Term Loan Credit Agreement

 

 

NYDOCS02/1129553.6

SECTION 1.01   Certain Defined Terms.  As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall have the following meanings (such meanings to be equally applicable to both the singular and plural forms of the terms defined):

 

SECTION 1.02   Computation of Time Periods.  In this Agreement in the computation of periods of time from a specified date to a later specified date, the word "from" means "from and including" and the words "to" and "until" each mean "to but excluding."

SECTION 1.03   Accounting Terms.  All accounting terms not specifically defined herein shall be construed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles consistent with those applied in the preparation of the Audited Financial Statements ("GAAP"); provided that whether a lease constitutes a capital lease or an operating lease shall be determined based on GAAP as in effect on the date hereof, notwithstanding any modification or interpretative change thereto after the date hereof (including without giving effect to any treatment of leases under Accounting Standards Codification 842 (or any other Accounting Standards Codification or Financial Accounting Standard having a similar result or effect)), and provided further that all terms of an accounting or financial nature used herein shall be construed, and all computations of amounts and ratios referred to herein shall be made (i) without giving effect to any election under Accounting Standards Codification 825-10-25 (or any other Accounting Standards Codification or Financial Accounting Standard having a similar result or effect) to value any Debt or other liabilities of the Borrower or any Subsidiary thereof at "fair value," as defined therein and (ii) without giving effect to any treatment of Debt in respect of convertible debt instruments under Accounting Standards Codification 470-20 (or any other Accounting Standards Codification or Financial Accounting Standard having a similar result or effect) to value any such Debt in a reduced or bifurcated manner as described therein, and such Debt shall at all times be valued at the full stated principal amount thereof.

SECTION 2.01   The Advances.  (a)  Tranche A Advances.  Each Tranche A Lender severally agrees, on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, to make a single advance (a "Tranche A Advance") to the Borrower on the Funding Date in an amount not to exceed such Lender's Tranche A Commitment.  The Tranche A Borrowing shall consist of Advances made simultaneously by the Tranche A Lenders ratably according to their respective Tranche A Commitments.  Amounts borrowed under this Section 2.01(a) and repaid or prepaid may not be reborrowed.

 

SECTION 2.02   Making the Advances.  (a) Each Borrowing shall be made on notice, given not later than (x) 11:00 A.M. (New York City time) on the third Business Day prior to the date of the proposed Borrowing in the case of a Borrowing consisting of Eurodollar Rate Advances or (y) 10:00 A.M. (New York City time) on the date of the proposed Borrowing in the case of a Borrowing consisting of Base Rate Advances, by the Borrower to the Agent, which shall give to each Appropriate Lender prompt notice thereof by telecopier (and, in the case of a notice requesting Base Rate Advances, no later than 11:00 A.M. (New York City time) on the date of the proposed Borrowing).  Each such notice of a Borrowing (a "Notice of Borrowing") shall be by telephone, confirmed immediately in writing, or telecopier in substantially the form of Exhibit B hereto, specifying therein the requested (i) date of such Borrowing, (ii) Type of Advances comprising such Borrowing, (iii) aggregate amount of such Borrowing, and (iv) in the case of a Borrowing consisting of Eurodollar Rate Advances, initial Interest Period for each such Advance.  Each Appropriate Lender shall, before 1:00 P.M. (New York City time) on the date of such Borrowing, make available for the account of its Applicable Lending Office to the Agent at the Agent's Account, in same day funds, such Lender's ratable portion of such Borrowing in accordance with the respective Commitments under the applicable Facility of such Lender and the other Appropriate Lenders.  After the Agent's receipt of such funds and upon fulfillment of the applicable conditions set forth in Article III, the Agent will make such funds available to the Borrower at the Agent's address referred to in Section 8.02.

(b)    Anything in subsection (a) above to the contrary notwithstanding, (i) the Borrower may not select Eurodollar Rate Advances for any Borrowing if the aggregate amount of such Borrowing is less than $10,000,000 or if the obligation of the Appropriate Lenders to make Eurodollar Rate Advances shall then be suspended pursuant to Section 2.07 or 2.11 and (ii) the Eurodollar Rate Advances may not be outstanding as part of more than 12 separate Borrowings.

 

(c)    Each Notice of Borrowing shall be irrevocable and binding on the Borrower.  In the case of any Borrowing that the related Notice of Borrowing specifies is to be comprised of Eurodollar Rate Advances, the Borrower shall indemnify each Appropriate Lender against any loss, cost or expense incurred by such Lender as a result of any failure to fulfill on or before the date specified in such Notice of Borrowing for such Borrowing the applicable conditions set forth in Article III, including, without limitation, any loss (excluding loss of anticipated profits), cost or expense incurred by reason of the liquidation or reemployment of deposits or other funds acquired by such Lender to fund the Advance to be made by such Lender as part of such Borrowing when such Advance, as a result of such failure, is not made on such date.

(d)    Unless the Agent shall have received notice from an Appropriate Lender prior to the time of any Borrowing that such Lender will not make available to the Agent such Lender's ratable portion of such Borrowing, the Agent may assume that such Lender has made such portion available to the Agent on the date of such Borrowing in accordance with subsection (a) of this Section 2.02 and the Agent may, in reliance upon such assumption, make available to the Borrower on such date a corresponding amount.  If and to the extent that such Lender shall not have so made such ratable portion available to the Agent, such Lender and the Borrower severally agree to repay to the Agent forthwith on demand such corresponding amount together with interest thereon, for each day from the date such amount is made available to the Borrower until the date such amount is repaid to the Agent, at (i) in the case of the Borrower, the higher of (A) the interest rate applicable at the time to Advances comprising such Borrowing and (B) the cost of funds incurred by the Agent in respect of such amount and (ii) in the case of such Lender, the Federal Funds Rate.  If such Lender shall repay to the Agent such corresponding amount, such amount so repaid shall constitute such Lender's Advance as part of such Borrowing for purposes of this Agreement.

(e)    The failure of any Appropriate Lender to make the Advance to be made by it as part of any Borrowing shall not relieve any other Appropriate Lender of its obligation, if any, hereunder to make its Advance on the date of such Borrowing, but no Lender shall be responsible for the failure of any other Lender to make any Advance to be made by such other Lender on the date of any Borrowing.

SECTION 2.03    Fees.  (a)  The Borrower agrees to pay to the Agent for the account of each Appropriate Lender a ticking fee on the amount of such Lender's Tranche A Commitment, Tranche B Commitment and/or Tranche C Commitment, as applicable, commencing on (i) the Effective Date in the case of each Initial Lender and (ii) the effective date specified in the Assignment and Assumption pursuant to which it became a Lender in the case of each other Lender, until the earlier of the Funding Date and January 31, 2018, at a rate equal to 0.07% per annum, payable in arrears on the earlier of the Funding Date and January 31, 2018; provided that no Defaulting Lender shall be entitled to receive any ticking fee in respect of its Commitment(s) for any period during which that Lender is a Defaulting Lender (and the Borrower shall not be required to pay such fee that otherwise would have been required to have been paid to that Defaulting Lender).

(b)   Agent's Fees.  The Borrower shall pay to the Agent for its own account such fees as may from time to time be agreed between the Borrower and the Agent.

 

 

SECTION 2.04   Optional Termination or Reduction of the Commitments.  The Borrower shall have the right, upon at least three Business Days' notice to the Agent, to terminate in whole or permanently reduce ratably in part the Tranche A Commitments, Tranche B Commitments and/or the Tranche C Commitments, as applicable, provided that (i) each partial reduction shall be in the aggregate amount of $10,000,000 or an integral multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof and (ii) each such reduction shall be made ratably among the Appropriate Lenders in accordance with their Appropriate Commitments with respect to such Facility.

SECTION 2.05   Repayment of Advances.  (a)  Tranche A Advances. The Borrower shall repay to the Agent for the ratable account of the Tranche A Lenders the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Tranche A Advances on the third anniversary of the Funding Date.

SECTION 2.06   Interest on Advances.  (a) Scheduled Interest.  The Borrower shall pay interest on the unpaid principal amount of each Advance made to it owing to each Appropriate Lender from the date of such Advance until such principal amount shall be paid in full, at the following rates per annum:

(i)

Base Rate Advances.  During such periods as such Advance is a Base Rate Advance, a rate per annum equal at all times to the sum of (x) the Base Rate in effect from time to time plus (y) the Applicable Margin in effect from time to time, payable in arrears quarterly on the last day of each March, June, September and December during such periods and on the date such Base Rate Advance shall be Converted or paid in full.

(ii)

Eurodollar Rate Advances.  During such periods as such Advance is a Eurodollar Rate Advance, a rate per annum equal at all times during each Interest Period for such Advance to the sum of (x) the Eurodollar Rate for such Interest Period for such Advance plus (y) the Applicable Margin in effect from time to time, payable in arrears on the last day of such Interest Period and, if such Interest Period has a duration of more than three months, on each day that occurs during such Interest Period every three months from the first day of such Interest Period and on the date such Eurodollar Rate Advance shall be Converted or paid in full.

(b)    Default Interest.  Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default under Section 6.01(a), the Agent shall, and upon the occurrence and during the continuance of any other Event of Default, the Agent may, and upon the request of the Required Lenders shall, require the Borrower to pay interest ("Default Interest") on (A) the unpaid principal amount of each Advance, payable in arrears on the dates referred to in clause (a)(i) or (a)(ii) above, at a rate per annum equal at all times to 2% per annum above the rate per annum required to be paid on such Advance pursuant to clause (a)(i) or (a)(ii) above and (B) to the fullest extent permitted by law, the amount of any interest, fee or other amount payable hereunder by the Borrower that is not paid when due, from the date such amount shall be due until such amount shall be paid in full, payable in arrears on the date such amount shall be paid in full and on demand, at a rate per annum equal at all times to 2% per annum above the rate per annum required to be paid on Base Rate Advances pursuant to clause (a)(i) above, provided, however, that following acceleration of the Advances pursuant to Section 6.01, Default Interest shall accrue and be payable hereunder whether or not previously required by the Agent.

 

 

SECTION 2.07   Interest Rate Determination.  (a) Each Reference Bank agrees to furnish to the Agent timely information for the purpose of determining each Eurodollar Rate.  If any one or more of the Reference Banks shall not furnish such timely information to the Agent for the purpose of determining any such interest rate, the Agent shall determine such interest rate on the basis of timely information furnished by the remaining Reference Banks.  The Agent shall give prompt notice (i) to the Borrower and the Appropriate Lenders of the applicable interest rate determined by the Agent for purposes of Section 2.06(a)(i) or (a)(ii) and (ii) to the Borrower the rate, if any, furnished by each Reference Bank for the purpose of determining the interest rate under Section 2.06(a)(ii) (it being understood that the Agent shall not be required to disclose to any party hereto (other than the Borrower) any information regarding any Reference Bank or any rate provided by such Reference Bank in accordance with the definition of "Eurodollar Rate," including, without limitation, whether a Reference Bank has provided a rate or the rate provided by any individual Reference Bank).  Each determination by the Agent of an interest rate hereunder shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes, absent manifest error.

(b)    If, with respect to any Eurodollar Rate Advances under any Facility, Lenders owed at least 50% of the then aggregate unpaid principal amount thereof notify the Agent that (i) they are unable to obtain matching deposits in the London interbank market at or about 11:00 A.M. (London time) on the second Business Day before the making of a Borrowing in sufficient amounts to fund their respective Advances as a part of such Borrowing during its Interest Period or (ii) the Eurodollar Rate for any Interest Period for such Advances will not adequately reflect the cost to such Lenders of making, funding or maintaining their respective Eurodollar Rate Advances for such Interest Period, the Agent shall forthwith so notify the Borrower and the Appropriate Lenders, whereupon (A) the Borrower will, on the last day of the then existing Interest Period therefor either (x) prepay such Advances or (y) Convert such Advances into Base Rate Advances and (B) the obligation of the Appropriate Lenders to make, or to Convert Advances into, Eurodollar Rate Advances shall be suspended until the Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders that the circumstances causing such suspension no longer exist.

(c)    If the Borrower shall fail to select the duration of any Interest Period for any Eurodollar Rate Advances made to it in accordance with the provisions contained in the definition of "Interest Period" in Section 1.01, the Agent will forthwith so notify the Borrower and the Appropriate Lenders and such Advances will automatically, on the last day of the then existing Interest Period therefor, Convert into Base Rate Advances; provided, that the Borrower may direct the Agent in the applicable Notice of Borrowing to continue Eurodollar Rate Advances as successive Interest Periods of the same duration until the Borrower shall give the Agent written notice at least three Business Days prior to the end of an Interest Period in the form of Exhibit B-2 that, as of the end of such Interest Period, the applicable Eurodollar Rate Advances shall Convert into Base Rate Advances or shall be continued as Eurodollar Rate Advances having an Interest Period as so notified.

 

 

(d)    On the date on which the aggregate unpaid principal amount of Eurodollar Rate Advances comprising any Borrowing shall be reduced, by payment or prepayment or otherwise, to less than $10,000,000, such Advances shall automatically Convert into Base Rate Advances.

(e)    Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of any Event of Default (i) each Eurodollar Rate Advance will automatically, on the last day of the then existing Interest Period therefor, be Converted into Base Rate Advances and (ii) the obligation of the Lenders to make, or to Convert Advances into, Eurodollar Rate Advances shall be suspended.

(f)    If Bloomberg Screen BBAM Page is unavailable and fewer than two Reference Banks furnish timely information to the Agent for determining the Eurodollar Rate for any Eurodollar Rate Advances,

(i)	the Agent shall forthwith notify the Borrower and the Lenders that the interest rate cannot be determined for such Eurodollar Rate Advances,

(ii)	with respect to Eurodollar Rate Advances, each such Advance will automatically, on the last day of the then existing Interest Period, Convert into a Base Rate Advance (or if such Advance is then a Base Rate Advance, will continue as a Base Rate Advance), and

(iii)

the obligation of the Lenders to make Eurodollar Rate Advances or to Convert Advances into Eurodollar Rate Advances shall be suspended until the Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders that the circumstances causing such suspension no longer exist.

SECTION 2.08   Optional Conversion of Advances.  The Borrower of any Advance may on any Business Day, upon notice given to the Agent not later than 11:00 A.M. (New York City time) on the third Business Day prior to the date of the proposed Conversion and subject to the provisions of Sections 2.07 and 2.11, Convert all Advances of one Type comprising the same Borrowing into Advances of the other Type; provided, however, that any Conversion of Eurodollar Rate Advances into Base Rate Advances shall be made only on the last day of an Interest Period for such Eurodollar Rate Advances, any Conversion of Base Rate Advances into Eurodollar Rate Advances shall be in an amount not less than the minimum amount specified in Section 2.02(b) and no Conversion of any Advances shall result in more separate Borrowings than permitted under Section 2.02(b).  Each such notice of a Conversion shall, within the restrictions specified above, specify (i) the date of such Conversion, (ii) the Advances to be Converted, and (iii) if such Conversion is into Eurodollar Rate Advances, the duration of the initial Interest Period for each such Advance.  Each notice of Conversion shall be irrevocable and binding on the Borrower giving such notice.

 

 

SECTION 2.09   Optional Prepayments of Advances.  The Borrower may, upon notice at least three Business Days' prior to the date of such prepayment, in the case of Eurodollar Rate Advances, and not later than 11:00 A.M. (New York City time) on the date of such prepayment, in the case of Base Rate Advances, to the Agent stating the relevant Facility, the proposed date and aggregate principal amount of the prepayment, and if such notice is given the Borrower shall, prepay the outstanding principal amount of the Advances made to the Borrower comprising part of the same Borrowing in whole or ratably in part, together with accrued interest to the date of such prepayment on the principal amount prepaid; provided, however, that (x) each partial prepayment shall be in an aggregate principal amount of $10,000,000 or an integral multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof and (y) in the event of any such prepayment of a Eurodollar Rate Advance, the Borrower shall be obligated to reimburse the Appropriate Lenders in respect thereof pursuant to Section 8.04(c).

SECTION 2.10   Increased Costs.  (a) If, due to either (i) the introduction of or any change in or in the interpretation of any law or regulation or (ii) the compliance with any guideline or request from any central bank or other governmental authority including, without limitation, any agency of the European Union or similar monetary or multinational authority (whether or not having the force of law), there shall be any increase in the cost to any Lender of agreeing to make or making, continuing, converting to, funding or maintaining Eurodollar Rate Advances (excluding for purposes of this Section 2.10(a) and Section 2.10(b) any such increased costs resulting from (i) Taxes or taxes described in clauses (w) – (z) of the definition of Taxes, imposed on or with respect to any payment made by or on behalf of the Borrower, or Other Taxes (as to which Section 2.13 shall govern) and (ii) Other Connection Taxes that are imposed on or measured by overall net income, or that are franchise taxes or branch profits taxes), then the Borrower shall, from time to time, upon demand by such Lender (with a copy of such demand to the Agent), pay to the Agent for the account of such Lender additional amounts sufficient to compensate such Lender for such increased cost; provided, however, that before making any such demand, each Lender agrees to use reasonable efforts (consistent with its internal policy and legal and regulatory restrictions) to designate a different Applicable Lending Office if the making of such a designation would avoid the need for, or reduce the amount of, such increased cost and would not, in the reasonable judgment of such Lender, be otherwise disadvantageous to such Lender.  A certificate as to the amount of such increased cost, submitted to the Borrower and the Agent by such Lender, shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes, absent manifest error.

(b)   If any Lender determines that compliance with any law or regulation or any guideline or request from any central bank or other governmental authority (whether or not having the force of law) affects or would affect the amount of capital or liquidity required or expected to be maintained by such Lender or any corporation or other entity controlling such Lender and that the amount of such capital is increased by or based upon the existence of such Lender's commitment to lend hereunder and other commitments of this type, then, upon demand by such Lender (with a copy of such demand to the Agent), the Borrower shall pay to the Agent for the account of such Lender, from time to time as specified by such Lender, additional amounts sufficient to compensate such Lender or such corporation in the light of such circumstances, to the extent that such Lender reasonably determines such increase in capital or liquidity to be allocable to the existence of such Lender's commitment to lend hereunder.  A certificate as to such amounts submitted to the Borrower and the Agent by such Lender shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes, absent manifest error.  For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 2.10(b) shall apply to all requests, rules, guidelines or directives concerning capital adequacy or liquidity issued in connection with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and all requests, rules, guidelines or directives concerning capital adequacy or liquidity promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements, the Basel Committee on Banking Regulations and Supervisory Practices (or any successor or similar authority) or the United States financial regulatory authorities, regardless of the date adopted, issued, promulgated or implemented.

 

 

SECTION 2.11   Illegality.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, if any Lender shall notify the Agent that the introduction of or any change in or in the interpretation of any law or regulation makes it unlawful, or any central bank or other governmental authority asserts that it is unlawful, for any Lender or its Eurodollar Lending Office to perform its obligations hereunder to make Eurodollar Rate Advances or to fund or maintain Eurodollar Rate Advances hereunder (a) each Eurodollar Rate Advance in respect of the Appropriate Commitments will automatically, upon such demand, be Converted into a Base Rate Advance and (b) the obligation of the Appropriate Lenders to make Eurodollar Rate Advances or to Convert Advances into Eurodollar Rate Advances shall be suspended until the Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Appropriate Lenders that the circumstances causing such suspension no longer exist; provided, however, that before making any such demand, each Lender agrees to use reasonable efforts (consistent with its internal policy and legal and regulatory restrictions) to designate a different Eurodollar Lending Office if the making of such a designation would allow such Lender or its Eurodollar Lending Office to continue to perform its obligations to make Eurodollar Rate Advances or to continue to fund or maintain Eurodollar Rate Advances and would not, in the judgment of such Lender, be otherwise disadvantageous to such Lender.

SECTION 2.12   Payments and Computations.  (a) The Borrower shall make each payment hereunder, without counterclaim or set-off, not later than 11:00 A.M. (New York City time) on the day when due in Dollars to the Agent at the Agent's Account in same day funds.  The Agent will promptly thereafter cause to be distributed like funds relating to the payment of principal or interest or ticking fees ratably (other than amounts payable pursuant to Section 2.10, 2.13 or 8.04(c)) to the Appropriate Lenders for the account of their respective Applicable Lending Offices, and like funds relating to the payment of any other amount payable to any Lender to such Lender for the account of its Applicable Lending Office, in each case to be applied in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.  Upon its acceptance of an Assignment and Assumption and recording of the information contained therein in the Register pursuant to Section 8.06(c), from and after the effective date specified in such Assignment and Assumption, the Agent shall make all payments hereunder and under the Notes in respect of the interest assigned thereby to the Lender assignee thereunder, and the parties to such Assignment and Assumption shall make all appropriate adjustments in such payments for periods prior to such effective date directly between themselves.

(b)    All computations of interest based on the Base Rate shall be made by the Agent on the basis of a year of 365 or 366 days, as the case may be, and all computations of interest based on the Eurodollar Rate or the Federal Funds Rate and of ticking fees shall be made by the Agent on the basis of a year of 360 days, in each case for the actual number of days (including the first day but excluding the last day) occurring in the period for which such interest or ticking fees are payable.  Each determination by the Agent of an interest rate hereunder shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes, absent manifest error.

 

 

(c)    Whenever any payment hereunder or under the Notes shall be stated to be due on a day other than a Business Day, such payment shall be made on the next succeeding Business Day, and such extension of time shall in such case be included in the computation of payment of interest or ticking fee, as the case may be; provided, however, that, if such extension would cause payment of interest on or principal of Eurodollar Rate Advances to be made in the next following calendar month, such payment shall be made on the next preceding Business Day.

(d)    Unless the Agent shall have received notice from the Borrower prior to the date on which any payment is due to the Lenders or the Appropriate Lenders (as applicable) hereunder that the Borrower will not make such payment in full, the Agent may assume that the Borrower has made such payment in full to the Agent on such date and the Agent may, in reliance upon such assumption, cause to be distributed to each Lender or each Appropriate Lender (as applicable) on such due date an amount equal to the amount then due such Lender.  If and to the extent the Borrower shall not have so made such payment in full to the Agent, each such Lender shall repay to the Agent forthwith on demand such amount distributed to such Lender together with interest thereon, for each day from the date such amount is distributed to such Lender until the date such Lender repays such amount to the Agent, at the Federal Funds Rate.

SECTION 2.13    Taxes.  (a) Any and all payments by or on behalf of the Borrower to or for the account of any Lender or the Agent hereunder or under the Notes or any other documents to be delivered hereunder shall be made, in accordance with Section 2.12 or the applicable provisions of such other documents, free and clear of and without deduction or withholding for any and all present or future taxes, levies, imposts, deductions, charges or withholdings, and all liabilities, including any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable with respect thereto, excluding, in the case of each Lender and the Agent, (v) taxes imposed on overall net income, branch profits taxes, franchise taxes imposed in lieu of net income taxes and other similar taxes, in each case by the jurisdiction under the laws of which such Lender or the Agent (as the case may be) is organized or any political subdivision thereof and, in the case of each Lender, taxes imposed on its overall net income, branch profits taxes, franchise taxes imposed on it in lieu of net income taxes, by the jurisdiction of such Lender's Applicable Lending Office or any political subdivision thereof, or by any other jurisdiction with respect to which the Lender or the Agent, as the case may be, has a present or former connection (other than connections arising from such Person having executed, delivered, become a party to, performed obligations under, received payments under, received or perfected a security interest under, engaged in any other transaction pursuant to or enforced this Agreement, or the Notes or any other documents to be delivered hereunder, or sold or assigned an interest in any such documents), (w) taxes that are attributable to a Lender's failure to comply with the requirements of paragraph (f) of this Section, (x) United States federal withholding taxes imposed on amounts payable to such Lender on the date such Lender becomes a party to this Agreement, or changes its Applicable Lending Office except to the extent that such Lender or its assignor (if any) was entitled, at the time of the change in Applicable Lending Office (or assignment) to receive additional amounts from the Borrower pursuant to this paragraph, (y) any United States withholding taxes imposed pursuant to FATCA and (z) any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable to such excluded taxes (all such non-excluded taxes, levies, imposts, deductions, charges, withholdings and liabilities in respect of payments hereunder or under the Notes being hereinafter referred to as "Taxes").  If any Taxes from or in respect of any sum payable hereunder or under any Note or any other documents to be delivered hereunder to any Lender or the Agent are required by law to be deducted or withheld, (i) the sum payable by the Borrower shall be increased as may be necessary so that after making all required withholdings or deductions (including withholdings or deductions applicable to additional sums payable under this Section 2.13) such Lender or the Agent (as the case may be) receives an amount equal to the sum it would have received had no such deductions been made and (ii) if the Borrower is the withholding agent under applicable law, the Borrower shall make such deductions and shall pay the full amount deducted to the relevant taxation authority or other authority in accordance with applicable law.

 

 

(b)    In addition, the Borrower shall pay any present or future stamp or documentary taxes or any other excise or property taxes, charges or similar levies that arise from any payment made hereunder or under the Notes or any other documents to be delivered hereunder or from the execution, delivery or registration of, performing under, or otherwise with respect to, this Agreement or the Notes or any other documents to be delivered hereunder except any such taxes that are Other Connection Taxes imposed with respect to any assignment (other than an assignment pursuant to Section 2.13(g)) (hereinafter referred to as "Other Taxes").

(c)    The Borrower shall indemnify each Lender and the Agent for and hold it harmless against the full amount of Taxes or Other Taxes (including, without limitation, taxes of any kind imposed or asserted by any jurisdiction on amounts payable under this Section 2.13) imposed on or paid by such Lender or the Agent (as the case may be) and any liability (including penalties, interest and expenses) arising therefrom or with respect thereto.  This indemnification shall be made within 30 days from the date such Lender or the Agent (as the case may be) makes written demand therefor.

(d)    Within 30 days after the date of any payment of Taxes by the Borrower, the Borrower shall furnish to the Agent, at its address referred to in Section 8.02, the original or a certified copy of a receipt evidencing such payment to the extent such a receipt is issued therefor, or other written proof of payment thereof that is reasonably satisfactory to the Agent.

(e)    Each Lender shall indemnify the Agent for the full amount of any taxes, levies, imposts, duties, charges, fees, deductions, withholdings or similar charges imposed by any governmental authority that are attributable to such Lender and that are payable or paid by the Agent in good faith, and any liability (including penalties, interest and expenses) arising therefrom or with respect thereto.  This indemnification shall be made within 30 days from the date the Agent makes written demand therefor.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, nothing in this Section 2.13(e) shall affect the Lender's rights with respect to the Borrower pursuant to this Agreement or the Notes.

 

 

(f)    (i) (A) Each Lender that is a "United States Person" as defined in Section 7701(a)(30) of the Internal Revenue Code shall deliver to the Borrower and the Agent on or before the date on which it becomes a party to this Agreement two properly completed and duly signed originals of U.S. Internal Revenue Service Form W-9 (or any successor form) certifying that such Lender is exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax.  (B) Each Lender that is not a "United States Person" as defined in Section 7701(a)(30) of the Internal Revenue Code (a "Non-U.S. Lender") shall deliver to the Borrower and the Agent, whichever of the following is applicable:  (w) in the case of a Non-U.S. Lender claiming the benefits of an income tax treaty to which the United States is a party (i) with respect to payments of interest under this Agreement and the Notes, two properly completed and duly signed originals of U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") Form W-8BEN-E (or any subsequent versions thereof or successors thereto) establishing an exemption from or reduction of, U.S. federal withholding tax pursuant to an "interest" article of such tax treaty, and (ii) with respect to any other applicable payments under this Agreement and the Notes, IRS Form W-8BEN-E (or any subsequent versions thereof or successors thereto) establishing an exemption from, or reduction of, U.S. federal withholding tax pursuant to the "business profits" or "other income" article of such tax treaty, (x) two properly completed and duly signed originals of IRS Form W-8ECI (or any subsequent versions thereof or successors thereto); (y) in the case of a Non-U.S. Lender claiming exemption from U.S. federal withholding tax under Section 871(h) or 881(c) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to payments of "portfolio interest," a statement substantially in the form of Exhibit E-1 to the effect that such Non-U.S. Lender is not a "bank" within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, a "10 percent shareholder" of the Borrower within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a "controlled foreign corporation" described in Section 881(c)(3)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code (a "U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate") and two properly completed and duly signed originals of IRS Form W-8BEN-E (or any subsequent versions thereof or successors thereto); or (z) to the extent the Non-U.S. Lender is not the beneficial owner, two properly completed and signed originals of IRS Form W-8IMY, accompanied by IRS Form W-8ECI, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, a U.S. Tax Compliance certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit E-2 or Exhibit E-3, IRS Form W-9, and/or other certification documents from each beneficial owner, as applicable, provided that if a Non-U.S. Lender is a partnership and one or more direct or indirect partners of such Non-U.S. Lender are claiming the portfolio interest exemption, such Non-U.S. Lender may provide a U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit E-4 on behalf of each such direct or indirect partner.  Any Non-U.S. Lender shall, to the extent it is legally entitled to do so, deliver to the Borrower and the Agent any other form prescribed by applicable requirements of U.S. federal income tax law as a basis for claiming exemption from, or a reduction in, U.S. federal withholding tax, in each case, duly completed and signed together with such supplementary documentation as may be prescribed by applicable requirements of law which permits the Borrower and/or the Agent to determine any withholdings or deductions required to be made.  Forms referred to in this Section 2.13(f)(i) shall be delivered by each Lender on or before the date it becomes a party to this Agreement and from time to time thereafter upon the request of the Borrower or the Agent.  In addition, each Lender shall deliver such forms promptly upon the obsolescence or invalidity of any form previously delivered by such Lender.  Each Lender shall promptly notify the Borrower and the Agent at any time it determines that it is no longer in a position to provide any previously delivered certificate to the Borrower and the Agent (or any other form of certification adopted by the U.S. taxing authorities for such purpose).  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a Lender shall not be required to deliver any form pursuant to this Section that such Lender is not legally able to deliver or would materially prejudice the commercial position of such Lender.

 

 

(ii)

If a payment made to a Lender hereunder would be subject to United States federal withholding tax imposed by FATCA if such Lender were to fail to comply with the applicable reporting requirements of FATCA (including those contained in Section 1471(b) or 1472(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, as applicable), such Lender shall deliver to the Borrower and the Agent, at the time or times prescribed by law and at such time or times reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Agent, such documentation prescribed by applicable law (including as prescribed by Section 1471(b)(3)(C)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code) and such additional documentation reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Agent as may be necessary for the Borrower or the Agent to comply with its obligations under FATCA, to determine that such Lender has complied with such Lender's obligations under FATCA or to determine the amount to deduct and withhold from such payment.  Solely for purposes of this clause (ii), FATCA shall include any amendments to FATCA after the date hereof.

(g)     Any Lender claiming any additional amounts payable pursuant to Section 2.10 or this Section 2.13 agrees to use reasonable efforts (consistent with its internal policy and legal and regulatory restrictions) to change the jurisdiction of its Eurodollar Lending Office if the making of such a change would avoid the need for, or reduce the amount of, any such additional amounts that may thereafter accrue and would not, in the reasonable judgment of such Lender, be otherwise disadvantageous to such Lender; provided, however, that if any such Lender fails to change the jurisdiction of its Applicable Lending Office to a jurisdiction with respect to which no additional amounts are owed under this Section 2.13 within of 30 days of receiving such a request from the Borrower, the Borrower may replace such Lender in accordance with Section 2.18.

(h)    If any party determines, in its sole discretion exercised in good faith, that it has received a refund of any amount as to which it has been indemnified pursuant to this Section 2.13 (including additional amounts paid pursuant to this Section 2.13), it shall pay to the indemnifying party an amount equal to such refund (but only to the extent of indemnity payments made under this Section with respect to the amounts giving rise to such refund), net of all out-of-pocket expenses (including any taxes) of such indemnified party and without interest (other than any interest paid by the relevant governmental authority with respect to such refund).  Such indemnifying party, upon the request of such indemnified party, shall repay to such indemnified party the amount paid to such indemnified party pursuant to the previous sentence (plus any penalties, interest or other charges imposed by the relevant governmental authority) in the event such indemnified party is required to repay such refund to such governmental authority.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 2.13(h), in no event will any indemnified party be required to pay any amount to any indemnifying party pursuant to this Section 2.13(h) if such payment would place such indemnified party in a less favorable position (on a net after-tax basis) than such indemnified party would have been in if the tax subject to indemnification and giving rise to such refund had not been deducted, withheld or otherwise imposed, and the indemnification payments or additional amounts with respect to such tax had never been paid.  This Section 2.13(h) shall not be construed to require any indemnified party to make available its tax returns (or any other information relating to its taxes which it deems confidential) to the indemnifying party or any other Person.

 

 

SECTION 2.14    Sharing of Payments, Etc..  If any Lender shall obtain any payment (whether voluntary, involuntary, through the exercise of any right of set-off, or otherwise) on account of the Advances owing to it (other than pursuant to Section 2.10, 2.13 or 8.04(c)) in excess of its ratable share of payments on account of the Advances obtained by all the Lenders, such Lender shall forthwith purchase from the other Lenders such participations in the Advances owing to them as shall be necessary to cause such purchasing Lender to share the excess payment ratably with each of them; provided, however, that if all or any portion of such excess payment is thereafter recovered from such purchasing Lender, such purchase from each Lender shall be rescinded and such Lender shall repay to the purchasing Lender the purchase price to the extent of such recovery together with an amount equal to such Lender's ratable share (according to the proportion of (i) the amount of such Lender's required repayment to (ii) the total amount so recovered from the purchasing Lender) of any interest or other amount paid or payable by the purchasing Lender in respect of the total amount so recovered; provided, further, that, notwithstanding the foregoing, so long as the Advances shall not have become due and payable pursuant to Section 6.01, any excess payment received by any Appropriate Lender that is not by its terms payable to all Lenders shall be calculated and shared on a pro rata basis only with other Appropriate Lenders.  The Borrower agrees that any Lender so purchasing a participation from another Lender pursuant to this Section 2.14 may, to the fullest extent permitted by law, exercise all its rights of payment with respect to such participation as fully as if such Lender were the direct creditor of the Borrower in the amount of such participation.

SECTION 2.15    Evidence of Debt.  (a) Each Lender shall maintain in accordance with its usual practice an account or accounts evidencing the indebtedness of the Borrower to such Lender resulting from each Advance owing to such Lender from time to time, including the amounts of principal and interest payable and paid to such Lender from time to time hereunder in respect of Advances.  The Borrower agrees that upon notice by any Lender to the Borrower (with a copy of such notice to the Agent) to the effect that a Note is required or appropriate in order for such Lender to evidence (whether for purposes of pledge, enforcement or otherwise) the Advances owing to, or to be made by, such Lender in respect of its Appropriate Commitment, the Borrower shall promptly execute and deliver to such Lender a Note payable to the order of such Lender in a principal amount up to the Appropriate Commitment of such Lender.  Each Lender that receives a Note pursuant to this Section 2.15 agrees that, upon its Appropriate Commitment Termination, such Lender will return such Note to the Borrower.

(b)    The Register maintained by the Agent pursuant to Section 8.06(c) shall include a control account, and a subsidiary account for each Lender, in which accounts (taken together) shall be recorded (i) the date and amount of each Borrowing made hereunder, the Type of Advances comprising such Borrowing and, if appropriate, the Interest Period applicable thereto, (ii) the terms of each Assignment and Assumption delivered to and accepted by it, (iii) the amount of any principal or interest due and payable or to become due and payable from the Borrower to each Lender hereunder and (iv) the amount of any sum received by the Agent from the Borrower hereunder and each Lender's share thereof.

(c)    Entries made in good faith by the Agent in the Register pursuant to subsection (b) above, and by each Lender in its account or accounts pursuant to subsection (a) above, shall be prima facie evidence of the amount of principal and interest due and payable or to become due and payable from the Borrower to, in the case of the Register, each Lender and, in the case of such account or accounts, such Lender, under this Agreement, absent manifest error; provided, however, that the failure of the Agent or such Lender to make an entry, or any finding that an entry is incorrect, in the Register or such account or accounts shall not limit or otherwise affect the obligations of the Borrower under this Agreement.

 

 

SECTION 2.16    Use of Proceeds.  The proceeds of the Advances shall be available (and the Borrower agrees that it shall use such proceeds) for general corporate purposes of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries.

SECTION 2.17    Defaulting Lenders.  (a) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, any payment by the Borrower for the account of a Defaulting Lender under this Agreement shall not be paid or distributed to such Defaulting Lender, but shall instead be retained by the Agent in a segregated non-interest bearing account until the earlier of the date the Defaulting Lender is no longer a Defaulting Lender or the termination of the Commitments and payment in full of all obligations of the Borrower hereunder and shall be applied at such time or times as may be determined by the Agent as follows:  first, to the payment of any amounts owing by such Defaulting Lender to the Agent hereunder; second, as the Borrower may request (so long as no Default exists), to the funding of any Advance in respect of which that Defaulting Lender has failed to fund its portion thereof as required by this Agreement, as reasonably determined by the Agent or if no such funding has been requested, to be held by the Agent as cash collateral to fund future Advances by such Defaulting Lender; third, to the payment of any amounts owing to the Lenders or the Appropriate Lenders (as applicable) as a result of any judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction obtained by any Lender against such Defaulting Lender as a result of such Defaulting Lender's breach of its obligations under this Agreement; fourth, so long as no Default exists, to the payment of any amounts owing to the Borrower as a result of any judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction obtained by the Borrower against such Defaulting Lender as a result of such Defaulting Lender's breach of its obligations under this Agreement; and fifth, to such Defaulting Lender or as otherwise directed by a court of competent jurisdiction; provided that any amounts held as cash collateral for funding obligations of a Defaulting Lender shall be returned to such Defaulting Lender upon its Appropriate Commitment Termination (or, if it is a Tranche A Lender, a Tranche B Lender and a Tranche C Lender, the termination or expiration of this Agreement) and the satisfaction of such Defaulting Lender's obligations hereunder. Any payments, prepayments or other amounts paid or payable to a Defaulting Lender that are applied (or held) to pay amounts owed by a Defaulting Lender or to post cash collateral pursuant to this Section 2.17 shall be deemed paid to and redirected by such Defaulting Lender, and each Lender irrevocably consents hereto.

(b)    No Commitment of any Lender shall be increased or otherwise affected, and, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Section 2.17, performance by the Borrower of its obligations shall not be excused or otherwise modified as a result of the operation of this Section 2.17.  The rights and remedies against a Defaulting Lender under this Section 2.17 are in addition to any other rights and remedies which the Borrower, the Agent or any Lender may have against such Defaulting Lender.

 

 

(c)    If the Borrower and the Agent agree in writing in their reasonable determination that a Defaulting Lender should no longer be deemed to be a Defaulting Lender, the Agent will so notify the parties hereto, whereupon as of the effective date specified in such notice and subject to any conditions set forth therein (which may include arrangements with respect to any cash collateral), that Lender will, to the extent applicable, purchase that portion of outstanding Advances of the other Appropriate Lenders or take such other actions as the Agent may determine to be necessary to cause the Advances to be funded and held on a pro rata basis by the Appropriate Lenders in accordance with their pro rata share, whereupon such Lender will cease to be a Defaulting Lender; provided that no adjustments will be made retroactively with respect to fees accrued or payments made by or on behalf of the Borrower while that Lender was a Defaulting Lender; and provided, further, that except to the extent otherwise expressly agreed by the affected parties, no change hereunder from Defaulting Lender to Lender will constitute a waiver or release of any claim of any party hereunder arising from such Lender's having been a Defaulting Lender.

SECTION 2.18    Replacement of Lenders.  If (a) any Lender requests compensation under Section 2.10, (b) the Borrower is required to pay additional amounts to any Lender or any governmental authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to Section 2.13 or (c) any Lender is a Defaulting Lender or a Non-Consenting Lender, then the Borrower may, at its sole expense and effort and so long as no Default is continuing, upon notice to such Lender and the Agent, require such Lender to assign and delegate, without recourse (in accordance with and subject to the restrictions contained in, and consents required by, Section 8.06), all of its interests, rights and obligations under this Agreement to an Eligible Assignee that shall assume such obligations (which assignee may be another Lender, if a Lender accepts such assignment); provided that:

(i)	the Borrower shall have paid to the Agent the assignment fee (if any) specified in Section 8.06;

(ii)

such assigning Lender shall have received payment of an amount equal to the outstanding principal of its Advances, accrued interest thereon, accrued fees and all other amounts then payable to it hereunder (including any amounts under Section 8.04(c)) from the assignee (to the extent of such outstanding principal and accrued interest and fees) or the Borrower (in the case of all other amounts);

(iii)

in the case of any such assignment resulting from a claim for compensation under Section 2.10 or payments required to be made pursuant to Section 2.13, such assignment will result in a reduction in such compensation or payments after the date of such assignment;

(iv)	such assignment does not conflict with applicable law; and

(v)	in the case of any assignment resulting from a Lender becoming a Non-Consenting Lender, the applicable assignee shall have consented to the applicable amendment, waiver or consent.

 

SECTION 3.01    Conditions Precedent to Effectiveness of Section 2.01.  Section 2.01 of this Agreement shall become effective on and as of the first date (the "Effective Date") on which the following conditions precedent have been satisfied:

(a)	Except as disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to the date hereof, there shall have occurred no Material Adverse Change since December 31, 2016.

(b)

There shall exist no action, suit, investigation, litigation or proceeding affecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries pending or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, threatened before any court, governmental agency or arbitrator that (i) would be reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect or (ii) purports to affect the legality, validity or enforceability of this Agreement or any Note or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

(c)

All governmental and third party consents and approvals necessary in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby shall have been obtained (without the imposition of any conditions that are not acceptable to the Lenders) and shall remain in effect, and no law or regulation shall be applicable in the reasonable judgment of the Lenders that restrains, prevents or imposes materially adverse conditions upon the transactions contemplated hereby.

(d)	The Borrower shall have notified the Agent in writing as to the proposed Effective Date.

(e)	The Borrower shall have paid all accrued fees and expenses of the Agent and the Lenders (including the accrued fees and expenses of counsel to the Agent) required to be paid on or prior to the Effective Date.

(f)	On the Effective Date, the following statements shall be true and the Agent shall have received for the account of each Lender a certificate signed by a duly authorized officer of the Borrower, dated the Effective Date, stating that:

(i)	The representations and warranties contained in Section 4.01 are correct on and as of the Effective Date, and

(ii)	No event has occurred and is continuing that constitutes a Default.

 

 

(g)	The Agent shall have received on or before the Effective Date the following, each dated the Effective Date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Agent and (except for the Notes) in sufficient copies for each Lender:

(i)	The Notes of the Borrower to the order of the Lenders to the extent requested by any Lender pursuant to Section 2.15.

(ii)	Certified excerpts of the resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Borrower approving this Agreement and the Notes to be delivered by it, and of all documents evidencing other necessary corporate action and governmental approvals, if any, with respect to this Agreement and the Notes.

(iii)

A certificate of the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Borrower certifying the names and true signatures of the officers of the Borrower authorized to sign this Agreement and the Notes to be delivered by it and the other documents to be delivered by it hereunder.

(iv)	A favorable opinion of the associate general counsel of the Borrower, substantially in the form of Exhibit D hereto.

SECTION 3.02    Conditions Precedent to Each Borrowing.  The obligation of each Appropriate Lender to make an Advance on the occasion of each relevant Borrowing shall be subject to the conditions precedent that the Effective Date shall have occurred and on the date of such Borrowing (a) the following statements shall be true (and each of the giving of the applicable Notice of Borrowing and the acceptance by the Borrower of the proceeds of such Borrowing shall constitute a representation and warranty by the Borrower that on the date of such Borrowing such statements are true):

(i)

the representations and warranties of the Borrower contained in Section 4.01 (except the representations set forth in the last sentence of subsection (e) thereof and in subsection (f)(i) thereof) are correct in all material respects (except such representations that are qualified by materiality, which shall be correct) on and as of such date, before and after giving effect to such Borrowing and to the application of the proceeds therefrom, as though made on and as of such date,

(ii)	no event has occurred and is continuing, or would result from such Borrowing or from the application of the proceeds therefrom, that constitutes a Default, and

(iii)

such Borrowing is within any mandatory debt limitations established by the Board of Directors of the Borrower;

SECTION 3.03    Determinations Under Section 3.01.  For purposes of determining compliance with the conditions specified in Section 3.01, each Lender shall be deemed to have consented to, approved or accepted or to be satisfied with each document or other matter required thereunder to be consented to or approved by or acceptable or satisfactory to the Lenders unless an officer of the Agent responsible for the transactions contemplated by this Agreement shall have received notice from such Lender prior to the date that the Borrower, by notice to the Lenders, designates as the proposed Effective Date, specifying its objection thereto.  The Agent shall promptly notify the Lenders of the occurrence of the Effective Date.

SECTION 4.01    Representations and Warranties.  The Borrower represents and warrants on the Effective Date and on the Funding Date as follows:

(a)	The Borrower is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization.

(b)

The execution, delivery and performance by the Borrower of this Agreement and the Notes, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, are within the Borrower's corporate powers, have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action, and do not contravene (i) the Borrower's charter or by-laws, (ii) any material law applicable to the Borrower in any material respect or (iii) any material contractual restriction binding on or affecting the Borrower.

(c)	No authorization or approval or other action by, and no notice to or filing with, any governmental authority or regulatory body or any other third party is required for the due execution, delivery and performance by the Borrower of this Agreement or the Notes.

(d)

This Agreement has been, and each of the Notes when delivered hereunder will have been, duly executed and delivered by the Borrower.  This Agreement is, and each of the Notes when delivered hereunder will be, the legal, valid and binding obligation of the Borrower enforceable against the Borrower 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 (whether enforcement is sought by proceedings in equity or at law).

(e)

The Audited Financial Statements, accompanied by an opinion of Ernst & Young LLP, independent public accountants (or other independent public accountants of national standing), and the Quarterly Financial Statements, duly certified by the chief financial officer of the Borrower, copies of which have been furnished to each Lender, fairly present in all material respects, subject, in the case of said Quarterly Financial Statements, to year-end audit adjustments, the Consolidated financial condition of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as at such dates and the Consolidated results of the operations of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for the periods ended on such dates, all in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles consistently applied.  Except as disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to the date hereof, since December 31, 2016, there has been no Material Adverse Change.

 

 

(f)

There is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, threatened action, suit, investigation, litigation or proceeding affecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries before any court, governmental agency or arbitrator that (i) is not disclosed in a filing by the Borrower with the Securities and Exchange Commission and would be reasonably likely to have a Material Adverse Effect or (ii) purports to affect the legality, validity or enforceability of this Agreement or any Note or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

(g)

The Borrower is not engaged in the business of extending credit for the purpose of purchasing or carrying margin stock (within the meaning of Regulation U issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System), and no proceeds of any Advance will be used to purchase or carry any margin stock or to extend credit to others for the purpose of purchasing or carrying any margin stock.  Following application of the proceeds of each Advance, not more than 25 percent of the value of the assets (either of the Borrower only or of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on a Consolidated basis) that are subject to a restriction on sale, pledge, or disposal under this Agreement will be represented by margin stock (within the meaning of Regulation U issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System).

(h)	The Borrower is not an "investment company," or a company "controlled" by an "investment company," within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

(i)

(i) None of the Borrower or any of the Borrower's Subsidiaries is a Person that is, or is owned or controlled by Persons that are the subject or target of any Sanctions; (ii) the Borrower has implemented and maintains in effect policies and procedures designed to promote compliance by the Borrower with Anti-Corruption Laws, and (iii) the Borrower and its Subsidiaries are in compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws and applicable Sanctions in all material respects.

(j)	The Borrower is not an EEA Financial Institution.

SECTION 5.01    Affirmative Covenants.  So long as any Advance shall remain unpaid or any Lender shall have any Commitment hereunder, the Borrower will:

(a)

Compliance with Laws, Etc.  Comply, and cause each of its Subsidiaries to comply with all applicable laws, rules, regulations and orders, such compliance to include, without limitation, compliance with ERISA and the PATRIOT Act, except where the failure to do so, individually or in the aggregate, would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

 

(b)

Payment of Taxes, Etc.  Pay and discharge, and cause each of its Subsidiaries to pay and discharge, before the same shall become delinquent, (i) all federal and other material taxes, assessments and governmental charges or levies imposed upon it or upon its property and (ii) all lawful claims that, if unpaid, might by law become a Lien upon its material property; provided, however, that neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries shall be required to pay or discharge any such tax, assessment, charge or claim that is being contested in good faith and by proper proceedings and as to which appropriate reserves are being maintained, unless and until any Lien resulting therefrom attaches to its property and becomes enforceable against its other creditors.

(c)

Maintenance of Insurance.  Maintain, and cause each of its Subsidiaries to maintain, insurance with responsible and reputable insurance companies or associations in such amounts and covering such risks as is usually carried by companies engaged in similar businesses and owning similar properties in the same general areas in which the Borrower or such Subsidiary operates; provided, however, that the Borrower and its Subsidiaries may self-insure (including through captive insurance subsidiaries) to the extent consistent with prudent business practice.

(d)

Preservation of Corporate Existence, Etc.  Preserve and maintain, and cause each of its Subsidiaries to preserve and maintain, its corporate existence and its material rights (charter and statutory) and franchises; provided, however, that the Borrower and its Subsidiaries may consummate any merger or consolidation permitted under Section 5.02(b) and provided further that neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries shall be required to preserve any right or franchise, or in the case of any Subsidiary its corporate existence, if the Board of Directors of the Borrower or such Subsidiary shall determine that the preservation thereof is no longer desirable in the conduct of the business of the Borrower or such Subsidiary, as the case may be, and that the loss thereof is not disadvantageous in any material respect to the Borrower or such Subsidiary.

(e)

Visitation Rights.  At any reasonable time and from time to time during normal business hours, permit the Agent or any of the Lenders or any agents or representatives thereof, to examine the records and books of account of, and visit the properties of, the Borrower and any of its Subsidiaries, and, upon execution of a confidentiality agreement, to discuss the affairs, finances and accounts of the Borrower and any of its Subsidiaries with any of the officers or directors of the Borrower and with their independent certified public accountants, provided, however, that examination of the records and books of account of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries shall occur only at times when an Advance shall be outstanding.

(f)

Keeping of Books.  Keep, and cause each of its Subsidiaries to keep, proper books of record and account, in which full and correct entries shall be made of all financial transactions and the assets and business of the Borrower and each such Subsidiary in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in effect from time to time.

 

 

(g)

Maintenance of Properties, Etc.  Maintain and preserve, and cause each of its Subsidiaries to maintain and preserve, all of its properties that are used or useful in the conduct of its business in good working order and condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted, except where the failure to do so, individually or in the aggregate, would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(h)	Reporting Requirements.  Furnish to the Lenders:

(i)

as soon as available and in any event within 40 days after the end of each of the first three quarters of each fiscal year of the Borrower, the Consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such quarter and Consolidated statements of income and cash flows of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for the period commencing at the end of the previous fiscal year and ending with the end of such quarter, duly certified (subject to year-end audit adjustments) by the chief financial officer of the Borrower as having been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (it being understood that the certification provided by the chief financial officer in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is acceptable for this purpose) and prepare and deliver a certificate of the chief financial officer of the Borrower as to compliance with the terms of this Agreement and setting forth in reasonable detail the calculations necessary to demonstrate compliance with Section 5.03 (it being understood that the only certification regarding pro forma adjustments included in such calculation shall be that the adjustments are reasonable good faith estimates prepared on the basis of information available as of the date that such pro forma adjustments are determined); provided that in the event of any change since the date hereof in generally accepted accounting principles used in the preparation of such financial statements, the Borrower shall provide the financial information required for the determination of compliance with Section 5.03 based on GAAP in effect as of the date hereof;

(ii)

as soon as available and in any event within 75 days after the end of each fiscal year of the Borrower, a copy of the annual report for such year for the Borrower containing the Consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of the end of such fiscal year and Consolidated statements of income and cash flows of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for such fiscal year, in each case accompanied by an opinion by Ernst & Young LLP or other independent public accountants of national standing to the effect that such Consolidated financial statements fairly present its financial condition and results of operations on a Consolidated basis in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles consistently applied and prepare and deliver a certificate of the chief financial officer of the Borrower as to compliance with the terms of this Agreement and setting forth in reasonable detail the calculations necessary to demonstrate compliance with Section 5.03 (it being understood that the only certification regarding pro forma adjustments included in such calculation shall be that the adjustments are reasonable good faith estimates prepared on the basis of information available as of the date that such pro forma adjustments are determined); provided that in the event of any change since the date hereof in generally accepted accounting principles used in the preparation of such financial statements, the Borrower shall provide the financial information required for the determination of compliance with Section 5.03 based on GAAP in effect as of the date hereof;

 

 

(iii)

as soon as possible and in any event within five Business Days after the occurrence of each Default continuing on the date of such statement, a statement of the chief financial officer of the Borrower setting forth details of such Default and the action that the Borrower has taken and proposes to take with respect thereto;

(iv)

if Advances are outstanding and if such are not available on the internet at www.att.com, www.sec.gov or another website designated by the Borrower, promptly after the sending or filing thereof, copies of all reports that the Borrower sends to any of its securityholders, and copies of all reports and registration statements that the Borrower or any Subsidiary files with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any national securities exchange;

(v)	prompt notice of the commencement of all actions and proceedings before any court, governmental agency or arbitrator affecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries of the type described in Section 4.01(f); and

(vi)

such other information respecting the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries as any Lender through the Agent may from time to time reasonably request of a material nature that may reasonably relate to the condition (financial or otherwise), operations, properties or prospects of the Borrower or the Borrower and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole.

SECTION 5.02    Negative Covenants.  So long as any Advance shall remain unpaid or any Lender shall have any Commitment hereunder, the Borrower shall not:

 

 

(a)	Liens, Etc.  Create or suffer to exist, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to create or suffer to exist, any Lien on or with respect to any of its properties, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, or assign, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to assign, any right to receive income, other than:

(i)	Permitted Liens,

(ii)

purchase money Liens upon or in any real property or equipment acquired or held by the Borrower or any Subsidiary of the Borrower in the ordinary course of business to secure the purchase price of such property or equipment or to secure Debt incurred solely for the purpose of financing the acquisition of such property or equipment (including capital leases), or Liens existing on such property or equipment at the time of its acquisition (other than any such Liens created in contemplation of such acquisition that were not incurred to finance the acquisition of such property) or extensions, renewals or replacements of any of the foregoing for the same or a lesser amount, provided, however, that no such Lien shall extend to or cover any properties of any character other than the real property or equipment being acquired, and no such extension, renewal or replacement shall extend to or cover any properties not theretofore subject to the Lien being extended, renewed or replaced,

(iii)

the Liens existing on the date hereof and described on Schedule 5.02(a) hereto,

(iv)

Liens on property of a Person existing at the time such Person is merged into or consolidated with the Borrower or any Subsidiary of the Borrower or becomes a Subsidiary of the Borrower; provided that such Liens were not created in contemplation of such merger, consolidation or acquisition and do not extend to any assets other than those of the Person so merged into or consolidated with the Borrower or such Subsidiary or acquired by the Borrower or such Subsidiary,

(v)	Liens securing Debt incurred by the Borrower or its Subsidiaries in connection with a financing based on accounts receivable (including any Receivables Securitization),

(vi)	Liens on assets of a Subsidiary that is a regulated telephone company (a "Telco") that, pursuant to the public debt indenture(s) of such Telco, are created upon the merger or conveyance or sale of all or substantially all of the assets of such Telco,

(vii)

Liens on real property securing Debt and other obligations in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $1,000,000,000 at any time outstanding,

(viii)

other Liens securing Debt and other obligations in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed at any time outstanding 10 percent of Net Tangible Assets, and

 

(ix)	the replacement, extension or renewal of any Lien permitted by clause (iii) or (iv) above upon or in the same property theretofore subject thereto or the replacement, extension or renewal (without increase in the amount or change in any direct or contingent obligor) of the Debt secured thereby.

(b)	Mergers, Etc..  Merge or consolidate with or into, or, directly or indirectly, convey, transfer, lease or otherwise dispose of (whether in one transaction or in a series of transactions) all or substantially all of its assets (whether now owned or hereafter acquired) to, any Person.

(c)	Accounting Changes.  Make or permit, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to make or permit, any change in accounting policies or reporting practices, except as required or permitted by generally accepted accounting principles.

 

(d)

Sanctions and Anti-Corruption.  Request any Borrowing, nor directly or to its knowledge indirectly use the proceeds of any Borrowing, in each case (i) in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment or giving of money, or anything else of value, to any Person in violation of any Anti-Corruption Laws, or (ii) in any manner that would result in the violation of any Sanctions applicable to the Borrower or its Subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, any other party hereto.

SECTION 5.03    Financial Covenant.  The Borrower will maintain, as of the last day of each fiscal quarter, a ratio of Net Debt for Borrowed Money to Consolidated EBITDA of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries for the four quarters then ended of not more than 3.5 to 1.

SECTION 6.01    Events of Default.  If any of the following events ("Events of Default") shall occur and be continuing:

(a)	Failure to pay any principal of any Advance when the same becomes due and payable; or failure to pay any interest on any Advance or to make any other payment of fees or other amounts payable under this Agreement or any Note within three Business Days after the same becomes due and payable; or

(b)	Any representation or warranty made by the Borrower herein or in connection with this Agreement shall prove to have been incorrect in any material respect when made; or

(c)

(i) The Borrower shall fail to perform or observe any term, covenant or agreement applicable to it contained in Sections 5.01(d), (e) or (h), 5.02 or 5.03, or (ii) the Borrower shall fail to perform or observe any term, covenant or agreement (other than those referred to in clauses (a) and (c)(i) above) contained in this Agreement on its part to be performed or observed and such failure shall remain unremedied for 10 days after written notice thereof shall have been given to the Borrower by the Agent or any Lender; or

 

(d)

(i) The Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries shall fail to pay any principal of or premium or interest on any Debt that is outstanding in a principal or net amount of at least the Threshold Amount in the aggregate (but excluding Debt owing by the Borrower outstanding hereunder) of the Borrower or such Subsidiary (as the case may be), when the same becomes due and payable (whether by scheduled maturity, required prepayment, acceleration, demand or otherwise), and such failure shall continue after the applicable grace period, if any, specified in the agreement or instrument relating to such Debt; (ii) any other event shall occur or condition shall exist under any agreement or instrument relating to any such Debt and shall continue after the applicable grace period, if any, specified in such agreement or instrument, if the effect of such event or condition is to accelerate the maturity of such Debt; or (iii) any such Debt shall be declared to be due and payable, or required to be prepaid or redeemed (other than by a regularly scheduled required prepayment or redemption), purchased or defeased, or an offer to prepay, redeem, purchase or defease such Debt shall be required to be made, in each case prior to the stated maturity thereof; provided, that, (x) the Debt subject of clause (ii) or (iii) above shall not include Debt of a Person that is merged into or consolidated with the Borrower or any Subsidiary of the Borrower or that becomes a Subsidiary of the Borrower for a period of 90 days after the date that such Debt becomes Debt of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries and (y) clauses (ii) and (iii) above shall not apply to any prepayment, redemption, repurchase or defeasance required to be made as a result of the obligor of such Debt making a voluntary notice of prepayment, voluntary notice of redemption, voluntary notice of repurchase, voluntary notice of defeasance or taking similar action with comparable effect; or

(e)

The Borrower or any of its Material Subsidiaries shall generally not pay its debts as such debts become due, or shall admit in writing its inability to pay its debts generally, or shall make a general assignment for the benefit of creditors; or any proceeding shall be instituted by or against the Borrower or any of its Material Subsidiaries seeking to adjudicate it a bankrupt or insolvent, or seeking liquidation, winding up, reorganization, arrangement, adjustment, protection, relief, or composition of it or its debts under any law relating to bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization or relief of debtors, or seeking the entry of an order for relief or the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian or other similar official for it or for any substantial part of its property and, in the case of any such proceeding instituted against it (but not instituted by it), either such proceeding shall remain undismissed or unstayed for a period of 30 days, or any of the actions sought in such proceeding (including, without limitation, the entry of an order for relief against, or the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian or other similar official for, it or for any substantial part of its property) shall occur; or the Borrower or any of its Material Subsidiaries shall take any corporate action to authorize any of the actions set forth above in this subsection (e); or

(f)

Final and non-appealable judgments or orders for the payment of money in excess of the Threshold Amount in the aggregate shall be rendered against the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, 30 days shall have passed since such judgment became final and non-appealable and enforcement proceedings shall have been commenced by any creditor upon such judgment or order; provided, however, that any such judgment or order shall not be an Event of Default under this Section 6.01(f) if and for so long as (i) the amount of such judgment or order is covered by a valid and binding policy of insurance between the defendant and the insurer covering payment thereof and (ii) such insurer, which shall be rated at least "A" by A.M. Best Company, has been notified of, and has not disputed the claim made for payment of, the amount of such judgment or order; or

 

 

(g)

(i) Any Person or two or more Persons acting in concert shall have acquired beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 of the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), directly or indirectly, of Voting Stock of the Borrower (or other securities convertible into such Voting Stock) representing more than 50% of the combined voting power of all Voting Stock of the Borrower; or (ii) during any period of 24 consecutive months, commencing after the date of this Agreement, individuals who at the beginning of such 24-month period were directors of the Borrower shall cease for any reason (other than due to retirement, death or disability) to constitute a majority of the Board of Directors of the Borrower (except to the extent that such individuals were replaced by individuals (x) elected by 66-2/3% of the members of the Board of Directors of the Borrower or (y) nominated for election by a majority of the members of the Board of Directors of the Borrower and thereafter elected as directors by the shareholders of the Borrower); or

(h)

The Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate shall fail to satisfy minimum funding requirements under Section 412 of the Internal Revenue Code or Section 302 of ERISA to any Plan, or apply for a waiver of such requirements, and such failure could reasonably be expected to subject the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries to any liabilities in the aggregate in excess of the Threshold Amount;

SECTION 7.01    Authorization and Authority.  Each Lender hereby irrevocably appoints Scotiabank to act on its behalf as the Agent hereunder and under the Notes and authorizes the Agent to take such actions on its behalf and to exercise such powers as are delegated to the Agent by the terms hereof, together with such actions and powers as are reasonably incidental thereto.  The provisions of this Article are solely for the benefit of the Agent and the Lenders, and the Borrower shall have no rights as a third party beneficiary of any of such provisions.  It is understood and agreed that the use of the term "agent" herein (or any other similar term) with reference to the Agent is not intended to connote any fiduciary or other implied (or express) obligations arising under agency doctrine of any applicable law.  Instead such term is used as a matter of market custom, and is intended to create or reflect only an administrative relationship between contracting parties.

SECTION 7.02    Agent Individually.  The Person serving as the Agent hereunder shall have the same rights and powers in its capacity as a Lender as any other Lender and may exercise the same as though it were not the Agent and the term "Lender" or "Lenders" shall, unless otherwise expressly indicated or unless the context otherwise requires, include the Person serving as the Agent hereunder in its individual capacity.  Such Person and its Affiliates may accept deposits from, lend money to, own securities of, act as the financial advisor or in any other advisory capacity for and generally engage in any kind of business with the Borrower or any Subsidiary or other Affiliate thereof as if such Person were not the Agent hereunder and without any duty to account therefor to the Lenders.

SECTION 7.03    Duties of Agent; Exculpatory Provisions.  (a) The Agent's duties hereunder are solely ministerial and administrative in nature and the Agent shall not have any duties or obligations except those expressly set forth herein.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Agent:

(i)	shall not be subject to any fiduciary or other implied duties, regardless of whether a Default has occurred and is continuing;

(ii)

shall not have any duty to take any discretionary action or exercise any discretionary powers, except discretionary rights and powers expressly contemplated hereby that the Agent is required to exercise as directed in writing by the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be expressly provided for herein); provided that the Agent shall not be required to take any action that, in its opinion or the opinion of its counsel, may expose the Agent to liability or that is contrary to this Agreement or applicable law, including for the avoidance of doubt any action that may be in violation of the automatic stay under any debtor relief law or that may effect a forfeiture, modification or termination of property of a Defaulting Lender in violation of any debtor relief law; and

(iii)

shall not, except as expressly set forth herein, have any duty to disclose, and shall not be liable for the failure to disclose, any information relating to the Borrower or any of its Affiliates that is communicated to or obtained by the Person serving as the Agent or any of its Affiliates in any capacity.

 

 

(b)    The Agent shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it (i) with the consent or at the request of the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, or as the Agent shall believe in good faith shall be necessary, under the circumstances as provided in Sections 8.01 or 6.01) or (ii) in the absence of its own gross negligence or willful misconduct.  The Agent shall be deemed not to have knowledge of any Default or the event or events that give or may give rise to any Default unless and until the Borrower or any Lender shall have given notice to the Agent describing such Default and such event or events.

(c)    The Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to ascertain or inquire into (i) any statement, warranty, representation or other information made or supplied in or in connection with this Agreement, (ii) the contents of any certificate, report or other document delivered hereunder or thereunder or in connection herewith or therewith or the adequacy, accuracy and/or completeness of the information contained therein, (iii) the performance or observance of any of the covenants, agreements or other terms or conditions set forth herein or therein or the occurrence of any Default, (iv) the validity, enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of this Agreement or any other agreement, instrument or document or the perfection or priority of any Lien or security interest created or purported to be created hereby or (v) the satisfaction of any condition set forth in Article III or elsewhere herein, other than (but subject to the foregoing clause (ii)) to confirm receipt of items expressly required to be delivered to the Agent.

(d)    Nothing in this Agreement shall require the Agent or any of its Related Parties to carry out any "know your customer" or other checks in relation to any Person on behalf of any Lender and each Lender confirms to the Agent that it is solely responsible for any such checks it is required to carry out and that it may not rely on any statement in relation to such checks made by the Agent or any of its Related Parties.

SECTION 7.04    Reliance by Agent.  The Agent shall be entitled to rely upon, and shall not incur any liability for relying upon, any notice, request, certificate, consent, statement, instrument, document or other writing (including any electronic message, Internet or intranet website posting or other distribution) believed by it to be genuine and to have been signed, sent or otherwise authenticated by the proper Person.  The Agent also may rely upon any statement made to it orally or by telephone and believed by it to have been made by the proper Person, and shall not incur any liability for relying thereon.  In determining compliance with any condition hereunder to the making of an Advance that by its terms must be fulfilled to the satisfaction of a Lender, the Agent may presume that such condition is satisfactory to such Lender unless an officer of the Agent responsible for the transactions contemplated hereby shall have received notice to the contrary from such Lender prior to the making of such Advance, and such Lender shall not have made available to the Agent such Lender's ratable portion of the applicable Borrowing.  The Agent may consult with legal counsel (who may be counsel for the Borrower), independent accountants and other experts selected by it, and shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it in accordance with the advice of any such counsel, accountants or experts.

 

 

 

SECTION 7.05    Delegation of Duties.  The Agent may perform any and all of its duties and exercise its rights and powers hereunder by or through any one or more sub-agents appointed by the Agent.  The Agent and any such sub-agent may perform any and all of its duties and exercise its rights and powers by or through their respective Related Parties.  Each such sub-agent and the Related Parties of the Agent and each such sub-agent shall be entitled to the benefits of all provisions of this Article VII and Section 8.04 (as though such sub-agents were the "Agent" hereunder) as if set forth in full herein with respect thereto.

SECTION 7.06    Resignation of Agent.  (a) The Agent may at any time give notice of its resignation to the Lenders and the Borrower.  At any time when the Agent or its Affiliate is a Defaulting Lender, the Required Lenders may, and upon the request of the Borrower shall, remove the Agent by giving notice to the Agent.  Upon receipt or giving of any such notice of resignation, the Required Lenders shall have the right, in consultation with the Borrower, to appoint a successor, which shall be a bank with an office in the United States, or an Affiliate of any such bank with an office in the United States.  If no such successor shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders and shall have accepted such appointment within 30 days after the retiring Agent gives notice of its resignation (such 30-day period, the "Lender Appointment Period"), then the retiring Agent may on behalf of the Lenders, appoint a successor Agent meeting the qualifications set forth above.  In addition and without any obligation on the part of the retiring Agent to appoint, on behalf of the Lenders, a successor Agent, the retiring Agent may at any time upon or after the end of the Lender Appointment Period notify the Borrower and the Lenders that no qualifying Person has accepted appointment as successor Agent and the effective date of such retiring Agent's resignation.  Upon the resignation effective date established in such notice and regardless of whether a successor Agent has been appointed and accepted such appointment, the retiring Agent's resignation shall nonetheless become effective and (i) the retiring Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations as Agent hereunder and (ii) all payments, communications and determinations provided to be made by, to or through the Agent shall instead be made by or to each Lender directly, until such time as the Required Lenders appoint a successor Agent as provided for above in this paragraph.  Upon the acceptance of a successor's appointment as Agent hereunder, such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all of the rights, powers, privileges and duties as Agent of the retiring (or retired) Agent, and the retiring Agent shall be discharged from all of its duties and obligations as Agent hereunder (if not already discharged therefrom as provided above in this paragraph).  The fees payable by the Borrower to a successor Agent shall be the same as those payable to its predecessor unless otherwise agreed between the Borrower and such successor.  After the retiring Agent's resignation hereunder, the provisions of this Article and Section 8.04 shall continue in effect for the benefit of such retiring Agent, its sub-agents and their respective Related Parties in respect of any actions taken or omitted to be taken by any of them while the retiring Agent was acting as Agent.

SECTION 7.07    Non-Reliance on Agent and Other Lenders.  Each Lender acknowledges that it has, independently and without reliance upon the Agent or any other Lender or any of their Related Parties and based on such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, made its own credit analysis and decision to enter into this Agreement.  Each Lender also acknowledges that it will, independently and without reliance upon the Agent or any other Lender or any of their Related Parties and based on such documents and information as it shall from time to time deem appropriate, continue to make its own decisions in taking or not taking action under or based upon this Agreement or any related agreement or any document furnished hereunder.

 

 

SECTION 7.08    Indemnification.  The Lenders agree to indemnify the Agent (to the extent not reimbursed by the Borrower and without limiting its obligation to do so), ratably according to the respective principal amounts of the Advances then owed to each of them (or if no Advances are at the time outstanding, ratably according to the respective amounts of their Commitments), from and against any and all liabilities, obligations, losses, damages, penalties, actions, judgments, suits, costs, expenses or disbursements of any kind or nature whatsoever that may be imposed on, incurred by, or asserted against the Agent in any way relating to or arising out of this Agreement or any action taken or omitted by the Agent under this Agreement (collectively, the "Indemnified Costs"), provided that no Lender shall be liable for any portion of the Indemnified Costs resulting from the Agent's gross negligence or willful misconduct.  Without limitation of the foregoing, each Lender agrees to reimburse the Agent promptly upon demand for its ratable share of any out-of-pocket expenses (including reasonable counsel fees) incurred by the Agent in connection with the preparation, execution, delivery, administration, modification, amendment or enforcement (whether through negotiations, legal proceedings or otherwise) of, or legal advice in respect of rights or responsibilities under, this Agreement, to the extent that the Agent is not reimbursed for such expenses by the Borrower.  In the case of any investigation, litigation or proceeding giving rise to any Indemnified Costs, this Section 7.08 applies whether any such investigation, litigation or proceeding is brought by the Agent, any Lender or a third party.

SECTION 7.09    Other Agents.  Each Lender hereby acknowledges that neither the syndication agent, the documentation agents nor any other Lender designated as any "Agent" or "Arranger" on the cover page hereof (other than the Agent) has any liability hereunder other than in its capacity as a Lender.

SECTION 8.01    Amendments, Etc..  (a) No amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement or the Notes, nor consent to any departure by the Borrower therefrom, shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be in writing and signed by the Required Lenders, and then such waiver or consent shall be effective only in the specific instance and for the specific purpose for which given; provided, however, that no amendment, waiver or consent shall:  (a) waive any of the conditions specified in Section 3.01 without the written consent of all Lenders, (b) increase or extend the Commitment(s) of any Lender without the written consent of such Lender, (c) reduce the principal of, or rate of interest on, any Advances or any fees or other amounts payable hereunder without the written consent of all Lenders directly affected thereby, (d) postpone any date fixed for any payment of principal of, or interest on, any Advances or any fees or other amounts payable hereunder without the written consent of all Lenders directly affected thereby, (e) change the definition of "Required Lenders," or the percentage of the Commitments or of the aggregate unpaid principal amount of the Advances, or the number of Lenders, that shall be required for the Lenders or any of them to take any action hereunder without the written consent of all Lenders or (f) amend this Section 8.01 without the written consent of all Lenders; and provided further that no amendment, waiver or consent shall, unless in writing and signed by the Agent in addition to the Lenders required above to take such action, affect the rights or duties of the Agent under this Agreement or any Note.

 

 

(b)        Any term or provision of this Section 8.01 to the contrary notwithstanding, if the Agent and the Borrower shall have jointly identified an obvious error or any error or omission of a technical or immaterial nature in any provision of this Agreement, then the Agent and the Borrower shall be permitted to amend such provision and such amendment shall become effective without any further action or consent of any other party to this Agreement so long as the Lenders shall have received prior written notice thereof and the Agent shall not have received, within two Business Days of the date of its delivery to the Lenders of such notice, a written notice from the Required Lenders stating that the Required Lenders object to such amendment.

SECTION 8.02    Notices; Effectiveness; Electronic Communication.  (a) Notices Generally.  Except in the case of notices and other communications expressly permitted to be given by telephone (and except as provided in paragraph (b) below), all notices and other communications provided for herein shall be in writing and shall be delivered by hand or overnight courier service, mailed by certified or registered mail or sent by facsimile as follows:

(i)	if to the Borrower, to it at 208 S. Akard Street, 18th Floor, Dallas, Texas 75202, Attention:  Assistant Treasurer (Facsimile No. (214) 653-2578; Telephone No. (214) 757-7539; Email ***@***);

(ii)	if to the Agent, to it at The Bank of Nova Scotia, New York Agency 250 Vesey Street, New York, New York  10281, Attention of Loan Administration & Agency Services (Facsimile No. (212) 225-5709; Email:  ***@***; and

(iii)

if to a Lender, to it at its address (or facsimile number) set forth in its Administrative Questionnaire.

(b)    Electronic Communications.  Notices and other communications to the Lenders hereunder may be delivered or furnished by electronic communication (including email and Internet or intranet websites) pursuant to procedures approved by the Agent, provided that the foregoing shall not apply to notices to any Lender pursuant to Article II if such Lender has notified the Agent that it is incapable of receiving notices under such Article by electronic communication.  The Agent or the Borrower may, in its discretion, agree to accept notices and other communications to it hereunder by electronic communications pursuant to procedures approved by it; provided that approval of such procedures may be limited to particular notices or communications.

 

 

(c)    Change of Address, etc..  Any party hereto may change its address or facsimile number for notices and other communications hereunder by notice to the other parties hereto.

(d)    Platform.

(i)	The Borrower agrees that the Agent may, but shall not be obligated to, make the Communications (as defined below) available to the Lenders by posting the Communications on Debt Domain, Intralinks, Syndtrak or a substantially similar electronic transmission system (the "Platform").

(ii)

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available." The Agent Parties (as defined below) do not warrant the adequacy of the Platform and expressly disclaim liability for errors or omissions in the Communications.  No warranty of any kind, express, implied or statutory, including, without limitation, any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement of third-party rights or freedom from viruses or other code defects, is made by any Agent Party in connection with the Communications or the Platform.  In no event shall the Agent or any of its Related Parties or the Arranger or any of its Related Parties (collectively, the "Agent Parties") have any liability to the Borrower, any Lender or any other Person or entity for damages of any kind, including, without limitation, direct or indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, losses or expenses (whether in tort, contract or otherwise) arising out of the Borrower's or the Agent's transmission of communications through the Platform.  "Communications" means, collectively, any notice, demand, communication, information, document or other material that the Borrower provides to the Agent pursuant to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated herein which is distributed to the Agent any Lender by means of electronic communications pursuant to this Section, including through the Platform.

SECTION 8.03    No Waiver; Remedies.  No failure on the part of any Lender or the Agent to exercise, and no delay in exercising, any right hereunder or under any Note shall operate as a waiver thereof; nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right.  The remedies herein provided are cumulative and not exclusive of any remedies provided by law.

 

 

SECTION 8.04    Costs and Expenses.  (a) The Borrower agrees to pay within 20 days of demand all costs and expenses of the Agent in connection with the preparation, execution, delivery, administration, modification and amendment of this Agreement, the Notes and the other documents to be delivered hereunder, including, without limitation, (A) all due diligence, syndication (including printing, distribution and bank meetings), transportation, computer, duplication, appraisal, consultant, and audit expenses and (B) the reasonable fees and expenses of Shearman & Sterling LLP, counsel for the Agent, with respect thereto and with respect to advising the Agent as to its rights and responsibilities under this Agreement.  The Borrower further agrees to pay on demand all costs and expenses of the Agent and the Lenders, if any (including, without limitation, reasonable counsel fees and expenses), in connection with the enforcement against the Borrower (whether through negotiations, legal proceedings or otherwise) of this Agreement, the Notes and the other documents to be delivered hereunder, including, without limitation, reasonable fees and expenses of counsel for the Agent and each Lender in connection with the enforcement of its rights under this Section 8.04(a).

(b)        The Borrower agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Agent, the Arranger and each Lender and each of their Related Parties (each, an "Indemnified Party") from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable and out of pocket fees and disbursements of one counsel to such Indemnified Party and its Related Parties) incurred by or asserted or awarded against any Indemnified Party or such Indemnified Party's Related Parties, in each case arising out of or in connection with or by reason of (including, without limitation, in connection with any investigation, litigation or proceeding or preparation of a defense in connection therewith) the Notes, this Agreement, any of the transactions contemplated herein or the actual or proposed use of the proceeds of the Advances, except to the extent such claim, damage, loss, liability or expense is found in a final, non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction to have resulted from the gross negligence, material breach of its obligations under this Agreement or willful misconduct of such Indemnified Party or its Related Parties.  In the case of an investigation, litigation or other proceeding to which the indemnity in this Section 8.04(b) applies, such indemnity shall be effective whether or not such investigation, litigation or proceeding is brought by the Borrower, its directors, equityholders or creditors, an Indemnified Party, a Related Party or any other Person (except for any disputes among any Indemnified Party and its Related Parties), whether or not any Indemnified Party or Related Party is otherwise a party thereto and whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby are consummated.  The Borrower also agrees not to assert any claim for special, indirect, consequential or punitive damages against the Agent, any Lender, any of their Affiliates, or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, attorneys and agents, on any theory of liability, arising out of or otherwise relating to the Notes, this Agreement, any of the transactions contemplated herein or the actual or proposed use of the proceeds of the Advances.

(c)        If any payment of principal of, or Conversion of, any Eurodollar Rate Advance is made by the Borrower to or for the account of a Lender other than on the last day of the Interest Period for such Advance, as a result of a payment or Conversion pursuant to Section 2.07(d) or (e), 2.09 or 2.11, acceleration of the maturity of the Notes pursuant to Section 6.01 or for any other reason, or by an Eligible Assignee to a Lender other than on the last day of the Interest Period for such Advance upon an assignment of rights and obligations under this Agreement pursuant to Section 8.06 as a result of a demand by the Borrower pursuant to Section 2.18, the Borrower shall, upon demand by such Lender (with a copy of such demand to the Agent), pay to the Agent for the account of such Lender any amounts required to compensate such Lender for any additional losses, costs or expenses that it may reasonably incur as a result of such payment or Conversion, including, without limitation, any loss (excluding loss of anticipated profits), cost or expense incurred by reason of the liquidation or reemployment of deposits or other funds acquired by such Lender to fund or maintain such Advance.

 

 

(d)        Without prejudice to the survival of any other agreement of the Borrower hereunder, the agreements and obligations of the Borrower contained in Sections 2.10, 2.13 and 8.04 shall survive the payment in full of principal, interest and all other amounts payable hereunder and under the Notes.

SECTION 8.05    Binding Effect.  (a) Counterparts; Effectiveness.  This Agreement may be executed in counterparts (and by different parties hereto in different counterparts), each of which shall constitute an original, but all of which when taken together shall constitute a single contract.  Except as provided in Article III, this Agreement shall become effective when it shall have been executed by the Agent and when the Agent shall have received counterparts hereof that, when taken together, bear the signatures of each of the other parties hereto.  Delivery of an executed counterpart of a signature page of this Agreement by facsimile or in electronic (i.e., "pdf" or "tif") format shall be effective as delivery of an original manually executed counterpart of this Agreement.

(b)        Electronic Execution of Assignments.  The words "execution," "signed," "signature," and words of like import in any Assignment and Assumption shall be deemed to include electronic signatures or the keeping of records in electronic form, each of which shall be of the same legal effect, validity or enforceability as a manually executed signature or the use of a paper-based recordkeeping system, as the case may be, to the extent and as provided for in any applicable law, including the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the New York State Electronic Signatures and Records Act, or any other similar state laws based on the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

SECTION 8.06    Assignments and Participations.  (a) Successors and Assigns Generally.  The provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, except that the Borrower may not assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the Agent and each Lender, and no Lender may assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder except (i) to an assignee in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of this Section, (ii) by way of participation in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (d) of this Section, or (iii) by way of pledge or assignment of a security interest subject to the restrictions of paragraph (f) of this Section (and any other attempted assignment or transfer by any party hereto shall be null and void).  Nothing in this Agreement, expressed or implied, shall be construed to confer upon any Person (other than the parties hereto, their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, participants to the extent provided in paragraph (d) of this Section and, to the extent expressly contemplated hereby, the Related Parties of each of the Agent and the Lenders) any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or by reason of this Agreement.

 

 

(b)    Assignments by Lenders.  Any Lender may at any time assign to one or more assignees all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitment and the Advances at the time owing to it); provided any such assignment shall be subject to the following conditions:

(i)	Minimum Amounts.

(A)

in the case of an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the assigning Lender's Appropriate Commitment and/or the Advances at the time owing to it thereunder or contemporaneous assignments to related Approved Funds that equal at least the amount specified in paragraph (b)(i)(B) of this Section in the aggregate or in the case of an assignment to a Lender, an Affiliate of a Lender or an Approved Fund, no minimum amount need be assigned; and

(B)

in any case not described in paragraph (b)(i)(A) of this Section, the aggregate amount of the Appropriate Commitment (which for this purpose includes Advances outstanding thereunder) or, if the applicable Appropriate Commitment is not then in effect, the principal outstanding balance of the Advances thereunder of the assigning Lender subject to each such assignment (determined as of the date the Assignment and Assumption with respect to such assignment is delivered to the Agent or, if "Trade Date" is specified in the Assignment and Assumption, as of the Trade Date) shall not be less than $10,000,000, unless each of the Agent and, so long as no Event of Default under Section 6.01(a) or 6.01(e) has occurred and is continuing, the Borrower otherwise consents (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed).

(ii)	Proportionate Amounts.  Each partial assignment shall be made as an assignment of a proportionate part of all the assigning Lender's rights and obligations under this Agreement with respect to the Advances and/or the Commitment assigned.

(iii)

Required Consents.  No consent shall be required for any assignment except to the extent required by paragraph (b)(i)(B) of this Section and, in addition:

(A)	the consent of the Borrower (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) shall be required unless:

(B)	the consent of the Agent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) shall be required for assignments in respect of any Commitments or Advances if such assignment is to a Person that is not a Lender, an Affiliate of such Lender or an Approved Fund with respect to such Lender.

(iv)

Assignment and Assumption.  The parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver to the Agent an Assignment and Assumption, together with a processing and recordation fee of $3,500; provided that the Agent may, in its sole discretion, elect to waive such processing and recordation fee in the case of any assignment.  The assignee, if it is not a Lender, shall deliver to the Agent an Administrative Questionnaire.  The Agent shall notify the Borrower of each Assignment and Assumption within three Business Days of receipt thereof.

(v)

No Assignment to Certain Persons.  No such assignment shall be made to (A) the Borrower or any of the Borrower's Affiliates or Subsidiaries or (B) any Defaulting Lender or any of its Subsidiaries, or any Person who, upon becoming a Lender hereunder, would constitute any of the foregoing Persons described in this clause (B).

(vi)	No Assignment to Natural Persons.  No such assignment shall be made to a natural Person.

(vii)

Certain Additional Payments.  In connection with any assignment of rights and obligations of any Defaulting Lender hereunder, no such assignment shall be effective unless and until, in addition to the other conditions thereto set forth herein, the parties to the assignment shall make such additional payments to the Agent in an aggregate amount sufficient, upon distribution thereof as appropriate (which may be outright payment, purchases by the assignee of participations, or other compensating actions, including funding, with the consent of the Borrower and the Agent, the applicable pro rata share of Advances previously requested but not funded by the Defaulting Lender, to each of which the applicable assignee and assignor hereby irrevocably consent), to (x) pay and satisfy in full all payment liabilities then owed by such Defaulting Lender to the Agent and each other Lender hereunder (and interest accrued thereon), and (y) acquire (and fund as appropriate) its full pro rata share of all Advances in respect of any relevant Facility in accordance with its Appropriate Commitment.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that any assignment of rights and obligations of any Defaulting Lender hereunder shall become effective under applicable law without compliance with the provisions of this paragraph, then the assignee of such interest shall be deemed to be a Defaulting Lender for all purposes of this Agreement until such compliance occurs.

 

(c)        Register.  The Agent, acting solely for this purpose as an agent of the Borrower, shall maintain at one of its offices in the United States a copy of each Assignment and Assumption delivered to it and a register for the recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders, and the Commitments of, and principal amounts of the Advances owing to, each Lender pursuant to the terms hereof from time to time (the "Register").  The entries in the Register shall be conclusive absent manifest error, and the Borrower, the Agent and the Lenders shall treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Register pursuant to the terms hereof as a Lender hereunder for all purposes of this Agreement.  The Register shall be available for inspection by the Borrower and any Lender, at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice.

(d)        Participations.  Each Lender may sell participations to one or more banks or other entities (other than the Borrower or any of its Affiliates) in or to all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including, without limitation, all or a portion of its Commitment, the Advances owing to it and any Note or Notes held by it); provided, however, that (i) such Lender's obligations under this Agreement (including, without limitation, its Commitment to the Borrower hereunder) shall remain unchanged, (ii) such Lender shall remain solely responsible to the other parties hereto for the performance of such obligations, (iii) such Lender shall remain the holder of any such Note for all purposes of this Agreement, (iv) the Borrower, the Agent and the other Lenders shall continue to deal solely and directly with such Lender in connection with such Lender's rights and obligations under this Agreement and (v) no participant under any such participation shall have any right to obtain any Confidential Information except in accordance with Section 8.06(e), or approve or disapprove any amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement or any Note or any consent or withholding of consent to any departure by the Borrower therefrom, except to the extent that such amendment, waiver or consent would reduce the principal of, or interest on, the Notes or any fees or other amounts payable hereunder, in each case to the extent subject to such participation, or postpone any date fixed for any payment of principal of, or interest on, the Notes or any fees or other amounts payable hereunder, in each case to the extent subject to such participation.

 

 

(e)        Sharing of Information.  Any Lender may, in connection with any assignment or participation or proposed assignment or participation pursuant to this Section 8.06, disclose to the assignee or participant or proposed assignee or participant, any information relating to the Borrower furnished to such Lender by or on behalf of the Borrower; provided that, prior to any such disclosure, the assignee or participant or proposed assignee or participant shall enter into a binding agreement enforceable by the Borrower containing provisions to preserve the confidentiality of any Confidential Information relating to the Borrower or any of its Affiliates received by it from such Lender, at least as favorable to the Borrower as Section 8.07.

(f)        Certain Pledges.  Notwithstanding any other provision set forth in this Agreement, any Lender may at any time create a security interest in all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement to secure obligations of such Lender, including, without limitation, any pledge or assignment to secure obligations to a central bank having jurisdiction over such Lender or to a Federal Reserve Bank in accordance with Regulation A of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

 

 

SECTION 8.07    Confidentiality; PATRIOT Act.  (a) Neither the Agent nor any Lender shall disclose any Confidential Information to any other Person without the consent of the Borrower, other than (i) to the Agent's or such Lender's Affiliates and their officers, directors, employees, agents and advisors on a "need to know" basis and subject to the requirements of Section 8.06(e), to actual or prospective assignees and participants, (ii) as required by any law, rule or regulation or judicial process, (iii) as requested or required by any state, federal or foreign authority or examiner regulating banks or banking or other financial institutions or self regulatory authority, (iv) in connection with the exercise of any remedies hereunder or any suit, action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or the enforcement of rights hereunder, (v) subject to an agreement containing provisions substantially the same as those of this Section, to any actual or prospective party (or its Related Parties) to any swap, derivative or other transaction under which payments are to be made by reference to the Borrower and its obligations, this Agreement or payments hereunder and (vi) with the consent of the Borrower.  In the case of a disclosure pursuant to clause (ii) above, the disclosing party agrees, to the extent practicable and permitted by applicable law, to promptly notify the Borrower prior to such disclosure and to request confidential treatment.  In addition, the Arranger, the Agent and the Lenders may disclose the existence of this Agreement and information about this Agreement to market data collectors, similar service providers to the lending industry and service providers to the Agent and the Lenders in connection with the administration of this Agreement and the Commitments.

(b)        The Borrower agrees to maintain the confidentiality of any information relating to a rate provided by a Reference Bank, except (i) to its officers, directors, employees, agents, advisors or affiliates on a "need to know" basis, (ii) as required by any law, rule or regulation or judicial process, (iii) as requested or required by any state, federal or foreign authority or examiner or regulatory authority, (iv) in connection with the exercise of any remedies hereunder or any suit, action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or the enforcement of rights hereunder and (v) with the consent of the applicable Reference Bank.  In the case of a disclosure pursuant to clause (ii) above, the disclosing party agrees, to the extent practicable and permitted by applicable law, to promptly notify the applicable Reference Bank prior to such disclosure and to request confidential treatment.

(c)        Each of the Lenders hereby notifies the Borrower that, pursuant to the requirements of the PATRIOT Act, it is required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies the Borrower, which information includes the name and address of the Borrower and other information that will allow it to identify the Borrower in accordance with the PATRIOT Act.

SECTION 8.08    Governing Law.  This Agreement and the Notes shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of the State of New York.

SECTION 8.09    Jurisdiction, Etc..  (a) Each of the parties hereto irrevocably and unconditionally agrees that it will not commence any action, litigation or proceeding of any kind or description, whether in law or equity, whether in contract or in tort or otherwise, against the Agent, any Lender, the Arranger or any Related Party of the foregoing in any way relating to this Agreement or any Note or the transactions relating hereto or thereto, in any forum other than the courts of the State of New York sitting in New York County, and of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and any appellate court from any thereof, and each of the parties hereto irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the jurisdiction of such courts and agrees that all claims in respect of any such action, litigation or proceeding may be heard and determined in such New York State court or, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in such federal court.  Each of the parties hereto agrees that a final judgment in any such action, litigation or proceeding shall be conclusive and may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law.

 

 

(b)    Waiver of Venue.  Each of the parties hereto irrevocably and unconditionally waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any Note in any court referred to in paragraph (a) of this Section.  Each of the parties hereto hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of such action or proceeding in any such court.

(c)    Service of Process.  Each party hereto irrevocably consents to service of process in the manner provided for notices in Section 8.02.  Nothing in this Agreement will affect the right of any party hereto to serve process in any other manner permitted by applicable law.  The Borrower hereby agrees that service of process in any such action or proceeding brought in any such New York State court or in such federal court may be made upon the Corporate Secretary of the Borrower at 208 S. Akard Street, 27th Floor, Dallas, Texas 75202 (the "Process Agent") and the Borrower hereby irrevocably appoints the Process Agent its authorized agent to accept such service of process.

SECTION 8.10    Severability.  If any provision of this Agreement is held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, (a) the legality, validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall not be affected or impaired thereby and (b) the parties shall endeavor in good faith negotiations to replace the illegal, invalid or unenforceable provisions with valid provisions the economic effect of which comes as close as possible to that of the illegal, invalid or unenforceable provisions.  The invalidity of a provision in a particular jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction.  Without limiting the foregoing provisions of this Section 8.10, if and to the extent that the enforceability of any provisions in this Agreement relating to Defaulting Lenders shall be limited by any debtor relief laws, then such provisions shall be deemed to be in effect only to the extent not so limited.

SECTION 8.11    Waiver of Jury Trial.  Each of the Borrower, the Agent and the Lenders hereby irrevocably waives all right to trial by jury in any action, proceeding or counterclaim (whether based on contract, tort or otherwise) arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Notes or the actions of the Agent or any Lender in the negotiation, administration, performance or enforcement thereof.

SECTION 8.12    Acknowledgement and Consent to Bail-In of EEA Financial Institutions.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement or in any other agreement, arrangement or understanding among any such parties, each party hereto acknowledges that any liability of any EEA Financial Institution arising under this Agreement may be subject to the write-down and conversion powers of an EEA Resolution Authority and agrees and consents to, and acknowledges and agrees to be bound by:

 

 

(a)	the application of any Write-Down and Conversion Powers by an EEA Resolution Authority to any such liabilities arising hereunder which may be payable to it by any party hereto that is an EEA Financial Institution; and

(b)	the effects of any Bail-In Action on any such liability, including, if applicable:

(i)	a reduction in full or in part or cancellation of any such liability;

(ii)

a conversion of all, or a portion of, such liability into shares or other instruments of ownership in such EEA Financial Institution, its parent entity, or a bridge institution that may be issued to it or otherwise conferred on it, and that such shares or other instruments of ownership will be accepted by it in lieu of any rights with respect to any such liability under this Agreement; or the variation of the terms of such liability in connection with the exercise of the Write-Down and Conversion Powers of any EEA Resolution Authority.

SECTION 8.13    No Fiduciary Duties.  The Borrower agrees that in connection with all aspects of the transactions contemplated hereby and any communications in connection therewith, the Borrower and its Affiliates, on the one hand, and the Agent, the Lenders, the Arranger and their respective Affiliates, on the other hand, will have a business relationship that does not create, by implication or otherwise, any fiduciary duty on the part of the Agent, the Lenders, the Arranger or their respective Affiliates and no such duty will be deemed to have arisen in connection with any such transactions or communications.  The Borrower acknowledges that the Arranger and each Lender may have economic interests that conflict with those of the Borrower, its stockholders and/or its Affiliates.

 

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