Supplemental Indenture, dated February 1, 2011, of Nicor Gas to BNY Mellon Trust Company, Trustee, under Indenture dated as of January 1, 1954

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Prepared by Andrew Kling, Schiff Hardin LLP, 233 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606

 

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This bond is transferable by the registered owner hereof, in person or by duly authorized attorney, at the office or agency of the Company in the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or, at the option of registered owner, at the office or agency of the Company in the Borough of Manhattan, The City and State of New York, upon surrender and cancellation of this bond; and thereupon a new registered bond or bonds without coupons of the same aggregate principal amount and series will, upon the payment of any transfer tax or taxes payable, be issued to the transferee in exchange herefor.  The Company shall not be required to exchange or transfer this bond if this bond or a portion hereof has been selected for redemption.

 

The security represented by this certificate has not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or qualified under any state securities laws and may not be transferred, sold or otherwise disposed of except while a registration statement is in effect or pursuant to an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

 

(END OF BOND FORM)

 

and

 

WHEREAS, all acts and things necessary to make this Supplemental Indenture, when duly executed and delivered, a valid, binding and legal instrument in accordance with its terms, and for the purposes herein expressed, have been done and performed, and the execution and delivery of this Supplemental Indenture have in all respects been duly authorized;

 

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and of the sum of one dollar paid by the Trustee to the Company, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, for the purpose of securing the due and punctual payment of the principal of and the interest and premium, if any, on all bonds which shall be issued under the Indenture, and for the purpose of securing the faithful performance and observance of all the covenants and conditions set forth in the Indenture and in all indentures supplemental thereto, the Company by these presents does grant, bargain, sell, transfer, assign, pledge, mortgage, warrant and convey unto The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as Trustee, and its successor or successors in the trust hereby created, all property, real and personal ( other than property expressly excepted from the lien and operation of the Indenture), which, at the actual date of execution and delivery of this Supplemental Indenture, is solely used or held for use in the operation by the Company of its gas utility system and in the conduct of its gas utility business and all property, real and personal, used or useful in the gas utility business (other than property expressly excepted from the lien and operation of the Indenture) acquired by the Company after the actual date of execution and delivery of this Supplemental Indenture or (subject to the provisions of Section 16.03 of the Indenture) by any successor corporation after such execution and delivery, and it is further agreed by and between the Company and the Trustee as follows:

 

Section 1. The bonds of this Series shall, as hereinbefore recited, be designated as the Company’s “First Mortgage Bonds, 2.86% Series due February 1, 2016”.  The bonds of this Series which may be issued and outstanding shall not exceed $75,000,000 in aggregate principal amount, exclusive of bonds of such series authenticated and delivered pursuant to Section 4.12 of the Indenture.

 

Section 2. The bonds of this Series shall be registered bonds without coupons, and the form of such bonds, and of the Trustee’s certificate of authentication to be endorsed on all bonds of this Series, shall be substantially as hereinbefore recited, respectively.

 

Section 3. The bonds of this Series shall be issued in the denomination of $1,000,000 each and in such integral multiple or multiples thereof as shall be determined and authorized by the Board of Directors of the Company or by any officer of the Company authorized by the Board of Directors to make such determination, the authorization of the denomination of any bond to be conclusively evidenced by the execution thereof on behalf of the Company.  The bonds of this Series shall be numbered RU-1 and consecutively upwards, or in such other appropriate manner as shall be determined and authorized by the Board of Directors of the Company.

 

All bonds of this Series shall be dated February 1, 2011 except that each bond issued on or after the first payment of interest thereon shall be dated as of the date of the interest payment date thereof to which interest shall have been paid on the bonds of such series next preceding the date of issue, unless issued on an interest payment date to which interest shall have been so paid, in which event such bonds shall be dated as of the date of issue; provided, however, that bonds

 

issued on or after January 15 and before the next succeeding February 1 or on or after July 15 and before the next succeeding August 1 shall be dated the next succeeding interest payment date if interest shall have been paid to such date.  All bonds of this Series shall mature February 1, 2016 and shall bear interest at the rate of 2.86% per annum until the principal thereof shall be paid.  Such interest shall be calculated on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months and shall be payable semi-annually on the first day of August and the first day of February in each year, beginning August 1, 2011.  So long as there is no existing default in the payment of interest on the bonds of this Series, such interest shall be payable to the person in whose name each such bond is registered on the January 15 or July 15 (whether or not a business day), as the case may be, next preceding the respective interest payment dates; provided, however, if and to the extent that the Company shall default in the payment of interest due on such interest payment date, such defaulted interest shall be paid to the person in whose name each such bond is registered on the record date fixed, in advance, by the Company for the payment of such defaulted interest. Interest will accrue on overdue interest installments at the rate of 2.86% per annum.

 

The principal of and interest and premium, if any, on the bonds of this Series shall be payable in any coin or currency of the United States of America which at the time of payment is legal tender for the payment of public and private debts, and shall be payable at the office or agency of the Company in the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, or, at the option of the registered owner, at the office or agency of the Company in the Borough of Manhattan, The City and State of New York.  Any installment of interest on the bonds may, at the Company’s option, be paid by mailing checks for such interest payable to or upon the written order of the person entitled thereto to the address of such person as it appears on the registration books.  The bonds of this Series shall be registrable, transferabl e and exchangeable in the manner provided in Sections 4.08 and 4.09 of the Indenture, at either of such offices or agencies.

 

Section 4. The bonds of this Series, upon the mailing of notice and in the manner provided in Section 7.01 of the Indenture (except that no published notice shall be required for the bonds of this Series) and with the effect provided in Section 7.02 thereof, shall be redeemable at the option of the Company, as a whole at any time or in part from time to time, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the bonds of this Series to be redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest of the principal amount being redeemed to the date of redemption plus the Make-Whole Amount applicable thereto. “Make-Whole Amount” means, with respect to any bond of this Series, an amount equal to the excess, if any, of the Discounted Value of the Remaini ng Scheduled Payments with respect to the Called Principal of such bond of this Series over the amount of such Called Principal, provided that the Make-Whole Amount may in no event be less than zero.  For the purposes of determining the Make-Whole Amount, the following terms have the following meanings:

 

“Called Principal” means, with respect to any bond of this Series, the principal of such bond of this Series that is to be redeemed.

 

“Discounted Value” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any bond of this Series, the amount obtained by discounting all Remaining Scheduled Payments with respect to such Called Principal from their respective scheduled due dates to the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, in accordance with accepted

 

 

financial practice and at a discount factor (applied on the same periodic basis as that on which interest on the bond of this Series is payable) equal to the Reinvestment Yield with respect to such Called Principal.

 

“Reinvestment Yield” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any bond of this Series, .50% over the yield to maturity implied by (i) the yields reported as of 10:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the second Business Day preceding the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, on the display designated as “Page PX1” (or such other display as may replace Page PX1) on Bloomberg Financial Markets (“Bloomberg”) or, if Page PX1 (or its successor screen on Bloomberg) is unavailable, the Telerate Access Service screen which corresponds most closely to Page PX1 for the most recently issued actively traded U.S. Treasury securities having a maturity equal to t he Remaining Average Life of such Called Principal as of such Settlement Date, or (ii) if such yields are not reported as of such time or the yields reported as of such time are not ascertainable (including by way of interpolation), the Treasury Constant Maturity Series Yields reported, for the latest day for which such yields have been so reported as of the second Business Day preceding the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, in Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.15 (519) (or any comparable successor publication) for actively traded U.S. Treasury securities having a constant maturity equal to the Remaining Average Life of such Called Principal as of such Settlement Date.  Such implied yield will be determined, if necessary, by (a) converting U.S. Treasury bill quotations to bond equivalent yields in accordance with accepted financial practice and (b) interpolating linearly be tween (1) the actively traded U.S. Treasury security with the maturity closest to and greater than such Remaining Average Life and (2) the actively traded U.S. Treasury security with the maturity closest to and less than such Remaining Average Life.  The Reinvestment Yield shall be rounded to the number of decimal places as appears in the interest rate of the applicable bond of this Series.

 

“Remaining Average Life” means, with respect to any Called Principal, the number of years (calculated to the nearest one-twelfth year) obtained by dividing (i) such Called Principal into (ii) the sum of the products obtained by multiplying (a) the principal component of each Remaining Scheduled Payment with respect to such Called Principal by (b) the number of years (calculated to the nearest one-twelfth year) that will elapse between the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal and the scheduled due date of such Remaining Scheduled Payment.

 

“Remaining Scheduled Payments” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any bond of this Series, all payments of such Called Principal and interest thereon that would be due after the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal if no payment of such Called Principal were made prior to its scheduled due date, provided that if such Settlement Date is not a date on which interest payments are due to be made under the terms of the bond of this Series, then the amount of the next succeeding scheduled interest payment will be reduced by the amount of interest accrued to such Settlement Date and required to be paid on such Settlement Date pursuant to the terms of this Supplemental Ind enture.

 

 

“Settlement Date” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any bond of this Series, the date on which such Called Principal is to be redeemed.

 

Section 5. No sinking fund is to be provided for the bonds of this Series.

 

ARTICLE II.                      

 

 

Section 1. This Supplemental Indenture is executed by the Company and the Trustee pursuant to provisions of Section 4.02 of the Indenture and the terms and conditions hereof shall be deemed to be a part of the terms and conditions of the Indenture for any and all purposes.  The Indenture, as heretofore supplemented and as supplemented by this Supplemental Indenture, is in all respects ratified and confirmed.

 

Section 2. This Supplemental Indenture shall bind and, subject to the provisions of Article XVI of the Indenture, inure to the benefit of the respective successors and assigns of the parties hereto.

 

Section 3. Although this Supplemental Indenture is made as of January 25, 2011, effective February 1, 2011, it shall be effective only from and after the actual time of its execution and delivery by the Company and the Trustee on the date indicated by their respective acknowledgements hereto.

 

Section 4. This Supplemental Indenture may be simultaneously executed in any number of counterparts, and all such counterparts executed and delivered, each as an original, shall constitute but one and the same instrument.

 

Section 5.  The recitals herein are deemed to be those of the Company and not of the Trustee.  The Trustee makes no representations as to the validity or sufficiency of this Supplemental Indenture.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Northern Illinois Gas Company has caused this Supplemental Indenture to be executed in its name by its President, a Vice President, or Treasurer, and its corporate seal to be hereunto affixed and attested by its Assistant Secretary, and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as Trustee under the Indenture, has caused this Supplemental Indenture to be executed in its name by one of its Vice Presidents, and its seal to be hereunto affixed and attested by one of its Vice Presidents, all as of the day and year first above written.

 

NORTHERN ILLINOIS GAS COMPANY   BY:  /s/ DOUGLAS M. RUSCHAU                                                                                      Douglas M. Ruschau Vice President and Treasurer
	ATTEST: BY:  /s/ NEIL J. MALONEY                          Neil J. Maloney Assistant Secretary
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.,    as Trustee   BY:  /s/ D. G. DONOVAN                                                                                                       Name: D.G. Donovan Title:  Vice President
	ATTEST: BY:  /s/ M. CALLAHAN Name:  M. Callahan Title:  Vice President

 

 

STATE OF ILLINOIS                                           }           SS:

COUNTY OF DUPAGE                                        }

 

I, Connie Yambert, a Notary Public in the State aforesaid, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that Douglas M. Ruschau, Vice President and Treasurer of Northern Illinois Gas Company, an Illinois corporation, one of the parties described in and which executed the foregoing instrument, and Neil J. Maloney, Assistant Secretary of said corporation, who are both personally known to me to be the same persons whose names are subscribed to the foregoing instrument as such Vice President and Treasurer and Assistant Secretary, respectively, and who are both personally known to me to be the Vice President and Treasurer and Assistant Secretary, respectively, of said corporation, appeared before me this day in person and severally acknowledged that they signed, sealed, executed and delivered said ins trument as their free and voluntary act as such Vice President and Treasurer and Assistant Secretary, respectively, of said corporation, and as the free and voluntary act of said corporation, for the uses and purposes therein set forth.

 

GIVEN under my hand and notarial seal this 24th day of January, 2011.

 

	/s/ CONNIE YAMBERT
	Notary Public

My Commission expires February 11, 2013.

 

 

STATE OF ILLINOIS                                           }           SS:

COUNTY OF COOK                                            }

 

I, Julie Meadors, a Notary Public in and for the said County, in the State aforesaid, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that D.G. Donovan, a Vice President of The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., one of the parties described in and which executed the foregoing instrument, and M. Callahan, a Vice President of said trust company, who are both personally known to me to be the same persons whose names are subscribed to the foregoing instrument as such Vice Presidents and who are both personally known to me to be Vice Presidents of said trust company, appeared before me this day in person and severally acknowledged that they signed, sealed, executed and delivered said instrument as their free and voluntary act as such Vice Presidents of said trust company, and as the free and vo luntary act of said trust company, for the uses and purposes therein set forth.

 

GIVEN under my hand and notarial seal this 25th day of January, 2011.

 

	/s/ JULIE MEADORS
	Notary Public

My Commission expires January 7, 2012.