SUPERVALU INC. 7.75% Senior Notes due 2022 Underwriting Agreement

Contract Categories: Business Finance - Underwriting Agreements
EX-1.1 2 a14-24412_1ex1d1.htm EX-1.1

Exhibit 1.1

 

EXECUTION VERSION

 

SUPERVALU INC.

 

7.75% Senior Notes due 2022

 


 

Underwriting Agreement

 

November 10, 2014

 

Goldman, Sachs & Co.,

As representative of the several Underwriters
named in Schedule I hereto,

 

c/o Goldman, Sachs & Co.
200 West Street,
New York, New York 10282-2198.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

SUPERVALU INC., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated herein, to issue and sell to the Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”) an aggregate of $350,000,000 principal amount of the 7.75% Senior Notes due 2022 specified above (the “Securities”).

 

The Securities will be issued pursuant to that certain indenture, dated as of July 1, 1987 (as amended and supplemented, the “Indenture”), between the Company and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, formerly known as Bankers Trust Company, as trustee (in such capacity, the “Trustee”).  In connection with the issuance of Securities, the Company intends to redeem a portion of its outstanding 8.000% Senior Notes due 2016 (the “2016 Notes”).

 

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. 333-200039) 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

 

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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 “Base 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 Base Prospectus, as amended and supplemented immediately prior to the Applicable Time (as defined in Section 1(c) hereof), 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 Base 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 Base 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 Base 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; 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)                                 No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and each Preliminary Prospectus, at the time

 

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of filing thereof, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the “Trust Indenture 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 information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through Goldman, Sachs & Co. expressly for use therein;

 

(c)                                  For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Applicable Time” is 3:30 p.m. (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement; the Pricing Prospectus as supplemented by the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof which is included as Schedule III hereto, taken together (collectively, the “Pricing Disclosure Package”) as of the Applicable Time, did 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 listed on Schedule II(a) hereto does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus and each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time, did 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 the Pricing Disclosure Package or an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through Goldman, Sachs & Co. expressly for use therein;

 

(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 Prospectus or any further amendment or supplement thereto, when such documents become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be,

 

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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 information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through Goldman, Sachs & Co. expressly for use therein; 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, except as set forth on Schedule II(b) hereto;

 

(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 Trust Indenture 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 and as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, 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 information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through Goldman, Sachs & Co. expressly for use therein;

 

(f)                                   (A) (i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement, (ii) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purposes 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 earliest time after the filing of the Registration Statement that the Company or another offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) under the Act) of the Securities, the Company was not an “ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act;

 

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(g)                                  KPMG LLP, who have certified certain financial statements and supporting schedules of the Company and its subsidiaries included in the Pricing Prospectus and have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and management’s assessment, are independent public accountants as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and is a registered public accounting firm within the meaning of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002;

 

(h)                                 Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus 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 court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus; and, since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus, there has not been any material adverse change in the capital stock or long term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus;

 

(i)                                     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 interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its subsidiaries;

 

(j)                                    The Company is subject to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

 

(k)                                 The statements set forth in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Description of the Notes”, insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Securities are accurate, complete and fair;

 

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(l)                                     To the knowledge of the Company, no labor dispute, unfair labor practice complaint, strike or work stoppage or union representation question with respect to the employees of the Company or any of the Companies’ respective subsidiaries exists or is imminent; except in each case, where the breach of this representation would not result in a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(m)                             The financial statements included in the Pricing Prospectus, together with the related schedule and notes, present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries at the dates indicated and the statement of operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries for the periods specified in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”); and said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved, except as set forth therein.  The supporting schedules, if any, present fairly in accordance with GAAP the information required to be stated therein.  The selected financial data and the summary financial information included in the Pricing Prospectus present fairly, in conformity with GAAP (other than Adjusted EBITDA and ratios and segment information derived therefrom), the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent in all material respects with that of the audited financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 22, 2014;

 

(n)                                 All pro forma financial data included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus comply with the requirements of the Act and the Exchange Act, and the assumptions used in the preparation of such pro forma financial statements and data are reasonable, the pro forma adjustments used therein are appropriate to give effect to the transactions or circumstances described therein and the pro forma adjustments have been properly applied to the historical amounts in the compilation of those data; the Company does not have any material liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent (including any off balance sheet obligations), not described in the Pricing Prospectus; and all disclosures contained or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) 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 under the Act, to the extent applicable;

 

(o)                                 The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been

 

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prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto;

 

(p)                                 Since the date as of which information is given in the Pricing Prospectus, except as otherwise stated therein, (A) there has been no material adverse change or to the knowledge of the Company after due inquiry, any development involving a prospective material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings or business affairs of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business (a “Material Adverse Effect”) and (B) there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company on any class of its capital stock;

 

(q)                                 The Company has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, and has corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities; and the Company is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each other jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not result in a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(r)                                    Each “significant subsidiary” of the Company (as such term is defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X) (each a “Significant Subsidiary” and collectively, the “Significant Subsidiaries”) has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation, or limited liability company, as applicable, in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its formation, has corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus and is duly qualified as a foreign corporation or limited liability company to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not result in a Material Adverse Effect; except as otherwise disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, all of the issued and outstanding capital stock (or equity interests, as applicable) of each Significant Subsidiary has been duly authorized and validly issued, is fully paid and non-assessable and is owned by the Company, directly or through subsidiaries, free and clear of any security interest, mortgage, pledge, lien, encumbrance, claim or equity, except for such security interests, mortgages, pledges, liens, encumbrances or

 

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claims arising under the asset based revolving credit facility dated March 21, 2013, as amended, among the Company and the lenders named therein, or the term loan facility dated as of May 16, 2013, as amended, among the Company and the lenders named therein, and except in each case where the Company purports to own less than all of such stock or where the breach of this representation would not result in a Material Adverse Effect; and none of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company’s Significant Subsidiaries was issued in violation of preemptive or similar rights of any securityholder of such Significant Subsidiaries;

 

(s)                                   The authorized, issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company is as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus (except for subsequent issuances, if any, pursuant to reservations, agreements, employee benefit plans referred to in the Pricing Prospectus or pursuant to the exercise of convertible securities or options referred to in the Pricing Prospectus). The shares of issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and non-assessable; none of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company was issued in violation of the preemptive or other similar rights of any securityholder of the Company;

 

(t)                                    The Company has full right, power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities and to perform its obligations hereunder and thereunder; and all action required to be taken by the Company for the due and proper authorization, execution and delivery of each of this Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities and the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby has been duly and validly taken;

 

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

 

(v)                                 The Indenture has been duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act, and has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and constitutes a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as the enforcement thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency (including, without limitation, all laws relating to fraudulent transfers), reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws relating to or affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and except as enforcement thereof is subject to general principles of equity (regardless of whether enforcement is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law);

 

(w)                               The Securities have been duly authorized and, at the Time of Delivery, will have been duly executed by the Company and, when authenticated, issued and delivered in the manner provided for in the

 

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Indenture and delivered against payment of the purchase price therefor as provided in this Agreement, will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforcement thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency (including, without limitation, all laws relating to fraudulent transfers), reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws relating to or affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and except as enforcement thereof is subject to general principles of equity (regardless of whether enforcement is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law), and will be in the form contemplated by, and entitled to the benefits of, the Indenture;

 

(x)                                 The Securities and the Indenture will conform in all material respects to the respective statements relating thereto contained in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus and will be in substantially the respective forms described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus under the caption “Description of the Notes”;

 

(y)                                 Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation of its charter or by-laws or in default in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement, note, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which or any of them may be bound, or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject (collectively, “Agreements and Instruments”) except for such defaults that would not result in a Material Adverse Effect; and the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities and the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and in the Pricing Prospectus and any other agreement or instrument entered into or issued or to be entered into or issued by the Company in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby or in the Pricing Prospectus and the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and in the Pricing Prospectus (including the issuance and sale of the Securities and the use of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities as described in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds”) and compliance by the Company with its obligations hereunder and thereunder, have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action and do not and will not, whether with or without the giving of notice or passage of time or both, conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default or a Repayment Event (as defined below) under, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries pursuant to, the Agreements and Instruments except for such conflicts, breaches or defaults or Repayment Events or

 

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liens, charges or encumbrances that, singly or in the aggregate, would not result in a Material Adverse Effect, nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or by-laws of the Company or the charter, by-laws, limited liability agreement or other organization documents of any of its subsidiaries or any applicable law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order, writ or decree of any government, government instrumentality or court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their assets, properties or operations. As used herein, a “Repayment Event” means any event or condition which gives the holder of any note, debenture or other evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of such indebtedness by the Company or any of its subsidiaries;

 

(z)                                  Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, there is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or brought by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, now pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, against the Company or any of its subsidiaries which is required to be disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus (other than as disclosed therein), or which would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, or which would reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect (i) the properties or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, (ii) the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities, (iii) the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and in the Pricing Prospectus and any other agreement or instrument entered into or issued or to be entered into or issued by the Company in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby;

 

(aa)                          There are no contracts or documents which are required to be described in the Pricing Prospectus or the documents incorporated by reference therein or to be filed as exhibits thereto which have not been so described and filed as required;

 

(bb)                          Neither the Company nor any controlled affiliate has taken, nor will the Company or any affiliate take, directly or indirectly, any action which is designed to or which has constituted or which would be expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities;

 

(cc)                            No filing with, or authorization, approval, consent, license, order, registration, qualification or decree of, any court or governmental authority or agency is necessary or required for (i) the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder in connection with the offering,

 

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issuance or sale of the Securities hereunder, (ii) the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Indenture or the Securities, (iii) the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and in the Pricing Prospectus and any other agreement or instrument entered into or issued or to be entered into or issued by the Company in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, except such as have been already obtained or as may be required under the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder or state securities laws;

 

(dd)                          The Company and each of its subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances 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 GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets; (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (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. The Company and its subsidiaries maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (the “1934 Act Regulations”), and except as described in the Pricing Prospectus, since the end of the Company’s most recent audited fiscal year, there has been (1) no material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the 1934 Act Regulations) (whether or not remediated) and (2) no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. The Company and each of its subsidiaries employ disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the 1934 Act Regulations) that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the 1934 Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, and is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive officer or officers and principal financial officer or officers, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure;

 

(ee)                            There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply in all material respects with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection

 

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therewith (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications;

 

(ff)                              The Company is not required, and after giving effect to the issuance and sale of the Securities and the application of the net proceeds therefrom as described in the Pricing Prospectus will not be required, to register as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”);

 

(gg)                            Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, (i) the Company and its subsidiaries own or have the right to use all patents, patent applications, trademarks, service marks, trade names, trademark registrations, service mark registrations, domain names and other source indicators, copyrights and copyrightable works, know-how, trade secrets, systems, procedures, proprietary or confidential information and all other worldwide intellectual property, industrial property and proprietary rights (collectively, “Intellectual Property”) used in the conduct of their respective businesses; (ii) the Company and its subsidiaries conduct of their respective businesses does not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any Intellectual Property of any person; (iii) the Company and its subsidiaries have not received any written notice of any claim relating to Intellectual Property; and (iv) to the knowledge of the Company, the Intellectual Property of the Company and its respective subsidiaries is not being infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated by any person, except, in each case with respect to (i) through (iv) hereof, that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(hh)                          The Company and its subsidiaries have paid all federal, state, local and foreign taxes and filed all tax returns required to be paid or filed through the date hereof, except for taxes with respect to which the failure to make correct filing or payment, individually or in the aggregate, would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and except as otherwise disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, there is no tax deficiency that has been, or would reasonably be expected to be, asserted against the Company or any of its respective properties or assets;

 

(ii)                                  The Company and its subsidiaries possess all licenses, sub-licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations issued by, and have made all declarations and filings with, 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 as described in the Pricing Prospectus, except where the failure to possess or make the same would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to result in a Material Adverse

 

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Effect; and except as described in the Pricing Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its respective subsidiaries has received notice of any revocation or modification of any such license, sub-license, certificate, permit or authorization or has any reason to believe that any such license, certificate, permit or authorization will not be renewed in the ordinary course, except where such revocation, modification or lack of renewal would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(jj)                                Except as would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, (i) no labor disturbance by or dispute with employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the best knowledge of the Company, is contemplated or threatened and the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by, or dispute with, the employees of any of the Company’s or any of the Company’s subsidiaries’ principal suppliers, contractors or customers; (ii) the hours worked by and payments made to employees of the Company and its subsidiaries have not been in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act or any other applicable federal, state, local or foreign law dealing with such matters, (iii) all payments due from the Company or any subsidiary, or for which any claim may be made against the Company or any subsidiary, on account of wages and employee health and welfare insurance and other benefits, have been paid or accrued as a liability on the books of the Company or such subsidiary and (iv) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice of cancellation or termination with respect to any collective bargaining agreement. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received in the last three years prior to the date of this Agreement any decertification with respect to any collective bargaining agreement to which it is a party;

 

(kk)                          (i) The Company and its subsidiaries (x) are, and at all prior times were, in compliance with any and all applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules, regulations, requirements, decisions and orders relating to the protection of human health or safety, the environment, natural resources, hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (y) have received and are in compliance with all permits, licenses, certificates or other authorizations or approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses, and (z) have not received notice of any actual or potential liability under or relating to any Environmental Laws, including for the investigation or remediation of any disposal or release of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, and have no knowledge of any event or condition that would reasonably be expected to result in any such notice,

 

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and (ii) there are no costs or liabilities associated with Environmental Laws of or relating to the Company or its subsidiaries, except in the case of each of (i) and (ii) above, for any such failure to comply, or failure to receive required permits, licenses or approvals, or cost or liability, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; and (iii) except as described in the Pricing Prospectus, (x) there are no proceedings that are pending, or that are known to be contemplated, against the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any Environmental Laws in which a governmental entity is also a party, other than such proceedings regarding which it is reasonably believed no monetary sanctions of $25,000,000 or more will be imposed, and (y) the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any issues regarding compliance with Environmental Laws, or liabilities or other obligations under Environmental Laws or concerning hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, that would reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position of the Company and its subsidiaries;

 

(ll)                                  (i) Each employee benefit plan, within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), for which the Company or any member of its “Controlled Group” (defined as any organization which is a member of a controlled group of corporations within the meaning of Section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”)) would have any liability (each, a “Plan”) has been maintained in compliance in all material respects with its terms and the requirements of any applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations, including but not limited to ERISA and the Code;  (ii) no prohibited transaction, within the meaning of Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, has occurred with respect to any Plan excluding transactions effected pursuant to a statutory or administrative exemption; (iii) for each Plan that is subject to the funding rules of Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA, no Plan has failed (whether or not waived), or is reasonably expected to fail, to satisfy the minimum funding standards (within the meaning of Section 302 of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code) applicable to such Plan; (iv) no Plan is, or is reasonably expected to be, in “at risk status” (within the meaning of Section 303(i) of ERISA) or “endangered status” or “critical status” (within the meaning of Section 305 of ERISA) except as reported in the financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus; (v) except as otherwise disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, the fair market value of the assets of each Plan exceeds the present value of all benefits accrued under such Plan (determined based on those assumptions used to fund such Plan); (vi) no “reportable event” (within the meaning of Section 4043(c) of ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably

 

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expected to occur; (vii) each Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified and nothing has occurred, whether by action or by failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification and (viii) neither the Company nor any member of the Controlled Group has incurred, nor reasonably expects to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA (other than contributions to the Plan or premiums to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, in the ordinary course and without default) in respect of a Plan (including a “multiemployer plan”, within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA), except in each case with respect to such events or conditions set forth in (i) through (viii) hereof, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(mm)                  Except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries have insurance covering their respective properties, operations, personnel and businesses, including business interruption insurance, which insurance, in the Company’s reasonable judgment, is in amounts and insures against such losses and risks as are adequate to protect the Company and its subsidiaries and their respective businesses; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has (i) 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 or (ii) 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, except in each case, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(nn)                          Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any controlled affiliate and their respective directors, officers, agents, employees acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries has (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity; (ii) made any direct or indirect unlawful payment to any foreign or domestic government official or employee from corporate funds; (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977; (iv) violated or is in violation of any provision of the Bribery Act 2010 of the United Kingdom; or (v) made any bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment in each case, other than as specifically described in Attachment A (Statement of Facts) to the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, dated as of September 13, 2010, among the Company, Shoppers Food Warehouse Corp. and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland;

 

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(oo)                          The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (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;

 

(pp)                          None of the Company, any of its subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, any controlled affiliates and their respective directors, officers, agents or employees is currently the subject or the target of any U.S. economic sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Government, (including, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”)), the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”), the European Union (“EU”) or Her Majesty’s Treasury (“HMT” and, together with OFAC, UNSC and EU, “Sanctions”), nor is the Company or any of its subsidiaries located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions; and 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 any activities of or business with any person, or in any country or territory, that, at the time of such funding, is the subject 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;

 

(qq)                          None of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding with any person (other than this Agreement) that would give rise to a valid claim against any of them or any Underwriter for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment for the offering and sale of the Securities;

 

(rr)                                No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) included in any documents incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith; and

 

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(ss)                              Nothing has come to the attention of the Company that has caused the Company to believe that the statistical and market-related data included in the Pricing Prospectus are not based on or derived from sources that the Company and each of its subsidiaries reasonably believe are reliable and accurate in all material respects.

 

2.                                      Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, 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 of 99.25% of the principal amount thereof, the principal amount of Securities set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto.

 

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

 

4.                                      (a)  The Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder will be represented by one or more definitive global Securities in book-entry form which will be deposited by or on behalf of the Company with The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its designated custodian.  The Company will deliver the Securities to Goldman, Sachs & Co., for the account of each 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 Goldman, Sachs & Co. at least forty-eight hours in advance, by causing DTC to credit the Securities to the account of Goldman, Sachs & Co. at DTC.  The Company will cause the certificates representing the Securities to be made available to Goldman, Sachs & Co. for checking at least twenty-four hours prior to the Time of Delivery (as defined below) at the office of DTC or its designated custodian (the “Designated Office”).  The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on November 14, 2014 or such other time and date as Goldman, Sachs & Co. and the Company may agree upon in writing.  Such time and date are herein called the “Time of Delivery”.

 

(b)                     The documents to be delivered at the 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(i) hereof, will be delivered at the offices of Latham & Watkins LLP, 885 Third Avenue, New York, New York, 10022 (the “Closing Location”), and the Securities will be delivered at the Designated Office, all at the Time of Delivery.  A meeting will be held at the Closing Location at 6:00 p.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next preceding the Time of

 

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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 Agreement, “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 Base Prospectus or the Prospectus prior to the 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 prepare a final term sheet, containing solely a description of the Securities, in a form approved by you and to file such term sheet pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act within the time required by such Rule; 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

 

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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

 

19



 

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, the Exchange Act or the Trust Indenture 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 three months after the Time of Delivery, not to 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, or publicly disclose the intention to

 

20



 

make any such offer, sale, pledge, disposition or filing, without your prior written consent;

 

(h)                     Not to be or become, at any time prior to the expiration of two years after the Time of Delivery, an open-end investment company, unit investment trust, closed-end investment company or face-amount certificate company that is or is required to be registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act;

 

(i)                         Except for such documents that are publicly available on EDGAR and only for so long as the Securities are outstanding, to furnish to the holders of the Securities as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year an annual report (including a balance sheet and statements of income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries certified by independent public accountants) and, as soon as practicable after the end of each of the first three quarters of each fiscal year (beginning with the fiscal quarter ending after the date of the Prospectus), to make available to its stockholders consolidated summary financial information of the Company and its subsidiaries for such quarter in reasonable detail;

 

(j)                        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; and

 

(k)                     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”.

 

6.

 

(a)                     (i)                                     The Company represents and agrees that, other than the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof, without the prior consent of Goldman, Sachs & Co., 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;

 

(ii)                                  each Underwriter represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Company and Goldman, Sachs & Co., other than one or more term sheets relating to the Securities containing customary information and conveyed to purchasers of Securities, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a free writing prospectus; and

 

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(iii)                               any such free writing prospectus the use of which has been consented to by the Company and Goldman, Sachs & Co. (other than the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof) is listed on Schedule II(a) 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; and

 

(c)                      The Company agrees that if at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus any event occurred or occurs as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus 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 Goldman, Sachs & Co. and, if requested by Goldman, Sachs & Co., will prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus 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 information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through Goldman, Sachs & Co. expressly for use therein.

 

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 Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, 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, the Indenture, the 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(d) hereof, including the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky and legal investment surveys; provided that the aggregate amount of expenses incurred pursuant to this subclause (iii) shall not exceed $10,000 in the aggregate; (iv) the costs and

 

22



 

expenses of the Company relating to investor presentations on any “road show” (including any electronic road show) undertaken in connection with the marketing of the Securities, including without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics; (v) the cost of preparing the Securities; (vi) any fees charged by securities rating services for rating the Securities; (vii) 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; provided that the aggregate amount of expenses incurred pursuant to this subclause (vii) shall not exceed $10,000 in the aggregate; (viii) the fees and expenses of the Trustee and any agent of the Trustee and the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Trustee in connection with the Indenture and the Securities; (ix) all fees and expenses in connection with listing the Securities on the Exchange; and (x) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder which are not otherwise 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 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.

 

8.                                      The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder 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 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; the final term sheet contemplated by Section 5(a) hereof, and any other 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 periods 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 Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and all requests for

 

23



 

additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to your reasonable satisfaction;

 

(b)                     Latham & Watkins LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to you such opinion or opinions, dated the Time of Delivery, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to you, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;

 

(c)                      Dorsey & Whitney LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to you their written opinion and negative assurance letter, each dated the Time of Delivery, substantially in the form of the draft attached as Annex I-A hereto, and Karla C. Robertson, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the Company, shall have furnished to you her written opinion dated the Time of Delivery, substantially in the form of the draft attached as Annex I-B 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 the Time of Delivery, KPMG LLP shall have furnished to the Underwriters 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 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 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, except as otherwise stated therein, there has been no material adverse change or any development involving a prospective material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings or business affairs of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, 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 offering or the delivery of the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus;

 

(f)                       On or after the Applicable Time (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded the Company’s debt securities by

 

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any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization”, as that term is defined by the Commission for purposes of Rule 436(g)(2) under 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’s debt securities;

 

(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 New York Stock Exchange; (ii) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities on the New York Stock Exchange; (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 offering or the delivery of the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in 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)                         Substantially simultaneously with the purchase of the Securities by the Underwriters, the Company shall have delivered to the trustee under the 2016 Notes an irrevocable notice of redemption providing that at least $350,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of the 2016 Notes shall be redeemed in accordance with the terms of the indenture governing the 2016 Notes; and

 

(j)                        The Company shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to you at the 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 of Delivery, as to the performance by the Company of all of its obligations hereunder to be performed at or prior to such Time of Delivery, as to the matters set forth in subsections (a) and (e) 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

 

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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 Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act, 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 Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through Goldman, Sachs & Co. expressly for use therein.

 

(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 Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, 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 Base Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or any such amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through Goldman, Sachs & Co. expressly for use therein; 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.

 

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(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; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have to any indemnified party otherwise than under such subsection, unless and to the extent it did not otherwise learn of such action and such failure results in the forfeiture by the indemnifying party of substantial rights and defenses and will not, in any event, relieve the indemnifying party from any obligations to any indemnified party other than the indemnification obligation provided in subsection (a) or (b) 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 reasonably 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

 

27



 

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.

 

28



 

(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 person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each broker-dealer 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, 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 the 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 principal amount of such Securities which remains unpurchased does not exceed one eleventh of the aggregate principal amount of all the Securities, then the Company shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the principal amount of Securities which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder and, in addition, to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase its pro rata share (based on the principal amount 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

 

29



 

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 principal amount of Securities which remains unpurchased exceeds one eleventh of the aggregate principal amount of all the Securities, 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 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, the 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, 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 jointly or by Goldman, Sachs & Co. on behalf of you as the representative.

 

All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to you as the representative at 200 West Street, New York, New

 

30



 

York 10282-2198, Attention: Registration Department; and if to the Company shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to the address of the Company set forth in the Registration Statement, Attention: Corporate Secretary; provided, however, that any notice to an Underwriter pursuant to Section 9(c) hereof shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to such Underwriter at its address set forth in its Underwriters’ Questionnaire, which address will be supplied to the Company by you upon request.  Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect upon receipt thereof.

 

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.

 

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.

 

31



 

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 MATTERS RELATED TO THIS TRANSACTION 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 LAW OTHER THAN THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.  The Company agrees that any suit or proceeding arising in respect of this agreement or our engagement 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.

 

21.                               Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company is authorized to disclose to any persons the U.S. federal and state income tax treatment and tax structure of the potential transaction and all materials of any kind (including tax opinions and other tax analyses) provided to the Company relating to that treatment and structure, without the Underwriters imposing any limitation of any kind. However, any information relating to the tax treatment and tax structure shall remain confidential (and the foregoing sentence shall not apply) to the extent necessary to enable any person to comply with securities laws. For this purpose, “tax structure” is limited to any facts that may be relevant to that treatment.

 

32



 

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,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUPERVALU INC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ BRUCE H. BESANKO

 

 

 

 

Name: Bruce H. Besanko

 

 

 

 

Title: Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

 

Accepted as of the date hereof:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ MICHAEL HICKEY

 

 

 

 

Name: Michael Hickey

 

 

 

 

Title: Managing Director

 

 

 

 

For itself and on behalf of each of the Underwriters

 

33



 

SCHEDULE I

 

 

 

Principal
Amount of
Securities to
be Purchased

 

Underwriter

 

 

 

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

 

$

87,500,000

 

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

 

$

70,000,000

 

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

 

$

70,000,000

 

Barclays Capital Inc.

 

$

70,000,000

 

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated

 

$

26,250,000

 

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC

 

$

26,250,000

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

$

350,000,000

 

 



 

SCHEDULE II

 

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

 

None

 

(b)                     Additional Documents Incorporated by Reference:

 

None

 



 

SCHEDULE III

 

PRICING TERM SHEET

 

SUPERVALU INC.

 

$350,000,000 of 7.75% Senior Notes Due 2022

 

This Pricing Term Sheet should be read together with the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, subject to completion, dated November 10, 2014, relating to SUPERVALU INC.’s 7.75% senior notes due 2022 (the “Preliminary Prospectus Supplement”). The information in this Pricing Term Sheet supplements the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, supersedes the information in the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement to the extent inconsistent with the information in the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, and is otherwise qualified in its entirety by reference to the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement.  Terms used herein but not defined herein have the respective meanings given to them in the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement.

 

Issuer:

 

SUPERVALU INC.

 

 

 

Securities:

 

7.75% Senior Notes due 2022

 

 

 

Principal Amount:

 

$350,000,000

 

 

 

Maturity:

 

November 15, 2022

 

 

 

Interest Payment Dates:

 

November 15 and May 15

 

 

 

Record Dates:

 

November 1 and May 1

 

 

 

First Interest Payment Date:

 

May 15, 2015

 

 

 

Underwriting Discount

 

0.750%

 

 

 

Net Proceeds (after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses)

 

$346,475,000

 

 

 

Initial Public Offering Price:

 

100.000%, plus accrued interest from November 14, 2014

 

 

 

Yield-to-Maturity:

 

7.750%

 

 

 

Spread to Benchmark Treasury:

 

557 basis points

 



 

Benchmark Treasury:

 

1.625% UST due November 15, 2022

 

 

 

Optional Redemption Upon Certain Equity Offerings:

 

Prior to November 15, 2017, up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes at 107.750%, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date.

 

 

 

Optional Redemption:

 

On or after:

 

 

 

 

 

November 15, 2018

 

103.875

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 15, 2019

 

101.938

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 15, 2020 and thereafter

 

100.000

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date.

 

 

 

 

 

Make Whole Redemption:

 

Prior to November 15, 2018, make-whole call based on treasury plus 50 bps, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date.

 

 

 

Trade Date:

 

November 10, 2014

 

 

 

Settlement:

 

November 14, 2014 (T + 3)

 

 

 

CUSIP / ISIN:

 

CUSIP: 868536 AW3

 

ISIN: US868536AW39

 

 

 

Joint Bookrunning Managers:

 

Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

Barclays Capital Inc.

 

 

 

Co-Managers:

 

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith

Incorporated

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC

 

The Issuer has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus and the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for this offering.  Before you invest, you should read the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement and the documents incorporated by reference therein that the Issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Issuer and the offering.  Alternatively, you may get the incorporated documents the Issuer has filed with the SEC for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.  A copy of the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement for the offering can be obtained from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Prospectus Department, 200 West Street,

 

2



 

New York, NY 10282, by telephone at ###-###-####, or e-mail at ***@***.

 

3



 

Annex I-A

 

Form of Company Counsel Opinion and Negative Assurance Letter

 

1.                                      The Company is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware.

 

2.                                      The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and to execute, deliver and perform its obligations under the Underwriting Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities.

 

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

 

4.                                      The Indenture has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a legally valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms.

 

5.                                      No consent, approval, authorization or order of, or registration, qualification or filing with, any court or regulatory authority or other governmental agency or instrumentality is required in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement or the Indenture, except (a) as may be required under the securities and blue sky laws, rules and regulations of any state or foreign jurisdiction in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters, and (b) such as have been obtained or made under the Act and the Trust Indenture Act.

 

6.                                      The form and general terms of the Securities have been duly and validly authorized and established in conformity with the provisions of the Indenture by all requisite corporate action by the Company, and when such Securities have been duly executed, authenticated and delivered against payment therefor in accordance with the provisions of the Indenture and the Underwriting Agreement, such Securities will constitute legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms and the terms of the Indenture, and the holders of the Securities will be entitled to the benefits of the Indenture.

 

7.                                      The Securities and the Indenture conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof contained in the the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

8.                                      The information in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under “Description of the Notes” and “Description of Debt Securities” to the extent that they constitute a summary of the terms of the Securities, and under “Certain U.S.

 



 

Federal Income Tax Considerations,” to the extent that it constitutes a description and a summary of the provisions of the legal conclusions, laws and regulations referred to therein, has been reviewed by us and fairly presents and summarizes, in all material respects, the matters referred to therein.

 

9.                                      Neither the issue and sale of the Securities, the compliance by the Company with the provisions of the Underwriting Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities and the consummation of the transactions therein contemplated nor the fulfillment of the terms thereof will (a) conflict with or result in the acceleration of any obligation under or in a breach of, or constitute a default under any of the provisions of any indenture or agreement, in each case, filed as an exhibit to (i)  the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 22, 2014 filed with the Commission on April 23, 2014, (ii) the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended June 14, 2014 and September 6, 2014 filed with the Commission on July 24, 2014 and October 16, 2014, respectively, and (iii) the Company’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on April 18, 2014, May 7, 2014, May 20, 2014, July 21, 2014, September 16, 2014, October 1, 2014 and November [·], 2014, and, in the case of clauses (i), (ii) and (iii), to which the Company or any of the Company’s subsidiaries is a party or by which it is bound or to which its property or assets is subject (except for any indenture, agreement, document or instrument listed on Schedule A hereto, as to which such counsel expresses no opinion); (b) result in any violation of the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended to date, or its Amended and Restated Bylaws, as amended to date; or (c) contravene any law, rule or regulation of the United States or the State of New York or the Delaware General Corporation Law (except for any federal or state securities or blue sky laws, rules or regulations, as to which such counsel expresses no opinion in this paragraph 9), or any order known to us to be applicable to the Company of any court or of any other governmental body or instrumentality having jurisdiction over it or any of its property.

 

10.                               The Company is not, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities to be issued and sold by the Company under the Underwriting Agreement and the Indenture and the application of the net proceeds from such sale as described in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds,” will not be, required to register as, an “investment company,” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

11.                               The Indenture has been qualified under the Trust Indenture Act, as amended.

 

12.                               The Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (other than the financial statements and related schedules therein, as to which such counsel expresses no opinion) comply as to form in all material respects with the requirements of the Act and the Trust Indenture Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

 



 

13.                               The documents incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (except for the financial statements and supporting schedules and other financial data therein, as to which such counsel expresses no opinion), as of the dates they were filed with the Commission, complied as to form in all material respects with the requirements of the Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

 

* * * * *

 

Nothing has come to such counsel’s attention that would lead it to believe that (1) the Registration Statement, at the time the Registration Statement became effective (together with the documents incorporated by reference at that time), 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, (2) the Pricing Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time (together with the documents incorporated by reference at that time), included an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading or (3) the Prospectus, as of its date or as of the date hereof (together with the documents incorporated by reference at those times), included or includes an 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; it being understood that, in connection with clauses (1), (2) and (3) above, such counsel makes no statement as to any financial statements (including notes thereto) or financial schedules or other financial data included, or incorporated by reference, in, or omitted from, the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, or the Statement of Eligibility of the Trustee on Form T-1.

 

* * * * *

 



 

Annex I-B

 

Form of Company’s General Counsel Opinion

 

1.                                      The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware.

 

2.                                      The Company is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

3.                                      The Company has corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business in all material respects as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under the Underwriting Agreement, the Indenture and the Securities.

 

4.                                      To the best of such person’s knowledge, based upon procedures used in the ordinary course of the Company’s business (which I have no reason to believe are not an adequate basis for the following statement), and in all cases except as would not result in a Material Adverse Effect, (a)  each Significant Subsidiary has been duly incorporated or organized and is validly existing as a corporation or limited liability company in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or formation, (b) all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of each Significant Subsidiary has been duly authorized and validly issued, is fully paid and non-assessable and is owned by the Company, directly or through subsidiaries, free and clear of any security interest, mortgage, pledge, lien, encumbrance, claim or equity, except for such security interests, mortgages, pledges, liens, encumbrances or claims arising under (i) that certain Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated March 21, 2013 and as amended, among the Company, as Lead Borrower, the subsidiaries of the Company named as borrowers therein, the subsidiaries of the Company named as guarantors therein, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, Swing Line Lender and LC Issuer, certain other lenders party thereto, as LC Issuers, and the lenders party thereto, U.S. Bank, National Association and Rabobank Nederland, New York Branch, as Co-Syndication Agents, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as collateral agent, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Credit Suisse AG, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., Barclays Bank PLC and Bank of America, N.A., as Co-Documentation Agents, BMO Harris Bank N.A., RBS Citizens Business Capital, a division of RBS Asset Finance, Inc., Regions Bank and Union Bank, N.A., as Senior Managing Agents, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, U.S. Bank, National Association, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., Barclays Bank PLC, Rabobank Nederland, New York Branch and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, as Joint Lead Arrangers

 



 

and Joint Bookrunners, and (ii) that certain Amended and Restated Term Loan Credit Agreement, dated May 16, 2013 and as amended, among the Company, as Borrower, the subsidiaries of the Company named as guarantors therein, the lenders parties thereto, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, as Administrative Agent and Collateral Agent, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Barclays Bank PLC, as Joint Lead Bookrunners and Joint Lead Arrangers, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., as Syndication Agents, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Barclays Bank PLC, as Documentation Agents, except in each case where the Company purports to own less than all of such stock or ownership interests, and (c) none of the outstanding shares of capital stock or ownership interests of any such Significant Subsidiary was issued in violation of the preemptive or similar rights of any securityholder of such Significant Subsidiary.

 

5.                                      To the best of such person’s knowledge, other than as set forth in the documents incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there is not pending or threatened any action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation, to which the Company or any Significant Subsidiary of the Company is a party, or to which the property of the Company or any Significant Subsidiary is subject, before or brought by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, which would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, or which would reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect the property or assets of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or the consummation of the transactions contemplated in the Underwriting Agreement, the Indenture or the Securities or the performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder.