Note Guarantees (a) Each Guarantor hereby, jointly and severally, fully, unconditionally and irrevocably guarantees the Notes and obligations of the Company hereunder and thereunder, and guarantees to each Holder of a Note authenticated and delivered by the Trustee and to the Trustee on behalf of such Holder, that: (i) the principal of and premium, if any and interest on the Notes shall be paid in full when due, whether at Stated Maturity, by acceleration, call for redemption or otherwise (including, without limitation, the amount that would become due but for the operation of the automatic stay under Section 362(a) of the Bankruptcy Code), together with interest on the overdue principal, if any, and interest on any overdue interest, to the extent lawful, and all other obligations of the Company to the Holders or the Trustee hereunder or thereunder shall be paid in full or performed, all in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof; and (ii) in case of any extension of time of payment or renewal of the Notes or of any such other obligations, the same shall be paid in full when due or performed in accordance with the terms of the extension or renewal, whether at Stated Maturity, by acceleration or otherwise. Each of the Note Guarantees shall be a guarantee of payment and not of collection.
(b) Each Guarantor hereby agrees that its obligations hereunder shall be unconditional, irrespective of the validity, regularity or enforceability of the Notes or this Indenture, the absence of any action to enforce the same, any waiver or consent by any Holder with respect to any provisions hereof or thereof, the recovery of any judgment against the Company, any action to enforce the same or any other circumstance which might otherwise constitute a legal or equitable discharge or defense of a Guarantor.
(c) Each Guarantor hereby waives the benefits of diligence, presentment, demand for payment, filing of claims with a court in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy of the Company, any right to require a proceeding first against the Company or any other Person, protest, notice and all demands whatsoever and covenants that the Note Guarantee of such Guarantor shall not be discharged as to any Note except by complete performance of the obligations contained in such Note and such Note Guarantee or as provided for in this Indenture. Each of the Guarantors hereby agrees that, in the event of a default in payment of principal or premium, if any or interest on such Note, whether at its Stated Maturity, by acceleration, call for redemption, purchase or otherwise, legal proceedings may be instituted by the Trustee on behalf of, or by, the Holder of such Note, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Indenture, directly against each of the Guarantors to enforce such Guarantor’s Note Guarantee without first proceeding against the Company or any other Guarantor. Each Guarantor agrees that if, after the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, the Trustee or any of the Holders are prevented by applicable law from exercising their respective rights to accelerate the maturity of the Notes, to collect interest on the Notes, or to enforce or exercise any other right or remedy with respect to the Notes, such Guarantor shall pay to the Trustee for the account of the Holders, upon demand therefor, the amount that would otherwise have been due and payable had such rights and remedies been permitted to be exercised by the Trustee or any of the Holders.
(d) If any Holder or the Trustee is required by any court or otherwise to return to the Company or any Guarantor, or any custodian, trustee, liquidator or other similar official acting in relation to the Company or any Guarantor, any amount paid by any of them to the Trustee or such Holder, the Note Guarantee of each of the Guarantors, to the extent theretofore discharged, shall be reinstated in full force and effect. This paragraph (d) shall remain effective notwithstanding any contrary action which may be taken by the Trustee or any Holder in reliance upon such amount required to be returned. This paragraph (d) shall survive the termination of this Indenture.
(e) Each Guarantor further agrees that, as between each Guarantor, on the one hand, and the Holders and the Trustee, on the other hand, (x) the maturity of the obligations guaranteed hereby may be accelerated as provided in Section 6.02 for the purposes of the Note Guarantee of such Guarantor, notwithstanding any stay, injunction or other prohibition preventing such acceleration in respect of the obligations guaranteed hereby, and (y) in the event of any acceleration of such obligations as provided in Section 6.02, such obligations (whether or not due and payable) shall forthwith become due and payable by each Guarantor for the purpose of the Note Guarantee of such Guarantor.
Release of Note Guarantees (a) A Note Guarantee by a Guarantor shall be automatically and unconditionally released and discharged, and no further action by such Guarantor, the Company or the Trustee shall be required for the release of such Guarantor’s Note Guarantee, upon:
(A) a sale or disposition (including by way of consolidation, merger or amalgamation) of all or a portion of the Capital Stock of such Guarantor following which such Guarantor is no longer a Subsidiary of the Company;
(B) a sale or disposition (including by way of consolidation, merger or amalgamation) of all or substantially all of the assets of such Guarantor to a Person that is not the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company;
(C) the Company’s exercise of its Legal Defeasance option or Covenant Defeasance option in accordance with Article 8 or the discharge of the Company’s obligations under this Indenture in accordance with the terms of this Indenture;
(D) the Designation of such Guarantor as an Unrestricted Subsidiary;
(E) pursuant to the terms of the Deed of Guarantee, security or a guarantee of the Company’s obligations under this Indenture which is acceptable to the Security and Intercreditor Agent being provided in substitution for such Note Guarantee;
(F) the release or discharge of such other guarantee that resulted in the creation of such Note Guarantee, except a discharge or release by or as a result of payment under such guarantee (it being understood that a release subject to a contingent reinstatement will constitute a release for the purposes of this provision, and if any such guarantee is so reinstated, such guarantee shall also be reinstated to the extent that such Guarantor would then be required to provide a Note Guarantee pursuant to Section 4.11); or
(G) the liquidation or dissolution of such Guarantor; provided that no Event of Default occurs as a result thereof or has occurred or is continuing; provided, that the transaction is carried out pursuant to, and in accordance with, all other applicable provisions of this Indenture; and
(2) such Guarantor delivering to the Trustee and the Security and Intercreditor Agent an Officer’s Certificate and Opinion of Counsel stating that all conditions precedent provided for in this Indenture and the Deed of Guarantee relating to such transaction have been complied with.
(b) At the written request of the Company and upon receipt of the items described in Section 10.06(a)(2) above, the Trustee and the Security and Intercreditor Agent shall execute and deliver any documents reasonably requested in order to evidence such release, discharge and termination in respect of the applicable Note Guarantee.
Additional Note Guarantees of the Base Indenture shall be amended and restated in its entirety as follows: “Prior to the occurrence of an Investment Grade Event Election with respect to each series of Notes, if (a) any Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of the Company that is not an Excluded Subsidiary becomes an obligor with respect to any Indebtedness under the Credit Agreement, (b) any Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of the Company that is not an Excluded Subsidiary and that is not an Unrestricted Subsidiary becomes an obligor with respect to any capital markets debt securities in an aggregate principal amount in excess of $500.0 million or (c) Parent or any Subsidiary of Parent acquires or creates a Subsidiary that directly or indirectly owns Capital Stock of the Company, then the Company or Parent, as applicable, will, within 20 Business Days after the date on which it becomes an obligor with respect to any of the foregoing, or reasonably promptly thereafter, (i) cause that newly acquired or created Subsidiary to become a Guarantor of the Notes of this Series and execute a supplemental indenture and (ii), if requested by the Trustee, deliver an Opinion of Counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Trustee. Following the occurrence of an Investment Grade Event Election, with respect to each series of Notes, if the aggregate principal amount of Indebtedness for Borrowed Money of non-guarantor Subsidiaries that are not Excluded Subsidiaries (excluding any Specified Indebtedness under any Permitted Receivables Financing and any Specified Indebtedness of an “Unrestricted Subsidiary” (or the equivalent thereof) under the Credit Agreement or Permitted Receivables Financing Subsidiary) that is incurred or issued and outstanding exceeds $2,000.0 million (the “Guarantee Threshold”), then Parent shall cause such of its non-guarantor Subsidiaries that are not Excluded Subsidiaries to, within 60 days, execute and deliver a supplemental indenture providing for a Note Guarantee by such non-guarantor Subsidiaries (each such Note Guarantee, a “Post-Release Event Note Guarantee”) such that the aggregate principal amount of Specified Indebtedness of all other non-guarantor Subsidiaries that are not Excluded Subsidiaries (excluding any Specified Indebtedness under any Permitted Receivables Financing and any Specified Indebtedness of an “Unrestricted Subsidiary” (or the equivalent thereof) under the Credit Agreement or Permitted Receivables Financing Subsidiary) that is incurred or issued and outstanding does not exceed the Guarantee Threshold (after giving effect to the provision of Post-Release Event Note Guarantees pursuant to this Section 4.17); provided that (i) this Section 4.17 shall not be applicable to any Specified Indebtedness of any Subsidiary that existed at the time such Person became a Subsidiary of Parent (including any Specified Indebtedness incurred in connection with, or in contemplation of, such Person becoming a Subsidiary, so long as Parent and its Subsidiaries (other than such Person and its Subsidiaries) are not obligors under such Specified Indebtedness), (ii) if the Guarantee Threshold would be exceeded immediately after giving effect to the occurrence of an Investment Grade Event Election, then such Investment Grade Event Election shall be deemed not to have occurred with respect to the release of such Note Guarantees as the Company may designate such that the Guarantee Threshold would not be then exceeded and (iii) a Post-Release Event Note Guarantee shall be released to the extent the Guarantee Threshold would not be exceeded after giving effect to such release.”
Subsidiary Guarantees Subject to Section 1301, each Subsidiary Guarantor hereby, jointly and severally, fully and unconditionally guarantees to each Holder of a Security authenticated and delivered by the Trustee, the due and punctual payment of the principal of (and premium, if any) and interest on such Security when and as the same shall become due and payable, whether at the Stated Maturity, by acceleration, call for redemption, offer to purchase or otherwise, in accordance with the terms of such Security and of this Indenture, and each Subsidiary Guarantor similarly guarantees to the Trustee the payment of all amounts owing to the Trustee in accordance with the terms of this Indenture. In case of the failure of the Company punctually to make any such payment, each Subsidiary Guarantor hereby, jointly and severally, agrees to cause such payment to be made punctually when and as the same shall become due and payable, whether at the Stated Maturity or by acceleration, call for redemption, offer to purchase or otherwise, and as if such payment were made by the Company. Each of the Subsidiary Guarantors hereby jointly and severally agrees that its obligations hereunder shall be absolute, unconditional, irrespective of, and shall be unaffected by, the validity, regularity or enforceability of such Security or this Indenture, the absence of any action to enforce the same or any release, amendment, waiver or indulgence granted to the Company or any other guarantor or any consent to departure from any requirement of any other guarantee of all or any of the Securities of such series or any other circumstances which might otherwise constitute a legal or equitable discharge or defense of a surety or guarantor; provided, however, that, notwithstanding the foregoing, no such release, amendment, waiver or indulgence shall, without the consent of such Subsidiary Guarantor, increase the principal amount of such Security, or increase the interest rate thereon, or alter the Stated Maturity thereof. Each of the Subsidiary Guarantors hereby waives the benefits of diligence, presentment, demand for payment, any requirement that the Trustee or any of the Holders protect, secure, perfect or insure any security interest in or other lien on any property subject thereto or exhaust any right or take any action against the Company or any other Person or any collateral, filing of claims with a court in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy of the Company, any right to require a proceeding first against the Company, protest or notice with respect to such Security or the indebtedness evidenced thereby and all demands whatsoever, and covenants that this Subsidiary Guarantee will not be discharged in respect of such Security except by complete performance of the obligations contained in such Security and in such Subsidiary Guarantee. Each Subsidiary Guarantor agrees that if, after the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, the Trustee or any of the Holders are prevented by applicable law from exercising their respective rights to accelerate the maturity of the Securities of a series, to collect interest on the Securities of a series, or to enforce or exercise any other right or remedy with respect to the Securities of a series, such Subsidiary Guarantor agrees to pay to the Trustee for the account of the Holders, upon demand therefor, the amount that would otherwise have been due and payable had such rights and remedies been permitted to be exercised by the Trustee or any of the Holders. Each Subsidiary Guarantor shall be subrogated to all rights of the Holders of the Securities upon which its Subsidiary Guarantee is endorsed against the Company in respect of any amounts paid by such Subsidiary Guarantor on account of such Security pursuant to the provisions of its Subsidiary Guarantee or this Indenture; provided, however, that no Subsidiary Guarantor shall be entitled to enforce or to receive any payments arising out of, or based upon, such right of subrogation until the principal of (and premium, if any) and interest on all Securities of the relevant series issued hereunder shall have been paid in full. Each Subsidiary Guarantor that makes or is required to make any payment in respect of its Subsidiary Guarantee shall be entitled to seek contribution from the other Subsidiary Guarantors to the extent permitted by applicable law; provided, however, that no Subsidiary Guarantor shall be entitled to enforce or receive any payments arising out of, or based upon, such right of contribution until the principal of (and premium, if any) and interest on all Securities of the relevant series issued hereunder shall have been paid in full. Each Subsidiary Guarantee shall remain in full force and effect and continue to be effective should any petition be filed by or against the Company for liquidation or reorganization, should the Company become insolvent or make an assignment for the benefit of creditors or should a receiver or trustee be appointed for all or any part of the Company’s assets, and shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, continue to be effective or be reinstated, as the case may be, if at any time payment and performance of the Securities of a series, is, pursuant to applicable law, rescinded or reduced in amount, or must otherwise be restored or returned by any Holder of the Securities, whether as a “voidable preference,” “fraudulent transfer,” or otherwise, all as though such payment or performance had not been made. In the event that any payment, or any part thereof, is rescinded, reduced, restored or returned, the Securities shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be reinstated and deemed reduced only by such amount paid and not so rescinded, reduced, restored or returned.
Pari Passu Guarantees The obligations of the Guarantor under this Guarantee Agreement shall rank pari passu with any similar guarantee agreements issued by the Guarantor on behalf of the holders of preferred or capital securities issued by the Issuer Trust and with any other security, guarantee or other obligation that is expressly stated to rank pari passu with the obligations of the Guarantor under this Guarantee Agreement.