Underwriting Agreement relating to the shares, dated August 12, 2020, between Stewart Information Services Corporation and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, as representative of the several underwriters listed on Schedule I thereto

EX-1.1 2 tm2027601d1_ex1-1.htm EXHIBIT 1.1

Exhibit 1.1

 

EXECUTION VERSION

 

Stewart Information Services Corporation

 

2,631,600 Shares

 

Common Stock, Par Value $1.00 per Share

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

August 12, 2020

 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
     As representative (the “Representative”) of the several Underwriters
     named in Schedule I hereto,

 

c/o Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC,
200 West Street,
New York, New York 10282.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Stewart Information Services Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated in this agreement (this “Agreement”), to issue and sell to the Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”) an aggregate of 2,631,600 shares (the “Firm Securities”) and, at the election of the Underwriters pursuant to Section 2 hereof, up to 394,740 additional shares (the “Optional Securities” and, together with the Firm Securities, the “Securities”) of Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share, of the Company (the “Stock”).

 

1.            The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each of the Underwriters that:

 

(a)            An “automatic shelf registration statement” as defined under Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”) on Form S-3 (File No. 333-240279) in respect of the Securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) not earlier than three years prior to the date hereof; such registration statement, and any post-effective amendment thereto, became effective on filing; and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of such registration statement or any part thereof has been issued and no proceeding for that purpose has been initiated or threatened by the Commission, and no notice of objection of the Commission to the use of such registration statement or any post-effective amendment thereto pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) under the Act has been received by the Company (the base prospectus filed as part of such registration statement, in the form in which it has most recently been filed with the Commission on or prior to the date of this Agreement, is hereinafter called the “Basic Prospectus”; any preliminary prospectus (including any preliminary prospectus supplement) relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act is hereinafter called a “Preliminary Prospectus”; the various parts of such registration statement, including all exhibits thereto but excluding Form T-1 and including any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that is filed with the Commission and deemed by virtue of Rule 430B to be part of such registration statement, each as amended at the time such part of the registration statement became effective, are hereinafter collectively called the “Registration Statement”; the Basic Prospectus, as amended and supplemented immediately prior to the Applicable Time (as defined below), is hereinafter called the “Pricing Prospectus”; the form of the final prospectus relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof is hereinafter called the “Prospectus”; any reference herein to the Basic Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 under the Act, as of the date of such prospectus; any reference to any amendment or supplement to the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act and any documents filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and incorporated therein, in each case after the date of the Basic Prospectus, such Preliminary Prospectus, or the Prospectus, as the case may be; any reference to any amendment to the Registration Statement shall be deemed to refer to and include any annual report of the Company filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the effective date of the Registration Statement that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement; any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Rule 163B under the Act is hereinafter called a “Testing-the-Waters Communication”; any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Act is hereinafter called a “Written Testing-the-Waters Communication”; and any “issuer free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 433 under the Act relating to the Securities is hereinafter called an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”);

 

 

(b)            (A) No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and (B) each Preliminary Prospectus, at the time of filing thereof, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and did not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information (as defined below);

 

(c)            For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Applicable Time” is 6:00 P.M. (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement. The Pricing Prospectus, as supplemented by the information listed on Schedule II(c) hereto, taken together (collectively, the “Pricing Disclosure Package”), as of the Applicable Time did not, and as of each Time of Delivery (as defined below) will not, include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and each Written Testing-the-Waters Communication does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and each Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time, did not, and as of each Time of Delivery will not, include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements or omissions made in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information;

 

 

(d)           The documents incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, when they became effective or were filed with the Commission, as the case may be, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and none of such documents contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus or any further amendment or supplement thereto, when such documents become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information; and no such documents were filed with the Commission since the Commission’s close of business on the business day immediately prior to the date of this Agreement and prior to the execution of this Agreement;

 

(e)            The Registration Statement conforms, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and do not and will not, as of the applicable effective date as to each part of the Registration Statement, as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, and as of each Time of Delivery, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information;

 

(f)            Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has, since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus, (i) sustained any material loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or any action, notice, order or decree from a court, governmental agency or Insurance Department (as defined below) or (ii) entered into any transaction or agreement (whether or not in the ordinary course of business) that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, in each case otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus. Since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus, (i) there has not been any change in the capital stock (other than as a result of (A) the exercise, if any, of stock options or the award, if any, of stock options or restricted stock in the ordinary course of business pursuant to the Company’s equity plans that are described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus or (B) the issuance, if any, of stock upon conversion of Company securities as described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus) or long term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries and (ii) there has not been any Material Adverse Effect (as defined below). As used in this Agreement, “Material Adverse Effect” shall mean any material adverse change or effect, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change or effect, in or affecting (i) the business, properties, general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, or (ii) the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement, including the issuance and sale of the Securities, or to consummate the transactions contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus;

 

 

(g)           The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property and good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects except such as are described in the Pricing Prospectus or such as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its subsidiaries; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company and its subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its subsidiaries;

 

(h)           The Company and each of its Significant Subsidiaries (as defined in 17 CFR § 210.1-02(w)) has been (i) duly organized and is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own and or lease its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus and (ii) duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, except, in the case of this clause (ii), where the failure to be in good standing, have such power or authority or so qualified would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and each subsidiary of the Company has been listed in the Registration Statement;

 

(i)            The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and conform to the description of the Stock contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. All of the issued shares of capital stock of each subsidiary of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and (except, in the case of any foreign subsidiary, for directors’ qualifying shares) are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims, except for such liens or encumbrances described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus; and the Securities have been duly and validly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor as provided herein, will be duly and validly issued and fully paid and non-assessable and will conform to the description of the Stock contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; and the issuance of the Securities is not subject to any preemptive or similar rights;

 

 

(j)            The issue and sale of the Securities and the compliance by the Company with this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement and the Pricing Prospectus will not conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, (i) any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, (ii) the certificate of incorporation or by-laws (or other applicable organizational document) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or (iii) any statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties, including any governmental authority in any jurisdiction primarily charged with the regulation of the business of insurance in such jurisdiction (an “Insurance Department”); except, in the case of (i) and (iii), for such defaults, breaches or violations that would not individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the issue and sale of the Securities or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except such as have been obtained under the Act and for such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters;

 

(k)           Neither the Company nor any of its Significant Subsidiaries is (i) in violation of its certificate of incorporation or by-laws (or other applicable organization document), (ii) in violation of any statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties, including any Insurance Department, (iii) in default in the performance or observance of (A) any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound, or (B)  any reinsurance contract, treaty or arrangement (including any facultative agreements, indemnity agreements, or other agreements) involving the cession or assumption of reinsurance, coinsurance, excess insurance, or retrocessions and any terminated or expired reinsurance contract, treaty or agreement (“Reinsurance Contract”), except, in the case of the foregoing clauses (ii) and (iii), for such defaults as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(l)            Each Reinsurance Contract to which the Company or any subsidiary of the Company that conducts the business of insurance or reinsurance (each, an “Insurance Subsidiary”) is a party, or by which any Insurance Subsidiary is bound or subject, is a valid and binding obligation of the parties thereto, is in full force and effect and is enforceable in accordance with its terms, except where the failure to be in full force and effect or so enforceable would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. None of the Company or any of its Insurance Subsidiaries has received any written notice from any of the other parties to any Reinsurance Contract to the effect that such other party intends not to perform thereunder, and the Company and its Insurance Subsidiaries have no reason to believe that any of the parties to any Reinsurance Contract will be unable to perform thereunder, except where such non-performance would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

 

(m)          The statements set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and Prospectus under the caption “Description of Capital Stock”, insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Stock, under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income and Estate Tax Consequences for Non-U.S. Holders of Common Stock”, and under the caption “Underwriting”, insofar as they purport to describe the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are accurate, complete and fair in all material respects;

 

(n)           Other than as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries or, to the Company’s knowledge, any officer or director of the Company is a party or of which any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or, to the Company’s knowledge, any officer or director of the Company is the subject which, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries (or such officer or director), would individually or in the aggregate have a Material Adverse Effect; and, to the Company’s knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or others;

 

(o)           The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof, will not be an “investment company”, as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”);

 

(p)           (A)(i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement, (ii) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purpose of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act (whether such amendment was by post-effective amendment, incorporated report filed pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act or form of prospectus), and (iii) at the time the Company or any person acting on its behalf (within the meaning, for this clause only, of Rule 163(c) under the Act) made any offer relating to the Securities in reliance on the exemption of Rule 163 under the Act, the Company was a “well-known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act; and (B) at the time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or any offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Act) of the Securities, and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act;

 

(q)           KPMG LLP is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, has certified certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries and has audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and management’s assessment thereof;

 

 

(r)            The Company maintains a system of internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that (i) complies with the requirements of the Exchange Act, (ii) has been designed by the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or under their supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and (iii) is sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (A) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (B) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain accountability for assets, (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (D) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences, and (E) the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus, and the Prospectus present fairly the information called for in all material respects and have been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto; and the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective and the Company is not aware of any material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting;

  

(s)           Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus, there has been no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially and adversely affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;

 

(t)            The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act; such disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company and its subsidiaries is made known to the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer by others within those entities; and such disclosure controls and procedures are effective;

 

(u)           None of the Company or any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person, while acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries has (i) made, offered, promised or authorized any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense (or taken any act in furtherance thereof); (ii) made, offered, promised or authorized any direct or indirect unlawful payment; or (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, the Bribery Act 2010 of the United Kingdom or any other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption law;

 

(v)           The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with the requirements of applicable anti-money laundering laws, including, but not limited to, the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, as amended by the USA PATRIOT ACT of 2001, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and the applicable anti-money laundering laws of the various jurisdictions in which the Company and its subsidiaries conduct business (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened;

 

 

(w)          None of the Company or any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is currently the subject or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Government, including, without limitation, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, or the U.S. Department of State and including, without limitation, the designation as a “specially designated national” or “blocked person,” the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury, the United Nations Security Council, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), nor is the Company or any of its subsidiaries located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or target of Sanctions; the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Securities hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity (i) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business with any person, or in any country or territory, that, at the time of such funding, is the subject or the target of Sanctions or (ii) in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions;

  

(x)           This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company;

 

(y)           (i) The financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules and notes, present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its subsidiaries at the dates indicated and the statement of operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its subsidiaries for the periods specified; said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved. The supporting schedules, if any, present fairly in all material respects in accordance with GAAP the information required to be stated therein. The selected financial data and the summary financial information included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus present fairly in all material respects the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent with that of the audited financial statements included therein. No historical or pro forma financial statements or supporting schedules are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus under the Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. All disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus regarding “non-GAAP financial measures” (as such term is defined by the rules and regulations of the Commission) comply with Regulation G of the Exchange Act and Item 10 of Regulation S-K of the Act, to the extent applicable; and (ii) each statement, together with all exhibits and schedules thereto, and all actuarial opinions, affirmations and certification and all required supplemental materials required in connection therewith, filed by each Insurance Subsidiary with any Insurance Department since January 1, 2017 (the “Statutory Statements”) was prepared in conformity in all material respects with the statutory accounting practices prescribed by such Insurance Department (“SAP”). Each such Statutory Statement, as of its date, presents fairly and in conformity in all material respects with SAP the statutory financial condition, results of operations, changes in capital and surplus and cash flow of such Insurance Subsidiary for each of the applicable reporting periods, and was correct and complete in all material respects when filed. No material deficiencies or violations have been asserted in writing by any Insurance Department with respect to any such Statutory Statement that have not been cured or otherwise resolved to the satisfaction of such Insurance Department;

 

 

(z)            The aggregate reserves for insurance losses and loss adjustment expenses, as reflected in any Statutory Statements, (i) were computed in all material respects on the basis of methodologies consistent with those used in computing the corresponding reserves in the prior fiscal years (except as otherwise noted in the financial statements and notes thereto included in such financial statements), (ii) include provisions for all insurance loss and loss adjustment expense reserves and related items reasonably required to be established in accordance with applicable laws, (iii) were determined in accordance with generally accepted actuarial standards consistently applied (except as otherwise noted in such Statutory Statements) and (iv) were fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with sound actuarial principles; to the knowledge of the Company, the information and data furnished by the Company and its subsidiaries to its independent actuaries in connection with such computations and determinations were accurate in all material respects;

 

(aa)         Nothing has come to the attention of the Company that has caused the Company to believe that any statistical or market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus is not based on or derived from sources that are reliable and accurate in all material respects;

 

(bb)         Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, (i) each of the Company and its subsidiaries have paid all federal, state, local and foreign taxes required to be paid and filed all tax returns required to be filed, in each case, through the date hereof, except for such failures to pay or file as would not individually or in the aggregate have a Material Adverse Effect, and (ii) there is no tax deficiency that has been asserted against the Company, any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties or assets that would, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(cc)         The Company and its subsidiaries possess all licenses, franchises, permits, certificates, approvals, registrations or other similar authorizations issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory authorities that are necessary for the ownership or lease of their respective properties or the conduct of their respective businesses, including the business of insurance or reinsurance, as described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus (the “Permits”) in valid form, except where the failure to possess such Permits would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; except in each case as described in the Pricing Prospectus or would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (i) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in default under any Permit, and (ii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received written notice alleging any material violation of any of the terms or conditions of any Permit or any failure to maintain any Permit, or that would otherwise reasonably be expected to lead to the revocation, failure to renew in the ordinary course or limitation, suspension or restriction of any Permit; and no Insurance Department has issued any order or decree impairing, restricting or prohibiting the payment of dividends by any Insurance Subsidiary to its parent in respect of its issued shares of capital stock;

 

(dd)         Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus or would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company, its subsidiaries and any “employee benefit plan” (as defined in Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (collectively, “ERISA”)) established or maintained by the Company, its subsidiaries or their ERISA Affiliates (as defined below) are in compliance with ERISA. “ERISA Affiliate” means, with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries, any member of any group of organizations described in Sections 414(b), (c), (m) or (o) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), of which the Company or such subsidiary is a member. No “reportable event” (as defined under ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur with respect to any “employee benefit plan” established or maintained by the Company, any of its subsidiaries or any of their ERISA Affiliates for which the Company or any of its subsidiaries would have any material liability;

 

 

(ee)          Except as disclosure in the Pricing Prospectus or would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect labor dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is contemplated or threatened;

 

(ff)           The Company and its subsidiaries have insurance (including self-insurance) covering their properties, operations, personnel and businesses, including business interruption insurance, which insurance (including self-insurance) is in amounts and insures against such losses and risks as are prudent and customary for companies engaged in similar businesses in similar industries and adequate to protect the Company and its subsidiaries; and (i) except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus or would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received notice from any insurer or agent of such insurer that capital improvements or other expenditures are required or necessary to be made in order to continue such insurance and (ii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage at reasonable cost from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business;

 

(gg)         Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, no subsidiary of the Company is currently prohibited, directly or indirectly, by any Insurance Department or under any agreement or other instrument to which it is a party or is subject, from: (i) paying any dividends to the Company or from making any other distribution on such subsidiary’s capital stock; (ii) repaying to the Company any loans or advances to such subsidiary from the Company; or (iii) transferring any of such subsidiary’s properties or assets to the Company or any other subsidiary of the Company;

 

(hh)         The Company and each of its subsidiaries owns or possesses, or can acquire on reasonable terms, adequate patents, patent licenses, trademarks, service marks and trade names necessary to carry on its business as presently conducted, and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice of infringement of or conflict with asserted rights of others with respect to any patents, patent licenses, trademarks, service marks or trade names that in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, is reasonably likely, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

 

(ii)           The Company and its subsidiaries have implemented and maintain commercially reasonable controls, policies, procedures, and safeguards to maintain and protect their material confidential information and the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of all information technology assets and equipment, computers, systems, networks, hardware, software, websites, applications, and databases (collectively, “IT Systems”) and data (including all personal, personally identifiable, sensitive, confidential or regulated data (“Personal Data”)) used in connection with their respective businesses, and there have been no breaches, violations, outages or unauthorized uses of or accesses to the same, except for those that have been remedied without material cost or liability or the duty to notify any other person and those that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company and its subsidiaries are in material compliance with all applicable laws or statutes and all judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Personal Data and to the protection of such IT Systems and Personal Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification;

  

(jj)           The Company has not taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Securities; and

 

(kk)          Other than as described in the Pricing Prospectus, there are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Act with respect to any securities of the Company. There are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to include such securities with the Securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement.

 

2.            Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, (a) the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price per share of $36.195, the number of Firm Securities set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and (b) in the event and to the extent that the Underwriters shall exercise the election to purchase Optional Securities as provided below, the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at the purchase price per share set forth in clause (a) of this Section 2 (provided that the purchase price per Optional Security shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Securities but not payable on the Optional Securities), that portion of the number of Optional Securities as to which such election shall have been exercised (to be adjusted by you so as to eliminate fractional shares) determined by multiplying such number of Optional Securities by a fraction, the numerator of which is the maximum number of Optional Securities which such Underwriter is entitled to purchase as set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and the denominator of which is the maximum number of Optional Securities that all of the Underwriters are entitled to purchase hereunder.

 

The Company hereby grants to the Underwriters the right to purchase at their election up to 394,740 Optional Securities, at the purchase price per share set forth in the paragraph above; provided, however, that the purchase price per Optional Security shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Securities but not payable on the Optional Securities. Any such election to purchase Optional Securities may be exercised only by written notice from you to the Company, given within a period of 30 calendar days after the date of this Agreement, setting forth the aggregate number of Optional Securities to be purchased and the date on which such Optional Securities are to be delivered, as determined by you but in no event earlier than the First Time of Delivery (as defined below) or, unless you and the Company otherwise agree in writing, earlier than two or later than ten business days after the date of such notice.

 

 

3.            Upon the authorization by you of the release of the Firm Securities, the several Underwriters propose to offer the Firm Securities for sale upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

4.            (a)  The Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive or book-entry form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representative may request upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice to the Company shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representative, through the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified by the Company to the Representative at least forty-eight hours in advance. The Company will cause the certificates, if any, representing the Securities to be made available for checking and packaging at least twenty-four hours prior to the applicable Time of Delivery (as defined below) with respect thereto at the office of DTC or its designated custodian (the “Designated Office”). The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be, with respect to the Firm Securities, 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on August 17, 2020, or such other time and date as the Representative and the Company may agree upon in writing, and, with respect to the Optional Securities, 9:30 a.m., New York time, on the date specified by the Representative in the written notice given by the Representative of the Underwriters’ election to purchase such Optional Securities, or such other time and date as the Representative and the Company may agree upon in writing. Such time and date for delivery of the Firm Securities is herein called the “First Time of Delivery”, such time and date for delivery of the Optional Securities, if not the First Time of Delivery, is herein called the “Second Time of Delivery”, and each such time and date for delivery is herein called a “Time of Delivery”.

 

(b)            The documents to be delivered at each Time of Delivery by or on behalf of the parties hereto pursuant to Section 8 hereof, including the cross-receipt for the Securities and any additional documents requested by the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8(k) hereof, will be delivered at the offices of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10019 (the “Closing Location”), and the Securities will be delivered at the Designated Office, all at such Time of Delivery. A meeting will be held at the Closing Location at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next preceding such Time of Delivery, at which meeting the final drafts of the documents to be delivered pursuant to the preceding sentence will be available for review by the parties hereto. For the purposes of this Section 4, “New York Business Day” shall mean each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which is not a day on which banking institutions in New York City are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.

 

 

5.            The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters:

 

(a)            To prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by you and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act not later than the Commission’s close of business on the second business day following the date of this Agreement; to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus or the Prospectus prior to the last Time of Delivery which shall be disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus has been filed and to furnish you with copies thereof; to file promptly all other material required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act; to file promptly all reports and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date of the Prospectus and for so long as the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus in respect of the Securities, of any notice of objection of the Commission to the use of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) under the Act, of the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus or suspending any such qualification, to promptly use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal of such order; and in the event of any such issuance of a notice of objection, promptly to take such steps including, without limitation, amending the Registration Statement or filing a new registration statement, at its own expense, as may be necessary to permit offers and sales of the Securities by the Underwriters (references herein to the Registration Statement shall include any such amendment or new registration statement);

 

(b)            If required by Rule 430B(h) under the Act, to prepare a form of prospectus in a form approved by you and to file such form of prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act not later than may be required by Rule 424(b) under the Act; and to make no further amendment or supplement to such form of prospectus which shall be disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice thereof;

 

(c)            If by the third anniversary (the “Renewal Deadline”) of the initial effective date of the Registration Statement, any of the Securities remain unsold by the Underwriters, the Company will file, if it has not already done so and is eligible to do so, a new automatic shelf registration statement relating to the Securities, in a form satisfactory to you. If at the Renewal Deadline the Company is no longer eligible to file an automatic shelf registration statement, the Company will, if it has not already done so, file a new shelf registration statement relating to the Securities, in a form satisfactory to you and will use its best efforts to cause such registration statement to be declared effective within 180 days after the Renewal Deadline. The Company will take all other action necessary or appropriate to permit the public offering and sale of the Securities to continue as contemplated in the expired registration statement relating to the Securities. References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such new automatic shelf registration statement or such new shelf registration statement, as the case may be;

 

(d)            Promptly from time to time to take such action as you may reasonably request to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as you may request and to comply with such laws so as to permit the continuance of sales and dealings therein in such jurisdictions for as long as may be necessary to complete the distribution of the Securities, provided that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction;

 

 

(e)            Prior to 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and from time to time, to furnish the Underwriters with written and electronic copies of the Prospectus in New York City in such quantities as you may reasonably request, and, if the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required at any time prior to the expiration of nine months after the time of issue of the Prospectus in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities and if at such time any event shall have occurred as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made when such Prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary during such same period to amend or supplement the Prospectus or to file under the Exchange Act any document incorporated by reference in the Prospectus in order to comply with the Act or the Exchange Act, to notify you and upon your request to file such document and to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many written and electronic copies as you may from time to time reasonably request of an amended Prospectus or a supplement to the Prospectus which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and in case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) in connection with sales of any of the Securities at any time nine months or more after the time of issue of the Prospectus, upon your request but at the expense of such Underwriter, to prepare and deliver to such Underwriter as many written and electronic copies as you may request of an amended or supplemented Prospectus complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;

 

(f)            To make generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than sixteen months after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) under the Act), an earnings statement of the Company and its subsidiaries (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (including, at the option of the Company, Rule 158);

 

(g)            During the period beginning from the date hereof and continuing to and including the date that is 90 days after the date of the Prospectus, not to (i) offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with the Commission a registration statement under the Act relating to, any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Securities, including but not limited to any options or warrants to purchase shares of Stock or any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, Stock or any such substantially similar securities, (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Stock or any such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, or (iii) publicly disclose the intention to take any of the actions contemplated by the immediately preceding clauses (i) and (ii), in each case without the prior written consent of the Representative provided, however, that the foregoing restrictions shall not apply to (A) the issuance of shares of Stock, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for Stock, pursuant to employee stock option plans or dividend reinvestment plans existing on, or upon the conversion or exchange of convertible or exchangeable securities outstanding as of, the date of this Agreement and described in the Pricing Prospectus, (B) the filing by the Company of a registration statement on Form S-8 or a successor form thereto or (C) the entry into an agreement providing for the issuance by the Company of shares of Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable for shares of Stock in connection with the acquisition by the Company or any of its subsidiaries of the securities, business, property or other assets of another person or entity or pursuant to an employee benefit plan assumed by the Company in connection with such acquisition, and the issuance of any such securities pursuant to any such agreement; provided that in the case of clause (C), the aggregate number of shares of Stock that the Company may sell or issue pursuant to clause (C) shall not exceed 5% of the total number of shares of the Company’s Stock issued and outstanding immediately following the completion of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and all recipients of shares of Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable for shares of Stock shall enter into a “lock-up” agreement substantially in the form of Annex II hereto.

 

 

(h)           To pay the required Commission filing fees relating to the Securities within the time required by Rule 456(b)(1) under the Act without regard to the proviso therein and otherwise in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r) under the Act;

 

(i)            To use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement in the manner specified in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds”;

 

(j)            To use its best efforts to list, subject to notice of issuance, the Securities on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”); and

 

(k)            Upon request of any Underwriter, to furnish, or cause to be furnished, to such Underwriter an electronic version of the Company’s trademarks, servicemarks and corporate logo for use on the website, if any, operated by such Underwriter for the purpose of facilitating the on-line offering of the Securities (the “License”); provided, however, that the License shall be used solely for the purpose described above, is granted without any fee and may not be assigned or transferred

 

6.

 

(a)            The Company represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Representative, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act; each Underwriter represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Company and the Representative, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a free writing prospectus required to be filed with the Commission; any such free writing prospectus the use of which has been consented to by the Company and the Representative is listed on Schedule II(a) or Schedule II(c) hereto;

 

(b)            The Company has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 under the Act applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission or retention where required and legending;

 

(c)            The Company agrees that if at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Written Testing-the-Waters Communication any event occurred or occurs as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or Written Testing-the-Waters Communication would conflict with the information in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then prevailing, not misleading, the Company will give prompt notice thereof to the Representative and, if requested by the Representative, will prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Written Testing-the-Waters Communication or other document which will correct such conflict, statement or omission; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information;

 

 

(d)            The Company represents and agrees that (i) it has not engaged in, or authorized any other person to engage in, any Testing-the-Waters Communications, other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the prior consent of the Representative with entities that the Company reasonably believes are qualified institutional buyers as defined in Rule 144A under the Act or institutions that are accredited investors as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Act; and (ii) it has not distributed, or authorized any other person to distribute, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, other than those distributed with the prior consent of the Representative that are listed on Schedule II(d) hereto; and the Company reconfirms that the Underwriters have been authorized to act on its behalf in engaging in Testing-the-Waters Communications; and

 

(e)            Each Underwriter represents and agrees that any Testing-the-Waters Communications undertaken by it were with entities that such Underwriter reasonably believes are qualified institutional buyers as defined in Rule 144A under the Act or institutions that are accredited investors as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Act.

 

7.              The Company covenants and agrees with the several Underwriters that the Company will pay or cause to be paid the following: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company’s counsel and accountants in connection with the registration of the Securities under the Act and all other expenses in connection with the preparation, printing, reproduction and filing of the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and amendments and supplements thereto and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers; (ii) the cost of printing or producing any Agreement among Underwriters, this Agreement, any blue sky memorandum, closing documents (including any compilations thereof) and any other documents in connection with the offering, purchase, sale and delivery of the Securities; (iii) all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Securities for offering and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section 5(c) hereof, including the reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky survey; (iv) all fees and expenses in connection with listing the Securities on the NYSE; (v) the filing fees incident to, and the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with, any required review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority of the terms of the sale of the Securities; (vi) the cost of preparing the Securities; (vii) the cost and charges of any transfer agent or registrar; and (viii) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder which are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Section. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in this Section, and Sections 9 and 12 hereof, the Underwriters will pay (A) all of their own costs and expenses, including the fees of their counsel, transfer taxes on resale of any of the Securities by them, and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make, (B) in connection with any “road show” undertaken in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Securities, the travel, lodging and meal expenses of the Representative, however the Representative and the Company agree that the Representative shall pay or cause to be paid fifty percent (50%) of the cost of any aircraft chartered in connection with such road show and (C) in connection with any testing-the-waters meetings, the travel, lodging and meal expenses of the Representative, however the Representative and the Company agree that the Representative shall pay or cause to be paid fifty percent (50%) of the cost of any aircraft chartered in connection with such testing-the-waters meeting.

 

 

8.             The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder, as to the Securities to be delivered at each Time of Delivery, shall be subject, in their discretion, to the condition that all representations and warranties and other statements of the Company herein are, at and as of the Applicable Time and such Time of Delivery, true and correct, the condition that the Company shall have performed all of its obligations hereunder theretofore to be performed, and the following additional conditions:

 

(a)            The Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by the rules and regulations under the Act and in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof; all material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act shall have been filed with the Commission within the applicable time period prescribed for such filings by Rule 433; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission and no notice of objection of the Commission to the use of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) under the Act shall have been received; no stop order suspending or preventing the use of the Preliminary Prospectus, Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to your reasonable satisfaction;

 

(b)            Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to you their written opinion and negative assurance letter, dated as of such Time of Delivery and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance satisfactory to you, with respect to such matters as you may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;

 

(c)            Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to you their written opinion and negative assurance letter, dated as of such Time of Delivery and addressed to the Underwriters, in form and substance satisfactory to you to the effect set forth in Annex I hereto;

 

(d)            On the date of the Prospectus at a time prior to the execution of this Agreement, at 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the effective date of any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement filed subsequent to the date of this Agreement and also at each Time of Delivery, KPMG LLP shall have furnished to you a letter or letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof, in form and substance satisfactory to you.

 

(e)            (i)  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries shall have sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, and (ii) since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Pricing Prospectus, there shall not have been any change in the capital stock or long term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any change or effect, or any development involving a prospective change or effect, in or affecting (x) the business, properties, general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, or (y) the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement, including the issuance and sale of the Securities, or to consummate the transactions contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii), is in your judgment so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Securities being delivered at such Time of Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus;

 

 

(f)            On or after the Applicable Time (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded the Company, any of the Company’s securities or the Company’s financial strength or claims paying ability by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization”, as that term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) of the Act, and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, with possible negative implications, its rating of any of the Company, any of the Company’s securities, or the Company’s financial strength or claims paying ability.

 

(g)           On or after the Applicable Time there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) a suspension or material limitation in trading in securities generally on the NYSE; (ii) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities on the NYSE; (iii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities declared by either Federal or New York State authorities or a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States; (iv) the outbreak or escalation of hostilities involving the United States or the declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war or (v) the occurrence of any other calamity or crisis or any change in financial, political or economic conditions in the United States or elsewhere, if the effect of any such event specified in clause (iv) or (v) in your judgment makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Securities being delivered at such Time of Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus;

 

(h)           The Company shall have complied with the provisions of Section 5(e) hereof with respect to the furnishing of prospectuses on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement;

 

(i)            The Securities shall have been duly listed, subject to notice of issuance, on the NYSE;

 

(j)            The Company has obtained and delivered to the Underwriters executed copies of an agreement from each of the officers (as such term is defined in Rule 16a-1(f) under the Exchange Act) and directors of the Company, in each case in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative to the effect set forth in Annex II hereto; and

 

(k)            The Company shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to you at such Time of Delivery certificates of officers of the Company satisfactory to you as to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company herein at and as of such time, as to the performance by the Company of all of its obligations hereunder to be performed at or prior to such time, as to the matters set forth in subsections (a), (e) and (f) of this Section and as to such other matters as you may reasonably request.

 

 

9.             (a)           The Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any “roadshow” as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Act (a “roadshow”), any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and will reimburse each Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information.

 

(b)           Each Underwriter will indemnify and hold harmless the Company against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which the Company may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or any roadshow, or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or any such amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or any roadshow or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information; and will reimburse the Company for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Company in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred. As used in this Agreement with respect to an Underwriter and an applicable document, “Underwriter Information” shall mean the written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through the Representative expressly for use therein; it being understood and agreed upon that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the concession and, if applicable, reallowance figures appearing in the third paragraph under the caption “Underwriting”, and the information contained in the three paragraphs under the subheading “Price Stabilization and Short Positions” under the caption “Underwriting”.

 

 

(c)           Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under such subsection, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; provided that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 9 except to the extent that it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided further that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an indemnified party otherwise than under the preceding paragraphs of this Section 9. In case any such action shall be brought against any indemnified party and it shall notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it shall wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel satisfactory to such indemnified party (who shall not, except with the consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying party), and, after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party under such subsection for any legal expenses of other counsel or any other expenses, in each case subsequently incurred by such indemnified party, in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation. No indemnifying party shall, without the written consent of the indemnified party, effect the settlement or compromise of, or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to, any pending or threatened action or claim in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified party is an actual or potential party to such action or claim) unless such settlement, compromise or judgment (i) includes an unconditional release of the indemnified party from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

  

(d)           If the indemnification provided for in this Section 9 is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Securities. If, however, the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is not permitted by applicable law, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to such amount paid or payable by such indemnified party in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof), as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this subsection (d) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this subsection (d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to above in this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d), no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations in this subsection (d) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint.

 

 

(e)           The obligations of the Company under this Section 9 shall be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each employee, officer and director of each Underwriter, each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each broker-dealer or other affiliate of any Underwriter; and the obligations of the Underwriters under this Section 9 shall be in addition to any liability which the respective Underwriters may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each officer and director of the Company and to each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of the Act.

 

10.           (a)  If any Underwriter shall default in its obligation to purchase the Securities which it has agreed to purchase hereunder at a Time of Delivery, you may in your discretion arrange for you or another party or other parties to purchase such Securities on the terms contained herein. If within thirty six hours after such default by any Underwriter you do not arrange for the purchase of such Securities, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of thirty six hours within which to procure another party or other parties satisfactory to you to purchase such Securities on such terms. In the event that, within the respective prescribed periods, you notify the Company that you have so arranged for the purchase of such Securities, or the Company notifies you that it has so arranged for the purchase of such Securities, you or the Company shall have the right to postpone such Time of Delivery for a period of not more than seven days, in order to effect whatever changes may thereby be made necessary in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any other documents or arrangements, and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus which in your opinion may thereby be made necessary. The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall include any person substituted under this Section with like effect as if such person had originally been a party to this Agreement with respect to such Securities.

 

(b)           If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Securities which remains unpurchased does not exceed one eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Securities to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, then the Company shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the number of shares which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder at such Time of Delivery and, in addition, to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase its pro rata share (based on the number of Securities which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder) of the Securities of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

 

 

(c)           If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Securities which remains unpurchased exceeds one eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Securities to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, or if the Company shall not exercise the right described in subsection (b) above to require non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters, then this Agreement (or, with respect to the Second Time of Delivery, the obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and of the Company to sell the Optional Securities) shall thereupon terminate, without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except for the expenses to be borne by the Company and the Underwriters as provided in Section 7 hereof and the indemnity and contribution agreements in Section 9 hereof; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

 

11.           The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company and the several Underwriters, as set forth in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of them, respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation (or any statement as to the results thereof) made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or any controlling person of any Underwriter, or the Company, or any officer or director or controlling person of the Company, and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Securities.

 

12.           If this Agreement shall be terminated pursuant to Section 10 hereof, the Company shall not then be under any liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 7 and 9 hereof; but, if for any other reason, any Securities are not delivered by or on behalf of the Company as provided herein, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters through you for all out of pocket expenses approved in writing by you, including fees and disbursements of counsel, reasonably incurred by the Underwriters in making preparations for the purchase, sale and delivery of the Securities not so delivered, but the Company shall then be under no further liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 7 and 9 hereof.

 

13.           In all dealings hereunder, you shall act on behalf of each of the Underwriters, and the parties hereto shall be entitled to act and rely upon any statement, request, notice or agreement on behalf of any Underwriter made or given by you.

 

All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to the Representative in care of Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282-2198, Attention: Registration Department; and if to the Company shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to the address of the Company set forth in the Registration Statement, Attention: John L. Killea, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect upon receipt thereof.

 

14.           This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure solely to the benefit of, the Underwriters, the Company and, to the extent provided in Sections 9 and 11 hereof, the officers and directors of the Company and each person who controls the Company or any Underwriter, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, and no other person shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement. No purchaser of any of the Securities from any Underwriter shall be deemed a successor or assign by reason merely of such purchase.

 

 

15.           Time shall be of the essence of this Agreement. As used herein, the term “business day” shall mean any day when the Commission’s office in Washington, D.C. is open for business.

 

16.           The Company acknowledges and agrees that (i) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other, (ii) in connection therewith and with the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is acting solely as a principal and not the agent or fiduciary of the Company, (iii) no Underwriter has assumed an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to the offering contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters) or any other obligation to the Company except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement and (iv) the Company has consulted its own legal and financial advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate. The Company agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters, or any of them, has rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owes a fiduciary or similar duty to the Company, in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto.

 

17.           This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company and the Underwriters, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

 

18.           This Agreement and any transaction contemplated by this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to principles of conflict of laws that would results in the application of any other law than the laws of the State of New York. The Company agrees that any suit or proceeding arising in respect of this Agreement or any transaction contemplated by this Agreement will be tried exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York or, if that court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, in any state court located in The City and County of New York and the Company agrees to submit to the jurisdiction of, and to venue in, such courts.

 

19.           The Company and each of the Underwriters hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

20.           This Agreement may be executed by any one or more of the parties hereto in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such respective counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument. Counterparts may be delivered via facsimile, electronic mail (including any electronic signature covered by the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the Electronic Signatures and Records Act or other applicable law, e.g., www.docusign.com) or other transmission method and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.

 

21.           Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes.

 

 

(a)           In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

 

(b)           In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

 

(c)           As used in this section:

 

“BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k).

 

“Covered Entity” means any of the following:

 

(i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b);

 

(ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or

 

(iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b).

 

“Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable.

 

“U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

In accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

 

If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please sign and return to us counterparts hereof, and upon the acceptance hereof by you, on behalf of each of the Underwriters, this letter and such acceptance hereof shall constitute a binding agreement between each of the Underwriters and the Company. It is understood that your acceptance of this letter on behalf of each of the Underwriters is pursuant to the authority set forth in a form of Agreement among Underwriters, the form of which shall be submitted to the Company for examination upon request, but without warranty on your part as to the authority of the signers thereof.

 

	Very truly yours,
	Stewart Information Services Corporation
	By:	/s/ David C. Hisey
		Name: David C. Hisey
		Title: Chief Financial Officer, Secretary
		and Treasurer

 

Accepted as of the date hereof:
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
By:	/s/ Adam T. Greene
	Name: Adam T. Greene
	Title: Managing Director

 

On behalf of each of the Underwriters

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]

 

 

SCHEDULE I
Underwriter		Total Number of Firm Securities to be Purchased				Number of Optional Securities to be Purchased if Maximum Option Exercised
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC			2,105,280				315,792
Dowling & Partners Securities, LLC			175,440				26,316
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.			175,440				26,316
Stephens Inc.			175,440				26,316
Total			2,631,600				394,740

 

 

SCHEDULE II

 

(a) Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses not included in the Pricing Disclosure Package:

 

1. Electronic roadshow dated August 12, 2020

 

(b) Additional Documents Incorporated by Reference:

 

None.

 

(c) Information other than the Pricing Prospectus included in the Pricing Disclosure Package:

 

1. The initial public offering price per share for the Securities is $38.00

 

2. The number of Firm Securities to be purchased by the Underwriters is 2,631,600

 

3. The number of Optional Securities is 394,740

 

(d) Written Testing-the-Waters Communications:

 

None

 

 

ANNEX I

 

FORM OF COMPANY COUNSEL OPINION

 

See attached.

 

 

August [17], 2020

 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

 

as Representative of the several underwriters named in
Schedule I to the Underwriting Agreement referred to below

 

c/o          Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
                200 West Street
                New York, NY 10282

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as special counsel for Stewart Information Services Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the Underwriting Agreement dated August [12], 2020 (the “Underwriting Agreement”) between the Company and you, as representative of the other several underwriters named in Schedule I thereto (the “Underwriters”), under which you and such other Underwriters have severally agreed to purchase from the Company an aggregate of [--] shares (the “Shares”) of its common stock, par value $1.00 per share. [The Shares include [--] shares of common stock of the Company to be purchased pursuant to the option provided for by the Underwriting Agreement].

 

We have examined originals or copies of such documents, corporate records, certificates of public officials and other instruments as we have deemed necessary or advisable for the purpose of rendering this opinion.

 

We have also participated in the preparation of the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-240279) (other than the documents incorporated by reference therein (the “Incorporated Documents”)) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), relating to the registration of securities (the “Shelf Securities”) to be issued from time to time by the Company, the preliminary prospectus supplement dated August [11], 2020 relating to the Shares, and the prospectus supplement dated August [12], 2020 relating to the Shares (the “Prospectus Supplement”), and have reviewed the Incorporated Documents. The registration statement became effective under the Act upon the filing of the registration statement with the Commission on July 31, 2020 pursuant to Rule 462(e). To our knowledge, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the registration statement has been issued. The registration statement at the date of the Underwriting Agreement, including the Incorporated Documents and the information deemed to be part of the registration statement at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B under the Act, is hereinafter referred to as the “Registration Statement,” and the related prospectus (including the Incorporated Documents) dated July 31, 2020 relating to the Shelf Securities is hereinafter referred to as the “Basic Prospectus.” The Basic Prospectus, as supplemented by the Prospectus Supplement, in the form first used to confirm sales of the Shares (or in the form first made available by the Company to the Underwriters to meet requests of purchasers of the Shares under Rule 173 under the Act), is hereinafter referred to as the “Prospectus.”

 

 

In rendering the opinions expressed herein, we have, without independent inquiry or investigation, assumed that (i) all documents submitted to us as originals are authentic and complete, (ii) all documents submitted to us as copies conform to authentic, complete originals, (iii) all documents filed with or submitted to the Commission through its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system (except for required EDGAR formatting changes) conform to the versions of such documents reviewed by us prior to such formatting, (iv) all signatures on all documents that we reviewed are genuine, (v) all natural persons executing documents had and have the legal capacity to do so, (vi) all statements in certificates of public officials and officers of the Company that we reviewed were and are accurate and (vii) all representations made by the Company as to matters of fact in the documents that we reviewed were and are accurate.

 

Based upon the foregoing, and subject to the additional assumptions and qualifications set forth below, we are of the opinion that:

 

1.

The Company is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, and the Company has corporate power and authority to issue the Shares, to enter into the Underwriting Agreement and to perform its obligations thereunder.

 

2.

The Underwriting Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.

 

3.

The Shares have been duly authorized and, when issued and delivered to and paid for by the Underwriters pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, and the issuance of such Shares is not subject to any preemptive or, to our knowledge, other similar rights.

 

4.

The Company is not, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Shares and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Prospectus will not be, required to register as an “investment company” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

5.

The Company’s authorized equity capitalization is as set forth in the Prospectus.

 

6.

The execution and delivery by the Company of, and the performance by the Company of its obligations under, the Underwriting Agreement will not contravene (i) any provision of the statutory laws of the State of New York or any federal law of the United States of America that in our experience is normally applicable to general business corporations in relation to transactions of the type contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement, or the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, provided that we express no opinion as to federal or state securities laws, (ii) the certificate of incorporation or by-laws of the Company, or (iii) any agreement that is specified in Annex A hereto; provided that we express no opinion in clause (iii) as to compliance with any financial or accounting test, or any limitation or restriction expressed as a dollar (or other currency) amount, ratio or percentage in any of the agreements specified in Annex A.

 

 

7.

No consent, approval, authorization, or order of, or qualification with, any governmental body or agency under the laws of the State of New York or any federal law of the United States of America that in our experience is normally applicable to general business corporations in relation to transactions of the type contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement, or the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware is required for the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of its obligations under the Underwriting Agreement, except such as may be required under federal or state securities or Blue Sky laws as to which we express no opinion.

 

We have considered the statements included in the Prospectus under the captions “Description of Capital Stock” and “Underwriting” insofar as they summarize provisions of the certificate of incorporation and by-laws of the Company. In our opinion, such statements fairly summarize these provisions in all material respects. The statements included in the Prospectus under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income and Estate Tax Consequences for Non-U.S. Holders of Common Stock,” insofar as they purport to describe provisions of U.S. federal income tax laws or legal conclusions with respect thereto, in our opinion fairly and accurately summarize the matters referred to therein in all material respects.

 

We are members of the Bar of the State of New York, and the foregoing opinion is limited to the laws of the State of New York, the federal laws of the United States of America and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, except that we express no opinion as to any law, rule or regulation that is applicable to the Company, the Underwriting Agreement, the Shares or such transactions solely because such law, rule or regulation is part of a regulatory regime applicable to any party to any of the Underwriting Agreement or any of its affiliates due to the specific assets or business of such party or such affiliate.

 

This opinion is rendered solely to you and the other several Underwriters in connection with the Underwriting Agreement. This opinion may not be relied upon by you or the several other Underwriters for any other purpose or relied upon by any other person (including any person acquiring Shares from the several Underwriters) or furnished to any other person without our prior written consent.

 

Very truly yours,

 

 

Annex A

 

1.

Credit Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2014, by and between Stewart Information Services Corporation, the Guarantors party thereto, and Compass Bank, as administrative agent and lenders party thereto

 

2.

First Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated effective as of December 31, 2015, among Stewart Information Services Corporation, the guarantors named therein, Compass Bank, as administrative agent, and the lender party thereto

 

3.

Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of November 9, 2018, among Stewart Information Services Corporation, the guarantors named therein, Compass Bank, as administrative agent, and the lenders party thereto

 

4.

First Amendment to Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of May 7, 2020, among Stewart Information Services Corporation, the guarantors named therein, BBVA USA (formerly known as Compass Bank), as administrative agent, and the lenders party thereto

 

 

August [17], 2020

 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

 

as Representative of the several underwriters named in
Schedule I to the Underwriting Agreement referred to below

 

c/o          Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
                200 West Street
                New York, NY 10282

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as special counsel for Stewart Information Services Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the Underwriting Agreement dated August [12], 2020 (the “Underwriting Agreement”) between the Company and you, as representative of the other several underwriters named in Schedule I thereto (the “Underwriters”), under which you and such other Underwriters have severally agreed to purchase from the Company an aggregate of [--] shares (the “Shares”) of its common stock, par value $1.00 per share. [The Shares include [--] shares of common stock of the Company to be purchased pursuant to the option provided for by the Underwriting Agreement].

 

We have also participated in the preparation of the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-240279) (other than the documents incorporated by reference therein (the “Incorporated Documents”)) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), relating to the registration of securities (the “Shelf Securities”) to be issued from time to time by the Company, the preliminary prospectus supplement dated August [11], 2020 (the “Preliminary Prospectus Supplement”) relating to the Shares, and the prospectus supplement dated August [12], 2020 relating to the Shares (the “Prospectus Supplement”). The registration statement at the date of the Underwriting Agreement, including the Incorporated Documents and the information deemed to be part of the registration statement at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B under the Act, is hereinafter referred to as the “Registration Statement,” and the related prospectus (including the Incorporated Documents) dated July 31, 2020 relating to the Shelf Securities is hereinafter referred to as the “Basic Prospectus.” The Basic Prospectus, as supplemented by the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, together with the information set forth in Schedule II to the Underwriting Agreement for the Shares are hereinafter called the “Disclosure Package.” The Basic Prospectus, as supplemented by the Prospectus Supplement, in the form first used to confirm sales of the Shares (or in the form first made available by the Company to the Underwriters to meet requests of purchasers of the Shares under Rule 173 under the Act), is hereinafter referred to as the “Prospectus.”

 

We have, without independent inquiry or investigation, assumed that all documents filed with or submitted to the Commission through its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system (except for required EDGAR formatting changes) conform to the versions of such documents reviewed by us prior to such formatting.

 

 

The primary purpose of our professional engagement was not to establish or confirm factual matters or financial, accounting or quantitative information. Furthermore, many determinations involved in the preparation of the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are of a wholly or partially non-legal character or relate to legal matters outside the scope of our opinion separately delivered to you today in respect of certain matters under the laws of the State of New York, the federal laws of the United States of America and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. As a result, we are not passing upon, and do not assume any responsibility for, the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the statements contained in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, and we have not ourselves checked the accuracy, completeness or fairness of, or otherwise verified, the information furnished in such documents (except to the extent expressly set forth in our opinion letter separately delivered to you today as to statements included in the Prospectus under the captions “Description of Capital Stock,” “Underwriting” and “Material U.S. Federal Income and Estate Tax Consequences for Non-U.S. Holders of Common Stock”). However, in the course of our acting as counsel to the Company in connection with the preparation of the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, we have generally reviewed and discussed with your representatives and your counsel and with certain officers and employees of, and independent public accountants for, the Company the information furnished, whether or not subject to our check and verification. We have also reviewed and relied upon certain corporate records and documents, letters from counsel and accountants and oral and written statements of officers and other representatives of the Company and others as to the existence and consequence of certain factual and other matters.

 

On the basis of the information gained in the course of the performance of the services rendered above, but without independent check or verification except as stated above:

 

(i)

the Registration Statement and the Prospectus appear on their face to be appropriately responsive in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder; and

 

(ii)

nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that, insofar as relevant to the offering of the Shares:

 

(a)

on the date of the Underwriting Agreement, the Registration Statement contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading,

 

(b)

at [●] A/P.M. New York City time on August [12], 2020, the Disclosure Package contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or

 

 

(c)

the Prospectus as of its date or as of the date hereof contained or contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

 

In providing this letter to you and the other several Underwriters, we have not been called to pass upon, and we express no view regarding, the financial statements or financial schedules or other financial or accounting data included in the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus. In addition, we express no view as to the conveyance of the Disclosure Package or the information contained therein to investors.

 

This letter is delivered solely to you and the other several Underwriters in connection with the Underwriting Agreement. This letter may not be relied upon by you or the other several Underwriters for any other purpose or relied upon by any other person (including any person acquiring Shares from the several Underwriters) or furnished to any other person without our prior written consent.

 

Very truly yours,

 

 

ANNEX II

 

FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT

 

See attached.

 

 

FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT

 

August [●], 2020

 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC,

 

As representative of the several Underwriters
to be named in Schedule I to the Underwriting Agreement,

 

c/o Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC,
200 West Street,
New York, New York 10282.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

The undersigned understands that Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, as representative of the several Underwriters (as defined below) (the “Representative”), proposes to enter into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Stewart Information Services Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), providing for the public offering (the “Offering”) by the several Underwriters to be named in Schedule I to the Underwriting Agreement, including the Representative (the “Underwriters”), of shares (the “Securities”) of common stock, par value $1.00 per share, of the Company (the “Stock”). Capitalized terms used and not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Underwriting Agreement.

 

To induce the potential underwriters that may participate in the Offering to continue their efforts in connection with the Offering, the undersigned agrees, during the period beginning from the date hereof and continuing to and including the date that is 90 days after the date of the final prospectus used to sell the Securities (the “Restricted Period”), not to (a) offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Securities, including but not limited to any options or warrants to purchase shares of Stock or any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, Stock or any such substantially similar securities (collectively, “Restricted Securities”), whether now owned or hereinafter acquired, owned directly by the undersigned (including holding as a custodian) or with respect to which the undersigned has beneficial ownership (as such term is used in Rule 13d-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), (b) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Stock or any such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (a) or (b) above is to be settled by delivery of Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, or (c) publicly disclose the intention to take any of the actions contemplated by clause (a) or (b) above, in each case without the prior written consent of the Representative. The foregoing sentence shall not apply to:

 

 

(i)            the exercise of an option to purchase shares of Stock granted under any equity incentive plan, stock option plan, stock bonus plan or stock purchase plan of the Company existing on the date of this Agreement and described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus after the completion of the Offering, provided that the underlying shares of Stock shall continue to be subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth in this Agreement, and provided, further that, except as permitted below, if the undersigned is required to make a filing under the Exchange Act, the undersigned shall include a statement in such filing to the effect that the filing relates to the exercise of a stock option, that no shares of Stock were sold by the reporting person and that the shares of Stock received upon exercise of the stock option are subject to restrictions on transfer set forth in this Agreement;

 

(ii)           transfers of Stock, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for Stock, as a bona fide gift;

 

(iii)          transfers of Stock, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for Stock, by (a) will or intestacy or (b) to any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned or immediate family of the undersigned;

 

(iv)         distributions by a trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned or immediate family of the undersigned, to its beneficiaries;

 

(v)           if the undersigned is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity (a) transfers to another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity that is a direct or indirect affiliate (as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) of the undersigned or (b) distributions of Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable for Stock to limited partners, limited liability company members or stockholders of the undersigned;

 

(vi)         the disposition of shares of Stock to the Company in a transaction exempt from Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act solely in order to satisfy the payment of taxes due with respect to the settlement of restricted stock units or the exercise of stock options, insofar as such restricted stock unit or stock option is outstanding as of the date hereof or as of the date of the Prospectus, provided that any public filing under the Exchange Act shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that no shares of Stock were sold by the reporting person and that such disposition was solely for the purpose of satisfying the payment of taxes;

 

(vii)        transfers or sales of shares of Stock pursuant to any contract, instruction or plan complying with Rule 10b5-1 promulgated under the Exchange Act (a “10b5-1 Plan”) that has been entered into by the undersigned prior to the date hereof and not thereafter modified, provided that any filing required to be made under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act as a result of such transfer or sale shall state that such transfer or sale is pursuant to a 10b5-1 Plan;

 

(viii)        the establishment of a 10b5-1 Plan, provided that such plan does not provide for the transfer or sale of shares of Stock during the Restricted Period; and

 

 

(ix)          the transfer of shares of Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Stock, after the completion of the Offering, pursuant to a bona fide third party tender offer, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction that is approved by the Board of Directors of the Company, involving a Change of Control (as defined below), provided, that in the event that the tender offer, merger, consolidation or other such transaction is not completed, the Stock owned by the undersigned shall remain subject to the restrictions contained in this Agreement. For purposes of this paragraph (ix), “Change of Control” shall mean the transfer (whether by tender offer, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction), in one transaction or a series of related transactions, to a person or group of affiliated persons (other than an Underwriter pursuant to the Offering), of the Company’s voting securities if, after such transfer, such person or group of affiliated persons would hold more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Company (or the surviving entity);

 

provided that, (A) in the case of any transfer pursuant to clause (ii), (iii), (iv) or (v), each donee or transferee shall sign and deliver a lock-up letter, substantially in the form of this letter, with respect to such Stock and securities and (B) no public filing or other public announcement related to such transfers shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period, other than, in the case of any transfer pursuant to clause (i), (iii)(a), (vi), (vii) and (ix), one or more Forms 4 or 5 under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act that include the reason for such transfer.

 

In addition, the undersigned agrees, during the Restricted Period, not to make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to, the registration of any Restricted Securities. The undersigned also agrees and consents to the entry of stop transfer instructions with the Company’s transfer agent and registrar against the transfer of the undersigned’s Restricted Securities except in compliance with the foregoing restrictions.

 

The undersigned understands that the Company and the Underwriters are relying upon this agreement in proceeding toward consummation of the Offering. The undersigned further understands that this agreement is irrevocable and shall be binding upon the undersigned’s heirs, legal representatives, successors and assigns. The undersigned represents and warrants that it has the full power and authority to enter this agreement.

 

Whether the Offering actually occurs depends on a number of factors, including market conditions. Any Offering will only be made pursuant to an Underwriting Agreement, the terms of which are subject to negotiation between the Company and the Underwriters. The undersigned understands that, if the Underwriting Agreement shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the Firm Securities to be sold thereunder, the undersigned shall automatically be released from all obligations under this Agreement.

 

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to principles of conflict of laws that would result in the application of any other law than the laws of the State of New York.