litigation described above.  As a result of the March 2018 Order, the stipulated stay of the derivative litigation ended.  The parties have reached an agreement in principle to settle the case, and are preparing further documentation for the settlement to submit for court approval.

XR Communications, LLC d/b/a Vivato Technologies v. Extreme Networks, Inc. Patent Infringement Suit  

On April 19, 2017, XR Communications, LLC (“XR”) (d/b/a Vivato Technologies) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the Company in the Central District of California (XR Communications, LLC, dba Vivato Technologies v. Extreme Networks, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-2953-AG).  The operative Second Amended Complaint asserts infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,062,296, 7,729,728, and 6,611,231 based on the Company’s manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale, and/or importation into the United States of certain access points and routers supporting multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output technology. XR seeks unspecified damages, on-going royalties, pre- and post-judgment interest, and attorneys’ fees (but no injunction).  In orders dated April 10 and May 22, 2018, the Court stayed the case pending a resolution by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of inter partes review (IPR) petitions filed by several defendants in other XR-related patent lawsuits challenging the validity of the asserted patents.  The PTAB has now instituted IPR proceedings as to all three patents and all patent claims asserted in the litigation. Given the stay, the Court took off calendar all previously scheduled events (including a Markman hearing and potential trial date). During a status conference on October 22, 2018, the Court continued the stay and set a status conference for February 11, 2019. The Company believes the claims are without merit, and intends to defend them vigorously.

Orckit IP, LLC v. Extreme Networks, Inc., Extreme Networks Ireland Ltd., and Extreme Networks GmbH

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On February 1, 2018, Orckit IP, LLC (“Orckit”) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the Company and its Irish and German subsidiaries in the District Court in Dusseldorf, Germany.  The lawsuit alleges direct and indirect infringement of the German portion of European Patent EP 1 958 364 B1 based on the offer, distribution, use, possession and/or importation into Germany of certain network switches equipped with the ExtremeXOS operating system.  Orckit is seeking injunctive relief, an accounting, and an unspecified declaration of liability for damages and costs of the lawsuit.  On May 3, 2018, Extreme Networks GmbH filed a separate nullity action in the Federal Patent Court in Munich, seeking to invalidate the asserted patents, and on May 4, 2018, the defendants answered the complaint, denying any infringement and seeking a stay of the action pending the conclusion of the nullity action.  The Company believes the claims are without merit, and intends to defend them vigorously.

Indemnification Obligations

Subject to certain limitations, the Company may be obligated to indemnify its current and former directors, officers and employees. These obligations arise under the terms of its certificate of incorporation, its bylaws, applicable contracts, and applicable law. The obligation to indemnify, where applicable, generally means that the Company is required to pay or reimburse, and in certain circumstances the Company has paid or reimbursed, the individuals' reasonable legal expenses and possibly damages and other liabilities incurred in connection with certain legal matters. For example, the Company currently is paying or reimbursing legal expenses being incurred by certain current and former officers and directors in connection with the shareholder litigation described above.  The Company also procures Directors and Officers insurance to help cover its defense and/or indemnification costs, although its ability to recover such costs through insurance is uncertain.  While it is not possible to estimate the maximum potential amount that could be owed under these indemnification agreements due to the Company’s limited history with prior indemnification claims, indemnification (including defense) costs could, in the future, have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows. As of September 30, 2018, the Company has the outstanding indemnification claims described above.

10.Income Taxes  

For the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company recorded income tax provision of $1.4 million and $1.7 million, respectively.

The income tax provisions for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, consisted primarily of taxes on the income of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries as well as tax expense associated with the establishment of a U.S. deferred tax liability for amortizable goodwill resulting from the acquisition of Enterasys Networks, Inc., the WLAN Business, the Campus Fabric Business and for the three months ended September 30, 2018, the Data Center Business. The income tax provisions for both fiscal years were calculated based on the actual results of operations for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively and therefore may not reflect the annual effective tax rate.

 On December 22, 2017, the President of the United States signed and enacted into law H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), which, except for certain provisions, is effective for the Company’s fiscal year ended 2019. As a fiscal year taxpayer, the Company was not subject to the majority of the tax law provisions until the first quarter of fiscal year 2019; however, there were certain significant items of impact that were recognized in fiscal year 2018, the year the TCJA was enacted.

The TCJA’s primary change is a reduction in the U.S. Federal statutory corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.  As a result, the Company recognized a tax benefit in the amount of $2.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2018 due to the revaluation of the Company's deferred tax liability related to amortizable goodwill to reflect the lower statutory rate.  Because the U.S. deferred tax assets are offset by a full valuation allowance, the reduction in deferred tax assets for the lower rate was fully offset by a corresponding reduction in valuation allowance resulting in no additional tax provision.

The TCJA moves the U.S. from a global taxation regime to a modified territorial regime.  Under the territorial regime, the company’s foreign earnings will generally not be subject to tax in the US.  As part of transitioning to this new regime, U.S. companies were required to pay tax on historical earnings generated offshore that have not been repatriated to the U.S. (“Transition Tax”).  The Company has estimated there will be no incremental tax provision relating to the Transition Tax given the Company’s ability to utilize existing tax attributes to offset the impact of the deemed repatriation.

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The TCJA makes broad and complex changes to the U.S. tax code, and in certain instances, lacks clarity and is subject to interpretation until additional U.S. Treasury guidance is issued.  On December 22, 2017, the SEC issued guidance under Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“SAB 118”), which allows registrants to record provisional amounts during a one year “measurement period” similar to that used when accounting for business combinations.  However, the measurement period is deemed to have ended earlier when the registrant has obtained, prepared and analyzed the information necessary to finalize its accounting.  During the measurement period, impacts of the law are expected to be recorded at the time a reasonable estimate for all or a portion of the effects can be made, and provisional amounts can be recognized and adjusted as information becomes available, prepared or analyzed. SAB 118 summarizes a three-step process to be applied at each reporting period to account for and qualitatively disclose: (1) the effects of the change in tax law for which accounting is complete; (2) provisional amounts (or adjustments to provisional amounts) for the effects of the tax law where accounting is not complete, but that a reasonable estimate has been determined; and (3) a reasonable estimate cannot yet be made and therefore taxes are reflected in accordance with law prior to the enactment of the TCJA.

Amounts recorded where accounting is complete principally relate to the reduction in the U.S. federal tax rate to 21 percent, which resulted in the Company reporting an income tax benefit of $2.5 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 to remeasure deferred tax liabilities associated with indefinitely lived intangible assets that will reverse at the new 21% rate. Absent this deferred tax liability, the Company is in a net deferred tax asset position that is offset by a full valuation allowance.  Though the impact of the rate change related to net deferred tax assets has a net tax effect of zero, the accounting to determine the gross change in the deferred tax position and the offsetting valuation is not yet complete.  In accordance with SAB 118, the estimated income tax impact associated with the Transition Tax of zero represents our best estimate based on interpretation of the U.S. legislation as we are still accumulating data to finalize the underlying calculation. In accordance with SAB 118, estimated income tax impact associated with the Transition Tax is considered provisional and will be finalized prior to the end of the measurement period. The ultimate impact may differ from these provisional amounts, due to, among other things, additional analysis, changes in interpretations and assumptions the Company has made, additional regulatory guidance that may be issued, and actions the Company may take as a result of the TCJA.

With respect to provisions of the TCJA effective for the Company’s fiscal year ended 2019, the Company anticipates several new provisions may potentially impact tax provisions in future periods including limitations on the deductibility of interest expense and certain executive compensation, a minimum tax on certain foreign earnings (i.e., global intangible low-taxed income or “GILTI”).  The GILTI provisions require the Company to include in its U.S. income tax return foreign subsidiary earnings in excess of an allowable return on the foreign subsidiary’s tangible assets. Based on initial assessment and interpretation of the new provision, the Company expects that it will be subject to incremental U.S. tax on GILTI income beginning in fiscal 2019. The Company may elect to account for GILTI tax as a component of tax expense in the period in which it is incurred or account for the GILTI tax in the measurement of deferred taxes. The Company is continuing to evaluate this particular provision and therefore has not yet elected a method but will do so once our analysis is complete. The Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (“BEAT”) provisions in the Tax Reform Act eliminate the deduction of certain base-erosion payments made to related foreign corporations and impose a minimum tax if greater than regular tax.  There is a reasonable amount of uncertainty surrounding the interpretation of this new provision, however, based on initial assessment and a reasonable interpretation of the new provision, the Company expects that it will not be subject to the incremental U.S. tax on BEAT income beginning in fiscal 2019, due to a realignment of the Company’s international structure.

In the three months ended September 30, 2019, the Company adopted ASU 2016-16, Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory, which requires an entity to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset at the time the transfer occurs.  Historically, GAAP has prohibited the recognition of current and deferred income taxes for an intra-entity asset transfer until the asset had been sold outside the consolidated group.  Effective as of July 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU 2016-16 on a modified retrospective basis which requires an adjustment of the cumulative-effect of the adoption to retained earnings.  However, the adjustment was immaterial to the financial statements and no such adjustment was necessary.  As a result of adoption, the income tax consequences of future intra-entity transfer of assets will be recognized in earnings in each period rather than be deferred until the assets leave the consolidated group.  In the three months ended September 30, 2018, the Company recognized a deferred tax asset relating to a transfer of certain assets from the US parent company to its wholly-owned Irish subsidiary of $5.4 million, which was fully offset by the establishment of a valuation allowance resulting in no impact to Company’s statement of operations.

The Company has provided a full valuation allowance against all of its U.S. federal and state deferred tax assets as well as the deferred tax assets in Australia and a portion of the deferred tax assets in Ireland. A valuation allowance is determined by assessing both negative and positive evidence to determine whether it is “more likely than not” that the deferred tax assets are recoverable; such assessment is required on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction basis.  The Company's inconsistent earnings in recent periods, including a cumulative loss over the last three years, coupled with its difficulty in forecasting future revenue trends as well as the cyclical nature of its business represent sufficient negative evidence to require a full valuation allowance against its U.S. federal and state net deferred tax assets as well as the above mentioned foreign jurisdictions.  This valuation allowance will be evaluated periodically and can be reversed partially or in whole if business results and the economic environment have sufficiently improved to support realization of some or all of the Company's deferred tax assets.

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The acquisition of Enterasys in October 2013 included a U.S. parent company as well as its wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries. The Company elected to treat this stock acquisition as an asset purchase by filing the required election forms under IRC Sec 338(h)(10). In addition, the Company completed asset purchases of the WLAN Business, the Campus Fabric Business and the Data Center Business in October 2016, July 2017 and October 2017, respectively.  The Company has estimated the value of the intangible assets from these transactions and is amortizing the amounts over 15 years for tax purposes.  During the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company deducted $0.5 million and $1.6 million of tax amortization expense respectively, for each period related to capitalized goodwill resulting from these acquisitions. As of September 30, 2018, the Company recorded a deferred tax liability of $5.9 million related to this goodwill amortization which is not considered a future source of taxable income in evaluating the need for a valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets.

The Company had $17.2 million of unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2018.  The future impact of the unrecognized tax benefit of $17.2 million, if recognized, would result in adjustments to deferred tax assets and corresponding adjustments to the valuation allowance. The Company does not anticipate any events to occur during the next twelve months that would reduce the unrealized tax benefit as currently stated in the Company’s balance sheet.

The Company’s policy is to accrue interest and penalties related to the underpayment of income taxes as a component of tax expense in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.

In general, the Company’s U.S. federal income tax returns are subject to examination by tax authorities for fiscal years 2001 forward due to net operating losses and the Company's state income tax returns are subject to examination for fiscal years 2000 forward due to net operating losses. The Company is in the process of settling examination by the state of North Carolina for fiscal years ended 2014, 2015 and 2016. The settlement will result in an immaterial payment to the state to close all three years.

11.Net Loss Per Share

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing net earnings by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Dilutive earnings per share is calculated by dividing net earnings by the weighted average number of common shares used in the basic earnings per share calculation plus the dilutive effect of shares subject to repurchase, options, warrants and unvested restricted stock units.

The following table presents the calculation of net loss per share of basic and diluted (in thousands, except per share data):

 

The following securities were excluded from the computation of net loss per diluted share of common stock for the periods presented as their effect would have been anti-dilutive (in thousands):

 

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The Company uses derivative financial instruments to manage exposures to foreign currency. The Company’s objective for holding derivatives is to use the most effective methods to minimize the impact of these exposures. The Company does not enter into derivatives for speculative or trading purposes. The fair value of the Company’s derivatives in a gain position are recorded in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” and derivatives in a loss position are recorded in “Other accrued liabilities” in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recorded in “Other income (expense), net” in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations. The Company enters into foreign exchange forward contracts to mitigate the effect of gains and losses generated by foreign currency transactions related to certain operating expenses and re-measurement of certain assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies. These derivatives do not qualify as hedges.

As of September 30, 2018, the Company did not have any forward foreign currency contracts. As of September 30, 2017 forward foreign currency contracts had a notional principal amount of $9.6 million and an immaterial unrealized loss. These contracts typically have maturities of less than 90 days. Changes in the fair value of these foreign exchange forward contracts are offset largely by re-measurement of the underlying assets and liabilities.

Foreign currency transactions gains and losses from operations was a gain of $0.2 million and loss from operations of $0.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The Company operates in one segment, the development and marketing of network infrastructure equipment. The Company conducts business globally and is managed geographically. Revenue is attributed to a geographical area based on the location of its customers. The Company operates in three geographical areas: Americas, which includes the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America; EMEA, which includes Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa; and APAC which includes Asia Pacific, South Asia, India, Australia and Japan. The Company’s chief operating decision maker, who is its CEO, reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of allocating resources and evaluating financial performance.  

See Note 4 Net Revenues for the Company’s revenues by geographic regions and channel based on the customer’s ship-to location.

The Company’s long-lived assets are attributed to the geographic regions as follows (in thousands):

 

14.Subsequent Event

On November 2, 2018, the Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to repurchase up to $60.0 million of its common stock over the next two years. Purchases may be made from time to time in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise. The manner, timing and amount of any purchases will be determined by the Company's management based on their evaluation of market conditions, stock price, Extreme’s ongoing determination that it is the best use of available cash and other factors. The repurchase program does not obligate Extreme to acquire any common stock, may be suspended or terminated at any time without prior notice and will be subject to regulatory considerations.  No repurchases were made during the quarter ended September 30, 2018.  

 

 

 

 

 

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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

This quarterly report on Form 10-Q, including the following sections, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including in particular, our expectations regarding market demands, customer requirements and the general economic environment, future results of operations, and other statements that include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. We caution investors that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors identified in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter ended September 30, 2018, our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, and other filings we have made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risk factors, include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in demand for our products and services; a highly competitive business environment for network switching equipment; our effectiveness in controlling expenses; the possibility that we might experience delays in the development or introduction of new technology and products; customer response to our new technology and products; fluctuations in the global economy; risks related to pending or future litigation; a dependency on third parties for certain components and for the manufacturing of our products and our ability to receive the anticipated benefits of acquired businesses..

Business Overview

The following discussion is based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Report, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”).  In the course of operating our business, we routinely make decisions as to the timing of the payment of invoices, the collection of receivables, the manufacturing and shipment of products, the fulfillment of orders, the purchase of supplies, and the building of inventory and service parts, among other matters. Each of these decisions has some impact on the financial results for any given period.  In making these decisions, we consider various factors including contractual obligations, customer satisfaction, competition, internal and external financial targets and expectations, and financial planning objectives. For further information about our critical accounting policies and estimates, see “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” section included in this “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Extreme Networks, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “Extreme” and as “we”, “us” and “our”) is a leading provider of network infrastructure equipment and offers related maintenance contracts for extended warranty and maintenance to our enterprise, data center and service provider customers.  We were incorporated in California in May 1996 and reincorporated in Delaware in March 1999.  Our corporate headquarters are located in San Jose, California. Substantially all of our revenue is derived from the sale of our networking equipment and related maintenance contracts.

Extreme is a leader in providing software-driven networking solutions for enterprise customers. Providing a combined end-to-end solution from the data center to the access point, Extreme designs, develops and manufactures wired and wireless network infrastructure equipment and develops the software for network management, policy, analytics, security and access controls. We strive to help our customers and partners Connect Beyond the Network by building world-class software and network infrastructure solutions that solve the wide range of problems faced by IT departments.

Enterprise network administrators from the data center to the access layer need to respond to the rapid digital transformational trends of cloud, mobility, big data, social business and the ever-present need for network security.  Accelerators such as Internet of Things (“IoT”), artificial intelligence (“AI”), bring your own device (“BYOD”), machine learning, cognitive computing, and robotics add complexity to challenge the capabilities of traditional networks. Technology advances have a profound effect across the entire enterprise network placing unprecedented demands on network administrators to enhance management capabilities, scalability, programmability, agility, and analytics of the enterprise networks they manage.

A trend effecting the Enterprise Network Equipment market is the continued adoption of the cloud-managed enterprise WLAN in the enterprise market. Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment which uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party, public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms. ExtremeCloud is the only offering in the market that seamlessly integrates the cloud with on-premise infrastructures.

We believe that understanding the following key developments is helpful to an understanding of our operating results for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2018.

To facilitate the readers understanding, the following is a list of common terms in our industry used in the discussion of our business:

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Industry Background

Enterprises are adopting new IT delivery models and applications that require fundamental network alterations and enhancements spanning from device access point to the network core. AI and ML technologies have the potential to vastly improve the network experience. When AI and ML are used in conjunction with an NA technology, administrators can make significant advances in productivity, availability, accessibility, manageability, security and speed of their network infrastructure. These emerging technologies are driving administrators to a mindset of change toward agile processes that allow a versatile workforce to improve the rate of innovation of the enterprise safely, securely and with confidence.

AI, ML and NA have increased the relevance and importance of the network in the enterprise. Traditional network offerings are not well-suited to fulfill enterprise expectations for rapid delivery of new services, more flexible business models, real-time response and massive scalability.  

The networking industry appears to be invigorated by this wave of technological change:

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Our strategy, product portfolio and research and development are closely aligned with what we have identified as the following trends in our industry:

The Extreme Strategy

We are focused on delivering end-to-end IP networking solutions for today’s enterprise environments. From wireless and wired access technologies, through the campus, core and into the datacenter, Extreme is developing solutions to deliver outstanding business outcomes for our customers.  Leveraging a unified management approach, both on premise and in the cloud, we continue to accelerate adoption and delivery of new technologies in support of emerging trends in enterprise networking. We continue to execute on our growth objectives by maximizing customer, partner, and shareholder value.

In fiscal 2017, we completed the acquisition of the WLAN Business from Zebra. In fiscal 2018, we completed the acquisitions of the Campus Fabric Business from Avaya and the Data Center Business from Brocade. These acquisitions support our growth strategy to lead the enterprise network equipment market with end-to-end software-driven solutions for enterprise customers from the data center to the wireless edge.  After the closing of the acquisitions of the Campus Fabric Business and Data Center Business, Extreme immediately became a networking industry leader with more than 30,000 customers. As a network switching leader in enterprise, datacenter and cloud, after closing of the Campus Fabric Business, we combine and extend our world-class products and technologies to provide customers with some of the most advanced, high performance and open solutions in the market as well as a superb overall customer experience.  The combination of Extreme, the Campus Fabric Business and the Data Center Business is significant in that it brings together distinct strengths addressing the key areas of the network, from unified wired and wireless edge, to the enterprise core, to the data center and cloud to offer a complete, unified portfolio of software-driven network access solutions.  

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Provider of high quality, software-driven, secure networking solutions and the industry’s #1 customer support organization

Key elements of our strategy include:

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Data can be mined to show how applications are being used enabling a better understanding of user behavior on the network, identifying the level of user engagement and assuring business application delivery to optimize the user experience. Application adoption can be tracked to determine the return on investment associated with new application deployment.

Visibility into network and application performance enables our customers to pinpoint and resolve performance bottlenecks in the infrastructure whether they are caused by the network, application or server. This saves both time and money for the business and ensures critical applications are running at the best possible performance.

Key Financial Metrics

During the first quarter of fiscal 2019, we reflected the following results:

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 Net Revenues

The following table presents net product and service revenue for the periods presented (dollars in thousands):

Product revenue increased $12.9 million or 7.9% for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2018. The growth in product revenues was attributable to the acquisition of the Data Center Business, partial offset by longer customer buying cycles and growth in our backlog.

Service revenue increased $15.2 million, or 32.4% for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2018.  The growth in service revenue was primarily due to the increased number of service contracts acquired with the acquisition of the Data Center Business.

The following table presents the product and service, gross profit and the respective gross profit percentages for the periods presented (dollars in thousands):

Product gross profit increased $9.4 million or 11.2% for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the corresponding period in fiscal 2018.   The increase was due to higher revenues and more favorable manufacturing costs due to our cost reduction efforts in addition to lower acquired inventory purchase accounting adjustments of $2.9 million incurred in the first fiscal quarter of 2018. Increases in product gross margin were partially offset by increased distribution costs of $3.3 million, amortization of developed technology intangibles of $2.3 million due to the acquisition of the Data Center Business, and warranty charges of $1.4 million.

Service gross profit increased $10.2 million or 37.0% for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the corresponding period in fiscal 2018, primarily due to a higher number of maintenance contracts related to the acquisition of the Data Center Business.

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Operating Expenses

The following table presents operating expenses for the periods presented (dollars in thousands):

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel costs (which consists of compensation, benefits and stock-based compensation), consultant fees and prototype expenses related to the design, development, and testing of our products.

Research and development expenses increased by $17.0 million or 49.5% for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2018.  The increase in research and development expenses was due to higher personnel costs of $7.3 million due to increased headcount related to the acquisition of the Data Center Business, $2.4 million in increased facility and information technology costs, $3.9 million in increased supplies and equipment costs and $3.0 million in increased contractor and professional fees.

Sales and Marketing Expenses

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel costs (which consists of compensation, benefits and stock-based compensation), as well as trade shows and promotional expenses.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $12.0 million or 21.6% for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2018 primarily as a result of the acquisition of the Data Center Business.  The increase consisted of higher personnel costs of $10.1 million, $0.5 million in increased travel, marketing, meeting and conference costs, $0.4 million in increased facility and information technology costs and $1.0 million in increased software, supplies and equipment costs.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expense consists primarily of personnel costs (which consists of compensation, benefits and stock-based compensation), legal and professional service costs, travel and facilities and information technology costs.

General and administrative expenses increased by $0.6 million or 4.8% for the three months ended September 30, 2018 as compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2018 primarily due to $0.6 million in higher personnel costs and $0.4 million in higher facility and information technology costs, offset by $0.5 million in reduced professional fees.

Acquisition and Integration Costs

For the three months ended September 30, 2018, we incurred $2.5 million of integration costs related to the acquisitions of the Campus Fabric and Data Center Businesses.

For the three months ended September 30, 2017, we incurred $1.2 million of acquisition and $1.7 million of integration costs related to the acquisition of the Campus Fabric Business and $1.3 million of acquisition costs related to the future acquisition of the Data Center Business.

Restructuring Charges, Net of Reversals

For the three months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded restructuring charges of $0.8 million associated with a reduction-in-force in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.

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Amortization of Intangibles

During the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we recorded $2.1 million and $1.6 million, respectively, of amortization expense as operating expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.  The increase was mainly due to additional amortization related to the acquired intangibles from the Data Center Business.

Interest Expense

During the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we recorded $3.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively, in interest expense.  The increase in interest expense was due to the increased balance of our Credit Agreement and higher interest rates as compared to the corresponding period of fiscal 2018 as well as additional imputed interest charges associated with various long-term contracts.

Other Income (Expense), Net

During the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we recorded income of $0.5 million and $3.1 million, respectively, in other income (expense), net. The change was primarily due to foreign exchange gains and losses from the revaluation of certain assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies into U.S. Dollars.

Provision for Income Taxes

For the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we recorded an income tax provision of $1.4 million and $1.7 million, respectively, which consisted primarily of taxes on the income of our foreign subsidiaries as well as tax expense associated with the establishment of a U.S. deferred tax liability for amortizable goodwill resulting from the acquisition of Enterasys, the WLAN Business and the Campus Fabric Business.  The income tax provisions for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were calculated based on actual results of operations three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017and therefore may not reflect the annual effective tax rate.

On December 22, 2017, the President of the United States signed and enacted into law H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), which, except for certain provisions, is effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. As a fiscal year taxpayer, we were not subject to the majority of the tax law provisions until fiscal year 2019; however, there are certain significant items of impact that were recognized in fiscal year 2018. Because a change in tax law is accounted for in the period of enactment, the effects of the TCJA, a tax benefit of $2.5 million, have been reflected in the second quarter of fiscal 2018. See Note 10 to the condensed consolidated financial statements which includes a detailed discussion of the various provisions of the new U.S. tax legislation.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this report are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses, and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. In many instances, we could have reasonably used different accounting estimates, and in other instances changes in the accounting estimates are reasonably likely to occur from period to period. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from the estimates made by our management. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows will be affected.

As discussed in Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2018, we consider the following accounting policies to be the most critical in understanding the judgments that are involved in preparing our consolidated financial statements:

The have been no changes to our critical accounting policies since the filing of our last Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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New Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 3 of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements for a full description of new accounting pronouncements, including the respective expected dates of adoption and effects on results of operations and financial condition.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following summarizes information regarding our cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and working capital (in thousands):

 

As of September 30, 2018, our principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $141.1 million, accounts receivable, net of $164.7 million and availability of borrowings from our five-year New Revolving Facility of $39.1 million. Our principal uses of cash include the purchase of finished goods inventory from our contract manufacturers, payroll and other operating expenses related to the development, marketing of our products, purchases of property and equipment and include repayments of debt and related interest. We believe that our $141.1 million of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at September 30, 2018 and the availability of borrowings from the New Revolving Facility will be sufficient to fund our principal uses of cash for at least the next 12 months.

On November 2, 2018, the Company announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to repurchase up to $60.0 million of its common stock over the next two years. Purchases may be made from time to time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. The manner, timing and amount of any purchases will be determined by the Company's management based on their evaluation of market conditions, stock price, Extreme’s ongoing determination that it is the best use of available cash and other factors. The repurchase program does not obligate Extreme to acquire any common stock, may be suspended or terminated at any time without prior notice and will be subject to regulatory considerations.

On May 1, 2018, the Company entered into a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”), by and among the Company, as borrower, BMO Harris Bank N.A., as an issuing lender and swingline lender, Bank of Montreal, as administrative and collateral agent, and the financial institutions or entities that are a party thereto as lenders.  The Credit Agreement provides for i) a $40 million five-year revolving credit facility (the “New Revolving Facility”), ii) a $190 million five-year term loan (the “New Term Loan”) and, iii) an uncommitted additional incremental loan facility in the principal amount of up to $100 million (“New Incremental Facility”).  On May 1, 2018, the Company borrowed $200 million under the Credit Agreement.

Borrowings under the Credit Agreement will bear interest, at the Company’s election, as of May 1, 2018, at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR plus 1.50% to 2.75%, or the adjusted base rate plus 0.50% to 1.75%, based on the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio. In addition, the Company is required to pay a commitment fee of between 0.25% and 0.40% quarterly (currently 0.35%) on the unused portion of the New Revolving Facility, also based on the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio.  Principal installments are payable on the New Term Loan in varying percentages quarterly starting September 30, 2018 and to the extent not previously paid, all outstanding balances are to be paid at maturity. The obligations under the Credit Agreement is secured by substantially all of the Company’s assets.

Financial covenants under the Credit Agreement require the Company to maintain a minimum consolidated fixed charge and consolidated leverage ratio at the end of each fiscal quarter through maturity.  The Credit Agreement also includes covenants and restrictions that limit, among other things, the Company’s ability to incur additional indebtedness, create liens upon any of its property, merge, consolidate or sell all or substantially all of its assets.  The Credit Agreement also includes customary events of default which may result in acceleration of the outstanding balance.  At September 30, 2018, we were in compliance with the covenants of the Credit Agreement.

Key Components of Cash Flows and Liquidity

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A summary of the sources and uses of cash and cash equivalents is as follows (in thousands):

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Cash flows provided by operations in the three months ended September 30, 2018 were $34.3 million, including our net loss of $9.1 million and non-cash expenses of $21.8 million for items such as amortization of intangibles, stock-based compensation, depreciation, deferred income taxes and imputed interest.  Other sources of cash for the current quarter included a decrease in accounts receivables and inventories and increases in deferred revenues and other current and long-term liabilities. This was partially offset by decreases in accounts payable and accrued compensation.

Cash flows provided by operations in the three months ended September 30, 2017 were $18.6 million, including net income of $4.4 million and non-cash expenses of $10.4 million for items such as amortization of intangibles, stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and gain on sale of non-marketable equity investment as well as a decrease in inventory and increases in accounts and deferred revenue.  This was partially offset by an increase in accounts receivable and decreases in accrued compensation and current and noncurrent liabilities.

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

Cash flows used in investing activities in the three months ended September 30, 2018 were $6.7 million which consisted of purchases of property and equipment of $7.4 million and proceeds of $0.7 million related to the sale of marketable equity securities.

Cash flows used in investing activities in the three months ended September 30, 2017, were $70.5 million.  For the three months ended September 30, 2017, cash flows consisted of expenditures for acquisitions of $68.0 million consisting of $69.6 million for the Campus Fabric Business acquisition less receipt of $1.6 million as final settlement of a working capital adjustment related to the WLAN Business acquisition, $7.4 million of purchases of property and equipment and proceeds of $4.9 million related to the sale of non-marketable equity investment.

Net Cash (Used in) Provided by Financing Activities

Cash flows used in financing activities in the three months ended September 30, 2018 were $8.2 million, due to repayments of debt totaling $12.4 million and $1.6 million of contingent consideration and $1.0 million for deferred payments on acquisitions.  This was partially offset by $7.1 million proceeds from issuance of shares of our common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”), the exercise of stock options and net of taxes paid on vested and released stock awards,

Cash flows provided by financing activities in the three months ended September 30, 2017 were $74.5 million, including new borrowings of $80.0 million to fund our acquisition of the Campus Fabric Business, $4.9 million proceeds from issuance of shares of our common stock under our ESPP and the exercise of stock options less $4.8 million of taxes paid on vested and released stock awards, partially offset by repayment of debt totaling $4.1 million and $1.5 million of loan fees incurred in connection with the Second Amendment of our Credit Facility.

Foreign Currency Effect on Cash

Foreign currency effect on cash increased in the three months ended September 30, 2018, primarily due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates between the U.S. Dollar and particularly the Brazilian Real, British Pound, Indian Rupee and the EURO.

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Contractual Obligations

The following summarizes our contractual obligations as of September 30, 2018, and the effect such obligations are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flow in future periods (in thousands):

The contractual obligations referenced above are more fully defined as follows:

Debt obligations relate to amounts owed under our Credit Agreement.

Non-cancelable inventory purchase commitments represent the purchase of long lead-time component inventory that our contract manufacturers procure in accordance with our forecast. We expect to honor the inventory purchase commitments within the next 12 months.

Non-cancellable contractual commitments to suppliers for future services.

Non-cancelable operating lease obligations represent base rents and operating expense obligations to landlords for facilities we occupy at various locations.

Deferred payments for the acquisition of the Data Center Business represent a $1.0 million per quarter.

Contingent consideration for the Capital Financing Business acquisition, at fair value.  Actual payments could be different.

Other liabilities include our commitments towards debt related fees and specific arrangements other than inventory.

The amounts in the table above exclude immaterial income tax liabilities related to uncertain tax positions as we are unable to reasonably estimate the timing of settlement.

We did not have any material commitments for capital expenditures as of September 30, 2018.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as of September 30, 2018.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Interest Rate Sensitivity

Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our financial investments and debt. We usually invest our cash in investments with short maturities or with frequent interest reset terms. Accordingly, our interest income fluctuates with short-term market conditions.  As of September 30, 2018,  we did not have any financial investments that were exposed to interest rate risk.

Debt

At certain points in time we are exposed to the impact of interest rate fluctuations, primarily in the form of variable rate borrowings from our credit facility.

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At certain points in time we are exposed to the impact of interest rate fluctuations, primarily in the form of variable rate borrowings from our Credit Agreement.  Our debt and Credit Agreement, are fully described in the Note 8, Debt, of our Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in our annual report on Form 10-K.  At September 30, 2018, we had $187.6 million of debt outstanding, all of which was from our Credit Agreement.  Through the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the average daily outstanding amount was $199.7 million with a high of $200.0 million and a low of $187.6 million. 

The following table presents hypothetical changes in interest expense for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, on outstanding Credit Agreement borrowings as of September 30, 2018, that are sensitive to changes in interest rates (in thousands):

 

 

Exchange Rate Sensitivity

A majority of our sales and expenses are denominated in United States Dollars. While we conduct some sales transactions and incur certain operating expenses in foreign currencies and expect to continue to do so, we do not anticipate that foreign exchange gains or losses will be significant, in part because of our foreign exchange risk management process discussed below.

Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts

We record all derivatives on the balance sheet at fair value. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recognized in earnings as Other expense, net. From time to time, we enter into foreign exchange forward contracts to mitigate the effect of gains and losses generated by the foreign currency forecast transactions related to certain operating expenses and re-measurement of certain assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies. These derivatives do not qualify as hedges. Changes in the fair value of these foreign exchange forward contracts are offset largely by re-measurement of the underlying assets and liabilities. At September 30, 2018, we did not have any forward foreign currency contracts outstanding.

Foreign currency transaction gains and losses from operations was a gain of $0.2 million and loss of $0.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and procedures designed to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, such as this Report, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms and to reasonably assure that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and the Interim Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our CEO and CFO, we evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Report. Based on this evaluation, our CEO and CFO concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this Report.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a – 15(f) and 15(d) – 15(f) during the September 30, 2018 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. We implemented internal controls to ensure we adequately evaluated our contracts and properly assessed the impact of the new accounting standards related to revenue recognition to facilitate its adoption on July 1, 2017. There were no significant changes to our internal control over financial reporting due to the adoption of this new standard.

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Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls

Our management, including the CEO and CFO, does not expect that our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Our controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that our control system’s objective will be met and our CEO and CFO have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective at the reasonable assurance level. The design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Further, because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within Extreme Networks have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Controls can also be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is based in part on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events. Projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of controls in future periods are subject to risks. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures. Notwithstanding these limitations, our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. Our CEO and CFO have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are, in fact, effective at the “reasonable assurance” level.

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PART II. Other Information

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

For information regarding litigation matters required by this item, refer to Part I, Item 3, Legal Proceedings of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, and Note 9 to our Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part I, Item 1 of this Report which are incorporated herein by reference.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

The following is a list of risks and uncertainties which may have a material and adverse effect on our business, operations, industry, financial condition, results of operations or future financial performance. While we believe we have identified and discussed below the key risk factors affecting our business, there may be additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known or that are not currently believed to be significant that may adversely affect our business, results of operations, industry, financial position and financial performance in the future

We may not realize anticipated benefits of past or future acquisitions and strategic investments, and the integration of acquired companies or technologies may negatively impact our business and financial results or dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders.

As part of our business strategy, we review acquisition and strategic investment prospects that we believe would complement our current product offerings, augment our market coverage or enhance our technical capabilities, or otherwise offer growth opportunities. In the event of any future acquisitions, we could:

These actions could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or the price of our common stock.

For example, on July 14, 2017, we completed the acquisition of the Campus Fabric Business and on October 27, 2017, we completed our acquisition of the Data Center Business.  Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the respective Asset Purchase Agreements, we acquired customers, employees, technology and other assets, as well as assumed certain contracts and other liabilities of the Campus Fabric and Data Center Businesses.    As of September 30, 2018, we had $187.6 million of indebtedness outstanding.

There can be no assurance we will achieve the revenues, growth prospects and synergies expected from any acquisition or that we will achieve such revenue, growth prospects and synergies in the anticipated time period and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. Moreover, even if we do obtain benefits in the form of increased sales and earnings, these benefits may be recognized much later than the time when the expenses associated with an acquisition are incurred. This is particularly relevant in cases where it would be necessary to integrate new types of technology into our existing portfolio and new types of products may be targeted for potential customers with which we do not have pre-existing relationships.

Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of any future acquisitions and investment activities also entail numerous risks, including, but not limited to:

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In addition, we may not be able to successfully integrate any businesses, products, technologies, or personnel that we might acquire in the future, and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

We cannot assure future profitability, and our financial results may fluctuate significantly from period to period.

We have reported losses in each of our five most recent fiscal years. In addition, in years when we reported profits, we were not profitable in each quarter during those years. We anticipate continuing to incur significant sales and marketing, product development and general and administrative expenses. Any delay in generating or recognizing revenue could result in a loss for a quarter or full year.  Even if we are profitable, our operating results may fall below our expectations and those of our investors, which could cause the price of our stock to fall.

We may experience challenges or delays in generating or recognizing revenue for a number of reasons and our revenue and operating results have varied significantly in the past and may vary significantly in the future due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

Due to the foregoing and other factors, many of which are described herein, period-to-period comparisons of our operating results should not be relied upon as an indicator of our future performance.

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The global economic environment has and may continue to negatively impact our business and operating results.

The challenges and uncertainty currently affecting global economic conditions may negatively impact our business and operating results in the following ways:

If global economic conditions do not show continued improvement, we believe we could experience material adverse impacts to our business and operating results.

Our dependence on a few manufacturers for our manufacturing requirements could harm our operating results.

We primarily rely on our manufacturing partners: Alpha Networks; Senao Networks; Foxconn; Delta Networks and Wistron NeWeb Corporation and select other partners to manufacture our products. We have experienced delays in product shipments from some of our manufacturing partners in the past, which in turn delayed product shipments to our customers. These or similar problems may arise in the future, such as delivery of products of inferior quality, delivery of insufficient quantity of products, or the interruption or discontinuance of operations of a manufacturer, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. In addition, any natural disaster or business interruption to our manufacturing partners could significantly disrupt our business. While we maintain strong relationships with our manufacturing partners, our agreements with these manufacturers are generally of limited duration and pricing, quality and volume commitments are negotiated on a recurring basis. The failure to maintain continuing agreements with our manufacturing partners could adversely affect our business. We intend to introduce new products and product enhancements, which will require that we rapidly achieve volume production by coordinating our efforts with those of our suppliers and contract manufacturers.

As part of our cost-reduction efforts, we will need to realize lower per unit product costs from our manufacturing partners by means of volume efficiencies and the utilization of manufacturing sites in lower-cost geographies. However, we cannot be certain when or if such price reductions will occur. The failure to obtain such price reductions would adversely affect our operating results.

In addition, a portion of our manufacturing is performed in China and is therefore subject to risks associated with doing business outside of the United States, including the possibility of additional import tariffs. The United States government has recently announced import tariffs on goods manufactured in China. These tariffs, depending upon their ultimate scope, duration and how they are implemented, could negatively impact our business by continuing to increase our costs and by making our products less competitive. We may not be able to pass such increased costs on to our customers. In addition, any relocation of contract manufacturing facilities to locations outside of China may increase our costs and could impact the global competitiveness of our products.

We depend upon international sales for a significant portion of our revenue which imposes a number of risks on our business.

International sales constitute a significant portion of our net revenue. Our ability to grow will depend in part on the expansion of international sales. Our international sales primarily depend on the success of our resellers and distributors. The failure of these resellers and distributors to sell our products internationally would limit our ability to sustain and grow our revenue. There are a number of risks arising from our international business, including:

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Any or all of these factors could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Substantially all of our international sales are United States dollar-denominated. The continued strength and future increases in the value of the United States dollar relative to foreign currencies could make our products less competitive in international markets. In the future, we may elect to invoice some of our international customers in local currency, which would expose us to fluctuations in exchange rates between the United States dollar and the particular local currency. If we do so, we may decide to engage in hedging transactions to minimize the risk of such fluctuations.

We have entered into foreign exchange forward contracts to offset the impact of payment of operating expenses in local currencies to some of our operating foreign subsidiaries. However, if we are not successful in managing these foreign currency transactions, we could incur losses from these activities.

Local laws and customs in many countries differ significantly from, or conflict with, those in the United States or in other countries in which we operate. In many foreign countries, it is common for others to engage in business practices that are prohibited by our internal policies and procedures or U.S. regulations applicable to us. Although we have implemented policies, procedures and training designed to ensure compliance with these U.S. and foreign laws and policies, there can be no complete assurance that any individual employee, contractor, channel partner, or agents will not violate our policies and procedures. Violations of laws or key control policies by our employees, contractors, channel partners, or agents could result in termination of our relationship, financial reporting problems, fines, and/or penalties for us, or prohibition on the importation or exportation of our products, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Although we recently increased prices, over time we expect the average selling price of our products to decrease, which is likely to reduce gross margin and/or revenue.

The network equipment industry has traditionally experienced an erosion of average selling prices due to a number of factors, including competitive pricing pressures, promotional pricing and technological progress. Although we have recently increased prices, over time we anticipate the average selling prices of our products will decrease in the future in response to competitive pricing pressures, excess inventories, increased sales discounts and new product introductions by us or our competitors. We may experience decreases in future operating results due to the erosion of our average selling prices. To maintain our gross margin, we must develop and introduce on a timely basis new products and product enhancements and continually reduce our product costs. Our failure to do so would likely cause our revenue and gross margin to decline.

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We purchase several key components for products from single or limited sources and could lose sales if these suppliers fail to meet our needs.

We currently purchase several key components used in the manufacturing of our products from single or limited sources and are dependent upon supply from these sources to meet our needs. Certain components such as tantalum capacitors, SRAM, DRAM, and printed circuit boards, have been in the past, and may in the future be, in short supply. We have encountered, and are likely in the future to encounter, shortages and delays in obtaining these or other components, and this could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet customer orders. Our principal sole-source components include:

Our principal limited-source components include:

We use our forecast of expected demand to determine our material requirements. Lead times for materials and components we order vary significantly, and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, contract terms and demand for a component at a given time. If forecasts exceed orders, we may have excess and/or obsolete inventory, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition. If orders exceed forecasts, we may have inadequate supplies of certain materials and components, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet customer delivery requirements and to recognize revenue.

Our top ten suppliers accounted for a significant portion of our purchases during the quarter. Given the significant concentration of our supply chain, particularly with certain sole or limited source providers, any significant interruption by any of the key suppliers or a termination of a relationship could temporarily disrupt our operations.  Additionally, our operations are materially dependent upon the continued market acceptance and quality of these manufacturers’ products and their ability to continue to manufacture products that are competitive and that comply with laws relating to environmental and efficiency standards. Our inability to obtain products from one or more of these suppliers or a decline in market acceptance of these suppliers’ products could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Other than pursuant to an agreement with a key component supplier which includes pricing based on a minimum volume commitment, generally we do not have agreements fixing long-term prices or minimum volume requirements from suppliers. From time to time we have experienced shortages and allocations of certain components, resulting in delays in filling orders. Qualifying new suppliers to compensate for such shortages may be time-consuming and costly and may increase the likelihood of errors in design or production. In addition, during the development of our products, we have experienced delays in the prototyping of our chipsets, which in turn has led to delays in product introductions. Similar delays may occur in the future. Furthermore, the performance of the components from our suppliers as incorporated in our products may not meet the quality requirements of our customers.

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To successfully manage our business or achieve our goals, we must attract, retain, train, motivate, develop and promote key employees, and failure to do so can harm us.

Our success depends to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of our key management, engineering, sales and marketing, service and operations personnel, many of whom would be difficult to replace. We do not have employment contracts with these individuals that mandate that they render services for any specific term, nor do we carry life insurance on any of our key personnel. We have experienced and may in the future experience significant turnover in our executive personnel.  Changes in our management and key employees could affect our financial results, and a recent reduction in force, may impede our ability to attract and retain highly skilled personnel.  We believe our future success will also depend in large part upon our ability to attract and retain highly skilled managerial, engineering, sales and marketing, service, finance and operations personnel.  The market for these personnel is competitive particularly in certain locations such as in San Jose, California, and we have had difficulty in hiring employees, particularly engineers, in the time-frame we desire.

A number of our employees are foreign nationals who rely on visas and entry permits in order to legally work in the United States and other countries.  In recent years, the United States has increased the level of scrutiny in granting H-1(B), L-1 and other business visas.  In addition, the current U.S. administration has indicated that immigration reform is a priority. Compliance with United States immigration and labor laws could require us to incur additional unexpected labor costs and expenses or could restrain our ability to retain skilled professionals.  Any of these restrictions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial conditions.

Our stock price has been volatile in the past and may significantly fluctuate in the future.

In the past, our common stock price has fluctuated significantly. This could continue as we or our competitors announce new products, our results or those of our customers or competition fluctuate, conditions in the networking or semiconductor industry change, or when investors, change their sentiment toward stocks in the networking technology sector.

In addition, fluctuations in our stock price and our price-to-earnings multiple may make our stock attractive to momentum, hedge or day-trading investors who often shift funds into and out of stock rapidly, exacerbating price fluctuations in either direction, particularly when viewed on a quarterly basis.  These fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price or liquidity of our common stock. Some companies, including us, that have had volatile market prices for their securities have had securities class action lawsuits filed against them. If a suit were filed against us, regardless of its merits or outcome, it could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources.  

Intense competition in the market for networking equipment and Cloud platform companies could prevent us from increasing revenue and attaining profitability.

The market for network switching solutions is intensely competitive and dominated primarily by Cisco Systems Inc., Dell, Inc. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Arista Networks, Inc., Arris Corporation and Juniper Networks, Inc. Most of our competitors have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases, broader product lines and substantially greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources. As a result, these competitors are able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion, sale and support of their products. In addition, they have larger distribution channels, stronger brand names, access to more customers, a larger installed customer base and a greater ability to make attractive offers to channel partners and customers than we do. Some of our customers may question whether we have the financial resources to complete their projects and future service commitments.

We may also face increased competition from both traditional networking solutions companies and Cloud platform companies offering IaaS and PaaS products to enterprise customers. In particular, AWS, Microsoft Azure and the Google Cloud Platform may provide enterprise customers with a cloud-based platform of data center compute and networking services.

For example, we have encountered, and expect to continue to encounter in the future, many potential customers who are confident in and committed to the product offerings of our principal competitors. Accordingly, these potential customers may not consider or evaluate our products. When such potential customers have considered or evaluated our products, we have in the past lost, and expect in the future to lose, sales to some of these customers as large competitors have offered significant price discounts to secure these sales.

The pricing policies of our competitors impact the overall demand for our products and services. Some of our competitors are capable of operating at significant losses for extended periods of time, increasing pricing pressure on our products and services. If we do not maintain competitive pricing, the demand for our products and services, as well as our market share, may decline. From time to time, we may lower the prices of our products and services in response to competitive pressure. When this happens, if we are unable to reduce our component costs or improve operating efficiencies, our revenue and gross margins will be adversely affected.

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We may not fully realize the anticipated positive impacts to future financial results from our restructuring efforts.

We have undertaken restructuring efforts in the past to streamline operations and reduce operating expenses. Our ability to achieve the anticipated cost savings and other benefits from our restructuring efforts within expected time frames is subject to many estimates and assumptions and may vary materially based on factors such as market conditions and the effect of our restructuring efforts on our work force. These estimates and assumptions are subject to significant economic, competitive and other uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. We cannot assure that we will fully realize the anticipated positive impacts to future financial results from our current or future restructuring efforts. If our estimates and assumptions are incorrect or if other unforeseen events occur, we may not achieve the cost savings expected from such restructurings, and our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Industry consolidation may lead to stronger competition and may harm our operating results.

There has been a trend toward industry consolidation in our markets for several years. We expect this trend to continue as companies attempt to strengthen or hold their market positions in an evolving industry and as companies are acquired or are unable to continue operations. For example, some of our current and potential competitors for enterprise data center business have made acquisitions or announced new strategic alliances, designed to position them with the ability to provide end-to-end technology solutions for the enterprise data center. Companies that are strategic alliance partners in some areas of our business may acquire or form alliances with our competitors, thereby reducing their business with us. We believe industry consolidation may result in stronger competitors that are better able to compete as sole-source vendors for customers. This could lead to more variability in our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Furthermore, particularly in the service provider market, rapid consolidation will lead to fewer customers, with the effect that loss of a major customer could have a material impact on results not anticipated in a customer marketplace composed of more numerous participants.

We intend to invest in engineering, sales, services, marketing and manufacturing on a long-term basis, and delays or inability to attain the expected benefits may result in unfavorable operating results.

While we intend to focus on managing our costs and expenses, over the long term, we also intend to invest in personnel and other resources related to our engineering, sales, services, marketing and manufacturing functions as we focus on our foundational priorities, such as leadership in our core products and solutions and architectures for business transformation. We are likely to recognize the costs associated with these investments earlier than some of the anticipated benefits and the return on these investments may be lower, or may develop more slowly, than we expect. If we do not achieve the benefits anticipated from these investments, or if the achievement of these benefits is delayed, our operating results may be adversely affected.

Our success is dependent on our ability to continually introduce new products and features that achieve broad market acceptance.

The network equipment market is characterized by rapid technological progress, frequent new product introductions, changes in customer requirements and evolving industry standards. If we do not regularly introduce new products in this dynamic environment, our product lines will become obsolete. These new products must be compatible and inter-operate with products and architectures offered by other vendors. We have and may in the future experience delays in product development and releases, and such delays have and could in the future adversely affect our ability to compete and our operating results.

When we announce new products or product enhancements that have the potential to replace or shorten the life cycle of our existing products, customers may defer or cancel orders for our existing products; in addition, ending sales of existing products may cause customers to cancel or defer orders for our existing products. These actions could have a material adverse effect on our operating results by unexpectedly decreasing sales, increasing inventory levels of older products and exposing us to greater risk of product obsolescence.

Even if we introduce new switching products, alternative technologies could achieve widespread market acceptance and displace the Ethernet technology on which we have based our product architecture. For example, developments in routers and routing software could significantly reduce demand for our products. As a result, we may not be able to achieve widespread market acceptance of our current or future products.

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If we do not successfully anticipate technological shifts, market needs and opportunities, and develop products, product enhancements and business strategies that meet those technological shifts, needs and opportunities, or if those products are not made available or strategies are not executed in a timely manner or do not gain market acceptance, we may not be able to compete effectively and our ability to generate revenues will suffer.

The markets for our products are constantly evolving and characterized by rapid technological change, frequent product introductions, changes in customer requirements, and continuous pricing pressures. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to anticipate future technological shifts, market needs and opportunities or be able to develop new products, product enhancements and business strategies to meet such technological shifts, needs or opportunities in a timely manner or at all. For example, the move from traditional network infrastructures towards SDN has been receiving considerable attention. In our view, it will take several years to see the full impact of SDN, and we believe the successful products and solutions in this market will combine hardware and software elements together.  If we fail to anticipate market requirements or opportunities or fail to develop and introduce new products, product enhancements or business strategies to meet those requirements or opportunities in a timely manner, it could cause us to lose customers, and such failure could substantially decrease or delay market acceptance and sales of our present and future products and services, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Even if we are able to anticipate, develop and commercially introduce new products and enhancements, we cannot assure that new products or enhancements will achieve widespread market acceptance.

Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other misconduct. Misconduct by employees could include intentional failures to: 

The precautions we take to detect and prevent misconduct may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business and results of operations, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

The cloud networking market is still in its early stages and is rapidly evolving. If this market does not evolve as we anticipate or our target end customers do not adopt our cloud networking solutions, we may not be able to compete effectively, and our ability to generate revenue will suffer.

The cloud networking market is still in its early stages. The market demand for cloud networking solutions has increased in recent years as end customers have deployed larger networks and have increased the use of virtualization and cloud computing. Our success may be impacted by our ability to provide successful cloud networking solutions that address the needs of our channel partners and end customers more effectively and economically than those of other competitors or existing technologies.  If the cloud networking solutions market does not develop in the way we anticipate, if our solutions do not offer significant benefits compared to competing legacy network switching products or if end customers do not recognize the benefits that our solutions provide, then our potential for growth in this cloud market could be adversely affected.

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Claims of infringement by others may increase and the resolution of such claims may adversely affect our operating results.

Our industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patents, copyrights (including rights to “open source” software) and other intellectual property rights. As we have grown it has, and may continue to, experience greater revenues and increased public visibility, which may cause competitors, customers, and governmental authorities to be more likely to initiate litigation against us. Because of the existence of a large number of patents in the networking field, the secrecy of some pending patents and the issuance of new patents at a rapid pace, it is not possible to determine in advance if a product or component might infringe the patent rights of others. Because of the potential for courts awarding substantial damages, the lack of predictability of such awards and the high legal costs associated with the defense of such patent infringement matters that would be expended to prove lack of infringement, it is not uncommon for companies in our industry to settle even potentially unmeritorious claims for very substantial amounts. Furthermore, the entities with whom we have or could have disputes or discussions include entities with extensive patent portfolios and substantial financial assets. These entities are actively engaged in programs to generate substantial revenue from their patent portfolios and are seeking or may seek significant payments or royalties from us and others in our industry.

Litigation resulting from claims that we are infringing the proprietary rights of others has resulted and could in the future result in substantial costs and a diversion of resources, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We previously received notices from entities alleging that we were infringing their patents and have been party to patent litigation in the past.

Without regard to the merits of these or any other claims, an adverse court order or a settlement could require us, among other actions, to:

In addition, our products include so-called “open source” software. Open source software is typically licensed for use at no initial charge, but imposes on the user of the open source software certain requirements to license to others both the open source software as well as modifications to the open source software under certain circumstances. Our use of open source software subjects us to certain additional risks for the following reasons:

We believe even if we do not infringe the rights of others, we will incur significant expenses in the future due to defense of legal claims, disputes or licensing negotiations, though the amounts cannot be determined. These expenses may be material or otherwise adversely affect our operating results.

 

Our credit facilities impose financial and operating restrictions on us.

Our debt instruments, including our Credit Agreement, impose, and the terms of any future debt may impose, operating and other restrictions on us. These restrictions could affect, and in many respects limit or prohibit, among other items, our ability to:

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The agreements governing our Credit Agreement also require us to achieve and maintain compliance with specified financial ratios. A breach of any of these restrictive covenants or the inability to comply with the required financial ratios could result in a default under our debt instruments. If any such default occurs, the lenders under our Credit Agreement may elect to declare all outstanding borrowings, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable. The lenders under our credit agreement also have the right in these circumstances to terminate any commitments they have to provide further borrowings.

If we fail to meet our payment or other obligations under our Credit Agreement the lenders under such Credit Agreement, as amended, could foreclose on, and acquire control of, substantially all of our assets.

Our Credit Agreement is jointly and severally guaranteed by us and certain of our subsidiaries. Borrowings under our Credit Agreement are secured by liens on substantially all of our assets, including the capital stock of certain of our subsidiaries, and the assets of our subsidiaries that are loan party guarantors. If we are unable to repay outstanding borrowings when due, the lenders under our Credit Agreement will have the right to proceed against this pledged capital stock and take control of substantially all of our assets.

Our operating results may be negatively affected by legal proceedings.

We have in the past, currently are and will likely in the future pursue or be subject to claims or lawsuits in the normal course of our business. In addition to the risks related to the intellectual property lawsuits described above, we are currently parties to other litigation as described in Note 9 to our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Regardless of the result, litigation can be expensive, lengthy and disruptive to normal business operations. Moreover, the results of complex legal proceedings are difficult to predict. An unfavorable resolution of a lawsuit in which we are a defendant could result in a court order against us or payments to other parties that would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Even if we are successful in prosecuting claims and lawsuits, we may not recover damages sufficient to cover our expenses incurred to manage, investigate and pursue the litigation. In addition, subject to certain limitations, we may be obligated to indemnify our current and former customers, suppliers, directors, officers and employees in certain lawsuits. We may not have adequate insurance coverage to cover all of our litigation costs and liabilities.

Failure to protect our intellectual property could affect our business.

We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. However, we cannot ensure that the actions we have taken will adequately protect our intellectual property rights or that other parties will not independently develop similar or competing products that do not infringe on our patents. We generally enter into confidentiality, invention assignment or license agreements with our employees, consultants and other third parties with whom we do business, and control access to and distribution of our intellectual property and other proprietary information. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise misappropriate or use our products or technology, which would adversely affect our business.

When our products contain undetected errors, we may incur significant unexpected expenses and could lose sales.

Network products frequently contain undetected errors when new products or new versions or updates of existing products are released to the marketplace. In the past, we have experienced such errors in connection with new products and product updates. We have experienced component problems in prior years that caused us to incur higher than expected warranty, service costs and expenses, and other related operating expenses. In the future, we expect that, from time to time, such errors or component failures will be found in new or existing products after the commencement of commercial shipments. These problems may have a material adverse effect on our business by causing us to incur significant warranty, repair and replacement costs, diverting the attention of our engineering personnel from new product development efforts, delaying the recognition of revenue and causing significant customer relations problems. Further, if products are not accepted by customers due to such defects, and such returns exceed the amount we accrued for defective returns based on our historical experience, our operating results would be adversely affected.

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Our products must successfully inter-operate with products from other vendors. As a result, when problems occur in a network, it may be difficult to identify the sources of these problems. The occurrence of system errors, whether or not caused by our products, could result in the delay or loss of market acceptance of our products and any necessary revisions may cause us to incur significant expenses. The occurrence of any such problems would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

We must continue to develop and increase the productivity of our indirect distribution channels to increase net revenue and improve our operating results.

Our distribution strategy focuses primarily on developing and increasing the productivity of our indirect distribution channels. If we fail to develop and cultivate relationships with significant channel partners, or if these channel partners are not successful in their sales efforts, sales of our products may decrease and our operating results could suffer. Many of our channel partners also sell products from other vendors that compete with our products. Our channel partners may not continue to market or sell our products effectively or to devote the resources necessary to provide us with effective sales, marketing and technical support. We may not be able to successfully manage our sales channels or enter into additional reseller and/or distribution agreements. Our failure to do any of these could limit our ability to grow or sustain revenue.

Our operating results for any given period have and will continue to depend to a significant extent on large orders from a relatively small number of channel partners and other customers. However, we do not have binding purchase commitments from any of them. A substantial reduction or delay in sales of our products to a significant reseller, distributor or other customer could harm our business, operating results and financial condition because our expense levels are based on our expectations as to future revenue and to a large extent are fixed in the short term. Under specified conditions, some third-party distributors are allowed to return products to us and unexpected returns could adversely affect our results.

The sales cycle for our products is long and we may incur substantial non-recoverable expenses or devote significant resources to sales that do not occur when anticipated.

The purchase of our products represent a significant strategic decision by a customer regarding its communications infrastructure. The decision by customers to purchase our products is often based on the results of a variety of internal procedures associated with the evaluation, testing, implementation and acceptance of new technologies. Accordingly, the product evaluation process frequently results in a lengthy sales cycle, typically ranging from three months to longer than a year, and as a result, our ability to sell products is subject to a number of significant risks, including risks that:

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Failure to successfully expand our sales and support teams or educate them in regard to technologies and our product families may harm our operating results.

The sale of our products and services requires a concerted effort that is frequently targeted at several levels within a prospective customer's organization. We may not be able to increase net revenue unless we expand our sales and support teams in order to address all of the customer requirements necessary to sell our products.

We cannot assure that we will be able to successfully integrate employees into our Company or to educate and train current and future employees in regard to rapidly evolving technologies and our product families. A failure to do so may hurt our revenue growth and operating results.

Failure of our products to comply with evolving industry standards and complex government regulations may adversely impact our business.

If we do not comply with existing or evolving industry standards and government regulations, we may not be able to sell our products where these standards or regulations apply. The network equipment industry in which we compete is characterized by rapid changes in technology and customers' requirements and evolving industry standards. As a result, our success depends on:

In the past, we have introduced new products that were not compatible with certain technological standards, and in the future, we may not be able to effectively address the compatibility and interoperability issues that arise as a result of technological changes and evolving industry standards.

Our products must also comply with various U.S. federal government regulations and standards defined by agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, standards established by governmental authorities in various foreign countries and recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union. In some circumstances, we must obtain regulatory approvals or certificates of compliance before we can offer or distribute our products in certain jurisdictions or to certain customers. Complying with new regulations or obtaining certifications can be costly and disruptive to our business.

If we do not comply with existing or evolving industry standards or government regulations, we will not be able to sell our products where these standards or regulations apply, which may prevent us from sustaining our net revenue or achieving profitability.

If we do not adequately manage and evolve our financial reporting and managerial systems and processes, our ability to manage and grow our business may be harmed.

Our ability to successfully implement our business plan and comply with regulations requires an effective planning and management process. We need to continue improving our existing, and implement new, operational and financial systems, procedures and controls. We need to ensure that any businesses acquired, including the WLAN Business, the Campus Fabric Business, and the Data Center Business are appropriately integrated in our financial systems. Any delay in the implementation of, or disruption in the integration of acquired businesses, or delay and disruption in the transition to, new or enhanced systems, procedures or controls, could harm our ability to record and report financial and management information on a timely and accurate basis, or to forecast future results.

Recent U.S. tax legislation may materially adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Recently enacted U.S. tax legislation has significantly changed the U.S. federal income taxation of U.S. corporations, including by reducing the U.S. corporate income tax rate, limiting interest deductions, permitting immediate expensing of certain capital expenditures, adopting elements of a territorial tax system, imposing a one-time transition tax (or “repatriation tax”) on all undistributed earnings and profits of certain U.S.-owned foreign corporations, revising the rules governing net operating losses and the rules governing foreign tax credits, and introducing new anti-base erosion provisions. Many of these changes are effective immediately, without any transition periods or grandfathering for existing transactions. The legislation is unclear in many respects and could be subject to potential amendments and technical corrections, as well as interpretations and implementing regulations by the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), any of which could lessen or increase certain adverse impacts of the legislation. In addition, it is unclear how these U.S. federal income tax changes will affect state and local taxation, which often uses federal taxable income as a starting point for computing state and local tax liabilities.

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Our analysis and interpretation of this legislation is largely complete and based on our current evaluation, we do not expect the reduction of the U.S. corporate income tax rate will have a materially adverse impact to our earnings given our U.S. valuation allowance.  We also do not currently believe the one-time transition tax will have a materially adverse impact given our ability to utilize existing tax attributes.  An estimate of the impact was recorded in the second quarter of the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, the period in which the tax legislation was enacted, however, these amounts may be subject to potential further adjustment in our second quarter of the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019 in accordance with interpretive guidance issued by the SEC as well as future regulatory guidance.   We believe the limitation on interest deductions, the expanded limitation on executive compensation deductions and the anti-base erosion provisions in the legislation may negatively impact our cash flows going forward.  There may be other material adverse effects resulting from the legislation that we have not yet identified.

Changes in the effective tax rate including from the release of the valuation allowance recorded against our net U.S. deferred tax assets, or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns or change in ownership, could adversely affect our results.

Our future effective tax rates may be volatile or adversely affected by changes in our business or U.S. or foreign tax laws, including: the partial or full release of the valuation allowance recorded against our net U.S. deferred tax assets; expiration of or lapses in the research and development tax credit laws; transfer pricing adjustments; tax effects of stock-based compensation; or costs related to restructuring. In addition, we are subject to the examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. Although we regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes, there is no assurance that such determinations by us are in fact adequate. Changes in our effective tax rates or amounts assessed upon examination of our tax returns may have a material, adverse impact on our cash flows and our financial condition.

Our future effective tax rate in particular could be adversely affected by a change in ownership pursuant to U.S. Internal Revenue Code Section 382. If a change in ownership occurs, it may limit our ability to utilize our net operating losses to offset our U.S. taxable income. If U.S. taxable income is greater than the change in ownership limitation, we will pay a higher rate of tax with respect to the amount of taxable income that exceeds the limitation. This could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. On April 26, 2012, we adopted an Amended and Restated Rights Agreement to help protect our assets (the “Rights Agreement”). In general, this does not allow a stockholder to acquire more than 4.95% of our outstanding common stock without a waiver from our board of directors, who must take into account the relevant tax analysis relating to potential limitation of our net operating losses. Our Rights Agreement is effective through May 31, 2019, subject to ratification by a majority of our stockholders at the next annual shareholders meeting, expected to be held on November 8, 2018.

Provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law and our adoption of a stockholder rights plan may delay or prevent an acquisition of Extreme, which could decrease the value of our Common Stock.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without the consent of our Board of Directors. Delaware law also imposes some restrictions on mergers and other business combinations between us and any holder of 15% or more of our outstanding common stock. In addition, our Board of Directors has the right to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could be used to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer. Although we believe these provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law will provide for an opportunity to receive a higher bid by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors, these provisions apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some of our stockholders.

Our Rights Agreement provides that if a single stockholder (or group) acquires more than 4.95% of our outstanding common stock without a waiver from our Board of Directors, each holder of one share of our common stock (other than the stockholder or group who acquired in excess of 4.95% of our common stock) may purchase a fractional share of our preferred stock that would result in substantial dilution to the triggering stockholder or group. Accordingly, although this plan is designed to prevent any limitation on the utilization of our net operating losses by avoiding issues raised under Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, the Rights Agreement could also serve as a deterrent to stockholders wishing to effect a change of control.

Compliance with laws, rules and regulations relating to corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expenses.

Federal securities laws, rules and regulations, as well as NASDAQ Stock Market rules and regulations, require companies to maintain extensive corporate governance measures, impose comprehensive reporting and disclosure requirements, set strict independence and financial expertise standards for audit and other committee members and impose civil and criminal penalties for companies and their Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers and directors for securities law violations. These laws, rules and regulations and the interpretation of these requirements are evolving, and we are making investments to evaluate current practices and to continue to achieve compliance, which investments may have a material impact on our financial condition.

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We are required to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis and publicly disclose any material weaknesses in our controls.  Any adverse results from such evaluation could result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and significant expense to remediate, and ultimately could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires our management to assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and to disclose if such controls were unable to provide assurance that a material error would be prevented or detected in a timely manner. We have an ongoing program to review the design of our internal controls framework in keeping with changes in business needs, implement necessary changes to our controls design and test the system and process controls necessary to comply with these requirements. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our Company will have been detected.

If we or our independent registered public accounting firm identifies material weaknesses in our internal controls, the disclosure of that fact, even if quickly remedied, may cause investors to lose confidence in our financial statements and its stock price may decline. Remediation of a material weakness could require us to incur significant expenses and, if we fail to remedy any material weakness, our ability to report our financial results on a timely and accurate basis may be adversely affected, our access to the capital markets may be restricted, our stock price may decline, and we may be subject to sanctions or investigation by regulatory authorities, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC. We may also be required to restate our financial statements from prior periods. Execution of restatements create a significant strain on our internal resources and could cause delays in our filing of quarterly or annual financial results, increase our costs and cause management distraction. Restatements may also significantly affect our stock price in an adverse manner.

We rely on the availability of third-party licenses.

Some of our products are designed to include software or other intellectual property, including open source software, licensed from third parties. It may be necessary in the future to seek or renew licenses relating to various aspects of these products. There can be no assurance that the necessary licenses would be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The inability to obtain certain licenses or other rights or to obtain such licenses or rights on favorable terms, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Moreover, the inclusion in our products of software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties on a nonexclusive basis could limit our ability to protect our proprietary rights in our products.  Further, the failure to comply with the terms of any license, including free open source software, may result in our inability to continue to use such license. Our inability to maintain or re-license any third-party licenses required in our products or our inability to obtain third-party licenses necessary to develop new products and product enhancements, could require us, if possible, to develop substitute technology or obtain substitute technology of lower quality or performance standards or at a greater cost, any of which could delay or prevent product shipment and harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

System security risks, data protection breaches, and cyber-attacks could compromise our proprietary information, disrupt our internal operations and harm public perception of our products, which could adversely affect our business.

In the ordinary course of business, we store sensitive data, including intellectual property, our proprietary business information and that of our customers, suppliers and business partners on our networks. In addition, we store sensitive or classified information through cloud-based services that may be hosted by third parties and in data center infrastructure maintained by third parties. The secure maintenance of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. Increasingly, companies, including us, are subject to a wide variety of attacks on their networks on an ongoing basis. Despite our security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to penetration or attacks by computer programmers and hackers, or breached due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions. In addition, as a provider of products and services to the government, our products and services may be the targets of cyber attacks that attempted to sabotage or otherwise disable them, or our cybersecurity and other products and services ultimately may not be able to effectively detect, prevent, or protect against or otherwise mitigate losses from all cyber attacks. Any such breach could compromise our networks, creating system disruptions or slowdowns and exploiting security vulnerabilities of our products, and the information stored on our networks could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen, which could subject us to liability to our customers, suppliers, business partners and others, could require significant management attention and resources, could result in the loss of business, regulatory actions and potential liability, and could cause us reputational and financial harm. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we produce or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture, including "bugs" and other problems that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of our networks. This can be true even for “legacy” products that have been determined to have reached an end of life engineering status but will continue to operate for a limited amount of time.

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If an actual or perceived breach of network security occurs in our network or in the network of a customer of our networking products, regardless of whether the breach is attributable to our products, the market perception of the effectiveness of our products could be harmed. In addition, the economic costs to us to eliminate or alleviate cyber or other security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software systems and security vulnerabilities could be significant and may be difficult to anticipate or measure. Because the techniques used by computer programmers and hackers, many of whom are highly sophisticated and well-funded, to access or sabotage networks change frequently and generally are not recognized until after they are used, we may be unable to anticipate or immediately detect these techniques. This could impede our sales, manufacturing, distribution or other critical functions, which could adversely affect our business.

Market conditions and changes in the industry could lead to discontinuation of our products or businesses resulting in asset impairments.

In response to changes in industry and market conditions, we may be required to strategically realign our resources and consider restructuring, disposing of, or otherwise exiting businesses. Any decision to limit investment in or dispose of or otherwise exit businesses may result in the recording of special charges, such as inventory and technology-related write-offs, workforce reduction costs, charges relating to consolidation of excess facilities, or claims from third parties who were resellers or users of discontinued products. Our estimates with respect to the useful life or ultimate recoverability of our carrying basis of assets, including purchased intangible assets, could change as a result of such assessments and decisions. Although in certain instances, our supply agreements allow us the option to cancel, reschedule, and adjust our requirements based on our business needs prior to firm orders being placed, our loss contingencies may include liabilities for contracts that we cannot cancel with contract manufacturers and suppliers. Further, our estimates relating to the liabilities for excess facilities are affected by changes in real estate market conditions.

If our products do not effectively inter-operate with our customers’ networks and result in cancellations and delays of installations, our business could be harmed.

Our products are designed to interface with our customers’ existing networks, each of which have different specifications and utilize multiple protocol standards and products from other vendors. Many of our customers’ networks contain multiple generations of products that have been added over time as these networks have grown and evolved. Our products must inter-operate with many or all of the products within these networks as well as future products in order to meet our customers’ requirements. If we find errors in the existing software or defects in the hardware used in our customers’ networks, we may need to modify our software networking solutions to fix or overcome these errors so that our products will inter-operate and scale with the existing software and hardware, which could be costly and could negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, if our products do not inter-operate with those of our customers’ networks, demand for our products could be adversely affected or orders for our products could be canceled. This could hurt our operating results, damage our reputation, and seriously harm our business and prospects. Our revenues may decline as a result of changes in public funding of educational institutions.

A portion of our revenues comes from sales to both public and private K-12 educational institutions. Public schools receive funding from local tax revenue, and from state and federal governments through a variety of programs, many of which seek to assist schools located in underprivileged or rural areas. The funding for a portion of our sales to educational institutions comes from a federal funding program known as the E-Rate program. E-Rate is a program of the Federal Communications Commission that subsidizes the purchase of approved telecommunications, Internet access, and internal connection costs for eligible public educational institutions.  The E-Rate program, its eligibility criteria, the timing and specific amount of federal funding actually available and which Wi-Fi infrastructure and product sectors will benefit, are uncertain and subject to final federal program approval and funding appropriation continues to be under review by the Federal Communications Commission, and we cannot assure that this program or its equivalent will continue, and as a result, our business may be harmed. Furthermore, if state or local funding of public education is significantly reduced because of legislative or policy changes or by reductions in tax revenues due to changing economic conditions, our sales to educational institutions may be negatively impacted by these changed conditions.  Any reduction in spending on information technology systems by educational institutions would likely materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.  This is a specific example of the many factors which add additional uncertainty to our future revenue from our education end-customers.

Our headquarters and some significant supporting businesses are located in Northern California and other areas subject to natural disasters that could disrupt our operations and harm our business.

Our corporate headquarters are located in Silicon Valley in Northern California. Historically, this region as well as our R&D centers in North Carolina and New Hampshire have been vulnerable to natural disasters and other risks, such as earthquakes, fires, floods and tropical storms, which at times have disrupted the local economy and posed physical risks to our property. We have contract manufacturers located in Taiwan where similar natural disasters and other risks may disrupt the local economy and pose physical risks to our property and the property of our contract manufacturer.

In addition, the continued threat of terrorism and heightened security and military action in response to this threat, or any future acts of terrorism, may cause further disruptions to the economies of the United States and other countries. If such disruptions result in delays or cancellations of customer orders for our products, our business and operating results will suffer.

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We currently do not have redundant, multiple site capacity in the event of a natural disaster, terrorist act or other catastrophic event. In the event of such an occurrence, our business would suffer.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds – Not applicable

 

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities - Not applicable

 

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure - Not Applicable

 

Item 5. Other Information – Not Applicable

 

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Item 6. Exhibits

 

 

*Indicates management or board of directors contract or compensatory plan or arrangement

** Furnished herewith. Exhibits 32.1 and 32.2 are being furnished and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liability of that section, nor shall such exhibits be deemed to be incorporated by reference in any registration statement or other document filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as otherwise specifically stated in such filing.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

November 2, 2018

 

57

Exhibit 10.1

TRANSITION AND SEPARATION AGREEMENT

AND GENERAL RELEASE OF CLAIMS

 

THIS TRANSITION AND SEPARATION AGREEMENT AND GENERAL RELEASE OF CLAIMS (the “Agreement”) is entered into by and between Drew Davies (“Executive”) and Extreme Networks, Inc. (the “Company”).  This Agreement will become effective on the date it is signed by Executive (the “Effective Date”).  This Agreement was originally presented to Executive on September 18, 2018 (the “Agreement Date”).  

 

FACTUAL RECITALS

This Agreement is entered into with respect to the following facts:

Accordingly, Executive and the Company now agree as set forth below.

AGREEMENT

1.Separation from Employment.  Executive acknowledges and agrees that his status as an officer of the Company ended effective as of the close of business on the Officer End Date, and shall thereafter be employed as an at-will employee of the Company assisting the Company in such tasks as reasonably requested by the Company.  Executive acknowledges and agrees that his status as an employee of the Company will end effective as of the close of business on or about September 30, 2018, unless terminated earlier by the Company with or without Cause (as defined in the Executive Change in Control Severance Plan (the “Plan”) to which Executive is a participant) (September 30, 2018 or such earlier date, the “Separation Date”).  Executive hereby agrees to execute such further document(s) as shall be determined by the Company as necessary or desirable to give effect to the termination of Executive’s status as an officer of the Company; provided that

 

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such documents shall not be inconsistent with any of the terms of this Agreement.

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3.Consulting Services.  Without admission of any liability, fact or claim, if Executive has not committed any act that could constitute Cause prior to the Separation Date, subject to Executive’s execution of this Agreement and, on or within thirty (30) days following the Separation Date, the General Release of Claims attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Release”) becoming effective and irrevocable, as well as Executive’s performance of his continuing obligations pursuant to the terms of this Agreement and the terms of the Employee Innovations and Proprietary Rights Assignment Agreement dated May 15, 2016 (the “Confidentiality Agreement”) and any other proprietary rights, assignment of inventions, and/or confidentiality agreements between the Company and Executive, then the Company and Executive hereby agree to the following:

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4.General Release of Claims.  As consideration of and in exchange for the payments and benefits described in Sections 2 and 3 herein, Executive and his successors release the Company, its parents and subsidiaries, and each of those entities’ respective current and former shareholders, investors, directors, officers, employees, agents, accountants, attorneys, tax advisors, insurers, legal successors and assigns, of and from any and all action or actions, cause or causes of action, in law or in equity, suits, debts, liens, contracts, agreements, promises, liability, claims, demands, damages, loss, cost or expense, of any nature whatsoever, whether now known or unknown, fixed or contingent, which Executive now has, or at any other time had, or shall or may have against those released parties based upon or arising out of any matter, cause, fact, thing, act or omission whatsoever occurring or existing at any time up to and including the date on which Executive signs this Agreement, including, but not limited to any claim arising out of his employment with and/or separation from the Company, including, but not limited to, any claims for breach of express or implied contract; wrongful termination; constructive discharge; discrimination; harassment; retaliation; fraud; defamation; infliction of emotional distress; any and all claims arising under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The Family Medical Leave Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the National Labor Relations Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, the California Family Rights Act, the California

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Family and Medical Leave law, or the California Labor Code, all as amended; and any claim or damage arising out of Executive’s employment with and/or separation from the Company under any common law theory, or any federal, state or local law, statute or ordinance not expressly referenced above; provided, however, that nothing in this Agreement prevents Executive from filing, cooperating with, or participating in any proceeding before the EEOC or a State Fair Employment Practices Agency except that Executive acknowledges that he may not be able to recover any monetary benefits in connection with any such claim. Notwithstanding the above release of claims, it is expressly understood that this release does not apply to, and shall not be construed as, a waiver or release of any claims or rights that cannot lawfully be released by private agreement.  This release of claims shall not affect Executive’s (i) existing indemnity rights from the Company (whether pursuant to contract or statute, including, but not limited to, his indemnity rights pursuant to the Indemnification Agreement and California Labor Code section 2802), which rights shall remain in full force and effect, (ii) claims for unemployment compensation or any state disability insurance benefits pursuant to the terms of applicable state law; (iii) claims for workers’ compensation insurance benefits under the terms of any worker’s compensation insurance policy or fund of the Company; and (iv) claims to continued participation in certain of the Company’s group benefit plans pursuant to the terms and conditions of COBRA.  In addition, the above release of claims is not intended to apply to or impact any continuing obligations the Company may have related to any benefit entitlements vested as the date of Executive’s employment termination, pursuant to written terms of any Company employee benefit plan.

Executive, on behalf of himself and his successors, agrees not to sue or file any claims seeking monetary recovery from any of the released parties based upon any claim released by this Agreement.

5.Civil Code Section 1542 Waiver.  Executive acknowledges that he has read section 1542 of the Civil Code of the State of California, which states in full:

A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor.

Executive waives any rights that he has or may have under section 1542 (or any similar provision of the laws of any other jurisdiction) to the full extent that he may lawfully waive such rights pertaining to this general release of claims, and affirm that he is releasing all known and unknown claims that he has or may have against the released parties listed in Section 4 above.

6.Agreement Not To Assist With Other Claims; Executive Representations.

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7.Prior Agreement and Return of Company Property.  Executive acknowledges and agrees that he shall continue to be bound by and comply with the terms of any Confidentiality Agreement, a copy of each having been provided to Executive at his request. To the extent that he has not already done so, by the Separation Date, Executive will promptly return to the Company, in good working condition, all Company property and equipment that is in Executive’s possession or control, including, but not limited to, any PDAs, files, records, computers, computer equipment, cell phones, credit cards, keys, programs, manuals, business plans, and financial records, and all documents (whether in paper, electronic, or other format, and all copies thereof) that Executive prepared or received in the course of his employment with the Company.  

8.References. Executive understands and agrees that, provided that Executive directs all requests for employment references to the Company’s Chief People Officer, Dean Chabrier, or her successor, the Company will respond to reference requests for Executive by providing his date of hire on or about June 1, 2016, his last date of employment of the Separation Date, his last position with the Company of Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, and his last rate of pay with the Company of $400,000 per year plus potential bonus.  The Company will provide no further information.

9.Confidentiality.  The covenants of confidentiality set forth in this Agreement and the Release are material terms hereof, and for the breach thereof, the Company will be entitled to pursue damages and seek injunctive relief.  Executive acknowledges that during his employment with the Company he received and/or obtained Confidential Information and Third Party Information as those terms are defined below.  Executive represents that at all times during the

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term of his employment he held in strictest confidence, and did not use, except for the benefit of the Company any Confidential Information of the Company.  Executive agrees that he will continue to keep confidential and not to use for the benefit of any person or entity all non-public information about the Company or third parties that he acquired during the course of his employment with the Company, including without limitation any Confidential Information or Third Party Information.  Executive acknowledges that “Confidential Information” means any Company personnel information, employee information, proprietary information, technical data, trade secrets or know-how, including, but not limited to, research, product plans, products, services, pricing, markets, software, processes, marketing, finances or other business information obtained by Executive and/or disclosed to Executive by the Company either directly or indirectly in writing or orally.  Executive further acknowledges that Confidential Information does not include any of the foregoing items which have become publicly known and made generally available through no wrongful act of Executive or of others who were under confidentiality obligations as to the item or items involved or improvements or new versions thereof.

Executive acknowledges that the Company has received from third parties their confidential or proprietary information subject to a duty on the part of the Company to maintain the confidentiality of such information (“Third Party Information”).  Executive represents that he has held all such confidential or proprietary information in the strictest confidence and agrees not to disclose any Third Party Information to any person, firm or corporation or to use it.

Nothing in this Agreement is intended to waive or release Executive from any and all obligations to the Company under any Confidentiality Agreement, or any obligation created by statutory or common law to protect any intellectual property or proprietary information of the Company and/or its employees.

Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, nothing contained in this Agreement and/or the Release shall prohibit Executive (or Executive’s attorney) from (i) filing a charge with, reporting possible violations of federal law or regulation to, participating in any investigation by, or cooperating with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Act Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice or any other securities regulatory agency, self-regulatory authority or federal, state or local regulatory authority (collectively, “Government Agencies”), or making other disclosures that are protected under the whistleblower provisions of applicable law or regulation, (ii) communicating directly with, cooperating with, or providing information (including trade secrets) in confidence to any Government Agencies for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or from providing such information to my attorney or in a sealed complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other governmental proceeding, and/or (iii) receiving an award for information provided to any Government Agency.  Pursuant to 18 USC Section 1833(b), Executive will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made: (x) in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to an attorney, and solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law; or (y) in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal.  Further, nothing in this Agreement and/or the Release is intended

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to or shall preclude Executive from providing truthful testimony in response to a valid subpoena, court order, regulatory request or other judicial, administrative or legal process or otherwise as required by law.  If Executive is required to provide testimony, then unless otherwise directed or requested by a Governmental Agency or law enforcement, Executive shall notify the Company in writing as promptly as practicable after receiving any such request of the anticipated testimony and at least ten (10) days prior to providing such testimony (or, if such notice is not possible under the circumstances, with as much prior notice as is possible) to afford the Company a reasonable opportunity to challenge the subpoena, court order or similar legal process.

10.Non-Disparagement.  Executive agrees that he will not make any disparaging statements about the Company, or any of its services, products, officers, directors, employees, customers, or channel partners except to the extent that such statements are made truthfully in response to a duly issued subpoena or other compulsory legal process.  The Company agrees that it will direct its officers and directors not to make any disparaging statements about the Executive, or any of his work product, except to the extent that such statements are made truthfully in response to a duly issued subpoena or other compulsory legal process.  The covenants of non-disparagement set forth in this Agreement are material terms hereof, and for the breach thereof, any aggrieved party will be entitled to pursue damages and seek injunctive relief.

11.Non-Solicitation.  Executive recognizes the highly competitive nature of the Company’s business and that Company employees are exposed to Company trade secrets, which may include Confidential Information regarding its employees; therefore, Executive agrees that for a period of one year following the Separation Date, he will not, on behalf of himself or any other person or entity, directly or indirectly solicit any employee of the Company to terminate his/her employment with the Company.

12.Section 409A Compliance.  The Company intends that income provided to the Executive pursuant to this Agreement will not be subject to taxation under Section 409A of the Code (“Section 409A”).  The provisions of this Agreement shall be interpreted and construed in favor of satisfying any applicable requirements of Section 409A of the Code.  However, the Company does not guarantee any particular tax effect for income provided to the Executive pursuant to this Agreement.  In any event, except for the Company’s responsibility to withhold applicable income and employment taxes from compensation paid or provided to the Executive, the Company shall not be responsible for the payment of any applicable taxes incurred by the Executive on compensation paid or provided to the Executive pursuant to this Agreement.  In the event that any compensation to be paid or provided to Executive pursuant to this Agreement may be subject to the excise tax described in Section 409A, the Company may delay such payment for the minimum period required in order to avoid the imposition of such excise tax.

13.Transition; Cooperation.  Each of the Company and Executive shall use their respective reasonable efforts to cooperate with each other in good faith to facilitate a smooth transition of Executive’s duties to other executive(s) of the Company.  After the Separation Date, Executive shall cooperate with the Company and its affiliates, upon the Company’s reasonable request, with respect to any internal investigation or administrative, regulatory or judicial proceeding involving matters within the scope of Executive’s duties and responsibilities to the Company or its affiliates during his employment with the Company (including, without limitation, Executive being

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available to the Company upon reasonable notice for interviews and factual investigations, appearing at the Company’s reasonable request to give testimony without requiring service of a subpoena or other legal process, and turning over to the Company all relevant Company documents which are or may have come into Executive’s possession during his employment); provided, however, that any such request by the Company shall not be unduly burdensome or interfere with Executive’s personal schedule or ability to engage in gainful employment.

14.No Admission.  This Agreement shall never be considered at any time or for any purpose as an admission of liability by any party hereto, or that any party or person referred to herein in this Agreement acted wrongfully with respect to any other party or person.

15.Governing Law.  This Agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of California.

16.Severability.  If any provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be modified so as to make it valid, legal, and enforceable, or if it cannot be so modified, it will be stricken from this Agreement, and the validity, legality, and enforceability of the remainder of the Agreement shall not in any way be affected.  This Agreement shall be binding upon, and shall inure to the benefit of, the parties and their respective successors, assigns, heirs and personal representatives.

17.Dispute Resolution.  In the event of any disputes or claims between the parties, including, but not limited to, any claims that are based upon or arise out of this Agreement or any alleged breach of this Agreement, the parties agree that all such disputes or claims shall be resolved by binding arbitration before a single arbitrator of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in Santa Clara County, California pursuant to the AAA’s then-current arbitration rules for the resolution of employment disputes, which can be reviewed at www.adr.org.  Executive acknowledges that he waives his rights to have any disputes under this Agreement, or any dispute otherwise related to his employment or the termination thereof, resolved before a court or jury.    

18.Entire Agreement and Modification.  This Agreement, along with the Release and any other agreements described herein, constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior negotiations and agreements between the parties, whether written or oral, including the Offer Letter, which agreements are hereby terminated and of no further legal force or effect. However, nothing in this Agreement or the Release shall waive or release any obligations under the Confidentiality Agreement and the Indemnification Agreement, which agreements shall remain in full force and effect. This Agreement and the Release may not be modified or amended except by a document signed by an authorized officer of the Company and Executive.

19.Execution in Counterparts.  This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, any one of which shall be deemed to be the original even if the others are not produced.  Furthermore, facsimile or electronic format signatures shall be enforceable as originals.  

20.Accepting the Agreement.  To accept the Agreement, Executive must date, sign and return this Agreement to the attention of Katy Motiey at the Company no later than September 30, 2018.  

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If Executive does not sign and return the Agreement by September 30, 2018, the Agreement will expire.

EXECUTIVE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HE SHOULD CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY PRIOR TO SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT AND THAT HE IS GIVING UP ANY LEGAL CLAIMS (AS DESCRIBED ABOVE IN SECTIONS 4, 5 AND 6 HEREIN) HE HAS AGAINST THE PARTIES RELEASED ABOVE BY SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT. EXECUTIVE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HE IS SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT KNOWINGLY, WILLINGLY AND VOLUNTARILY IN EXCHANGE FOR THE PAYMENTS AND BENEFITS DESCRIBED IN SECTIONS 2 AND 3 HEREIN, WHICH INCLUDES CONSIDERATION HE WOULD OTHERWISE NOT BE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE.

 

AGREED:

 

 

10

Exhibit 10.2

SECOND AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT

AND FIRST AMENDMENT TO PLEDGE AGREEMENT

 

THIS SECOND AMENDMENT TO CREDIT AGREEMENT AND FIRST AMENDMENT TO PLEDGE AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”), dated as of September 30, 2018, is entered into by and among EXTREME NETWORKS, INC., a Delaware corporation (the “Borrower”), ENTERASYS NETWORKS, INC., a Delaware corporation (“Enterasys”), the several banks and other financial institutions or entities party hereto (each a “Lender” and, collectively, the “Lenders”), and BANK OF MONTREAL (“BMO), as administrative and collateral agent (in such capacity, the “Administrative Agent”). Unless otherwise defined herein, terms defined in the Credit Agreement (defined below) and used herein shall have the respective meanings given to such terms in the Credit Agreement.

RECITALS

A.The Borrower, the Lenders and the Administrative Agent are parties to that certain Credit Agreement, dated as of May 1, 2018, as amended by that certain First Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of June 28, 2018, among the Borrower, Enterasys, the Lenders and the Administrative Agent (as so amended, the “Credit Agreement”).

B.Reference is made to the Pledge Agreement, dated as of May 1, 2018, made by Enterasys in favor of the Administrative Agent (as amended, restated, amended and restated, supplemented, restructured or otherwise modified prior to the date hereof, the “Pledge Agreement”).

C.The Borrower and Enterasys have requested that the Administrative Agent and the Lenders party hereto agree to amend the Credit Agreement and the Pledge Agreement in the manner described in Section 1 hereof.

D.The Administrative Agent and the Lenders party hereto have agreed to so amend the Credit Agreement and the Pledge Agreement upon the terms and conditions set forth herein.

ACCORDINGLY, subject to the satisfaction of the conditions to effectiveness described in Section 2 of this Agreement, the parties hereto hereby agree as follows:

AGREEMENT

SECTION 1Amendments.  

(a)The following definition of “Beneficial Ownership Regulation” is hereby added in appropriate alphabetical order in Section 1.1 of the Credit Agreement:

“Beneficial Ownership Regulation” means 31 C.F.R § 1010.230.

(b)The following definition of “Irish Guarantor” is hereby added in appropriate alphabetical order in Section 1.1 of the Credit Agreement:

“Irish Guarantor”: Extreme Networks Ireland Holding Limited, an Irish company limited by shares.

(c) The definition of “Excluded Assets” in Section 1.1 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as follows:

 

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“Excluded Assets”: as defined in the Guarantee and Collateral Agreement; provided, however, that notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Loan Document, any right title or interest of any Loan Party or Enterasys in the outstanding voting Capital Stock or other Equity Interest in the Irish Guarantor shall not be Excluded Assets.

(d)The definition of “Excluded Foreign Subsidiary” in Section 1.1 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as follows:

““Excluded Foreign Subsidiary”:  in respect of any Loan Party, any Subsidiary of such Loan Party (other than the Irish Guarantor) (a) that is a “controlled foreign corporation” as defined in Section 957 of the Code, (b) that is a Subsidiary (whether direct or indirect) of a “controlled foreign corporation” as defined in Section 957 of the Code, or (c) substantially all of the assets of which are Equity Interests (or Equity Interests and debt interests) in one or more “controlled foreign corporations” as defined in Section 957 of the Code. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Loan Documents, the Irish Guarantor shall not be an Excluded Foreign Subsidiary.”

(e) The definition of “Foreign Investment Limit” in Section 1.1 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as follows:

““Foreign Investment Limit”:  at any time, with respect to all of the Loan Parties and in respect of (a) the aggregate amount of all Investments (other than Investments that are intercompany Indebtedness) made by any Loan Party in any Subsidiary (including any Foreign Subsidiary) that is not a Loan Party, in each case to the extent such Investments are made on or after the Closing Date and remain outstanding at such time, (b) the aggregate amount of all intercompany Indebtedness incurred by any Subsidiary (including any Foreign Subsidiary) that is not a Loan Party and owing to a Loan Party, in each case to the extent such intercompany Indebtedness is incurred on or after the Closing Date and remains outstanding at such time, (c) the aggregate amount of all Restricted Payments made on or after the Closing Date by any Loan Party to any Subsidiary (including any Foreign Subsidiary) that is not a Loan Party, (d) the aggregate amount of all Dispositions made on or after the Closing Date by any Loan Party to any Subsidiary (including any Foreign Subsidiary) that is not a Loan Party and (e) without duplication, the book value of the assets of any Loan Party that is merged or consolidated with or into any Subsidiary (including any Foreign Subsidiary) that is not a Loan Party if the surviving entity in such merger is not, or does not immediately become, a Loan Party, an aggregate amount for all of the foregoing clauses (a) through (e) not exceeding 10% of Consolidated Tangible Net Worth (measured as of the date of the financial statements most recently delivered to the Administrative Agent pursuant to Section 6.1 (or, prior to the date financial statements are first delivered to the Administrative Agent pursuant to Section 6.1, as of December 31, 2017)); provided that for purposes of this definition, any Investments, intercompany Indebtedness, Restricted Payments, and Dispositions that are made in connection with the lease at Eton House, Maidenhead Office Park in the United Kingdom shall be excluded from all of clauses (a) through (d).”

(f)The definition of “Guarantors” in Section 1.1 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as follows:

““Guarantors”: a collective reference to the Borrower, the Irish Guarantor and each Domestic Subsidiary of the Borrower which has become a Guarantor pursuant to the Guarantee and Collateral Agreement.  Notwithstanding the foregoing or any contrary provision herein or in any other Loan Document, (a) no Excluded Foreign Subsidiary shall be a Guarantor and (b) no Immaterial Subsidiary shall be required to be a Guarantor, but the Borrower may elect to make any Immaterial Subsidiary a Guarantor.”

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(g)Section 6.2(h) is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

“by no later than three days prior to the effectiveness thereof, copies of substantially final drafts of any proposed amendment, supplement, waiver or other modification with respect to any Blue Angel Asset Acquisition Document;”

(h)Section 6.2(i) is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

“promptly, such additional financial and other information as the Administrative Agent or any Lender may from time to time reasonably request; and”

(i)Section 6.2 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended to add, after subsection (i) thereof, a subsection (j) that shall read as follows:

“promptly following any request therefor, information and documentation reasonably requested in writing by the Administrative Agent or any Lender for purposes of compliance with applicable “know your customer” and anti-money-laundering rules and regulations, including the Patriot Act and the Beneficial Ownership Regulation.”

(j)Section 6.11(c) of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its entirety as follows:

“With respect to any new First Tier Foreign Subsidiary or any First Tier Foreign Subsidiary Holding Company, as applicable, created or acquired after the Closing Date by any Loan Party or Enterasys, promptly (i) execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent such amendments to the Guarantee and Collateral Agreement or the Enterasys Pledge Agreement as the Administrative Agent reasonably deems necessary or advisable to grant to the Administrative Agent, for the ratable benefit of the Secured Parties, a perfected first priority security interest and Lien in the Capital Stock of such new First Tier Foreign Subsidiary or First Tier Foreign Subsidiary Holding Company, as applicable, that is owned by any such Loan Party or Enterasys (provided that in no event shall more than 65% of the total outstanding voting Capital Stock of any such new First Tier Foreign Subsidiary (other than the Irish Guarantor) or First Tier Foreign Subsidiary Holding Company (other than the Irish Guarantor), as applicable, be required to be so pledged), (ii) deliver to the Administrative Agent the certificates representing such Capital Stock (if certificated), together with undated stock powers, in blank, executed and delivered by a duly authorized officer of the relevant Loan Party or Enterasys, and take such other action (including, as applicable, the delivery of any Foreign Pledge Documents reasonably requested by the Administrative Agent) as may be necessary or, in the opinion of the Administrative Agent, desirable to perfect the Administrative Agent’s security interest therein, and (iii) if reasonably requested by the Administrative Agent, deliver to the Administrative Agent legal opinions relating to the matters described above, which opinions shall be in form and substance, and from counsel, reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.”

(k)Section 6.11 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended to add, after subsection (e) thereof, a subsection (f) that shall read as follows:

“With respect to the Irish Guarantor, promptly (i) cause the Irish Guarantor (A) to become a party to the Guarantee and Collateral Agreement as a Grantor and a Guarantor thereunder, (B) to take such actions as are necessary or advisable in the opinion of the Administrative Agent to grant to the Administrative Agent for the ratable benefit of the Secured Parties a perfected first priority security interest and Lien in the Collateral described in the Guarantee and Collateral Agreement, with respect to the Irish Guarantor, including the filing of Uniform Commercial Code financing statements in such

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jurisdictions as may be required by the Guarantee and Collateral Agreement or by law or as may be reasonably requested by the Administrative Agent, and the filing of Form C1 with the Irish Companies Registration Office, the filing of a notification with the Revenue Commissioners of Ireland in accordance with section 1001 of the Irish Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, and take such other action (including, as applicable, the delivery of any foreign law security documents reasonably requested by the Administrative Agent) as may be necessary or, in the opinion of the Administrative Agent, desirable to perfect the Administrative Agent’s security interest therein and (C) to deliver to the Administrative Agent a certificate of the secretary (or other equivalent officer) of the Irish Guarantor of the type described in Section 5.1(c), in form reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, with appropriate insertions and attachments, and (iii) deliver to the Administrative Agent legal opinions addressing such matters as the Administrative Agent may reasonably specify, which opinions shall be in form and substance, and from counsel, reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.”

(l)Section 7.2(q) of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its entirety as follows:

“(i) Indebtedness incurred on or after the Closing Date by any Subsidiary (including any Foreign Subsidiary) that is not a Loan Party and owing to a Loan Party; provided that no Indebtedness incurred at any time in reliance on this clause (q)(i) shall cause the Foreign Investment Limit in effect at such time to be exceeded, (ii) Indebtedness incurred by the Irish Guarantor (A) pursuant to the Loan Agreement, dated as of June 28, 2018, by and between Extreme Networks Ireland Limited and the Irish Guarantor in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $85,000,000 and (B) pursuant to the Platform Contribution License Agreement, dated as of June 28, 2018, by and between Extreme Networks, Inc. and Extreme Networks Ireland Holding Limited in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $23,000,000, and (iii) to the extent payments to be made by the Irish Guarantor to Extreme Networks Ireland Limited in connection with the Enterasys IP License Agreement (Enterasys IP), dated as of September 30, 2018, by and between Extreme Networks, Inc. and Extreme Networks Ireland Holding Limited are payments in respect of Indebtedness, Indebtedness owing by the Irish Guarantor to Extreme Networks Ireland Limited in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $61,000,000.”

(m) Section 7.10 of the Credit Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its entirety as follows:

“Enter into any transaction, including any purchase, sale, lease or exchange of property, the rendering of any service or the payment of any management, advisory or similar fees, with any Affiliate (other than any other Loan Party or between or among any Subsidiaries that are not Loan Parties) unless such transaction is (a)(i) not otherwise prohibited under this Agreement or any other Loan Document, (ii) in the ordinary course of business of the relevant Group Member, (iii) upon fair and reasonable terms no less favorable to the relevant Group Member than it would obtain in a comparable arm’s length transaction with a Person that is not an Affiliate, and (iv) one the consummation of which would not cause the Foreign Investment Limit in effect at such time to be exceeded, (b) one involving the payment of customary directors’ fees and indemnification and reimbursement of expenses to directors and employees, (c) one involving the issuance of stock and stock options pursuant to the Borrower’s stock option plans and stock purchase plans, (d) one involving reasonable compensation paid to officers and employees in their capacities as such (e) one in connection with the Irish Intellectual Property License so long as the transaction is otherwise permitted hereunder.”

(n)The proviso at the end of the definition of “Excluded Assets” in Section 1.1 of the Pledge Agreement is hereby amended and restated as follows:

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“provided, however, that (i) any Proceeds, substitutions or replacements of any Excluded Assets shall not be Excluded Assets (unless such Proceeds, substitutions or replacements are otherwise, in and of themselves, Excluded Assets) and (ii) the Pledgor’s right, title or interest in the Capital Stock or other Equity Interest in the Irish Guarantor shall not be Excluded Assets.”

SECTION 2Conditions Precedent to Effectiveness.  The effectiveness of Section 1 of this Agreement shall be subject to the prior satisfaction of each of the following conditions precedent (the first date on which all such conditions shall be satisfied or waived, the “Effective Date”):

(a)Executed Agreement. The Administrative Agent shall have received from the Borrower, Enterasys and the Lenders constituting the Required Lenders a duly executed counterpart of this Agreement.

(b)Costs and Expenses. The Borrower shall have paid all costs and expenses of the Administrative Agent then due in accordance with Section 5(d) hereof and Section 10.5(a) of the Credit Agreement, to the extent such costs and expenses have been invoiced to the Borrower prior to the Effective Date.

(c)Representation and Warranties; No Default.  On the Effective Date, after giving effect to this Agreement, (i) the representations and warranties contained in Section 3 of this Agreement shall be true and correct and (ii) no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing.

SECTION 3Representations and Warranties.  Each of the Borrower and Enterasys hereby represents and warrants to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders that:

(a)no Default or Event of Default exists immediately before, and that no Default or Event of Default exists immediately after, giving effect to the amendments contemplated by Section 1 hereof;

(b)the execution, delivery, and performance by the Borrower and Enterasys of this Agreement have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part of the Borrower and Enterasys, as applicable, and do not and will not require any registration with, consent or approval of, or notice to or action by, any Person (including any Governmental Authority) in order to be effective and enforceable;

(c)this Agreement and the other Loan Documents constitute the legal, valid, and binding obligations of each of the Borrower and Enterasys party hereto or thereto, and are enforceable against each such Person in accordance with their respective terms, except as enforceability may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and by general equitable principles and principles of good faith and fair dealing (whether enforcement is sought by proceedings in equity or at law); and

(d)each of the representations and warranties made by each of the Borrower and Enterasys in or pursuant to any Loan Document (after giving effect to the amendments to the Credit Agreement and the Pledge Agreement contemplated by this Agreement) (i) that is qualified by materiality is true and correct, and (ii) that is not qualified by materiality, is true and correct in all material respects, in each case, on and as of the date hereof, except to the extent that any such representation and warranty expressly relates to an earlier date, in which case such representation and warranty shall have been true and correct in all material respects or in all respects, as required, as of such earlier date.

SECTION 4Reaffirmation.  

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(a)Validity of Obligations.  The Borrower acknowledges and agrees that, both before and after giving effect to this Agreement, the Borrower is indebted to the Lenders for the Obligations, without defense, counterclaim or offset of any kind and the Borrower hereby ratifies and reaffirms the validity, enforceability and binding nature of such Obligations.

(b)Validity of Liens and Loan Documents.  Each of the Borrower and Enterasys hereby agrees and confirms that the Credit Agreement and each other Loan Document constitutes a legal, valid, and binding obligation of the Borrower and Enterasys, in each case, to the extent party to such Loan Document, enforceable against the Borrower and Enterasys in accordance with its terms.  Each of the Borrower and Enterasys hereby ratifies and reaffirms the validity and enforceability (without defense, counterclaim or offset of any kind) of the Liens and security interests granted to the Administrative Agent for the benefit of the Secured Parties to secure any of the Obligations by the Borrower or Enterasys pursuant to the Loan Documents to which any of the Borrower or Enterasys is a party and hereby confirms and agrees that notwithstanding the effectiveness of this Agreement, and except as expressly amended by this Agreement, each such Loan Document is, and shall continue to be, in full force and effect and each is hereby ratified and confirmed in all respects, except that, on and after the effectiveness of this Agreement, each reference in the Loan  Documents to the “Credit Agreement”, “thereunder”, “thereof” (and each reference in the Credit Agreement to this “Agreement”, “hereunder” or “hereof”) or words of like import shall mean and be a reference to the Credit Agreement as amended by this Agreement and on and after the effectiveness of this Agreement, each reference in the Loan  Documents to the “Pledge Agreement”, “thereunder”, “thereof” (and each reference in the Pledge Agreement to this “Agreement”, “hereunder” or “hereof”) or words of like import shall mean and be a reference to the Pledge Agreement as amended by this Agreement.

SECTION 5Miscellaneous.

(a)Agreements Otherwise Not Affected. Except as expressly contemplated hereby, each of the Credit Agreement and Pledge Agreement shall remain unchanged and in full force and effect and is hereby ratified and confirmed in all respects. The Administrative Agent’s and the Lenders’ execution and delivery of, or acceptance of, this Agreement shall not be deemed to create a course of dealing or otherwise to create any express or implied duty by the Administrative Agent or any Lender to provide any other or further amendments under the same or similar circumstances in the future.

(b)No Reliance. The Borrower hereby acknowledges and confirms to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders that it is executing this Agreement on the basis of its own investigation and for its own reasons without reliance upon any agreement, representation, understanding or communication by or on behalf of any other Person.

(c)Binding Effect. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns permitted by the terms of the Loan Documents. No third party beneficiaries are intended in connection with this Agreement.

(d)Costs and Expenses. The Borrower hereby agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent on demand the reasonable and documented out-of-pocket costs and expenses of the Administrative Agent, and the reasonable and documented out-of-pocket fees and disbursements of counsel to the Administrative Agent, in connection with the negotiation, preparation, execution and delivery of this Agreement and any other documents to be delivered herewith.

(e)Governing Law. This Agreement, the other Loan Documents and any claims, controversy, dispute or causes of actions arising therefrom (whether in contract or tort or otherwise) shall be construed in

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accordance with and governed by the law of the State of New York. This Section 5(e) shall survive the Discharge of Obligations. This Agreement is subject to the provisions of Section 10.14 of the Credit Agreement and Section 7.11 of the Pledge Agreement relating to submission to jurisdiction, jury trial waiver and judicial reference, which provisions are by this reference incorporated herein, mutatis mutandis, as if set forth herein in full.

(f)Complete Agreement; Amendments. This Agreement, together with the Credit Agreement, the Pledge Agreement and the other Loan Documents, contains the entire and exclusive agreement of the parties hereto with reference to the matters discussed herein and therein. This Agreement supersedes all prior drafts and communications with respect hereto and may not be amended except in accordance with the provisions of Section 10.1 of the Credit Agreement.

(g)Severability. Whenever possible, each provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted in such a manner as to be effective and valid under all applicable laws and regulations. If, however, any provision of this Agreement shall be prohibited by or invalid under any such law or regulation in any jurisdiction, it shall, as to such jurisdiction, be deemed modified to conform to the minimum requirements of such law or regulation, or, if for any reason it is not deemed so modified, it shall be ineffective and invalid only to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity without affecting the remaining provisions of this Agreement, or the validity or effectiveness of such provision in any other jurisdiction.

(h)Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts and by different parties hereto in separate counterparts, each of which when so executed shall be deemed to be an original and all of which taken together shall constitute but one and the same agreement. Delivery of an executed counterpart of this Agreement by PDF, facsimile or other electronic method of transmission shall be equally as effective as delivery of an original executed counterpart of this Agreement but the failure to deliver an original executed counterpart shall not affect the validity, enforceability and binding effect of this Agreement.

(i)Interpretation. This Agreement is the result of negotiations between and has been reviewed by respective counsel to the Loan Parties and Enterasys and is the product of all parties hereto. Accordingly, this Agreement shall not be construed against any party merely because of its involvement in the preparation hereof.

(j)Loan Document. This Agreement shall constitute a Loan Document.

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed as of the date first above written.

 

 

 

 

 

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Exhibit 10.3

EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

NOTICE OF GRANT OF PERFORMANCE STOCK OPTION

(For U.S. Participants)

 

Extreme Networks, Inc. (the “Company”) has granted to the Participant an option (the “Performance Option”) to purchase certain shares of Stock pursuant to the Extreme Networks, Inc. 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), as follows:

 

 

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By the Company’s authorized signature below and the Participant’s by electronic acceptance in a form authorized by the Company, the Company and the Participant agree that the Performance Option is governed by this Grant Notice and by the provisions of the Performance Option Agreement and the Plan, both of which are made a part of this document, and by the Superseding Agreement, if any.  The Participant acknowledges that copies of the Plan, the Performance Option Agreement and the prospectus for the Plan are available on the Company’s internal web site and may be viewed and printed by the Participant for attachment to the Participant’s copy of this Grant Notice.  The Participant represents that the Participant has read and is familiar with the provisions of the Performance Option Agreement and the Plan, and hereby accepts the Performance Option subject to all of their terms and conditions.

 

 

ATTACHMENTS:2013 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended to the Date of Grant; Performance Stock Option Agreement, Exercise Notice and Plan Prospectus

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EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

PERFORMANCE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT

(For U.S. Participants)

Extreme Networks, Inc. (the “Company”) has granted to the Participant named in the Notice of Grant of Performance Stock Option (the “Grant Notice”) to which this Performance Stock Option Agreement (the “Performance Option Agreement”) is attached an option (the “Option”) to purchase certain shares of Stock upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Grant Notice and this Performance Option Agreement.  The Option has been granted pursuant to and shall in all respects be subject to the terms and conditions of the Extreme Networks, Inc. 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), as amended to the Date of Grant, the provisions of which are incorporated herein by reference.  By signing the Grant Notice, the Participant: (a) acknowledges receipt of, and represents that the Participant has read and is familiar with, the Grant Notice, this Performance Option Agreement, the Plan and a prospectus for the Plan prepared in connection with the registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of shares issuable pursuant to the Option (the “Plan Prospectus”), (b) accepts the Option subject to all of the terms and conditions of the Grant Notice, this Performance Option Agreement and the Plan and (c) agrees to accept as binding, conclusive and final all decisions or interpretations of the Committee upon any questions arising under the Grant Notice, this Performance Option Agreement or the Plan.

1.Definitions and Construction.

1.1Definitions.  Unless otherwise defined herein, capitalized terms shall have the meanings assigned to such terms in the Grant Notice or the Plan.

1.2Construction.  Captions and titles contained herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of any provision of this Performance Option Agreement.  Except when otherwise indicated by the context, the singular shall include the plural and the plural shall include the singular.  Use of the term “or” is not intended to be exclusive, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

2.Tax Consequences.

2.1Tax Status of Option.  This Option is intended to have the tax status designated in the Grant Notice.

(a)Incentive Stock Option.  If the Grant Notice so designates, this Option is intended to be an Incentive Stock Option within the meaning of Section 422(b) of the Code, but the Company does not represent or warrant that this Option qualifies as such.  The Participant should consult with the Participant’s own tax advisor regarding the tax effects of this Option and the requirements necessary to obtain favorable income tax treatment under Section 422 of the Code, including, but not limited to, holding period requirements.  (NOTE TO PARTICIPANT: If the Option is exercised more than three (3) months after the date on which you cease to be an Employee (other than by reason of your death or permanent and total disability as defined in Section 22(e)(3) of the Code), the Option will be treated as a

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Nonstatutory Stock Option and not as an Incentive Stock Option to the extent required by Section 422 of the Code.)

(b)Nonstatutory Stock Option.  If the Grant Notice so designates, this Option is intended to be a Nonstatutory Stock Option and shall not be treated as an Incentive Stock Option within the meaning of Section 422(b) of the Code.

2.2ISO Fair Market Value Limitation.  If the Grant Notice designates this Option as an Incentive Stock Option, then to the extent that the Option (together with all Incentive Stock Options granted to the Participant under all stock option plans of the Participating Company Group, including the Plan) becomes exercisable for the first time during any calendar year for shares having a Fair Market Value greater than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), the portion of such options which exceeds such amount will be treated as Nonstatutory Stock Options.  For purposes of this Section 2.2, options designated as Incentive Stock Options are taken into account in the order in which they were granted, and the Fair Market Value of stock is determined as of the time the option with respect to such stock is granted.  If the Code is amended to provide for a different limitation from that set forth in this Section 2.2, such different limitation shall be deemed incorporated herein effective as of the date required or permitted by such amendment to the Code.  If the Option is treated as an Incentive Stock Option in part and as a Nonstatutory Stock Option in part by reason of the limitation set forth in this Section 2.2, the Participant may designate which portion of such Option the Participant is exercising.  In the absence of such designation, the Participant shall be deemed to have exercised the Incentive Stock Option portion of the Option first.  Separate certificates representing each such portion shall be issued upon the exercise of the Option.  (NOTE TO PARTICIPANT: If the aggregate Exercise Price of the Option (that is, the Exercise Price multiplied by the Number of Option Shares) plus the aggregate exercise price of any other Incentive Stock Options you hold (whether granted pursuant to the Plan or any other stock option plan of the Participating Company Group) is greater than $100,000, you should contact the Chief Financial Officer of the Company to ascertain whether the entire Option qualifies as an Incentive Stock Option.)

3.Administration.

All questions of interpretation concerning the Grant Notice, this Performance Option Agreement, the Plan or any other form of agreement or other document employed by the Company in the administration of the Plan or the Option shall be determined by the Committee.  All such determinations by the Committee shall be final, binding and conclusive upon all persons having an interest in the Option, unless fraudulent or made in bad faith.  Any and all actions, decisions and determinations taken or made by the Committee in the exercise of its discretion pursuant to the Plan or the Option or other agreement thereunder (other than determining questions of interpretation pursuant to the preceding sentence) shall be final, binding and conclusive upon all persons having an interest in the Option.  Any Officer shall have the authority to act on behalf of the Company with respect to any matter, right, obligation, or election which is the responsibility of or which is allocated to the Company herein, provided the Officer has apparent authority with respect to such matter, right, obligation, or election.

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4.Exercise of the Option.

4.1Right to Exercise.  Except as otherwise provided herein, the Option shall be exercisable on and after the Initial Vesting Date and prior to the termination of the Option (as provided in Section 6) in an amount not to exceed the number of Vested Shares less the number of shares previously acquired upon exercise of the Option.  In no event shall the Option be exercisable for more shares than the Number of Option Shares, as adjusted pursuant to Section 9.

4.2Method of Exercise.  Exercise of the Option shall be by means of electronic or written notice (the “Exercise Notice”) in a form authorized by the Company.  An electronic Exercise Notice must be digitally signed or authenticated by the Participant in such manner as required by the notice and transmitted to the Company or an authorized representative of the Company (including a third-party administrator designated by the Company).  In the event that the Participant is not authorized or is unable to provide an electronic Exercise Notice, the Option shall be exercised by a written Exercise Notice addressed to the Company, which shall be signed by the Participant and delivered in person, by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, by confirmed facsimile transmission, or by such other means as the Company may permit, to the Company, or an authorized representative of the Company (including a third-party administrator designated by the Company).  Each Exercise Notice, whether electronic or written, must state the Participant’s election to exercise the Option, the number of whole shares of Stock for which the Option is being exercised and such other representations and agreements as to the Participant’s investment intent with respect to such shares as may be required pursuant to the provisions of this Performance Option Agreement.  Further, each Exercise Notice must be received by the Company prior to the termination of the Option as set forth in Section 6 and must be accompanied by full payment of the aggregate Exercise Price for the number of shares of Stock being purchased.  The Option shall be deemed to be exercised upon receipt by the Company of such electronic or written Exercise Notice and the aggregate Exercise Price.

4.3Payment of Exercise Price.

(a)Forms of Consideration Authorized.  Except as otherwise provided below, payment of the aggregate Exercise Price for the number of shares of Stock for which the Option is being exercised shall be made (i) in cash, by check or in cash equivalent; (ii) if permitted by the Company and subject to the limitations contained in Section 4.3(b), by means of (1) a Cashless Exercise, (2) a Net-Exercise, or (3) a Stock Tender Exercise; or (iii) by any combination of the foregoing.

(b)Limitations on Forms of Consideration.  The Company reserves, at any and all times, the right, in the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, to establish, decline to approve or terminate any program or procedure providing for payment of the Exercise Price through any of the means described below, including with respect to the Participant notwithstanding that such program or procedures may be available to others.

(i)Cashless Exercise.  A “Cashless Exercise” means the delivery of a properly executed Exercise Notice together with irrevocable instructions to a broker in a form acceptable to the Company providing for the assignment to the Company of the proceeds of a sale or loan with respect to shares of Stock acquired upon the exercise of the

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Option in an amount not less than the aggregate Exercise Price for such shares (including, without limitation, through an exercise complying with the provisions of Regulation T as promulgated from time to time by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System).

(ii)Net-Exercise.  A “Net-Exercise” means the delivery of a properly executed Exercise Notice electing a procedure pursuant to which (1) the Company will reduce the number of shares otherwise issuable to the Participant upon the exercise of the Option by the largest whole number of shares having a Fair Market Value that does not exceed the aggregate Exercise Price for the shares with respect to which the Option is exercised, and (2) the Participant shall pay to the Company in cash the remaining balance of such aggregate Exercise Price not satisfied by such reduction in the number of whole shares to be issued.  Following a Net-Exercise, the number of shares remaining subject to the Option, if any, shall be reduced by the sum of (1) the net number of shares issued to the Participant upon such exercise, and (2) the number of shares deducted by the Company for payment of the aggregate Exercise Price.

(iii)Stock Tender Exercise.  A “Stock Tender Exercise” means the delivery of a properly executed Exercise Notice accompanied by (1) the Participant’s tender to the Company, or attestation to the ownership, in a form acceptable to the Company of whole shares of Stock having a Fair Market Value that does not exceed the aggregate Exercise Price for the shares with respect to which the Option is exercised, and (2) the Participant’s payment to the Company in cash of the remaining balance of such aggregate Exercise Price not satisfied by such shares’ Fair Market Value.  A Stock Tender Exercise shall not be permitted if it would constitute a violation of the provisions of any law, regulation or agreement restricting the redemption of the Company’s stock.  If required by the Company, the Option may not be exercised by tender to the Company, or attestation to the ownership, of shares of Stock unless such shares either have been owned by the Participant for a period of time required by the Company (and not used for another option exercise by attestation during such period) or were not acquired, directly or indirectly, from the Company.

4.4Tax Withholding.

(a)In General.  At the time the Option is exercised, in whole or in part, or at any time thereafter as requested by a Participating Company, the Participant hereby authorizes withholding from payroll and any other amounts payable to the Participant, and otherwise agrees to make adequate provision for (including by means of a Cashless Exercise to the extent permitted by the Company), any sums required to satisfy the federal, state, local and foreign tax (including any social insurance) withholding obligations of the Participating Company Group, if any, which arise in connection with the Option.  The Company shall have no obligation to deliver shares of Stock until the tax withholding obligations of the Participating Company Group have been satisfied by the Participant.

(b)Withholding in Shares.  The Company shall have the right, but not the obligation, to require the Participant to satisfy all or any portion of a Participating Company’s tax withholding obligations upon exercise of the Option by deducting from the shares of Stock otherwise issuable to the Participant upon such exercise a number of whole shares having a fair market value, as determined by the Company as of the date of exercise, not in excess of the

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amount of such tax withholding obligations determined by the applicable minimum statutory withholding rates.

4.5Beneficial Ownership of Shares; Certificate Registration.  The Participant hereby authorizes the Company, in its sole discretion, to deposit for the benefit of the Participant with any broker with which the Participant has an account relationship of which the Company has notice any or all shares acquired by the Participant pursuant to the exercise of the Option.  Except as provided by the preceding sentence, a certificate for the shares as to which the Option is exercised shall be registered in the name of the Participant, or, if applicable, in the names of the heirs of the Participant.

4.6Restrictions on Grant of the Option and Issuance of Shares.  The grant of the Option and the issuance of shares of Stock upon exercise of the Option shall be subject to compliance with all applicable requirements of federal, state or foreign law with respect to such securities.  The Option may not be exercised if the issuance of shares of Stock upon exercise would constitute a violation of any applicable federal, state or foreign securities laws or other law or regulations or the requirements of any stock exchange or market system upon which the Stock may then be listed.  In addition, the Option may not be exercised unless (i) a registration statement under the Securities Act shall at the time of exercise of the Option be in effect with respect to the shares issuable upon exercise of the Option or (ii) in the opinion of legal counsel to the Company, the shares issuable upon exercise of the Option may be issued in accordance with the terms of an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.  THE PARTICIPANT IS CAUTIONED THAT THE OPTION MAY NOT BE EXERCISED UNLESS THE FOREGOING CONDITIONS ARE SATISFIED.  ACCORDINGLY, THE PARTICIPANT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO EXERCISE THE OPTION WHEN DESIRED EVEN THOUGH THE OPTION IS VESTED.  The inability of the Company to obtain from any regulatory body having jurisdiction the authority, if any, deemed by the Company’s legal counsel to be necessary to the lawful issuance and sale of any shares subject to the Option shall relieve the Company of any liability in respect of the failure to issue or sell such shares as to which such requisite authority shall not have been obtained.  As a condition to the exercise of the Option, the Company may require the Participant to satisfy any qualifications that may be necessary or appropriate, to evidence compliance with any applicable law or regulation and to make any representation or warranty with respect thereto as may be requested by the Company.

4.7Fractional Shares.  The Company shall not be required to issue fractional shares upon the exercise of the Option.

5.Nontransferability of the Option.

During the lifetime of the Participant, the Option shall be exercisable only by the Participant or the Participant’s guardian or legal representative.  The Option shall not be subject in any manner to anticipation, alienation, sale, exchange, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance, or garnishment by creditors of the Participant or the Participant’s beneficiary, except transfer by will or by the laws of descent and distribution.  Following the death of the Participant, the Option, to the extent provided in Section 7, may be exercised by the Participant’s legal representative or by any person empowered to do so under the deceased Participant’s will or under the then applicable laws of descent and distribution.

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6.Termination of the Option.

The Option shall terminate and may no longer be exercised after the first to occur of (a) the close of business on the Option Expiration Date, (b) the close of business on the last date for exercising the Option following termination of the Participant’s Service as described in Section 7, or (c) a Change in Control to the extent provided in Section 8.

7.Effect of Termination of Service.

7.1Option Exercisability.  The Option shall terminate immediately upon the Participant’s termination of Service to the extent that it is then unvested and shall be exercisable after the Participant’s termination of Service to the extent it is then vested only during the applicable time period as determined below and thereafter shall terminate.

(a)Disability.  If the Participant’s Service terminates because of the Disability of the Participant, the Option, to the extent unexercised and exercisable for Vested Shares on the date on which the Participant’s Service terminated, may be exercised by the Participant (or the Participant’s guardian or legal representative) at any time prior to the expiration of twelve (12) months after the date on which the Participant’s Service terminated, but in any event no later than the Option Expiration Date.

(b)Death.  If the Participant’s Service terminates because of the death of the Participant, the Option, to the extent unexercised and exercisable for Vested Shares on the date on which the Participant’s Service terminated, may be exercised by the Participant’s legal representative or other person who acquired the right to exercise the Option by reason of the Participant’s death at any time prior to the expiration of twelve (12) months after the date on which the Participant’s Service terminated, but in any event no later than the Option Expiration Date.  The Participant’s Service shall be deemed to have terminated on account of death if the Participant dies within three (3) months after the Participant’s termination of Service.

(c)Termination for Cause.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Performance Option Agreement to the contrary, if the Participant’s Service is terminated for Cause or if, following the Participant’s termination of Service and during any period in which the Option otherwise would remain exercisable, the Participant engages in any act that would constitute Cause, the Option shall terminate in its entirety and cease to be exercisable immediately upon such termination of Service or act.

(d)Other Termination of Service.  If the Participant’s Service terminates for any reason, except Disability, death or Cause, the Option, to the extent unexercised and exercisable for Vested Shares by the Participant on the date on which the Participant’s Service terminated, may be exercised by the Participant at any time prior to the expiration of three (3) months after the date on which the Participant’s Service terminated, but in any event no later than the Option Expiration Date.

7.2Extension if Exercise Prevented by Law.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, other than termination of the Participant’s Service for Cause, if the exercise of the Option within the applicable time periods set forth in Section 7.1 is prevented by the provisions of Section 4.6, the Option shall remain exercisable until the later of (a) thirty (30) days after the

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date such exercise first would no longer be prevented by such provisions, or (b) the end of the applicable time period under Section 7.1, but in any event no later than the Option Expiration Date.

8.Effect of Change in Control.

In the event of a Change in Control, except to the extent that the Committee determines to cash out the Option in accordance with Section 14.1(c) of the Plan, the surviving, continuing, successor, or purchasing entity or parent thereof, as the case may be (the “Acquiror”), may, without the consent of the Participant, assume or continue in full force and effect the Company’s rights and obligations under all or any portion of the Option or substitute for all or any portion of the Option a substantially equivalent option for the Acquiror’s stock.  For purposes of this Section, the Option or any portion thereof shall be deemed assumed if, following the Change in Control, the Option confers the right to receive, subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Performance Option Agreement, for each share of Stock subject to such portion of the Option immediately prior to the Change in Control, the consideration (whether stock, cash, other securities or property or a combination thereof) to which a holder of a share of Stock on the effective date of the Change in Control was entitled (and if holders were offered a choice of consideration, the type of consideration chosen by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Stock); provided, however, that if such consideration is not solely common stock of the Acquiror, the Committee may, with the consent of the Acquiror, provide for the consideration to be received upon the exercise of the Option, for each share of Stock subject to the Option, to consist solely of common stock of the Acquiror equal in Fair Market Value to the per share consideration received by holders of Stock pursuant to the Change in Control.  The Option shall terminate and cease to be outstanding effective as of the time of consummation of the Change in Control to the extent that the Option is neither assumed or continued by the Acquiror in connection with the Change in Control nor exercised as of the time of the Change in Control.

9.Adjustments for Changes in Capital Structure.

Subject to any required action by the stockholders of the Company and the requirements of Sections 409A and 424 of the Code to the extent applicable, in the event of any change in the Stock effected without receipt of consideration by the Company, whether through merger, consolidation, reorganization, reincorporation, recapitalization, reclassification, stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, split-up, split-off, spin-off, combination of shares, exchange of shares, or similar change in the capital structure of the Company, or in the event of payment of a dividend or distribution to the stockholders of the Company in a form other than Stock (excepting normal cash dividends) that has a material effect on the Fair Market Value of shares of Stock, appropriate and proportionate adjustments shall be made in the number, Exercise Price and kind of shares subject to the Option, in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the Participant’s rights under the Option.  For purposes of the foregoing, conversion of any convertible securities of the Company shall not be treated as “effected without receipt of consideration by the Company.”  Any fractional share resulting from an adjustment pursuant to this Section shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number and the Exercise Price shall be rounded up to the nearest whole cent.  In no event may the Exercise Price be decreased to an amount less than the par value, if any, of the stock subject to the Option. The

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Committee in its sole discretion, may also make such adjustments in the terms of the Option to reflect, or related to, such changes in the capital structure of the Company or distributions as it deems appropriate.  All adjustments pursuant to this Section shall be determined by the Committee, and its determination shall be final, binding and conclusive.

10.Rights as a Stockholder, Director, Employee or Consultant.

The Participant shall have no rights as a stockholder with respect to any shares covered by the Option until the date of the issuance of the shares for which the Option has been exercised (as evidenced by the appropriate entry on the books of the Company or of a duly authorized transfer agent of the Company).  No adjustment shall be made for dividends, distributions or other rights for which the record date is prior to the date the shares are issued, except as provided in Section 9.  If the Participant is an Employee, the Participant understands and acknowledges that, except as otherwise provided in a separate, written employment agreement between a Participating Company and the Participant, the Participant’s employment is “at will” and is for no specified term.  Nothing in this Performance Option Agreement shall confer upon the Participant any right to continue in the Service of a Participating Company or interfere in any way with any right of the Participating Company Group to terminate the Participant’s Service as a Director, an Employee or Consultant, as the case may be, at any time.

11.Notice of Sales Upon Disqualifying Disposition.

The Participant shall dispose of the shares acquired pursuant to the Option only in accordance with the provisions of this Performance Option Agreement.  In addition, if the Grant Notice designates this Option as an Incentive Stock Option, the Participant shall (a) promptly notify the Chief Financial Officer of the Company if the Participant disposes of any of the shares acquired pursuant to the Option within one (1) year after the date the Participant exercises all or part of the Option or within two (2) years after the Date of Grant and (b) provide the Company with a description of the circumstances of such disposition.  Until such time as the Participant disposes of such shares in a manner consistent with the provisions of this Performance Option Agreement, unless otherwise expressly authorized by the Company, the Participant shall hold all shares acquired pursuant to the Option in the Participant’s name (and not in the name of any nominee) for the one-year period immediately after the exercise of the Option and the two-year period immediately after Date of Grant.  At any time during the one-year or two-year periods set forth above, the Company may place a legend on any certificate representing shares acquired pursuant to the Option requesting the transfer agent for the Company’s stock to notify the Company of any such transfers.  The obligation of the Participant to notify the Company of any such transfer shall continue notwithstanding that a legend has been placed on the certificate pursuant to the preceding sentence.

12.Legends.

The Company may at any time place legends referencing any applicable federal, state or foreign securities law restrictions on all certificates representing shares of stock subject to the provisions of this Performance Option Agreement.  The Participant shall, at the request of the Company, promptly present to the Company any and all certificates representing shares acquired pursuant to the Option in the possession of the Participant in order to carry out the

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provisions of this Section.  Unless otherwise specified by the Company, legends placed on such certificates may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

“THE SHARES EVIDENCED BY THIS CERTIFICATE WERE ISSUED BY THE CORPORATION TO THE REGISTERED HOLDER UPON EXERCISE OF AN INCENTIVE STOCK OPTION AS DEFINED IN SECTION 422 OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986, AS AMENDED (“ISO”).  IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE PREFERENTIAL TAX TREATMENT AFFORDED TO ISOs, THE SHARES SHOULD NOT BE TRANSFERRED PRIOR TO [INSERT DISQUALIFYING DISPOSITION DATE HERE].  SHOULD THE REGISTERED HOLDER ELECT TO TRANSFER ANY OF THE SHARES PRIOR TO THIS DATE AND FOREGO ISO TAX TREATMENT, THE TRANSFER AGENT FOR THE SHARES SHALL NOTIFY THE CORPORATION IMMEDIATELY.  THE REGISTERED HOLDER SHALL HOLD ALL SHARES PURCHASED UNDER THE INCENTIVE STOCK OPTION IN THE REGISTERED HOLDER’S NAME (AND NOT IN THE NAME OF ANY NOMINEE) PRIOR TO THIS DATE OR UNTIL TRANSFERRED AS DESCRIBED ABOVE.”

 

13.Miscellaneous Provisions.

13.1Termination or Amendment.  The Committee may terminate or amend the Plan or the Option at any time; provided, however, that except as provided in Section 8 in connection with a Change in Control, no such termination or amendment may have a materially adverse effect on the Option or any unexercised portion hereof without the consent of the Participant unless such termination or amendment is necessary to comply with any applicable law or government regulation.  No amendment or addition to this Performance Option Agreement shall be effective unless in writing.

13.2Further Instruments.  The parties hereto agree to execute such further instruments and to take such further action as may reasonably be necessary to carry out the intent of this Performance Option Agreement.

13.3Binding Effect.  This Performance Option Agreement shall inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company and, subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth herein, be binding upon the Participant and the Participant’s heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns.

13.4Delivery of Documents and Notices.  Any document relating to participation in the Plan or any notice required or permitted hereunder shall be given in writing and shall be deemed effectively given (except to the extent that this Performance Option Agreement provides for effectiveness only upon actual receipt of such notice) upon personal delivery, electronic delivery at the e-mail address, if any, provided for the Participant by a Participating Company, or upon deposit in the U.S. Post Office or foreign postal service, by registered or certified mail, or with a nationally recognized overnight courier service, with postage and fees prepaid, addressed to the other party at the address of such party set forth in the

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Grant Notice or at such other address as such party may designate in writing from time to time to the other party.

(a)Description of Electronic Delivery.  The Plan documents, which may include but do not necessarily include: the Plan, the Grant Notice, this Performance Option Agreement, the Plan Prospectus, and any reports of the Company provided generally to the Company’s stockholders, may be delivered to the Participant electronically.  In addition, if permitted by the Company, the Participant may deliver electronically the Grant Notice and Exercise Notice called for by Section 4.2 to the Company or to such third party involved in administering the Plan as the Company may designate from time to time.  Such means of electronic delivery may include but do not necessarily include the delivery of a link to a Company intranet or the Internet site of a third party involved in administering the Plan, the delivery of the document via e-mail or such other means of electronic delivery specified by the Company.

(b)Consent to Electronic Delivery.  The Participant acknowledges that the Participant has read Section 13.4(a) of this Performance Option Agreement and consents to the electronic delivery of the Plan documents and, if permitted by the Company, the delivery of the Grant Notice and Exercise Notice, as described in Section 13.4(a).  The Participant acknowledges that he or she may receive from the Company a paper copy of any documents delivered electronically at no cost to the Participant by contacting the Company by telephone or in writing.  The Participant further acknowledges that the Participant will be provided with a paper copy of any documents if the attempted electronic delivery of such documents fails.  Similarly, the Participant understands that the Participant must provide the Company or any designated third party administrator with a paper copy of any documents if the attempted electronic delivery of such documents fails.  The Participant may revoke his or her consent to the electronic delivery of documents described in Section 13.4(a) or may change the electronic mail address to which such documents are to be delivered (if the Participant has provided an electronic mail address) at any time by notifying the Company of such revoked consent or revised e-mail address by telephone, postal service or electronic mail.  Finally, the Participant understands that he or she is not required to consent to electronic delivery of documents described in Section 13.4(a).

13.5Integrated Agreement.  The Grant Notice, this Performance Option Agreement and the Plan, together with the Superseding Agreement, if any, shall constitute the entire understanding and agreement of the Participant and the Participating Company Group with respect to the subject matter contained herein and supersede any prior agreements, understandings, restrictions, representations, or warranties among the Participant and the Participating Company Group with respect to such subject matter.  To the extent contemplated herein, the provisions of the Grant Notice, the Performance Option Agreement and the Plan shall survive any exercise of the Option and shall remain in full force and effect.

13.6Applicable Law.  This Performance Option Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements between California residents entered into and to be performed entirely within the State of California.

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13.7Counterparts.  The Grant Notice may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

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Exhibit 10.4

EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

NOTICE OF GRANT OF

PERFORMANCE VESTING RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS

(For U.S. Participants)

 

Extreme Networks, Inc. (the “Company”) has granted to the Participant an award (the “Award”) of certain units pursuant to the Extreme Networks, Inc. 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), each of which represents the right to receive on the applicable Settlement Date one (1) share of Stock, as follows:

 

 

 

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By the Company’s authorized signature below and the Participant’s by electronic acceptance in a form authorized by the Company, the Company and the Participant agree that the Award is governed by this Grant Notice and by the provisions of the Performance Vesting Restricted Stock Units Agreement and the Plan, both of which are made a part of this document, and by the Superseding Agreement, if any.  The Participant acknowledges that copies of the Plan, the Performance Vesting Restricted Stock Units Agreement and the prospectus for the Plan are available on the Company’s internal web site and may be viewed and printed by the Participant for attachment to the Participant’s copy of this Grant Notice.  The Participant represents that the Participant has read and is familiar with the provisions of the Performance Vesting Restricted Stock Units Agreement and the Plan, and hereby accepts the Award subject to all of their terms and conditions.

 

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EXTREME NETWORKS, INC.

PERFORMANCE VESTING RESTRICTED

STOCK UNITS AGREEMENT

(For U.S. Participants)

 

Extreme Networks, Inc. has granted to the Participant named in the Notice of Grant of Performance Vesting Restricted Stock Units (the “Grant Notice”) to which this Performance Vesting Restricted Stock Units Agreement (the “Agreement”) is attached an Award consisting of Performance Vesting Restricted Stock Units (each a “Unit”) subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Grant Notice and this Agreement.  The Award has been granted pursuant to and shall in all respects be subject to the terms and conditions of the Extreme Networks, Inc. 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), as amended to the Date of Grant, the provisions of which are incorporated herein by reference.  By signing the Grant Notice, the Participant: (a) acknowledges receipt of and represents that the Participant has read and is familiar with the Grant Notice, this Agreement, the Plan and a prospectus for the Plan prepared in connection with the registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the shares issuable pursuant to the Award (the “Plan Prospectus”), (b) accepts the Award subject to all of the terms and conditions of the Grant Notice, this Agreement and the Plan and (c) agrees to accept as binding, conclusive and final all decisions or interpretations of the Committee upon any questions arising under the Grant Notice, this Agreement or the Plan.

1.Definitions and Construction.

1.1Definitions.  Unless otherwise defined herein, capitalized terms shall have the meanings assigned to such terms in the Grant Notice or the Plan.

1.2Construction.  Captions and titles contained herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of any provision of this Agreement.  Except when otherwise indicated by the context, the singular shall include the plural and the plural shall include the singular.  Use of the term “or” is not intended to be exclusive, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

2.Administration.

All questions of interpretation concerning the Grant Notice, this Agreement, the Plan or any other form of agreement or other document employed by the Company in the administration of the Plan or the Award shall be determined by the Committee.  All such determinations by the Committee shall be final, binding and conclusive upon all persons having an interest in the Award, unless fraudulent or made in bad faith.  Any and all actions, decisions and determinations taken or made by the Committee in the exercise of its discretion pursuant to the Plan or the Award or other agreement thereunder (other than determining questions of interpretation pursuant to the preceding sentence) shall be final, binding and conclusive upon all persons having an interest in the Award.  Any Officer shall have the authority to act on behalf of the Company with respect to any matter, right, obligation, or election which is the responsibility of or which is allocated to the Company herein, provided the Officer has apparent authority with respect to such matter, right, obligation, or election.

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3.The Award.

3.1Grant of Units.  The Company hereby grants to the Participant the Award set forth in the Grant Notice, which, depending whether the Performance Threshold is attained, may result in the Participant earning the Total Number of Units. Subject to the terms of this Agreement and the Plan, each Unit, to the extent it is earned and becomes a Vested Unit, represents a right to receive on the applicable Settlement Date one (1) share of Stock. Unless and until a Unit has been determined to be an Eligible Unit and has vested and become a Vested Unit as set forth in the Grant Notice and this Agreement, the Participant will have no right to settlement of such Unit. Prior to settlement of any earned and vested Units, such Units will represent an unfunded and unsecured obligation of the Company.

3.2No Monetary Payment Required.  The Participant is not required to make any monetary payment (other than applicable tax withholding, if any) as a condition to receiving the Units or shares of Stock issued upon settlement of the Units, the consideration for which shall be past services actually rendered or future services to be rendered to a Participating Company or for its benefit.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if required by applicable law, the Participant shall furnish consideration in the form of cash or past services rendered to a Participating Company or for its benefit having a value not less than the par value of the shares of Stock issued upon settlement of the Units.

4.Vesting of Units.

4.1Normal Vesting. Except as otherwise provided by this Agreement, Eligible Units shall vest and become Vested Units as provided in the Grant Notice.

4.2Effect of Termination of Service upon Vesting. Except as provided by Section 4.4 or a Superseding Agreement, if any, if the Participant’s Service terminates for any reason, all Units subject to the Award which have not become Vested Units as of the time of such termination of Service shall be subject to the Company Reacquisition Right (as defined by Section 5.1).

4.3Effect of a Change in Control. In the event of a Change in Control, the number of Eligible Units shall be determined in accordance with Section 8.2.

4.4Vesting Upon Termination Upon a Change in Control. In the event of the Participant’s “Termination Upon a Change in Control” (as defined by the Extreme Networks, Inc. Executive Change in Control Severance Plan, as amended or its successor (the “Change in Control Plan”), the vesting of Eligible Units shall be determined in accordance with Section 8.3.

5.Company Reacquisition Right.

5.1Grant of Company Reacquisition Right.  Except to the extent otherwise provided by Section 4.4 or a Superseding Agreement, if any, in the event that the Participant’s Service terminates for any reason or no reason, with or without cause, the Participant shall forfeit and the Company shall automatically reacquire all Units which are not, as of the time of such termination, Vested Units (“Unvested Units”), and the Participant shall not be entitled to any payment therefor (the “Company Reacquisition Right”).

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5.2Ownership Change Event, Non-Cash Dividends, Distributions and Adjustments.  Upon the occurrence of an Ownership Change Event, a dividend or distribution to the stockholders of the Company paid in shares of Stock or other property, or any other adjustment upon a change in the capital structure of the Company as described in Section 9, any and all new, substituted or additional securities or other property (other than regular, periodic cash dividends paid on Stock pursuant to the Company’s dividend policy) to which the Participant is entitled by reason of the Participant’s ownership of Unvested Units shall be immediately subject to the Company Reacquisition Right and included in the terms “Units” and “Unvested Units” for all purposes of the Company Reacquisition Right with the same force and effect as the Unvested Units immediately prior to the Ownership Change Event, dividend, distribution or adjustment, as the case may be.  For purposes of determining the number of Vested Units following an Ownership Change Event, dividend, distribution or adjustment, credited Service shall include all Service with any corporation which is a Participating Company at the time the Service is rendered, whether or not such corporation is a Participating Company both before and after any such event.

6.Settlement of the Award.

6.1Issuance of Shares of Stock.  Subject to the provisions of Section 6.3, the Company shall issue to the Participant on the Settlement Date with respect to each Vested Unit to be settled on such date one (1) share of Stock.  The Settlement Date with respect to a Unit shall be the date on which such Unit becomes a Vested Unit  as provided by the Grant Notice (an “Original Settlement Date”); provided, however, that if the Original Settlement Date would occur on a date on which a sale by the Participant of the shares to be issued in settlement of the Vested Units would violate the Trading Compliance Policy of the Company, the Settlement Date for such Vested Units shall be deferred until the next day on which the sale of such shares would not violate the Trading Compliance Policy, but in any event on or before the 15th day of the third calendar month following calendar year of the Original Settlement Date.  Shares of Stock issued in settlement of Units shall not be subject to any restriction on transfer other than any such restriction as may be required pursuant to Section 6.3, Section 7 or the Company’s Trading Compliance Policy.

6.2Beneficial Ownership of Shares; Certificate Registration.  The Participant hereby authorizes the Company, in its sole discretion, to deposit any or all shares acquired by the Participant pursuant to the settlement of the Award with the Company’s transfer agent, including any successor transfer agent, to be held in book entry form, or to deposit such shares for the benefit of the Participant with any broker with which the Participant has an account relationship of which the Company has notice.  Except as provided by the foregoing, a certificate for the shares acquired by the Participant shall be registered in the name of the Participant, or, if applicable, in the names of the heirs of the Participant.

6.3Restrictions on Grant of the Award and Issuance of Shares.  The grant of the Award and issuance of shares of Stock upon settlement of the Award shall be subject to compliance with all applicable requirements of federal, state or foreign law with respect to such securities.  No shares of Stock may be issued hereunder if the issuance of such shares would constitute a violation of any applicable federal, state or foreign securities laws or other law or regulations or the requirements of any stock exchange or market system upon which the Stock

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may then be listed.  The inability of the Company to obtain from any regulatory body having jurisdiction the authority, if any, deemed by the Company’s legal counsel to be necessary to the lawful issuance of any shares subject to the Award shall relieve the Company of any liability in respect of the failure to issue such shares as to which such requisite authority shall not have been obtained.  As a condition to the settlement of the Award, the Company may require the Participant to satisfy any qualifications that may be necessary or appropriate, to evidence compliance with any applicable law or regulation and to make any representation or warranty with respect thereto as may be requested by the Company.

6.4Fractional Shares.  The Company shall not be required to issue fractional shares upon the settlement of the Award.

7.Tax Withholding.

7.1In General.  At the time the Grant Notice is executed, or at any time thereafter as requested by a Participating Company, the Participant hereby authorizes withholding from payroll and any other amounts payable to the Participant, and otherwise agrees to make adequate provision for, any sums required to satisfy the federal, state, local and foreign tax (including any social insurance) withholding obligations of the Participating Company, if any, which arise in connection with the Award, the vesting of Units or the issuance of shares of Stock in settlement thereof.  The Company shall have no obligation to deliver shares of Stock until the tax withholding obligations of the Participating Company have been satisfied by the Participant.

7.2Assignment of Sale Proceeds.  Subject to compliance with applicable law and the Company’s Trading Compliance Policy, if permitted by the Company, the Participant may satisfy the Participating Company’s tax withholding obligations in accordance with procedures established by the Company providing for delivery by the Participant to the Company or a broker approved by the Company of properly executed instructions, in a form approved by the Company, providing for the assignment to the Company of the proceeds of a sale with respect to some or all of the shares being acquired upon settlement of Units.

7.3Withholding in Shares.  The Company shall have the right, but not the obligation, to require the Participant to satisfy all or any portion of a Participating Company’s tax withholding obligations by deducting from the shares of Stock otherwise deliverable to the Participant in settlement of the Award a number of whole shares having a fair market value, as determined by the Company as of the date on which the tax withholding obligations arise, not in excess of the amount of such tax withholding obligations determined by the applicable minimum statutory withholding rates.

8.Effect of Change in Control.

8.1In General.  In the event of a Change in Control, except to the extent that the Committee determines to cash out the Award in accordance with Section 14.1(c) of the Plan and subject to Section 8.2 below, the surviving, continuing, successor, or purchasing entity or parent thereof, as the case may be (the “Acquiror”), may, without the consent of the Participant, assume or continue in full force and effect the Company’s rights and obligations under all or any

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portion of the outstanding Units or substitute for all or any portion of the outstanding Units substantially equivalent rights with respect to the Acquiror’s stock.  For purposes of this Section, a Unit shall be deemed assumed if, following the Change in Control, the Unit confers the right to receive, subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Agreement, the consideration (whether stock, cash, other securities or property or a combination thereof) to which a holder of a share of Stock on the effective date of the Change in Control was entitled (and if holders were offered a choice of consideration, the type of consideration chosen by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Stock); provided, however, that if such consideration is not solely common stock of the Acquiror, the Committee may, with the consent of the Acquiror, provide for the consideration to be received upon settlement of the Unit to consist solely of common stock of the Acquiror equal in Fair Market Value to the per share consideration received by holders of Stock pursuant to the Change in Control.  The Award shall terminate and cease to be outstanding effective as of the time of consummation of the Change in Control to the extent that Units subject to the Award are neither assumed or continued by the Acquiror in connection with the Change in Control nor settled as of the time of the Change in Control.

8.2Eligible Units.  In the event of a Change in Control prior to the Eligibility Date, and notwithstanding Section 8.1 above or Section 14.1(c) of the Plan, the Eligibility Date shall be deemed to occur on the day immediately preceding the Change in Control (the “Adjusted Eligibility Date”) and a certain portion of the Total Number of Units shall be deemed Eligible Units in accordance with the following:

(a)The Committee shall determine and certify in writing no later than the day immediately preceding the Change in Control the number of Eligible Units for the Adjusted Eligibility Date as follows:

(i)if the Transaction Price (defined below) equals or exceed $16.00 per share, 100% of the Total Number of Units shall be deemed Eligible Units; and

 

(ii)if the Transaction Price is less than $16.00 per share, the amount of shares that shall be deemed Eligible Units shall be the product of the Total Number of Units and the Achievement Ratio (as defined below).  

 

(b)The Transaction Price is the price per share of Stock to be paid to the holder thereof in accordance with the definitive agreement governing the transaction constituting the Change in Control (or, in the absence of such agreement, the closing price per share of Stock on the last trading day of the Adjusted Eligibility Date as reported on the securities exchange constituting the primary market for the Stock).  The Achievement Ratio is the sum of the Company’s earnings per share (as determined by the Company) of the two full fiscal quarters immediately preceding the Change in Control divided by $0.32.  Immediately following the Committee’s determination pursuant to this Section 8.2(a), all Units subject to the Award which are not Eligible Units (the “Unearned Units”) shall terminate and the Award, to the extent of the Unearned Units, shall cease to be outstanding.

8.3Involuntary Termination Following Change in Control. This Section 8.3 shall apply only if the Participant is a participant in a Change in Control Plan (as defined by the Company’s Executive Change in Control Severance Plan, as amended or its successor). In

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the event that the Participant’s Service terminates due to “Termination Upon a Change in Control” (as such term or similar term is defined by the Change in Control Plan), then the vesting of each unvested Eligible Unit determined in accordance with Section 8.2 shall be accelerated, and such Eligible Units shall become vested Units to the extent provided by the Change in Control Plan and the Participant’s participation agreement in such plan effective as of the date of the Participant’s termination of Service. Consistent with Section 8.2 and notwithstanding any provision of the Change in Control Plan or such participation agreement to the contrary, the provisions of the Change in Control Plan shall not apply to the Unearned Units, with respect to which the Award will have ceased to be outstanding as of the Change in Control. The vested Units determined in accordance with this Section 8.3 shall be settled in accordance with Section 6, treating the date of the Participant’s termination of Service as the vesting date, provided that payment for each vested Unit shall be made in the amount and in the form of the consideration (whether stock, cash, other securities or property or a combination thereof) to which a holder of a share of Stock on the effective date of the Change in Control was entitled (and if holders were offered a choice of consideration, the type of consideration chosen by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Stock). For the purposes of this Section 8.3, the settlement date shall occur upon or as soon as practicable following the vesting date, but in any event no later than the 15th day of the third calendar month following the end of the calendar year in which the vesting date occurs.

 

9.Adjustments for Changes in Capital Structure.

Subject to any required action by the stockholders of the Company and the requirements of Section 409A of the Code to the extent applicable, in the event of any change in the Stock effected without receipt of consideration by the Company, whether through merger, consolidation, reorganization, reincorporation, recapitalization, reclassification, stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, split-up, split-off, spin-off, combination of shares, exchange of shares, or similar change in the capital structure of the Company, or in the event of payment of a dividend or distribution to the stockholders of the Company in a form other than Stock (other than regular, periodic cash dividends paid on Stock pursuant to the Company’s dividend policy) that has a material effect on the Fair Market Value of shares of Stock, appropriate and proportionate adjustments shall be made in the number of Units subject to the Award and/or the number and kind of shares or other property to be issued in settlement of the Award, in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the Participant’s rights under the Award.  For purposes of the foregoing, conversion of any convertible securities of the Company shall not be treated as “effected without receipt of consideration by the Company.”  Any and all new, substituted or additional securities or other property (other than regular, periodic cash dividends paid on Stock pursuant to the Company’s dividend policy) to which the Participant is entitled by reason of ownership of Units acquired pursuant to this Award will be immediately subject to the provisions of this Award on the same basis as all Units originally acquired hereunder.  Any fractional Unit or share resulting from an adjustment pursuant to this Section shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number.  Such adjustments shall be determined by the Committee, and its determination shall be final, binding and conclusive.

10.Rights as a Stockholder, Director, Employee or Consultant.

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The Participant shall have no rights as a stockholder with respect to any shares which may be issued in settlement of this Award until the date of the issuance of such shares (as evidenced by the appropriate entry on the books of the Company or of a duly authorized transfer agent of the Company).  No adjustment shall be made for dividends, distributions or other rights for which the record date is prior to the date the shares are issued, except as provided in Section 9.  If the Participant is an Employee, the Participant understands and acknowledges that, except as otherwise provided in a separate, written employment agreement between a Participating Company and the Participant, the Participant’s employment is “at will” and is for no specified term.  Nothing in this Agreement shall confer upon the Participant any right to continue in the Service of a Participating Company or interfere in any way with any right of the Participating Company Group to terminate the Participant’s Service at any time.

11.Legends.

The Company may at any time place legends referencing any applicable federal, state or foreign securities law restrictions on all certificates representing shares of stock issued pursuant to this Agreement.  The Participant shall, at the request of the Company, promptly present to the Company any and all certificates representing shares acquired pursuant to this Award in the possession of the Participant in order to carry out the provisions of this Section.

12.Compliance with Section 409A.

It is intended that any election, payment or benefit which is made or provided pursuant to or in connection with this Award that may result in Section 409A Deferred Compensation shall comply in all respects with the applicable requirements of Section 409A (including applicable regulations or other administrative guidance thereunder, as determined by the Committee in good faith) to avoid the unfavorable tax consequences provided therein for non‑compliance.  In connection with effecting such compliance with Section 409A, the following shall apply:

12.1Separation from Service; Required Delay in Payment to Specified Employee.  Notwithstanding anything set forth herein to the contrary, no amount payable pursuant to this Agreement on account of the Participant’s termination of Service which constitutes a “deferral of compensation” within the meaning of the Treasury Regulations issued pursuant to Section 409A of the Code (the “Section 409A Regulations”) shall be paid unless and until the Participant has incurred a “separation from service” within the meaning of the Section 409A Regulations.  Furthermore, to the extent that the Participant is a “specified employee” within the meaning of the Section 409A Regulations as of the date of the Participant’s separation from service, no amount that constitutes a deferral of compensation which is payable on account of the Participant’s separation from service shall be paid to the Participant before the date (the “Delayed Payment Date”) which is first day of the seventh month after the date of the Participant’s separation from service or, if earlier, the date of the Participant’s death following such separation from service.  All such amounts that would, but for this Section, become payable prior to the Delayed Payment Date will be accumulated and paid on the Delayed Payment Date.

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12.2Other Changes in Time of Payment.  Neither the Participant nor the Company shall take any action to accelerate or delay the payment of any benefits under this Agreement in any manner which would not be in compliance with the Section 409A Regulations.

12.3Amendments to Comply with Section 409A; Indemnification.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement to the contrary, the Company is authorized to amend this Agreement, to void or amend any election made by the Participant under this Agreement and/or to delay the payment of any monies and/or provision of any benefits in such manner as may be determined by the Company, in its discretion, to be necessary or appropriate to comply with the Section 409A Regulations without prior notice to or consent of the Participant.  The Participant hereby releases and holds harmless the Company, its directors, officers and stockholders from any and all claims that may arise from or relate to any tax liability, penalties, interest, costs, fees or other liability incurred by the Participant in connection with the Award, including as a result of the application of Section 409A.

12.4Advice of Independent Tax Advisor.  The Company has not obtained a tax ruling or other confirmation from the Internal Revenue Service with regard to the application of Section 409A to the Award, and the Company does not represent or warrant that this Agreement will avoid adverse tax consequences to the Participant, including as a result of the application of Section 409A to the Award.  The Participant hereby acknowledges that he or she has been advised to seek the advice of his or her own independent tax advisor prior to entering into this Agreement and is not relying upon any representations of the Company or any of its agents as to the effect of or the advisability of entering into this Agreement.

13.Miscellaneous Provisions.

13.1Administration. All questions of interpretation concerning the Grant Notice, this Award Agreement, the Plan or any other form of agreement or other document employed by the Company in the administration of the Plan or the Award shall be determined by the Committee. All such determinations by the Committee shall be final, binding and conclusive upon all persons having an interest in the Award, unless fraudulent or made in bad faith. Any and all actions, decisions and determinations taken or made by the Committee in the exercise of its discretion pursuant to the Plan or the Award or other agreement thereunder (other than determining questions of interpretation pursuant to the preceding sentence) shall be final, binding and conclusive upon all persons having an interest in the Award. Any Officer shall have the authority to act on behalf of the Company with respect to any matter, right, obligation, or election which is the responsibility of or which is allocated to the Company herein, provided the Officer has apparent authority with respect to such matter, right, obligation, or election.

13.2Termination or Amendment.  The Committee may terminate or amend the Plan or this Agreement at any time; provided, however, that except as provided in Section 8 in connection with a Change in Control, no such termination or amendment may have a materially adverse effect on the Participant’s rights under this Agreement without the consent of the Participant unless such termination or amendment is necessary to comply with applicable law or government regulation, including, but not limited to, Section 409A.  No amendment or addition to this Agreement shall be effective unless in writing.

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13.3Nontransferability of the Award.  Prior to the issuance of shares of Stock on the applicable Settlement Date, neither this Award nor any Units subject to this Award shall be subject in any manner to anticipation, alienation, sale, exchange, transfer, assignment, pledge, encumbrance, or garnishment by creditors of the Participant or the Participant’s beneficiary, except transfer by will or by the laws of descent and distribution.  All rights with respect to the Award shall be exercisable during the Participant’s lifetime only by the Participant or the Participant’s guardian or legal representative.

13.4Further Instruments.  The parties hereto agree to execute such further instruments and to take such further action as may reasonably be necessary to carry out the intent of this Agreement.

13.5Binding Effect.  This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company and, subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth herein, be binding upon the Participant and the Participant’s heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns.

13.6Delivery of Documents and Notices.  Any document relating to participation in the Plan or any notice required or permitted hereunder shall be given in writing and shall be deemed effectively given (except to the extent that this Agreement provides for effectiveness only upon actual receipt of such notice) upon personal delivery, electronic delivery at the e-mail address, if any, provided for the Participant by a Participating Company, or upon deposit in the U.S. Post Office or foreign postal service, by registered or certified mail, or with a nationally recognized overnight courier service, with postage and fees prepaid, addressed to the other party at the address of such party set forth in the Grant Notice or at such other address as such party may designate in writing from time to time to the other party.

(a)Description of Electronic Delivery.  The Plan documents, which may include but do not necessarily include: the Plan, the Grant Notice, this Agreement, the Plan Prospectus, and any reports of the Company provided generally to the Company’s stockholders, may be delivered to the Participant electronically.  In addition, if permitted by the Company, the Participant may deliver electronically the Grant Notice to the Company or to such third party involved in administering the Plan as the Company may designate from time to time.  Such means of electronic delivery may include but do not necessarily include the delivery of a link to a Company intranet or the Internet site of a third party involved in administering the Plan, the delivery of the document via e-mail or such other means of electronic delivery specified by the Company.

(b)Consent to Electronic Delivery.  The Participant acknowledges that the Participant has read Section 13.6(a) of this Agreement and consents to the electronic delivery of the Plan documents and, if permitted by the Company, the delivery of the Grant Notice, as described in Section 13.6(a).  The Participant acknowledges that he or she may receive from the Company a paper copy of any documents delivered electronically at no cost to the Participant by contacting the Company by telephone or in writing.  The Participant further acknowledges that the Participant will be provided with a paper copy of any documents if the attempted electronic delivery of such documents fails.  Similarly, the Participant understands that the Participant must provide the Company or any designated third party administrator with a

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paper copy of any documents if the attempted electronic delivery of such documents fails.  The Participant may revoke his or her consent to the electronic delivery of documents described in Section 13.6(a) or may change the electronic mail address to which such documents are to be delivered (if Participant has provided an electronic mail address) at any time by notifying the Company of such revoked consent or revised e-mail address by telephone, postal service or electronic mail.  Finally, the Participant understands that he or she is not required to consent to electronic delivery of documents described in Section 13.6(a).

13.7Integrated Agreement.  The Grant Notice, this Agreement and the Plan, together with the Superseding Agreement, if any, shall constitute the entire understanding and agreement of the Participant and the Participating Company Group with respect to the subject matter contained herein or therein and supersede any prior agreements, understandings, restrictions, representations, or warranties among the Participant and the Participating Company Group with respect to such subject matter.  To the extent contemplated herein or therein, the provisions of the Grant Notice, this Agreement and the Plan shall survive any settlement of the Award and shall remain in full force and effect.

13.8Applicable Law.  This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements between California residents entered into and to be performed entirely within the State of California.

13.9Counterparts.  The Grant Notice may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

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Exhibit 10.5

Compensation Arrangements for FY 19 of Executive Officers of Extreme Networks, Inc.

        Note: The following summary of compensation arrangements does not include all previously-reported compensation arrangements or awards granted under previously-disclosed incentive plans. Disclosures with respect to compensation for Named Executive Officers for the 2018 fiscal year were included in the Company's definitive proxy statement for the Company's 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and disclosures with respect to compensation for Named Executive Officers for the 2019 fiscal year will be included in the Company's definitive proxy statement for the Company's 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Compensation for Edward Meyercord (Chief Executive Officer)

        Mr. Meyercord’s current annual base salary is $625,000. In addition, Mr. Meyercord will be eligible to participate in the Company's FY19 Extreme Incentive Plan (as described below) with a bonus target of 130% as a percentage of base salary. On August 29, 2018, Mr. Meyercord was granted 139,000 performance-based restricted stock unit awards, 139,000 service-based restricted stock unit awards, and 330,200 performance stock options under the Company's equity incentive plan as part of his fiscal year 2018 compensation.

Compensation for Benjamin Drew Davies (Previous Chief Financial Officer)

        Mr. Davies' left the Company effective September 30, 2018.  Mr. Davies’ annual base salary was $400,000. Mr. Davies will not participate in the Company's FY19 Extreme Incentive Plan. Grants to Mr. Davies under the Company's equity incentive plan made in August 2018 were forfeited when he left the company. A copy of the Transition and Separation Agreement with Mr. Davies has been filed with the SEC.

Compensation for Matthew Cleaver (Interim Chief Financial Officer)

        Mr. Cleaver's current annual base salary is $253,158. In addition, Mr. Cleaver will be eligible to participate in the Company's FY19 Extreme Incentive Plan (as described below) with a bonus target of 40% as a percentage of base salary. On August 29, 2018, Mr. Cleaver was granted 9,158 performance-based restricted stock unit awards and 9,158 service-based restricted stock unit awards under the Company's equity incentive plan as part of his fiscal year 2019 compensation.

Compensation for Robert Gault (Chief Revenue Officer)

         Mr. Gault’s current annual base salary is $410,000. In addition, Mr. Gault will be eligible to participate in the Company's FY19 Extreme Incentive Plan (as described below) with a bonus target of 100% as a percentage of base salary. On August 29, 2018, Mr. Gault was granted 40,300 performance-based restricted stock unit awards, 40,300 service-based restricted stock unit awards, and 95,700 performance stock options under the Company's equity incentive plan as part of his fiscal year 2018 compensation.

Extreme Incentive Plan FY19

        On August 29, 2018, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors approved the Extreme Incentive Plan for fiscal 2019.  The plan provides the company’s executive officers with the opportunity to earn cash bonuses based upon the achievement of pre-established performance goals. Total bonus opportunities will be based on achievement of semi-annual targets. Performance goals under the plan will be: revenue (40%) and operating income (30%) and non-GAAP operating income (30%).  Actual payout opportunities for each semi-annual bonus payment will range from a threshold of 50% of target to a maximum of 150% of target. If the company fails to achieve the threshold level for any performance measure, no payout is awarded for that measure. For purposes of determining achievement of award opportunities, the Extreme Incentive Plan uses adjusted, non-GAAP measures.

 

 

Exhibit 31.1

SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION OF EDWARD B. MEYERCORD III

AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Edward B. Meyercord III, certify that:

 

 

Exhibit 31.2

SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION OF MATTHEW H. CLEAVER

AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

I, Matthew H. Cleaver, certify that:

 

 

Exhibit 32.1

CERTIFICATION OF EDWARD B. MEYERCORD III AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PURSUANT TO

18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

In connection with the Quarterly Report of Extreme Networks, Inc. on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2018, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), the undersigned, in the capacities and on the date specified below, hereby certifies pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:

 

 

Exhibit 32.2

CERTIFICATION OF MATTHEW H. CLEAVER AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, PURSUANT TO

18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

In connection with the Quarterly Report of Extreme Networks, Inc. on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2018, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), the undersigned, in the capacities and on the date specified below, hereby certifies, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that: