364-Day Credit Agreement, dated as of December 11, 2024, with Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent, Barclays Bank PLC, Citibank, N.A., Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., New York Branch, ING Bank N.V., Dublin Branch, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Mizuho Bank Ltd. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as Co-Syndication Agents, and BofA Securities, Inc., Barclays Bank PLC, Citibank, N.A., Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., New York Branch, ING Bank N.V., Dublin Branch, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Mizuho Bank Ltd., and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners and the lenders named therein

Contract Categories: Business Finance - Credit Agreements
EX-10.1 2 d858379dex101.htm EX-10.1 EX-10.1

Exhibit 10.1

364-DAY CREDIT AGREEMENT

dated as of

December 11, 2024,

among

KELLANOVA,

the LENDERS party hereto

and

BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.,

as Administrative Agent

 

 

BOFA SECURITIES, INC.,

BARCLAYS BANK PLC,

CITIBANK, N.A.,

COÖPERATIEVE RABOBANK U.A., NEW YORK BRANCH,

ING BANK N.V., DUBLIN BRANCH,

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.,

MIZUHO BANK, LTD.

and

SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION,

as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners

BARCLAYS BANK PLC,

CITIBANK, N.A.,

COÖPERATIEVE RABOBANK U.A., NEW YORK BRANCH,

ING BANK N.V., DUBLIN BRANCH,

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.,

MIZUHO BANK, LTD.

and

SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION,

as Co-Syndication Agents


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

         Page  

Article I Definitions

     1  

Section 1.01

  Defined Terms      1  

Section 1.02

  Classification of Loans and Borrowings      18  

Section 1.03

  Terms Generally      19  

Section 1.04

  Accounting Terms; GAAP; Pro Forma Calculations      19  

Section 1.05

  Determinations Made in Good Faith      20  

Section 1.06

  Times of Payment or Performance      20  

Section 1.07

  Certifications      20  

Section 1.08

  Divisions      20  

Section 1.09

  Interest Rates; Benchmark Notification      20  

Article II The Credits

     21  

Section 2.01

  Commitments      21  

Section 2.02

  Loans and Borrowings      21  

Section 2.03

  Requests for Borrowings      21  

Section 2.04

  Funding of Borrowings      22  

Section 2.05

  Interest Elections      23  

Section 2.06

  Termination and Reduction of Commitments; Term-Out Option; Increase in Commitments      24  

Section 2.07

  Repayment of Loans; Evidence of Debt      26  

Section 2.08

  Prepayment of Loans      27  

Section 2.09

  Fees      27  

Section 2.10

  Interest      28  

Section 2.11

  Alternate Rate of Interest; Illegality      29  

Section 2.12

  Increased Costs      31  

Section 2.13

  Break Funding Payments      32  

Section 2.14

  Taxes      32  

Section 2.15

  Payments Generally; Pro Rata Treatment; Sharing of Setoffs      34  

Section 2.16

  Mitigation Obligations; Replacement of Lenders      36  

Section 2.17

  Defaulting Lenders      36  

Article III Representations and Warranties

     38  

Section 3.01

  Organization and Qualification      38  

Section 3.02

  Subsidiaries      38  

Section 3.03

  Corporate Authority and Validity of Obligations      38  

Section 3.04

  Margin Stock      38  

Section 3.05

  Financial Reports      39  

Section 3.06

  No Material Adverse Change      39  

Section 3.07

  Litigation      39  

Section 3.08

  Tax Returns      39  

Section 3.09

  Approvals      39  

Section 3.10

  ERISA      39  

Section 3.11

  Environmental Matters      39  

Section 3.12

  Properties      40  

Section 3.13

  Compliance with Laws      40  

Section 3.14

  Investment Company Status      40  

Section 3.15

  Disclosure      40  

Article IV Conditions

     41  

Section 4.01

  Effective Date      41  

Section 4.02

  Each Borrowing      41  

Article V Affirmative Covenants

     42  

Section 5.01

  Corporate Existence      42  

Section 5.02

  Maintenance of Properties      42  

Section 5.03

  Taxes      42  

Section 5.04

  Insurance      42  

Section 5.05

  Financial Reports and Other Information      43  

Section 5.06

  Books and Records; Inspection Rights      43  

Section 5.07

  Compliance with Laws      44  

Article VI Negative Covenants

     44  

Section 6.01

  Indebtedness      44  

Section 6.02

  Liens      44  

Section 6.03

  Fundamental Changes      45  

Section 6.04

  Use of Proceeds      45  

Section 6.05

  Interest Expense Coverage Ratio      46  

Article VII Events of Default

     46  

Article VIII The Administrative Agent

     48  

Article IX Miscellaneous

     52  

Section 9.01

  Notices      52  

Section 9.02

  Waivers; Amendments      53  

Section 9.03

  Expenses; Indemnity; Limitation of Liability      54  

Section 9.04

  Successors and Assigns      55  

Section 9.05

  Survival      58  

Section 9.06

  Counterparts; Integration; Effectiveness; Electronic Execution      58  

Section 9.07

  Severability      59  

Section 9.08

  Right of Setoff      60  

Section 9.09

  Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Consent to Service of Process      60  

Section 9.10

  WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL      60  

Section 9.11

  Headings      61  

Section 9.12

  Confidentiality      61  

Section 9.13

  Non-Public Information      61  

Section 9.14

  Interest Rate Limitation      62  

Section 9.15

  Waiver of Certain Provisions under the Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement      62  

Section 9.16

  Acknowledgment and Consent to Bail-In of Affected Financial Institutions      62  

Section 9.17

  USA PATRIOT Act      63  

Section 9.18

  No Fiduciary Relationship      63  

 

ii


SCHEDULES

 

Schedule 2.01

     —      

Commitments

Schedule 3.07

     —      

Litigation

Schedule 3.08

     —      

Taxes

Schedule 3.11

     —      

Environmental Matters

Schedule 6.01

     —      

Existing Indebtedness

Schedule 6.02

     —      

Existing Liens

Schedule 9.01

     —      

Notices

EXHIBITS

 

Exhibit A

     —      

Form of Assignment and Assumption is

Exhibit B

     —      

Form of Borrowing Request

Exhibit C

     —      

Form of Interest Election Request

Exhibit D

     —      

Form of Promissory Note

Exhibit E

     —      

Form of Compliance Certificate

Exhibit F

     —      

Form Notice of Loan Prepayment

 

iii


364-DAY CREDIT AGREEMENT dated as of December 11, 2024 (this “Agreement”), among KELLANOVA, a Delaware corporation; the LENDERS party hereto; and BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., as Administrative Agent.

The Borrower (such term and each other capitalized term used and not otherwise defined herein having the meaning assigned to it in Article I) has requested the Lenders to extend credit to enable it to borrow on a revolving credit basis an aggregate principal amount not in excess of $750,000,000 at any time outstanding. The proceeds of the Borrowings are to be used for general corporate purposes. The Lenders are willing to extend such credit to the Borrower on the terms and subject to the conditions herein set forth.

Accordingly, the parties hereto agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

Section 1.01 Defined Terms. As used in this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings specified below:

ABR”, when used in reference to any Loan or Borrowing, refers to whether such Loan, or the Loans comprising such Borrowing, are bearing interest at a rate determined by reference to the Alternate Base Rate.

Accession Agreement” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.06(e)(i).

Adjusted Term SOFR” means, with respect to any Term Benchmark Borrowing for any Interest Period, an interest rate per annum equal to (a) the Term SOFR for such Interest Period plus (b) the SOFR Adjustment; provided that if such rate as so determined (inclusive of the adjustment set forth in clause (b)) shall be less than zero, such rate shall be deemed to be zero.

Administrative Agent” means Bank of America, in its capacity as administrative agent for the Lenders hereunder, or any successor thereto appointed in accordance with Article VIII. Unless the context requires otherwise, the term “Administrative Agent” shall include any designated branch office or Affiliate of Bank of America through which Bank of America shall perform any of its obligations in such capacity and as permitted hereunder.

Administrative Agent’s Office” means the Administrative Agent’s address and, as appropriate, account or such other address or account as the Administrative Agent may from time to time notify to the Borrower and the Lenders.

Administrative Questionnaire” means an Administrative Questionnaire in a form supplied by the Administrative Agent.

Affected Financial Institution” means (a) any EEA Financial Institution or (b) any UK Financial Institution.

Affiliate” means, with respect to a specified Person, another Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, Controls or is Controlled by or is under common Control with the Person specified.

Agreement” has the meaning assigned to such term in the preamble.


Alternate Base Rate” means, for any day, a fluctuating rate of interest rate per annum equal to the greatest of (a) the Prime Rate in effect on such day, (b) the Federal Funds Effective Rate in effect on such day plus 12 of 1.00% per annum and (c) the Adjusted Term SOFR for a one-month Interest Period plus 1.00% per annum; provided that if such rate (inclusive of any applicable credit spread adjustment) shall be less than zero, such rate shall be deemed to be zero. If the Alternate Base Rate is being used as an alternate rate of interest pursuant to Section 2.11 (for the avoidance of doubt, only until the Successor Rate has been determined pursuant to Section 2.11(b)), then the Alternate Base Rate shall be the greater of clauses (a) and (b) and shall be determined without reference to clause (c) above. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Alternate Base Rate as determined pursuant to the foregoing would be less than 1.00% per annum, such rate shall be deemed to be 1.00% per annum for purposes of this Agreement.

Anti-Corruption Laws” means all laws, rules and regulations of any jurisdiction applicable to the Borrower or its Subsidiaries from time to time concerning or relating to bribery, money laundering or corruption.

Applicable Percentage” means, with respect to any Lender, the percentage (carried out to the ninth decimal place) of the total Commitments represented by such Lender’s Commitment. If the Commitments have terminated or expired, the Applicable Percentages shall be determined based upon the Commitments most recently in effect, giving effect to any assignments.

Applicable Rate” means, for any day, with respect to any Term Benchmark Loan or ABR Loan or with respect to the facility fees payable hereunder, as the case may be, the applicable rate per annum set forth below under the caption “Term Benchmark Spread”, “Alternate Base Rate Spread” or “Facility Fee Rate”, as the case may be, based upon the ratings by Moody’s and Fitch applicable on such date to the Index Debt:

 

Category

  

Index Debt Ratings

(Moody’s / Fitch)

   Facility Fee
Rate
(bps per annum)
     Term
Benchmark
Spread
(bps per annum)
     Alternate Base
Rate Spread
(bps per annum)
 

Category 1

   A3/A- or higher      6.0        81.5        0.0  

Category 2

   Baa1/BBB+      7.5        92.5        0.0  

Category 3

   Baa2/BBB      9.0        103.5        3.5  

Category 4

   Baa3/BBB-      12.5        112.5        12.5  

Category 5

   Lower than Baa3/BBB-      15.0        135.0        35.0  

For purposes of the foregoing, (a) if the ratings established by Moody’s and Fitch for the Index Debt shall fall within the same Category, then the Applicable Rate shall be based on that Category, (b) if each of Moody’s and Fitch shall have a rating in effect for the Index Debt and (i) the ratings fall within different but adjacent Categories, the Applicable Rate shall be based on the higher of such Categories and (ii) if the ratings fall within Categories that are two or more levels apart, the Applicable Rate shall be based on the Category next below that corresponding to the higher of such ratings, (c) if only one of Moody’s and Fitch shall have in effect a rating for the Index Debt, the Applicable Rate shall be based on the Category next below that corresponding to such rating, (d) if none of Moody’s and Fitch shall have in effect a rating for the Index Debt, the Applicable Rate shall be based on Category 5 and (e) if the rating established by any of Moody’s or Fitch for the Index Debt shall be changed (other than as a result of a change in the rating system of Moody’s, or Fitch), such change shall be effective as of the third Business Day following which it is first announced by the applicable rating agency. Each change in the Applicable Rate shall apply during the period commencing on the effective date of such change and ending on the date immediately preceding the effective date of the next such change. If the rating system of Moody’s or Fitch shall change, or if any such rating agency shall cease to be in the business of rating corporate debt obligations, the Borrower and the Lenders shall negotiate in good faith to amend this definition to reflect such changed rating system or the unavailability of ratings from such rating agency and, pending the effectiveness of any such amendment, the rating of such rating agency most recently in effect prior to such change or cessation shall be used in determining the Applicable Rate.

 

2


Approved Fund” means any Person (other than a natural person or a holding company, investment vehicle or trust for, or owned and operated by or for the primary benefit of, a natural person) that is engaged in making, purchasing, holding or investing in commercial loans and similar extensions of credit in the ordinary course of its activities and that is administered or managed by (a) a Lender, (b) an Affiliate of a Lender or (c) an entity or an Affiliate of an entity that administers or manages a Lender.

Assignment and Assumption” means an assignment and assumption entered into by a Lender and an Eligible Assignee (with the consent of any Person whose consent is required by Section 9.04), and accepted by the Administrative Agent, in the form of Exhibit A or any other form (including electronic records generated by the use of an electronic platform) approved by the Administrative Agent and the Borrower.

Availability Period” means the period from and including the Effective Date to but excluding the earlier of the Commitment Termination Date and the date of termination of the Commitments.

Bail-In Action” means the exercise of any Write-Down and Conversion Powers by the applicable Resolution Authority in respect of any liability of an Affected Financial Institution.

Bail-In Legislation” means (a) with respect to any EEA Member Country implementing Article 55 of Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union, the implementing law, regulation rule or requirement for such EEA Member Country from time to time that is described in the EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule and (b) with respect to the United Kingdom, Part I of the United Kingdom Banking Act 2009 (as amended from time to time) and any other law, regulation or rule applicable in the United Kingdom relating to the resolution of unsound or failing banks, investment firms or other financial institutions or their affiliates (other than through liquidation, administration or other insolvency proceedings).

Bank of America” means Bank of America, N.A. and its successors.

Bankruptcy Event” means, with respect to any Person, that such Person becomes the subject of a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding, or has had a receiver, conservator, trustee, administrator, custodian, assignee for the benefit of creditors or similar Person charged with the reorganization or liquidation of its business appointed for it, or, in the good faith determination of the Administrative Agent, has taken any action in furtherance of, or indicating its consent to, approval of or acquiescence in, any such proceeding or appointment or has had any order for relief in such proceeding entered in respect thereof; provided that a Bankruptcy Event shall not result solely by virtue of any ownership interest, or the acquisition of any ownership interest, in such Person by a Governmental Authority; provided further that such ownership interest does not result in or provide such Person with immunity from the jurisdiction of courts within the United States of America or from the enforcement of judgments or writs of attachment on its assets or permit such Person (or such Governmental Authority) to reject, repudiate, disavow or disaffirm any contracts or agreements made by such Person.

 

3


Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes” means, with respect to the use, administration of or any conventions associated with SOFR or any proposed Successor Rate or Term SOFR, as applicable, any conforming changes to the definitions of “ABR,” “Alternate Base Rate,” “SOFR,” “Term SOFR”, and “Interest Period”, the timing and frequency of determining rates and making payments of interest and other technical, administrative or operational matters (including, for the avoidance of doubt, the definitions of “Business Day” and “U.S. Government Securities Business Day”, timing of borrowing requests or prepayment, conversion or continuation notices and length of lookback periods) as may be appropriate, in the reasonable discretion of the Administrative Agent, in consultation with the Borrower, to reflect the adoption and implementation of the applicable rate(s) and to permit the administration thereof by the Administrative Agent in a manner substantially consistent with market practice (or, if the Administrative Agent decides that adoption of any portion of such market practice is not administratively feasible or if the Administrative Agent determines that no market practice for the administration of such rate exists, in such other manner of administration as the Administrative Agent, in consultation with the Borrower, decides is reasonably necessary in connection with the administration of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents).

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

Benefit Plan” means (a) an “employee benefit plan” (as defined in Section 3(3) of ERISA) that is subject to Title I of ERISA, (b) a “plan” as defined in and subject to Section 4975 of the Code or (c) any Person whose assets include (for purposes of ERISA Section 3(42) or otherwise for purposes of Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code) the assets of any such “employee benefit plan” or “plan”.

Board” means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System of the United States of America.

Borrower” means Kellanova, a Delaware corporation.

Borrowing” means Loans of the same Type made, converted or continued on the same date and, in the case of Term Benchmark Loans, as to which a single Interest Period is in effect.

Borrowing Request” means a request by the Borrower for a Borrowing in accordance with Section 2.03, which shall be substantially in the form of Exhibit B or any other form approved by the Administrative Agent in its reasonable discretion (including any form on an electronic platform or electronic transmission system as shall be approved by the Administrative Agent), appropriately completed and signed by a Responsible Officer of the Borrower.

Business Day” means any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or other day on which commercial banks in the state where the Administrative Agent’s Office is located are authorized or required by law to remain closed; provided that, when used in connection with a Term Benchmark Loan, the term “Business Day” shall also exclude any day that is not a US Government Securities Business Day.

Capital Lease Obligations” of any Person means the obligations of such Person to pay rent or other amounts under any lease of (or other arrangement conveying the right to use) real or personal property, or a combination thereof, which obligations are required to be classified and accounted for as capital leases or financing leases on a balance sheet of such Person under GAAP, subject to Section 1.04, and the amount of such obligations shall be the capitalized amount thereof determined in accordance with GAAP.

Change in Control” means (a) any Person or group of Persons (within the meaning of Section 13 or 14 of the Exchange Act), other than one or more Subsidiaries, shall have acquired beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 promulgated by the SEC under the Exchange Act) of 50% or more in voting power of the outstanding Voting Stock of the Borrower or (b) members of the Board of Directors of the Borrower on the date hereof plus any additional members of such Board whose nomination for election to such Board is recommended or approved by a majority of the then current members of such Board shall at any time fail to constitute a majority of such Board.

 

4


Change in Law” means (a) the adoption or taking effect of any law, rule or regulation after the date of this Agreement, (b) any change in any law, rule or regulation or in the administration, interpretation, implementation or application thereof by any Governmental Authority after the date of this Agreement or (c) compliance by any Lender (or, for purposes of Section 2.12(b), by any lending office of such Lender or by such Lender’s holding company, if any) with any request, guideline or directive (whether or not having the force of law) of any Governmental Authority made or issued after the date of this Agreement; provided that, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, (i) the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and all requests, rules, guidelines or directives thereunder or issued in connection therewith and (ii) all requests, rules, guidelines or directives promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (or any successor or similar authority) or the United States of America or foreign regulatory authorities, in each case pursuant to Basel III, shall in each case be deemed to be a “Change in Law”, regardless of the date enacted, adopted, promulgated or issued.

Charges” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.14.

CME” means CME Group Benchmark Administration Limited.

Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time.

Commitment” means, with respect to each Lender, the commitment of such Lender to make Loans pursuant to Section 2.01(a), expressed as an amount representing the maximum aggregate permitted amount of such Lender’s Revolving Credit Exposure hereunder, as such commitment may be (a) reduced or increased from time to time pursuant to Section 2.06 and (b) reduced or increased from time to time pursuant to assignments by or to such Lender pursuant to Section 9.04. The initial amount of each Lender’s Commitment is set forth on Schedule 2.01, or in the Assignment and Assumption or the Accession Agreement pursuant to which such Lender shall have assumed or provided its Commitment, as applicable.

Commitment Increase” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.06(e)(ii).

Commitment Termination Date” means December 10, 2025.

Communications” means, collectively, any notice, demand, communication, information, document or other material provided by or on behalf of the Borrower pursuant to any Loan Document or the transactions contemplated therein that is distributed to the Administrative Agent or any Lender by means of electronic communications pursuant to Section 9.01, including through the Platform.

Consolidated EBITDA” means, for any period, Consolidated Net Income for such period plus, without duplication and to the extent deducted in determining such Consolidated Net Income, the sum of (a) Consolidated Interest Expense for such period, (b) consolidated income tax expense (including, without duplication, foreign withholding taxes and any state single business unitary or other similar taxes) for such period, (c) all amounts attributable to depreciation and amortization for such period, (d) any non-cash charges for such period, (e) fees and expenses incurred in connection with the Transactions, (f) fees and expenses incurred in connection with the issuance of any Indebtedness or equity, acquisitions, investments or asset sales or divestitures permitted hereunder and (g) any extraordinary, non-recurring or unusual cash charges or losses for such period arising out of the restructuring, consolidation, severance or discontinuance of any portion of the operations, employees and/or management of any entities or businesses of the Borrower or any of the Subsidiaries, determined without giving effect to any extraordinary gains or losses for such period to the extent included in determining such Consolidated Net Income, all determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP; provided that solely for purposes of determining compliance with Section 6.05, in the event the Borrower or any Subsidiary acquired or disposed of any Person or line of business during the relevant period, Consolidated EBITDA will be determined giving pro forma effect to such acquisition or disposition as if such acquisition or disposition and any related incurrence or repayment of Indebtedness had occurred on the first day of the relevant period.

 

5


Consolidated Interest Expense” means, for any period, the sum of (a) the cash interest expense (including imputed interest expense in respect of Capital Lease Obligations) of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries for such period, determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP and (b) any amounts paid during such period in respect of interest or other financing costs of the Borrower or any Subsidiary that have been or are required to be capitalized and are not included in consolidated interest expense for such period in accordance with GAAP; provided that there shall be excluded from Consolidated Interest Expense (i) any fees paid to the Administrative Agent and (ii) any payments made to obtain any interest rate Hedging Agreements; and provided further that solely for purposes of determining compliance with Section 6.05, in the event the Borrower or any Subsidiary acquired or disposed of any Person or line of business during the relevant period, Consolidated Interest Expense will be determined giving pro forma effect to any incurrence or repayment of Indebtedness related to such acquisition or disposition as if such incurrence or repayment of Indebtedness had occurred on the first day of the relevant period.

Consolidated Net Income” means, for any period, the net income or loss of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries for such period determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP; provided that (a) there shall be excluded the income of any Person (other than the Borrower or any Subsidiary) in which any other Person (other than the Borrower or any Subsidiary or any director holding qualifying shares or other third parties holding nominal amounts of shares, as required by or in compliance with applicable law) owns an Equity Interest, except to the extent of the amount of dividends or other distributions actually paid to the Borrower or any of the Subsidiaries during such period, and (b) solely for purposes of determining compliance with Section 6.05, in the event the Borrower or any Subsidiary acquired or disposed of any Person or line of business during the relevant period, Consolidated Net Income will be determined giving pro forma effect to such acquisition or disposition as if such acquisition or disposition and any related incurrence or repayment of Indebtedness had occurred on the first day of the relevant period, but shall not take into account any cost savings projected to be realized as a result of such acquisition or disposition other than cost savings permitted to be included under Regulation S-X of the SEC.

Consolidated Net Sales” means, for any period, the net sales of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries for such period, as reported as a line item in the Borrower’s consolidated statements of income filed as part of the Borrower’s reports to the SEC on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.

Consolidated Total Assets” means the consolidated total assets of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries determined in accordance with GAAP; provided that for purposes of determining compliance with Sections 6.01 and 6.02, in the event the Borrower or any Subsidiary acquires any Person or line of business after the fiscal quarter end referred to in such Section, “Consolidated Total Assets” as of such fiscal quarter end shall be deemed to include the assets of such Person or line of business from and after the date of such acquisition.

Control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of a Person, whether through the ability to exercise voting power, by contract or otherwise.

Controlled” has a meaning correlative thereto.

 

6


Controlled Group” means all of a controlled group of corporations and all trades and businesses (whether or not incorporated) under common control that, together with the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, are treated as a single employer under Section 414 of the Code.

Credit Party” means the Administrative Agent or any Lender.

Daily Simple SOFR” with respect to any applicable determination date, means the SOFR published on such date on the NYFRB’s website (or any successor source).

Default” means any event or condition which constitutes an Event of Default or which upon notice, lapse of time or both would, unless cured or waived, become an Event of Default.

Defaulting Lender” means any Lender that (a) has failed, within two Business Days of the date required to be funded or paid, to (i) fund any portion of its Loans or (ii) pay over to any Credit Party any other amount required to be paid by it hereunder, unless, in the case of clause (i) above, such Lender notifies the Administrative Agent in writing that such failure is the result of such Lender’s good faith determination that a condition precedent to funding (specifically identified and including the particular Default, if any) has not been satisfied, (b) has notified the Borrower or any Credit Party in writing, or has made a public statement to the effect, that it does not intend or expect to comply with any of its funding obligations under this Agreement (unless such writing or public statement indicates that such position is based on such Lender’s good faith determination that a condition precedent (specifically identified and including the particular Default, if any) to funding a Loan under this Agreement cannot be satisfied) or generally under other agreements in which it commits to extend credit, (c) has failed, within three Business Days after request by a Credit Party, acting in good faith, to provide a certification in writing from an authorized officer of such Lender that it will comply with its prospective obligations to fund Loans under this Agreement; provided that such Lender shall cease to be a Defaulting Lender pursuant to this clause (c) upon such Credit Party’s receipt of such certification in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to it and the Administrative Agent, (d) has become the subject of a Bankruptcy Event, other than an Undisclosed Administration, or (e) has become the subject of a Bail-In Action.

EEA Financial Institution” means (a) any credit institution or investment firm established in any EEA Member Country that is subject to the supervision of an EEA Resolution Authority, (b) any entity established in an EEA Member Country that is a parent of an institution described in clause (a) above or (c) any financial institution established in an EEA Member Country that is a subsidiary of an institution described in clause (a) or (b) above and is subject to consolidated supervision with its parent.

EEA Member Country” means any member state of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

EEA Resolution Authority” means any public administrative authority or any Person entrusted with public administrative authority of any EEA Member Country (including any delegee) having responsibility for the resolution of any EEA Financial Institution.

Effective Date” means the date on which the conditions set forth in Section 4.01 are satisfied (or waived in accordance with Section 9.02).

Electronic Record” and “Electronic Signature” shall have the meanings assigned to them, respectively, by 15 USC §7006, as it may be amended from time to time.

Eligible Assignee” means (a) a Lender, (b) an Affiliate of a Lender, (c) an Approved Fund and (d) any other Person, other than, in each case, any natural person (or a holding company, investment vehicle or trust for, or owned and operated by or for the primary benefit of, a natural person), any Defaulting Lender, the Borrower or any Affiliate thereof.

 

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Environmental Laws” means all Federal, state, local and foreign statutes, laws (including common law), regulations, ordinances, judgments, permits and other governmental rules or restrictions relating to human health, safety (including occupational safety and health standards) and protection of the environment or to emissions, discharges or releases of pollutants, contaminants, hazardous substances or wastes into the environment, including ambient air, surface or ground water or land, or otherwise relating to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of pollutants, contaminants, hazardous substances or wastes or the cleanup or other remediation thereof.

Environmental Liability” means any liability, contingent or otherwise (including any liability for damages, costs of environmental remediation, fines, penalties or indemnities), of the Borrower or any Subsidiary directly or indirectly resulting from or based upon (a) violation of any Environmental Laws, (b) the generation, use, handling, transportation, storage, treatment or disposal of any Hazardous Materials, (c) exposure to any Hazardous Materials, (d) the release or threatened release of any Hazardous Materials into the environment or (e) any contract, agreement or other consensual arrangement pursuant to which liability is assumed or imposed with respect to any of the foregoing.

Equity Interests” means shares of capital stock, partnership interests, membership interests in a limited liability company, beneficial interests in a trust or other equity ownership interests in a Person, and any warrants, options or other rights entitling the holder thereof to purchase or acquire any such equity interest.

ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule” means the EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule published by the Loan Market Association (or any successor Person), as in effect from time to time.

Events of Default” has the meaning assigned to such term in Article VII.

Exchange Act” means the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Excluded Taxes” means, with respect to the Administrative Agent, any Lender or any other recipient of any payment to be made by or on account of any obligation of the Borrower hereunder, (a) Taxes imposed on or measured by net income (however denominated), franchise Taxes and branch profits Taxes, in each case (i) imposed as a result of such Administrative Agent or Lender being organized under the laws of, or having its principal office or, in the case of any Lender, its applicable lending office located in, the jurisdiction imposing such Tax (or any political subdivision thereof) or (ii) that are Other Connection Taxes, (b) in the case of a Lender (other than an assignee pursuant to a request by the Borrower under Section 2.16(b)), any withholding Tax imposed by the United States of America on amounts payable to such Lender pursuant to a law in effect at the time such Lender becomes a party to this Agreement (or designates a new lending office), (c) in the case of a Lender, any withholding Tax that is attributable to such Lender’s failure to comply with Section 2.14(e) and (d) any withholding Tax imposed by the United States of America under FATCA, except, in the case of clause (b) above, to the extent that (i) such Lender (or its assignor, if any) was entitled, at the time of designation of a new lending office (or assignment), to receive additional amounts from the Borrower with respect to any withholding Tax pursuant to Section 2.14 or (ii) such withholding Tax shall have resulted from the making of any payment to a location other than the office designated by the Administrative Agent or such Lender for the receipt of payments of the applicable type.

 

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Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement” means the 364-Day Credit Agreement dated as of December 19, 2023, among the Borrower, the lenders party thereto and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent.

Existing Borrowings” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.06(e)(ii).

FATCA” means Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code, as of the date of this Agreement (or any amended or successor version that is substantively comparable and not materially more onerous to comply with), any current or future regulations or official interpretations thereof, any agreements entered into pursuant to Section 1471(b)(1) of the Code and any fiscal or regulatory legislation, rules or practices adopted pursuant to any intergovernmental agreement, treaty or convention among Governmental Authorities entered into in connection with the implementation of the foregoing.

Federal Funds Effective Rate” means, for any day, the rate per annum calculated by the NYFRB based on such day’s federal funds transactions by depository institutions (as determined in such manner as the NYFRB shall set forth on its public website from time to time) and published on the next succeeding Business Day by the NYFRB as the federal funds effective rate; provided that if such rate shall be less than zero, such rate shall be deemed to be zero for all purposes of this Agreement.

Financed Portion” means, at any time, with respect to a Securitization, the greatest amount of the claims of the parties providing financing (whether through direct purchases of receivables or interests therein or through other financing arrangements), however evidenced, including direct claims on collections of a party providing financing and including debt or equity interests or securities (other than any seller’s interests retained by any wholly owned Subsidiary) of a purchasing vehicle, permitted to be outstanding at such time under such Securitization (assuming the satisfaction of all conditions to issuance).

Financial Officer” means the chief financial officer, principal accounting officer, treasurer, assistant treasurer or controller of the Borrower; provided that, when such term is used in reference to any document executed by, or a certification of, a Financial Officer, the secretary or assistant secretary of such Person shall have, theretofore (including on the Effective Date) or concurrently therewith, delivered an incumbency certificate to the Administrative Agent as to the authority of such Person.

Fitch” means Fitch Ratings, Ltd., or any successor to its rating agency business.

Five-Year Credit Agreement” means the Five-Year Credit Agreement dated as of December 21, 2021, among the Borrower, certain of its Subsidiaries party thereto, the lenders party thereto and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent thereunder, as amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified, replaced or refinanced from time to time.

Foreign Lender” means any Lender that is organized under the laws of a jurisdiction other than the United States of America, any State thereof or the District of Columbia.

GAAP” means, subject to Section 1.04, generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America.

Governmental Authority” means the government of the United States of America or any other nation or any political subdivision thereof, whether state or local, and any agency, authority, instrumentality, regulatory body, court, central bank or other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial, taxing, regulatory or administrative powers or functions of or pertaining to government, including any applicable supranational bodies (such as the European Union or the European Central Bank).

 

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Guarantee” of or by any Person (the “guarantor”) means any obligation, contingent or otherwise, of the guarantor guaranteeing or having the economic effect of guaranteeing any Indebtedness or other obligation of any other Person (the “primary obligor”) in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, and including any obligation of the guarantor, direct or indirect, (a) to purchase or pay (or advance or supply funds for the purchase or payment of) such Indebtedness or other obligation or to purchase (or to advance or supply funds for the purchase of) any security for the payment thereof, (b) to purchase or lease property, securities or services for the purpose of assuring the owner of such Indebtedness or other obligation of the payment thereof, (c) to maintain working capital, equity capital or any other financial statement condition or liquidity of the primary obligor so as to enable the primary obligor to pay such Indebtedness or other obligation or (d) as an account party in respect of any letter of credit or letter of guaranty issued to support such Indebtedness or obligation; provided that the term Guarantee shall not include (i) endorsements for collection or deposit, (ii) standard contractual indemnities not related to the borrowing of money or Indebtedness, in each case in the ordinary course of business, or (iii) recourse at customary levels in connection with Securitizations accounted for as sales. The amount of any Guarantee of any guarantor shall be deemed to be the lower of (A) an amount equal to the stated or determinable amount of the primary obligation in respect of which such Guarantee is made and (B) the maximum amount for which such guarantor may be liable pursuant to the terms of the instrument embodying such Guarantee, unless such primary obligation and the maximum amount for which such guarantor may be liable are not stated or determinable, in which case the amount of such Guarantee shall be such guarantor’s maximum reasonably anticipated liability (assuming such Person is required to perform) in respect thereof as determined by such guarantor in good faith.

Hazardous Materials” means all explosive or radioactive substances or wastes and all hazardous or toxic substances, wastes or other pollutants, including petroleum or petroleum distillates, asbestos or asbestos containing materials, polychlorinated biphenyls, radon gas, infectious or medical wastes and all other substances or wastes of any nature regulated pursuant to any Environmental Laws.

Hedging Agreement” means any interest rate protection agreement, foreign currency exchange agreement, currency swap agreement, commodity price protection agreement or other interest or currency exchange rate or commodity price protection arrangement. The “principal amount” of any Hedging Agreement of the Borrower or any Subsidiary at any time shall be deemed to be the aggregate amount at such time of the payments that would be required to be made by the Borrower or such Subsidiary in the event of any early termination at such time of such Hedging Agreement.

Increase Effective Date” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.06(e)(ii).

Increasing Lender” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.06(e)(i).

Indebtedness” of any Person means, without duplication, (a) all obligations of such Person for borrowed money or with respect to deposits or advances of any kind, (b) all obligations of such Person evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or similar instruments, (c) all obligations of such Person under conditional sale or other title retention agreements relating to property acquired by such Person, (d) all obligations of such Person in respect of the deferred purchase price of property or services (excluding current accounts payable incurred in the ordinary course of business), (e) all Indebtedness of others secured by (or for which the holder of such Indebtedness has an existing right, contingent or otherwise, to be secured by) any Lien on property owned or acquired by such Person, whether or not the Indebtedness secured thereby has been assumed, (f) all Guarantees by such Person of Indebtedness of others, (g) all Capital Lease Obligations of such Person, (h) all obligations, contingent or otherwise, of such Person as an account party in respect of letters of credit and letters of guaranty and (i) all obligations, contingent or otherwise, of such Person in respect of bankers’ acceptances. The Indebtedness of any Person shall include the Indebtedness of any other entity (including any partnership in which such Person is a general partner) to the extent such Person is liable therefor as a result of such Person’s ownership interest in or other relationship with such entity, except to the extent the terms of such Indebtedness provide that such Person is not liable therefor. Indebtedness shall not include trade payables and accrued expenses arising in the ordinary course of business.

 

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Indemnified Taxes” means (a) Taxes, other than Excluded Taxes, imposed on or with respect to any payment made by or on account of any obligation of the Borrower under this Agreement or any other Loan Document and (b) to the extent not otherwise described in clause (a) of this definition, Other Taxes.

Indemnitee” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.03(b).

Index Debt” means senior, unsecured, long-term indebtedness for borrowed money of the Borrower that is not guaranteed by any other Person or subject to any other credit enhancement.

Information Memorandum” means the Confidential Information Memorandum dated November 15, 2024, relating to the Borrower and the Transactions.

Interest Election Request” means a request by the Borrower to convert or continue a Borrowing in accordance with Section 2.05, which shall be substantially in the form of Exhibit C or any other form approved by the Administrative Agent in its reasonable discretion (including any form on an electronic platform or electronic transmission system as shall be approved by the Administrative Agent), appropriately completed and signed by a Responsible Officer of the Borrower.

Interest Payment Date” means (a) with respect to any ABR Loan, the last day of each March, June, September and December and the Maturity Date and (b) with respect to any Term Benchmark Loan, the last day of the Interest Period applicable to the Borrowing of which such Loan is a part and the Maturity Date.

Interest Period” means, with respect to any Term Benchmark Borrowing, the period commencing on the date of such Borrowing and ending on the numerically corresponding day in the calendar month that is one or three months thereafter, as the Borrower may elect, or any other period agreed to by the Borrower and each Lender; provided that (a) if any Interest Period would end on a day other than a Business Day, such Interest Period shall be extended to the next succeeding Business Day unless such next succeeding Business Day would fall in the next calendar month, in which case such Interest Period shall end on the next preceding Business Day and (b) any Interest Period that commences on the last Business Day of a calendar month (or on a day for which there is no numerically corresponding day in the last calendar month of such Interest Period) shall end on the last Business Day of the last calendar month of such Interest Period. For purposes hereof, the date of a Borrowing initially shall be the date on which such Borrowing is made and thereafter shall be the effective date of the most recent conversion or continuation of such Borrowing.

Lender-Related Person” means the Administrative Agent, each Lender, any Person set forth on the cover page of this Agreement as Co-Syndication Agent and/or Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner and each Related Party of any of the foregoing Persons.

Lenders” means the Persons listed on Schedule 2.01 and any other Person that shall have become a party hereto pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption or an Accession Agreement, other than any such Person that ceases to be a party hereto pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption.

Liabilities” means any losses, claims (including intraparty claims), demands, damages or liabilities of any kind.

 

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Lien” means, with respect to any asset, (a) any mortgage, deed of trust, lien, pledge, hypothecation, encumbrance, charge or security interest in, on or of such asset, (b) the interest of a vendor or a lessor under any conditional sale agreement, capital lease or title retention agreement (or any financing lease having substantially the same economic effect as any of the foregoing) relating to such asset and (c) in the case of securities, any purchase option, call or similar right of a third party with respect to such securities.

Loan” means a loan made pursuant to Section 2.01.

Loan Documents” means this Agreement and, other than for purposes of Section 9.02, each promissory note delivered pursuant to this Agreement, as such documents may be amended, modified, supplemented or restated from time to time.

Margin Stock” means “margin stock” as defined in Regulation U of the Board.

Material Adverse Effect” means (a) any condition or change that has affected or would reasonably be expected to affect materially and adversely the business, assets, liabilities or financial condition of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries taken as a whole or (b) a material adverse effect on the rights of or benefits available to the Administrative Agent or the Lenders under any Loan Document.

Maturity Date” means the Commitment Termination Date; provided that if the Maturity Date shall have been extended pursuant to Section 2.06(d), the Maturity Date shall be December 10, 2026.

Maximum Rate” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.14.

MNPI” means material information concerning the Borrower, any Subsidiary or any of their securities that has not been disseminated in a manner making it available to investors generally, within the meaning of Regulation FD under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. For purposes of this definition, “material information” means information concerning the Borrower, the Subsidiaries or any of their securities that could reasonably be expected to be material for purposes of the United States Federal and state securities laws and, where applicable, foreign securities laws.

Moody’s” means Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or any successor to its rating agency business.

Notice of Loan Prepayment” means a notice of prepayment with respect to a Loan, which shall be substantially in the form of Exhibit F or such other form as may be approved by the Administrative Agent in its reasonable discretion (including any form on an electronic platform or electronic transmission system as shall be approved by the Administrative Agent), appropriately completed and signed by a Responsible Officer of the Borrower.

NYFRB” means the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Other Connection Taxes” means with respect to the Administrative Agent or any Lender, Taxes imposed as a result of a present or former connection between such Administrative Agent or Lender and the jurisdiction imposing such Taxes (other than connections arising from such Administrative Agent or Lender having executed, delivered, become a party to, performed its obligations under, received payments under, received or perfected a security interest under, engaged in any other transaction pursuant to or enforced this Agreement or any other Loan Document, or sold or assigned an interest in this Agreement or any other Loan Document).

 

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Other Taxes” means any and all present or future recording, stamp, documentary, excise, transfer, sales, property or similar Taxes, charges or levies arising from any payment made under any Loan Document or from the execution, delivery or enforcement of, or otherwise with respect to, any Loan Document.

Participant” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(e).

Participant Register” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(e).

Payment” has the meaning assigned to such term in Article VIII.

Payment Notice” has the meaning assigned to such term in Article VIII.

PBGC” means the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or any successor thereto.

Permitted Encumbrances” means:

(a) Liens imposed by law for taxes, assessments or other governmental charges that are not yet due or are being contested in compliance with Section 5.03;

(b) carriers’, warehousemen’s, mechanics’, materialmen’s, repairmen’s and other like Liens imposed by law, arising in the ordinary course of business and securing obligations that are not overdue by more than 30 days, are in de minimis amounts or are being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings with adequate reserves under GAAP being provided therefor;

(c) pledges and deposits made in the ordinary course of business in compliance with workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, health insurance and other social security laws or regulations and withholding taxes;

(d) deposits to secure the performance of bids, trade contracts, leases, statutory obligations, surety and appeal bonds, performance bonds and other obligations of a like nature, in each case in the ordinary course of business;

(e) judgment Liens in respect of judgments that do not constitute an Event of Default under clause (j) of Article VII;

(f) easements, zoning restrictions, rights-of-way, minor defects or irregularities in title and similar encumbrances on real property imposed by law or arising in the ordinary course of business that do not secure any monetary obligations and do not interfere with the ordinary conduct of business of the Borrower or any Subsidiary;

(g) rights of setoff in favor of financial institutions (other than in respect of amounts deposited to secure Indebtedness);

(h) Liens in the nature of trustee’s Liens granted pursuant to any indenture securing obligations to pay compensation to such trustee, to reimburse its expenses and to indemnify it under the terms thereof;

(i) licenses, leases or subleases (other than capital leases and other financing leases) granted to third parties (other than to secure Indebtedness) not interfering in any material respect with the business of the Borrower or any Subsidiary;

 

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(j) Liens arising in connection with contracts with or made at the request of the United States of America, any State of the United States of America or any department, agency or instrumentality of the foregoing;

(k) Liens arising from deposits with or the giving of any form of security to any Governmental Authority required as a condition to the transaction of business or exercise of any privilege, franchise or license;

(l) Liens securing Indebtedness owed by a Subsidiary of the Borrower to the Borrower or another Subsidiary of the Borrower;

(m) any Lien arising solely by operation of law in the ordinary course of business or which is contained in a contract for the purchase or sale of goods or services entered into in the ordinary course of business;

(n) banker’s Liens, rights of setoff or similar rights and remedies as to deposit accounts or other funds maintained with depository institutions; provided that such deposit accounts or funds are not established or deposited for the purpose of providing collateral for any Indebtedness and are not subject to restrictions on access by the Borrower or any Subsidiary in excess of those required by applicable banking regulations; and

(o) Liens that are contractual rights of setoff;

provided that the term “Permitted Encumbrances” shall not include any Lien securing Indebtedness, except for (i) deposits specifically referenced in clauses (c), (d) and (k) above, (ii) any Lien specifically referenced in clause (l) above and (iii) any Lien specifically referenced in clauses (n) and (o) above.

Person” means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, association, company, partnership, Governmental Authority or other entity.

Plan” means, for the Borrower and each Subsidiary at any time, an employee pension benefit plan which is covered by Title IV of ERISA or subject to the minimum funding standards under Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA and either (a) is maintained by a member of the Controlled Group for employees of a member of the Controlled Group, (b) is maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement or any other arrangement under which more than one employer makes contributions and to which a member of the Controlled Group is then making or accruing an obligation to make contributions or has within the preceding five plan years made contributions or (c) under which a member of the Controlled Group has any liability, including any liability by reason of having been a substantial employer within the meaning of Section 4063 of ERISA at any time during the preceding five years or by reason of being deemed a contributing sponsor under Section 4069 of ERISA.

Platform” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.01(d).

Prime Rate” means the rate of interest in effect for such day as publicly announced from time to time by Bank of America as its “prime rate”. The “prime rate” is a rate set by Bank of America based upon various factors including Bank of America’s costs and desired return, general economic conditions and other factors, and is used as a reference point for pricing some loans, which may be priced at, above, or below such announced rate. Each change in the Prime Rate shall be effective from and including the opening of business on the day specified in the public announcement of such change.

 

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Private Side Lender Representatives” means, with respect to any Lender, representatives of such Lender that are not Public Side Lender Representatives.

PTE” means a prohibited transaction class exemption issued by the US Department of Labor, as any such exemption may be amended from time to time.

Public Side Lender Representatives” means, with respect to any Lender, representatives of such Lender that do not wish to receive MNPI.

Register” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(c).

Related Parties” means, with respect to any specified Person, such Person’s Affiliates and the respective directors, officers, employees, agents and advisors of such Person and such Person’s Affiliates.

Required Lenders” means, at any time, Lenders having Revolving Credit Exposures and unused Commitments representing more than 50% of the sum of the total Revolving Credit Exposures and unused Commitments at such time.

Rescindable Amount” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.15.

Resolution Authority” means an EEA Resolution Authority or, with respect to any UK Financial Institution, a UK Resolution Authority.

Responsible Officer” means the president, Financial Officer or other executive officer of the Borrower, as applicable, solely for purposes of the delivery of incumbency certificates pursuant to Section 4.01, the secretary or any assistant secretary of the Borrower and, solely for purposes of notices given pursuant to Article II, any other officer or employee of the Borrower so designated by any of the foregoing officers in a notice to the Administrative Agent or any other officer or employee of the Borrower designated in or pursuant to an agreement between the Borrower and the Administrative Agent. Any document delivered hereunder that is signed by a Responsible Officer of the Borrower shall be conclusively presumed to have been authorized by all necessary corporate, partnership and/or other action on the part of the Borrower and such Responsible Officer shall be conclusively presumed to have acted on behalf of the Borrower. To the extent requested by the Administrative Agent, each Responsible Officer will provide an incumbency certificate and to the extent requested by the Administrative Agent, appropriate authorization documentation, in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.

Revolving Credit Exposure” means, with respect to any Lender at any time, the aggregate outstanding principal amount of such Lender’s Loans at such time.

Sanctioned Country” means, at any time, a country, region or territory which is itself the subject or target of any Sanctions.

Sanctioned Person” means, at any time, (a) any Person listed in any Sanctions-related list of designated Persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury, the US Department of State, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, any EU member state or His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom, (b) any Person organized or resident in a Sanctioned Country or (c) any Person owned or controlled by any such Person described in the foregoing clause (a) or (b).

Sanctions” means economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes imposed, administered or enforced from time to time by (a) the US government, including those administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury or the US Department of State or (b) the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, any EU member state or His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom.

 

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Scheduled Unavailability Date” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 2.11(b).

SEC” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or any successor.

Securities Act” means the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Securitization” means the transfer or pledge of accounts receivable or interests in accounts receivable (a) to a trust, partnership, corporation or other entity, which transfer or pledge is funded by such entity in whole or in part by the issuance to one or more lenders or investors of indebtedness or securities that are paid principally from the cash flow derived from such accounts receivable or interests in accounts receivable, or (b) directly to an investor or other purchaser, provided that “Securitization” shall exclude direct “non-recourse” sales by the Borrower and its Subsidiaries of accounts receivable to a financial institution purchaser or other third party purchaser so long as (i) such sale is made on a “true sale at law” basis and, except for any such sales consummated by Subsidiaries of the Borrower organized outside the United States of America, an opinion of legal counsel to that effect shall have been delivered and (ii) such financial institution or other third party purchaser has no recourse with respect to such sale, or with respect to the accounts receivable subject thereto, to the Borrower or any Subsidiary, or any assets of the Borrower or any Subsidiary, directly or indirectly, contingently or otherwise, except for customary representations, warranties, covenants and indemnities made in connection with such non-recourse sale.

Significant Subsidiary” means (a) any Subsidiary that directly owns or Controls any other Significant Subsidiary, (b) any Subsidiary designated from time to time by the Borrower as a Significant Subsidiary by written notice to the Administrative Agent and (c) any other Subsidiary (i) the consolidated net sales of which were greater than 10% of the Borrower’s Consolidated Net Sales for the most recent period of four consecutive fiscal quarters for which financial statements have been delivered pursuant to Section 5.05(a) or 5.05(b) (or, prior to the first delivery of such financial statements, for the period of four consecutive fiscal quarters ended September 30, 2023) or (ii) the consolidated assets of which as of the last day of the applicable period referred to in the preceding clause (i) were greater than 10% of Consolidated Total Assets as of such date. For purposes of making the determinations required by this definition, net sales and assets of foreign Subsidiaries shall be converted into US Dollars at the rates used in preparing the most recent consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower delivered pursuant to Section 5.05(a) or 5.05(b) (or, prior to the first such delivery, the consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower as of September 30, 2023).

SOFR” means a rate equal to the secured overnight financing rate as administered by the SOFR Administrator.

SOFR Adjustment” means 0.10% (10 basis points)

SOFR Administrator” means the NYFRB (or a successor administrator of the secured overnight financing rate).

Subsequent Borrowings” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.06(e)(ii).

 

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subsidiary” means, with respect to any Person (the “parent”) at any date, any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association or other entity the accounts of which would be consolidated with those of the parent in the parent’s consolidated financial statements if such financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP as of such date, as well as any other corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association or other entity (a) of which Equity Interests representing more than 50% of the equity or more than 50% of the ordinary voting power or, in the case of a partnership, more than 50% of the general partnership interests are, as of such date, owned, controlled or held or (b) that is, as of such date, otherwise Controlled, by the parent or one or more subsidiaries of the parent or by the parent and one or more subsidiaries of the parent.

Subsidiary” means any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Borrower.

Successor Rate” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 2.11(b).

Taxes” means any and all present or future taxes, levies, imposts, duties, deductions, charges or withholdings (including backup withholding) imposed by any Governmental Authority, including any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable thereto.

Term Benchmark”, when used in reference to any Loan or Borrowing, refers to whether such Loan, or the Loans comprising such Borrowing, are bearing interest at a rate determined by reference to the Adjusted Term SOFR (other than solely as a result of clause (c) of the definition of Alternate Base Rate).

Term SOFR” means: (a) for any Interest Period with respect to a Term Benchmark Loan, the rate per annum equal to the Term SOFR Reference Rate two US Government Securities Business Days prior to the commencement of such Interest Period with a term equivalent to such Interest Period; provided, that, if the rate is not published prior to 11:00 a.m. (Eastern time) on such determination date, then Term SOFR means the Term SOFR Reference Rate on the first US Government Securities Business Day immediately prior thereto; and (b) for any interest calculation with respect to ABR Loans on any date, the rate per annum equal to the Term SOFR Reference Rate two US Government Securities Business Days prior to such date with a term of one month commencing that day; provided, that, if the rate is not published prior to 11:00 a.m. (Eastern time) on such determination date, then Term SOFR means the Term SOFR Reference Rate on the first US Government Securities Business Day immediately prior thereto.

Term SOFR Reference Rate” means the forward-looking SOFR term rate administered by CME (or any successor administrator satisfactory to the Administrative Agent) and published on the applicable Reuters screen page (or such other commercially available source providing such quotations as may be designated by the Administrative Agent from time to time).

Term SOFR Replacement Date” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 2.11(b).

Term-Out Fee” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.09(b).

Term-Out Option” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.06(d).

Transactions” means the execution, delivery and performance by the Borrower of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, the borrowing of Loans, the use of the proceeds thereof and the other transactions contemplated to be effected on the Effective Date in connection therewith.

Type”, when used in reference to any Loan or Borrowing, refers to whether the rate of interest on such Loan, or on the Loans comprising such Borrowing, is determined by reference to the Adjusted Term SOFR (other than solely as a result of clause (c) of the definition of Alternate Base Rate) or the Alternate Base Rate.

 

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UK Financial Institution” means any BRRD Undertaking (as such term is defined under the PRA Rulebook (as amended from time to time) promulgated by the United Kingdom Prudential Regulation Authority) or any person falling within IFPRU 11.6 of the FCA Handbook (as amended from time to time) promulgated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, which includes certain credit institutions and investment firms, and certain affiliates of such credit institutions or investment firms.

UK Resolution Authority” means the Bank of England or any other public administrative authority having responsibility for the resolution of any UK Financial Institution.

Undisclosed Administration” means in relation to a Lender or its parent company the appointment of an administrator, provisional liquidator, conservator, receiver, trustee, custodian or other similar official by a supervisory authority or regulator under or based on the law in the country where such Lender or parent company is subject to home jurisdiction supervision if applicable law requires that such appointment is not to be publicly disclosed.

US Dollars” or “$” refers to lawful money of the United States of America.

US Government Securities Business Day” means any day except for (a) a Saturday, (b) a Sunday or (c) a day on which the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association recommends that the fixed income departments of its members be closed for the entire day for purposes of trading in United States government securities.

US Lender” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.14(e)(ii).

USA PATRIOT Act” means the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.

Voting Stock” of any Person means capital stock of any class or classes or other Equity Interests (however designated) having ordinary voting power for the election of directors or the equivalent governing body of such Person, other than stock or other Equity Interests having such power only by reason of happening of a contingency.

Wholly Owned Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary all the Equity Interests in which, other than directors’ qualifying shares and/or other nominal amounts of Equity Interests that are required to be held by Persons other than the Borrower or its Wholly Owned Subsidiaries under applicable law, are owned, directly or indirectly, by the Borrower.

Write-Down and Conversion Powers” means (a) with respect to any EEA Resolution Authority, the write-down and conversion powers of such EEA Resolution Authority from time to time under the Bail-In Legislation for the applicable EEA Member Country, which write-down and conversion powers are described in the EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule, and (b) with respect to the United Kingdom, any powers of the applicable Resolution Authority under the Bail-In Legislation to cancel, reduce, modify or change the form of a liability of any UK Financial Institution or any contract or instrument under which that liability arises, to convert all or part of that liability into shares, securities or obligations of that person or any other person, to provide that any such contract or instrument is to have effect as if a right had been exercised under it or to suspend any obligation in respect of that liability or any of the powers under that Bail-In Legislation that are related to or ancillary to any of those powers.

Section 1.02 Classification of Loans and Borrowings. For purposes of this Agreement, Loans or Borrowings may be classified and referred to by Type (e.g., a “Term Benchmark Loan” or a “Term Benchmark Borrowing”).

 

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Section 1.03 Terms Generally. The definitions of terms herein shall apply equally to the singular and plural forms of the terms defined. Whenever the context may require, any pronoun shall include the corresponding masculine, feminine and neuter forms. The words “include”, “includes” and “including” shall be deemed to be followed by the phrase “without limitation”. The word “will” shall be construed to have the same meaning and effect as the word “shall”. Except as otherwise expressly set forth herein and unless the context requires otherwise, (a) any definition of or reference to any agreement, instrument or other document herein shall be construed as referring to such agreement, instrument or other document as from time to time amended, supplemented or otherwise modified (subject to any restrictions on such amendments, supplements or modifications set forth herein), (b) any reference herein to any Person shall be construed to include such Person’s successors and assigns, (c) the words “herein”, “hereof” and “hereunder”, and words of similar import, shall be construed to refer to this Agreement in its entirety and not to any particular provision hereof, (d) all references herein to Articles, Sections, Exhibits and Schedules shall be construed to refer to Articles and Sections of, and Exhibits and Schedules to, this Agreement and (e) the words “asset” and “property” shall be construed to have the same meaning and effect and to refer to any and all tangible and intangible assets and properties, including cash, securities, accounts and contract rights. Each reference herein to the “knowledge” of the Borrower or any Subsidiary shall be deemed to be a reference to the knowledge of any member of senior management of the Borrower or such Subsidiary, any Financial Officer and, in the case of any reference to knowledge of any specific subject matter, the senior manager of the department or office of the Borrower responsible for such matter.

Section 1.04 Accounting Terms; GAAP; Pro Forma Calculations. (a) Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, all terms of an accounting or financial nature shall be construed in accordance with GAAP as in effect from time to time; provided that (i) if the Borrower notifies the Administrative Agent that the Borrower requests an amendment to any provision hereof to eliminate the effect of any change occurring after the date hereof in GAAP or in the application thereof on the operation of such provision (or if the Administrative Agent notifies the Borrower that the Required Lenders request an amendment to any provision hereof for such purpose), regardless of whether any such notice is given before or after such change in GAAP or in the application thereof, then such provision shall be interpreted on the basis of GAAP as in effect and applied immediately before such change shall have become effective until such notice shall have been withdrawn or such provision amended in accordance herewith and (ii) notwithstanding any other provision contained herein, all terms of an accounting or financial nature used herein shall be construed (other than for purposes of Sections 3.05, 5.05(a) and 5.05(b)), and all computations of amounts and ratios referred to herein shall be made, (A) without giving effect to (1) any election under Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification 825 (or any other Accounting Standards Codification having a similar result or effect) (and related interpretations) to value any Indebtedness at “fair value”, as defined therein, or (2) any other accounting principle that results in any Indebtedness being reflected on a balance sheet at an amount less than the stated principal amount thereof (or, in the case of Indebtedness issued at a discount (other than an underwriting discount) to stated principal amount, the issue price thereof plus accreted discount) and (B) without giving effect to any change in accounting for leases pursuant to GAAP resulting from the implementation of Financial Accounting Standards Board ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), to the extent such adoption would require treating any lease (or similar arrangement conveying the right to use) as a capitalizable asset with a corresponding lease liability where such lease (or similar arrangement) would not have been required to be so treated under GAAP as in effect on December 31, 2018.

(b) All pro forma computations required to be made hereunder giving effect to any acquisition or other transaction shall be calculated after giving pro forma effect thereto (and, in the case of any pro forma computations made hereunder to determine whether such acquisition or other transaction is permitted to be consummated hereunder, to any other such transaction consummated since the first day of the period covered by any component of such pro forma computation and on or prior to the date of such computation) as if such transaction had occurred on the first day of the period of four consecutive fiscal quarters ending with the most recent fiscal quarter for which financial statements shall have been delivered pursuant to Section 5.05(a) or 5.05(b) (or, prior to the first delivery of such financial statements, for the period of four consecutive fiscal quarters ended September 30, 2024), and to the extent applicable, to the historical earnings and cash flows associated with the assets acquired and any related incurrence of Indebtedness, all in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X under the Securities Act. If any Indebtedness bears a floating rate of interest and is being given pro forma effect, the interest on such Indebtedness shall be calculated as if the rate in effect on the date of determination had been the applicable rate for the entire period (taking into account any Hedging Agreement applicable to such Indebtedness if such Hedging Agreement has a remaining term in excess of 12 months).

 

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Section 1.05 Determinations Made in Good Faith. All determinations hereunder made by any party hereto shall be made in good faith.

Section 1.06 Times of Payment or Performance. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, when the payment of any obligation or the performance of any covenant, duty, or obligation is stated to be due or performance required on (or before) a day which is not a Business Day, the date of such payment (other than as described in the definition of Interest Period) or performance shall extend to the immediately succeeding Business Day, and such extension of time shall be reflected in computing interest or fees, as the case may be.

Section 1.07 Certifications. All certifications to be made hereunder by an officer or representative of the Borrower shall be made by such a Person in his or her capacity solely as an officer or a representative of the Borrower, on the Borrower’s behalf and not in such Person’s individual capacity.

Section 1.08 Divisions. For all purposes under the Loan Documents, in connection with any division or plan of division under Delaware law (or any comparable event under a different jurisdiction’s laws): (a) if any asset, right, obligation or liability of any Person becomes the asset, right, obligation or liability of a different Person, then it shall be deemed to have been transferred from the original Person to the subsequent Person, and (b) if any new Person comes into existence, such new Person shall be deemed to have been organized and acquired on the first date of its existence by the holders of its Equity Interests at such time.

Section 1.09 Interest Rates; Benchmark Notification. The interest rate on a Loan may be derived from an interest rate benchmark that may be discontinued or is, or may in the future become, the subject of regulatory reform. Upon the occurrence of such an event, Section 2.11(b) provides a mechanism for determining an alternative rate of interest. The Administrative Agent does not warrant or accept any responsibility for, and shall not have any liability with respect to, the administration, submission, performance or any other matter related to any interest rate used in this Agreement, or with respect to any alternative or successor rate thereto, or replacement rate thereof, including without limitation, whether the composition or characteristics of any such alternative, successor or replacement reference rate will be similar to, or produce the same value or economic equivalence of, the existing interest rate being replaced or have the same volume or liquidity as did any existing interest rate prior to its discontinuance or unavailability. The Administrative Agent and its Affiliates and/or other related entities may engage in transactions that affect the calculation of any interest rate used in this Agreement or any alternative, successor or alternative rate (including any Successor Rate) and/or any relevant adjustments thereto, in each case, in a manner adverse to the Borrower. The Administrative Agent may select information sources or services in its reasonable discretion to ascertain any interest rate used in this Agreement, any component thereof, or rates referenced in the definition thereof, in each case pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, and shall have no liability to the Borrower, any Lender or any other Person for damages of any kind, including direct or indirect, special, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, costs, losses or expenses (whether in tort, contract or otherwise and whether at law or in equity), for any error or calculation of any such rate (or component thereof) provided by any such information source or service.

 

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ARTICLE II

THE CREDITS

Section 2.01 Commitments. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, each Lender agrees to make Loans to the Borrower from time to time during the Availability Period in US Dollars in an aggregate principal amount that will not result in (a) such Lender’s Revolving Credit Exposure exceeding such Lender’s Commitment or (b) the sum of the total Revolving Credit Exposures exceeding the total Commitments. Within the foregoing limits and subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, the Borrower may borrow, prepay and reborrow Loans during the Availability Period.

Section 2.02 Loans and Borrowings. (a) Each Loan shall be made as part of a Borrowing consisting of Loans made by the Lenders (or their Affiliates as provided in paragraph (b) below) ratably in accordance with their respective Commitments. The failure of any Lender to make any Loan required to be made by it shall not relieve any other Lender of its obligations hereunder; provided that the Commitments of the Lenders are several and no Lender shall be responsible for any other Lender’s failure to make Loans as required.

(b) Subject to Section 2.11, each Borrowing shall be comprised entirely of (i) Term Benchmark Loans or (ii) ABR Loans, as the Borrower may request in accordance herewith. Each Lender at its option may make any Loan by causing any domestic or foreign branch or Affiliate of such Lender to make such Loan; provided that any exercise of such option shall not affect the obligation of the Borrower to repay such Loan in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

(c) At the commencement of each Interest Period for any Term Benchmark Borrowing, such Borrowing shall be an integral multiple of $5,000,000 and not less than $25,000,000; provided that (i) any Term Benchmark Borrowing that results from a continuation of an outstanding Term Benchmark Borrowing may be in an aggregate amount that is equal to such outstanding Borrowing and (ii) a Term Benchmark Borrowing may be in an aggregate amount that is equal to the entire unused balance of the total Commitments. At the time that each ABR Borrowing is made, such Borrowing shall be in an aggregate amount that is an integral multiple of $1,000,000 and not less than $5,000,000; provided that an ABR Borrowing may be in an aggregate amount that is equal to the entire unused balance of the total Commitments. Borrowings of more than one Type may be outstanding at the same time; provided that there shall not at any time be outstanding more than a total of 10 Term Benchmark Borrowings.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Borrower shall not be entitled to request, or to elect to convert or continue, any Term Benchmark Borrowing if the Interest Period requested with respect thereto would end after the Maturity Date.

Section 2.03 Requests for Borrowings. To request a Borrowing, the Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent of such request by telephone or by delivery of a Borrowing Request (a) in the case of a Term Benchmark Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, two US Government Securities Business Days before the date of the proposed Borrowing or (b) in the case of an ABR Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, on the Business Day of the proposed Borrowing. Each such Borrowing Request shall be irrevocable and, if telephonic, shall be confirmed promptly by email to the Administrative Agent of a written Borrowing Request signed by a Financial Officer of the Borrower. Each such telephonic and written Borrowing Request shall specify the following information in compliance with Section 2.02:

 

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(i) the aggregate principal amount of the requested Borrowing;

(ii) the date of the requested Borrowing, which shall be a Business Day;

(iii) the Type of the requested Borrowing;

(iv) in the case of a Term Benchmark Borrowing, the initial Interest Period to be applicable thereto, which shall be a period contemplated by the definition of the term “Interest Period”; and

(v) the location and number of the Borrower’s account to which funds are to be disbursed, which shall comply with the requirements of Section 2.04.

If no election as to the Type of a Borrowing is specified, then the requested Borrowing shall be an ABR Borrowing. If no Interest Period is specified with respect to any requested Term Benchmark Borrowing, then the Borrower shall be deemed to have selected an Interest Period of one month’s duration. Promptly following receipt of a Borrowing Request in accordance with this Section, the Administrative Agent shall advise each Lender of the details thereof and of the amount of such Lender’s Loan to be made as part of the requested Borrowing.

Section 2.04 Funding of Borrowings. (a) Each Lender shall make each Loan to be made by it hereunder on the proposed date thereof by wire transfer of immediately available funds by 1:00 p.m., New York City time, to the account of the Administrative Agent most recently designated by it for such purpose by notice to the applicable Lenders. The Administrative Agent will make such Loans available to the Borrower by promptly crediting the amounts so received, in like funds, to an account of the Borrower maintained with the Administrative Agent in New York City and designated by the Borrower in the applicable Borrowing Request.

(b) Unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice from a Lender prior to the proposed date of any Borrowing that such Lender will not make available to the Administrative Agent such Lender’s share of such Borrowing, the Administrative Agent may assume that such Lender has made such share available on such date in accordance with paragraph (a) of this Section and may, in reliance upon such assumption, make available to the Borrower a corresponding amount. In such event, if a Lender has not in fact made its share of the applicable Borrowing available to the Administrative Agent, then the applicable Lender and the Borrower severally agree to pay to the Administrative Agent forthwith on demand such corresponding amount with interest thereon, for each day from and including the date such amount is made available to the Borrower to but excluding the date of payment to the Administrative Agent, at (i) in the case of such Lender, the greater of (A) the Federal Funds Effective Rate and (B) a rate determined by the Administrative Agent in accordance with banking industry rules on interbank compensation or (ii) in the case of the Borrower, the interest rate applicable to such Borrowing, as the case may be. If the Borrower and such Lender shall both pay such interest to the Administrative Agent for the same or an overlapping period, the Administrative Agent shall promptly remit to the Borrower the amount of such interest paid by the Borrower for such period. If such Lender pays such amount to the Administrative Agent, then such amount shall constitute such Lender’s Loan included in such Borrowing. Any payment by the Borrower shall be without prejudice to any claim the Borrower may have against a Lender that shall have failed to make such payment to the Administrative Agent.

 

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Section 2.05 Interest Elections. (a) Each Borrowing initially shall be of the Type specified in the applicable Borrowing Request and, in the case of a Term Benchmark Borrowing, shall have an initial Interest Period as specified in such Borrowing Request or as otherwise provided in Section 2.03. Thereafter, the Borrower may elect to convert such Borrowing and, in the case of a Term Benchmark Borrowing, may elect Interest Periods therefor, all as provided in this Section. to a different Type or to continue such Borrowing. The Borrower may elect different options with respect to different portions of the affected Borrowing, in which case each such portion shall be allocated ratably among the Lenders holding the Loans comprising such Borrowing, and any Loans resulting from an election made with respect to any such portion shall be considered a separate Borrowing.

(b) To make an election pursuant to this Section, the Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent of such election, by telephone or by delivery of an Interest Election Request, by the time and date that a Borrowing Request would be required under Section 2.03 if the Borrower were requesting a Borrowing of the Type resulting from such election to be made on the effective date of such election. Each such Interest Election Request shall be irrevocable and, if telephonic, shall be confirmed promptly by email to the Administrative Agent of a written Interest Election Request signed by a Financial Officer of the Borrower. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the Borrower shall not be permitted to elect a Term Benchmark Loan if the Interest Period requested with respect thereto would end after the Maturity Date.

(c) Each telephonic and written Interest Election Request shall specify the following information in compliance with Section 2.02:

(i) the Borrowing to which such Interest Election Request applies and, if different options are being elected with respect to different portions thereof, the portions thereof to be allocated to each resulting Borrowing (in which case the information to be specified pursuant to clauses (iii) and (iv) below shall be specified for each resulting Borrowing);

(ii) the effective date of the election made pursuant to such Interest Election Request, which shall be a Business Day;

(iii) whether the resulting Borrowing is to be an ABR Borrowing or a Term Benchmark Borrowing; and

(iv) if the Type of the resulting Borrowing is a Term Benchmark Borrowing, the Interest Period to be applicable thereto after giving effect to such election, which shall be a period contemplated by the definition of the term “Interest Period”.

If any such Interest Election Request requests a Term Benchmark Borrowing, but does not specify an Interest Period, then the Borrower shall be deemed to have selected an Interest Period of one month’s duration.

(d) Promptly following receipt of an Interest Election Request, the Administrative Agent shall advise each Lender of the details thereof and of such Lender’s portion of each resulting Borrowing.

(e) If the Borrower fails to deliver a timely Interest Election Request with respect to a Term Benchmark Borrowing prior to the end of the Interest Period applicable thereto, then, unless such Borrowing is repaid as provided herein, at the end of such Interest Period, such Borrowing shall be automatically continued as a Term Benchmark Borrowing having an Interest Period of one month’s duration. Notwithstanding any contrary provision hereof, if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and, other than in the case of clause (g) or (h) of Article VII, the Administrative Agent, at the request of the Required Lenders, so notifies the Borrower, then, so long as an Event of Default is continuing (i) no outstanding Borrowing may be converted to or continued as a Term Benchmark Borrowing and (ii) unless repaid, each Term Benchmark Borrowing shall be converted to an ABR Borrowing at the end of the Interest Period applicable thereto.

 

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Section 2.06 Termination and Reduction of Commitments; Term-Out Option; Increase in Commitments. (a) Unless previously terminated, the Commitments shall terminate on the Commitment Termination Date.

(b) The Borrower may at any time terminate, or from time to time reduce, the Commitments; provided that (i) each reduction of the Commitments shall be in an amount that is an integral multiple of $1,000,000 and not less than $5,000,000 and (ii) the Borrower shall not terminate or reduce the Commitments if, after giving effect to any concurrent prepayment of the Loans in accordance with Section 2.08, the total Revolving Credit Exposures would exceed the total Commitments.

(c) The Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent of any election to terminate or reduce the Commitments under paragraph (b) of this Section at least three Business Days prior to the effective date of such termination or reduction, specifying such election and the effective date thereof. Promptly following receipt of any notice, the Administrative Agent shall advise the Lenders of the contents thereof. Each notice delivered by the Borrower pursuant to this Section shall be irrevocable; provided that any such notice may state that it is conditioned upon the occurrence of one or more events specified therein, in which case such notice may be revoked if such condition is not satisfied by the Borrower delivering notice to the Administrative Agent on or prior to the specified effective date. Any termination or reduction of the Commitments shall be permanent. Each reduction of the Commitments shall be made ratably among the Lenders in accordance with their respective Commitments.

(d) The Borrower may, by delivery of a notice to the Administrative Agent on or prior to the Commitment Termination Date (and the Administrative Agent shall promptly deliver a copy thereof to each Lender), elect (such election, the “Term-Out Option”) to extend the Maturity Date to December 10, 2026; provided that any such extension of the Maturity Date shall be subject to the satisfaction, on and as of the Commitment Termination Date, of the conditions that (i) the representations and warranties of the Borrower set forth in Article III, other than the representations and warranties set forth in Sections 3.06 and 3.07, shall be true and correct in all material respects as of the Commitment Termination Date (or, to the extent any representation or warranty is expressly stated to have been made as of a specific date, as of such specific date), with all references to financial statements as of the end of or for a specific fiscal year or fiscal quarter in the applicable representations and warranties being deemed, after the first delivery of annual or quarterly, as applicable, financial statements pursuant to Section 5.05(a) or 5.05(b), to be references to the most recent annual or quarterly, as applicable, financial statements delivered pursuant to Section 5.05(a) or 5.05(b), (ii) no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, (iii) the Borrower shall have delivered to the Administrative Agent on or prior to the Commitment Termination Date (A) a certified copy of resolutions of the Borrower’s Board of Directors authorizing the extension of the Maturity Date and the continued performance by the Borrower of its obligations hereunder through the extended Maturity Date and (B) a certificate confirming the satisfaction of the conditions in the preceding clauses (i) and (ii), dated the Commitment Termination Date and executed by a Financial Officer of the Borrower and (iv) the Administrative Agent shall have received the Term-Out Fees for the account of each Lender pursuant to Section 2.09(b).

 

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(e) (i) The Borrower may at any time and from time to time, by written notice to the Administrative Agent (which shall promptly deliver a copy to the Lenders) executed by the Borrower and one or more financial institutions (any such financial institution being called an “Increasing Lender”), which may include any Lender, cause new Commitments to be established by the Increasing Lenders (or cause the existing Commitments of the Increasing Lenders to be increased, as the case may be) in an amount for each Increasing Lender (which shall not be less than $5,000,000) set forth in such notice; provided that (A) the aggregate amount by which the Commitments may be increased will be limited to (1) $500,000,000 less (2) the excess of (i) the aggregate amount of the commitments under the Five-Year Credit Agreement over (ii) $1,500,000,000, (B) the sum of the new Commitments and increases in existing Commitments established pursuant to this paragraph on any single date shall not be less than $25,000,000 (unless a lesser amount is the maximum permitted amount of such Commitment Increase under clause (A) above, in which case the amount of the increase shall be such lesser amount) for any such increase, (C) each Increasing Lender, if not already a Lender hereunder, shall be subject to the approval of the Administrative Agent (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), (D) each Increasing Lender, if not already a Lender hereunder, shall become a party to this Agreement by completing and delivering to the Administrative Agent a duly executed accession agreement in a form reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and the Borrower (an “Accession Agreement”) and (E) no Lender shall be required to become an Increasing Lender. New Commitments and increases in Commitments shall become effective on the dates specified in the applicable notices delivered pursuant to this paragraph. Upon the effectiveness of any Accession Agreement to which any Increasing Lender is a party, (x) such Increasing Lender shall thereafter be deemed to be a party to this Agreement and shall be entitled to all rights, benefits and privileges accorded a Lender hereunder and subject to all obligations of a Lender hereunder and (y) Schedule 2.01 shall be deemed to have been amended to reflect the Commitment of such Increasing Lender as provided in such Accession Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no increase in the Commitments (or in the Commitment of any Lender) pursuant to this paragraph shall become effective unless (I) the Administrative Agent shall have received documents with respect to the Borrower consistent with those delivered under Sections 4.01(b) and 4.01(c), giving effect to such increase, and (II) on the effective date of such increase, the conditions set forth in Sections 4.02(a) and 4.02(b) shall be satisfied (without giving effect to the first parenthetical in Section 4.02(a) and with all references in such paragraphs to a Borrowing being deemed to be references to such increase) and the Administrative Agent shall have received a certificate to that effect dated such date and executed by a Financial Officer of the Borrower.

(ii) On the effective date (the “Increase Effective Date”) of any increase in the Commitments pursuant to clause (i) above (a “Commitment Increase”), (A) the aggregate principal amount of the Borrowings outstanding (the “Existing Borrowings”) immediately prior to the Commitment Increase on the Increase Effective Date shall be deemed to be paid, (B) each Increasing Lender that shall have had a Commitment prior to the Commitment Increase shall pay to the Administrative Agent in same day funds in US Dollars an amount equal to the difference between (1) the product of (x) such Lender’s Applicable Percentage (calculated after giving effect to the Commitment Increase) multiplied by (y) the amount of each Subsequent Borrowing (as hereinafter defined) and (2) the product of (x) such Lender’s Applicable Percentage (calculated without giving effect to the Commitment Increase) multiplied by (y) the amount of each Existing Borrowing, (C) each Increasing Lender that shall not have had a Commitment prior to the Commitment Increase shall pay to Administrative Agent in same day funds (in the applicable currencies) an amount equal to the product of (1) such Increasing Lender’s Applicable Percentage (calculated after giving effect to the Commitment Increase) multiplied by (2) the amount of each Subsequent Borrowing, (D) after the Administrative Agent receives the funds specified in clauses (B) and (C) above, the Administrative Agent shall pay to each Lender the portion of such funds that is equal to the difference between (1) the product of (x) such Lender’s Applicable Percentage (calculated without giving effect to the Commitment Increase) multiplied by (y) the amount of each Existing Borrowing and (2) the product of (x) such Lender’s Applicable Percentage (calculated after giving effect to the Commitment Increase) multiplied by (y) the amount of each Subsequent Borrowing, (E) after the effectiveness of the Commitment Increase, the Borrower shall be deemed to have made new Borrowings (the “Subsequent Borrowings”) in amounts equal to the amounts of the Existing Borrowings and of the Types and for the Interest Periods specified in a Borrowing Request delivered to the Administrative Agent in accordance with Section 2.03, (F) each Lender shall be deemed to hold its Applicable Percentage of each Subsequent Borrowing (calculated after giving effect to the Commitment Increase) and (G) the Borrower shall pay each Lender any and all accrued but unpaid interest on its Loans comprising the Existing Borrowings. The deemed payments made pursuant to clause (A) above shall be subject to compensation by the Borrower pursuant to the provisions of Section 2.13 if the Increase Effective Date occurs other than on the last day of the Interest Period relating thereto.

 

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(iii) In connection with any increase in the Commitments under this Section 2.06(e), the Administrative Agent and the Borrower may, without the consent of any Lender, effect such technical amendments to this Agreement and the other Loan Documents as may be necessary or appropriate, in the opinion of the Administrative Agent, to give effect to the provisions of this Section 2.06(e); provided that the Administrative Agent shall post such amendment to the Lenders (which may be posted to the Platform) reasonably promptly after the effectiveness thereof.

Section 2.07 Repayment of Loans; Evidence of Debt. (a) The Borrower hereby unconditionally promises to pay to the Administrative Agent for the account of each Lender the unpaid principal amount of each Loan on the Maturity Date.

(b) 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 Loan made by such Lender, including the amounts of principal and interest payable and paid to such Lender from time to time hereunder.

(c) The Administrative Agent shall maintain accounts in which it shall record (i) the amount of each Loan made hereunder, the Type thereof and the Interest Period, if any, applicable thereto, (ii) the amount of any principal, interest or other amount due and payable or to become due and payable from the Borrower to each Lender hereunder and (iii) the amount of any sum received by the Administrative Agent hereunder for the account of the Lenders and each Lender’s share thereof.

(d) The entries made in the accounts maintained pursuant to paragraph (b) or (c) of this Section shall be prima facie evidence of the existence and amounts of the obligations recorded therein; provided that the failure of any Lender or the Administrative Agent to maintain such accounts or any error therein shall not in any manner affect the obligation of the Borrower to repay the Loans in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

 

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(e) Any Lender may request that Loans made by it be evidenced by a promissory note. In such event, the Borrower shall execute and deliver to such Lender a promissory note payable to such Lender (or, if requested by such Lender, to such Lender and its registered assigns) and in substantially the form attached hereto as Exhibit D. Thereafter, the Loans evidenced by such promissory note and interest thereon shall at all times (including after assignment pursuant to Section 9.04) be represented by one or more promissory notes in such form payable to the payee named therein (or to such payee and its registered assigns).

Section 2.08 Prepayment of Loans. (a) The Borrower shall have the right at any time and from time to time to prepay any Borrowing in whole or in part, subject to prior notice in accordance with paragraph (b) of this Section and payment of any amounts required under Section 2.13.

(b) The Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent by telephone (confirmed by delivery of a Notice of Loan Prepayment) or by delivery of a Notice of Loan Prepayment of any prepayment hereunder (i) in the case of prepayment of a Term Benchmark Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, two Business Days before the date of prepayment or (ii) in the case of prepayment of an ABR Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, on the Business Day of prepayment. Each such notice shall be irrevocable and shall specify the prepayment date, select the Borrowing or Borrowings to be prepaid and specify the principal amount of each Borrowing or portion thereof to be prepaid; provided that any such notice may be conditioned upon the occurrence of one or more events specified therein, in which case such notice may be revoked if such condition is not satisfied by the Borrower delivering notice to the Administrative Agent on or prior to the specified prepayment date. Promptly following receipt of any such notice relating to a Borrowing, the Administrative Agent shall advise the Lenders of the contents thereof. Each partial prepayment of any Borrowing shall be in an amount that would be permitted in the case of an advance of a Borrowing of the same Type as provided in Section 2.02. Each prepayment of a Borrowing shall be applied ratably to the Loans included in the prepaid Borrowing. Prepayments shall be accompanied by accrued interest in the case of Term Benchmark Loans to the extent required by Section 2.10.

Section 2.09 Fees. (a) The Borrower agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent, in US Dollars, for the account of each Lender, a facility fee, which shall accrue at the relevant Facility Fee Rate specified in the definition of Applicable Rate on the actual daily amount of the Commitment (whether used or unused) of such Lender during the period from and including the date of this Agreement to but excluding the date on which its Commitment terminates; provided that, if such Lender continues to have any Revolving Credit Exposure after its Commitment terminates (including as a result of the exercise of the Term-Out Option), then such facility fee shall continue to accrue on the actual daily amount of such Lender’s Revolving Credit Exposure from and including the date on which its Commitment terminates to but excluding the date on which such Lender ceases to have any Revolving Credit Exposure. Facility fees accrued through and including the last day of March, June, September and December of each year shall be payable in arrears on the 15th day following such last day, and accrued facility fees shall also be payable on any date prior to the Maturity Date on which all the Commitments shall have terminated (and, if the Term-Out Option shall have been exercised, on each subsequent date on which any Loans are prepaid or repaid) and on the Maturity Date, commencing on the first such date to occur after the date hereof; provided that any facility fees accruing after the date on which all the Commitments shall have been terminated (unless the Term-Out Option shall have been exercised) shall be payable on demand. All facility fees shall be computed on the basis of a year of 360 days and shall be payable for the actual number of days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the last day).

 

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(b) The Borrower agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent, for the account of each Lender, on the Commitment Termination Date, a term out fee (a “Term-Out Fee”) equal to 1.00% of the aggregate amount of such Lender’s outstanding Loans that are not repaid on such date.

(c) The Borrower agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent, for its own account, fees payable in the amounts and at the times separately agreed upon between the Borrower and the Administrative Agent.

(d) All fees payable hereunder shall be paid on the dates due, in immediately available funds, to the Administrative Agent for its own account or, in the case of facility fees and the Term-Out Fees, for distribution to the Lenders. Fees paid shall not be refundable under any circumstances.

Section 2.10 Interest. (a) The Loans comprising each ABR Borrowing shall bear interest at the Alternate Base Rate plus the Applicable Rate.

(b) The Loans comprising each Term Benchmark Borrowing shall bear interest at the Adjusted Term SOFR for the Interest Period in effect for such Borrowing plus the Applicable Rate.

(c) [reserved].

(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any principal of or interest on any Loan or any fee or other amount payable by the Borrower hereunder is not paid when due, whether at stated maturity, upon acceleration or otherwise, such overdue amount shall bear interest, after as well as before judgment, at a rate per annum equal to (i) in the case of overdue principal of any Loan, 2% plus the rate otherwise applicable to such Loan as provided in the preceding paragraphs of this Section or (ii) in the case of any other amount, 2% plus the rate applicable to ABR Loans as provided in paragraph (a) of this Section.

(e) Accrued interest on each Loan shall be payable in arrears on each Interest Payment Date for such Loan and upon termination of the Commitments; provided that (i) interest accrued pursuant to paragraph (d) of this Section shall be payable on demand, (ii) in the event of any repayment or prepayment of any Loan (other than a prepayment of an ABR Loan prior to the end of the Availability Period), accrued interest on the principal amount repaid or prepaid shall be payable on the date of such repayment or prepayment and (iii) in the event of any conversion of any Term Benchmark Loan prior to the end of the current Interest Period therefor, accrued interest on such Loan shall be payable on the effective date of such conversion.

(f) All interest hereunder shall be computed on the basis of a year of 360 days, except that interest computed by reference to the Alternate Base Rate shall be computed on the basis of a year of 365 days (or 366 days in a leap year), and shall be payable for the actual number of days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the last day). The applicable Alternate Base Rate and Adjusted Term SOFR shall be determined by the Administrative Agent, and such determination shall be conclusive absent manifest error.

(g) With respect to SOFR or Term SOFR, the Administrative Agent will have the right to make, in consultation with the Borrower, Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes from time to time and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein or in any other Loan Document, any amendments implementing such Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes will become effective without any further action or consent of any other party to this Agreement or any other Loan Document; provided that, with respect to any such amendment effected, the Administrative Agent shall post each such amendment implementing such Benchmark Replacement Changes to the Borrower and the Lenders reasonably promptly after such amendment becomes effective.

 

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Section 2.11 Alternate Rate of Interest; Illegality. (a) If in connection with any request for a Term Benchmark Loan or a conversion to or continuation thereof, as applicable, (i) the Administrative Agent determines (which determination shall be conclusive absent manifest error) that (A) no Successor Rate has been determined in accordance with Section 2.11(b), and the circumstances under clause (i) of Section 2.11(b) or the Scheduled Unavailability Date has occurred or (B) adequate and reasonable means do not otherwise exist for determining Term SOFR for any requested Interest Period with respect to a proposed Term Benchmark Loan or in connection with an existing or proposed ABR Loan or (ii) the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders determine for any reason that Term SOFR for any requested Interest Period with respect to a proposed Term Benchmark Loan does not adequately and fairly reflect the cost to such Lenders of funding such Loan, the Administrative Agent will promptly so notify the Borrower and each Lender. Thereafter, (x) the obligation of the Lenders to make or maintain Term Benchmark Loans or to convert ABR Loans to Term Benchmark Loans shall be suspended (to the extent of the affected Term Benchmark Loans or Interest Periods), and (y) in the event of a determination described in the preceding sentence with respect to the Adjusted Term SOFR component of ABR, the utilization of the Adjusted Term SOFR component in determining ABR shall be suspended, in each case until the Administrative Agent (or, in the case of a determination by the Required Lenders described in clause (ii) of this Section 2.11(a), until the Administrative Agent upon instruction of the Required Lenders) revokes such notice. Upon receipt of such notice, (i) the Borrower may revoke any pending request for a Borrowing of, conversion to or continuation of Term Benchmark Loans (to the extent of the affected Term Benchmark Loans or Interest Periods) or, failing that, will be deemed to have converted such request into a request for an ABR Borrowing in the amount specified therein, and (ii) any outstanding Term Benchmark Loans shall be deemed to have been converted to ABR Loans immediately at the end of their respective applicable Interest Period.

(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement or any other Loan Documents, if the Administrative Agent determines (which determination shall be conclusive absent manifest error), or the Borrower or Required Lenders notify the Administrative Agent (with, in the case of the Required Lenders, a copy to the Borrower) that the Borrower or Required Lenders (as applicable) have determined, that:

(i) adequate and reasonable means do not exist for ascertaining one month and three month Interest Periods of Term SOFR, including, without limitation, because the Term SOFR Screen Rate is not available or published on a current basis and such circumstances are unlikely to be temporary; or

(ii) CME or any successor administrator of the Term SOFR Reference Rate or a Governmental Authority having jurisdiction over the Administrative Agent or such administrator with respect to its publication of Term SOFR, in each case acting in such capacity, has made a public statement identifying a specific date after which one month and three month Interest Periods of Term SOFR or the Term SOFR Reference Rate shall or will no longer be made available, or permitted to be used for determining the interest rate of US Dollar denominated syndicated loans, or shall or will otherwise cease, provided that, at the time of such statement, there is no successor administrator that is satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, that will continue to provide such Interest Periods of Term SOFR after such specific date (the latest date on which one month and three month Interest Periods of Term SOFR or the Term SOFR Reference Rate are no longer available permanently or indefinitely, the “Scheduled Unavailability Date”);

 

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then, on a date and time determined by the Administrative Agent (any such date, the “Term SOFR Replacement Date”), which date shall be at the end of an Interest Period or on the relevant interest payment date, as applicable, for interest calculated and, solely with respect to clause (ii) above, no later than the Scheduled Unavailability Date, Term SOFR will be replaced hereunder and under any Loan Document with Daily Simple SOFR plus the SOFR Adjustment for any payment period for interest calculated that can be determined by the Administrative Agent, in each case, without any amendment to, or further action or consent of any other party to, this Agreement or any other Loan Document (the “Successor Rate”).

If the Successor Rate is Daily Simple SOFR plus the SOFR Adjustment, all interest payments will be payable on a quarterly basis.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, (i) if the Administrative Agent determines that Daily Simple SOFR is not available on or prior to the Term SOFR Replacement Date, or (ii) if the events or circumstances of the type described in Section 2.11(b)(i) or (ii) have occurred with respect to the Successor Rate then in effect, then in each case, the Administrative Agent and the Borrower may amend this Agreement solely for the purpose of replacing Term SOFR or any then current Successor Rate in accordance with this Section 2.11 at the end of any Interest Period, relevant interest payment date or payment period for interest calculated, as applicable, with an alternate benchmark rate giving due consideration to any evolving or then existing convention for similar US Dollar denominated credit facilities syndicated and agented in the United States of America for such alternative benchmark and, in each case, including any mathematical or other adjustments to such benchmark giving due consideration to any evolving or then existing convention for similar US Dollar denominated credit facilities syndicated and agented in the United States of America for such benchmark. For the avoidance of doubt, any such proposed rate and adjustments shall constitute a “Successor Rate”. Any such amendment shall become effective at 5:00 p.m. on the fifth Business Day after the Administrative Agent shall have posted such proposed amendment to all Lenders and the Borrower unless, prior to such time, Lenders comprising the Required Lenders have delivered to the Administrative Agent written notice that such Required Lenders object to such amendment.

The Administrative Agent will promptly (in one or more notices) notify the Borrower and each Lender of the implementation of any Successor Rate.

Any Successor Rate shall be applied in a manner consistent with market practice; provided that to the extent such market practice is not administratively feasible for the Administrative Agent, such Successor Rate shall be applied in a manner as otherwise reasonably determined by the Administrative Agent.

Notwithstanding anything else herein, if at any time any Successor Rate as so determined would otherwise be less than zero, the Successor Rate will be deemed to be zero for the purposes of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents.

In connection with the implementation of a Successor Rate, the Administrative Agent will have the right, in consultation with the Borrower, to make Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes from time to time and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein or in any other Loan Document, any amendments implementing such Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes will become effective without any further action or consent of any other party to this Agreement; provided that, with respect to any such amendment effected, the Administrative Agent shall post each such amendment implementing such Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes to the Borrower and the Lenders reasonably promptly after such amendment becomes effective.

 

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Section 2.12 Increased Costs. (a) If any Change in Law shall:

(i) impose, modify or deem applicable any reserve, special deposit, compulsory loan, insurance charge or similar requirement against assets of, deposits with or for the account of or credit extended by any Lender;

(ii) subject the Administrative Agent or any Lender to any Taxes (other than Taxes on payments under this Agreement and Other Taxes, which shall be governed by Section 2.14, and Excluded Taxes) on its loans, loan principal, commitments or other obligations, or its deposits, reserves, other liabilities or capital attributable thereto; or

(iii) impose on any Lender or any applicable offshore interbank market any other condition, cost or expense affecting this Agreement or Loans made by such Lender;

and the result of any of the foregoing shall be to increase the cost to such Lender of making, converting to, continuing or maintaining any Loan (or of maintaining its obligation to make any such Loan) or to reduce the amount of any sum received or receivable by such Lender or the Administrative Agent hereunder (whether of principal, interest or otherwise), then the Borrower will pay to such Lender or the Administrative Agent, as the case may be, such additional amount or amounts as will compensate such Lender or the Administrative Agent, as the case may be, on an after-tax basis for such additional costs incurred or reduction suffered.

(b) If any Lender determines that any Change in Law regarding such Lender’s or its holding company’s capital or liquidity requirements has or would have the effect of reducing the rate of return on such Lender’s capital or on the capital of such Lender’s holding company as a consequence of this Agreement or the Loans made by such Lender to a level below that which such Lender or such Lender’s holding company could have achieved but for such Change in Law (taking into consideration such Lender’s policies and the policies of such Lender’s holding company with respect to capital adequacy and liquidity), then from time to time the Borrower will pay to such Lender such additional amount or amounts as will compensate such Lender or such Lender’s holding company for any such reduction suffered.

(c) A certificate of a Lender setting forth the amount or amounts necessary to compensate such Lender or its holding company, as the case may be, as specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section, together with supporting documentation or computations, shall be delivered to the Borrower and shall be conclusive absent manifest error. The Borrower shall pay such Lender the amount shown as due on any such certificate within 10 Business Days after receipt thereof.

(d) Failure or delay on the part of any Lender to demand compensation pursuant to this Section shall not constitute a waiver of such Lender’s right to demand such compensation; provided that the Borrower shall not be required to compensate a Lender pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section for any increased costs or reductions incurred more than 180 days prior to the date that such Lender notifies the Borrower of the Change in Law giving rise to such increased costs or reductions and of such Lender’s intention to claim compensation therefor; provided further that, if the Change in Law giving rise to such increased costs or reductions is retroactive, then the 180-day period referred to above shall be extended to include the period of retroactive effect thereof.

 

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Section 2.13 Break Funding Payments. In the event of (a) the payment of any principal of any Term Benchmark Loan other than on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto (including as a result of an Event of Default), (b) the conversion of any Term Benchmark Loan other than on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto, (c) the failure to borrow, convert, continue or prepay any Loan on the date specified in any notice delivered pursuant hereto (regardless of whether such notice may be revoked under Section 2.08(b) or 2.11(b) and is revoked in accordance therewith) or (d) the assignment of any Term Benchmark Loan other than on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto as a result of a request by the Borrower pursuant to Section 2.16, then, in any such event, the Borrower shall compensate each Lender for the actual loss, cost and expense (but not lost profit) attributable to such event. A certificate of any Lender setting forth any amount or amounts that such Lender is entitled to receive pursuant to this Section, together with supporting documentation or computations, shall be delivered to the Borrower and shall be conclusive absent manifest error. The Borrower shall pay such Lender the amount shown as due on any such certificate within 10 Business Days after receipt thereof.

Section 2.14 Taxes. (a) Each payment by the Borrower under any Loan Document shall be made without withholding for any Taxes, unless such withholding is required by any law. If the Borrower or the Administrative Agent determines, in its sole discretion exercised in good faith, that it is so required to withhold Taxes, then the Borrower or the Administrative Agent may so withhold and shall timely pay the full amount of withheld Taxes to the relevant Governmental Authority in accordance with applicable law. If such Taxes are Indemnified Taxes, then the amount payable by the Borrower shall be increased as necessary so that, net of such withholding (including such withholding applicable to additional amounts payable under this Section), the Administrative Agent or each Lender (as the case may be) receives the amount it would have received had no such withholding been made.

(b) In addition, the Borrower shall pay to the relevant Governmental Authority in accordance with applicable law, or at the option of the Administrative Agent timely reimburse it for the payment of, any Other Taxes.

(c) The Borrower shall indemnify the Administrative Agent and each Lender, within 10 Business Days after written demand therefor, for the full amount of any Indemnified Taxes payable or paid by the Administrative Agent or such Lender, as the case may be, on or with respect to any payment by or on account of any obligation of the Borrower hereunder or under any other Loan Document (including Indemnified Taxes imposed or asserted on or attributable to amounts payable under this Section) and any penalties, interest and reasonable expenses arising therefrom or with respect thereto, whether or not such Indemnified Taxes were correctly or legally imposed or asserted by the relevant Governmental Authority. A certificate setting forth in reasonable detail the amount and nature of such payment or liability delivered to the Borrower by a Lender or by the Administrative Agent on its own behalf or on behalf of a Lender shall be conclusive absent manifest error.

(d) As soon as practicable after any payment of Indemnified Taxes by the Borrower to a Governmental Authority, the Borrower shall deliver to the Administrative Agent the original or a certified copy of a receipt issued by such Governmental Authority evidencing such payment, a copy of the return reporting such payment or other evidence of such payment reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.

(e) Any Lender that is entitled to an exemption from or reduction of withholding Tax with respect to payments under this Agreement shall deliver to the Borrower (with a copy to the Administrative Agent), at the time or times prescribed by applicable law, such properly completed and executed documentation prescribed by applicable law as reasonably requested by the Borrower to permit such payments to be made without withholding or at a reduced rate. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding sentence, the completion, execution and submission of such documentation (other than such documentation set forth in Section 2.14(e)(i)(A), 2.14(e)(i)(B), 2.14(e)(ii) or 2.14(e)(iii)) shall not be required if in the Lender’s reasonable judgment such completion, execution or submission would subject such Lender to any material unreimbursed cost or expense or would materially prejudice the legal or commercial position of such Lender. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing:

 

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(i) Any Foreign Lender that is entitled to an exemption from, or reduction in, US Federal withholding tax shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent two executed copies of (A) either United States Internal Revenue Service Form W-8BEN, Form W-8BEN-E, Form W-8ECI or Form W-8IMY (together with any applicable underlying forms), or any subsequent versions thereof or successors thereto, (B) in the case of a Foreign Lender claiming exemption from or reduction in US Federal withholding tax under Section 871(h) or 881(c) of the Code with respect to payments of “portfolio interest,” the applicable Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E or any subsequent versions thereof or successors thereto and a certificate representing that such Foreign Lender (1) is not a bank for purposes of Section 881(c)(3)(A) of the Code, (2) is not a “10 percent shareholder” (within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(B) of the Code) of the Borrower, (3) is not a “controlled foreign corporation” (within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(C) of the Code) and (4) is not conducting a trade or business in the United States of America with which the relevant interest payments are effectively connected or (C) any other applicable document prescribed by the Internal Revenue Service certifying as to the entitlement of such Foreign Lender to such exemption, or reduced rate, from United States withholding tax with respect to all payments to be made to such Foreign Lender under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, in all cases, properly completed and duly executed by such Foreign Lender claiming, as applicable, complete exemption from or reduced rate of, US Federal withholding tax on payments by the Borrower under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents. Such forms shall be delivered by each Foreign Lender on or before the date it becomes a party to this Agreement (or, in the case of a transferee that is a participation holder, on or before the date such participation holder becomes a transferee hereunder) and on or before the date, if any, such Foreign Lender changes its applicable lending office by designating a different lending office. In addition, each Foreign Lender shall deliver such forms promptly upon the obsolescence or invalidity of any form previously delivered by such Foreign Lender. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section 2.14(e), a Lender shall not be required to deliver any form pursuant to this Section 2.14(e) that such Lender is not legally able to deliver.

(ii) Each Lender that is a “United States person” as defined in Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code (a “US Lender”) (A) on or prior to the date such US Lender becomes a US Lender hereunder and (B) from time to time if requested by the Borrower, shall provide the Administrative Agent and the Borrower with two accurate and duly executed copies of United States Internal Revenue Service Form W-9 certifying as to such Lender’s entitlement to full exemption from United States backup withholding tax, or any successor forms.

(iii) If a payment made to a Lender under any Loan Document would be subject to US 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 Code, as applicable), such Lender shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent, at the time or times prescribed by law and at such time or times as shall be reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, such documentation prescribed by applicable law (including as prescribed by Section 1471(b)(3)(C)(i) of the Code) and such additional documentation reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent as may be necessary for the

 

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Borrower or the Administrative Agent, as the case may be, to comply with its obligations under FATCA, to determine that such Lender has or has not complied with such Lender’s obligations under FATCA and, as necessary, to determine the amount to deduct and withhold from such payment. Solely for purposes of this Section 2.14(e)(iii), “FATCA” shall include any amendments made to FATCA after the date of this Agreement.

(iv) If the Administrative Agent or a Lender determines, in its sole discretion, that it has received a refund of any Taxes or Other Taxes as to which it has been indemnified by the Borrower or with respect to which the Borrower has paid additional amounts pursuant to this Section 2.14, it shall pay over such refund to the Borrower (but only to the extent of indemnity payments made, or additional amounts paid, by the Borrower under this Section 2.14 with respect to the Taxes or Other Taxes giving rise to such refund), net of all out-of-pocket expenses (including Taxes) of the Administrative Agent or such Lender and without interest (other than any interest paid by the relevant Governmental Authority with respect to such refund); provided that the Borrower, upon the request of the Administrative Agent or such Lender, agrees to repay the amount paid over to the Borrower (plus any penalties, interest or other charges imposed by the relevant Governmental Authority) to the Administrative Agent or such Lender in the event the Administrative Agent or such Lender is required to repay such refund to such Governmental Authority. This Section shall not be construed to require the Administrative Agent or any Lender to make available its tax returns (or any other information relating to its Taxes which it deems confidential) to the Borrower or any other Person. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this paragraph (f), in no event will the Administrative Agent or any Lender be required to pay any amount to the Borrower pursuant to this paragraph (f) the payment of which would place the Administrative Agent or such Lender in a less favorable net after-Tax position than the Administrative Agent or such Lender would have been in if the indemnification payments or additional amounts giving rise to such refund had never been paid.

(v) Each Lender shall severally indemnify the Administrative Agent for any Taxes (but, in the case of any Indemnified Taxes, only to the extent that the Borrower has not already indemnified the Administrative Agent for such Indemnified Taxes and without limiting the obligation of the Borrower to do so) attributable to such Lender that are paid or payable by the Administrative Agent in connection with any Loan Document and any reasonable expenses arising therefrom or with respect thereto, whether or not such Taxes were correctly or legally imposed or asserted by the relevant Governmental Authority. The indemnity under this Section 2.14(g) shall be paid within 10 Business Days after the Administrative Agent delivers to the applicable Lender a certificate stating the amount of Taxes so paid or payable by the Administrative Agent. Such certificate shall be conclusive of the amount so paid or payable absent manifest error.

Section 2.15 Payments Generally; Pro Rata Treatment; Sharing of Setoffs. (a) The Borrower shall make each payment required to be made by it hereunder or under any other Loan Document (whether of principal, interest or fees, or of amounts payable under Section 2.12, 2.13 or 2.14, or otherwise) prior to the time expressly required hereunder or under such other Loan Document for such payment (or, if no such time is expressly required, then, prior to 2:00 p.m., New York City time), on the date when due, in immediately available funds, without setoff or counterclaim. Any amounts received after such time on any date may, in the discretion of the Administrative Agent, be deemed to have been received on the next succeeding Business Day for purposes of calculating interest thereon. All such payments shall be made to the Administrative Agent’s Office, except that payments pursuant to Sections 2.12, 2.13, 2.14 and 9.03 shall be made directly to the Persons entitled thereto. The Administrative Agent shall distribute any such payments received by it for the account of any other Person to the appropriate recipient promptly following receipt thereof. If any payment under any Loan Document shall be due on a day that is not a Business Day, the date for such payment (other than as described in the definition of Interest Period) shall be extended to the next succeeding Business Day and, in the case of any payment accruing interest, interest thereon shall be payable for the period of such extension. All payments hereunder and under each other Loan Document shall be made in US Dollars. Any payment required to be made by the Administrative Agent hereunder shall be deemed to have been made by the time required if the Administrative Agent shall, at or before such time, have taken the necessary steps to make such payment in accordance with the regulations or operating procedures of the clearing or settlement system used by the Administrative Agent to make such payment.

 

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(b) If at any time insufficient funds are received by and available to the Administrative Agent from the Borrower to pay fully all amounts of principal, interest and fees then due from the Borrower hereunder, such funds shall be applied (i) first, towards payment of interest and fees then due from the Borrower hereunder, ratably among the parties entitled thereto in accordance with the amounts of interest and fees then due to such parties and (ii) second, towards payment of principal of the Loans then due from the Borrower hereunder, ratably among the parties entitled thereto in accordance with the amounts of principal then due to such parties.

(c) If any Lender shall, by exercising any right of setoff or counterclaim or otherwise, obtain payment in respect of any principal of or interest on any of its Loans resulting in such Lender receiving payment of a greater proportion of the aggregate amount of its Loans and accrued interest thereon than the proportion received by any other Lender, then the Lender receiving such greater proportion shall purchase (for cash at face value) participations in the Loans of other Lenders to the extent necessary so that the benefit of all such payments shall be shared by the Lenders ratably in accordance with the aggregate amount of principal of and accrued interest on their respective Loans; provided that (i) if any such participations are purchased and all or any portion of the payment giving rise thereto is recovered, such participations shall be rescinded and the purchase price restored to the extent of such recovery, without interest and (ii) the provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to apply to any payment made by the Borrower pursuant to and in accordance with the express terms of this Agreement or any other Loan Document (for the avoidance of doubt, in each case, as amended from time to time), or any payment obtained by a Lender as consideration for the assignment of or sale of a participation in any of its Loans to any assignee or participant, other than to the Borrower or any Subsidiary or Affiliate thereof (as to which the provisions of this paragraph shall apply). The Borrower consents to the foregoing and agrees, to the extent it may effectively do so under applicable law, that any Lender acquiring a participation pursuant to the foregoing arrangements may exercise against the Borrower rights of setoff and counterclaim with respect to such participation as fully as if such Lender were a direct creditor of the Borrower in the amount of such participation.

(d) Unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice from the Borrower prior to the date on which any payment is due to the Administrative Agent for the account of the Lenders hereunder that the Borrower will not make such payment, the Administrative Agent may assume that the Borrower has made such payment on such date in accordance herewith and may, in reliance upon such assumption, distribute to the Lenders the amount due. With respect to any payment that the Administrative Agent makes for the account of the Lenders hereunder as to which the Administrative Agent determines (which determination shall be conclusive absent manifest error) that any of the following applies (such payment referred to as the “Rescindable Amount”): (1) the Borrower has not in fact made such payment; (2) the Administrative Agent has made a payment in excess of the amount so paid by the Borrower (whether or not then owed); or (3) the Administrative Agent has for any reason otherwise erroneously made such payment, then each of the Lenders severally agrees to repay to the Administrative Agent forthwith on demand the Rescindable Amount so distributed to such Lender, in immediately available funds, with interest thereon, for each day from and including the date such amount is distributed to it to but excluding the date of payment to the Administrative Agent, at the greater of the Federal Funds Effective Rate and a rate determined by the Administrative Agent in accordance with banking industry rules on interbank compensation.

 

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Section 2.16 Mitigation Obligations; Replacement of Lenders. (a) If any Lender requests compensation under Section 2.12, or if the Borrower is required to pay any additional amount to any Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to Section 2.14, then such Lender shall use reasonable efforts to designate a different lending office for funding or booking its Loans hereunder or to assign its rights and obligations hereunder to another of its offices, branches or Affiliates if, in the reasonable judgment of such Lender, such designation or assignment (i) would eliminate or reduce amounts payable pursuant to Section 2.12 or 2.14, as the case may be, in the future and (ii) would not subject such Lender to any unreimbursed cost or expense and would not otherwise be disadvantageous to such Lender. The Borrower hereby agrees to pay all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by any Lender in connection with any such designation or assignment.

(b) If any Lender requests compensation under Section 2.12, or if the Borrower is required to pay any additional amount to any Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to Section 2.14, or if any Lender becomes a Defaulting Lender, then the Borrower may, at its sole expense and effort, upon notice to such Lender and the Administrative Agent, require such Lender to assign and delegate, without recourse (in accordance with and subject to the restrictions contained in Section 9.04), all its interests, rights (other than its existing rights to payment pursuant to Section 2.12 or 2.14) and obligations under this Agreement to an Eligible Assignee that shall assume such obligations (which assignee may be another Lender, if such Lender accepts such assignment); provided that (i) the Borrower shall have received the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent, which consent shall not unreasonably be withheld, (ii) such Lender shall have received payment of an amount equal to the outstanding principal of its Loans, accrued interest thereon, accrued fees and all other amounts payable to it hereunder, 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 2.12 or payments required to be made pursuant to Section 2.14, such assignment will result in a material reduction in such compensation, payments or additional interest and (iv) such assignment does not conflict with applicable law. Each party hereto agrees that (A) an assignment and delegation required pursuant to this paragraph may be effected pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption executed by the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the assignee (or, to the extent applicable, an agreement incorporating an Assignment and Assumption by reference pursuant to an electronic platform as to which the Administrative Agent and such parties are participants) and (B) the Lender required to make such assignment and delegation need not be a party thereto in order for such assignment to be effective and shall be deemed to have consented to and be bound by the terms thereof; provided that, following the effectiveness of any such assignment, the other parties to such assignment agree to execute and deliver such documents necessary to evidence such assignment as may be reasonably requested by such Lender, provided, however, that such documents shall be without recourse to or warranty by the parties thereto. A Lender shall not be required to make any such assignment or delegation if, prior thereto, as a result of a waiver by such Lender or otherwise, the circumstances entitling the Borrower to require such assignment and delegation cease to apply.

Section 2.17 Defaulting Lenders. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, if any Lender becomes a Defaulting Lender, then the following provisions shall apply for so long as such Lender is a Defaulting Lender:

 

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(a) fees shall cease to accrue on the unfunded portion of the Commitment of such Defaulting Lender pursuant to Section 2.09(a);

(b) any payment of principal, interest, fees or other amounts received by the Administrative Agent for the account of such Defaulting Lender (whether voluntary or mandatory, at maturity or otherwise) or received by the Administrative Agent from a Defaulting Lender pursuant to Section 9.08 shall be applied at such time or times as may be determined by the Administrative Agent as follows: first, to the payment of any amounts owing by such Defaulting Lender to the Administrative Agent hereunder; second, as the Borrower may request (so long as no Default or Event of Default exists), to the funding of any Loan in respect of which such Defaulting Lender has failed to fund its portion thereof as required by this Agreement, as determined by the Administrative Agent; third, if so determined by the Administrative Agent and the Borrower, to be held in a deposit account and released pro rata in order to satisfy such Defaulting Lender’s potential future funding obligations with respect to Loans under this Agreement; fourth, to the payment of any amounts owing to the Lenders as a result of any judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction obtained by any Lender or under any other Loan Document; fifth, so long as no Default or Event of 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 or under any other Loan Document; and sixth, to such Defaulting Lender or as otherwise directed by a court of competent jurisdiction; provided that if (x) such payment is a payment of the principal amount of any Loans in respect of which such Defaulting Lender has not fully funded its appropriate share, and (y) such Loans were made at a time when the conditions set forth in Section 4.02 were satisfied or waived, such payment shall be applied solely to pay the Loans of all Non-Defaulting Lenders on a pro rata basis prior to being applied to the payment of any Loans of such Defaulting Lender until such time as all Loans are held by the Lenders pro rata in accordance with their respective Commitments; it being agreed that 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 clause (b) shall be deemed paid to and redirected by such Defaulting Lender, and each Lender irrevocably consents hereto; and

(c) the Commitments and Revolving Credit Exposure of such Defaulting Lender shall not be included in determining whether the Required Lenders or any other requisite Lenders have taken or may take any action hereunder (including any consent to any amendment, waiver or other modification pursuant to Section 9.02); provided that any amendment, waiver or other modification requiring the consent of all Lenders or all Lenders affected thereby shall require, except as otherwise provided in Section 9.02, the consent of such Defaulting Lender in accordance with the terms hereof.

In the event that the Administrative Agent and the Borrower agree that a Defaulting Lender has adequately remedied all matters that caused such Lender to be a Defaulting Lender, then on such date such Lender shall purchase at par such of the Loans of the other Lenders as the Administrative Agent shall determine may be necessary in order for the Lenders to hold such Loans in accordance with their Applicable Percentages, whereupon such Lender shall cease to be a Defaulting Lender (but shall not be entitled to receive any fees ceasing to accrue during the period when it was a Defaulting Lender as set forth in this Section and all amendments, waivers or other modifications effected without its consent in accordance with the provisions of Section 9.02(b) and this Section during such period shall be binding on it).

 

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No Commitment of any Lender shall be increased or otherwise affected and, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Section, performance by the Borrower of its obligations hereunder and under the other Loan Documents shall not be excused or otherwise modified, as a result of the operation of this Section. The rights and remedies against a Defaulting Lender under this Section are in addition to other rights and remedies that the Borrower, the Administrative Agent or any non-Defaulting Lender may have against such Defaulting Lender (and, for the avoidance of doubt, each non-Defaulting Lender shall have a claim against any Defaulting Lender for any losses it may suffer as a result of the operation of this Section).

ARTICLE III

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

The Borrower represents and warrants to the Lenders that:

Section 3.01 Organization and Qualification. The Borrower is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, has full and adequate corporate power to carry on its business as now conducted, and is duly licensed or qualified and, to the extent relevant, in good standing in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business transacted by it or the nature of the property owned or leased by it makes such licensing or qualification necessary, except where such failure to be so licensed or qualified and in good standing would not have a Material Adverse Effect.

Section 3.02 Subsidiaries. Each Significant Subsidiary is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing (to the extent such concept is relevant to such Person in its jurisdiction of organization) under the laws of the jurisdiction of its organization, has the requisite power to carry on its business as now conducted, and is duly licensed or qualified and in good standing in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business transacted by it or the nature of the property owned or leased by it makes such licensing or qualification necessary, except where such failure would not have a Material Adverse Effect. All the issued and outstanding Equity Interests in each Significant Subsidiary are validly issued and outstanding and fully paid and nonassessable and all such Equity Interests owned by the Borrower or a Subsidiary are owned, beneficially and of record, by the Borrower or such Subsidiary, free of any Lien other than Permitted Encumbrances.

Section 3.03 Corporate Authority and Validity of Obligations. The Borrower has the requisite right and authority to consummate the Transactions, to enter into this Agreement and each other Loan Document, to make the borrowings herein provided for and to perform all of its obligations hereunder and under each other Loan Document. Each of the Transactions and the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action by the Borrower, and the Loan Documents constitute valid and binding obligations of the Borrower, enforceable in accordance with their terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other laws affecting creditors’ rights generally and subject to general principles of equity, regardless of whether considered in a proceeding in equity or at law. None of the Transactions, this Agreement, the other Loan Documents or the performance or observance by the Borrower or any Subsidiary of its obligations under the Loan Documents will contravene any provision of law or judgment or any charter or by-law provision of the Borrower or, to the extent such contravention would reasonably be expected to result in any Material Adverse Effect, any material covenant, indenture or agreement of or affecting the Borrower or a substantial portion of any of its properties.

Section 3.04 Margin Stock. None of the Borrower or its Subsidiaries is engaged principally, or as one of its primary activities, in the business of extending credit for the purpose of purchasing or carrying Margin Stock, and none of the Borrower or its Subsidiaries will use the proceeds of any Loan in a manner that violates any provision of Regulation U or X of the Board.

 

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Section 3.05 Financial Reports. The consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries and the related consolidated statements of income, equity and cash flows of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries and accompanying notes thereto as at December 31, 2023, and for the fiscal year then ended, which financial statements are accompanied by the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and the consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries and the related consolidated statements of income, equity and cash flows of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries as at September 30, 2024, and for the fiscal quarter and portion of the fiscal year then ended, in each case heretofore filed with the SEC, present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries as at such dates and their consolidated results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended in conformity with GAAP, subject, in the case of the quarterly financial statements, to normal year-end audit adjustments and the absence of footnotes.

Section 3.06 No Material Adverse Change. Since September 30, 2024, there has not occurred or become known any condition or change that has affected or would reasonably be expected to affect materially and adversely the business, assets, liabilities or financial condition of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

Section 3.07 Litigation. There is no litigation or governmental proceeding pending, or to the knowledge of the Borrower threatened, against the Borrower or any Subsidiary (a) as to which there is a reasonable possibility of an adverse determination and that, if adversely determined, would reasonably be expected to impair the validity or enforceability of, or materially impair the ability of the Borrower to perform its obligations under, this Agreement or any other Loan Document or (b) except as disclosed on Schedule 3.07 or in the Borrower’s Form 10-Ks and 10-Qs filed with the SEC covering periods through September 30, 2024, would reasonably be expected to result in any Material Adverse Effect.

Section 3.08 Tax Returns. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.08, the Borrower has filed consolidated United States Federal income tax returns for all taxable years ended on or before December 31, 2023, and any original or material additional assessments for any such year have been paid or the applicable statute of limitations therefor has expired. There are no assessments pending for the consolidated United States Federal income tax returns of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries for any taxable year ended after December 31, 2023, nor to the knowledge of the Borrower is any such assessment threatened, other than those provided for by adequate reserves under GAAP and those that would not reasonably be expected to result in any Material Adverse Effect.

Section 3.09 Approvals. No authorization, consent, license, exemption, filing or registration with any court or governmental department, agency or instrumentality, or any other Person, is necessary to the consummation of the Transactions or the valid execution, delivery or performance by the Borrower of this Agreement or any other Loan Document except for those obtained on or before the Effective Date or those the failure to obtain which would not individually or in the aggregate reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

Section 3.10 ERISA. The Borrower and the Subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects with ERISA to the extent applicable to them and have received no notice to the contrary from the PBGC. No condition exists or event or transaction has occurred under or relating to any Plan which could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

Section 3.11 Environmental Matters. Except as set forth on Schedule 3.11, and except with respect to any other matters that, individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, none of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries (a) has failed to comply with any Environmental Laws or to obtain, maintain or comply with any permit, license or other approval required under any Environmental Laws, (b) has become subject to any Environmental Liability, (c) has received notice of any claim with respect to any Environmental Laws or (d) knows of any basis for any Environmental Liability.

 

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Section 3.12 Properties. (a) Each of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries has good title to, or valid leasehold interests in, all its real and personal property material to its business, subject only to Liens permitted by Section 6.02 and except for defects in title that could not individually or in the aggregate reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(b) Each of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries owns, or is licensed to use, all trademarks, tradenames, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property material to its business, and the use thereof by them does not infringe upon the rights of any other Person, except for any such defects in ownership or license rights or other infringements that, individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

Section 3.13 Compliance with Laws. (a) Each of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries is in compliance with all laws, regulations and orders of the Food and Drug Administration and each other Governmental Authority applicable to it or its property, except where the failure to do so, individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(b) The Borrower has implemented and maintains in effect policies and procedures designed to provide for compliance by the Borrower, its Subsidiaries and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents with Anti-Corruption Laws and applicable Sanctions, and the Borrower, its Subsidiaries and their respective officers and employees and, to the knowledge of the Borrower, its directors and agents are in compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws and applicable Sanctions. None of (i) the Borrower, any Subsidiary or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, any of their respective directors, officers or employees or (ii) to the knowledge of the Borrower, any agent of the Borrower or any Subsidiary that will act in any capacity in connection with or benefit from the credit facility established hereby, is a Sanctioned Person. Neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries will directly or, to its knowledge, indirectly use the proceeds of any Borrowing in a violation by any party hereto of Anti-Corruption Laws or applicable Sanctions.

Section 3.14 Investment Company Status. The Borrower is not an “investment company” as defined in, or subject to regulation under, the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Section 3.15 Disclosure. Neither the Information Memorandum nor any of the other reports, financial statements, certificates or other information furnished by or on behalf of the Borrower to the Administrative Agent or any Lender in connection with the negotiation of this Agreement or delivered hereunder (as modified or supplemented by other information so furnished) contains any material misstatement of fact or omits to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that, with respect to projected financial information, the Borrower represents only that such information was prepared in good faith based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time (it being understood that such projections are subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the Borrower’s control, and that no assurance can be given that such projections will be realized).

 

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ARTICLE IV

CONDITIONS

Section 4.01 Effective Date. The obligations of the Lenders to make Loans hereunder shall not become effective until the date on which each of the following conditions is satisfied (or waived in accordance with Section 9.02):

(a) The Administrative Agent (or its counsel) shall have received from each party hereto a counterpart of this Agreement signed on behalf of such party (which, subject to Section 9.06(b), may include any Electronic Signatures transmitted by facsimile, emailed .pdf or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page).

(b) The Administrative Agent shall have received a favorable written opinion (addressed to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders and dated the Effective Date) of each of (i) Todd Haigh, Senior Vice President, Secretary and Chief Legal Officer, and (ii) Kirkland & Ellis LLP, counsel for the Borrower. The Borrower hereby requests such counsel to deliver such opinion.

(c) The Administrative Agent shall have received such documents and certificates as the Administrative Agent or its counsel may reasonably request relating to the organization, existence and good standing of the Borrower and the authorization of the Transactions, all in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and its counsel.

(d) The Administrative Agent shall have received a certificate, dated the Effective Date and signed by the President, a Vice President or a Financial Officer of the Borrower, confirming satisfaction of the conditions set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of Section 4.02.

(e) The Administrative Agent shall have received all fees and other amounts due and payable on or prior to the Effective Date, including, to the extent invoiced, reimbursement or payment of all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses required to be reimbursed or paid on or prior to the Effective Date by the Borrower hereunder.

(f) On the Effective Date, the commitments under the Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement shall have been terminated, the loans and other amounts outstanding or accrued thereunder, whether or not at the time due and payable, shall have been paid in full.

(g) The Administrative Agent and the Lenders shall have received all documentation and other information relating to the Borrower reasonably requested by them for purposes of ensuring compliance with applicable “know your customer” and anti-money laundering rules and regulations, including the USA PATRIOT Act and the Beneficial Ownership Regulation.

The Administrative Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders of the Effective Date, and such notice shall be conclusive and binding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the obligations of the Lenders to make Loans hereunder shall not become effective unless each of the foregoing conditions is satisfied (or waived pursuant to Section 9.02) at or prior to 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on December 11, 2024 (and, in the event such conditions are not so satisfied or waived, the Commitments shall terminate at such time).

Section 4.02 Each Borrowing. The obligation of each Lender to make any Loan hereunder is subject to the satisfaction (or waiver in accordance with Section 9.02) of the following conditions:

(a) The representations and warranties (other than those set forth in Sections 3.06 and 3.07 in the case of Borrowings made after the Effective Date) of the Borrower set forth in the Loan Documents shall be true and correct in all material respects (or, in the case of any representation or warranty set forth in the Loan Documents already qualified as to materiality, in all respects) on and as of the date of such Borrowing, with all references to financial statements as of the end of or for a specific fiscal year or fiscal quarter in the applicable representations and warranties being deemed, after the first delivery of annual or quarterly, as applicable, financial statements pursuant to Section 5.05(a) or 5.05(b), to be references to the most recent annual or quarterly, as applicable, financial statements delivered pursuant to Section 5.05(a) or 5.05(b).

 

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(b) At the time of and immediately after giving effect to such Borrowing, no Default shall have occurred and be continuing.

Each Borrowing shall be deemed to constitute a representation and warranty by the Borrower on the date thereof that the conditions set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Section have been satisfied.

ARTICLE V

AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS

Until the Commitments have expired or been terminated and the principal of and interest on each Loan and all fees payable hereunder shall have been paid in full, the Borrower covenants and agrees with the Lenders as to itself and its Subsidiaries that:

Section 5.01 Corporate Existence. The Borrower shall, and shall cause each Significant Subsidiary to, preserve and maintain its corporate existence, subject to the provisions of Section 6.03.

Section 5.02 Maintenance of Properties. The Borrower will maintain, preserve and keep its property necessary to the proper conduct of its business in reasonably good repair, working order and condition (ordinary wear and tear and damage by casualty excepted) and will from time to time make all necessary repairs, renewals, replacements, additions and betterments thereto so that in the judgment of the Borrower at all times such property shall be reasonably preserved and maintained, and will cause each Significant Subsidiary so to do for property owned or used by it, except where the failure to maintain or preserve such property could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; provided, however, that nothing in this Section 5.02 shall prevent the Borrower or a Significant Subsidiary from discontinuing the operation or maintenance of any such property if such discontinuance is, in the judgment of the Borrower, desirable in the conduct of its business or the business of the Subsidiary and in the reasonable opinion of the Borrower is not disadvantageous in any material respect to the Lenders.

Section 5.03 Taxes. The Borrower will duly pay and discharge, and will cause each Subsidiary to pay and discharge, all material taxes, rates, assessments, fees and governmental charges upon or against the Borrower or such Subsidiary or against their respective property, in each case before the same becomes delinquent and before penalties accrue thereon, unless and to the extent that (a) the same is being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings and adequate reserves under GAAP are provided therefor or (b) the failure to do so could not reasonably be expected to result in Material Adverse Effect.

Section 5.04 Insurance. The Borrower will insure and keep insured, and will cause each Subsidiary to insure and keep insured, with insurance companies that the Borrower believes (in the good faith judgment of the management of the Borrower) are financially sound and responsible at the time the relevant coverage is placed or renewed, insurance in such amounts and against at least such risks (after giving effect to any self-insurance, deductibles and exclusions which the Borrower believes (in the good faith judgment of management of the Borrower) are reasonable and prudent in light of the size and nature of the business of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries) as the Borrower believes (in the good faith judgment of the management of the Borrower) are reasonable in light of the size and nature of the business of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries.

 

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Section 5.05 Financial Reports and Other Information. The Borrower will, and will cause each Subsidiary to, furnish to the Lenders and their respective duly authorized representatives such information respecting the business and financial condition of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries as they may reasonably request; and without any request will furnish to the Administrative Agent, which will make available by means of electronic posting to each Lender:

(a) within 60 days after the end of each of the first three quarterly fiscal periods of the Borrower, a copy of the Borrower’s Form 10-Q Report filed with the SEC;

(b) within 120 days after the end of each fiscal year of the Borrower, a copy of the Borrower’s Form 10-K Report filed with the SEC, including a copy of the annual report of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries for such year with accompanying financial statements, prepared by the Borrower and audited and opined on by independent registered public accounting firm of recognized standing, in accordance with GAAP;

(c) promptly after the sending or filing thereof, copies of all proxy statements, financial statements and reports the Borrower sends to its shareholders, and copies of all other regular, periodic and special reports and all registration statements the Borrower files with the SEC, or with any national securities exchange;

(d) promptly following a request therefor, any documentation or other information that a Lender reasonably requests in order to comply with its ongoing obligations under applicable “know your customer” and anti-money laundering rules and regulations, including the USA PATRIOT Act and the Beneficial Ownership Regulation; and

(e) (i) promptly after the Borrower has knowledge thereof, notice (including a description in reasonable detail) of the occurrence of any Default or Event of Default and (ii) within five Business Days after the Borrower has knowledge thereof, notice of any change to any rating of the Index Debt by Moody’s or Fitch.

Each of the financial statements furnished to the Lenders pursuant to clauses (a) and (b) of this Section 5.05 shall be accompanied by a compliance certificate in substantially the form of Exhibit E signed by a Financial Officer of the Borrower. If the Borrower is no longer required to file Form 10-Q and 10-K Reports with the SEC, the Borrower will nevertheless furnish to the Lenders at the times herein above set forth all the financial and other information that would have comprised such filings.

Information required to be delivered pursuant to this Section shall be deemed to have been delivered on the date on which (i) such information has been publicly posted on the Borrower’s website on the Internet at http://www.kelloggs.com or is publicly available at http://www.sec.gov or (ii) such information is posted on the Borrower’s behalf on an Internet or intranet website, if any, to which the Administrative Agent or each Lender have access (whether a commercial, third-party website or whether made available by the Administrative Agent). The Administrative Agent shall have no obligation to request the delivery of or to maintain copies of any information required to be delivered pursuant to this Section, and in any event shall have no responsibility to monitor compliance by the Borrower with any such required delivery, and each Lender shall be solely responsible for timely accessing posted documents and maintaining its copies of such documents.

Section 5.06 Books and Records; Inspection Rights. The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, keep proper books of record and account in which in all material respects full, true and correct entries are made of all dealings and transactions in relation to its business and activities consistent with good business practices in the judgment of the Borrower. Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default that is continuing, the Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, permit any representatives designated by the Administrative Agent or any Lender, upon reasonable prior notice, to visit and inspect its properties, to examine and make extracts from its books and records, and to discuss its affairs, finances and condition with its independent accountants (upon reasonable notice to the Borrower and with its officers permitted to be present at such times) and its officers, all at such reasonable times and as often as reasonably requested.

 

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Section 5.07 Compliance with Laws. The Borrower will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, comply with all laws, rules, regulations and orders of the Food and Drug Administration and each other Governmental Authority applicable to it or its property, including all Environmental Laws, except where the failure to do so, individually or in the aggregate, could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

ARTICLE VI

NEGATIVE COVENANTS

Until the Commitments have expired or been terminated and the principal of and interest on each Loan and all fees payable hereunder shall have been paid in full, the Borrower covenants and agrees with the Lenders as to itself and its Subsidiaries that:

Section 6.01 Indebtedness. The Borrower will not, and will not permit any Subsidiary to, create, incur, assume or permit to exist at any time:

(a) any Indebtedness of the Borrower secured by any Lien (other than Permitted Encumbrances) encumbering any asset of the Borrower or any Subsidiary (other than Indebtedness of the Borrower set forth on Schedule 6.01);

(b) any Indebtedness of any Subsidiary (other than (i) the Indebtedness of any Subsidiary set forth on Schedule 6.01, (ii) Indebtedness to the Borrower or any other Wholly Owned Subsidiary, (iii) Indebtedness of any Person that becomes a Subsidiary after the date hereof that existed at the time such Person became a Subsidiary and was not created in contemplation of or in connection with such Person becoming a Subsidiary and refinancings thereof and (iv) Indebtedness of one or more Subsidiaries incurred to pay the consideration payable in respect of one or more acquisitions by the Borrower or any Subsidiary or Subsidiaries (as applicable) of all the Equity Interests or all or substantially all the assets of any other Person or assets comprising a division or other business unit of any other Person and refinancings thereof); or

(c) any Capital Lease Obligation;

if such creation, incurrence, assumption or existence would result in the sum, without duplication, of (i) the aggregate principal amount of Indebtedness outstanding under clauses (a), (b) and (c) above, (ii) the aggregate principal amount of outstanding obligations secured by Liens permitted by Section 6.02(d) and (iii) the aggregate amount of the Financed Portions of all outstanding Securitizations exceeding 15% of Consolidated Total Assets as of the most recent fiscal quarter end for which financial statements for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries are available.

Section 6.02 Liens. The Borrower will not, and will not permit any Subsidiary to, create, incur, assume or permit to exist any Lien on any property or asset now owned or hereafter acquired by it, or assign or sell any income or revenues (including accounts receivable) or rights in respect of any thereof, except:

(a) Permitted Encumbrances and Liens solely for the benefit of the Borrower or any Wholly Owned Subsidiary;

(b) any Lien on any property or asset of the Borrower or any Subsidiary existing on the date hereof and set forth on Schedule 6.02; provided that (i) such Lien shall not apply to any other property or asset of the Borrower or any Subsidiary and (ii) such Lien shall secure only those obligations which it secures on the date hereof and extensions, renewals and replacements thereof that do not increase the outstanding principal amount thereof;

 

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(c) any Lien existing on any property or asset prior to the acquisition thereof by the Borrower or any Subsidiary or existing on any property or asset of any Person that becomes a Subsidiary after the date hereof prior to the time such Person becomes a Subsidiary; provided that (i) such Lien is not created in contemplation of or in connection with such acquisition or such Person becoming a Subsidiary, as the case may be, (ii) such Lien shall not apply to any other property or assets of the Borrower or any Subsidiary and (iii) such Lien shall secure only those obligations which it secures on the date of such acquisition or the date such Person becomes a Subsidiary, as the case may be, and extensions, renewals and replacements thereof that do not increase the outstanding principal amount thereof; and

(d) Liens not expressly permitted by clauses (a) through (c) above and Securitizations; provided that the sum, without duplication, at any time of (i) the aggregate principal amount of Indebtedness outstanding under Sections 6.01(a), 6.01(b) and 6.01(c), (ii) the aggregate principal amount of outstanding obligations secured by Liens permitted by this clause (d) and (iii) the aggregate amount of the Financed Portions of all outstanding Securitizations shall not exceed 15% of Consolidated Total Assets as of the most recent fiscal quarter end for which financial statements for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries are available.

Section 6.03 Fundamental Changes. (a) The Borrower will not merge into or consolidate with any other Person, or permit any other Person to merge into or consolidate with it, or sell, transfer, lease or otherwise dispose of (in one transaction or in a series of transactions) all or substantially all of its assets (whether now owned or hereafter acquired and whether directly or through any merger or consolidation of, or any sale, transfer, lease or other disposition of Equity Interests in, or the assets of, any Subsidiary), or liquidate or dissolve, except that, if at the time thereof and immediately after giving effect thereto no Default shall have occurred and be continuing, (i) any Person may merge into the Borrower in a transaction in which the Borrower is the surviving corporation, (ii) any Person (other than the Borrower) may merge into any Subsidiary in a transaction in which the surviving entity is a Subsidiary, (iii) any Subsidiary may sell, transfer, lease or otherwise dispose of its assets to the Borrower or to another Subsidiary and (iv) any Subsidiary may liquidate or dissolve if the Borrower determines in good faith that such liquidation or dissolution is in the best interests of the Borrower and is not materially disadvantageous to the Lenders.

(b) The Borrower will not, and will not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, engage to any material extent in any business other than businesses of the type conducted by the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on the date of this Agreement and businesses reasonably related, ancillary or similar thereto or supportive thereof.

Section 6.04 Use of Proceeds. The proceeds of the Loans will be used only for general corporate purposes of the Borrower and the Subsidiaries. No part of the proceeds of any Loan will be used, whether directly or indirectly, for any purpose that entails a violation of any of the Regulations of the Board, including Regulations U and X. Following the application of the proceeds of each Loan, not more than 25% of the value of the assets of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries that are subject to any arrangement hereunder whereby the Borrower’s or any Subsidiary’s right or ability to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of assets is in any way restricted will be Margin Stock. The Borrower will not, directly or knowingly indirectly, use, and will cause its Subsidiaries and its or their respective directors, officers and employees and use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause its or their respective agents not to, directly or knowingly indirectly, use, the proceeds of any Borrowing (a) 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, (b) for the purpose of directly or indirectly funding, financing or facilitating any activities, business or transaction of or with any Sanctioned Person, or in any Sanctioned Country, in each case in violation of any applicable Sanctions or (c) in any manner that would result in the violation of any Sanctions applicable to any party hereto.

 

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Section 6.05 Interest Expense Coverage Ratio. The Borrower will not permit the ratio of (a) Consolidated EBITDA to (b) Consolidated Interest Expense, in each case for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters ending after the Effective Date, to be less than 4.0 to 1.0.

ARTICLE VII

EVENTS OF DEFAULT

If any of the following events (“Events of Default”) shall occur:

(a) (i) default in the payment of any principal of any Loan when and as the same shall become due and payable, whether on the date thereof or at a date fixed for prepayment thereof or otherwise, (ii) default for a period of five days in the payment when due of interest on any Loan or (iii) default for a period of 10 days in the payment when due of any other sum required to be paid pursuant to this Agreement;

(b) default by the Borrower in the observance or performance of any of the covenants set forth in Section 5.01 (with respect to the Borrower’s existence) or 5.05(e)(i) or in Article VI;

(c) default by the Borrower in the observance or performance of any other provision hereof not mentioned in clause (a) or (b) above, which is not remedied within 30 days after notice thereof to the Borrower by the Administrative Agent or any Lender;

(d) any representation or warranty made (or deemed made) herein by the Borrower, or in any statement or certificate furnished by the Borrower pursuant hereto or in connection with any Loan, proves untrue in any material respect as of the date of the issuance or making (or deemed making) thereof;

(e) default in the payment when due, after any applicable grace period, of any Indebtedness or any amount due under any Hedging Agreement the aggregate principal amount of which exceeds $150,000,000 (the “Aggregate Amount”) issued, assumed or guaranteed by the Borrower or any Subsidiary (other than Indebtedness owing by any Subsidiary to the Borrower or to another Subsidiary); or default or other event under any indenture, agreement or other instrument under which any such Indebtedness is outstanding or under any such Hedging Agreement, and such default or event shall result in the acceleration of the maturity or the required redemption or repurchase of such Indebtedness, or the early termination of and a required payment under such Hedging Agreement, exceeding in the aggregate such Aggregate Amount;

(f) any “reportable event” (as defined in ERISA or the regulations thereunder) which constitutes grounds for the termination of any Plan by the PBGC, or for the appointment by an appropriate court of a trustee to administer or liquidate any Plan, shall have occurred and be continuing 30 days after written notice to such effect shall have been given to the Borrower by the Administrative Agent; or any Plan shall be terminated by the PBGC; or a trustee shall be appointed to administer any Plan; or the PBGC shall institute proceedings to administer or terminate any Plan; or the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or any member of the Controlled Group of any of them shall withdraw (completely or partially) from any “multiemployer plan” (as defined in Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA); and in each case, each such event or circumstance, individually or in the aggregate with all other such events or circumstances described in this clause (f), would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect;

 

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(g) an involuntary proceeding shall be commenced or an involuntary petition shall be filed seeking (i) liquidation, reorganization or other relief in respect of the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary or its debts, or of a substantial part of its assets, under any Federal, state or foreign bankruptcy, insolvency, receivership or similar law now or hereafter in effect or (ii) the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian, sequestrator, conservator or similar official for the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary or for a substantial part of its assets, and, in any such case, such proceeding or petition shall continue undismissed for 60 days or an order or decree approving or ordering any of the foregoing shall be entered;

(h) the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary shall (i) voluntarily commence any proceeding or file any petition seeking liquidation, reorganization or other relief under any Federal, state or foreign bankruptcy, insolvency, receivership or similar law now or hereafter in effect, (ii) consent to the institution of, or fail to contest in a timely and appropriate manner, any proceeding or petition described in clause (g) of this Article, (iii) apply for or consent to the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian, sequestrator, conservator or similar official for the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary or for a substantial part of its assets, (iv) file an answer admitting the material allegations of a petition filed against it in any such proceeding, (v) make a general assignment for the benefit of creditors or (vi) take any action for the purpose of effecting any of the foregoing;

(i) the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary shall become unable, admit in writing its inability or fail generally to pay its debts as they become due;

(j) one or more judgments for the payment of money in an aggregate amount in excess of $150,000,000 (except to the extent covered by insurance as to which the insurer has not disputed such coverage in writing) shall be rendered against the Borrower, any Significant Subsidiary or any combination thereof and the same shall remain undischarged and unstayed beyond the period during which an appeal may be filed under applicable law, or any action shall be legally taken by a judgment creditor to attach or levy upon any assets of the Borrower or any Subsidiary to enforce any such judgment; or

(k) a Change in Control shall occur;

then, and in every such event (other than an event with respect to the Borrower described in clause (g) or (h) of this Article), and at any time thereafter during the continuance of such event, the Administrative Agent may with the consent of the Required Lenders, and at the request of the Required Lenders shall, by notice to the Borrower, take either or both of the following actions, at the same or different times: (i) terminate the Commitments, and thereupon the Commitments shall terminate immediately and (ii) declare the Loans then outstanding to be due and payable in whole (or in part, in which case any principal not so declared to be due and payable may thereafter be declared to be due and payable), and thereupon the principal of the Loans so declared to be due and payable, together with accrued interest thereon and all fees and other obligations of the Borrower accrued hereunder, shall become due and payable immediately, without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby waived by the Borrower; and in case of any event with respect to the Borrower described in clause (g) or (h) of this Article, the Commitments shall automatically terminate and the principal of the Loans then outstanding, together with accrued interest thereon and all fees and other obligations of the Borrower accrued hereunder, shall automatically become due and payable, without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby waived by the Borrower.

 

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ARTICLE VIII

THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT

In order to expedite the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, Bank of America is hereby appointed to act as Administrative Agent on behalf of the Lenders. Each of the Lenders hereby irrevocably authorizes the Administrative Agent to take such actions on its behalf and to exercise such powers as are delegated to the Administrative Agent by the terms of the Loan Documents, together with such actions and powers as are reasonably incidental thereto.

The Person serving as Administrative 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 Administrative Agent, and such Person and its Affiliates may accept deposits from, lend money to, 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 it were not the Administrative Agent hereunder and without any duty to account therefor to the Lenders.

The Administrative Agent shall not have any duties or obligations except those expressly set forth in the Loan Documents, and its duties hereunder shall be administrative in nature. The motivations of the Administrative Agent are commercial in nature and not to invest in the general performance or operations of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, (a) the Administrative Agent and its Related Parties shall not be subject to any fiduciary or other implied duties, regardless of whether a Default has occurred and is continuing (and it is understood and agreed that the use of the term “agent” (or any other similar term) herein or in any other Loan Documents with reference to the Administrative Agent is not intended to connote any fiduciary or other implied (or express) obligations arising under agency doctrine of any applicable law, and that such term is used as a matter of market custom and is intended to create or reflect only an administrative relationship between contracting parties), (b) the Administrative Agent and its Related Parties shall have no duty to take any discretionary action or exercise any discretionary powers, except discretionary rights and powers expressly contemplated by the Loan Documents that the Administrative Agent is required to exercise in writing by the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, or as the Administrative Agent in good faith shall believe to be necessary, under the circumstances as provided in Section 9.02), provided that the Administrative Agent shall not be required to take any action that, in its opinion, could expose it to liability or be contrary to any Loan Document or applicable law, and (c) except as expressly set forth in the Loan Documents, the Administrative Agent and its Related Parties shall have no duty to disclose, and shall not be liable for the failure to disclose, any information relating to the Borrower or any Subsidiary that is communicated to or obtained by the Person serving as Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates in any capacity. The Administrative Agent shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it 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 Administrative Agent in good faith shall believe to be necessary, under the circumstances as provided in Section 9.02) or in the absence of its own bad faith, gross negligence or willful misconduct (such absence to be presumed unless otherwise determined by a court of competent jurisdiction by a final and nonappealable judgment). The Administrative Agent shall not be deemed to have knowledge of any Default unless and until written notice thereof (stating that it is a “notice of default”) is given to the Administrative Agent by the Borrower or a Lender, and the Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to ascertain or inquire into (i) any statement, warranty or representation made in or in connection with any Loan Document, (ii) the contents of any certificate, report or other document delivered hereunder or in connection herewith, (iii) the performance or observance of any of the covenants, agreements or other terms or conditions set forth in any Loan Document, (iv) the sufficiency, validity, enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of any Loan Document or any other agreement, instrument or document or (v) the satisfaction of any condition set forth in Article IV or elsewhere in any Loan Document, other than to confirm receipt of items (which on their face purport to be such items) expressly required to be delivered to the Administrative Agent.

 

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The Administrative 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 (whether or not such Person in fact meets the requirements set forth in the Loan Documents for being the signatory, sender or authenticator thereof). The Administrative Agent also may rely, and shall not incur any liability for relying, upon any statement made to it orally or by telephone and believed by it to be made by the proper Person (whether or not such Person in fact meets the requirements set forth in the Loan Documents for being the maker thereof), and may act upon any such statement prior to receipt of written confirmation thereof. In determining compliance with any condition hereunder to the making of a Loan that by its terms must be fulfilled to the satisfaction of a Lender, the Administrative Agent may presume that such condition is satisfactory to such Lender unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice to the contrary from such Lender sufficiently in advance to the making of such Loan. The Administrative 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.

The Administrative Agent may perform any and all its duties and exercise its rights and powers hereunder or under any other Loan Document by or through any one or more sub-agents appointed by it. The Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent may perform any and all its duties and exercise its rights and powers through their respective Related Parties. The exculpatory provisions of this Article and the provisions of Section 9.03 shall apply to any such sub-agent and to the Related Parties of the Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent, and shall apply to their respective activities in connection with the syndication of the credit facilities provided for herein as well as activities as Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for the negligence or misconduct of any sub-agents except to the extent that a court of competent jurisdiction determines in a final and nonappealable judgment that the Administrative Agent acted with gross negligence or willful misconduct in the selection of such sub-agents.

Subject to the appointment and acceptance of a successor Administrative Agent as provided in this paragraph, the Administrative Agent may resign at any time by notifying the Lenders and the Borrower. Upon any such resignation, the Required Lenders shall have the right (in consultation with, and (unless an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing) with the consent of, the Borrower, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld) to appoint a successor. If no successor shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders and shall have accepted such appointment within 30 days after the retiring Administrative Agent gives notice of its resignation, then the retiring Administrative Agent may (in consultation with, and (unless an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing) with the consent of the Borrower, which shall not unreasonably withhold such consent and which shall, if the retiring Administrative Agent shall so request, designate and approve a successor Administrative Agent) on behalf of the Lenders, appoint a successor Administrative Agent which shall be a bank with an office in the United States of America, or an Affiliate of any such bank. Upon the acceptance of its appointment as Administrative Agent hereunder by a successor, such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring Administrative Agent, and the retiring Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations hereunder. The fees payable by the Borrower to a successor Administrative Agent shall be the same as those payable to its predecessor unless otherwise agreed between the Borrower and such successor. After an Administrative Agent’s resignation hereunder, the provisions of this Article and Section 9.03 shall continue in effect for the benefit of such retiring Administrative Agent, its sub-agents and their respective Related Parties in respect of any actions taken or omitted to be taken by any of them (A) while it was acting as Administrative Agent and (B) after such resignation or removal for as long as any of them continues to act in any capacity hereunder or under the other Loan Documents, including, without limitation, in respect of any actions taken in connection with transferring the agency to any successor Administrative Agent.

 

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Each Lender expressly acknowledges that none of the Administrative Agent nor its Affiliates has made any representation or warranty to it, and that no act by the Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates hereafter taken, including any consent to, and acceptance of any assignment or review of the affairs of the Borrower or any Affiliate thereof, shall be deemed to constitute any representation or warranty by the Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates to any Lender as to any matter, including whether the Administrative Agent or its Affiliates have disclosed material information in their (or their Related Parties’) possession. Each Lender acknowledges that (i) the Loan Documents set forth the terms of a commercial lending facility, (ii) in participating as a Lender it is engaged in making, acquiring or holding commercial loans and in providing other facilities set forth herein as may be applicable to such Lender in each case in the ordinary course of business, and not for the purpose of investing in the general performance or operations of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, or for the purpose of purchasing, acquiring or holding any other type of financial instrument such as a security (and each Lender agrees not to assert a claim in contravention of the foregoing, such as a claim under the federal or state securities law), (iii) it has, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent or any other Lender and based on such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, made its own credit analysis and decision to enter into this Agreement as a Lender and to make, acquire or hold Loans or other credit extensions hereunder and (iv) it is sophisticated with respect to decisions to make, acquire and/or hold commercial loans and to provide other facilities set forth herein, as may be applicable to such Lender and either it, or the Person exercising discretion in making its decision to make, acquire and/or hold such commercial loans or to provide such other facilities, is experienced in making, acquiring or holding such commercial loans or providing such other facilities. Each Lender also acknowledges that it will, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent or any other Lender 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, any other Loan Document, any related agreement or any document furnished hereunder or thereunder.

Without limitation of any other provision in this Agreement, if at any time the Administrative Agent makes a payment hereunder in error to any Lender, whether or not in respect of a Loan or other obligation hereunder due and owing by the Borrower at such time, where such payment is a Rescindable Amount, then in any such event, each Lender receiving a Rescindable Amount severally agrees to repay to the Administrative Agent forthwith on demand the Rescindable Amount received by such Lender in immediately available funds in the currency so received, with interest thereon, for each day from and including the date such Rescindable Amount is received by it to but excluding the date of payment to the Administrative Agent, at the greater of the Federal Funds Effective Rate and a rate determined by the Administrative Agent in accordance with banking industry rules on interbank compensation. Each Lender irrevocably waives any and all defenses, including any “discharge for value” (under which a creditor might otherwise claim a right to retain funds mistakenly paid by a third party in respect of a debt owed by another) or similar defense to its obligation to return any Rescindable Amount. The Administrative Agent shall inform each Lender promptly upon determining that any payment made to such Lender comprised, in whole or in part, a Rescindable Amount. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein or in any other Loan Document, the provisions of this paragraph relating to the Rescindable Amount will not create any additional obligations on the part of the Borrower under the Loan Documents or otherwise increase or alter such obligations.

 

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None of the institutions named as a Co-Syndication Agent or a Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner on the cover page of this Agreement shall, in their capacities as such, have any duties or responsibilities of any kind under this Agreement.

Each Lender (x) represents and warrants, as of the date such Person became a Lender party hereto, and (y) covenants, from the date such Person became a Lender party hereto to the date such Person ceases being a Lender party hereto, for the benefit of the Administrative Agent, and not, for the avoidance of doubt, to or for the benefit of the Borrower or any Subsidiary, that at least one of the following is and will be true:

(i) such Lender is not using “plan assets” (within the meaning of Section 3(42) of ERISA or otherwise) of one or more Benefit Plans with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments or this Agreement;

(ii) the transaction exemption set forth in one or more PTEs, such as PTE 84-14 (a class exemption for certain transactions determined by independent qualified professional asset managers), PTE 95-60 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving insurance company general accounts), PTE 90-1 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving insurance company pooled separate accounts), PTE 91-38 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving bank collective investment funds) or PTE 96-23 (a class exemption for certain transactions determined by in-house asset managers), is applicable with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement;

(iii) (A) such Lender is an investment fund managed by a “Qualified Professional Asset Manager” (within the meaning of Part VI of PTE 84-14), (B) such Qualified Professional Asset Manager made the investment decision on behalf of such Lender to enter into, participate in, administer and perform the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement, (C) the entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement satisfies the requirements of sub-sections (b) through (g) of Part I of PTE 84-14 and (D) to the best knowledge of such Lender, the requirements of subsection (a) of Part I of PTE 84-14 are satisfied with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement; or

(iv) such other representation, warranty and covenant as may be agreed in writing between the Administrative Agent, in its sole discretion, and such Lender.

In addition, unless sub-clause (i) in the immediately preceding clause is true with respect to a Lender or such Lender has provided another representation, warranty and covenant in accordance with sub-clause (iv) in the immediately preceding clause, such Lender further (x) represents and warrants, as of the date such Person became a Lender party hereto, and (y) covenants, from the date such Person became a Lender party hereto to the date such Person ceases being a Lender party hereto, for the benefit of, the Administrative Agent and the institutions named as Co-Syndication Agent and Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner on the cover page of this Agreement and their respective Affiliates, and not, for the avoidance of doubt, to or for the benefit of the Borrower or any Subsidiary, that none of the Administrative Agent or the institutions named as Co-Syndication Agent or Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner on the cover page of this Agreement or any of their respective Affiliates is a fiduciary with respect to the assets of such Lender involved in such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement (including in connection with the reservation or exercise of any rights by the Administrative Agent under this Agreement or any documents related hereto).

 

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ARTICLE IX

MISCELLANEOUS

Section 9.01 Notices. (a) Except in the case of notices and other communications expressly permitted to be given by telephone and subject to paragraph (b) of this Section, 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 email, as follows:

(i) if to the Borrower, to it at One Kellogg Square, South Tower, Battle Creek, MI 49017, and 412 N. Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60654, Attention of each of the Treasurer and the General Counsel (email addresses as on file with the Administrative Agent);

(ii) if to the Administrative Agent as set forth on Schedule 9.01; and

(iii) if to any other Lender, to it at its address (or email address) set forth in its Administrative Questionnaire.

Any party hereto may change its address or email address for notices and other communications hereunder by notice to the other parties hereto (or, in the case of any change by a Lender, by notice to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent).

(b) Notices sent by hand or overnight courier service, or mailed by certified or registered mail, shall be deemed to have been given when received; and notices delivered through electronic communications to the extent provided in paragraph (c) of this Section shall be effective as provided in such paragraph.

(c) Notices and other communications to the Lenders hereunder may, in addition to email, be delivered or furnished by other electronic communications (including Internet and intranet websites) or using the Platform pursuant to procedures approved by the Administrative Agent; provided that the foregoing shall not apply to notices under Article II to any Lender if such Lender has notified the Administrative Agent that it is incapable of receiving notices under such Article by such other electronic communication or using the Platform. Any notices or other communications to the Administrative Agent or the Borrower may, in addition to email, be delivered or furnished by electronic communications pursuant to procedures approved by the recipient thereof prior thereto; provided that approval of such procedures may be limited or rescinded by any such Person by notice to each other such Person. Unless the Administrative Agent otherwise prescribes by written notice to each applicable recipient (except that the Administrative Agent may not otherwise prescribe with respect to any notices or other communications to the Borrower), (i) notices and other communications sent to an email address shall be deemed received upon the sender’s receipt of an acknowledgement from the intended recipient (such as by the “return receipt requested” function, as available, return email or other written acknowledgement), provided that if such notice or other communication is not sent during the normal business hours of the recipient, such notice or communication shall be deemed to have been sent at the opening of business on the next business day for the recipient, and (ii) notices or communications posted to the Platform shall be deemed received upon the receipt by the intended recipient at its email address as described in the foregoing clause (i) of notification that such notice or communication is available and identifying the website address therefor.

 

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(d) The Borrower agrees that the Administrative Agent and/or an Affiliate thereof may, but shall not be obligated to, make any Communication by posting such Communication on Debt Domain, Intralinks, Syndtrak or a similar electronic transmission system (the “Platform”). The Platform is provided “as is” and “as available”. Neither the Administrative Agent nor any of its Related Parties warrants, or shall be deemed to warrant, the adequacy of the Platform and each expressly disclaims liability for errors or omissions in the Communications. No warranty of any kind, express, implied or statutory, including 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, or shall be deemed to be made, by the Administrative Agent or any of its Related Parties in connection with the Communications or the Platform.

Section 9.02 Waivers; Amendments. (a) No failure or delay by the Administrative Agent or any Lender in exercising any right or power hereunder or under any other Loan Document shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right or power, or any abandonment or discontinuance of steps to enforce such a right or power, preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right or power. The rights and remedies of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders hereunder and under any other Loan Documents are cumulative and are not exclusive of any rights or remedies that they would otherwise have. No waiver of any provision of any Loan Document or consent to any departure by the Borrower therefrom shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be permitted by paragraph (b) of this Section, and then such waiver or consent shall be effective only in the specific instance and for the purpose for which given. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the making of a Loan shall not be construed as a waiver of any Default, regardless of whether the Administrative Agent or any Lender may have had notice or knowledge of such Default at the time.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this Section, none of this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any provision hereof or thereof may be waived, amended or modified except pursuant to an agreement or agreements in writing entered into by the Borrower and the Required Lenders or by the Borrower and the Administrative Agent with the written consent of the Required Lenders; provided that no such agreement shall (i) increase a Commitment of any Lender without the written consent of such Lender, (ii) reduce the principal amount of any Loan, or change the permitted currency thereof or reduce the rate of interest thereon, or reduce any fees payable to any Lender hereunder, without the written consent of each Lender affected thereby, (iii) postpone the scheduled date of payment of the principal amount of any Loan or any interest thereon, or any fees payable hereunder, or reduce the amount of, waive or excuse any such payment, or postpone the scheduled date of expiration of any Commitment, without the written consent of each Lender affected thereby, (iv) waive or change Section 2.06(c) in a manner that would alter the ratable reduction of the Commitments or Section 2.15(b) or 2.15(c) or any other provision providing for the pro rata sharing of payments among the Lenders in a manner that would alter the pro rata sharing of payments required thereby, in each case, without the written consent of each Lender affected thereby or (v) waive or change any of the provisions of this Section or the definition of “Required Lenders” or any other provision of any Loan Document specifying the number or percentage of Lenders required to waive, amend or modify any rights hereunder or make any determination or grant any consent hereunder, without the written consent of each Lender; provided further that no such agreement shall amend, modify or otherwise affect the rights or duties of the Administrative Agent hereunder without the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent.

(c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in paragraph (b) of this Section:

(i) any provision of this Agreement may be amended by an agreement in writing entered into by the Borrower, the Required Lenders and the Administrative Agent if (A) by the terms of such agreement the Commitment of each Lender not consenting to the amendment provided for therein shall terminate upon the effectiveness of such amendment and (B) at the time such amendment becomes effective, each Lender not consenting thereto receives payment in full of the principal of and interest accrued on each Loan made by it and all other amounts owing to it or accrued for its account under this Agreement;

 

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(ii) if the Administrative Agent and the Borrower acting together identify any ambiguity, omission, mistake, typographical error or other defect in any provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document, then the Administrative Agent and the Borrower shall be permitted to amend, modify or supplement such provision to cure such ambiguity, omission, mistake, typographical error or other defect, and such amendment, modification or supplement shall become effective without any further action or consent of any other party to this Agreement, it being agreed that the Administrative Agent shall provide a copy thereof to the Lenders promptly after the effectiveness thereof;

(iii) this Agreement may be amended in the manner provided in Sections 2.06(d), 2.06(e)(iii) and 2.11(b);

(iv) no consent with respect to any amendment, waiver or other modification of this Agreement or any other Loan Document or any provision hereof or thereof shall be required of any Defaulting Lender, except with respect to any amendment, waiver or other modification referred to in clause (i), (ii) or (iii) of the first proviso of paragraph (b) of this Section and then only in the event such Defaulting Lender shall be affected by such amendment, waiver or other modification.

(d) The Administrative Agent may, but shall have no obligation to, with the concurrence of any Lender, execute amendments, waivers or other modifications on behalf of such Lender. Any amendment, waiver or other modification effected in accordance with this Section 9.02 shall be binding upon each Person that is at the time thereof a Lender and each Person that subsequently becomes a Lender.

Section 9.03 Expenses; Indemnity; Limitation of Liability. (a) The Borrower shall pay (i) all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates, including the reasonable fees, charges and disbursements of one outside counsel for the Administrative Agent, in connection with the syndication of the credit facilities provided for herein, the preparation and administration of the Loan Documents or any amendments, modifications or waivers (requested by or for the benefit of the Borrower) of the provisions hereof (whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby shall be consummated) and (ii) all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Administrative Agent or any Lender, including the fees, charges and disbursements of any counsel for the Administrative Agent or any Lender, in connection with the enforcement or protection of its rights in connection with the Loan Documents, including its rights under this Section, or in connection with the Loans made hereunder, including all such reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred during any workout, restructuring or negotiations in respect of such Loans.

 

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(b) The Borrower shall indemnify the Administrative Agent, each Lender and each Related Party of any of the foregoing Persons involved directly or indirectly in the Transactions (each such Person being called an “Indemnitee”) against, and hold each Indemnitee harmless from, any and all Liabilities and related expenses (other than Excluded Taxes), including the fees, charges and disbursements of any counsel for any Indemnitee, incurred by or asserted against any Indemnitee arising out of, in connection with, or as a result of (i) the execution or delivery of any Loan Document or any agreement or instrument contemplated thereby, the performance by the parties to the Loan Documents of their respective obligations thereunder or the consummation of the Transactions or any other transactions contemplated hereby, including the arrangement and syndication of the credit facilities provided for herein, (ii) any Loan or the use of the proceeds therefrom, (iii) any actual or alleged presence or release of Hazardous Materials on or from any property owned or operated by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, or any Environmental Liability related in any way to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or (iv) any actual or prospective claim, litigation, investigation or proceeding relating to any of the foregoing, whether based on contract, tort or any other theory and regardless of whether any Indemnitee is a party thereto (and whether brought by a third party or by the Borrower or any Affiliate of the Borrower, it being understood that nothing herein shall relieve any Lender of liability for a breach of its agreements contained herein); provided that such indemnity shall not, as to any Indemnitee, be available to the extent that such Liabilities or related expenses (A) do not result in actual out-of-pocket loss or expense by such Indemnitee or (B) result from the bad faith, willful misconduct or gross negligence of such Indemnitee or the material breach by such Indemnitee of its agreements set forth in the Loan Documents, as finally determined in a non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) To the extent that the Borrower fails to pay any amount required to be paid by it to the Administrative Agent (or any sub-agent thereof) or any Related Party of any of the foregoing under paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section, each Lender severally, but not jointly, agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent (or any such sub-agent) or such Related Party, as the case may be, such Lender’s Applicable Percentage (determined as of the time that the applicable unreimbursed expense or indemnity payment is sought) of such unpaid amount; provided that the unreimbursed expense or indemnified Liability or related expense, as the case may be, was incurred by or asserted against the Administrative Agent (or such sub-agent) in its capacity as such, or against any Related Party of any of the foregoing acting for the Administrative Agent (or any such sub-agent) in connection with such capacity.

(d) To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Borrower shall not assert, and hereby waives, (i) any Liabilities against any Lender-Related Person, on any theory of liability, for special, indirect, consequential or punitive damages (as opposed to direct or actual damages) arising out of, in connection with, or as a result of, this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any agreement or instrument contemplated hereby or thereby, the Transactions, any Loan or the use of the proceeds thereof and (ii) any claim against any Lender-Related Person, on any theory of liability, for any Liabilities arising from the use by others of any information or other materials (including, without limitation, any personal data) obtained through telecommunications, electronic or other information transmission systems (including the Platform or the Internet).

(e) All amounts due under this Section shall be payable promptly after written demand therefor setting forth the amount and the nature of the expense or claim, as applicable.

Section 9.04 Successors and Assigns. (a) 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 Administrative Agent and each Lender (and any attempted assignment or transfer by the Borrower without such consent 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 (e) of this Section) and, to the extent expressly contemplated hereby, the Related Parties of each of the Administrative Agent, the sub-agents of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders) any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or by reason of this Agreement.

 

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(b) Any Lender may assign to one or more Eligible Assignees all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitments and the Loans at the time owing to it); provided that (i) the Administrative Agent and, except in the case of an assignment to a Lender, an Affiliate of a Lender or an Approved Fund, the Borrower must give its prior written consent to such assignment (in each case, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), (ii) except in the case of an assignment to a Lender or an Affiliate of a Lender or an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the assigning Lender’s Commitment or Loans, the amount of the Commitment or Loans 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 Administrative Agent) shall not be less than $5,000,000 unless each of the Borrower and the Administrative Agent otherwise consent, (iii) 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, (iv) the parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent an Assignment and Assumption (or an agreement incorporating by reference a form of Assignment and Assumption posted on the Platform), together with a processing and recordation fee of $3,500 and (v) the assignee, if it shall not be a Lender, shall deliver to the Administrative Agent an Administrative Questionnaire; and provided further that (A) any consent of the Borrower otherwise required under this paragraph shall not be required if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and (B) the Borrower shall be deemed to have consented to any assignment for which its consent is required under this paragraph unless it shall have objected thereto by written notice to the Administrative Agent within 10 Business Days after having received written notice thereof. Subject to acceptance and recording thereof pursuant to paragraph (d) of this Section, from and after the effective date specified in each Assignment and Assumption , the assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto and, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption , have the rights and obligations of a Lender under this Agreement, and the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption , be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and Assumption covering all of the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto but shall continue to be entitled to the benefits of Sections 2.12, 2.13, 2.14 and 9.03 (subject to the requirements and limitations therein, including the requirements under Section 2.14(e))). Any assignment or transfer by a Lender of rights or obligations under this Agreement that does not comply with this paragraph shall be treated for purposes of this Agreement as a sale by such Lender of a participation in such rights and obligations in accordance with paragraph (e) of this Section.

(c) The Administrative Agent, acting for this purpose as a non-fiduciary agent of the Borrower, shall maintain at one of its offices 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 Commitment of, and principal amount (and stated interest) of the Loans 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 Administrative 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, notwithstanding notice to the contrary. The Register shall be available for inspection by the Borrower or any Lender at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Loan Documents, the Loans are registered obligations and the right, title and interest of the Lenders in and to the Loans shall be transferable only in accordance with the terms hereof. This Section 9.04(c) shall be construed so that the Loans are at all times maintained in “registered form” within the meaning of Sections 163(f), 871(h)(2) and 881(c)(2) of the Code.

 

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(d) Upon its receipt of a duly completed Assignment and Assumption (or an agreement incorporating by reference a form of Assignment and Assumption posted on the Platform) executed by an assigning Lender and an assignee, the assignee’s completed Administrative Questionnaire (unless the assignee shall already be a Lender hereunder), the processing and recordation fee referred to in paragraph (b) of this Section and any written consent to such assignment required by paragraph (b) of this Section, the Administrative Agent shall accept such Assignment and Assumption and record the information contained therein in the Register. No assignment shall be effective for purposes of this Agreement unless it has been recorded in the Register as provided in this paragraph.

(e) Any Lender may, upon notice to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent, sell participations to one or more Eligible Assignees (each, a “Participant”) in all or a portion of such Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitments and the Loans owing to it); provided that (i) such Lender’s obligations under this Agreement shall remain unchanged, (ii) such Lender shall remain solely responsible to the other parties hereto for the performance of such obligations and (iii) the Borrower, the Administrative 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. Any agreement or instrument pursuant to which a Lender sells such a participation shall provide that such Lender shall retain the sole right to enforce the Loan Documents and to approve any amendment, modification or waiver of any provision of the Loan Documents; provided that such agreement or instrument may provide that such Lender will not, without the consent of the Participant, agree to any amendment, modification or waiver described in the first proviso to Section 9.02(b) that affects such Participant. Subject to paragraph (f) of this Section, the Borrower agrees that each Participant shall be entitled to the benefits of Sections 2.12, 2.13 and 2.14 (subject to the requirements and limitations therein, including the requirements under Section 2.14(e) (it being understood that the documentation required under Section 2.14(e) shall be delivered to the participating Lender)) to the same extent as if it were a Lender and had acquired its interest by assignment pursuant to paragraph (b) of this Section. To the extent permitted by law, each Participant also shall be entitled to the benefits of Section 9.08 as though it were a Lender, provided that such Participant agrees to be subject to Section 2.15(c) as though it were a Lender. Each Lender that sells a participation shall, acting solely for this purpose as a non-fiduciary agent of the Borrower, maintain a register on which it enters the name and address of each Participant and the principal amounts (and stated interest) of each Participant’s interest in the Loans or other obligations under this Agreement or any other Loan Document (the “Participant Register”); provided that no Lender shall have any obligation to disclose all or any portion of the Participant Register (including the identity of any Participant or any information relating to a Participant’s interest in any Commitments, Loans or other obligations under this Agreement or any other Loan Document) to any Person except to the extent that such disclosure is necessary to establish that such Commitment, Loan or other obligation is in registered form under Section 5f.103-1(c) of the United States Treasury Regulations. The entries in the Participant Register shall be conclusive absent manifest error, and such Lender shall treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Participant Register as the owner of such participation for all purposes of this Agreement notwithstanding any notice to the contrary. For the avoidance of doubt, the Administrative Agent (in its capacity as Administrative Agent) shall have no responsibility for maintaining any Participant Register.

(f) A Participant shall not be entitled to receive any greater payment under Section 2.12 or 2.14 than the applicable Lender would have been entitled to receive with respect to the participation sold to such Participant, unless the sale of the participation to such Participant is made with the Borrower’s prior written consent. A Participant shall not be entitled to the benefits of Section 2.14 unless (i) it agrees to comply with Section 2.14(e) as though it were a Lender and (ii) with respect to a Participant that would be a Foreign Lender if it were a Lender, the Borrower is notified of the participation sold to such Participant.

 

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(g) Any Lender may at any time pledge or assign a security interest in all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement to secure obligations of such Lender, including any pledge or assignment to secure obligations to a Federal Reserve Bank or any central bank having jurisdiction over such Lender, and this Section shall not apply to any such pledge or assignment of a security interest; provided that no such pledge or assignment of a security interest shall release a Lender from any of its obligations hereunder or substitute any such pledgee or assignee for such Lender as a party hereto.

Section 9.05 Survival. All covenants, agreements, representations and warranties made by the Borrower herein, in the other Loan Documents and in the certificates or other instruments delivered in connection with or pursuant to this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall be considered to have been relied upon by the other parties hereto and shall survive the execution and delivery of the Loan Documents and the making of any Loans, regardless of any investigation made by any such other party or on its behalf and notwithstanding that the Administrative Agent or any Lender may have had notice or knowledge of any Default or incorrect representation or warranty at the time any credit is extended hereunder, and shall continue in full force and effect as long as the principal of or any accrued interest on any Loan or any fee or any other amount payable under this Agreement is outstanding and unpaid and so long as the Commitments have not expired or terminated. The provisions of Sections 2.12, 2.13, 2.14 and 9.03 and Article VIII shall survive and remain in full force and effect regardless of the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, the repayment of the Loans, the expiration or termination of the Commitments or the termination of this Agreement or any provision hereof.

Section 9.06 Counterparts; Integration; Effectiveness; Electronic Execution. (a) This Agreement may be executed in counterparts (and by different parties hereto on different counterparts), each of which shall constitute an original, but all of which when taken together shall constitute a single contract. This Agreement, the other Loan Documents and any separate letter agreements with respect to fees payable to the Administrative Agent constitute the entire contract among the parties relating to the subject matter hereof and supersede any and all previous agreements and understandings, oral or written, relating to the subject matter hereof, including the commitments of the Lenders and, if applicable, their Affiliates under any commitment letter and any commitment advices submitted by them (but do not supersede any other provisions of any commitment letter or fee letter that do not by the terms of such documents terminate upon the effectiveness of this Agreement, all of which provisions shall remain in full force and effect). Except as provided in Section 4.01, this Agreement shall become effective when it shall have been executed by the Administrative Agent and when the Administrative Agent shall have received counterparts hereof which, when taken together, bear the signature of each of the other parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns.

 

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(b) This Agreement, any Loan Document and any other Communication, including Communications required to be in writing, may be in the form of an Electronic Record and may be executed using Electronic Signatures. Each of the Borrower and each of the Administrative Agent and each Lender agrees that any Electronic Signature on or associated with any Communication shall be valid and binding on such Person to the same extent as a manual, original signature, and that any Communication entered into by Electronic Signature, will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligation of such Person enforceable against such Person in accordance with the terms thereof to the same extent as if a manually executed original signature was delivered. Any Communication may be executed in as many counterparts as necessary or convenient, including both paper and electronic counterparts, but all such counterparts are one and the same Communication. For the avoidance of doubt, the authorization under this paragraph may include, without limitation, use or acceptance of a manually signed paper Communication which has been converted into electronic form (such as scanned into PDF format), or an electronically signed Communication converted into another format, for transmission, delivery and/or retention. The Administrative Agent and each of the Lenders may, at its option, create one or more copies of any Communication in the form of an imaged Electronic Record (“Electronic Copy”), which shall be deemed created in the ordinary course of such Person’s business, and destroy the original paper document. All Communications in the form of an Electronic Record, including an Electronic Copy, shall be considered an original for all purposes, and shall have the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as a paper record; provided that nothing herein shall require the Administrative Agent to accept Electronic Signatures in any form or format without its prior written consent and pursuant to procedures approved by it; provided, further, without limiting the foregoing, (i) to the extent the Administrative Agent has agreed to accept any Electronic Signature, the Administrative Agent and each of the Lenders shall be entitled to rely on such Electronic Signature purportedly given by or on behalf of the Borrower without further verification thereof and without any obligation to review the appearance or form of any such Electronic Signature and (ii) upon the request of the Administrative Agent or any Lender, any Electronic Signature shall be promptly followed by a manually executed counterpart.

(c) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Borrower hereby (i) agrees that, for all purposes, including in connection with any workout, restructuring, enforcement of remedies, bankruptcy proceedings or litigation among the Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Borrower, Electronic Signatures transmitted by facsimile, emailed .pdf or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page and/or any electronic images of this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or Communication shall have the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as any paper original, (ii) waives any argument, defense or right to contest the legal effect, validity or enforceability of this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Communication based solely on the lack of paper original copies of this Agreement, such other Loan Document and/or such Communication, respectively, including with respect to any signature pages thereto and (iii) waives any claim against any Lender-Related Person for any Liabilities arising solely from the Administrative Agent’s and/or any Lender’s reliance on or use of Electronic Signatures and/or transmissions by facsimile, emailed .pdf or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page, including any Liabilities arising as a result of the failure of the Borrower to use any available security measures in connection with the execution, delivery or transmission of any Electronic Signature.

(d) The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to ascertain or inquire into the sufficiency, validity, enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of any Loan Document or any other agreement, instrument or document (including, for the avoidance of doubt, in connection with the Administrative Agent’s reliance on any Electronic Signature transmitted by telecopy, emailed .pdf or any other electronic means). The Administrative Agent shall be entitled to rely on, and shall incur no liability under or in respect of this Agreement or any other Loan Document by acting upon, any Communication (which writing may be a fax, any electronic message, Internet or intranet website posting or other distribution or signed using an Electronic Signature) or any statement made to it orally or by telephone and believed by it to be genuine and signed or sent or otherwise authenticated (whether or not such Person in fact meets the requirements set forth in the Loan Documents for being the maker thereof).

Section 9.07 Severability. Any provision of any Loan Document held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability without affecting the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of such Loan Document; and the invalidity of a particular provision in a particular jurisdiction shall not invalidate such provision in any other jurisdiction.

 

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Section 9.08 Right of Setoff. If an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, each Lender and each Affiliate thereof is hereby authorized at any time and from time to time, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to set off and apply any and all deposits (general or special, time or demand, provisional or final) at any time held and other obligations at any time owing by such Lender or Affiliate to or for the credit or the account of the Borrower (other than payroll accounts, tax withholding accounts and trust accounts) against any of and all of the obligations of the Borrower now or hereafter existing under this Agreement held by such Lender, irrespective of whether or not such Lender shall have made any demand under this Agreement. The rights of each Lender and its Affiliates under this Section are in addition to and shall not limit other rights and remedies (including other rights of setoff) which such Lender may have.

Section 9.09 Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Consent to Service of Process. (a) This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the law of the State of New York.

(b) Each party hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally submits, for itself and its property, to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the State of New York sitting in New York County and of the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York sitting in New York County, and any appellate court from any thereof, in any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to any Loan Document, or for recognition or enforcement of any judgment, and each of the parties hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally agrees that all claims in respect of any such suit, action or proceeding may be heard and determined (and, in the case of any such claims brought by the Borrower, shall be heard and determined exclusively) in such New York State or, to the extent permitted by law, in such Federal court. Each of the parties hereto agrees that a final judgment in any such suit, action 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. Nothing in this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall affect any right that the Administrative Agent or any Lender may otherwise have to bring any suit, action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document against the Borrower or its properties in the courts of any jurisdiction.

(c) Each party hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waives, to the fullest extent it may legally and effectively do so, any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document in any court referred to in paragraph (b) of this Section. Each of the parties hereto hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of such action or proceeding in any such court.

(d) Each party hereto hereby irrevocably consents to service of process in the manner provided for notices in Section 9.01. Nothing in this Agreement or any other Loan Document will affect the right of any party hereto or thereto to serve process in any other manner permitted by law.

Section 9.10 WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. EACH PARTY HERETO HEREBY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, ANY OTHER LOAN DOCUMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY (WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER THEORY). EACH PARTY HERETO (A) CERTIFIES THAT NO REPRESENTATIVE, AGENT OR ATTORNEY OF ANY OTHER PARTY HAS REPRESENTED, EXPRESSLY OR OTHERWISE, THAT SUCH OTHER PARTY WOULD NOT, IN THE EVENT OF LITIGATION, SEEK TO ENFORCE THE FOREGOING WAIVER AND (B) ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT AND THE OTHER PARTIES HERETO HAVE BEEN INDUCED TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT BY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE MUTUAL WAIVERS AND CERTIFICATIONS IN THIS SECTION.

 

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Section 9.11 Headings. Article and Section headings and the Table of Contents used herein are for convenience of reference only, are not part of this Agreement and shall not affect the construction of, or be taken into consideration in interpreting, this Agreement.

Section 9.12 Confidentiality. The Administrative Agent and each Lender agrees to maintain the confidentiality of the Information (as defined below), except that Information may be disclosed (a) to its Affiliates and its and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents, including accountants, legal counsel and other advisors (it being understood that the Persons to whom such disclosure is made shall be subject to a professional or other obligation of confidentiality or will be informed of the confidential nature of such Information and instructed to keep such Information confidential), (b) to the extent requested by any regulatory authority or self-regulatory authority, (c) to the extent required by applicable laws or regulations or by any subpoena or similar legal process, (d) to any other party to this Agreement, (e) in connection with the exercise of any remedies hereunder or any suit, action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document or the enforcement of rights hereunder, (f) subject to an agreement containing provisions substantially the same as those of this Section, to (i) any assignee of or Participant in, or any prospective assignee of or Participant in, any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement, (ii) any actual or prospective counterparty to any swap or derivative transaction relating to the Borrower and its obligations or (iii) any credit insurance provider to such Person, or, in each case, any advisor of the foregoing, (g) on a confidential basis to (i) any rating agency in connection with rating the credit facilities provided for herein or (ii) the CUSIP Service Bureau or any similar agency in connection with the issuance and monitoring of CUSIP numbers with respect to the credit facilities provided for herein, (h) to market data collectors and service providers to the Administrative Agent in connection with the administration and management of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, (i) with the consent of the Borrower or (j) to the extent such Information (i) becomes publicly available other than as a result of a breach of this Section or (ii) becomes available to the Administrative Agent or any Lender on a non-confidential basis from a source other than the Borrower. For purposes of this Section, “Information” means all information received from the Borrower relating to the Borrower, its Subsidiaries or their business, other than any such information that is available to the Administrative Agent or any Lender on a non-confidential basis prior to disclosure by the Borrower; provided that, in the case of information received from the Borrower after the date hereof, such information is identified at the time of delivery as confidential. Any Person required to maintain the confidentiality of Information as provided in this Section shall be considered to have complied with its obligation to do so if such Person has exercised the same degree of care to maintain the confidentiality of such Information as a prudent Person engaged in the same business or following customary procedures for such business would accord to its own confidential information.

Section 9.13 Non-Public Information.

(a) Each Lender acknowledges that all information, including requests for waivers and amendments, furnished by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent pursuant to or in connection with, or in the course of administering, this Agreement will be syndicate-level information, which may contain MNPI. Each Lender represents to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent that (i) it has developed compliance procedures regarding the use of MNPI and that it will handle MNPI in accordance with such procedures and applicable law, including Federal, state and foreign securities laws, and (ii) it has identified in its Administrative Questionnaire a credit contact who may receive information that may contain MNPI in accordance with its compliance procedures and applicable law, including Federal, state and foreign securities laws.

 

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(b) The Borrower and each Lender acknowledge that, if information furnished by the Borrower pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement is being distributed by the Administrative Agent through the Platform, (i) the Administrative Agent may post any information that the Borrower has indicated as containing MNPI solely on that portion of the Platform designated for Private Side Lender Representatives and (ii) if the Borrower has not indicated whether any information furnished by it pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement contains MNPI, the Administrative Agent reserves the right to post such information solely on that portion of the Platform designated for Private Side Lender Representatives. The Borrower agrees to designate all information provided by it to the Administrative Agent that is suitable to be made available to Public Side Lender Representatives, and the Administrative Agent shall be entitled to rely on any such designation by the Borrower without liability or responsibility for the independent verification thereof.

Section 9.14 Interest Rate Limitation. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if at any time the interest rate applicable to any Loan, together with all fees, charges and other amounts which are treated as interest on such Loan under applicable law (collectively, the “Charges”), shall exceed the maximum lawful rate (the “Maximum Rate”) which may be contracted for, charged, taken, received or reserved by the Lender holding such Loan in accordance with applicable law, the rate of interest payable in respect of such Loan hereunder, together with all Charges payable in respect thereof, shall be limited to the Maximum Rate and, to the extent lawful, the interest and Charges that would have been payable in respect of such Loan but were not payable as a result of the operation of this Section shall be cumulated and the interest and Charges payable to such Lender in respect of other Loans or periods shall be increased (but not above the Maximum Rate therefor) until such cumulated amount, together with interest thereon at the Federal Funds Effective Rate to the date of repayment, shall have been received by such Lender.

Section 9.15 Waiver of Certain Provisions under the Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement. The Borrower hereby gives notice that, concurrently with the occurrence of the Effective Date, all Commitments under, and as defined in, the Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement shall terminate. Each Lender that is also a party to the Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement hereby agrees that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement, such notice shall be effective to terminate such Commitments as set forth above, and waives any provisions of the Existing 364-Day Credit Agreement that would require a longer notice period or a different type of notice.

Section 9.16 Acknowledgment and Consent to Bail-In of Affected Financial Institutions. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Loan Document or in any other agreement, arrangement or understanding among any such parties, each party hereto acknowledges that any liability of any Affected Financial Institution arising under any Loan Document may be subject to the Write-Down and Conversion Powers of the applicable 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 the applicable Resolution Authority to any such liabilities arising hereunder that may be payable to it by any party hereto that is an Affected 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;

 

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(ii) a conversion of all, or a portion of, such liability into shares or other instruments of ownership in such Affected 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 any other Loan Document; or

(iii) the variation of the terms of such liability in connection with the exercise of the Write-Down and Conversion Powers of the applicable Resolution Authority.

Section 9.17 USA PATRIOT Act. Each Lender hereby notifies the Borrower that pursuant to the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act and/or the Beneficial Ownership Regulation, 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 such Lender to identify the Borrower in accordance with the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Beneficial Ownership Regulation.

Section 9.18 No Fiduciary Relationship. Each Lender may have economic interests that conflict with those of the Borrower. The Borrower, on behalf of itself and its Subsidiaries, agrees that in connection with all aspects of the transactions contemplated hereby or by the other Loan Documents and any communications in connection therewith, the Borrower, its Subsidiaries and its other Affiliates, on the one hand, and the Administrative Agent, the Lenders and their 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 Administrative Agent, the Lenders or their Affiliates, and no such duty will be deemed to have arisen in connection with any such transaction or communications. The Administrative Agent, the Lenders and their Affiliates may, in addition to providing or participating in commercial lending facility such as that provided hereunder, be engaged, for their own accounts or the accounts of customers, in a broad range of transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries or other Affiliates, and none of the Administrative Agent, the Lenders or their Affiliates has any obligation to disclose any of such interests to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or other Affiliates. The Borrower, on behalf of itself and its Subsidiaries, agrees that it will not assert, and will not permit its Subsidiaries to assert, any claims against the Administrative Agent, the Lenders or their Affiliates with respect to any alleged breach of a fiduciary duty in connection with any aspect of any transaction contemplated hereby.

[Signature Pages Follow]

 

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

 

KELLANOVA,
By:  

/s/ Joel A. VanderKooi

Name:   Joel A. VanderKooi
Title:   Vice President and Treasurer

[Signature Page to Kellanova 364-Day Credit Agreement]


BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., as Administrative Agent
By:  

/s/ Jeanmarie Curtis

Name:   Jeanmarie Curtis
Title:   Vice President

[Signature Page to Kellanova 364-Day Credit Agreement]


SIGNATURE PAGE TO
364-DAY CREDIT AGREEMENT OF
KELLANOVA
BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
By:  

/s/ John Dorost

Name:   John Dorost
Title:   Director
CITIBANK, N.A.
By:  

/s/ Michael Vondriska

Name:   Michael Vondriska
Title:   Vice President
COÖPERATIEVE RABOBANK U.A., NEW YORK BRANCH
By:  

/s/ Michael Falter

Name:   Michael Falter
Title:   Managing Director
By:  

/s/ Yacouba Kane

Name:   Yacouba Kane
Title:   Executive Director
MIZUHO BANK, LTD.
By:  

/s/ Tracy Rahn

Name:   Tracy Rahn
Title:   Managing Director
SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ Rosa Pritsch

Name:   Rosa Pritsch
Title:   Director

[Signature Page to Kellanova 364-Day Credit Agreement]


ING BANK N.V., DUBLIN BRANCH
By:  

/s/ Cormac Langford

Name:   Cormac Langford
Title:   Managing Director
By:  

/s/ Sean Hassett

Name:   Sean Hassett
Title:   Director
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
By:  

/s/ Charles Shaw

Name:   Charles Shaw
Title:   Executive Director
BARCLAYS BANK PLC
By:  

/s/ Christopher M. Aitkin

Name:   Christopher M. Aitkin
Title:   Director
BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA, S.A. NEW YORK BRANCH
By:  

/s/ Cara Younger

Name:   Cara Younger
Title:   Managing Director
By:  

/s/ Armen Semizian

Name:   Armen Semizian
Title:   Managing Director
HSBC BANK USA, N.A.
By:  

/s/ Catherine Dong

Name:   Catherine Dong
Title:   Director, Consumer & Retail

[Signature Page to Kellanova 364-Day Credit Agreement]


THE NORTHERN TRUST COMPANY
By:  

/s/ Will Hicks

Name:   Will Hicks
Title:   Vice President
THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK, NEW YORK BRANCH
By:  

/s/ Victoria Roberts

Name:   Victoria Roberts
Title:   Authorized Signatory
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
By:  

/s/ Peter Hale

Name:   Peter Hale
Title:   Vice President
SOCIETE GENERALE
By:  

/s/ Richard Bernal

Name:   Richard Bernal
Title:   Managing Director
UNICREDIT BANK GMBH, NEW YORK BRANCH
By:  

/s/ Betsy Briggs

Name:   Betsy Briggs
Title:   Director
By:  

/s/ Stephan Stoffe

Name:   Stephan Stoffel
Title:   Associate Director
BANK OF CHINA LIMITED, CHICAGO BRANCH
By:  

/s/ Libo Sun

Name:   Libo Sun
Title:   SVP & Branch Manager

[Signature Page to Kellanova 364-Day Credit Agreement]


THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA
By:  

/s/ Sarah Shaikh

Name:   Sarah Shaikh
Title:   Managing Director
AGFIRST FARM CREDIT BANK
By:  

/s/ Brandon Waring

Name:   Brandon Waring
Title:   Vice President Capital Markets
GREENSTONE FARM CREDIT SERVICES, ACA
By:  

/s/ Shane Prichard

Name:   Shane Prichard
Title:   Vice President Capital Markets
ICICI BANK LTD, NEW YORK BRANCH
By:  

/s/ Akshay Chaturvedi

Name:   Akshay Chaturvedi
Title:   Country Head – ICICI Bank USA

[Signature Page to Kellanova 364-Day Credit Agreement]