UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of The Securities Exchange
Act of 1934
Date
of Report (Date of earliest event reported)
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June 30, 2005
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Comfort Systems USA, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
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1-13011
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76-0526487
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(State or other jurisdiction
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(Commission
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(IRS Employer
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of incorporation)
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File Number)
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Identification No.)
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777 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite
500
Houston, Texas
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77056
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(Address of principal executive offices)
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(Zip Code)
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Registrants
telephone number, including area code
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(713) 830-9600
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(Former name or former address, if changed since last
report.)
Check the appropriate box
below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing
obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
o Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
o Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b))
o Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c))
Item 1.01 Entry into a
Material Definitive Agreement
On June 30, 2005, Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (the
Company) entered into a senior credit facility (the Facility) arranged by
Hibernia Southcoast Capital, Inc. and provided by a syndicate of banks including
Hibernia National Bank, Bank of Texas NA; Bank of Scotland; First Bank &
Trust; and RZB Finance LLC. The Facility
consists of a revolving credit facility that provides a $75.0 million line of
credit to the Company. This new line of
credit replaces the Companys prior credit facility, which was entered into on
December 31, 2003 and consisted of a term loan and revolving credit facility.
The new Facility expires on June 30, 2009. The Facility contains financial covenants
defining various financial measures and levels of these measures with which the
Company must comply. Covenant compliance
is assessed as of each quarter-end.
EBITDA is defined under the Facility (Credit Facility Adjusted EBITDA)
for financial covenant purposes as net earnings for the four quarters ending as
of any given quarterly covenant compliance measurement date, plus the
corresponding amounts for (a) interest expense; (b) income taxes; (c)
depreciation and amortization; and (d) other non-cash charges.
The Companys borrowings and letters of credit
outstanding under the Facility at each month-end must be less than a borrowing
base measured as of the same month-end.
The borrowing base is defined under the Facility as 65% of the following:
total trade receivables including costs and estimated earnings in excess of
billings, less allowances for doubtful accounts, less receivables related to
projects that are subject to payment or performance bonds. The Companys borrowing and letter of credit
capacity under the Facility at any given time is $75 million less borrowings
and letters of credit outstanding, subject to the borrowing base described
above.
The interest rates in the Facility are floating
rates determined by the broad financial markets, meaning they can and do move
up and down from time to time. The
current applicable rate is 5.3 percent.
Commitment fees of .25 percent per annum are payable on the portion of
the Facility capacity not in use for borrowings or letters of credit at any
given time. Borrowings under the Facility
are secured by all of the Companys corporate assets; the Company currently has
no borrowings under the Facility.
The Facilitys principal financial covenants
include:
Fixed Charge Coverage
Ratio The Facility requires that the ratio
of Credit Facility Adjusted EBITDA minus capital expenditures, tax provisions,
and permitted distributions to the sum of interest expense and scheduled
principal payments be at least 1.50.
Interest expense is defined under the Facility for purposes of this
covenant as interest expense for the four quarters ending as of any given
quarterly covenant compliance measurement date, excluding corresponding
twelve-month amounts for (a) amortization of deferred debt arrangement costs;
and (b) mark-to-market interest expense.
Tangible Net Worth
The Facility requires that the Companys tangible net worth not be less than
the sum of (a) 85% of the tangible net worth at March 31, 2005; (b) 50% of
quarterly net income from April 1, 2005 to date of measurement; and (c) the net
proceeds of any equity transactions.
Debt to Credit Facility
Adjusted EBITDA The Facility
requires that the Companys ratio of debt to Credit Facility Adjusted EBITDA
not exceed 2.5.
The Company also issued a press release
announcing the new Facility. A copy of
the press release has been furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this current report.
The foregoing description does not purport to be
a complete statement of the parties rights and obligations under the
Facility. The above description is
qualified in its entirety by reference to the Credit Agreement by and among
Comfort Systems USA, Inc., as Borrower, and Hibernia National Bank, as Agent;
Hibernia Southcoast Capital, Inc., as Arranger; and Certain Financial
Institutions, as Lenders, dated as of June 30, 2005, which is filed as Exhibit
10.1 to this current report.
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Item 1.02 Termination of
a Material Definitive Agreement
See the disclosure in Item 1.01 above regarding
the Companys prior credit facility and termination of this prior facility.
Item 9.01 Financial
Statements and Exhibits
The following exhibits are included herein:
10.1 Credit Agreement by and among Comfort
Systems USA, Inc., as Borrower, and Hibernia National Bank, as Agent; Hibernia
Southcoast Capital, Inc., as Arranger; and Certain Financial Institutions, as
Lenders, dated as of June 30, 2005.
99.1 Press release dated June 30, 2005.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the
requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly
caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly
authorized.
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COMFORT SYSTEMS USA, INC.
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By:
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/s/ Trent T. McKenna
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Trent T. McKenna, Vice
President
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and General Counsel
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Date: July 1, 2005
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Exhibit 10.1
EXECUTION
COPY
CREDIT AGREEMENT
by and among
COMFORT SYSTEMS USA, INC.,
as Borrower
and
HIBERNIA NATIONAL BANK,
as Agent
HIBERNIA SOUTHCOAST CAPITAL,
INC.,
as Arranger
and
CERTAIN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
as Lenders
$75,000,000
June 30,
2005
Schedules and Exhibits:
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Pricing Schedule
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Exhibit 2.1
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Revolving Note
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Exhibit 2.2(b)
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Borrowing Notice
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Exhibit 2.3(c)
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Continuation/Conversion Notice
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Exhibit 2.8
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Borrowing Base Certificate
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Exhibit 2.10
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Letter of Credit Application and Agreement
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Exhibit 4.1(g)(i)
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Opinion of Bracewell & Giuliani
LLP, Counsel for Restricted Persons
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Exhibit 4.1(g)(ii)
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Opinion of Trent McKenna, In-House Counsel
for Restricted Persons
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Exhibit 6.2(b)
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Certificate Accompanying Financial
Statements
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Exhibit 10.5
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Assignment and Acceptance Agreement
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Exhibit 10.14
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Procedure for Increases and Addition of New
Lenders
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Schedule 1.1(a)
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Existing Liens
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Schedule 1.1(b)
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Existing Letters of Credit
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Schedule 3.1
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Lenders Schedule
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Schedule 4.1
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Security Schedule
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Schedule 5
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Disclosure Schedule
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Section 5.6
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Material Adverse Effect
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Section 5.7
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Material Restrictions
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Section 5.9
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Litigation
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Section 5.10
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Labor Disputes
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Section 5.11
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ERISA Disclosures
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Section 5.12
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Environmental Disclosures
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Section 5.13
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Names and Places of Business
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Section 5.14
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Subsidiaries
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Schedule 7.1
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Existing Indebtedness
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CREDIT AGREEMENT
THIS CREDIT AGREEMENT is made as of June 30,
2005, by and among COMFORT SYSTEMS USA, INC., Delaware corporation (Borrower);
HIBERNIA NATIONAL BANK, a national banking association (Agent); and the
Lenders referred to below.
W I T N E S S E T H:
In consideration of the mutual covenants and
agreements contained herein in consideration of the loans which may hereafter
be made by Lenders and the Letters of Credit which may be made available by LC
Issuer to Borrower, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt
and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto do hereby
agree as follows:
DEFINITIONS AND REFERENCES
Section 1.1. Defined Terms. As used in this Agreement, each of the
following terms has the meaning given to such term in this Section 1.1 or
in the sections and subsections referred to below:
Account Debtor means
the Person which is obligated on any Receivable.
Acquisition means the
direct or indirect purchase or acquisition, whether in one or more related
transactions, of all or substantially all of the capital stock of any Person or
group of Persons or all or substantially all of the assets, liabilities, and
business of any Person or group of Persons.
Adjusted Base Rate
means, on any day, the Base Rate for such day plus the Base Rate Margin for
such day, provided that the Adjusted Base Rate charged by any Person shall
never exceed the Highest Lawful Rate.
Adjusted Borrowing Base
means the Borrowing Base plus the face amount of all outstanding Letters of
Credit.
Adjusted Eurodollar Rate
means, for any Eurodollar Loan for any day during any Interest Period therefor,
the rate per annum equal to the sum of (a) the Eurodollar Margin for such
day plus (b) the rate per annum (rounded upwards, if necessary, to the
nearest 1/100 of 1%) determined by Agent to be equal to the quotient obtained
by dividing (i) the Eurodollar Rate for such Eurodollar Loan for such
Interest Period by (ii) 1 minus the Reserve Requirement for such
Eurodollar Loan for such Interest Period, provided that no Adjusted Eurodollar
Rate charged by any Person shall ever exceed the Highest Lawful Rate. The Adjusted Eurodollar Rate for any
Eurodollar
Loan shall change whenever the Eurodollar Margin or the Reserve Requirement
changes.
Affiliate means, as to
any Person, each other Person that directly or indirectly (through one or more
intermediaries or otherwise) controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with, such Person. A Person
shall be deemed to be controlled by any other Person if such other Person
possesses, directly or indirectly, power
(a) to vote 20% or more of the
securities or other equity interests (on a fully diluted basis) having ordinary
voting power for the election of directors, the managing general partner or
partners or the managing member or members; or
(b) to direct or cause the direction
of the management and policies of such Person whether by contract or otherwise.
Aggregate Commitment
means the aggregate of all Lenders Revolving Loan Commitments, as such may be
reduced, amortized or adjusted from time to time in accordance with this
Agreement.
Agent means Hibernia
National Bank as Agent hereunder, and its successors in such capacity.
Agreement means this
Credit Agreement.
Applicable Lending Office
means, with respect to each Lender, such Lenders Domestic Lending Office in
the case of Base Rate Loans and such Lenders Eurodollar Lending Office in the
case of Eurodollar Loans.
Arranger means
Hibernia Southcoast Capital, Inc., a Louisiana corporation.
Assignment and Acceptance
means the agreement contemplated by Section 10.5.
Assignment of Prior Credit
Documents means the Assignment of Notes, Liens and Security Agreements
dated as of the Closing Date by the Prior Agent and each of the lenders party to
the Prior Credit Agreement in favor of the Agent and the other Lender Parties.
Base Rate means, for
any day, the rate per annum equal to the higher of (a) the Federal Funds
Rate for such day plus one-half of one percent (.5%) and (b) the Prime
Rate for such day. Any change in the
Base Rate due to a change in the Prime Rate or the Federal Funds Rate shall be
effective on the effective date of such change in the Prime Rate or Federal
Funds Rate. As used in this definition, Prime
Rate means the per annum rate of interest established from time to time by
Citibank, N.A. as its Prime Rate, which rate may not be the lowest rate of
interest charged by Citibank, N.A. to its customers.
Base Rate Loan means a
Loan that bears interest at the Adjusted Base Rate.
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Base Rate Margin means
on any date, with respect to each Base Rate Loan, the rate per annum set forth
as such on the Pricing Schedule.
Basis Point or bps
means one one-hundredth of one percent (0.01%).
Bonded Receivables
means any Receivable resulting from goods or services provided to an Account
Debtor under a job which is covered by a surety bond provided by Borrower or
its agent, that is secured by assets of any Restricted Person.
Borrower means Comfort
Systems USA, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Borrowing means a
borrowing of new Loans of a single Type (and, in the case of Eurodollar Loans,
with the same Interest Period) pursuant to Section 2.2 or a Continuation
or Conversion of existing Loans into a single Type (and, in the case of
Eurodollar Loans, with the same Interest Period) pursuant to Section 2.3.
Borrowing Base means,
at any time of its determination, the lesser of (a) the aggregate
Revolving Loan Commitments of the Lenders and (b) an amount equal to (i) sixty-five
percent 65% of Eligible Receivables, less
(ii) the face amount of all outstanding Letters of Credit.
Borrowing Base Certificate
means a report in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 2.8, appropriately
completed, together with the following attachments: an aging schedule of
all trade Receivables of Borrower on a Consolidated basis as of the date
specified in such report, in summary form, which reflects aging, on an
aggregate basis, of such trade Receivables.
Borrowing Base Deficiency
has the meaning given to such term in Section 2.7(b).
Borrowing Notice means
a written or telephonic request, or a written confirmation, made by Borrower
which meets the requirements of Section 2.2.
Business Day means a day,
other than a Saturday or Sunday, on which commercial banks are open for
business with the public in Houston, Harris County, Texas. Any Business Day in any way relating to
Eurodollar Loans (such as the day on which an Interest Period begins or ends)
must also be a day on which, in the judgment of Agent, significant transactions
in dollars are carried out in the interbank eurocurrency market.
Capital Asset means
any asset which would be classified as a fixed or capital asset on a
Consolidated balance sheet of any Person prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Capital Expenditures means, without
duplication, any expenditures for any purchase or other acquisition of any
Capital Asset, excluding (i) the cost of assets acquired with Capitalized
Lease Obligations, other purchase money financing, or the proceeds of Loans
under this Agreement, (ii) expenditures of insurance proceeds to rebuild
or replace any asset after a casualty loss, and (iii) leasehold
improvement expenditures for which such Person is reimbursed promptly by the
lessor.
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Capital Lease means a lease with
respect to which the lessee is required concurrently to recognize the
acquisition of an asset and the incurrence of a liability in accordance with
GAAP.
Capital Lease Obligation means, with
respect to any Person and a Capital Lease, the amount of the obligation of such
Person as the lessee under such Capital Lease which would, in accordance with
GAAP, appear as a liability on a balance sheet of such Person.
Cash Equivalents means Investments
in:
(a) marketable
obligations, maturing within twelve months after acquisition thereof, issued or
unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America or an
instrumentality or agency thereof and entitled to the full faith and credit of
the United States of America;
(b) demand deposits, and
time deposits (including certificates of deposit) maturing within twelve months
from the date of deposit thereof, with any office of any Lender or with a domestic
office of any national or state bank or trust company which is organized under
the Laws of the United States of America or any state therein, which has
capital, surplus and undivided profits of at least $500,000,000, and whose long
term certificates of deposit are rated at least Aa3 by Moodys or AA- by S &
P;
(c) repurchase
obligations with a term of not more than seven days for underlying securities
of the types described in subsection (a) above entered into with any
commercial bank meeting the specifications of subsection (b) above;
(d) open market commercial
paper, maturing within 270 days after acquisition thereof, which are rated at
least P-1 by Moodys or A-1 by S & P; and
(e) money market or other
mutual funds substantially all of whose assets comprise securities of the types
described in subsections (a) through (d) above.
Change of Control
means the occurrence of any of the following events: (a) any Person or two
or more Persons acting as a group shall acquire beneficial ownership (within
the meaning of Rule 13d-3 of the Securities and Exchange Commission under
the Securities Act of 1934, as amended, and including holding proxies to vote
for the election of directors other than proxies held by Borrowers management
or their designees to be voted in favor of Persons nominated by Borrowers
Board of Directors) of 35% or more of the outstanding voting securities of
Borrower, measured by voting power (including both common stock and any
preferred stock or other equity securities entitling the holders thereof to
vote with the holders of common stock in elections for directors of Borrower)
or (b) a majority of the directors of Borrower shall consist of Persons
not nominated by Borrowers Board of Directors (not including as Board nominees
any directors which the Board is obligated to nominate pursuant to shareholders
agreements, voting trust arrangements or similar arrangements).
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Closing Date means the
date on which all of the conditions precedent set forth in Section 4.1 and
Section 4.2 shall have been satisfied or waived.
Collateral means all
property of any Restricted Person of any kind which, under the terms of any
Security Document, is subject to or is purported to be subject to a Lien in
favor of Lenders (or in favor of Agent for the benefit of Lenders).
Commitment Fee shall
have the meaning set forth in Section 2.5(c).
Commitment Fee Rate
means, on any date, the rate per annum designated as such and set forth on the
Pricing Schedule.
Commitment Period
means the period from and including the Closing Date until the Maturity Date
(or, if earlier, the day on which the obligations of Lenders to make Loans
hereunder or the obligations of LC Issuer to issue Letters of Credit have been
terminated or the Notes become due and payable in full).
Consolidated refers to
the consolidation of any Person, in accordance with GAAP, with its properly
consolidated subsidiaries. References
herein to a Persons Consolidated financial statements, financial position,
financial condition, liabilities, etc. refer to the consolidated financial
statements, financial position, financial condition, liabilities, etc. of such
Person and its properly consolidated subsidiaries.
Consolidated Capital
Expenditures means, for any Person for any period, the Capital
Expenditures of such Person calculated on a Consolidated basis for such period.
Consolidated EBITDA
means, for any Person for any period, the sum of (a) such Persons
Consolidated Net Income during such period, plus (b) all interest expense
which was deducted in determining such Persons Consolidated Net Income; plus (c) all
income taxes which were deducted in determining such Persons Consolidated Net
Income; plus (d) all depreciation and amortization which were deducted in
determining such Persons Consolidated Net Income; plus (e) other non-cash
charges, including non-cash amortization of debt incurrence costs and net
mark-to-market losses.
Consolidated Interest
Expense means, for any Person, for any period without duplication, all
interest paid or accrued during such period on Indebtedness (including capital
lease obligations) excluding amortization of debt incurrence expenses, original
issue discount, and mark-to-market interest expense.
Consolidated Net Income
means, for any Person, for any period, such Persons Consolidated net income
for such period after eliminating earnings or losses attributable to
outstanding minority interests and excluding the net income of any Person other
than a Subsidiary in which such Person has an ownership interest plus any Goodwill Impairment Charges.
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Consolidated Tangible Net
Worth means, for any Person, at any time, (a) all Consolidated assets
of such Person which would be shown on its Consolidated balance sheet prepared
as of such time in accordance with GAAP, other than intangible assets
(including patents, copyrights, licenses, franchises, goodwill, trade names,
trade secrets and operating leases), minus
(b) the sum of (i) all amounts which would be shown on such balance
sheet as minority interests in any Subsidiaries of such Person, and (ii) all
Consolidated Liabilities of such Person which would be shown on such balance
sheet, adjusted by treating as Liabilities rather than equity all capital stock
and other equity securities which such Person would be required to purchase,
redeem or otherwise acquire at the election of any holder thereof, upon the
passage of time, or upon the occurrence of any contingency (other than the
voluntary election of such Person to make such purchase, redemption or
acquisition).
Consolidated Total
Indebtedness means, for any Person, as of any date, the sum of the
following (without duplication): (a) all
Indebtedness which is classified as long-term indebtedness on a Consolidated
balance sheet of such Person and its Consolidated Subsidiaries prepared as of
such date in accordance with GAAP and any current maturities and other
principal amount in respect of such Indebtedness due within one year but which
was classified as long-term indebtedness at the creation thereof, (b) Indebtedness
for borrowed money of such Person and its Consolidated Subsidiaries outstanding
under a revolving credit or similar agreement providing for borrowings (and
renewals and extensions thereof) over a period of more than one year,
notwithstanding the fact that any such borrowing is made within one year of the
expiration of such agreement, and (c) all Indebtedness in respect of
Capital Leases of such Person and its Consolidated Subsidiaries.
Continuation shall
refer to the continuation pursuant to Section 2.3 hereof of a Eurodollar
Loan as a Eurodollar Loan from one Interest Period to the next Interest Period.
Continuation/Conversion
Notice means a written or telephonic request, or a written confirmation,
made by Borrower which meets the requirements of Section 2.3.
Conversion shall refer
to a conversion pursuant to Section 2.3 or Article III of one Type of
Loan into another Type of Loan.
Default means any
Event of Default and any default, event or condition which would, with the
giving of any requisite notices and the passage of any requisite periods of
time, constitute an Event of Default.
Default Rate means, at
the time in question (a) with respect to any Base Rate Loan any other
Obligation except as described in the immediately following clause (b), the
rate per annum equal to four percent (4%) above the Adjusted Base Rate then in
effect for such Loan or other Obligation and (b) with respect to any
Eurodollar Loan, the rate per annum equal to four percent (4%) above the
Adjusted Eurodollar Rate then in effect for such Loan or other Obligation,
provided in each case that no Default Rate charged by any Person shall ever
exceed the Highest Lawful Rate.
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Disclosure Schedule
means Schedule 5 hereto.
Distribution means (a) any
dividend or other distribution made by a Restricted Person on or in respect of
any stock, partnership interest, or other equity interest in such Restricted
Person or any other Restricted Person (including any option or warrant to buy
such an equity interest), or (b) any payment made by a Restricted Person
to purchase, redeem, acquire or retire any stock, partnership interest, or
other equity interest in such Restricted Person or any other Restricted Person
(including any such option or warrant).
Domestic Lending Office
means, with respect to any Lender, the office of such Lender specified as its Domestic
Lending Office below its name on Schedule 3.1 hereto, or such other
office as such Lender may from time to time specify to Borrower and Agent; with
respect to LC Issuer, the office, branch, or agency through which it issues
Letters of Credit; and, with respect to Agent, the office, branch, or agency
through which it administers this Agreement.
Eligible Receivables
means all trade Receivables, less any Bonded
Receivables, less reserves or
allowances for doubtful accounts.
Eligible Transferee
means a Person which either (a) is a Lender or an Affiliate of a Lender,
or (b) is consented to as an Eligible Transferee by Agent and, so long as
no Default or Event of Default is continuing, by Borrower, which consents in
each case will not be unreasonably withheld (provided that no Person organized
outside the United States may be an Eligible Transferee if Borrower would be
required to pay withholding taxes on interest or principal owed to such
Person).
Environmental Laws
means any and all Laws relating to the environment or to emissions, discharges,
releases or threatened releases of pollutants, contaminants, chemicals, or
industrial, toxic or hazardous substances or wastes into the environment
including ambient air, surface water, ground water, or land, or otherwise relating
to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage,
disposal, transport, or handling of pollutants, contaminants, chemicals, or
industrial, toxic or hazardous substances or wastes.
Equity means shares of capital stock or a partnership,
profits, capital, member or other equity interest, or options, warrants or any
other rights to substitute for or otherwise acquire the capital stock or a
partnership, profits, capital, member or other equity interest of any Person.
ERISA means the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time,
and any successor statutes or statute, together with all rules and
regulations promulgated with respect thereto.
ERISA Affiliate means
each Restricted Person and all members of a controlled group of corporations
and all trades or businesses (whether or not incorporated) under common control
that, together with such Restricted Person, are treated as a single employer
under Section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code.
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ERISA Plan means any
employee pension benefit plan subject to Title IV of ERISA maintained by any
ERISA Affiliate with respect to which any Restricted Person has a fixed or
contingent liability.
Eurodollar Lending Office
means, with respect to any Lender, the office of such Lender specified as its Eurodollar
Lending Office below its name on Schedule 3.1 hereto (or, if no such
office is specified, its Domestic Lending Office), or such other office of such
Lender as such Lender may from time to time specify to Borrower and Agent.
Eurodollar Loan means
a Loan that bears interest at the Adjusted Eurodollar Rate.
Eurodollar Margin means, on any
date, with respect to each Eurodollar Loan, the rate per annum set forth on the
Pricing Schedule.
Eurodollar Rate means,
for any Eurodollar Loan within a Borrowing and with respect to the related
Interest Period therefor, (a) the interest rate per annum (carried out to
the fifth decimal place) equal to the rate determined by the Agent to be the
offered rate that appears on the page of the Telerate Screen that displays
an average British Bankers Association Interest Settlement Rate (such page currently
being page number 3750) for deposits in U.S. dollars (for delivery on the
first day of such Interest Period) with a term equivalent to such Interest
Period, determined as of approximately 11:00 a.m. (London time) two
Business Days prior to the first day of such Interest Period, or (b) in
the event the rate referenced in the preceding subsection (a) does
not appear on such page or service or such page or service shall
cease to be available, the rate per annum (carried out to the fifth decimal
place) equal to the rate determined by the Agent to be the offered rate on such
other page or other service that displays an average British Bankers
Association Interest Settlement Rate for deposits in U.S. dollars (for delivery
on the first day of such Interest Period) with a term equivalent to such
Interest Period, determined as of approximately 11:00 a.m. (London time)
two Business Days prior to the first day of such Interest Period, or (c) in
the event the rates referenced in the preceding subsections (a) and (b) are
not available, the rate per annum determined by the Agent as the rate of
interest at which deposits in U.S. dollars (for delivery on the first day of
such Interest Period) in same day funds in the approximate amount of the
applicable Eurodollar Loan and with a term equivalent to such Interest Period
would be offered by its London branch to major banks in the offshore U.S.
dollar market at their request at approximately 11:00 a.m. (London time)
two Business Days prior to the first day of such Interest Period.
Event of Default has
the meaning given to such term in Section 8.1.
Existing Letters of Credit
means the letters of credit listed on Schedule 1.1(b).
Federal Funds Rate
means, for any day, the rate per annum (rounded upwards, if necessary, to the
nearest 1/100th of one percent) equal to the weighted average of the rates on
overnight Federal funds transactions with members of the Federal Reserve System
arranged by Federal funds brokers on such day, as published by the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York on the Business Day next succeeding such day, provided
that (a) if the day for which such rate is to
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be determined
is not a Business Day, the Federal Funds Rate for such day shall be such rate
on such transactions on the next preceding Business Day as so published on the
next succeeding Business Day, and (b) if such rate is not so published for
any day, the Federal Funds Rate for such day shall be the average rate quoted
to Agent on such day on such transactions as determined by Agent.
Fiscal Quarter means a
three-month period ending on March 31, June 30, September 30 or December 31
of any year.
Fiscal Year means a
twelve-month period ending on December 31 of any year.
GAAP means those
generally accepted accounting principles and practices which are recognized as
such by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (or any generally recognized
successor) and which, in the case of Restricted Persons and their Consolidated
Subsidiaries, are applied for all periods after the date hereof in a manner
consistent with the manner in which such principles and practices were applied
to the Initial Financial Statements. If
any change in any accounting principle or practice is required by the Financial
Accounting Standards Board (or any such successor) in order for such principle
or practice to continue as a generally accepted accounting principle or
practice, all reports and financial statements required hereunder with respect
to any Restricted Person or with respect to any Restricted Person and its
Consolidated Subsidiaries may be prepared in accordance with such change, but
all calculations and determinations to be made hereunder may be made in
accordance with such change only after notice of such change is given to each
Lender, and Required Lenders and Agent agree to such change insofar as it
affects the accounting of such Restricted Person and its Consolidated
Subsidiaries.
Goodwill Impairment Charges
means accounting charges resulting from the write-up or write-down of acquired
goodwill and other intangible assets in accordance with FAS 142.
Guarantors means,
collectively, (a) each Subsidiary of the Borrower existing on the Closing
Date, other than an Immaterial Subsidiary and (b) any Subsidiary of
Borrower which executes and delivers a Guaranty to Agent after the date hereof,
pursuant to Section 6.15.
Guaranty means (a) that
certain Guaranty dated as of the date hereof, executed by each Guarantor
existing on the Closing Date, in favor of the Agent for the ratable benefit of
the Lenders, and (b) any Guaranty or joinder to a Guaranty executed by a
Guarantor after the Closing Date, in favor of the Agent for the ratable benefit
of the Lenders, in each case as such Guaranties may be amended, supplemented,
or modified and in effect from time to time.
Hazardous Materials
means any substances regulated under any Environmental Law, whether as
pollutants, contaminants, or chemicals, or as industrial, toxic or hazardous
substances or wastes, or otherwise.
Hedging Contract means
(a) any agreement providing for options, swaps, floors, caps, collars,
forward sales or forward purchases involving interest rates, commodities or
commodity
9
prices,
equities, currencies, bonds, or indexes based on any of the foregoing, (b) any
option, futures or forward contract traded on an exchange, and (c) any
other derivative agreement or other similar agreement or arrangement.
Highest Lawful Rate
means, with respect to each Lender Party to whom Obligations are owed, the
maximum nonusurious rate of interest that such Lender Party is permitted under
applicable Law to contract for, take, charge, or receive with respect to such
Obligations. All determinations herein
of the Highest Lawful Rate, or of any interest rate determined by reference to
the Highest Lawful Rate, shall be made separately for each Lender Party as
appropriate to assure that the Loan Documents are not construed to obligate any
Person to pay interest to any Lender Party at a rate in excess of the Highest
Lawful Rate applicable to such Lender Party.
Immaterial Subsidiary
means one or more Subsidiaries with aggregate gross assets of less than
$250,000.
Indebtedness of any
Person means obligations in any of the following categories:
(a) debt
for borrowed money;
(b) an
obligation to pay the deferred purchase price of property or services;
(c) obligations
evidenced by a bond, debenture, note or similar instrument;
(d) Off-Balance
Sheet Liabilities;
(e) obligations
arising under Hedging Contracts (on a net basis to the extent netting is
provided for in the applicable Hedging Contract);
(f) Capital
Lease Obligations;
(g) obligations
arising under conditional sales or other title retention agreements;
(h) obligations
owing under direct or indirect guaranties of Indebtedness of any other Person
or otherwise constituting obligations to purchase or acquire or to otherwise
protect or insure a creditor against loss in respect of Indebtedness of any
other Person (such as obligations under working capital maintenance agreements,
agreements to keep-well, or agreements to purchase Indebtedness, assets, goods,
securities or services), but excluding endorsements in the ordinary course of
business of negotiable instruments in the course of collection;
(i) obligations
to purchase or redeem securities or other property, if such obligations arise
out of or in connection with the sale or issuance of the same or similar
securities or property (for example, repurchase agreements, mandatorily
redeemable preferred stock and sale/leaseback agreements);
10
(j) obligations
with respect to letters of credit or applications or reimbursement agreements
therefore; or
(k) obligations
with respect to bankers acceptances.
provided, however, that the Indebtedness of
any Person shall not include obligations that were incurred by such Person to
vendors, suppliers, or other Persons providing goods and services for use by
such Person in the ordinary course of its business.
Initial Financial
Statements means (a) the audited annual Consolidated financial
statements of Borrower dated as of December 31, 2004, and (b) the
unaudited quarterly Consolidated financial statements of Borrower dated as of March 31,
2005.
Intercreditor Agreement
means (i) that certain Intercreditor Agreement dated October 23,
2003, as amended by First Amendment to Intercreditor Agreement dated March 1,
2005, and as assigned by the Prior Agent to the Agent pursuant to the
Assignment of Prior Credit Documents, between Federal Insurance Company, an
Indiana corporation, Arch Insurance Company, a Missouri corporation, and the
Agent, and (ii) any other agreement to which Borrower, the Agent, and any
surety are parties that establishes the priorities of the parties with respect
to Bonded Receivables.
Interest Payment Date
means (a) with respect to each Base Rate Loan, the first Business Day of
each Fiscal Quarter; and (b) with respect to each Eurodollar Loan, the
last day of the Interest Period that is applicable thereto and, if such
Interest Period is greater than three months in length, than the first Business
Day of each Fiscal Quarter shall also be an Interest Payment Date for each such
Eurodollar Loan.
Interest Period means,
with respect to each Eurodollar Loan, the period specified in the Borrowing
Notice or Continuation/Conversion Notice applicable to such Eurodollar Loan,
beginning on and including the date specified in such Borrowing Notice or
Continuation/Conversion Notice (which must be a Business Day), and ending one,
two, three, and six months thereafter, as Borrower may elect in such notice;
provided that: (a) any Interest
Period which would otherwise end on a day which is not a Business Day shall be
extended to the next succeeding Business Day unless such Business Day falls in
another calendar month, in which case such Interest Period shall end on the
next preceding Business Day; (b) any Interest Period which begins on the
last Business Day in a calendar month (or on a day for which there is no
numerically corresponding day in the calendar month at the end of such Interest
Period) shall end on the last Business Day in a calendar month; and (c) notwithstanding
the foregoing, any Interest Period which would otherwise end after the last day
of the Commitment Period shall end on the last day of the Commitment Period
(or, if the last day of the Commitment Period is not a Business Day, on the
next preceding Business Day).
Internal Revenue Code
means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to
time and any successor statute or statutes, together with all rules and
regulations promulgated with respect thereto.
11
Investment means any
investment, made directly or indirectly, in any Person, whether by purchase,
acquisition of equity interests, indebtedness or other obligations or
securities or by extension of credit, loan, advance, capital contribution or
otherwise and whether made in cash, by the transfer of property, or by any
other means.
Law means any statute,
law, regulation, ordinance, rule, treaty, judgment, order, decree, permit,
concession, franchise, license, agreement or other governmental restriction of
the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof or of any
foreign country or any department, province or other political subdivision
thereof. Any reference to a Law includes
any amendment or modification to such Law, and all regulations, rulings, and
other Laws promulgated under such Law.
LC Application means
any application for a Letter of Credit hereafter made by Borrower to LC Issuer.
LC Collateral has the
meaning given to such term in Section 2.14(a).
LC Conditions has the
meaning given to such term in Section 2.10.
LC Issuer means
Hibernia National Bank in its capacity as the issuer of Letters of Credit
hereunder, and its successors in such capacity.
Agent may, with the consent of Borrower and the Lender in question,
appoint any Lender hereunder as an LC Issuer in place of or in addition to
Hibernia National Bank.
LC Obligations means,
at the time in question, the sum of all Matured LC Obligations plus the maximum
amounts which LC Issuer might then or thereafter be called upon to advance
under all Letters of Credit then outstanding.
Lender
Hedging Obligations means Indebtedness to a Lender Party arising out of
any Hedging Contract permitted under Section 7.3.
Lender Parties means
Agent, LC Issuer, and all Lenders.
Lenders means each
signatory hereto (other than Borrower and any Restricted Person that is a party
hereto), and the successors of each such party as Lender hereunder pursuant to Section 10.5.
Lenders Schedule means
Schedule 3.1 hereto.
Letter of Credit means
any letter of credit issued by LC Issuer hereunder at the application of
Borrower, and shall include the Existing Letters of Credit, in each case as
extended or otherwise modified by the LC Issuer Bank from time to time.
Liabilities means, as
to any Person, all liabilities that would appear as such on a balance sheet of
such Person under GAAP.
12
Lien means, with
respect to any property or assets, any right or interest therein of a creditor
to secure Liabilities owed to it or any other arrangement with such creditor
which provides for the payment of such Liabilities out of such property or
assets or which allows such creditor to have such Liabilities satisfied out of
such property or assets prior to the general creditors of any owner thereof,
including any lien, mortgage, security interest, pledge, rights of a vendor
under any title retention or conditional sale agreement or lease substantially
equivalent thereto, tax lien, mechanics or materialmans lien, or any other
charge or encumbrance for security purposes, whether arising by Law or
agreement or otherwise, but excluding any right of offset which arises without
agreement in the ordinary course of business.
Loan Documents means
this Agreement, the Notes, the Security Documents, the Letters of Credit, the
LC Applications, any Hedging Contract or Intercreditor Agreement to which
Borrower and any Lender are a party, and all other agreements, certificates,
documents, instruments and writings at any time delivered in connection
herewith or therewith (exclusive of term sheets and commitment letters).
Loans means the
Revolving Loans as otherwise described in Section 2.1.
Margin Stock means
margin stock, as such term is defined in Regulation U promulgated by the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Material Adverse Change
means a material and adverse change, from the state of affairs presented in the
Initial Financial Statements or as represented or warranted in any Loan
Document, to (a) Borrowers Consolidated financial condition, (b) Borrowers
Consolidated business, assets, operations or properties, considered as a whole,
(c) Borrowers ability to timely pay the Obligations, or (d) the
enforceability of the material terms of any Loan Documents.
Matured LC Obligations
means all amounts paid by LC Issuer on drafts or demands for payment drawn or
made under or purported to be made under any Letter of Credit and all other
amounts due and owing to LC Issuer under any LC Application for any Letter of
Credit, to the extent the same have not been repaid to LC Issuer (with the
proceeds of Loans or otherwise).
Maturity Date means
four years from the date hereof.
Maximum Drawing Amount
means at the time in question the sum of the maximum amounts which LC Issuer
might then or thereafter be called upon to advance under all Letters of Credit
which are then outstanding.
Moodys means Moodys
Investors Service, Inc., or its successor.
Net Casualty Proceeds
means (a) cash insurance proceeds (other than proceeds of business
interruption insurance) received by Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries in
connection with a loss, damage, destruction, or casualty of any or all of the
assets of Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries (the Casualty Assets), minus (b) the amount of such cash insurance proceeds
13
reinvested by
the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, so long as such reinvestment is (i) consummated
or irrevocably committed to be consummated within 365 days after the receipt of
such proceeds and (ii) to restore, repair, or replace the Casualty Assets,
or purchase other assets with substantially the same utility and in the same
line of business as the Casualty Assets
Note(s) means the
Revolving Notes.
Obligations means all
indebtedness, liabilities and obligations, whether matured or unmatured,
liquidated or unliquidated, primary or secondary, direct or indirect, absolute,
fixed or contingent, from time to time owing by any Restricted Person to any
Lender Party under or pursuant to any of the Loan Documents, including all LC
Obligations and any Lender Hedging Obligations.
Obligation means any part of the Obligations.
Off-Balance Sheet Liability
of a Person means (a) any repurchase obligation or liability of such
Person with respect to accounts or notes receivable sold by such Person, (b) Synthetic
Lease Obligations, or (c) any obligation arising with respect to any other
transaction which is the functional equivalent of or takes the place of
borrowing but which does not constitute a liability on the balance sheets of such
Person (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding any operating leases other
than a Synthetic Lease).
Percentage Share
means, with respect to any Lender (a) when used in Section 2.1, 2.2
or 2.5, in any Borrowing Notice or when no Loans are outstanding hereunder, the
percentage set forth opposite such Lenders name on Schedule 3.1 hereto or
in the most recent Assignment and Acceptance, if any, executed by such Lender,
as such amount may be adjusted, if at all, from time to time in accordance with
this Agreement, and (b) when used otherwise, the percentage obtained by
dividing (i) the sum of the unpaid principal balance of such Lenders
Loans at the time in question plus the Matured LC Obligations which such Lender
has funded pursuant to Section 2.11(c) plus the portion of the
Maximum Drawing Amount which such Lender might be obligated to fund under Section 2.11(c),
by (ii) the sum of the aggregate unpaid principal balance of all Loans at
such time plus the aggregate amount of LC Obligations outstanding at such time.
Permitted Acquisition
means an Acquisition that is permitted by Section 7.7(c).
Permitted
Investments means:
(a) Cash
Equivalents;
(b) existing
Investments described in the Disclosure Schedule;
(c) extensions
of credit by Restricted Persons to their customers for buying goods and
services in the ordinary course of business or to another Restricted Person in
the ordinary course of business;
(d) extensions
of credit among Restricted Persons which are subordinated to the Obligations
upon terms and conditions reasonably satisfactory to the Agent;
14
(e) Investments
by Restricted Persons in the Equity of Subsidiaries of the Borrower;
(f) Investments
by Restricted Persons in the Equity of another Person made in connection with a
Permitted Acquisition;
(g) repurchases
by Restricted Persons of their Equity that are permitted pursuant to Section 7.6;
and
(h) any
Investment made as a result of the receipt of non-cash consideration from a
sale, transfer, lease, exchange, alienation, or disposition of assets that is
permitted pursuant to Section 7.5.
Permitted Liens means:
(a) statutory Liens for
taxes, assessments or other governmental charges or levies which are not yet
delinquent or which are being contested in good faith by appropriate action and
for which adequate reserves have been maintained in accordance with GAAP;
(b) landlords, operators,
carriers, warehousemens, repairmens, mechanics, materialmens, workers,
suppliers or other like Liens, in each case only to the extent arising in the
ordinary course of business and only to the extent securing obligations (i) which
are not delinquent or which are being contested in good faith by appropriate
proceedings; and (ii) for which adequate reserves have been maintained in
accordance with GAAP;
(c) zoning restrictions,
easements, licenses, and minor defects and irregularities in title to any real
property, so long as such defects and irregularities do not materially impair
the value of such property or the use of such property for the purposes for
which such property is held;
(d) pledges or deposits of
cash or securities to secure (i) the performance of bids, trade contracts,
leases, statutory obligations and other obligations of a like nature (excluding
appeal bonds) incurred in the ordinary course of business; or (ii) obligations
under workers compensation, unemployment insurance, social security, or public
Laws or similar legislation(excluding Liens arising under ERISA).
(e) Liens under the
Security Documents;
(f) with respect only
to property subject to any particular Security Document, Liens burdening such
property which are expressly allowed by such Security Document;
(g) any Lien in favor of a
surety that is subject to the provisions of an Intercreditor Agreement;
(h) deposits securing, or
in lieu of, surety, appeal or customs bonds in proceedings to which Borrower or
any of its Subsidiaries is a party;
15
(i) any attachment or
judgment Lien not constituting an Event of Default under Section 8.1;
(j) Liens existing on
the date hereof and renewals and extensions thereof, which Liens are set forth
on Schedule 1.1(a);
(k) Liens securing
Indebtedness permitted by Section 7.1(c), provided that such Liens
attach only to the assets financed by such Indebtedness and any proceeds
thereof;
(l) common law
security interests of a surety in the actual proceeds of a project subject to
the underlying surety bond provided by such surety; and
(m) inchoate Liens arising
under ERISA to secure contingent Liabilities of Borrower or any of its
Subsidiaries.
Person means an
individual, corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, limited
liability company, association, joint stock company, trust or trustee thereof,
estate or executor thereof, Tribunal, or any other legally recognizable entity.
Pricing Schedule means
the Schedule attached hereto identified as such.
Prior Agent means Bank
of Texas, NA, in its capacity as administrative agent under the Prior Credit
Documents.
Prior Credit Agreement
means that certain Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated December 31,
2003, as amended from time to time heretofore, among Borrower, the Prior Agent,
as administrative agent and a lender thereunder, and the other financial
institutions party thereto, as lenders.
Prior Credit Documents
means the Prior Credit Agreement, together with the promissory notes made by
Borrower thereunder and any and all other documents and instruments executed in
connection therewith.
Prior Indebtedness
means all Indebtedness outstanding under the Prior Credit Documents on the date
hereof.
Rating Agency means
either S & P or Moodys.
Receivables means all
present and future rights of Borrower or any Subsidiary of Borrower to payment
for goods sold or leased or for services rendered (except those evidenced by
instruments or chattel paper), whether now existing or hereafter arising and
wherever arising and whether or not earned by performance.
Regulation D means
Regulation D of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as from
time to time in effect.
16
Required Lenders means
Lenders having aggregate Percentage Shares equal or exceed sixty-six and
two-thirds percent (662/3 %).
Reserve Requirement
means, at any time, the maximum rate at which reserves (including any marginal,
special, supplemental, or emergency reserves) are required to be maintained
under regulations issued from time to time by the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (or any successor) by member banks of the Federal
Reserve System against Eurocurrency liabilities (as such term is used in
Regulation D). Without limiting the
effect of the foregoing, the Reserve Requirement shall reflect any other
reserves required to be maintained by such member banks with respect to (a) any
category of liabilities which includes deposits by reference to which the
Adjusted Eurodollar Rate is to be determined, or (b) any category of
extensions of credit or other assets which include Eurodollar Loans.
Restricted Person
means any of Borrower, each Subsidiary of Borrower, and each Guarantor.
Revolving Credit Advance
has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 2.1.
Revolving Facility Usage
means, at the time in question, without duplication, the aggregate principal
amount of outstanding Revolving Loans and LC Obligations at such time.
Revolving Lenders
means those Lenders having a Revolving Loan Commitment.
Revolving Loan(s)
means, at any time, the aggregate amount of Revolving Credit Advances
outstanding to Borrower.
Revolving Loan Commitment
means as to any Lender, the commitment of such Lender to make its Percentage
Share of Revolving Credit Advances or incur its Percentage Share of Letter of
Credit Obligations as set forth on Schedule 3.1 hereto or in the most
recent Assignment and Acceptance, if any, executed by such Lender, as such
amount may be adjusted, if at all, from time to time in accordance with this Agreement.
Revolving Notes has
the meaning ascribed to it in Section 2.1.
S & P means
Standard & Poors Ratings Services (a division of The McGraw Hill
Companies), or its successor.
Secured
Obligations means all Obligations.
Security Documents means
the instruments listed on Schedule 4.1 and all other security agreements,
deeds of trust, mortgages, chattel mortgages, pledges, financing statements,
continuation statements, extension agreements and other agreements or
instruments now, heretofore, or hereafter delivered by any Restricted Person to
Agent in connection with this Agreement or any transaction contemplated hereby
to secure the payment of any part of the
17
Obligations or
the performance of any Restricted Persons other duties and obligations under
the Loan Documents.
Solvent means, with
respect to any Person on a particular date, that on such date (a) the fair
value of the property of such Person is greater than the total amount of liabilities,
including subordinated and contingent liabilities, of such Person; (b) the
present fair saleable value of the assets of such Person is not less than the
amount that will be required to pay the probable liability of such Person on
its debts and liabilities, including subordinated and contingent liabilities as
they become absolute and matured; (c) such Person does not intend to, and
does not believe that it will, incur debts or liabilities beyond such Persons
ability to pay as such debts and liabilities mature; and (d) such Person
is not engaged in a business or transaction, and is not about to engage in a
business or transaction, for which such Persons property would constitute an
unreasonably small capital. The amount
of contingent liabilities (such as litigation, guaranties and pension plan
liabilities) at any time shall be computed as the amount that, in light of all
the facts and circumstances existing at the time, represents the amount that
can be reasonably be expected to become an actual or matured liability.
Subordinated Debt
means unsecured Indebtedness that is subordinated to the Obligations in a
manner and form reasonably satisfactory to Agent, as to the right and time of
payment and as to any and all other rights and remedies thereunder.
Subsidiary means, with
respect to any Person, any corporation, association, partnership, limited
liability company, joint venture, or other business or corporate entity,
enterprise or organization which is directly or indirectly (through one or more
intermediaries) controlled by or owned fifty percent or more by such Person.
Synthetic Lease Obligations
means an arrangement treated as an operating lease for financial accounting
purposes and a financing lease for tax purposes.
Termination Event means
(a) the occurrence with respect to any ERISA Plan of (i) a reportable
event described in Section 4043(c)(5) or (6) of ERISA or (ii) any
other reportable event described in Section 4043(c) of ERISA other
than a reportable event not subject to the provision for 30-day notice to the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation pursuant to a waiver by such corporation
under Section 4043(a) or 4043(b)(4) of ERISA, or (b) the
withdrawal of any ERISA Affiliate from an ERISA Plan during a plan year in
which it was a substantial employer as defined in Section 4001(a)(2) of
ERISA, or (c) the filing of a notice of intent to terminate any ERISA Plan
or the treatment of any ERISA Plan amendment as a termination under Section 4041(c) of
ERISA, or (d) the institution of proceedings to terminate any ERISA Plan
by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation under Section 4042 of ERISA,
or (e) any other event or condition which might constitute grounds under Section 4042
of ERISA for the termination of, or the appointment of a trustee to administer,
any ERISA Plan.
Tribunal means any
government, any arbitration panel, any court or any governmental department,
commission, board, bureau, agency or instrumentality of the United States of
18
America or any
state, province, commonwealth, nation, territory, possession, county, parish,
town, township, village or municipality, whether now or hereafter constituted
or existing.
Type means, with
respect to any Loans, the characterization of such Loans as either Base Rate
Loans or Eurodollar Loans.
Section 1.2. Exhibits and Schedules;
Additional Definitions. All Exhibits and Schedules attached to this
Agreement are a part hereof for all purposes.
Reference is hereby made to Schedule 4.1 for the meaning of certain
terms defined therein and used but not defined herein, which definitions are
incorporated herein by reference.
Section 1.3. Amendment of Defined Instruments. Unless the context otherwise requires or
unless otherwise provided herein the terms defined in this Agreement which
refer to a particular agreement, instrument or document also refer to and
include all renewals, extensions, modifications, amendments and restatements of
such agreement, instrument or document, provided that nothing contained in this
section shall be construed to authorize any such renewal, extension,
modification, amendment or restatement.
Section 1.4. References and Titles. All references in this Agreement to Exhibits,
Schedules, articles, sections, subsections and other subdivisions refer to the
Exhibits, Schedules, articles, sections, subsections and other subdivisions of
this Agreement unless expressly provided otherwise. Exhibits and Schedules to any Loan Document shall
be deemed incorporated by reference in such Loan Document. References to any document, instrument, or
agreement (a) shall include all exhibits, schedules, and other attachments
thereto, and (b) shall include all documents, instruments, or agreements
issued or executed in replacement thereof.
Titles appearing at the beginning of any subdivisions are for
convenience only and do not constitute any part of such subdivisions and shall
be disregarded in construing the language contained in such subdivisions. The words this Agreement, this instrument,
herein, hereof, hereby, hereunder and words of similar import refer to
this Agreement as a whole and not to any particular subdivision unless
expressly so limited. The phrases this
section and this subsection and similar phrases refer only to the sections
or subsections hereof in which such phrases occur. The word or is not exclusive, and the word including
(in its various forms) means including without limitation. Pronouns in masculine, feminine and neuter
genders shall be construed to include any other gender, and words in the
singular form shall be construed to include the plural and vice versa, unless
the context otherwise requires.
Accounting terms have the meanings assigned to them by GAAP, as applied
the accounting entity to which they refer.
References to days shall mean calendar days, unless the term Business
Day is used. Unless otherwise
specified, references herein to any particular Person also refer to its
successors and permitted assigns.
Section 1.5. Calculations and Determinations. All calculations under the Loan Documents of
interest chargeable with respect to Eurodollar Loans and of fees shall be made
on the basis of actual days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the
last) and a year of 360 days. All other
calculations of interest made under the Loan Documents shall be made on the
basis of actual days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the last)
and a year of 365 or 366 days, as appropriate.
Each determination by a Lender Party of amounts to be paid under
19
Article III or any other matters which
are to be determined hereunder by a Lender Party (such as any Eurodollar Rate,
Adjusted Eurodollar Rate, Business Day, Interest Period, or Reserve
Requirement) shall, in the absence of manifest error, be conclusive and
binding. Unless otherwise expressly
provided herein or unless Required Lenders otherwise consent all financial
statements and reports furnished to any Lender Party hereunder shall be
prepared and all financial computations and determinations pursuant hereto
shall be made in accordance with GAAP.
Section 1.6. Joint Preparation; Construction
of Indemnities and Releases. This Agreement and the other Loan Documents
have been reviewed and negotiated by sophisticated parties with access to legal
counsel and no rule of construction shall apply hereto or thereto which
would require or allow any Loan Document to be construed against any party
because of its role in drafting such Loan Document. All indemnification and release provisions of
this Agreement shall be construed broadly (and not narrowly) in favor of the
Persons receiving indemnification or being released.
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20
THE LOANS AND LETTERS OF CREDIT
Section 2.1. Commitments to Lend; Notes. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof,
each Revolving Lender agrees, severally and not jointly, to make Revolving
Loans to Borrower upon the request of Borrower from time to time during the
Commitment Period, provided that (a) subject to Sections 3.3, 3.4 and 3.6,
Revolving Loans of the same Type made on the same day shall be made by
Revolving Lenders in accordance with their respective Percentage Shares and as
part of the same Borrowing; (b) after giving effect to such Revolving Loans,
the Revolving Facility Usage does not exceed the Aggregate Commitment then in
effect; and (c) after giving effect to such Revolving Loans, the aggregate
amount of all outstanding Revolving Loans and outstanding Matured LC
Obligations shall not exceed the Borrowing Base. The amount of all Revolving Loans in any
Borrowing must be greater than or equal to $100,000 or must equal the remaining
availability under the Borrowing Base.
The obligation of Borrower to repay to each Revolving Lender the
aggregate amount of all Revolving Loans made by such Revolving Lender, together
with interest accruing in connection therewith, shall be evidenced by one or
more promissory notes made by Borrower payable to the order of such Revolving
Lender in the principal amount of the Revolving Loan Commitment of the
applicable Revolving Lender, substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.1(b) (each
a Revolving Note and, collectively, the Revolving Notes). The amount of principal owing on any
Revolving Note at any given time shall be the aggregate amount of all Revolving
Loans theretofore made by such Revolving Lender minus all payments of principal
theretofore received by such Revolving Lender on such Revolving Note. Interest on each Revolving Note shall accrue
and be due and payable as provided herein.
Each Revolving Note shall be due and payable as provided herein, and
shall be due and payable in full on the Maturity Date. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof,
Borrower may borrow, repay, and reborrow hereunder.
Section 2.2. Requests for Revolving Loans. Borrower must give to Agent written or
electronic notice (or telephonic notice promptly confirmed in writing) of any
requested Borrowing of new Revolving Loans to be advanced by Revolving
Lenders. Each such notice constitutes a Borrowing
Notice hereunder and must:
(a) specify (i) the aggregate amount
of any such Borrowing of new Base Rate Loans and the date on which such Base
Rate Loans are to be advanced, or (ii) the aggregate amount of any such
Borrowing of new Eurodollar Loans, the date on which such Eurodollar Loans are
to be advanced (which shall be the first day of the Interest Period which is to
apply thereto), and the length of the applicable Interest Period; and
(b) be received by Agent not later
than 11:00 a.m., Houston, Texas, time, on (i) the day on which any such Base
Rate Loans are to be made, or (ii) the third Business Day preceding the day on
which any such Eurodollar Loans are to be made.
Each such written request or
confirmation must be made in the form and substance of the Borrowing Notice
attached hereto as Exhibit 2.2(b), duly completed. Each such telephonic
21
request shall
be deemed a representation, warranty, acknowledgment and agreement by Borrower
as to the matters which are required to be set out in such written
confirmation. Upon receipt of any such
Borrowing Notice, Agent shall give each Lender prompt notice of the terms
thereof. If all conditions precedent to
such new Revolving Loans have been met, each Revolving Lender will on the date
requested promptly remit to Agent at Agents office in Houston, Texas the
amount of such Revolving Lenders new Revolving Loan in immediately available
funds, and upon receipt of such funds, unless to its actual knowledge any
conditions precedent to such Revolving Loans have been neither met nor waived
as provided herein, Agent shall promptly make such Revolving Loans available to
Borrower. Unless Agent shall have
received prompt notice from a Revolving Lender that such Revolving Lender will
not make available to Agent such Revolving Lenders new Revolving Loan, Agent
may in its discretion assume that such Revolving Lender has made such Revolving
Loan available to Agent in accordance with this section and Agent may if
it chooses, in reliance upon such assumption, make such Revolving Loan
available to Borrower. If and to the
extent such Revolving Lender shall not so make its new Revolving Loan available
to Agent, such Revolving Lender and Borrower severally agree to pay or repay to
Agent within three days after demand the amount of such Revolving Loan together
with interest thereon, for each day from the date such amount was made available
to Borrower until the date such amount is paid or repaid to Agent, with
interest at (i) the Federal Funds Rate, if such Revolving Lender is making such
payment and (ii) the interest rate applicable at the time to the other new
Revolving Loans made on such date, if Borrower is making such repayment. If neither such Revolving Lender nor Borrower
pays or repays to Agent such amount within such three-day period, Agent shall
in addition to such amount be entitled to recover from such Revolving Lender
and from Borrower, on demand, interest thereon at the Default Rate, calculated
from the date such amount was made available to Borrower. The failure of any Revolving Lender to make
any new Revolving Loan to be made by it hereunder shall not relieve any other Revolving
Lender of its obligation hereunder, if any, to make its new Revolving Loan, but
no Revolving Lender shall be responsible for the failure of any other Revolving
Lender to make any new Revolving Loan to be made by such other Revolving
Lender.
Section 2.3. Continuations and Conversions of
Existing Loans. Borrower may make the following elections
with respect to Loans already outstanding: to convert Base Rate Loans to
Eurodollar Loans, to convert Eurodollar Loans to Base Rate Loans on the last
day of the Interest Period applicable thereto, and to continue Eurodollar Loans
beyond the expiration of such Interest Period by designating a new Interest
Period to take effect at the time of such expiration. In making such elections, Borrower may
combine existing Loans made pursuant to separate Borrowings into one new
Borrowing or divide existing Loans made pursuant to one Borrowing into separate
new Borrowings, provided that Borrower may have no more than five Borrowings of
Eurodollar Loans outstanding at any time.
To make any such election, Borrower must give to Agent written notice
(or telephonic notice promptly confirmed in writing) of any such Conversion or
Continuation of existing Loans, with a separate notice given for each new
Borrowing. Each such notice constitutes
a Continuation/Conversion Notice hereunder and must:
(a) specify the existing Loans which
are to be Continued or Converted;
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(b) specify (i) the aggregate amount
of any Borrowing of Base Rate Loans into which such existing Loans are to be
converted and the date on which such Continuation or Conversion is to occur, or
(ii) the aggregate amount of any Borrowing of Eurodollar Loans into which such
existing Loans are to be continued or converted, the date on which such
Continuation or Conversion is to occur (which shall be the first day of the
Interest Period which is to apply to such Eurodollar Loans), and the length of
the applicable Interest Period; and
(c) be received by Agent not later than
11:00 a.m., Houston, Texas time, on (i) the day on which any such conversion to
Base Rate Loans is to occur, or (ii) the third Business Day preceding the day
on which any such Continuation or Conversion to Eurodollar Loans is to occur.
Each such written request or
confirmation must be made in the form and substance of the Continuation/Conversion
Notice attached hereto as Exhibit 2.3(c), duly completed. Each such telephonic request shall be deemed
a representation, warranty, acknowledgment and agreement by Borrower as to the
matters which are required to be set out in such written confirmation. Upon receipt of any such
Continuation/Conversion Notice, Agent shall give each Lender prompt notice of
the terms thereof. Each
Continuation/Conversion Notice shall be irrevocable and binding on
Borrower. During the continuance of any
Default, Borrower may not make any election to convert existing Loans into
Eurodollar Loans or continue existing Loans as Eurodollar Loans. If (due to the existence of a Default or for
any other reason) Borrower fails to timely and properly give any
Continuation/Conversion Notice with respect to a Borrowing of existing
Eurodollar Loans at least three days prior to the end of the Interest Period
applicable thereto, such Eurodollar Loans shall automatically be converted into
Base Rate Loans at the end of such Interest Period. No new funds shall be repaid by Borrower or
advanced by any Lender in connection with any Continuation or Conversion of
existing Loans pursuant to this section, and no such Continuation or Conversion
shall be deemed to be a new advance of funds for any purpose; such
Continuations and Conversions merely constitute a change in the interest rate
applicable to already outstanding Loans.
Section 2.4. Use of Proceeds. Borrower shall use the Loans to (i) refinance
Prior Indebtedness under the Prior Credit Documents; (ii) refinance Matured LC
Obligations; and (iii) provide working capital for its operations and for other
general business purposes. Borrower
shall use all Letters of Credit for its general corporate purposes. In no event shall the funds from any Loan or
any Letter of Credit be used directly or indirectly by any Person for personal,
family, household or agricultural purposes or for the purpose, whether immediate,
incidental or ultimate, of purchasing, acquiring or carrying any Margin Stock
or to extend credit to others directly or indirectly for the purpose of
purchasing or carrying any such Margin Stock.
Borrower represents and warrants that Borrower is not engaged
principally, or as one of Borrowers important activities, in the business of
extending credit to others for the purpose of purchasing or carrying such
Margin Stock.
Section 2.5. Interest Rates and Fees; Payment
Dates. (a) Interest. Subject to subsection (b) below, (i)
each Base Rate Loan shall bear interest on each day it is outstanding at the
Adjusted Base Rate in effect on such day, and (ii) each Eurodollar Loan shall
bear interest on each day during the related Interest Period at the related
Adjusted Eurodollar Rate in effect on
23
such day, and (iii) if an Event of Default
has occurred and is continuing, all Loans shall bear interest on each day
outstanding at the applicable Default Rate.
Past due payments of principal and interest shall bear interest at the
rates and in the manner set forth in the Notes.
Notwithstanding the forgoing, Borrower may request from time to time
that Borrower and the Lender enter into a Hedging Contract providing for
interest rate protection (1) for a term expiring no earlier than one year after
the Closing Date; and (2) with other terms and conditions reasonably
satisfactory to Agent.
(b) Default Rate. If an Event of Default shall have occurred
and be continuing under Section 8.1(a), (b), (j)(i), (j)(ii), or (j)(iii),
all outstanding Loans shall bear interest at the applicable Default Rate. In addition, if an Event of Default shall
have occurred and be continuing (other than under Section 8.1(a), (b),
(j)(i), (j)(ii), or (j)(iii)), Required Lenders may, by notice to Borrower,
elect to have the outstanding Loans bear interest at the applicable Default
Rate, whereupon such Loans shall bear interest at the applicable Default Rate
until the earlier of (i) the first date thereafter upon which there shall be no
Event of Default continuing and (ii) the date upon which Required Lenders shall
have rescinded such notice.
(c) Commitment Fees. In consideration of each Revolving Loan
Commitment of each Revolving Lender to make Revolving Loans, Borrower will pay
to Agent for the account of each Revolving Lender a fee (the Commitment Fee)
determined on a daily basis by multiplying the applicable Commitment Fee Rate
by the Percentage Share of such Revolving Lender of the unused portion of the
Revolving Loan Commitment on each day during the Commitment Period, determined
for each such day by deducting from the amount of the Revolving Loan Commitment
at the end of such day the Revolving Facility Usage. This Commitment Fee shall be due and payable
in arrears on the first day of each Fiscal Quarter and at the end of the
Commitment Period.
(d) Upfront Fees. In consideration of the Lenders commitment
to make Loans, Borrower will pay to Agent for the ratable account of the Lenders
an upfront fee in the aggregate amount of $300,000, due and payable on the date
hereof.
(e) Additional Fees. In addition to all other amounts due to Agent
under the Loan Documents, Borrower will pay fees to Agent and the Arranger as
described in a letter agreement of even date herewith between Agent, Arranger
and Borrower.
(f) Payment Dates. On each Interest Payment Date relating to
Base Rate Loans, Borrower shall pay to the Lenders all unpaid interest which
has accrued on the Base Rate Loans to but not including such Interest Payment
Date. On each Interest Payment Date
relating to a Eurodollar Loan, Borrower shall pay to Lenders all unpaid
interest which has accrued on such Eurodollar Loan to but not including such
Interest Payment Date.
Section 2.6. Optional Prepayments and
Voluntary Reduction of Commitment.. Borrower may,
without penalty, (a) upon notice to Agent to be received no later than 11:00
a.m., Houston, Texas time, with respect to any Base Rate Loan and (b) upon
three Business Days notice to each Lender with respect to any Eurodollar Loan,
from time to time and without premium or penalty prepay the Loans, in whole or
in part, provided (i) that the aggregate
24
amounts of all partial prepayments of
principal on the Notes equals $100,000 or any higher integral multiple of
$100,000; and (ii) that if Borrower prepays any Eurodollar Loan on any day
other than the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto, it shall pay
to Lenders any amounts due under Section 3.5. Each prepayment of principal
of any Eurodollar Loan under this section shall be accompanied by all
interest then accrued and unpaid on the principal so prepaid. Any principal or interest prepaid pursuant to
this section shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, all payments
otherwise required to be paid under the Loan Documents at the time of such
prepayment. During the period from the
Closing Date through the first anniversary of this Agreement, Borrower may,
upon at least three (3) Business Days prior written notice to the Agent,
prepay the Obligations in full and upon receipt of such prepayment and a
payment to the Lenders of a termination fee in the amount of $500,000, the
Aggregate Commitments of the Lenders will terminate. During the period from the first anniversary
of this Agreement until the Maturity Date, Borrower may, upon at least three
(3) Business Days prior written notice to the Agent, prepay the Obligations in
full, without premium or penalty, and upon receipt of such prepayment, the
Aggregate Commitments of the Lenders will terminate. Notwithstanding the forgoing, during the
period from the Closing Date until the first anniversary of this Agreement,
Borrower may not partially reduce the Revolving Loan Commitments
hereunder. From the date of the first
anniversary of the Agreement until the second anniversary of this Agreement,
Borrower may, upon at least three (3) Business Days prior written notice to
the Agent, without premium or penalty, reduce the Revolving Loan Commitments by
an amount not to exceed $5,000,000. From
the date of the second anniversary of this Agreement through the third
anniversary of this Agreement, Borrower may, upon at least three (3) Business
Days prior written notice to the Agent, without premium or penalty, further
reduce the Revolving Loan Commitments; provided, however, the amount by which
the Revolving Loan Commitments were reduced after the first anniversary of this
Agreement and the amount by which the Revolving Loan Commitments are to be
reduced after the second anniversary of this Agreement may not exceed
$10,000,000 in the aggregate.
Section 2.7. Mandatory Prepayments. (a) If
at any time the Revolving Facility Usage exceeds the Revolving Loan Commitment
(whether due to a reduction in the Revolving Loan Commitment in accordance with
this Agreement, or otherwise), Borrower shall immediately upon demand prepay
the principal of the Loans (and after the Loans are repaid in full, provide LC
Collateral in accordance with Section 2.14(a)) in an amount at least equal
to such excess.
(a) If at any time the Revolving
Facility Usage is less than the Revolving Loan Commitment but in excess of the
Adjusted Borrowing Base (such excess being herein called a Borrowing Base
Deficiency), Borrower shall, within five Business Days after Agent gives
notice of such fact to Borrower, either:
(i) give notice to Agent electing to prepay the
principal of the Revolving Loans (and after all Revolving Loans are repaid in
full, provide LC Collateral in accordance with Section 2.14(a)) in an
aggregate amount at least equal to such Borrowing Base Deficiency (or, if the
Revolving Loans have been paid in full, pay to LC Issuer LC Collateral as
required under Section 2.14(a)), such prepayment to be made in full on or
before the second Business Day after such notice by Borrower, or
25
(ii) provide the Agent with a revised Borrowing
Base Certificate which indicates therein that the Borrowing Base Deficiency
no longer exists.
(b) No later than the 366th day
after the receipt of any Net Casualty Proceeds aggregating in excess of
$1,000,000 for any single transaction or related series of transactions,
Borrower shall apply such Net Casualty Proceeds to repay the Revolving Loans,
and the Revolving Loan Commitment shall be permanently reduced in an aggregate
amount equal to such Net Casualty Proceeds.
(c) Each prepayment of principal
under this section shall be accompanied by all interest then accrued and
unpaid on the principal so prepaid. Any
principal or interest prepaid pursuant to this section shall be in
addition to, and not in lieu of, all payments otherwise required to be paid
under the Loan Documents at the time of such prepayment.
Section 2.8. Borrowing Base. Borrower shall determine from time to time
the Borrowing Base by submitting to the Agent the Borrowing Base Certificate
substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.8 hereto.
Section 2.9. Letters of Credit. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof,
Borrower may during the Commitment Period request LC Issuer to, and LC Issuer
shall, issue one or more Letters of Credit, provided that, after taking such
Letter of Credit into account:
(a) the Revolving Facility Usage
does not exceed the Adjusted Borrowing Base at such time; and
(b) the expiration date of such
Letter of Credit is prior to the end of the Commitment Period.
All Existing Letters of Credit shall be deemed to have been issued
pursuant hereto, and from and after the Closing Date shall be subject to and
governed by the terms and conditions hereof.
Section 2.10. Requesting Letters of Credit. Borrower must make written application for
any Letter of Credit at least two (2) Business Days (or such shorter period as
LC Issuer may in its discretion from time to time agree) before the date on
which Borrower desires for LC Issuer to issue such Letter of Credit. By making any such written application
Borrower shall be deemed to have represented and warranted that the LC
Conditions described in Section 2.11 will be met as of the date of
issuance of such Letter of Credit. Each
such written application for a Letter of Credit must be made in writing in the
form and substance of Exhibit 2.10, the terms and provisions of which are
hereby incorporated herein by reference (or in such other form as may mutually
be agreed upon by LC Issuer and Borrower).
Two Business Days after the LC Conditions for a Letter of Credit have
been met as described in Section 2.11 (or if LC Issuer otherwise desires
to issue such Letter of Credit), LC Issuer will issue such Letter of Credit at
LC Issuers office in Houston, Texas. If
any provisions of any LC Application conflict with any provisions of this
Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall govern and control. Borrower shall promptly examine a copy of
each Letter of Credit and each amendment thereto
26
that is delivered to it and, in the event of any claim of noncompliance
with Borrowers instructions or other irregularity, Borrower will promptly
notify LC Issuer.
Section 2.11. Reimbursement and Participations. (a) Reimbursement by Borrower. Each Matured LC Obligation shall constitute a
Revolving Loan by LC Issuer to Borrower.
Borrower promises to pay to LC Issuer, or to LC Issuers order, on the
Business Day immediately following the day on which a demand is made, the full
amount of each Matured LC Obligation, together with interest thereon at the
Default Rate applicable to Base Rate Loans.
The obligation of Borrower to reimburse LC Issuer for each Matured LC
Obligation shall be absolute, unconditional and irrevocable, and shall be paid
strictly in accordance with the terms of this Agreement (including any LC
Application) under all circumstances, including the following: (i) any lack of
validity or enforceability of such Letter of Credit or any other agreement or
instrument relating thereto; (ii) the existence of any claim, counterclaim,
set-off, defense or other right that Borrower may have at any time against any
beneficiary or any transferee of such Letter of Credit (or any Person for whom
any such beneficiary or any such transferee may be acting), LC Issuer or any
other Person, whether in connection with this Agreement, the transactions
contemplated hereby or by such Letter of Credit or any agreement or instrument
relating thereto, or any unrelated transaction; (iii) any draft, demand,
certificate or other document presented under such Letter of Credit proving to
be forged, fraudulent, invalid or insufficient in any respect or any statement
therein being untrue or inaccurate in any respect; or any loss or delay in the
transmission or otherwise of any document required in order to make a drawing
under such Letter of Credit; (iv) any payment by LC Issuer under such Letter of
Credit against presentation of a draft or certificate that does not strictly
comply with the terms of such Letter of Credit; or (v) any other circumstance
or happening whatsoever, whether or not similar to any of the foregoing. Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, it is expressly agreed that the absolute and unconditional nature of
Borrowers obligations under this section to reimburse LC Issuer for each
drawing under a Letter of Credit will not be excused by the gross negligence or
willful misconduct of LC Issuer.
However, the foregoing shall not be construed to excuse LC Issuer from
liability to Borrower to the extent of any direct damages (as opposed to
consequential damages, claims in respect of which are hereby waived by Borrower
to the extent permitted by applicable Law) suffered by Borrower that are caused
by LC Issuers gross negligence or willful misconduct in determining whether
drafts and other documents presented under a Letter of Credit comply with the
terms thereof.
(b) Letter of Credit Advances. If the beneficiary of any Letter of Credit
makes a draft or other demand for payment thereunder then Borrower may, during
the interval between the making thereof and the honoring thereof by LC Issuer,
request Lenders to make Loans to Borrower in the amount of such draft or
demand, which Loans shall be made concurrently with LC Issuers payment of such
draft or demand and shall be immediately used by LC Issuer to repay the amount
of the resulting Matured LC Obligation.
Such a request by Borrower shall be made in compliance with all of the
provisions hereof, provided that for the purposes of the first sentence of Section 2.1(b),
the amount of such Loans shall be considered, but the amount of the Matured LC
Obligation to be concurrently paid by such Loans shall not be considered.
(c) Participation by Lenders. LC Issuer irrevocably agrees to grant and
hereby grants to each Lender, and to induce LC Issuer to issue Letters of
Credit hereunder each Lender
27
irrevocably agrees
to accept and purchase and hereby accepts and purchases from LC Issuer, on the
terms and conditions hereinafter stated and for such Lenders own account and
risk, an undivided interest equal to such Lenders Percentage Share of LC
Issuers obligations and rights under each Letter of Credit issued hereunder
and the amount of each Matured LC Obligation paid by LC Issuer thereunder. Each Lender unconditionally and irrevocably
agrees with LC Issuer that, if a Matured LC Obligation is paid under any Letter
of Credit for which LC Issuer is not reimbursed in full by Borrower in
accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the related LC Application
(including any reimbursement by means of concurrent Loans or by the application
of LC Collateral), such Lender shall (in all circumstances and without set-off
or counterclaim) pay to LC Issuer on demand, in immediately available funds at
LC Issuers address for notices hereunder, such Lenders Percentage Share of
such Matured LC Obligation (or any portion thereof which has not been
reimbursed by Borrower). Each Lenders
obligation to pay LC Issuer pursuant to the terms of this subsection is
irrevocable and unconditional. If any
amount required to be paid by any Lender to LC Issuer pursuant to this subsection is
paid by such Lender to LC Issuer within three Business Days after the date such
payment is due, LC Issuer shall in addition to such amount be entitled to
recover from such Lender, on demand, interest thereon calculated from such due
date at the Federal Funds Rate. If any
amount required to be paid by any Lender to LC Issuer pursuant to this subsection is
not paid by such Lender to LC Issuer within three Business Days after the date
such payment is due, LC Issuer shall in addition to such amount be entitled to
recover from such Lender, on demand, interest thereon calculated from such due
date at the Default Rate.
(d) Distributions to Participants. Whenever LC Issuer has in accordance with
this section received from any Lender payment of such Lenders Percentage
Share of any Matured LC Obligation, if LC Issuer thereafter receives any
payment of such Matured LC Obligation or any payment of interest thereon
(whether directly from Borrower or by application of LC Collateral or
otherwise, and excluding only interest for any period prior to LC Issuers
demand that such Lender make such payment of its Percentage Share), LC Issuer
will distribute to such Lender its Percentage Share of the amounts so received
by LC Issuer; provided, however, that if any such payment received by LC Issuer
must thereafter be returned by LC Issuer, such Lender shall return to LC Issuer
the portion thereof which LC Issuer has previously distributed to it.
(e) Calculations. A written advice setting forth in reasonable
detail the amounts owing under this section, submitted by LC Issuer to Borrower
or any Lender from time to time, shall be conclusive, absent manifest error, as
to the amounts thereof.
Section 2.12. Letter of Credit Fees. In consideration of LC Issuers issuance of
any Letter of Credit, Borrower agrees to pay (a) to Agent, for the account of
all Lenders in accordance with their respective Percentage Shares, a per annum
letter of credit issuance fee at a rate equal to 75% of the Eurodollar Margin
in effect for Revolving Loans, and (b) to such LC Issuer for its own account, a
letter of credit fronting fee at a rate equal to 0.125% per annum. The letter of credit fee and the letter of
credit fronting fee will be calculated on the undrawn face amount of each
Letter of Credit outstanding on each day at the above-applicable rates and will
be due and payable in arrears on the first day of each Fiscal Quarter and at
the end of the Commitment Period.
28
Section 2.13. No Duty to Inquire. (a) Drafts and Demands. LC Issuer is authorized and instructed to
accept and pay drafts and demands for payment under any Letter of Credit
without requiring, and without responsibility for, any determination as to the
existence of any event giving rise to said draft, either at the time of
acceptance or payment or thereafter. LC
Issuer is under no duty to determine the proper identity of anyone presenting
such a draft or making such a demand (whether by tested telex or otherwise) as
the officer, representative or Agent of any beneficiary under any Letter of
Credit, and payment by LC Issuer to any such beneficiary when requested by any
such purported officer, representative or Agent is hereby authorized and
approved. Borrower releases each Lender
Party from, and agrees to hold each Lender Party harmless and indemnified
against, any liability or claim in connection with or arising out of the
subject matter of this section, which indemnity shall apply whether or not any
such liability or claim is in any way or to any extent caused, in whole or in
part, by any negligent act or omission of any kind by any Lender Party,
provided only that no Lender Party shall be entitled to indemnification for
that portion, if any, of any liability or claim which is proximately caused by
its own individual gross negligence or willful misconduct, as determined in a
final judgment.
(b) Extension of Maturity. If the maturity of any Letter of Credit is
extended by its terms or by Law or governmental action, if any extension of the
maturity or time for presentation of drafts or any other modification of the
terms of any Letter of Credit is made at the request of any Restricted Person,
or if the amount of any Letter of Credit is increased at the request of any
Restricted Person, this Agreement shall be binding upon all Restricted Persons
with respect to such Letter of Credit as so extended, increased or otherwise
modified, with respect to drafts and property covered thereby, and with respect
to any action taken by LC Issuer, LC Issuers correspondents, or any Lender
Party in accordance with such extension, increase or other modification.
(c) Transferees of Letters of Credit. If any Letter of Credit provides that it is
transferable, LC Issuer shall have no duty to determine the proper identity of
anyone appearing as transferee of such Letter of Credit, nor shall LC Issuer be
charged with responsibility of any nature or character for the validity or
correctness of any transfer or successive transfers, and payment by LC Issuer
to any purported transferee or transferees as determined by LC Issuer is hereby
authorized and approved, and Borrower releases each Lender Party from, and
agrees to hold each Lender Party harmless and indemnified against, any liability
or claim in connection with or arising out of the foregoing, which indemnity
shall apply whether or not any such liability or claim is in any way or to any
extent caused, in whole or in part, by any negligent act or omission of any
kind by any Lender Party, provided only that no Lender Party shall be entitled
to indemnification for that portion, if any, of any liability or claim which is
proximately caused by its own individual gross negligence or willful
misconduct, as determined in a final judgment.
Section 2.14. LC Collateral. (a) If, after the making of all mandatory
prepayments of principal of the Loans required under Section 2.7(a), the
outstanding LC Obligations will exceed the Adjusted Borrowing Base, then in
addition to prepayment of the entire principal balance of the Loans, Borrower
will immediately pay to the Agent an amount equal to such excess. The Agent will hold such amount as security
for the remaining LC Obligations (all such amounts held as security for LC
Obligations being herein collectively called LC Collateral) and the other
Obligations, and such collateral may be applied from time to time to any
Matured LC
29
Obligations or other Obligations which are
due and payable. At the Borrowers
request and when no Default exists, the Agent shall return to the Borrower the
amount held as LC Collateral, to the extent such amount is in excess of the
amount required under the first sentence of this Section 2.14(a). Neither this subsection nor the
following subsection shall, however, limit or impair any rights which LC
Issuer may have under any other document or agreement relating to any Letter of
Credit, LC Collateral or LC Obligation, including any LC Application, or any
rights which any Lender Party may have to otherwise apply any payments by
Borrower and any LC Collateral under Section 3.1.
(b) Acceleration of LC Obligations. If the Obligations or any part thereof become
immediately due and payable pursuant to Section 8.1 then, unless Required
Lenders otherwise specifically elect to the contrary (which election may
thereafter be retracted by Required Lenders at any time), all LC Obligations
shall be deemed to become immediately due and payable without regard to whether
or not actual drawings or payments on the Letters of Credit have occurred, and
Borrower shall be obligated to pay to LC Issuer immediately an amount equal to
the aggregate LC Obligations which are then outstanding, which amount shall be
held by LC Issuer as LC Collateral securing the remaining LC Obligations and
the other Obligations, and such LC Collateral may be applied from time to time
to any Matured LC Obligations or any other Obligations which are due and
payable.
(c) Investment of LC Collateral. Pending application thereof, all LC
Collateral shall be invested by the Agent in such Investments as the Agent may
choose in its sole discretion. All
interest on (and other proceeds of) such Investments shall be reinvested or
applied to Matured LC Obligations or other Obligations which are due and
payable. When all Obligations have been
satisfied in full, including all LC Obligations, all Letters of Credit have
expired or been terminated, and all of Borrowers reimbursement obligations in
connection therewith have been satisfied in full or when the condition pursuant
to which the LC Collateral was required no longer exists, the Agent shall
release any remaining LC Collateral.
Borrower hereby assigns and grants to the Agent a continuing security
interest in all LC Collateral paid by it to the Agent, all Investments
purchased with such LC Collateral, and all proceeds thereof to secure its
Matured LC Obligations and its Obligations under this Agreement, each Note, and
the other Loan Documents, and Borrower agrees that such LC Collateral,
Investments and proceeds shall be subject to all of the terms and conditions of
the Security Documents. Borrower further
agrees that the Agent shall have all of the rights and remedies of a secured
party under the Uniform Commercial Code as adopted in the State of Texas with
respect to such security interest and that an Event of Default under this
Agreement shall constitute a default for purposes of such security interest.
(d) Payment of LC Collateral. When Borrower is required to provide LC Collateral
for any reason and fails to do so on the day when required, the Agent or LC
Issuer may without notice to Borrower or any other Restricted Person provide
such LC Collateral (whether by application of proceeds of other Collateral, by
transfers from other accounts maintained with the Agent or LC Issuer, or
otherwise) using any available funds of Borrower or any other Person also
liable to make such payments. Any such
amounts which are required to be provided as LC Collateral and which are not
provided on the date required shall, for purposes of each Security Document, be
considered past due Obligations owing hereunder, and LC Issuer is hereby
30
authorized to
exercise its respective rights under each Security Document to obtain such
amounts.
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31
PAYMENTS TO LENDERS
Section 3.1. General Procedures. Borrower will make each payment which it owes
under the Loan Documents to Agent for the account of the Lender Party to whom
such payment is owed, in lawful money of the United States of America, without
set-off, deduction or counterclaim, and in immediately available funds. Each such payment must be received by Agent
not later than 11:00 a.m., Houston, Texas time, on the date such payment
becomes due and payable. Any payment
received by Agent after such time will be deemed to have been made on the next
following Business Day. Should any such
payment become due and payable on a day other than a Business Day, the maturity
of such payment shall be extended to the next succeeding Business Day, and, in
the case of a payment of principal or past due interest, interest shall accrue
and be payable thereon for the period of such extension as provided in the Loan
Document under which such payment is due.
Each payment under a Loan Document shall be due and payable at the place
set forth for Agent on Schedule 3.1 hereto. When Agent collects or receives
money on account of the Obligations, Agent shall distribute all money so
collected or received, and each Lender Party shall apply all such money so
distributed, as follows (except as otherwise provided in Section 8.3):
(a) first, for the payment of all
Obligations which are then due (and if such money is insufficient to pay all
such Obligations, first to any reimbursements due Agent under Section 6.9
or 10.4 and then to the partial payment of all other Obligations then due in
proportion to the amounts thereof, or as Lender Parties shall otherwise agree);
(b) then for the prepayment of
amounts owing under the Loan Documents (other than principal of the Loans) if
so specified by Borrower;
(c) then for the prepayment of
principal of the Loans, together with accrued and unpaid interest on the
principal so prepaid; and
(d) last, for the payment or
prepayment of any other Obligations.
All payments applied to principal or interest on any
Note shall be applied first to any interest then due and payable, then to
principal then due and payable, and last to any prepayment of principal and
interest in compliance with Sections 2.6 and 2.7. All distributions of amounts described in any
of subsections (b), (c) or (d) above shall be made by Agent pro rata to each
Lender Party then owed Obligations described in such subsection in
proportion to all amounts owed to all Lender Parties which are described in
such subsection; provided that if any Lender then owes payments to LC Issuer
for the purchase of a participation under Section 2.13(c) or to Agent
under Section 9.9, any amounts otherwise distributable under this section to
such Lender shall be deemed to belong to LC Issuer, or Agent, respectively, to
the extent of such unpaid payments, and Agent shall apply such amounts to make
such unpaid payments rather than distribute such amounts to such Lender.
32
Section 3.2. Capital Reimbursement. If either (a) the introduction or
implementation after the date hereof of or the compliance with or any change
after the date hereof in or in the interpretation of any Law regarding capital
adequacy, or (b) the introduction or implementation after the date hereof of or
the compliance with any request, directive or guideline issued after the date
hereof from any central bank or other governmental authority (whether or not
having the force of Law) regarding capital requirements has or would have the
effect of reducing the rate of return on any Lender Partys capital, or on the
capital of any corporation controlling such Lender Party, as a consequence of
the Loans made, or Letters of Credit issued, by such Lender Party, to a level
below that which such Lender Party or such corporation could have achieved but
for such change (taking into consideration such Lender Partys policies and the
policies of any such corporation with respect to capital adequacy), then from
time to time Borrower will pay to Agent for the benefit of such Lender Party,
within five (5) Business Days of demand therefore by such Lender Party, such
additional amount or amounts which such Lender Party shall determine to be
appropriate to compensate such Lender Party for such reduction.
Section 3.3. Increased Cost of Eurodollar
Loans or Letters of Credit. (a) If any change after the date hereof in
any applicable Law (whether now in effect or hereinafter enacted or
promulgated, including Regulation D) or any interpretation or administration
thereof by any governmental authority charged with the interpretation or
administration thereof (whether or not having the force of Law):
(i) shall
change the basis of taxation of payments to any Lender Party of any principal,
interest, or other amounts attributable to any Eurodollar Loan or Letter of
Credit or otherwise due under this Agreement in respect of any Eurodollar Loan
or Letter of Credit (other than Reimbursable Taxes governed by Section 3.6
and taxes imposed on or measured by its overall net income, and franchise taxes
imposed on it (in lieu of net income taxes), by the jurisdiction (or any
political subdivision thereof) under the Laws of which it is organized or
otherwise resides for tax purposes or maintains any Applicable Lending Office);
or
(ii) shall
change, impose, modify, apply or deem applicable any reserve, special deposit or
similar requirements in respect of any Eurodollar Loan made by any Lender Party
or any Letter of Credit (excluding any reserve requirement included in the
computation of the Adjusted Eurodollar Rate) or against assets of, deposits
with or for the account of, or credit extended by, such Lender Party; or
(iii) shall
impose on any Lender Party or the interbank eurocurrency deposit market any
condition affecting any Eurodollar Loan or Letter of Credit,
the result of which is to increase the cost to any Lender Party of
agreeing to make or making, funding or maintaining Eurodollar Loans or (as the
case may be) issuing or participating in Letters of Credit, or a reduction in
the amount received or receivable by such Lender in connection with any of the
foregoing, then such Lender Party shall promptly notify Agent and Borrower in
writing of the happening of such event and of the amount required to compensate
such Lender Party for such additional costs or reduced return (on an after-tax
basis, taking into account any taxes on and deductions, credits or other tax
benefits in respect of such
33
compensation), whereupon (i) Borrower shall pay such amount to Agent
for the account of such Lender Party and (ii) Borrower may elect, by giving to
Agent and such Lender Party not less than three Business Days notice, to
convert all (but not less than all) of any such Eurodollar Loans of such Lender
Party into Base Rate Loans.
(b) A certificate of a Lender Party
setting forth the amount or amounts necessary to compensate such Lender Party
or the corporation controlling such Lender Party, as the case may be, as
specified in Section 3.2 or this Section 3.3 shall be delivered to
Borrower and shall be conclusive absent manifest error. Borrower shall pay the applicable Lender
Party the amount shown as due on any such certificate within 3 Business Days
after receipt thereof.
(c) Failure or delay on the part of
any Lender Party to demand compensation pursuant to Section 3.2 or this Section 3.3
shall not constitute a waiver of such Lender Partys right to demand such
compensation.
Section 3.4. Illegality. If any change after the date hereof in
applicable Laws, or in the interpretation or administration thereof of or in
any jurisdiction whatsoever, domestic or foreign, shall make it unlawful for
any Lender Party to fund or maintain Eurodollar Loans, then, upon notice by
such Lender Party to Borrower and Agent, (a) Borrowers right to elect
Eurodollar Loans from such Lender Party shall be suspended to the extent and
for the duration of such illegality, (b) all Eurodollar Loans of such Lender
Party which are then the subject of any Borrowing Notice and which cannot be
lawfully funded shall be funded as Base Rate Loans of such Lender Party, and
(c) all Eurodollar Loans of such Lender Party shall be converted automatically
to Base Rate Loans on the respective last days of the then current Interest
Periods with respect to such Loans or within such earlier period as required by
Law. If any such conversion of a
Eurodollar Loan occurs on a day which is not the last day of the then current
Interest Period with respect thereto, Borrower shall pay to such Lender Party
such amounts, if any, as may be required pursuant to Section 3.5.
Section 3.5. Funding Losses. In addition to its other obligations
hereunder, Borrower will indemnify each Lender Party against, and reimburse
each Lender Party on demand for, any loss or expense incurred or sustained by
such Lender Party (including any loss or expense incurred by reason of the
liquidation or reemployment of deposits or other funds acquired by a Lender
Party to fund or maintain Eurodollar Loans but excluding any loss of Base Rate
Margin or Eurodollar Margin), as a result of (a) any payment or prepayment
(whether authorized or required hereunder or otherwise) of all or a portion of
a Eurodollar Loan on a day other than the day on which the applicable Interest
Period ends, (b) any payment or prepayment, whether required hereunder or
otherwise, of a Loan made after the delivery, but before the effective date, of
a Continuation/Conversion Notice requesting the continuation of outstanding
Eurodollar Loans as, or the conversion of outstanding Base Rate Loans to,
Eurodollar Loans, if such payment or prepayment prevents such
Continuation/Conversion Notice from becoming fully effective, (c) the failure
of any Loan to be made or of any Continuation/Conversion Notice requesting the
continuation of outstanding Eurodollar Loans as, or the conversion of
outstanding Base Rate Loans to, Eurodollar Loans to become effective due to any
condition precedent not being satisfied or due to any other action or inaction
of any Restricted Person, (d) any Conversion (whether authorized or required
hereunder or otherwise) of all or any portion of any
34
Eurodollar Loan into a Base Rate Loan or into
a different Eurodollar Loan on a day other than the day on which the applicable
Interest Period ends, or (e) any assignment of a Eurodollar Loan on a day other
than the last day of the Interest Period therefor as a result of a request by
Borrower pursuant to Section 3.8(b).
Section 3.6. Reimbursable Taxes. Borrower covenants and agrees that:
(a) Borrower will indemnify each
Lender Party against and reimburse each Lender Party for all present and future
income, stamp and other taxes, levies, costs and charges whatsoever imposed,
assessed, levied or collected on or in respect of this Agreement or any
Eurodollar Loans or Letters of Credit (whether or not legally or correctly
imposed, assessed, levied or collected), excluding, however, (i) taxes imposed
on or measured by its overall net income, and franchise taxes imposed on it (in
lieu of net income taxes), by the jurisdiction (or any political subdivision
thereof) under the Laws of which it is organized or otherwise resides for tax
purposes or maintains any Applicable Lending Office, (ii) with respect to each
Lender Party, taxes imposed by reason of any present or former connection
between such Lender Party and the jurisdiction imposing such taxes, other than
solely as a result of this Agreement or any Note or any transaction
contemplated hereby, and (iii) any United States withholding tax imposed on any
payment by Borrower pursuant to this Agreement or under any Eurodollar Loans or
Letters of Credit, but not excluding any portion of such tax that exceeds the
United States withholding tax which would have been imposed on such a payment
to such Lender Party under the laws and treaties in effect when such Lender
Party first becomes a party to this Agreement (all such non-excluded taxes,
levies, costs and charges being collectively called Reimbursable Taxes). Such indemnification shall be on an after-tax
basis and, except as otherwise provided in Section 3.6(b), paid within 3
Business Days after a Lender Party makes demand therefor.
(b) All payments on account of the
principal of, and interest on, each Lender Partys Loans and Note, and all
other amounts payable by Borrower to any Lender Party hereunder, shall be made
in full without set-off or counterclaim and shall be made free and clear of and
without deductions or withholdings of any nature by reason of any Reimbursable
Taxes, all of which will be for the account of Borrower. In the event of Borrower being compelled by
Law to make any such deduction or withholding from any payment to any Lender
Party, Borrower shall pay on the due date of such payment, by way of additional
interest, such additional amounts as are needed to cause the amount receivable
by such Lender Party after such deduction or withholding to equal the amount
which would have been receivable in the absence of such deduction or
withholding. If Borrower should make any
deduction or withholding as aforesaid, Borrower shall within 60 days thereafter
forward to such Lender Party an official receipt or other official document
evidencing payment of such deduction or withholding.
(c) If Borrower is ever required to
pay any Reimbursable Tax with respect to any Eurodollar Loan, Borrower may
elect, by giving to Agent and such Lender Party not less than three Business
Days notice, to convert all (but not less than all) of any such Eurodollar
Loan into a Base Rate Loan, but such election shall not diminish Borrowers
obligation to pay all Reimbursable Taxes.
35
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing
provisions of this section, Borrower shall be entitled, to the extent it is
required to do so by Law, to deduct or withhold (and not to make any indemnification
or reimbursement for) income or other similar taxes imposed by the United
States of America from interest, fees or other amounts payable hereunder for
the account of any Lender Party, other than a Lender Party (i) who is a U.S.
person for Federal income tax purposes or (ii) who has the Prescribed Forms on
file with Agent (with copies provided to Borrower) for the applicable year to
the extent deduction or withholding of such taxes is not required as a result
of the filing of such Prescribed Forms, provided that if Borrower shall so
deduct or withhold any such taxes, it shall provide a statement to Agent and
such Lender Party, setting forth the amount of such taxes so deducted or
withheld, the applicable rate and any other information or documentation which
such Lender Party may reasonably request for assisting such Lender Party to
obtain any allowable credits or deductions for the taxes so deducted or
withheld in the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which such Lender Party is
subject to tax. As used in this section,
Prescribed Forms means such duly executed forms or statements, and in such
number of copies, which may, from time to time, be prescribed by Law and which,
pursuant to applicable provisions of (x) an income tax treaty between the
United States and the country of residence of the Lender Party providing the
forms or statements, (y) the Internal Revenue Code, or (z) any applicable rules
or regulations thereunder, permit Borrower to make payments hereunder for the
account of such Lender Party free of such deduction or withholding of income or
similar taxes.
Section 3.7. Alternative Rate of Interest. If prior to the commencement of any Interest
Period for a Borrowing of Eurodollar Loans:
(a) Agent determines that adequate
and reasonable means do not exist for ascertaining the Eurodollar Rate for such
Interest Period (any such determination shall be conclusive absent manifest
error); or
(b) Agent is advised by Required
Lenders that the Eurodollar Rate for such Interest Period will not adequately
and fairly reflect the cost to such Lenders of making or maintaining their
Loans included in such Borrowing for such Interest Period;
then Agent
shall give notice thereof to Borrower and Lenders by telephone or telecopy as
promptly as practicable thereafter and, until Agent notifies Borrower and
Lenders that the circumstances giving rise to such notice no longer exist, (i)
any Continuation/Conversion Notice that requests the conversion of any
Borrowing to, or continuation of any Borrowing as, a Borrowing of Eurodollar
Loans shall be ineffective and shall be deemed a request to continue such
Borrowing as a Borrowing of Base Rate Loans and (ii) if any Borrowing Notice
requests a Borrowing of Eurodollar Loans, such Borrowing shall be made as a
Borrowing of Base Rate Loans. Upon
receipt of such notice, Borrower may revoke any pending request for a Borrowing
of, conversion to or continuation of Eurodollar Loans.
Section 3.8. Change of Applicable Lending
Office; Replacement of Lenders.
(a) Each Lender Party
agrees that, upon the occurrence of any event giving rise to the operation of
Sections 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 or 3.6 with respect to such Lender Party, it will, if
requested by Borrower, use reasonable efforts (subject to overall policy
considerations of such Lender
36
Party) to designate another Applicable Lending Office, provided that
such designation is made on such terms that such Lender Party and its
Applicable Lending Office suffer no economic, legal or regulatory disadvantage,
with the object of avoiding the consequence of the event giving rise to the
operation of any such section. Nothing
in this section shall affect or postpone any of the obligations of
Borrower or the rights of any Lender Party provided in Sections 3.2, 3.3, 3.4,
or 3.6.
(b) If any Lender requests
compensation under Section 3.2 or 3.3, or if Borrower is required to pay
any additional amount to any Lender Party or any governmental authority for the
account of any Lender Party pursuant to Section 3.6, or if the obligation
of any Lender Party to make or maintain Loans as, or convert Loans to,
Eurodollar Loans is suspended pursuant to Section 3.4, or if any Lender
Party defaults in its obligation to fund Loans hereunder, then Borrower may, at
its sole expense and effort (such expense to include any transfer fee payable
to Agent under Section 10.5(c) and any expense pursuant to Article III),
upon notice to such Lender Party and Agent, require such Lender Party to assign
and delegate in whole (but not in part), without recourse (in accordance with
and subject to the restrictions contained in Section 10.5), all its
interests, rights and obligations under this Agreement to an Eligible
Transferee that shall assume such obligations (which Eligible Transferee may be
another Lender Party, if a Lender Party accepts such assignment); provided that
(i) Borrower shall have received the prior written consent of Agent, which
consent shall not unreasonably be withheld, (ii) such Lender Party shall have
received payment of an amount equal to the outstanding principal of its Loans,
accrued interest thereon, accrued fees and all other amounts payable to it
hereunder from Borrower or such Eligible Transferee (including any amounts payable pursuant to Section 3.5), (iii)
in the case of any such assignment resulting from a claim for compensation
under Section 3.2 or 3.3 or payments required to be made pursuant to Section 3.6,
such assignment will result in a reduction in such compensation or payments,
and (iv) if the Borrower elects to
exercise such right with respect to any Lender Party, it shall be obligated to
replace all Lender Parties that have made similar requests. A Lender Party shall not be required to make
any such assignment and delegation if, prior thereto, as a result of a waiver
by such Lender Party or otherwise, the circumstances entitling Borrower to
require such assignment and delegation cease to apply. Any
Lender Party being replaced shall execute and deliver an Assignment and
Acceptance with respect to such Lender Partys outstanding Loans and
participations in LC Obligations.
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CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO LENDING
Section 4.1. Documents to be Delivered. No Lender has any obligation to make its
first Loan, and LC Issuer has no obligation to issue the first Letter of
Credit, unless Agent shall have received all of the following, at Agents
office in Houston, Texas, duly executed and delivered and in form, substance
and date reasonably satisfactory to the Agent, the Lenders and their counsel:
(a) This Agreement.
(b) Each Revolving Note.
(c) A Guaranty executed by each
Guarantor existing on the date hereof.
(d) Each Security Document listed on
the Schedule 4.1.
(e) The following certificates of
Borrower and, as appropriate, the Subsidiaries:
(i) An
Omnibus Certificate of the Secretary or Assistant Secretary of the Borrower
and each Guarantor, which shall contain the names and signatures of the
officers of Borrower and each Guarantor authorized to execute Loan Documents
and which shall certify to the truth, correctness and completeness of the
following exhibits attached thereto: (1)
a copy of resolutions duly adopted by the Board of Directors of Borrower and
each Guarantor and in full force and effect at the time this Agreement is
entered into, authorizing the execution of this Agreement and the other Loan
Documents delivered or to be delivered in connection herewith and the consummation
of the transactions contemplated herein and therein, (2) a copy of the charter
documents of Borrower and each Guarantor and all amendments thereto, certified
by the appropriate official of such partys state of organization, and (3) a
copy of the bylaws of Borrower and each Guarantor;
(ii) A
Closing Certificate of the chief financial officer of Borrower, as of the
Closing Date, certifying that (A) the conditions set out in subsections (a),
(b), and (c) of Section 4.2 have been satisfied and (B) the Initial
Financial Statements of Borrower delivered to the Agent fairly present the
Consolidated financial position for the periods covered thereby, as of the date
of such Initial Financial Statements; and
(iii) A
Borrowing Base Certificate dated as of the Closing Date
(f) A certificate of existence and
good standing for Borrower issued by the Secretary of State of Delaware, a
certificate of due qualification to do business for the Borrower issued by the
Secretary of State of Texas, and a certificate of account status for the
Borrower issued by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
38
(g) A favorable opinion of (i)
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, counsel for Restricted Persons, substantially in
the form set forth in Exhibit 4.1(g)(i); and (ii) Trent McKenna, in-house
counsel for Restricted Persons, substantially in the form set forth in Exhibit
4.1(g)(ii).
(h) The Initial Financial
Statements.
(i) The certificate or certificates
of insurance required by Section 6.8.
(j) Payment of all fees including
all Commitment Fees, upfront, Agent, and Arranger fees required to be paid to
any Lender or any other Party pursuant to any Loan Documents.
(k) Confirmation of the payment in
full of all Indebtedness under the Prior Credit Documents.
(l) The Assignment of Prior Credit
Documents in form and substance satisfactory to the Agent in its sole
discretion, executed by the Prior Agent, as agent, and each of the lenders
party to the Prior Credit Agreement on the Closing Date and the delivery of all
Collateral in possession of the Prior Agent.
(m) Such other documents and
instruments as the Agent and its counsel may reasonably require.
Section 4.2. Additional Conditions Precedent. No Lender has any obligation to make any Loan
(including its first), and LC Issuer has no obligation to issue any Letter of
Credit (including its first), unless the following conditions precedent have
been satisfied:
(a) All representations and
warranties made by any Restricted Person in any Loan Document shall be true in
all material respects (without duplication of materiality qualifiers
contained therein) on and as of the date of such Loan or the date of
issuance of such Letter of Credit as if such representations and warranties had
been made as of the date of such Loan or the date of issuance of such Letter of
Credit, except to the extent that such representation or warranty was made as
of a specific date or updated, modified or supplemented as of a subsequent date
with the consent of Required Lenders.
(b) No Default shall exist at the
date of such Loan or the date of issuance of such Letter of Credit.
(c) The making of such Loan or the
issuance of such Letter of Credit shall not be prohibited by any Law and shall
not subject any Lender or any LC Issuer to any penalty or other onerous
condition under or pursuant to any such Law.
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39
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
To confirm
each Lenders understanding concerning Restricted Persons and Restricted
Persons businesses, properties and obligations and to induce each Lender to
enter into this Agreement and to extend credit hereunder, Borrower represents
and warrants to each Lender that:
Section 5.1. No Default.
No event has occurred and is continuing which constitutes a Default or
an Event of Default.
Section 5.2. Organization and Good Standing. Each Restricted Person is duly organized,
validly existing and in good standing under the Laws of its jurisdiction of
organization, having all powers required to carry on its business and enter
into and carry out the transactions contemplated hereby. Each Restricted Person is duly qualified, in
good standing, and authorized to do business in all other jurisdictions within
the United States wherein the character of the properties owned or held by it
or the nature of the business transacted by it makes such qualification
necessary, except where the failure to so qualify or be authorized could not
reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change. Each Restricted Person has taken all actions
and procedures customarily taken in order to enter, for the purpose of
conducting business or owning property, each jurisdiction outside the United
States wherein the character of the properties owned or held by it or the
nature of the business transacted by it makes such actions and procedures
desirable could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse
Change.
Section 5.3. Authorization.
Each Restricted Person has the power and authority to execute, deliver,
and perform its respective obligations under this Agreement and the other Loan
Documents. Each Restricted Person has taken all action necessary to authorize
the execution and delivery by it of the Loan Documents to which it is a party
and to authorize the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby and
the performance of its obligations thereunder.
This Agreement and the other Loan Documents have been duly executed and
delivered by Borrower and each other Restricted Person a Party thereto. Borrower is duly authorized to borrow funds
hereunder.
Section 5.4. No Conflicts or Consents. The execution and
delivery by the various Restricted Persons of the Loan Documents to which each
is a party, the performance by each of its obligations under such Loan
Documents, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the various
Loan Documents, do not and will not (a) conflict with any provision of (i) any
Law, (ii) the organizational documents of any Restricted Person, or (iii) any
material agreement, judgment, license, order or permit applicable to or binding
upon any Restricted Person; (b) result in the acceleration of any Indebtedness
owed by any Restricted Person; or (c) result in or require the creation of any
Lien upon any assets or properties of any Restricted Person except as expressly
contemplated or permitted in the Loan Documents. Except as expressly contemplated in the Loan
Documents, no permit, consent, approval, authorization or
40
order of, and no notice to or filing with, any Tribunal or third party
is required in connection with the execution, delivery or performance by any
Restricted Person of any Loan Document or to consummate any transactions
contemplated by the Loan Documents.
Section 5.5. Enforceable Obligations. This Agreement is, and the other Loan
Documents when duly executed and delivered will be, legal, valid and binding
obligations of each Restricted Person which is a party hereto or thereto,
enforceable in accordance with their respective terms except as such
enforcement may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency or similar Laws of general
application relating to the enforcement of creditors rights.
Section 5.6. Initial Financial Statements. Restricted
Persons have heretofore delivered to each Lender true, correct and complete
copies of the Initial Financial Statements.
The Initial Financial Statements fairly present Borrowers Consolidated
financial position at the respective dates thereof and the Consolidated results
of Borrowers operations and Borrowers Consolidated cash flows for the
respective periods thereof. Since the
date of the annual Initial Financial Statements, no Material Adverse Change has
occurred, except as reflected in the quarterly Initial Financial Statements or
in Section 5.6 of the Disclosure Schedule.
Section 5.7. Other Obligations and Restrictions. As of the Closing Date, no Restricted Person
has any outstanding Liabilities of any kind which are, in the aggregate,
material to Borrower or material with respect to Borrowers Consolidated
financial condition and not shown in the Initial Financial Statements or
disclosed in Section 5.7 of the Disclosure Schedule or otherwise permitted
under Section 7.1. Except as shown in
the Initial Financial Statements or disclosed in Section 5.7 of the Disclosure
Schedule, no Restricted Person is subject to or restricted by any franchise,
contract, deed, charter restriction, or other instrument or restriction which
could reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change.
Section 5.8. Full Disclosure.
No certificate, written statement or other written information delivered
herewith or heretofore by any Restricted Person to any Lender in connection
with the negotiation of this Agreement or in connection with any transaction
contemplated hereby contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omits
to state any material fact known to any Restricted Person (other than industry-wide
risks normally associated with the types of businesses conducted by Restricted
Persons) necessary to make the statements contained herein or therein, taken as
a whole, not misleading as of the date made or deemed made. There is no fact known to any Restricted
Person that has not been disclosed to each Lender in writing which could
reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change. There are no statements or conclusions in any
report delivered by any Restricted Person to the Lenders which are based upon
or include misleading information or fail to take into account material
information regarding the matters reported therein.
Section 5.9. Litigation.
Except as disclosed in the Initial Financial Statements or in Section
5.9 of the Disclosure Schedule: (a)
there are no actions, suits or legal, equitable, arbitrative or administrative
proceedings pending, or to the knowledge of any Restricted Person threatened,
against any Restricted Person or affecting any Collateral (including any which
challenge or otherwise pertain to any Restricted Persons title to any
Collateral) before any Tribunal which could reasonably be expected to cause a
Material Adverse Change, and (b) there
41
are no outstanding judgments, injunctions, writs, rulings or orders by
any such Tribunal against any Restricted Person or, to the knowledge of
Borrower, any Restricted Persons stockholders, partners, directors or
officers, or affecting any Collateral or any of its material assets or property
which could reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change.
Section 5.10. Labor Disputes and Acts of God. Except as disclosed in Section 5.10 of the
Disclosure Schedule, neither the business nor the properties of any Restricted Person
has been affected by any fire, explosion, accident, strike, lockout or other
labor dispute, drought, storm, hail, earthquake, embargo, act of God or of the
public enemy or other casualty (whether or not covered by insurance), which
could reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change.
Section 5.11. ERISA Plans and Liabilities. All ERISA Plans in effect on the Closing Date
are listed in Section 5.11 of the Disclosure Schedule. Except as disclosed in the Initial Financial
Statements or in Section 5.11 of the Disclosure Schedule, no Termination Event
has occurred with respect to any ERISA Plan and all ERISA Affiliates are in
compliance with ERISA which could reasonably be expected to cause a Material
Adverse Change. Except as permitted under
Section 7.10 hereof, no ERISA Affiliate is required to contribute to, or has
any other absolute or contingent liability in respect of, any multiemployer
plan as defined in Section 4001 of ERISA.
Except as set forth in Section 5.11 of the Disclosure Schedule as of the
Closing Date: (a) no accumulated
funding deficiency (as defined in Section 412(a) of the Internal Revenue Code)
exists with respect to any ERISA Plan, whether or not waived by the Secretary
of the Treasury or his delegate, and (b) the current value of each ERISA Plans
benefits does not exceed the current value of such ERISA Plans assets
available for the payment of such benefits which could reasonably be expected
to cause a Material Adverse Change.
Section 5.12. Environmental and Other Laws. Except as disclosed in Section 5.12 of the
Disclosure Schedule: (a) Restricted Persons are conducting their businesses in
compliance with all applicable Laws, including Environmental Laws, which the
failure to so comply could reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse
Change, and have and are in compliance with all licenses and permits required
under any such Laws which the failure to so comply could reasonably be expected
to cause a Material Adverse Change; (b) none of the operations or properties of
any Restricted Person is the subject of federal, state or local investigation
evaluating whether any material remedial action is needed to respond to a
release of any Hazardous Materials into the environment or to the improper
storage or disposal (including storage or disposal at offsite locations) of any
Hazardous Materials which could reasonably be expected to cause a Material
Adverse Change; (c) no Restricted Person (and to the best knowledge of
Borrower, no other Person) has filed any notice under any Law indicating that
any Restricted Person is responsible for the improper release into the
environment, or the improper storage or disposal, of any material amount of any
Hazardous Materials or that any Hazardous Materials have been improperly released,
or are improperly stored or disposed of, upon any property of any Restricted
Person which could reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change;
(d) to the knowledge of Borrower, no Restricted Person has transported or
arranged for the transportation of any Hazardous Material to any location which
is (i) listed on the National Priorities List under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended,
listed for possible inclusion on such National Priorities
42
List by the Environmental Protection Agency in its Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System List, or
listed on any similar state list or (ii) the subject of federal, state or local
enforcement actions or other investigations, in the case of either of the
forgoing clauses (i) and (ii), which may lead to claims against any Restricted
Person for clean-up costs, remedial work, damages to natural resources or for
personal injury claims (whether under Environmental Laws or otherwise) which
could reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change; and (e) no
Restricted Person otherwise has any known material contingent liability under
any Environmental Laws or in connection with the release into the environment,
or the storage or disposal, of any Hazardous Materials which could reasonably
be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change.
Each Restricted Person undertook, at the time of its acquisition of each
of its material properties, all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership
and uses of the Property and any potential environmental liabilities associated
therewith.
Section 5.13. Names and Places of Business. As of the Closing Date, no Restricted Person
has, during the preceding two (2) years, been known by, or used any other trade
or fictitious name, except as disclosed in Section 5.13 of the Disclosure
Schedule. Except as otherwise indicated
in Section 5.13 of the Disclosure Schedule, as of the Closing Date, the chief
executive office and principal place of business of each Restricted Person are
(and for the preceding two (2) years have been) located at the address of
Borrower set out on the signature pages hereto.
Except as indicated in Section 5.13 of the Disclosure Schedule otherwise
disclosed in writing to Agent, no Restricted Person has any other office or
place of business.
Section 5.14. Subsidiaries.
Borrower does not presently have any Subsidiary except those listed in
Section 5.14 of the Disclosure Schedule or disclosed to Agent in writing. No Restricted Person has any equity
investments in any other Person except those listed in Section 5.14 of the
Disclosure Schedule or otherwise permitted under this Agreement. Borrower owns, directly or indirectly, the
equity interests in each of its Subsidiaries indicated in Section 5.14 of the
Disclosure Schedule or as disclosed to Agent in writing.
Section 5.15. Government Regulation. Neither Borrower nor any other Restricted
Person owing Obligations is (a) a registered holding company, or a
subsidiary company of a registered holding company, or an affiliate of a
registered holding company within the meaning of the Public Utility Holding
Company Act of 1935, as amended; or (b) an investment company or a company
controlled by an investment company within the meaning of the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended. The
pledge of the Equity of each Subsidiary of Borrower does not violate Regulation
T, U, or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Section 5.16. Insider. No
Restricted Person, nor, to the knowledge of Borrower as of the Closing Date,
any Person having control (as that term is defined in 12 U.S.C. § 375b(9) or
in regulations promulgated pursuant thereto) of any Restricted Person, is a
director or an executive officer or principal shareholder (as those terms
are defined in 12 U.S.C. § 375b(8) or (9) or in regulations promulgated
pursuant thereto) of any Lender, of a bank holding company of which any Lender
is a Subsidiary or of any Subsidiary of a bank holding company of which any
Lender is a Subsidiary.
43
Section 5.17. Solvency.
Upon giving effect to the issuance of the Notes, the execution of the
Loan Documents by Borrower and each Guarantor and the consummation of the
transactions contemplated hereby, Borrower and the Guarantors, on a
Consolidated basis, will be Solvent.
Neither Borrower nor any Restricted Person has incurred (whether under
the Loan Documents or otherwise), nor does any Restricted Person intend to
incur or believe that it will incur Liabilities which will be beyond its
ability to pay as such debts mature.
Section 5.18. Tax Shelter Regulations. Borrower does not intend to treat the Loans
and/or Letters of Credit and related transactions as being a reportable
transaction (within the meaning of Treasury Regulation Section 1.6011-4). In the event Borrower determines to take any
action inconsistent with such intention, it will promptly notify Agent
thereof. If Borrower so notifies Agent,
Borrower acknowledges that one or more of the Lenders may treat its Loans
and/or Letters of Credit as part of a transaction that is subject to Treasury
Regulation Section 301.6112-1, and such Lender or Lenders, as applicable, will
maintain the lists and other records required by such Treasury Regulation.
Section 5.19. Title to Properties; Licenses. Each Restricted Person has good and
defensible title to all of the Collateral and to all of its material properties
and assets, free and clear of all Liens, encumbrances, or adverse claims other
than Permitted Liens and free and clear of all impediments to the use of such
properties and assets in such Restricted Persons business. Each Restricted Person possesses all
licenses, permits, franchises, patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade names,
and other intellectual property (or otherwise possesses the right to use such
intellectual property without violation of the rights of any other Person)
which are necessary to carry out its business as presently conducted and as
presently proposed to be conducted hereafter, which could reasonably be
expected to cause a Material Adverse Change and no Restricted Person is in
violation of the terms under which it possesses such intellectual property or
the right to use such intellectual property, the violation of which could
reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change.
Section 5.20. Regulation U.
None of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries are engaged in the business of
extending credit for the purpose of purchasing or carrying Margin Stock, and no
proceeds of any Loans will be used for a purpose which violates Regulation U.
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AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS OF BORROWER.
Borrower covenants and agrees
that until the full and final payment of the Obligations and the termination of
this Agreement, unless Required Lenders have previously agreed otherwise:
Section 6.1. Payment and Performance. Borrower will cause each other Restricted
Person to observe, perform and comply with every term, covenant and condition
in any Loan Document.
Section 6.2. Books, Financial Statements and
Reports. Each Restricted Person will at all times maintain
full and accurate books of account and records.
Borrower will maintain and will cause its Subsidiaries to maintain a
standard system of accounting, will maintain its Fiscal Year, and will furnish
the following statements and reports to each Lender Party at Borrowers
expense:
(a) As soon as available, and in any
event within one hundred twenty (120) days after the end of each Fiscal Year,
complete Consolidated and consolidating financial statements of Borrower
together with all notes thereto, prepared in reasonable detail in accordance
with GAAP, together with an unqualified opinion on the Consolidated Statements,
based on an audit using GAAP, by independent certified public accountants
selected by Borrower of nationally recognized standing, stating that such
Consolidated financial statements have been so prepared. These financial statements shall contain a
Consolidated and consolidating balance sheet as of the end of such Fiscal Year
and Consolidated and consolidating statements of income for such Fiscal Year
and Consolidated statements of cash flows and stockholders equity for such
Fiscal Year, each setting forth in comparative form the corresponding figures
for the preceding Fiscal Year.
(b) As soon as available, and in any
event within forty-five (45) days after the end of the first three Fiscal
Quarters in each Fiscal Year, Borrowers unaudited Consolidated and
consolidating balance sheet and income statements as of the end of such Fiscal
Quarter and Consolidated statements of Borrowers cash flows and stockholders
equity for the period from the beginning of the then current Fiscal Year to the
end of such Fiscal Quarter, all in reasonable detail and prepared in accordance
with GAAP, subject to changes resulting from normal year-end adjustments. In addition Borrower will, together with each
such set of financial statements and each set of financial statements furnished
under subsection (a) of this section, furnish a certificate in the form of
Exhibit 6.2(b) signed by the chief financial officer of Borrower stating that
such financial statements are fair and complete in all material respects and
fairly present the Consolidated financial position of Borrower for the periods
covered thereby (subject to normal year-end adjustments), stating that he has
reviewed the Loan Documents, containing calculations showing compliance (or
non-compliance) at the end of such Fiscal Quarter with the requirements of Section 7.11
and stating that no Default exists at the end of such Fiscal Quarter or at the
time of such certificate or specifying the nature and period of existence of
any such Default.
45
(c) Promptly upon their becoming
available, copies of all financial statements, reports, notices and proxy statements
sent by any Restricted Person to its stockholders and all registration
statements, periodic reports and other statements and schedules filed by any
Restricted Person with any securities exchange, the Securities and Exchange
Commission or any similar governmental authority.
(d) As soon as available, and in any
event within twenty (20) days after the end of each calendar month, (i) a
Borrowing Base Certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit 2.8, duly
completed by an authorized officer of Borrower, with information required
therein completed to reflect the Borrowing Base as of the end of the preceding
calendar month; and (ii) an aging schedule of all Receivables of Borrower
on a Consolidated basis in summary form, certified by an authorized officer of
Borrower, which reflects aging, on an aggregate basis, of Receivables which are
current or 30, 60, or 90 days past due from the date of invoice with respect
thereto.
Section 6.3. Other Information and
Inspections. Each Restricted Person will furnish to each
Lender any information which Agent may from time to time reasonably request
concerning any provision of the Loan Documents, any Collateral, or any matter
in connection with Restricted Persons businesses, properties, prospects,
financial condition and operations, including all evidence which Agent from
time to time reasonably requests in writing as to the accuracy and validity of
or compliance with all representations, warranties and covenants made by any
Restricted Person in the Loan Documents, the satisfaction of all conditions
contained therein, and all other matters pertaining thereto. Each Restricted Person will permit
representatives appointed by Agent (including independent accountants,
auditors, Agents, attorneys, appraisers and any other Persons) to visit and
inspect during normal business hours any of such Restricted Persons property,
including its books of account, other books and records, and any facilities or
other business assets, and to make extra copies therefrom and photocopies and photographs
thereof, and to write down and record any information such representatives
obtain, and each Restricted Person shall permit Agent or its representatives to
investigate and verify the accuracy of the information furnished to Agent or
any Lender in connection with the Loan Documents and to discuss all such
matters with its officers, employees and representatives.
Section 6.4. Notice of Material Events and
Change of Address. Borrower will, after it has knowledge
thereof, promptly notify each Lender in writing, stating that such notice is
being given pursuant to this Agreement, of:
(a) the occurrence of any Material
Adverse Change,
(b) the occurrence of any Default or
Event of Default,
(c) the acceleration of the maturity
of any Indebtedness owed by any Restricted Person or of any default by any
Restricted Person under any indenture, mortgage, agreement, contract or other
instrument to which any of them is a party or by which any of them or any of
their properties is bound, if such acceleration or default could reasonably be
expected to cause a Material Adverse Change,
46
(d) the occurrence of any
Termination Event,
(e) any claim of $1,000,000 or more,
any notice of potential liability under any Environmental Laws which might
exceed such amount, or any other material adverse claim asserted against any
Restricted Person or with respect to any Restricted Persons properties,
(f) the filing of any suit or
proceeding against any Restricted Person in which an adverse decision could
reasonably be expected to cause a Material Adverse Change, and
(g) the filing of any material
financing statement, registration of a pledge (such as with an issuer of
uncertificated securities), or other arrangement or action which would serve to
perfect a Lien, regardless of whether such financing statement is filed, such
registration is made, or such arrangement or action is undertaken before or
after such Lien exists.
Upon the occurrence of any of
the foregoing Restricted Persons will take all necessary or appropriate steps
to promptly remedy any such Material Adverse Change, Default, Event of Default,
acceleration, default or Termination Event, to protect against any such adverse
claim, to defend any such suit or proceeding, and to resolve all controversies
on account of any of the foregoing.
Borrower will also notify Agent and Agents counsel in writing at least
ten (10) Business Days prior to the date that any Restricted Person changes its
name or the location of its chief executive office or its location under the
Uniform Commercial Code.
Section 6.5. Maintenance of Properties. Each Restricted Person will maintain,
preserve, protect, and keep all Collateral and all other material property used
or useful in the conduct of its business in good condition (ordinary wear and
tear excepted) in accordance with reasonably prudent industry standards, and in
compliance with all applicable Laws which could reasonably be expected to cause
a Material Adverse Change, in conformity with all applicable contracts,
servitudes, leases and agreements which could reasonably be expected to cause a
Material Adverse Change, and will from time to time make all commercially
reasonable repairs, renewals and replacements needed to enable the business and
operations carried on in connection therewith to be promptly and advantageously
conducted at all times.
Section 6.6. Maintenance of Existence and
Qualifications. Except as permitted under Section 7.4,
each Restricted Person will maintain and preserve its existence and its rights
and franchises in full force and effect and will qualify to do business in all
states or jurisdictions where required by applicable Law, except where the
failure to maintain, preserve and qualify could reasonably be expected to cause
a Material Adverse Change.
Section 6.7. Payment of Taxes. Each Restricted Person will (a) timely file
all required tax returns including any extensions; (b) timely pay all taxes,
assessments, and other governmental charges or levies imposed upon it or upon
its income, profits or property before the same become delinquent; and (c)
maintain appropriate accruals and reserves for all of the foregoing in
accordance with GAAP. Each Restricted
Person may, however, delay paying or discharging any of the foregoing so long
as it is in good faith contesting the validity thereof by appropriate
proceedings, if necessary, and has set aside on its books adequate reserves
therefore which are required by GAAP.
47
(a) Each Restricted Person shall at
all times maintain (at its own expense) insurance for its property and
insurance with respect to all Collateral and liability insurance, with
financially sound and reputable insurance companies, in such amounts and
against such risks as is customary in the industry for similarly situated
businesses and properties. All insurance
policies covering Collateral shall be endorsed (i) to provide for payment of losses
to Agent as its interests may appear and Borrower shall deliver a certificate
to that effect, (ii) to provide that such policies may not be canceled or
reduced or affected in any material manner for any reason without ten (10) days
prior notice to Agent from the insurer, (iii) to provide for any other matters
specified in any applicable Security Document or which Agent may reasonably
require; and (iv) to provide for insurance against fire, casualty and any other
hazards normally insured against, (less a reasonable deductible not to exceed amounts
customary in the industry for similarly situated businesses and properties) of
the property insured.
(b) Each such policy shall (A) if
such policy is for liability insurance, name the appropriate Restricted Person
and Agent, as agent for the Lenders, as insured parties thereunder (without any
representation or warranty by or obligation upon Agent or Lenders) as their
interests may appear, (B) if such policy is for property insurance, contain the
agreement by the insurer that any loss thereunder shall be payable to Agent
notwithstanding any action, inaction or breach of representation or warranty by
any Restricted Person, and (C) provide that there shall be no recourse against
Agent or Lenders for payment of premiums or other amounts with respect thereto. Each Restricted Person will, if so requested
by Agent, deliver to Agent original or duplicate policies of such
insurance. Agent is hereby authorized to
enforce payment under all such insurance policies and to compromise and settle
any claims thereunder, in its own name or in the name of the Restricted
Persons.
(c) Reimbursement under any
liability insurance maintained by Restricted Persons pursuant to this Section 6.8
may be paid directly to the Person who has incurred the liability covered by
such insurance. With respect to any loss
involving damage to Collateral as to which subsection (d) of this Section 6.8
is not applicable, each Restricted Person will make or cause to be made the
necessary repairs to or replacements of such Collateral, and any proceeds of
insurance maintained by each Restricted Person pursuant to this Section 6.8
shall be paid to such Restricted Person by Agent as reimbursement for the costs
of such repairs or replacements as such repairs or replacements are made or
acquired.
(d) Upon the occurrence and during
the continuance of an Event of Default or upon the occurrence of a loss of any
Collateral, all property and casualty insurance payments in respect of such
Collateral shall be paid to Agent and applied as specified in Section 2.7.
Section 6.9. Performance on Borrowers Behalf. If any Restricted Person fails to pay any
taxes, insurance premiums, expenses, attorneys fees or other amounts it is
required to pay under any Loan Document, Agent may pay the same. Borrower shall immediately reimburse Agent
for any such payments and each amount paid by Agent shall constitute an
Obligation owed hereunder which is due and payable on the date such amount is
paid by Agent.
48
Section 6.10. Interest. Borrower hereby promises to each Lender Party
to pay interest at the Default Rate on all Obligations (including Obligations
to pay fees or to reimburse or indemnify any Lender) which Borrower has in this
Agreement promised to pay to such Lender Party and which are not paid when
due. Such interest shall accrue from the
date such Obligations become due until they are paid.
Section 6.11. Compliance with Law. Each Restricted Person will conduct its
business and affairs in compliance with all Laws applicable thereto. Each
Restricted Person will cause all licenses and permits necessary or appropriate
for the conduct of its business and the ownership and operation of its property
used and useful in the conduct of its business to be at all times maintained in
good standing and in full force and effect, except as could reasonably be
expected to cause a Material Adverse Change.
Section 6.12. Environmental Matters;
Environmental Reviews.
(a) Each Restricted Person will
comply with all Environmental Laws now or hereafter applicable to such
Restricted Person, as well as all contractual obligations and agreements with
respect to environmental remediation or other environmental matters (except as
could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change), and
shall obtain, at or prior to the time required by applicable Environmental
Laws, all environmental, health and safety permits, licenses and other
authorizations necessary for its operations (except as could not reasonably be
expected to result in a Material Adverse Change) and will maintain such
authorizations in full force and effect (except as could not reasonably be
expected to result in a Material Adverse Change). No Restricted Person will do anything or
permit anything to be done which will subject any of its properties to any
remedial obligations under, or result in noncompliance with applicable permits
and licenses issued under, any applicable Environmental Laws, assuming
disclosure to the applicable governmental authorities of all relevant facts,
conditions and circumstances (except as could not reasonably be expected to
result in a Material Adverse Change).
(b) Borrower will promptly furnish
to Agent copies of all written notices of violation, orders, claims, citations,
complaints, penalty assessments, suits or other proceedings received by any
Restricted Person, or of which Borrower otherwise has notice, pending or
threatened against any Restricted Person by any governmental authority with
respect to any alleged violation of or non-compliance with any Environmental
Laws or with respect to any permits, licenses or authorizations in connection
with any Restricted Persons ownership or use of its properties or the
operation of its business, in each case, that could reasonably be expected to
result in a Material Adverse Change.
(c) Borrower will promptly furnish
to Agent all written requests for information, notices of claim, demand
letters, and other written notifications, received by Borrower in connection
with any Restricted Persons ownership or use of its properties or the conduct
of its business, relating to potential responsibility with respect to any
investigation or clean-up of Hazardous Material at any location that could
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Change.
49
Section 6.13. Intentionally Left Blank.
Section 6.14. Bank Accounts; Offset. To secure the repayment of the Obligations
Borrower hereby grants to each Lender a security interest, a lien, and a right
of offset, each of which shall be in addition to all other interests, liens,
and rights of any Lender at common law, under the Loan Documents, or otherwise,
and each of which shall be upon and against (a) any and all moneys, securities
or other property (and the proceeds therefrom) of Borrower now or hereafter
held or received by or in transit to any Lender from or for the account of
Borrower, whether for safekeeping, custody, pledge, transmission, collection or
otherwise, (b) any and all deposits (general or special, time or demand,
provisional or final) of Borrower with any Lender, and (c) any other credits
and claims of Borrower at any time existing against any Lender, including
claims under certificates of deposit. At
any time and from time to time after the occurrence of any Event of Default,
each Lender is hereby authorized to foreclose upon, or to offset against the
Obligations then due and payable (in either case without notice to Borrower),
any and all items hereinabove referred to.
The remedies of foreclosure and offset are separate and cumulative, and
either may be exercised independently of the other without regard to procedures
or restrictions applicable to the other.
Section 6.15. Guaranties of Borrowers
Subsidiaries. Each Subsidiary created, acquired or coming
into existence after the date hereof, other than an Immaterial Subsidiary
shall, promptly upon request by Agent, execute and deliver to Agent an absolute
and unconditional guaranty of the timely repayment of the Obligations and the due
and punctual performance of the obligations of Borrower hereunder, which
guaranty shall be reasonably satisfactory to Agent in form and substance. Borrower will cause each of its Subsidiaries
hereafter formed or acquired, other than an Immaterial Subsidiary, to deliver
to Agent, simultaneously with its delivery of such a guaranty, written evidence
satisfactory to Agent and its counsel that such Subsidiary has taken all
corporate or partnership action necessary to duly approve and authorize its
execution, delivery and performance of such guaranty and any other documents
which it is required to execute.
Section 6.16. Agreement to Deliver Security
Documents. Borrower agrees to deliver and to cause each
other Restricted Person to deliver, to further secure the Obligations whenever
requested by Agent in its sole and absolute discretion, deeds of trust,
mortgages, chattel mortgages, security agreements, financing statements
continuation statements, extension agreements, acknowledgments, and other
Security Documents in form and substance satisfactory to Agent for the purpose
of granting, confirming, protecting and perfecting Liens or security interests
in any personal property now owned or hereafter acquired by any Restricted
Person.
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ARTICLE VII
NEGATIVE
COVENANTS OF BORROWER
To conform with the terms and
conditions under which each Lender is willing to have credit outstanding to
Borrower, and to induce each Lender to enter into this Agreement and make the
Loans, Borrower warrants, covenants and agrees that until the full and final
payment of the Obligations and the termination of this Agreement, unless
Required Lenders have previously agreed otherwise:
Section 7.1. Indebtedness. No Restricted Person will in any manner owe
or be liable for Indebtedness except:
(a) the Obligations;
(b) unsecured Indebtedness among
Borrower and the Guarantors arising in the ordinary course of business;
(c) purchase money Indebtedness and
Capital Lease Obligations in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed
$5,000,000 at any time, provided that the original principal amount of any such
Indebtedness shall not be in excess of the purchase price of the assets acquired
thereby and such Indebtedness shall be secured only by the acquired assets;
(d) Indebtedness existing
on the date hereof and listed on Schedule 7.1, and renewals and extensions
thereof;
(e) Subordinated Debt
incurred in connection with Permitted Acquisitions having a maturity date
beyond the term of this Agreement;
(f) Indebtedness in
respect of deferred software licensing fees in connection with Borrower or any
of its Subsidiaries licensing software in the ordinary course of business
consistent with past practices in a total amount not to exceed $1,000,000 in
the aggregate at any time outstanding;
(g) unsecured Indebtedness
consisting of industrial revenue bonds in a total amount not to exceed $300,000
in the aggregate at any time outstanding; and
(h) any other unsecured Indebtedness
not to exceed $1,000,000 in the aggregate at any time outstanding.
Section 7.2. Limitation on Liens. Except for Permitted Liens, no Restricted
Person will create, assume or permit to exist any Lien upon any of the properties
or assets which it now owns or hereafter acquires.
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Section 7.3. Hedging Contracts. No Restricted Person will be a party to or in
any manner be liable on any Hedging Contract except Hedging Contracts entered
into by a Restricted Person and the Agent or any other Lender with the purpose
and effect of fixing interest rates on a principal amount of indebtedness of
such Restricted Person that is accruing interest at a variable rate, provided
that (a) the aggregate notional amount of such contracts never exceeds
seventy-five percent (75%) of the anticipated outstanding principal balance of
the indebtedness to be hedged by such contracts or an average of such principal
balances calculated using a generally accepted method of matching interest swap
contracts to declining principal balances, and (b) the floating rate index of
each such contract generally matches the index used to determine the floating
rates of interest on the corresponding indebtedness to be hedged by such
contract.
Section 7.4. Limitation on Mergers, Issuances
of Securities. No Restricted Person will merge or
consolidate with or into any other Person except that any Subsidiary of
Borrower may be merged into or consolidated with (a) another Subsidiary of
Borrower and, if a Guarantor is one of the merged entities, so long as a
Guarantor is the surviving business entity, or (b) Borrower, so long as
Borrower is the surviving business entity.
Borrower will not issue any securities other than shares of its common
or preferred stock and any options or warrants giving the holders thereof only
the right to acquire such shares. No
Subsidiary of Borrower will issue any additional shares of its capital stock or
other securities or any options, warrants or other rights to acquire such
additional shares or other securities except to Borrower or another Subsidiary
of Borrower and only to the extent not otherwise forbidden under the terms
hereof. No Subsidiary of Borrower which
is a partnership will allow any diminution of Borrowers interest (direct or
indirect) therein.
Section 7.5. Limitation on Sales of Property. No Restricted Person will sell, transfer,
lease, exchange, alienate or dispose of any of its material assets or
properties or any material interest therein, or discount, sell, pledge or
assign any notes payable to it, accounts receivable or future income, except:
(a) equipment which is worthless,
obsolete, no longer used by or useful to a Restricted Person or which is
replaced by equipment of equal suitability and value;
(b) inventory which is sold in the
ordinary course of business; and
(c) other property which is sold for
fair consideration not in the aggregate in excess of $15,000,000 in any Fiscal
Year, the sale of which will not materially impair or diminish the value of the
Collateral or the Consolidated financial condition, business or operations of
Borrower.
Section 7.6. Limitation on Distributions,
Redemptions, Payments on Subordinated Debt.
(a) No Restricted Person will
declare or make any Distribution, other than (i) Distributions payable to
Borrower or to Guarantors which are Subsidiaries of Borrower and (ii) provided
that no Default or Event of Default exists at the time of any such Distribution
or would
52
occur as a result
thereof, Distributions not to exceed an aggregate of $20,000,000 in any Fiscal
Year.
(b) No Restricted Person will make
any payments on Subordinated Debt, other than (i) provided that no Default or
Event of Default exists at such time or would occur as a result thereof,
regularly scheduled cash interest payments thereon and (ii) payments of
principal approved in writing by the Required Lenders.
Section 7.7. Limitation on Investments,
Acquisitions, Capital Expenditures, and Lines of Business. No Restricted Person will
(a) make any Investments other than
Permitted Investments;
(b) make any Capital Expenditures in
excess of the sum of (i) $20,000,000 in the aggregate in any Fiscal Year plus
(ii) the cash proceeds from the sale of Capital Assets received in such fiscal
year;
(c) make any Acquisition (i) for
which the cash portion of the purchase price for such individual Acquisition is
greater than $10,000,000 or (ii) which would cause the aggregate cash portions
of the purchase prices for all Acquisitions during any Fiscal Year to exceed
$20,000,000; or
(d) engage directly or indirectly in
any business or conduct any operations except in connection with or incidental
to its present businesses and operations.
Section 7.8. Intentionally Omitted.
Section 7.9. Transactions with Affiliates. Neither Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries
will engage in any material transaction with any of its Affiliates on terms
which are less favorable to it than those which would have been obtainable at
the time in arms-length dealing with Persons other than such Affiliates,
provided that such restriction shall not apply to transactions among Borrower
and its Subsidiaries.
Section 7.10. Prohibited Contracts. Except as expressly provided for in the Loan
Documents, no Restricted Person will, directly or indirectly, enter into,
create, or otherwise allow to exist any contract that restricts or other
consensual restriction on, the ability of any Subsidiary of Borrower to: (a)
pay dividends or make other Distributions to Borrower, (b) to redeem Equity
held in it by Borrower, (c) to repay loans and other Indebtedness owing by it
to Borrower, (d) to transfer any of its assets to Borrower, or (e) make loans
or advances to Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries. No Restricted Person will enter, or permit
the entry by any Restricted Person into, any contract, lease, or amendment that
releases, qualifies, limits, makes contingent or otherwise materially detrimentally
affects the rights and benefits of Agent or any Lender under or acquired
pursuant to any Security Documents. No
ERISA Affiliate will incur any obligation to contribute to any multiemployer
plan as defined in Section 4001 of ERISA, except in the ordinary course
of business for employees subject to collective bargaining agreements.
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(a) Minimum Fixed
Charge Coverage Ratio. The Borrower
will not permit the ratio, determined as of the end of each of its Fiscal
Quarters for the then most-recently ended four Fiscal Quarters, of its (i)
Consolidated EBITDA, minus
Consolidated Capital Expenditures, minus permitted
Distributions, minus the provision for income
taxes (excluding one-time tax charges arising solely from changes to GAAP), all
calculated on a Consolidated basis, to (ii) Consolidated Interest Expense, plus scheduled principal payments of
Indebtedness, to be less than 1.5 to 1.0.
(b) Minimum Tangible
Net Worth. The Borrower will not
permit its Consolidated Tangible Net Worth, determined as of the end of each of
its Fiscal Quarters, to be less than the sum of (i) eighty-five percent (85%)
of the Consolidated Tangible Net Worth as of March 31, 2005, plus (ii)
fifty percent (50%) of its Consolidated Net Income earned from April 1,
2005 through the last day of the most recently ended Fiscal Quarter, plus (iii)
100% of the net proceeds of any offering, sale, or other transfer of any Equity
of any kind of the Borrower or any Subsidiary (other than to the Borrower or
another Subsidiary).
(c) Consolidated Total
Indebtedness Ratio. The Borrower
will not permit the ratio, determined as of the end of each of its Fiscal
Quarters for the then most-recently ended four Fiscal Quarters, of its
Consolidated Total Indebtedness on such day to its Consolidated EBITDA for such
period, to be greater than 2.5 to 1.0.
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EVENTS OF DEFAULT AND REMEDIES
Section 8.1. Events of Default. Each of the following events constitutes an
Event of Default under this Agreement:
(a) Any Restricted Person fails to
pay any principal component of any Obligation when due and payable
(b) Any Restricted Person fails to
pay any payment of interest or fees on the date which such payment is due and
such failure continues for a period of three (3) days;
(c) Any Restricted Person fails to
pay any Obligation (other than the Obligations in subsection (a) above)
within three Business Days after the same becomes due and payable, whether at a
date for the payment of a fixed installment or as a contingent or other payment
becomes due and payable or as a result of acceleration or otherwise;
(d) Any default or event of
default occurs under any Loan Document which defines either such term, and the
same is not remedied within the applicable period of grace (if any) provided in
such Loan Document;
(e) Any Restricted Person fails to
duly observe, perform or comply with any covenant, agreement or provision of Article VI
and such failure continues for a period for a period of thirty (30) days;
(f) Any Restricted Person fails to
duly observe, perform or comply with any covenant, agreement or provision of Article VII;
(g) Any Restricted Person fails
(other than as referred to in subsections (a), (b), (c) or (d) above) to duly
observe, perform or comply with any covenant, agreement, condition or provision
of any Loan Document, and such failure remains unremedied for a period of thirty
(30) days after notice of such failure is given by Agent to Borrower;
(h) Any representation or warranty
previously, presently or hereafter made in writing by or on behalf of any
Restricted Person in connection with any Loan Document shall prove to have been
false or incorrect in any material respect on any date on or as of which made,
or any Loan Document at any time ceases to be valid, binding and enforceable as
warranted in Section 5.5 for any reason other than its release or
subordination by Agent;
(i) Any Restricted Person (i) fails
to pay any portion, when such portion is due, of any of its Indebtedness in
excess of $5,000,000, or (ii) breaches or defaults in the performance of any
agreement or instrument by which any such Indebtedness is issued, evidenced,
governed, or secured, and any such failure, breach or default continues beyond
any applicable period of grace provided therefor;
55
(j) Either (i) any accumulated
funding deficiency (as defined in Section 412(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code) in excess of $5,000,000 exists with respect to any ERISA Plan, whether or
not waived by the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate, or (ii) any
Termination Event occurs with respect to any ERISA Plan and the then current
value of such ERISA Plans benefit liabilities exceeds the then current value
of such ERISA Plans assets available for the payment of such benefit
liabilities by more than $5,000,000 (or in the case of a Termination Event
involving the withdrawal of a substantial employer, the withdrawing employers
proportionate share of such excess exceeds such amount);
(k) Any Restricted Person:
(i) suffers
the entry against it of a judgment, decree or order for relief by a Tribunal of
competent jurisdiction in an involuntary proceeding commenced under any
applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar Law of any jurisdiction now
or hereafter in effect, including the federal Bankruptcy Code, as from time to
time amended, or has any such proceeding commenced against it which remains
undismissed for a period of sixty days; or
(ii) commences
a voluntary case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or similar Law now
or hereafter in effect, including the federal Bankruptcy Code, as from time to
time amended; or applies for or consents to the entry of an order for relief in
an involuntary case under any such Law; or makes a general assignment for the
benefit of creditors; or fails generally to pay (or admits in writing its
inability to pay) its debts as such debts become due; or takes corporate or
other action to authorize any of the foregoing; or
(iii) suffers
the appointment of or taking possession by a receiver, liquidator, assignee,
custodian, trustee, sequestrator or similar official of all or a substantial
part of its assets or of any part of the Collateral in a proceeding brought
against or initiated by it, and such appointment or taking possession is
neither made ineffective nor discharged within sixty days after the making
thereof, or such appointment or taking possession is at any time consented to,
requested by, or acquiesced to by it; or
(iv) suffers
the entry against it of a final judgment for the payment of money in excess of
$5,000,000 (not covered by insurance satisfactory to Agent in its reasonable
discretion), unless the same is discharged within forty-five days after the
date of entry thereof or an appeal or appropriate proceeding for review thereof
is taken within such period and a stay of execution pending such appeal is
obtained; or
(v) suffers
a writ or warrant of attachment or any similar process to be issued by any
Tribunal against all or any substantial part of its assets or any part of the
Collateral, and such writ or warrant of attachment or any similar process is
not stayed or released within forty-five days after the entry or levy thereof
or after any stay is vacated or set aside;
(l) Any Change of Control occurs;
56
(m) The occurrence of an event of
default under any document to which any Restricted Person and any surety are
both parties that, with the passage of time, would permit foreclosure by such
surety on a material portion of the Collateral.
Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default described
in subsection (j)(i), (j)(ii) or (j)(iii) of this section with
respect to Borrower, all of the Obligations shall thereupon be immediately due
and payable, without demand, presentment, notice of demand or of dishonor and
nonpayment, protest, notice of protest, notice of intention to accelerate,
declaration or notice of acceleration, or any other notice or declaration of
any kind, all of which are hereby expressly waived by Borrower and each
Restricted Person who at any time ratifies or approves this Agreement. Upon any such acceleration, any obligation of
any Lender and any obligation of LC Issuer to issue Letters of Credit hereunder
to make any further Loans shall be permanently terminated. During the continuance of any other Event of
Default, Agent at any time and from time to time may (and upon written
instructions from Required Lenders, Agent shall), without notice to Borrower or
any other Restricted Person, do either or both of the following: (1) terminate any obligation of Lenders to make
Loans hereunder, and any obligation of LC Issuer to issue Letters of Credit
hereunder, and (2) declare any or all of the Obligations immediately due and
payable, and all such Obligations shall thereupon be immediately due and
payable, without demand, presentment, notice of demand or of dishonor and
nonpayment, protest, notice of protest, notice of intention to accelerate,
declaration or notice of acceleration, or any other notice or declaration of
any kind, all of which are hereby expressly waived by Borrower and each
Restricted Person who at any time ratifies or approves this Agreement.
Section 8.2. Remedies. If any Event of Default shall occur and be
continuing, each Lender Party may terminate its Revolving Loan Commitment and
protect and enforce its rights under the Loan Documents by any appropriate
proceedings, including proceedings for specific performance of any covenant or
agreement contained in any Loan Document, and each Lender Party may enforce the
payment of any Obligations due it or enforce any other legal or equitable right
which it may have. All rights, remedies
and powers conferred upon Lender Parties under the Loan Documents shall be
deemed cumulative and not exclusive of any other rights, remedies or powers
available under the Loan Documents or at Law or in equity.
Section 8.3. Application of Proceeds after
Acceleration. Except as otherwise provided in the Security
Documents with respect to application of proceeds to any reimbursements due
Agent thereunder and to the Lender Hedging Obligations, if Agent collects or
receives money on account of the Obligations after the acceleration of the
Obligations as provided in Section 8.1, Agent shall distribute all money
so collected or received:
(a) First, to any reimbursements due
Agent hereunder;
(b) Second, ratably to payment of that
portion of Obligations constituting accrued and unpaid interest and Lender
Hedging Obligations; provided that Agent shall have no independent
responsibility to determine the existence or amount of Lender Hedging
Obligations and may reserve from the application of amounts under this Section amounts
distributable in respect of Lender Hedging Obligations until it has received
evidence satisfactory to it of the existence and amount of such Lender Hedging
Obligations; provided further, however, that Agent may rely on
57
statements of the
Lender Parties as to the existence and amounts of Lender Hedging Obligations
owing to them;
(c) Third, ratably to the payment or
cash-collateralization of all other Obligations of the Borrower or any
Guarantor owing under or in respect of the Loan Documents that are due and
payable on such date (and among such Obligations in the manner provided in Section 3.1);
and
(d) The balance, if any, after all
of the Obligations have been indefeasibly paid in full, to the Borrower or as
otherwise required by Law.
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AGENT
Section 9.1. Appointment and Authority. Each Lender Party hereby irrevocably
authorizes Agent, and Agent hereby undertakes, to receive payments of
principal, interest and other amounts due hereunder as specified herein and to
take all other actions and to exercise such powers under the Loan Documents as
are specifically delegated to Agent by the terms hereof or thereof, together
with all other powers reasonably incidental thereto. The relationship of Agent to the other Lender
Parties is only that of one commercial lender acting as Agent for others, and
nothing in the Loan Documents shall be construed to constitute Agent a trustee
or other fiduciary for any Lender Party or any holder of any participation in a
Note nor to impose on Agent duties and obligations other than those expressly
provided for in the Loan Documents. With
respect to any matters not expressly provided for in the Loan Documents and any
matters which the Loan Documents place within the discretion of Agent, Agent
shall not be required to exercise any discretion or take any action, and it may
request instructions from Lenders with respect to any such matter, in which
case it shall be required to act or to refrain from acting (and shall be fully
protected and free from liability to all Lender Parties in so acting or
refraining from acting) upon the instructions of Required Lenders (including
itself), provided, however, that Agent shall not be required to take any action
which exposes it to a risk of personal liability that it considers unreasonable
or which is contrary to the Loan Documents or to applicable Law.
Section 9.2. Exculpation, Agents Reliance,
Etc. Neither Agent nor any of its directors,
officers, Agents, attorneys, or employees shall be liable for any action taken
or omitted to be taken by any of them under or in connection with the Loan
Documents, including their negligence of any kind, except that each shall be
liable for its own gross negligence or willful misconduct. Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, Agent (a) may treat the Person whose name is set forth on the
Register as the holder of any Obligation as the holder thereof until Agent
receives written notice of the assignment or transfer thereof in accordance
with this Agreement, signed by such Person and in the form required under Section 10.5(c)
payee and in form satisfactory to Agent; (b) may consult with legal counsel
(including counsel for Borrower), independent public accountants and other
experts selected by it and shall not be liable for any action taken or omitted
to be taken in good faith by it in accordance with the advice of such counsel,
accountants or experts; (c) makes no warranty or representation to any other
Lender and shall not be responsible to any other Lender Party for any
statements, warranties or representations made in or in connection with the
Loan Documents; (d) shall not have any duty to ascertain or to inquire as to
the performance or observance of any of the terms, covenants or conditions of
the Loan Documents on the part of any Restricted Person or to inspect the
property (including the books and records) of any Restricted Person; (e) shall
not be responsible to any other Lender for the due execution, legality,
validity, enforceability, genuineness, sufficiency or value of any Loan
Document or any instrument or document furnished in connection therewith; (f)
may rely upon the representations and warranties of each Restricted Person or
Lender Party in exercising its powers hereunder; and (g) shall incur no
liability under or in respect of the Loan Documents by acting upon any notice,
consent, certificate or other instrument or writing
59
(including any facsimile, telegram, cable or
telex) believed by it to be genuine and signed or sent by the proper Person or
Persons.
Section 9.3. Credit Decisions. Each Lender Party acknowledges that it has,
independently and without reliance upon any other Lender Party, made its own
analysis of Borrower and the transactions contemplated hereby and its own
independent decision to enter into this Agreement and the other Loan
Documents. Each Lender Party also
acknowledges that it will, independently and without reliance upon any other
Lender Party and based on such documents and information as it shall deem
appropriate at the time, continue to make its own credit decisions in taking or
not taking action under the Loan Documents.
Section 9.4. Indemnification. Each Lender agrees to indemnify Agent (to the
extent not reimbursed by Borrower within ten (10) days after demand) from and
against such Lenders Percentage Share of any and all liabilities, obligations,
claims, losses, damages, penalties, fines, actions, judgments, suits,
settlements, costs, expenses or disbursements (including reasonable fees of
attorneys, accountants, experts and advisors) of any kind or nature whatsoever
(in this section collectively called liabilities and costs) which to any
extent (in whole or in part) may be imposed on, incurred by, or asserted
against Agent growing out of, resulting from or in any other way associated
with any of the Collateral, the Loan Documents and the transactions and events
(including the enforcement thereof) at any time associated therewith or
contemplated therein (whether arising in contract or in tort and otherwise and
including any violation or noncompliance with any Environmental Laws by any
Person or any liabilities or duties of any Person with respect to Hazardous
Materials found in or released into the environment).
THE FOREGOING
INDEMNIFICATION SHALL APPLY WHETHER OR NOT SUCH LIABILITIES AND COSTS ARE IN
ANY WAY OR TO ANY EXTENT OWED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, UNDER ANY CLAIM OR THEORY
OF STRICT LIABILITY, OR ARE CAUSED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, BY ANY NEGLIGENT ACT
OR OMISSION OF ANY KIND BY AGENT,
provided only that no Lender shall be obligated under this section to
indemnify Agent for that portion, if any, of any liabilities and costs which is
proximately caused by Agents own individual gross negligence or willful
misconduct, as determined in a final judgment.
Cumulative of the foregoing, each Lender agrees to reimburse Agent
promptly upon demand for such Lenders Percentage Share of any costs and
expenses to be paid to Agent by Borrower under Section 10.4(a) to the
extent that Agent is not timely reimbursed for such expenses by Borrower as
provided in such section. As used in
this section the term Agent shall refer not only to the Person
designated as such in Section 1.1 but also to each director, officer,
Agent, attorney, employee, representative and Affiliate of such Person.
Section 9.5. Rights as Lender. In its capacity as a Lender, Agent shall have
the same rights and obligations as any Lender and may exercise such rights as
though it were not Agent. Agent may
accept deposits from, lend money to, act as trustee under indentures of, and
generally engage in any kind of business with any Restricted Person or their
Affiliates, all as if it were not Agent hereunder and without any duty to
account therefor to any other Lender.
60
Section 9.6. Sharing of Set-Offs and Other
Payments. Each Lender Party agrees that if it shall,
whether through the exercise of rights under Security Documents or rights of
bankers lien, set off, or counterclaim against Borrower or otherwise, obtain
payment of a portion of the aggregate Obligations owed to it which, taking into
account all distributions made by Agent under Section 3.1, causes such
Lender Party to have received more than it would have received had such payment
been received by Agent and distributed pursuant to Section 3.1, then (a)
it shall be deemed to have simultaneously purchased and shall be obligated to
purchase interests in the Obligations as necessary to cause all Lender Parties
to share all payments as provided for in Section 3.1, and (b) such other adjustments
shall be made from time to time as shall be equitable to ensure that Agent and
all Lender Parties share all payments of Obligations as provided in Section 3.1;
provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall in any way affect the
right of any Lender Party to obtain payment (whether by exercise of rights of
bankers lien, set-off or counterclaim or otherwise) of indebtedness other than
the Obligations. Borrower expressly
consents to the foregoing arrangements and agrees that any holder of any such
interest or other participation in the Obligations, whether or not acquired
pursuant to the foregoing arrangements, may to the fullest extent permitted by
Law exercise any and all rights of bankers lien, set-off, or counterclaim as
fully as if such holder were a holder of the Obligations in the amount of such
interest or other participation. If all
or any part of any funds transferred pursuant to this section is
thereafter recovered from the seller under this section which received the
same, the purchase provided for in this section shall be deemed to have
been rescinded to the extent of such recovery, together with interest, if any,
if interest is required pursuant to the order of a Tribunal order to be paid on
account of the possession of such funds prior to such recovery.
Section 9.7. Investments. Whenever Agent in good faith determines that
it is uncertain about how to distribute to Lender Parties any funds which it
has received, or whenever Agent in good faith determines that there is any dispute
among Lender Parties about how such funds should be distributed, Agent may
choose to defer distribution of the funds which are the subject of such
uncertainty or dispute. If Agent in good
faith believes that the uncertainty or dispute will not be promptly resolved,
or if Agent is otherwise required to invest funds pending distribution to
Lender Parties, Agent shall invest such funds pending distribution; all
interest on any such Investment shall be distributed upon the distribution of
such Investment and in the same proportion and to the same Persons as such
Investment. All monies received by Agent
for distribution to Lender Parties (other than to the Person who is Agent in
its separate capacity as a Lender Party) shall be held by Agent pending such distribution
solely as Agent for such Lender Parties, and Agent shall have no equitable
title to any portion thereof.
Section 9.8. Benefit of Article IX. The provisions of this Article (other
than the following Section 9.9) are intended solely for the benefit of
Lender Parties, and no Restricted Person shall be entitled to rely on any such
provision or assert any such provision in a claim or defense against any
Lender. Lender Parties may waive or
amend such provisions as they desire without any notice to or consent of
Borrower or any Restricted Person.
Section 9.9. Resignation. Agent may resign at any time by giving
written notice thereof to Lenders and Borrower.
Each such notice shall set forth the date of such resignation. Upon any such resignation , Required Lenders
shall have the right to appoint (with, unless an Event of Default shall have
occurred and be continuing, the consent of Borrower, such consent
61
not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) a
successor Agent. A successor must be
appointed for any retiring Agent, and such Agents resignation shall become
effective when such successor accepts such appointment. If, within thirty days after the date of the
retiring Agents resignation, no successor Agent has been appointed and has
accepted such appointment, then the retiring Agent may appoint (with, unless an
Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, the consent of
Borrower, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) a successor
Agent, which shall be a commercial bank organized or licensed to conduct a
banking or trust business under the Laws of the United States of America or of
any state thereof. Upon the acceptance
of any appointment as Agent hereunder by a successor Agent, the retiring Agent
shall be discharged from its duties and obligations under this Agreement and
the other Loan Documents. After any
retiring Agents resignation hereunder the provisions of this Article IX
shall continue to inure to its benefit as to any actions taken or omitted to be
taken by it while it was Agent under the Loan Documents.
Section 9.10. Notice of Default. Agent shall not be deemed to have knowledge
or notice of the occurrence of any Default, except with respect to defaults in
the payment of principal, interest and fees required to be paid to Agent for
the account of Lenders, unless Agent shall have received written notice from a
Lender or Borrower referring to this Agreement, describing such Default and
stating that such notice is a notice of default. Agent will notify Lenders of its receipt of
any such notice. Agent shall take such
action with respect to such Default as may be directed by Required Lenders in
accordance with Article VIII; provided, however, that unless and until
Agent has received any such direction, Agent may (but shall not be obligated
to) take such action, or refrain from taking such action, with respect to such
Default as it shall deem advisable or in the best interest of Lenders.
Section 9.11. Co-Agents. The Party identified on the facing page of
this Agreement as Arranger has no right, power, obligation, liability,
responsibility, or duty under the Loan Documents in such capacity. Without limiting the foregoing, the Party so
identified as Arranger shall not have and shall not be deemed to have any
fiduciary relationship with any other Lender.
Each Lender acknowledges that it has not relied, and will not rely, on
taking or not taking action hereunder.
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MISCELLANEOUS
Section 10.1. Waivers and Amendments;
Acknowledgments.
(a) Waivers and Amendments. No failure or delay (whether by course of
conduct or otherwise) by any Lender in exercising any right, power or remedy
which such Lender Party may have under any of the Loan Documents shall operate
as a waiver thereof or of any other right, power or remedy, nor shall any
single or partial exercise by any Lender Party of any such right, power or
remedy preclude any other or further exercise thereof or of any other right,
power or remedy. No waiver of any
provision of any Loan Document and no consent to any departure therefrom shall
ever be effective unless it is in writing and signed as provided below in this
section, and then such waiver or consent shall be effective only in the
specific instances and for the purposes for which given and to the extent
specified in such writing. No notice to
or demand on any Restricted Person shall in any case of itself entitle any
Restricted Person to any other or further notice or demand in similar or other
circumstances. This Agreement and the
other Loan Documents set forth the entire understanding between the parties
hereto with respect to the transactions contemplated herein and therein and
supersede all prior discussions and understandings with respect to the subject
matter hereof and thereof, and no waiver, consent, release, modification or
amendment of or supplement to this Agreement or the other Loan Documents shall
be valid or effective against any party hereto unless the same is in writing
and signed by (i) if such party is Borrower, by Borrower, (ii) if such party is
Agent or LC Issuer, by such party, and (iii) if such party is a Lender, by such
Lender or by Agent on behalf of Lenders with the written consent of Required
Lenders (which consent has already been given as to the termination of the Loan
Documents as provided in Section 10.9).
Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, Agent
shall not, without the prior consent of each individual Lender, execute and
deliver on behalf of such Lender any waiver or amendment which would: (1) waive any of the conditions specified in Article IV
(provided that Agent may in its discretion withdraw any request it has made
under Section 4.2), (2) increase the maximum amount which such Lender is
committed hereunder to lend, (3) reduce any fees payable to such Lender
hereunder, or the principal of, or interest on, either of such Lenders Notes,
(4) extend the Maturity Date, or postpone any date fixed for any payment of any
such fees, principal or interest, (5) amend the definition herein of Required
Lenders or otherwise change the aggregate amount of Percentage Shares which is
required for Agent, Lenders or any of them to take any particular action under
the Loan Documents, (6) release Borrower from its obligation to pay such Lenders
Obligations or any Guarantor (other than a Guarantor which ceases to be a
Subsidiary pursuant to a sale or other disposition permitted by the Loan
Documents) from its guaranty of such payment or (7) release all or
substantially all of the any Collateral, except for such releases relating to
sales or dispositions of property permitted by the Loan Documents, or (8) amend
this Section 10.1(a).
Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary herein, Agent
shall not, without the prior consent of each individual Lender affected thereby
(or, as applicable, an Affiliate of such Lender), execute and deliver any
waiver or amendment to any Loan Document which would (i) cause an obligation
under any outstanding Hedging Contract owing to such Lender (or its Affiliate)
that, prior to such waiver or amendment, constituted a Lender Hedging
63
Obligation to cease
to be a Lender Hedging Obligation or (ii) cause the priority of the Lien
securing such obligation or the priority of payment with respect to such
obligation in connection with the exercise of remedies under such Loan Document
to be subordinate in any manner to the Obligations (other than expense
reimbursements, expenses of enforcement, and other similar obligations owing
under the Loan Documents).
(b) Acknowledgments and Admissions. Borrower hereby represents, warrants,
acknowledges and admits that (i) it has been advised by counsel in the
negotiation, execution and delivery of the Loan Documents to which it is a
party, (ii) it has made an independent decision to enter into this Agreement
and the other Loan Documents to which it is a party, without reliance on any
representation, warranty, covenant or undertaking by Agent or any Lender,
whether written, oral or implicit, other than as expressly set out in this
Agreement or in another Loan Document delivered on or after the date hereof,
(iii) there are no representations, warranties, covenants, undertakings or
agreements by any Lender as to the Loan Documents except as expressly set out
in this Agreement or in another Loan Document delivered on or after the date
hereof, (iv) no Lender has any fiduciary obligation toward Borrower with
respect to any Loan Document or the transactions contemplated thereby, (v) the
relationship pursuant to the Loan Documents between Borrower and the other
Restricted Persons, on one hand, and each Lender, on the other hand, is and
shall be solely that of debtor and creditor, respectively, provided that,
solely for purposes of Section 10.5(f), Agent shall act as Agent of
Borrower in maintaining the Register as set forth therein, (vi) no partnership
or joint venture exists with respect to the Loan Documents between any
Restricted Person and any Lender, (vii) Agent is not Borrowers Agent, but
Agent for Lenders, provided that, solely for purposes of Section 10.5(f),
Agent shall act as Agent of Borrower in maintaining the Register as set forth
therein, (viii) should an Event of Default or Default occur or exist, each
Lender will determine in its sole discretion and for its own reasons what
remedies and actions it will or will not exercise or take at that time subject
to the terms of this Agreement, (ix) without limiting any of the foregoing,
Borrower is not relying upon any representation or covenant by any Lender, or
any representative thereof, and no such representation or covenant has been
made, that any Lender will, at the time of an Event of Default or Default, or
at any other time, waive, negotiate, discuss, or take or refrain from taking
any action permitted under the Loan Documents with respect to any such Event of
Default or Default or any other provision of the Loan Documents, and (x) all
Lender Parties have relied upon the truthfulness of the acknowledgments in this
section in deciding to execute and deliver this Agreement and to become
obligated hereunder.
(c) Joint Acknowledgment. THIS WRITTEN AGREEMENT AND THE
OTHER LOAN DOCUMENTS REPRESENT THE FINAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND MAY
NOT BE CONTRADICTED BY EVIDENCE OF PRIOR, CONTEMPORANEOUS, OR SUBSEQUENT ORAL
AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES.
THERE ARE NO UNWRITTEN ORAL AGREEMENTS BETWEEN
THE PARTIES.
Section 10.2. Survival of Agreements;
Cumulative Nature. Except for representations and warranties
given as of a specified date, all of Restricted Persons various
representations, warranties, covenants and agreements in the Loan Documents
shall survive the execution and
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delivery of this Agreement and the other Loan
Documents and the performance hereof and thereof, including the making or
granting of the Loans and the delivery of the Notes and the other Loan
Documents, and shall further survive until all of the Obligations are paid in
full to each Lender Party and all of Lender Parties obligations to Borrower
are terminated. All statements and
agreements contained in any certificate or other instrument delivered by any
Restricted Person to any Lender Party under any Loan Document shall be deemed
representations and warranties by Borrower or agreements and covenants of
Borrower under this Agreement. The
representations, warranties, indemnities, and covenants made by Restricted
Persons in the Loan Documents, and the rights, powers, and privileges granted
to Lender Parties in the Loan Documents, are cumulative, and, except for
expressly specified waivers and consents, no Loan Document shall be construed
in the context of another to diminish, nullify, or otherwise reduce the benefit
to any Lender Party of any such representation, warranty, indemnity, covenant,
right, power or privilege. In particular
and without limitation, no exception set out in this Agreement to any
representation, warranty, indemnity, or covenant herein contained shall apply
to any similar representation, warranty, indemnity, or covenant contained in
any other Loan Document, unless the Loan Documents shall expressly provide that
such exception shall apply to such similar representation, warranty, indemnity,
or covenant.
Section 10.3. Notices. All notices, requests, consents, demands and
other communications required or permitted under any Loan Document shall be in
writing, unless otherwise specifically provided in such Loan Document (provided
that Agent may give telephonic notices to the other Lender Parties), and shall
be deemed sufficiently given or furnished if delivered by personal delivery, by
facsimile or other electronic transmission, by delivery service with proof of
delivery, or by registered or certified United States mail, postage prepaid, to
Borrower and Restricted Persons at the address of Borrower specified on the
signature pages hereto and to each Lender Party at its address specified on Schedule 3.1
hereto (unless changed by similar notice in writing given by the particular
Person whose address is to be changed).
Any such notice or communication shall be deemed to have been given (a)
in the case of personal delivery or delivery service, as of the date of first
attempted delivery during normal business hours at the address provided herein,
(b) in the case of facsimile or other electronic transmission, upon receipt, or
(c) in the case of registered or certified United States mail, three days after
deposit in the mail; provided, however, that no Borrowing Notice shall become
effective until actually received by Agent.
Section 10.4. Payment of Expenses; Indemnity.
(a) Payment of Expenses. Whether or not the transactions contemplated
by this Agreement are consummated, Borrower will promptly (and in any event,
within thirty (30) days after any invoice or other statement or notice) pay:
(i) all transfer, stamp, mortgage, documentary or other similar taxes,
assessments or charges levied by any governmental or revenue authority in
respect of this Agreement or any of the other Loan Documents or any other
document or transaction referred to herein or therein, (ii) all reasonable
costs and expenses incurred by or on behalf of Agent (including without
limitation reasonable attorneys fees, travel costs and miscellaneous
expenses), but excluding consultants fees other than in connection with an
annual field audit permitted below, in connection with (1) the negotiation,
preparation, execution and delivery of the Loan Documents, and any and all
consents, waivers or other documents or
65
instruments relating thereto, (2) the filing, recording, refiling and
re-recording of any Loan Documents and any other documents or instruments or
further assurances required to be filed or recorded or refiled or re-recorded
by the terms of any Loan Document, (3) the borrowings hereunder and other
action reasonably required in the course of administration hereof, (4)
monitoring or confirming (or preparation or negotiation of any document related
to) any Restricted Persons compliance with any covenants or conditions
contained in this Agreement or in any Loan Document, and (iii) all reasonable
costs and expenses incurred by the Agent on behalf of any Lender Party
(including without limitation reasonable attorneys fees, reasonable
consultants fees and reasonable accounting fees) in connection with the
conduct of an annual field audit, the preservation of any rights under the Loan
Documents or the defense or enforcement of any of the Loan Documents (including
this section), any attempt to cure any breach thereunder by any Restricted
Person, or the defense of any Lender Partys exercise of its rights
thereunder. In addition to the
foregoing, until all Obligations have been paid in full, Borrower will also pay
or reimburse Agent for all reasonable out-of-pocket costs and expenses of Agent
or its agents or employees in connection with the continuing administration of
the Loans and the related due diligence of Agent, including travel and
miscellaneous expenses and reasonable fees and expenses of Agents outside
counsel and consultants engaged in connection with the Loan Documents.
(b) Indemnity. Borrower agrees to indemnify each Lender
Party, upon demand, from and against any and all liabilities, obligations,
brokers fees, claims, losses, damages, penalties, fines, actions, judgments,
suits, settlements, costs, expenses or disbursements (including reasonable fees
of attorneys, accountants, experts and advisors) of any kind or nature
whatsoever (in this section collectively called liabilities and costs)
which to any extent (in whole or in part) may be imposed on, incurred by, or
asserted against such Lender Party growing out of, resulting from or in any
other way associated with any of the Collateral, the Loan Documents and the
transactions and events (including the enforcement or defense thereof) at any
time associated therewith or contemplated therein (whether arising in contract
or in tort or otherwise). Among other
things, the foregoing indemnification covers all liabilities and costs incurred
by any Lender Party related to any breach of a Loan Document by a Restricted
Person, any bodily injury to any Person or damage to any Persons property, or
any violation or noncompliance with any Environmental Laws by any Lender Party
or any other Person or any liabilities or duties of any Lender Party or any
other Person with respect to Hazardous Materials found in or released into the
environment.
THE FOREGOING INDEMNIFICATION SHALL APPLY
WHETHER OR NOT SUCH LIABILITIES AND COSTS ARE IN ANY WAY OR TO ANY EXTENT OWED,
IN WHOLE OR IN PART, UNDER ANY CLAIM OR THEORY OF STRICT LIABILITY OR CAUSED,
IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY NEGLIGENT ACT OR OMISSION OF ANY KIND BY ANY LENDER
PARTY,
provided only that no Lender Party shall be entitled under this section to
receive indemnification for that portion, if any, of any liabilities and costs
which is proximately caused by its own individual gross negligence or willful
misconduct, as determined in a final judgment.
If any Person (including Borrower or any of its Affiliates) ever alleges
such gross negligence or willful
66
misconduct by any Lender Party, the indemnification provided for in
this section shall nonetheless be paid upon demand, subject to later
adjustment or reimbursement, until such time as a court of competent
jurisdiction enters a final judgment as to the extent and effect of the alleged
gross negligence or willful misconduct.
As used in this section the term Lender Party shall refer not
only to each Person designated as such in Section 1.1 but also to each
director, officer, Agent, trustee, attorney, employee, representative and
Affiliate of or for such Person.
Section 10.5. Joint and Several Liability;
Parties in Interest; Assignments.
(a) All Obligations which are
incurred by two or more Restricted Persons shall be their joint and several obligations
and liabilities. All grants, covenants
and agreements contained in the Loan Documents shall bind and inure to the
benefit of the parties thereto and their respective successors and assigns;
provided, however, that no Restricted Person may assign or transfer any of its
rights or delegate any of its duties or obligations under any Loan Document
without the prior consent of the Required Lenders. Neither Borrower nor any Affiliates of
Borrower shall directly or indirectly purchase or otherwise retire any
Obligations owed to any Lender nor will any Lender accept any offer to do so,
unless each Lender shall have received substantially the same offer with
respect to the same Percentage Share of the Obligations owed to it. If Borrower or any Affiliate of Borrower at
any time purchases some but less than all of the Obligations owed to all Lender
Parties, such purchaser shall not be entitled to any rights of any Lender under
the Loan Documents unless and until Borrower or its Affiliates have purchased
all of the Obligations.
(b) No Lender shall sell any
participation interest in its commitment hereunder or any of its rights under
its Loans or under the Loan Documents to any Person unless the agreement
between such Lender and such participant at all times provides: (i) that such
participation exists only as a result of the agreement between such participant
and such Lender and that such transfer does not give such participant any right
to vote as a Lender or any other direct claims or rights against any Person
other than such Lender, (ii) that such participant is not entitled to payment
from any Restricted Person under Sections 3.2 through 3.8 of amounts in excess
of those payable to such Lender under such sections (determined without regard
to the sale of such participation), and (iii) unless such participant is an
Affiliate of such Lender, that such participant shall not be entitled to
require such Lender to take any action under any Loan Document or to obtain the
consent of such participant prior to taking any action under any Loan Document,
except for actions which would require the consent of all Lenders under subsection (a)
of Section 10.1. No Lender selling
such a participation shall, as between the other parties hereto and such
Lender, be relieved of any of its obligations hereunder as a result of the sale
of such participation. Each Lender which
sells any such participation to any Person (other than an Affiliate of such
Lender) shall give prompt notice thereof to Agent and Borrower.
(c) Except for sales of
participations under the immediately preceding subsection, no Lender shall make
any assignment or transfer of any kind of its commitments or any of its rights
under its Loans or under the Loan Documents, except for assignments to an
Eligible Transferee, and then only if such assignment is made in accordance
with the following requirements:
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(i) Each
such assignment shall apply to all Obligations owing to the assignor Lender
hereunder and to the unused portion of the assignor Lenders Revolving Loan
Commitment, so that after such assignment is made the assignor Lender shall
have a fixed (and not a varying) Percentage Share in its Loans and Notes and be
committed to make that Percentage Share of all future Loans, the assignee shall
have a fixed Percentage Share in the aggregate Loans and Notes and be committed
to make that Percentage Share of all future Loans, and, except in the case of
an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the assignors Percentage Share
of the Revolving Loan Commitment, the Revolving Loan Commitment of both the
assignor and assignee, after giving effect to such assignment, shall equal or
exceed $2,500,000.
(ii) The
parties to each such assignment shall execute and deliver to Agent, for its
acceptance and recording in the Register (as defined below in this section),
an Assignment and Acceptance in the form of Exhibit 10.5, appropriately
completed, together with the Note subject to such assignment and a processing
fee payable to Agent of $3,500. Upon
such execution, delivery, and payment and upon the satisfaction of the
conditions set out in such Assignment and Acceptance, then (1) Borrower shall
issue new Notes to such assignor and assignee upon return of the old Notes to
Borrower, and (2) as of the Settlement Date specified in such Assignment and
Acceptance the assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto and a Lender
hereunder and Agent shall thereupon deliver to Borrower and each Lender a schedule showing
the revised Percentage Shares of such assignor Lender and such assignee Lender
and the Percentage Shares of all other Lenders.
(iii) Each
assignee Lender which is not a United States person (as such term is defined in
Section 7701(a)(30) of the Internal Revenue Code) for Federal income tax
purposes, shall (to the extent it has not already done so) provide Agent and
Borrower with the Prescribed Forms referred to in Section 3.6(d).
(iv) Unless
the assignee is an Affiliate of the assignor, such assignment shall not be effective
unless consented to in writing by Agent and, unless an Event of Default shall
have occurred and be continuing, Borrower (such consent not to be unreasonably
withheld or delayed).
(d) Nothing contained in this section shall
prevent or prohibit any Lender from assigning or pledging all or any portion of
its Loans and Notes to any Federal Reserve Bank as collateral security pursuant
to Regulation A of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and any
Operating Circular issued by such Federal Reserve Bank; provided that no such
assignment or pledge shall relieve such Lender from its obligations hereunder.
(e) By executing and delivering an
Assignment and Acceptance, each assignee Lender thereunder will be confirming
to and agreeing with Borrower, Agent and each other Lender Party that such
assignee understands and agrees to the terms hereof, including Article IX
hereof.
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(f) Agent shall maintain a copy of
each Assignment and Acceptance and a register for the recordation of the names
and addresses of Lenders and the Percentage Shares of, and principal amount of
the Loans owing to, each Lender from time to time (in this section called
the Register). The entries in the
Register shall be conclusive, in the absence of manifest error, and Borrower
and each Lender Party may treat each Person whose name is recorded in the
Register as a Lender hereunder for all purposes. The Register shall be available for inspection
by Borrower or any Lender Party at any reasonable time and from time to time
upon reasonable prior notice. Agent
shall act as Agent of Borrower solely for purposes of maintaining the Register
as set forth in this Section 10.5(f).
Section 10.6. Confidentiality. Each Lending Party agrees to keep
confidential any information furnished or made available to it by any
Restricted Person pursuant to this Agreement that is financial information,
information in connection with a proposed transaction, or information marked
confidential; provided that nothing herein shall prevent any Lending Party from
disclosing such information (a) to any other Lending Party or any Affiliate of
any Lending Party, or any officer, director, employee, Agent, attorney,
auditor, or advisor of any Lending Party or Affiliate of any Lending Party, (b)
to any other Person if reasonably incidental to the administration of the
credit facility provided herein, (c) as required by any Law, (d) upon the order
of any court or administrative agency, (e) upon the request or demand of any
Tribunal, (f) that is or becomes available to the public or that is or becomes
available to any Lending Party other than as a result of a disclosure by any
Lending Party prohibited by this Agreement, (g) to the extent necessary in
connection with the exercise of any right or remedy under this Agreement or any
other Loan Document, (h) subject to provisions substantially similar to those
contained in this section, to any actual or proposed participant or assignee or
any actual or proposed contractual counterparty (or its advisors) to any
securitization, hedge, or other derivative transaction relating to the parties
obligations hereunder, and (i) if it is otherwise available in the public
domain. Notwithstanding anything set
forth herein to the contrary, each party to this Agreement and each of its
employees, representatives, and other Agents is hereby expressly authorized to
disclose the tax treatment and tax structure (as those terms are defined in
Treas. Reg. §§ 1.6011-4(c)(8) and (9), respectively) of the transactions
contemplated hereby and all materials of any kind, including opinions or other
tax analyses, that have been provided to it by any other party relating to such
tax treatment or tax structure. Any
Person required to maintain the confidentiality of information described in
this section shall be considered to have complied with its obligation to do so
if such Person has exercised the same degree of care to maintain the
confidentiality of such information as such Person would accord to its own
confidential information.
Section 10.7. Governing Law; Submission to
Process. Except to the extent that the Law of another
jurisdiction is expressly elected in a Loan Document, the Loan Documents shall
be deemed contracts and instruments made under the Laws of the State of Texas
and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with and governed by the Laws
of the State of Texas and the Laws of the United States of America, without
regard to principles of conflicts of law.
Chapter 346 of the Texas Finance Code (which regulates certain revolving
credit loan accounts and revolving tri-party accounts) does not apply to this
Agreement or to the Notes. Borrower
hereby irrevocably submits itself and each other Restricted Person to the
exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in the State of
Texas and agrees and consents that service of
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process may be made upon it or any Restricted
Person in any legal proceeding relating to the Loan Documents or the
Obligations by any means allowed under Texas or federal law. Any legal proceeding arising out of or in any
way related to any of the Loan Documents shall be brought and litigated
exclusively in the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Texas, Houston Division, to the extent it has subject matter jurisdiction, and
otherwise in the Texas District Courts sitting in Harris County, Texas. The parties hereto hereby waive and agree not
to assert, by way of motion, as a defense or otherwise, that any such
proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum or that the venue thereof is
improper, and further agree to a transfer of any such proceeding to a federal
court sitting in the State of Texas to the extent that it has subject matter
jurisdiction, and otherwise to a state court in Houston, Texas. In furtherance thereof, Borrower and Lender
Parties each hereby acknowledge and agree that it was not inconvenient for them
to negotiate and receive funding of the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement in such county and that it will be neither inconvenient nor unfair to
litigate or otherwise resolve any disputes or claims in a court sitting in such
county.
Section 10.8. Limitation on Interest. Lender Parties, Restricted Persons and any
other parties to the Loan Documents intend to contract in strict compliance
with applicable usury Law from time to time in effect. In furtherance thereof such Persons stipulate
and agree that none of the terms and provisions contained in the Loan Documents
shall ever be construed to create a contract to pay, for the use, forbearance
or detention of money, interest in excess of the maximum amount of interest
permitted to be charged by applicable Law from time to time in effect. Neither any Restricted Person nor any present
or future guarantors, endorsers, or other Persons hereafter becoming liable for
payment of any Obligation shall ever be liable for unearned interest thereon or
shall ever be required to pay interest thereon in excess of the maximum amount
that may be lawfully contracted for, charged, or received under applicable Law
from time to time in effect, and the provisions of this section shall
control over all other provisions of the Loan Documents which may be in
conflict or apparent conflict herewith.
Lender Parties expressly disavow any intention to contract for, charge,
or collect excessive unearned interest or finance charges in the event the
maturity of any Obligation is accelerated.
If (a) the maturity of any Obligation is accelerated for any reason, (b)
any Obligation is prepaid and as a result any amounts held to constitute
interest are determined to be in excess of the legal maximum, or (c) any Lender
or any other holder of any or all of the Obligations shall otherwise collect moneys
which are determined to constitute interest which would otherwise increase the
interest on any or all of the Obligations to an amount in excess of that
permitted to be charged by applicable Law then in effect, then all sums
determined to constitute interest in excess of such legal limit shall, without
penalty, be promptly applied to reduce the then outstanding principal of the
related Obligations or, at such Lenders or holders option, promptly returned
to Borrower or the other payor thereof upon such determination. In determining whether or not the interest
paid or payable, under any specific circumstance, exceeds the maximum amount
permitted under applicable Law, Lender Parties and Restricted Persons (and any
other payors thereof) shall to the greatest extent permitted under applicable
Law, (i) characterize any non-principal payment as an expense, fee or premium
rather than as interest, (ii) exclude voluntary prepayments and the effects
thereof, and (iii) amortize, prorate, allocate, and spread the total amount of
interest throughout the entire contemplated term of the instruments evidencing
the Obligations in accordance with the amounts outstanding from time to time
thereunder and the maximum legal rate of interest from time to time in effect
under applicable Law in order to lawfully contract for,
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charge, or receive the maximum amount of
interest permitted under applicable Law.
In the event applicable Law provides for an interest ceiling under Chapter
303 of the Texas Finance Code (the Texas Finance Code) as amended, for that
day, the ceiling shall be the weekly ceiling as defined in the Texas Finance
Code, provided that if any applicable Law permits greater interest, the Law
permitting the greatest interest shall apply. As used in this section the
term applicable Law means the Laws of the State of Texas or the Laws of the
United States of America, whichever Laws allow the greater interest, as such
Laws now exist or may be changed or amended or come into effect in the future.
Section 10.9. Termination; Limited Survival. In its sole and absolute discretion Borrower
may at any time that no Obligations are owing (other than indemnity obligations
and similar obligations that survive the termination of this Agreement for
which no notice of a claim has been received by Borrower) elect in a written
notice delivered to Agent to terminate this Agreement. Upon receipt by Agent of such a notice, if no
Obligations are then owing, this Agreement and all other Loan Documents shall
thereupon be terminated and the parties thereto released from all prospective
obligations thereunder. Notwithstanding
the foregoing or anything herein to the contrary, any waivers or admissions
made by any Restricted Person in any Loan Document, any Obligations under
Sections 3.2 through Section 3.6, and any obligations which any Person may
have to indemnify or reimburse any Lender Party shall survive any termination
of this Agreement or any other Loan Document.
At the request and expense of Borrower, Agent shall prepare and execute
all necessary instruments to reflect and effect such termination of the Loan
Documents. Agent is hereby authorized to
execute all such instruments on behalf of all Lenders, without the joinder of
or further action by any Lender.
Section 10.10. Severability. If any term or provision of any Loan Document
shall be determined to be illegal or unenforceable all other terms and
provisions of the Loan Documents shall nevertheless remain effective and shall
be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by applicable Law.
Section 10.11. Counterparts; Fax. This Agreement may be separately executed in
any number of counterparts and by different parties hereto in separate
counterparts, each of which when so executed shall be deemed to constitute one
and the same Agreement. This Agreement
and the Loan Documents may be validly executed and delivered by facsimile or
other electronic transmission.
Section 10.13. Waiver of Jury Trial, Punitive
Damages, etc. Each of the Borrower and each Lender Party
hereby knowingly, voluntarily, intentionally, and irrevocably (a) waives, to
the maximum extent not prohibited by Law, any right it may have to a trial by
jury in respect of any litigation based hereon, or directly or indirectly at
any time arising out of, under or in connection with the Loan Documents or any
transaction contemplated thereby or associated therewith, before or after
maturity; (b) waives, to the maximum extent not prohibited by Law, any right
they may have to claim or recover in any such litigation any Special Damages,
as defined below, (c) certifies that no party hereto nor any representative or
Agent or counsel for any party hereto has represented, expressly or otherwise,
or implied that such party would not, in
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the event of litigation, seek to enforce the
foregoing waivers, and (d) acknowledges that it has been induced to enter into
this Agreement, the other Loan Documents and the transactions contemplated
hereby and thereby by, among other things, the mutual waivers and
certifications contained in this section.
As used in this section, Special Damages includes all special,
consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages (regardless of how named), but
does not include any payments or funds which any party hereto has expressly
promised to pay or deliver to any other party hereto.
Section 10.14. Procedure for Increases and
Addition of New Lenders. This Agreement permits certain increases in a
Lenders Commitment and the admission of new Lenders providing new commitments,
none of which require any consents or approvals from the other Lenders. Any amendment hereto for such an increase or
addition shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 10.14 and shall only
require the written signatures of the Agent, Borrower and the Lender(s) being
added or increasing their Commitment. In
addition, within a reasonable time after the effective date of any increase,
the Agent shall, and is hereby authorized and directed to, revise the Schedule 3.1
reflecting such increase and shall distribute such revised Schedule to
each of the Lenders and Borrower, whereupon such revised Schedule 3.1
shall replace the old Schedule 3.1 and become part of this Agreement. On the Business Day following any such
increase, all outstanding Base Rate Loans shall be reallocated among the
Lenders (including any newly added Lenders) in accordance with the Lenders
respective revised Percentage Shares.
Eurodollar Loans shall not be reallocated among the Lenders prior to the
expiration of the applicable Interest Period in effect at the time of any such
increase.
Section 10.15. Renewal and Extension. The Indebtedness arising under this Agreement
is a renewal, extension and restatement on revised terms of (but not an
extinguishment or novation of) the Prior Indebtedness and, from and after the
date hereof, the terms and provisions of the Prior Credit Documents shall be
superseded by the terms and provisions of this Agreement. Borrower hereby agrees that (i) the Prior
Indebtedness, all accrued and unpaid interest thereon, and all accrued and
unpaid fees under the Prior Credit Documents shall be deemed to be Indebtedness
of Borrower outstanding under and governed by this Agreement and (ii) all Liens
securing the Prior Indebtedness shall continue in full force and effect to
secure the Secured Obligations.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Agreement is
executed as of the date first written above.
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COMFORT SYSTEMS USA, INC.,
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Borrower
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By:
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/s/ William
George, III
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William George, III
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Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer
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Address:
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777 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 500
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Houston, Texas 77056
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Attention: William George, III
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Telephone: (713) 830-9650
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Fax: (713) 830-9659
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HIBERNIA NATIONAL BANK,
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Agent, LC Issuer and Lender
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By:
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/s/ Debra H.
Rings
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Debra H. Rings
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Vice President
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Address:
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Hibernia National Bank
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5718 Westheimer, Suite 600
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Houston, Texas 77057
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Attention: Debra H. Rings
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Telephone: (713) 435-5024
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Fax: (713) 706-5499
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With a copy to:
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Hibernia Southcoast Capital
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909 Poydras Street, Suite 1000
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New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
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Attention: Troy Villafarra, CFA
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Telephone: (504) 593-6126
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Fax: (504) 593-6175
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BANK OF TEXAS NA,
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Lender
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By:
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/s/ Edward
H. Braddock
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Name:
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Edward H. Braddock
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Title:
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Senior Vice President
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Address:
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Bank of Texas NA
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5 Houston Center
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1401 McKinney, Suite 1650
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Houston, Texas 77010
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Attention:
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Telephone: (713) 289-5855
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Fax: (713) 289-5825
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2
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BANK OF SCOTLAND,
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Lender
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By:
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/s/ Amena
Nabi
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Name: Amena
Nabi
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Title: Asst. Vice President
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Address:
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Bank of Scotland
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565 Fifth Avenue
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New York, New York 10017
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Attention: Shirley Vargas
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Telephone: (212) 450-0875
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Fax: (212) 479-2807
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FIRST BANK & TRUST,
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Lender
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By:
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/s/ Michael
S. Martin
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Michael S. Martin
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Vice President, Commercial Lending
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Address:
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First Bank & Trust
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9155 W. Sam Houston Parkway N.
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Houston, Texas 77064
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Attention: Michael S. Martin
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Telephone: (281) 970-9636, Ext. 4022
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Fax: (281) 970-9280
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3
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RZB FINANCE LLC,
|
|
Lender
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By:
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/s/ Eric
Salat
|
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Eric Salat,
Group Vice President
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By:
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/s/ Griselda
Alvizo
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Griselda
Alvizo, Vice President
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Address:
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RZB Finance LLC
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1133 Avenue of the Americas
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16th Floor
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New York, New York 10036
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Attention: Pamela Flynn
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Telephone: (212) 845-8357
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Fax: (212) 944-2093
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4
Exhibit 99.1
|
|
777 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 500
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CONTACT:
|
William
George
|
Houston, Texas 77056
|
|
Chief
Financial Officer
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713 830 9600
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(713)
830-9600
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Fax 713 830 9696
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMFORT SYSTEMS USA COMPLETES NEW LONG-TERM DEBT
FACILITY
Improved Terms, Stability
and Flexibility; Earnings Release Date Announced
Houston, TX June 30, 2005 Comfort Systems USA, Inc.
(NYSE: FIX), a
leading provider of commercial, industrial and institutional heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) services, today announced that it has
closed a new $75 million senior debt facility led by Hibernia Bank. This new facility replaces the previous
facility led by Bank of Texas, N.A. and Hibernia Bank, although Bank of Texas
has also increased its commitment and remains as the second largest lender in
the new facility. The new facility has a
four year term, increases the overall amount available by approximately $20
million to $75 million, and eliminates the term debt portion of the prior
facility.
Bill
Murdy, Comfort Systems USAs Chairman and CEO, said, We are extremely pleased
that our lenders, all of whom participated in our previous facility, have
continued their partnership with us in this important new financing. In addition to improved economic terms, the
facility provides us with additional capacity as we consider prudent
acquisitions. The agreement also affords
our board of directors the flexibility to consider ways in which the Company
might return value to its shareholders.
A
strong and stable new facility is a key competitive advantage that complements
our strong balance sheet and provides a meaningful advantage in an industry
where owners and general contractors continue to value partners with strong
financial foundations. Our continued
improvement in financial fundamentals is primarily thanks to the work and
dedication of management and personnel at our operating locations, and we are
deeply indebted to them. Mr. Murdy
concluded, Our new long-term facility provides significant support to our
continuing operations and further strengthens our foundation for long-term
growth.
The
new facility contains financial covenants that include a limit on the ratio of
debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA);
a minimum requirement for the ratio of EBITDA minus capital expenditures,
dividends, stock repurchases, and tax provisions to interest and scheduled
payments of current maturities; and a minimum requirement for tangible net
worth. The Company has complied with all
of its debt covenants under the prior facility by comfortable margins. The new facility contains less restrictive
covenants, and should provide further improvement in the Companys margin of
compliance with debt covenants. Because
of the Companys net cash position, initial borrowings under the new credit
line will be zero.
The
Company will record a non-cash charge in its second quarter 2005 results to
write off deferred financing costs associated with its previous senior lending
facility which was terminated when the Companys new facility was
established. This charge is expected to
be approximately $0.9 million pretax, or $.01 per share.
The Company separately announced that it has
scheduled its quarterly conference call for Wednesday, August 3, 2005 at
10:00 a.m. Central Time to discuss second quarter 2005 financial
results. The results will be released
after the market closes on Tuesday, August 2, 2005. To participate in the call, dial 1-210-234-0002
ten minutes before the conference call begins and ask for the Comfort Systems
USA conference. A replay of the entire
call will be available until 6:00 p.m. Central Time, Wednesday, August 10,
2005 by calling 1-203-369-3360.
Comfort Systems USA®
is a premier provider of business solutions addressing workplace comfort, with
60 locations in 51 cities around the nation.
For more information, visit the Companys website at
www.comfortsystemsusa.com.
This
press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements are based on the current plans and expectations of
Comfort Systems USA, Inc. and involve risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual future activities and results of operations to be materially
different from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual
results to differ include, among others, retention of key management, national
and regional weakness in non-residential construction activity, difficulty in
obtaining debt financing or bonding, shortages of labor and specialty building
materials, seasonal fluctuations in the demand for HVAC systems and the use of
incorrect estimates for bidding a fixed price contract and other risks detailed
in the Companys reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this release. Comfort Systems USA, Inc. expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or
revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any
change in Comfort Systems USA Inc.s expectations with regard thereto or any
change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is
based.