TERM LOAN CREDIT AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) dated as of January 6, 2025 among NORTHWEST NATURAL HOLDING COMPANY, the LENDERS from time to time party hereto, and U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, as Administrative Agent. WHEREAS, the Borrower has...
Exhibit 4t EXECUTION VERSION TERM LOAN CREDIT AGREEMENT dated as of January 6, 2025 among NORTHWEST NATURAL HOLDING COMPANY, as Borrower The Lenders Party Hereto, and U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, as Administrative Agent _______________________________ U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, as Sole Bookrunner and Lead Arranger TABLE OF CONTENTS Page i ARTICLE I Definitions ................................................................................................................................ 1 SECTION 1.01 Defined Terms ............................................................................................................ 1 SECTION 1.02 Classification of Loans and Borrowings .................................................................. 18 SECTION 1.03 Terms Generally ....................................................................................................... 18 SECTION 1.04 Accounting Terms; GAAP; Pro Forma Calculations ............................................... 18 SECTION 1.05 Interest Rates; Benchmark Notification ................................................................... 19 SECTION 1.06 Divisions .................................................................................................................. 20 ARTICLE II The Credits ............................................................................................................................ 20 SECTION 2.01 Commitments ........................................................................................................... 20 SECTION 2.02 Loans and Borrowings ............................................................................................. 20 SECTION 2.03 Request for the Initial Borrowing............................................................................. 21 SECTION 2.04 Intentionally Omitted. .............................................................................................. 21 SECTION 2.05 Intentionally Omitted ............................................................................................... 21 SECTION 2.06 Intentionally Omitted. .............................................................................................. 21 SECTION 2.07 Funding of Borrowings ............................................................................................ 21 SECTION 2.08 Interest Elections ...................................................................................................... 22 SECTION 2.09 Termination of Commitments .................................................................................. 23 SECTION 2.10 Repayment of Loans; Evidence of Debt .................................................................. 23 SECTION 2.11 Prepayment of Loans ................................................................................................ 23 SECTION 2.12 Fees .......................................................................................................................... 24 SECTION 2.13 Interest ...................................................................................................................... 24 SECTION 2.14 Alternate Rate of Interest ......................................................................................... 25 SECTION 2.15 Increased Costs; Illegality ........................................................................................ 26 SECTION 2.16 Funding Indemnification .......................................................................................... 28 SECTION 2.17 Withholding of Taxes; Gross-Up ............................................................................. 28 SECTION 2.18 Payments Generally; Pro Rata Treatment; Sharing of Set-offs ................................ 32 SECTION 2.19 Mitigation Obligations; Replacement of Lenders .................................................... 33 SECTION 2.20 Defaulting Lenders ................................................................................................... 33 ARTICLE III Representations and Warranties ........................................................................................... 34 SECTION 3.01 Corporate Existence; Authorization ......................................................................... 34 SECTION 3.02 Enforceability ........................................................................................................... 34 SECTION 3.03 Financial Condition; No Material Adverse Change ................................................. 35 SECTION 3.04 Compliance with Laws and Material Contractual Obligations ................................ 35 SECTION 3.05 No Material Litigation .............................................................................................. 35 SECTION 3.06 Ownership of Property ............................................................................................. 35 SECTION 3.07 Taxes ........................................................................................................................ 35 SECTION 3.08 Subsidiaries .............................................................................................................. 36 SECTION 3.09 Investment Company Act; No Consents .................................................................. 36 SECTION 3.10 ERISA ...................................................................................................................... 36 SECTION 3.11 Environmental .......................................................................................................... 36 SECTION 3.12 Margin Regulations .................................................................................................. 36 SECTION 3.13 Disclosure ................................................................................................................. 36 SECTION 3.14 Anti-Corruption Laws and Sanctions ....................................................................... 37 SECTION 3.15 Affected Financial Institutions ................................................................................. 37 SECTION 3.16 Plan Assets; Prohibited Transactions ....................................................................... 37 ARTICLE IV Conditions ............................................................................................................................ 37 SECTION 4.01 Effective Date........................................................................................................... 37 ARTICLE V Affirmative Covenants .......................................................................................................... 38 Table of Contents (continued) Page ii SECTION 5.01 Financial Statements and Other Information ........................................................... 39 SECTION 5.02 Certificates; Other Information ................................................................................ 39 SECTION 5.03 Payment of Taxes ..................................................................................................... 40 SECTION 5.04 Conduct of Business ................................................................................................. 40 SECTION 5.05 Maintenance of Property; Insurance ........................................................................ 40 SECTION 5.06 Inspection of Property; Books and Records; Discussions ........................................ 40 SECTION 5.07 Notices ..................................................................................................................... 40 SECTION 5.08 Use of Proceeds ........................................................................................................ 41 SECTION 5.09 Debt Rating .............................................................................................................. 41 ARTICLE VI Negative Covenants ............................................................................................................. 41 SECTION 6.01 Fundamental Changes .............................................................................................. 41 SECTION 6.02 Financial Covenant ................................................................................................... 42 ARTICLE VII Events of Default ................................................................................................................ 42 SECTION 7.01 Events of Default...................................................................................................... 42 SECTION 7.02 Application of Payments .......................................................................................... 43 ARTICLE VIII The Administrative Agent ................................................................................................. 44 SECTION 8.01 Authorization and Action ......................................................................................... 44 SECTION 8.02 Administrative Agent’s Reliance, Indemnification, Etc .......................................... 46 . 46 SECTION 8.03 Posting of Communications ..................................................................................... 47 SECTION 8.04 The Administrative Agent Individually ................................................................... 48 SECTION 8.05 Successor Administrative Agent .............................................................................. 49 SECTION 8.06 Acknowledgments of Lenders .................................................................................. 49 SECTION 8.07 Certain ERISA Matters ............................................................................................ 51 ARTICLE IX Miscellaneous ...................................................................................................................... 52 SECTION 9.01 Notices ..................................................................................................................... 52 SECTION 9.02 Waivers; Amendments ............................................................................................. 53 SECTION 9.03 Expenses; Limitation of Liability; Indemnity; Etc. .................................................. 54 SECTION 9.04 Successors and Assigns ............................................................................................ 56 SECTION 9.05 Survival .................................................................................................................... 59 SECTION 9.06 Counterparts; Integration; Effectiveness; Electronic Execution .............................. 59 SECTION 9.07 Severability .............................................................................................................. 60 SECTION 9.08 Right of Setoff .......................................................................................................... 60 SECTION 9.09 Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Consent to Service of Process .................................. 61 SECTION 9.10 WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL .................................................................................... 62 SECTION 9.11 Headings ................................................................................................................... 62 SECTION 9.12 Confidentiality.......................................................................................................... 62 SECTION 9.13 Material Non-Public Information ............................................................................. 63 SECTION 9.14 USA PATRIOT Act ................................................................................................. 63 SECTION 9.15 Intentionally Omitted ............................................................................................... 63 SECTION 9.16 Interest Rate Limitation ............................................................................................ 63 SECTION 9.17 No Fiduciary Duty, etc ............................................................................................. 64 SECTION 9.18 Acknowledgment and Consent to Bail-In of Affected Financial Institutions .......... 64 Table of Contents (continued) Page iii SCHEDULES: Schedule 2.01 – Commitments Schedule 2.18 – Place and Manner of Payments Schedule 3.08 – Subsidiaries EXHIBITS: Exhibit A – Form of Assignment and Assumption Exhibit B – List of Closing Documents Exhibit C-1 – Form of U.S. Tax Certificate (Foreign Lenders That Are Not Partnerships) Exhibit C-2 – Form of U.S. Tax Certificate (Foreign Participants That Are Not Partnerships) Exhibit C-3 – Form of U.S. Tax Certificate (Foreign Participants That Are Partnerships) Exhibit C-4 – Form of U.S. Tax Certificate (Foreign Lenders That Are Partnerships) Exhibit D-1 – Form of Borrowing Request Exhibit D-2 – Form of Interest Election Request
TERM LOAN CREDIT AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) dated as of January 6, 2025 among NORTHWEST NATURAL HOLDING COMPANY, the LENDERS from time to time party hereto, and U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, as Administrative Agent. WHEREAS, the Borrower has requested from the Lenders a senior unsecured term loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of $50,000,000, with proceeds being used for working capital needs and for general corporate purposes of the Borrower; NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants contained herein, the parties hereto agree as follows: ARTICLE I Definitions Defined Terms. As used in this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings specified below: “ABR”, when used in reference to any Loan or Borrowing, refers to whether such Loan, or the Loans comprising such Borrowing, bears interest at a rate determined by reference to the Alternate Base Rate. For the avoidance of doubt, a Loan that bears interest at a rate determined pursuant to clause (d) of the definition of “Alternate Base Rate” shall, for all purposes of this Agreement, be deemed to be an ABR Loan and not a Term SOFR Loan. “Adjusted Daily Simple SOFR” means an interest rate per annum equal to the greater of (a) zero and (b) the sum of (i) Daily Simple SOFR, plus (ii) the SOFR Adjustment. “Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate” means, with respect to any Term SOFR Borrowing for any Interest Period, an interest rate per annum equal to the greater of (a) zero and (b) the sum of (i) the Term SOFR Screen Rate for such Interest Period, plus (ii) the SOFR Adjustment. “Administrative Agent” means U.S. Bank (including its branches and affiliates), in its capacity as administrative agent for the Lenders hereunder, and any successor appointed in accordance with Article VIII. “Administrative Questionnaire” means an Administrative Questionnaire in a form supplied by the Administrative Agent. “Affected Financial Institution” means (a) any EEA Financial Institution or (b) any UK Financial Institution. “Affiliate” means, with respect to a specified Person, another Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, Controls or is Controlled by or is under common Control with the Person specified. “Agent-Related Person” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.03(c). “Alternate Base Rate” means, for any day, a rate of interest per annum equal to the highest of (a) zero, (b) the Prime Rate for such day, (c) the sum of the Federal Funds Effective Rate for such day plus 0.50% per annum and (d) the Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate (without giving effect to the Applicable Rate) for a one-month Interest Period on such day (or if such day is not a Business Day or if the Term SOFR Screen Rate for such Business Day is not published due to a holiday or other 2 circumstance that the Administrative Agent deems in its sole discretion to be temporary, the immediately preceding Business Day) plus 1.00%. Any change in the Alternate Base Rate due to a change in the Prime Rate, the Federal Funds Effective Rate, or the Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate shall be effective from the effective date of such change. If the Alternate Base Rate is being used when Term SOFR Borrowings are unavailable pursuant to Section 2.08(e) or Section 2.14, then the Alternate Base Rate shall be the highest of clauses (a), (b) and (c) above, without reference to clause (d) above. “Ancillary Document” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 9.06(b). “Anti-Corruption Laws” means all laws, rules, and regulations of any jurisdiction applicable to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries from time to time concerning or relating to money laundering, bribery or corruption. “Applicable Party” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 8.03(c). “Applicable Rate” means, for any day, (a) with respect to any Term SOFR Loan, 0.90% (90 basis points) per annum, and (b) with respect to any ABR Loan, 0.00% (0 basis points) per annum, as the case may be. “Approved Electronic Platform” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 8.03(a). “Approved Fund” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(b). “Arranger” means U.S. Bank, in its capacity as sole bookrunner and lead arranger hereunder. “Assignment and Assumption” means an assignment and assumption entered into by a Lender and an assignee (with the consent of any party whose consent is required by Section 9.04), and accepted by the Administrative Agent, in the form of Exhibit A or any other form (including electronic records generated by the use of an electronic platform) approved by the Administrative Agent. “Authorized Officer” means the chief executive officer, the president, any vice president, the treasurer or any assistant treasurer of the Borrower. “Available Tenor” means, as of any date of determination and with respect to the then- current Benchmark, as applicable, (x) if the then-current Benchmark is a term rate, any tenor for such Benchmark that is or may be used for determining the length of an Interest Period or (y) otherwise, any payment period for interest calculated with reference to such Benchmark, as applicable, pursuant to this Agreement as of such date. “Bail-In Action” means the exercise of any Write-Down and Conversion Powers by the applicable Resolution Authority in respect of any liability of an Affected Financial Institution. “Bail-In Legislation” means (a) with respect to any EEA Member Country implementing Article 55 of Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union, the implementing law, regulation rule or requirement for such EEA Member Country from time to time which is described in the EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule and (b) with respect to the United Kingdom, Part I of the United Kingdom Banking Act 2009 (as amended from time to time) and any other law, regulation or rule applicable in the United Kingdom relating to the resolution of unsound or failing banks, investment firms or other financial institutions or their affiliates (other than through liquidation, administration or other insolvency proceedings). 3 “Bankruptcy Event” means, with respect to any Person, such Person becomes the subject of a voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding, or has had a receiver, conservator, trustee, administrator, custodian, assignee for the benefit of creditors or similar Person charged with the reorganization or liquidation of its business appointed for it, or, in the good faith determination of the Administrative Agent, has taken any action in furtherance of, or indicating its consent to, approval of, or acquiescence in, any such proceeding or appointment or has had any order for relief in such proceeding entered in respect thereof, provided that a Bankruptcy Event shall not result solely by virtue of any ownership interest, or the acquisition of any ownership interest, in such Person by a Governmental Authority or instrumentality thereof, unless such ownership interest results in or provides such Person with immunity from the jurisdiction of courts within the United States or from the enforcement of judgments or writs of attachment on its assets or permits such Person (or such Governmental Authority or instrumentality) to reject, repudiate, disavow or disaffirm any contracts or agreements made by such Person. “Benchmark” means, initially, in the case of Term SOFR Borrowings, the Term SOFR Screen Rate; provided that if a replacement of the Benchmark has occurred pursuant to Section 2.14(b), then “Benchmark” means the applicable Benchmark Replacement to the extent that such Benchmark Replacement has become effective pursuant to Section 2.14(b). “Benchmark Replacement” means, for any Available Tenor, the first alternative set forth in the order below that can be determined by the Administrative Agent for the applicable Benchmark Replacement Date: (1) Adjusted Daily Simple SOFR; or (2) the sum of: (a) the alternate benchmark rate that has been selected by the Administrative Agent and the Borrower as the replacement for the then-current Benchmark for the applicable Corresponding Tenor giving due consideration to (i) any selection or recommendation of a replacement benchmark rate or the mechanism for determining such a rate by the Relevant Governmental Body or (ii) any evolving or then-prevailing market convention for determining a benchmark rate as a replacement for the then-current Benchmark for U.S. dollar-denominated syndicated credit facilities at such time and (b) the related Benchmark Replacement Adjustment. If the Benchmark Replacement as determined pursuant to clause (1) or (2) above would be less than the Floor, the Benchmark Replacement will be deemed to be the Floor for the purposes of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents. “Benchmark Replacement Adjustment” means, with respect to any replacement of the then-current Benchmark with an Unadjusted Benchmark Replacement pursuant to clause (2) of the definition of “Benchmark Replacement” for any applicable Interest Period and Available Tenor for any setting of such Benchmark Replacement, the spread adjustment, or method for calculating or determining such spread adjustment, (which may be a positive or negative value or zero) that has been selected by the Administrative Agent and the Borrower for the applicable Corresponding Tenor giving due consideration to (i) any selection or recommendation of a spread adjustment, or method for calculating or determining such spread adjustment, for the replacement of such Benchmark with the applicable Unadjusted Benchmark Replacement by the Relevant Governmental Body on the applicable Benchmark Replacement Date or (ii) any evolving or then-prevailing market convention for determining a spread adjustment, or method for calculating or determining such spread adjustment, for the replacement of such Benchmark with the applicable Unadjusted Benchmark Replacement for U.S. dollar-denominated syndicated credit facilities. 4 “Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes” means, with respect to any Benchmark Replacement, any technical, administrative or operational changes (including changes to the definition of “Borrowing” and “Term SOFR Borrowing,” the definition of “Alternate Base Rate,” the definition of “Business Day,” the definition of “Interest Period,” timing and frequency of determining rates and making payments of interest, timing of borrowing requests or prepayment, conversion or continuation notices, length of lookback periods, the applicability of breakage provisions, and other technical, administrative or operational matters) that the Administrative Agent decides may be appropriate to reflect the adoption and implementation of such Benchmark Replacement and to permit the administration thereof by the Administrative Agent in a manner substantially consistent with market practice (or, if the Administrative Agent decides that adoption of any portion of such market practice is not administratively feasible or if the Administrative Agent determines that no market practice for the administration of such Benchmark Replacement exists, in such other manner of administration as the Administrative Agent decides is reasonably necessary in connection with the administration of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents). “Benchmark Replacement Date” means the earlier to occur of the following events with respect to the then-current Benchmark: (1) in the case of clause (1) or (2) of the definition of “Benchmark Transition Event,” the later of (a) the date of the public statement or publication of information referenced therein and (b) the date on which the administrator of such Benchmark (or the published component used in the calculation thereof) permanently or indefinitely ceases to provide such Benchmark (or such component thereof) or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, any Available Tenors of such Benchmark (or such component thereof); and (2) in the case of clause (3) of the definition of “Benchmark Transition Event,” the first date on which such Benchmark (or the published component used in the calculation thereof) has been or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, all Available Tenors of such Benchmark (or component thereof) have been determined and announced by the regulatory supervisor for the administrator of such Benchmark (or such component thereof) to be no longer representative; provided, that such non- representativeness will be determined by reference to the most recent statement or publication referenced in such clause (3) and even if such Benchmark (or such component thereof) or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, any Available Tenor of such Benchmark (or such component thereof) continues to be provided on such date. For the avoidance of doubt, (i) if the event giving rise to the Benchmark Replacement Date occurs on the same day as, but earlier than, the Reference Time in respect of any determination, the Benchmark Replacement Date will be deemed to have occurred prior to the Reference Time for such determination and (ii) the “Benchmark Replacement Date” will be deemed to have occurred with respect to any Benchmark upon the occurrence of the applicable event or events set forth therein with respect to all then- current Available Tenors of such Benchmark (or the published component used in the calculation thereof). “Benchmark Transition Event” means the occurrence of one or more of the following events with respect to the then-current Benchmark: (1) a public statement or publication of information by or on behalf of the administrator of such Benchmark (or the published component used in the calculation thereof) announcing that such administrator has ceased or will cease to provide such Benchmark (or such component thereof) or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, all Available Tenors of such Benchmark (or such component thereof), permanently or indefinitely, provided that, at the time of such statement or
5 publication, there is no successor administrator that will continue to provide such Benchmark (or such component thereof) or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, any Available Tenor of such Benchmark (or such component thereof); (2) a public statement or publication of information by the regulatory supervisor for the administrator of such Benchmark (or the published component used in the calculation thereof), the Federal Reserve Board, the NYFRB, an insolvency official with jurisdiction over the administrator for such Benchmark (or such component), a resolution authority with jurisdiction over the administrator for such Benchmark (or such component) or a court or an entity with similar insolvency or resolution authority over the administrator for such Benchmark (or such component), which states that the administrator of such Benchmark (or such component) has ceased or will cease to provide such Benchmark (or such component thereof) or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, any Available Tenor of such Benchmark (or such component thereof) permanently or indefinitely, provided that, at the time of such statement or publication, there is no successor administrator that will continue to provide such Benchmark (or such component thereof) or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, any Available Tenor of such Benchmark (or such component thereof); or (3) a public statement or publication of information by any of the entities referenced in clause (2) above announcing that such Benchmark (or such component thereof) or, if such Benchmark is a term rate, all Available Tenors of such Benchmark (or such component thereof) are no longer, or as of a specified future date will no longer be, representative. For the avoidance of doubt, a “Benchmark Transition Event” will be deemed to have occurred with respect to any Benchmark if a public statement or publication of information set forth above has occurred with respect to each then-current Available Tenor of such Benchmark (or the published component used in the calculation thereof). “Benchmark Unavailability Period” means the period (if any) (x) beginning at the time that a Benchmark Replacement Date pursuant to clauses (1) or (2) of that definition has occurred if, at such time, no Benchmark Replacement has replaced the then-current Benchmark in accordance with Section 2.14(b), and (y) ending at the time that a Benchmark Replacement has replaced the then-current Benchmark in accordance with Section 2.14(b). “Beneficial Ownership Certification” means a certification regarding beneficial ownership or control as required by the Beneficial Ownership Regulation. “Beneficial Ownership Regulation” means 31 C.F.R. § 1010.230. “Benefit Plan” means any of (a) an “employee benefit plan” (as defined in Section 3(3) of ERISA) that is subject to Title I of ERISA, (b) a “plan” as defined in Section 4975 of the Code to which Section 4975 of the Code applies, and (c) any Person whose assets include (for purposes of the Plan Asset Regulations or otherwise for purposes of Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code) the assets of any such “employee benefit plan” or “plan”. “Borrower” means Northwest Natural Holding Company, an Oregon corporation. “Borrower Materials” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 5.02. “Borrowing” means Loans of the same Type, made, converted or continued on the same date and, in the case of Term SOFR Loans, as to which a single Interest Period is in effect. 6 “Borrowing Request” means a request by the Borrower for a Borrowing in accordance with Section 2.03, which shall be substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit D-1 or any other form approved by the Administrative Agent and separately provided to the Borrower. “Business Day” means a day (other than a Saturday or Sunday) on which banks generally are open in New York City, New York for the conduct of substantially all of their commercial lending activities and interbank wire transfers can be made on the Fedwire system; provided that, when used in connection with SOFR or the Term SOFR Screen Rate, the term “Business Day” excludes any day on which the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) recommends that the fixed income departments of its members be closed for the entire day for purposes of trading in United States government securities. “Change in Control” means that (a) either (i) a person or group (as defined in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) has acquired more than 50% of the voting stock of the Borrower or (ii) a majority of the board of directors of the Borrower shall cease to be composed of individuals who were members of such board on the Effective Date (“Existing Directors”) or were approved by a majority of the Existing Directors and previously approved directors; and (b) at the time of, or at any time during the one-year period following, an event described in the preceding clause (a), the Borrower either (i) has a rating that is not an Investment Grade Rating from any one of S&P, Fitch or ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ or (ii) does not have a credit rating from at least one of S&P, Fitch or ▇▇▇▇▇’▇. “Change in Law” means the occurrence, after the date of this Agreement (or, with respect to any Lender, such later date on which such Lender becomes a party to this Agreement), of: (a) the adoption or taking effect of any law, rule, regulation or treaty, (b) any change in any law, rule, regulation or treaty or in the administration, interpretation, implementation or application thereof by any Governmental Authority, or (c) compliance by any Lender (or, for purposes of Section 2.15(b), by any lending office of such Lender or by such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s holding company, if any) with any request, rule, guideline, requirement or directive (whether or not having the force of law) of any Governmental Authority made or issued after the date of this Agreement; provided that, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, (x) the ▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and all requests, rules, guidelines, requirements or directives thereunder, or issued in connection therewith or in the implementation thereof, and (y) all requests, rules, guidelines, requirements and directives promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (or any successor or similar authority) or the United States or foreign regulatory authorities, in each case pursuant to Basel III, shall in each case be deemed to be a “Change in Law” regardless of the date enacted, adopted, issued or implemented. “Charges” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 9.16. “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. “Commitment” means, with respect to each Lender, the commitment of such Lender to make Loans hereunder on the Effective Date pursuant to Section 2.01 in the amount set forth on Schedule 2.01. “Communications” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 8.03(c). “Connection Income Taxes” means Other Connection Taxes that are imposed on or measured by net income (however denominated) or that are gross receipts or franchise Taxes or branch profits Taxes. 7 “Consolidated Indebtedness” means, at a particular date, all Indebtedness, calculated for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. “Control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of a Person, whether through the ability to exercise voting power, by contract or otherwise. “Controlling” and “Controlled” have meanings correlative thereto. “Corresponding Tenor” with respect to any Available Tenor means, as applicable, either a tenor (including overnight) or an interest payment period having approximately the same length (disregarding business day adjustment) as such Available Tenor. “Credit Exposure” means, with respect to any Lender at any time, the sum of the outstanding principal amount of such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s Loans. “Credit Party” means the Administrative Agent or any Lender. “Daily Simple SOFR” means for any day, an interest rate per annum equal to SOFR, with the conventions for this rate (which will include a lookback) being established by the Administrative Agent in accordance with the conventions for this rate selected or recommended by the Relevant Governmental Body for determining “Daily Simple SOFR” for syndicated business loans; provided, that if the Administrative Agent decides that any such convention is not administratively feasible for the Administrative Agent, then the Administrative Agent may establish another convention in its reasonable discretion. “Debt Rating” means the rating assigned by S&P or ▇▇▇▇▇’▇, as applicable, to the Borrower’s senior, unsecured, non-credit enhanced long-term debt; provided that, (a) if the Borrower’s senior, unsecured, non-credit enhanced long-term debt is not rated by S&P, “Debt Rating” for S&P shall mean the (i) the corporate credit rating assigned by S&P to the Borrower; or (ii) if the rating described in clause (a)(i) shall not exist with respect to S&P, the rating for S&P that is one level below the rating assigned by S&P to senior, unsecured, non-credit enhanced long-term debt of NW Natural; or (iii) if the ratings described in clause (a)(i) and (a)(ii) shall not exist with respect to S&P, the rating that is two levels below the rating assigned by S&P to the senior, secured long-term debt of NW Natural; and (b) if the Borrower’s senior, unsecured, non-credit enhanced long-term debt is not rated by ▇▇▇▇▇’▇, “Debt Rating” for ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ shall mean (i) the corporate credit rating assigned by ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ to the Borrower; or (ii) if the rating described in clause (b)(i) shall not exist with respect to ▇▇▇▇▇’▇, the rating for ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ that is one level below the rating assigned by Moody’s to senior, unsecured, non-credit enhanced long- term debt of NW Natural; or (iii) if the ratings described in clause (b)(i) and (b)(ii) shall not exist with respect to ▇▇▇▇▇’▇, the rating that is two levels below the rating assigned by Moody’s to the senior, secured long-term debt of NW Natural. “Default” means any event or condition which constitutes an Event of Default or which upon notice, lapse of time or both would, unless cured or waived, become an Event of Default. “Defaulting Lender” means any Lender that (a) has failed, within two (2) Business Days of the date required to be funded or paid, to (i) fund any portion of its Loans or (ii) pay over to any Credit Party any other amount required to be paid by it hereunder, unless, in the case of clause (i) above, a condition precedent to funding has not been satisfied or is subject to a good faith dispute and such Lender notifies the Administrative Agent in writing that such Lender has not funded because, in such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s good faith determination, such condition precedent to funding (specifically identified and including the particular default, if any) has not been satisfied, (b) has notified the Borrower or any Credit Party in writing, or has made a public statement to the effect, that it does not intend or expect to comply with any 8 of its funding obligations under this Agreement (unless such writing or public statement indicates that such position is based on such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s good faith determination that a condition precedent (specifically identified and including the particular default, if any) to funding a Loan under this Agreement cannot be satisfied) or generally under other agreements in which it commits to extend credit, (c) has failed, within three (3) Business Days after request by a Credit Party, acting in good faith, to provide a certification in writing from an authorized officer of such Lender that it will comply with its obligations (and is financially able to meet such obligations) to fund prospective Loans under this Agreement, provided that such Lender shall cease to be a Defaulting Lender pursuant to this clause (c) upon such Credit Party’s receipt of such certification in form and substance satisfactory to it and the Administrative Agent, or (d) has become the subject of (A) a Bankruptcy Event or (B) a Bail-In Action. “Determination Date” has the meaning provided in the definition of Term SOFR Screen Rate. “Dollars” or “$” refers to lawful money of the United States of America. “EEA Financial Institution” means (a) any credit institution or investment firm established in any EEA Member Country which is subject to the supervision of an EEA Resolution Authority, (b) any entity established in an EEA Member Country which is a parent of an institution described in clause (a) of this definition, or (c) any financial institution established in an EEA Member Country which is a subsidiary of an institution described in clauses (a) or (b) of this definition and is subject to consolidated supervision with its parent. “EEA Member Country” means any of the member states of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. “EEA Resolution Authority” means any public administrative authority or any Person entrusted with public administrative authority of any EEA Member Country (including any delegee) having responsibility for the resolution of any EEA Financial Institution. “Effective Date” means the date on which the conditions specified in Section 4.01 are satisfied (or waived in accordance with Section 9.02). “Electronic Signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to, or associated with, a contract or other record and adopted by a Person with the intent to sign, authenticate or accept such contract or record. “Environmental Laws” means all laws, rules, regulations, codes, ordinances, orders, decrees, judgments, injunctions, notices or binding agreements issued, promulgated or entered into by any Governmental Authority, relating in any way to (i) the environment, (ii) preservation or reclamation of natural resources, (iii) the management, release or threatened release of any Hazardous Material or (iv) health and safety matters. “Environmental Liability” means any liability, contingent or otherwise (including any liability for damages, costs of environmental remediation, fines, penalties or indemnities), of the Borrower or any Subsidiary directly or indirectly resulting from or based upon (a) violation of any Environmental Law, (b) the generation, use, handling, transportation, storage, treatment or disposal of any Hazardous Materials, (c) exposure to any Hazardous Materials, (d) the release or threatened release of any Hazardous Materials into the environment or (e) any contract, agreement or other consensual arrangement pursuant to which liability is assumed or imposed with respect to any of the foregoing.
9 “Equity Interests” means shares of capital stock, partnership interests, membership interests in a limited liability company, beneficial interests in a trust or other equity ownership interests in a Person, and any warrants, options or other rights entitling the holder thereof to purchase or acquire any such equity interest, but excluding any debt securities convertible into any of the foregoing. “ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. “ERISA Affiliate” means any trade or business (whether or not incorporated) that, together with the Borrower, is treated as a single employer under Section 414(b) or (c) of the Code or Section 4001(b)(1) of ERISA or, solely for purposes of Section 302 of ERISA and Section 412 of the Code, is treated as a single employer under Section 414 of the Code. “ERISA Event” means (a) any Reportable Event; (b) the failure to satisfy the “minimum funding standard” (as defined in Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA), whether or not waived; (c) the filing pursuant to Section 412(c) of the Code or Section 302(c) of ERISA of an application for a waiver of the minimum funding standard with respect to any Plan; (d) the incurrence by the Borrower or any of its ERISA Affiliates of any liability under Title IV of ERISA with respect to the termination of any Plan; (e) the receipt by the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate from the PBGC or a plan administrator of any notice relating to an intention to terminate any Plan or Plans or to appoint a trustee to administer any Plan; (f) the incurrence by the Borrower or any of its ERISA Affiliates of any liability with respect to the withdrawal or partial withdrawal of the Borrower or any of its ERISA Affiliates from any Plan or Multiemployer Plan; or (g) the receipt by the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate of any notice, or the receipt by any Multiemployer Plan from the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate of any notice, concerning the imposition upon the Borrower or any of its ERISA Affiliates of Withdrawal Liability or a determination that a Multiemployer Plan is, or is expected to be, insolvent or in reorganization, within the meaning of Title IV of ERISA. “Erroneous Payment” is defined in Section 8.06(b). “EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule” means the EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule published by the Loan Market Association (or any successor Person), as in effect from time to time. “Event of Default” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 7.01. “Excluded Taxes” means any of the following Taxes imposed on or with respect to a Recipient or required to be withheld or deducted from a payment to a Recipient, (a) Taxes imposed on or measured by net income (however denominated), gross receipts, franchise Taxes, and branch profits Taxes, in each case, (i) imposed as a result of such Recipient being organized under the laws of, or having its principal office or, in the case of any Lender, its applicable lending office located in, the jurisdiction imposing such Tax (or any political subdivision thereof) or (ii) that are Other Connection Taxes, (b) in the case of a Lender, U.S. Federal withholding Taxes imposed on amounts payable to or for the account of such Lender with respect to an applicable interest in a Loan or Commitment pursuant to a law in effect on the date on which (i) such Lender acquires such interest in the Loan or Commitment (other than pursuant to an assignment request by the Borrower under Section 2.19(b)) or (ii) such Lender changes its lending office, except in each case to the extent that, pursuant to Section 2.17, amounts with respect to such Taxes were payable either to such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s assignor immediately before such Lender acquired the applicable interest in a Loan or Commitment or to such Lender immediately before it changed its lending office, (c) Taxes attributable to such Recipient’s failure to comply with Section 2.17(f) and (d) any withholding Taxes imposed under FATCA. 10 “FATCA” means Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code, as of the date of this Agreement (or any amended or successor version that is substantively comparable and not materially more onerous to comply with), any current or future regulations or official interpretations thereof, any agreement entered into pursuant to Section 1471(b)(1) of the Code and any fiscal or regulatory legislation, rules or practices adopted pursuant to any intergovernmental agreement, treaty or convention among Governmental Authorities and implementing such Sections of the Code. “Federal Funds Effective Rate” means, for any day, the greater of (a) zero and (b) the rate per annum calculated by the NYFRB based on such day’s federal funds transactions by depository institutions (as determined in such manner as the NYFRB shall set forth on its public website from time to time) and published on the next succeeding Business Day by the NYFRB as the federal funds effective rate. “Federal Reserve Board” means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System of the United States of America. “Fitch” means Fitch Ratings, Inc. “Floor” means the benchmark rate floor, if any, provided in this Agreement initially (as of the execution of this Agreement, the modification, amendment or renewal of this Agreement or otherwise) with respect to the Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate or the Adjusted Daily Simple SOFR, as applicable. For the avoidance of doubt, the initial Floor for each of Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate or the Adjusted Daily Simple SOFR shall be 0%. “Foreign Lender” means (a) if the Borrower is a U.S. Person, a Lender that is not a U.S. Person, and (b) if the Borrower is not a U.S. Person, a Lender that is resident or organized under the laws of a jurisdiction other than that in which the Borrower is resident for tax purposes. “GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America in effect from time to time. “Governmental Authority” means the government of the United States of America, any other nation or any political subdivision thereof, whether state or local, and any agency, authority, instrumentality, regulatory body, court, central bank or other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial, taxing, regulatory or administrative powers or functions of or pertaining to government. “Hazardous Materials” means all explosive or radioactive substances or wastes and all hazardous or toxic substances, wastes or other pollutants, including petroleum or petroleum distillates, asbestos or asbestos containing materials, polychlorinated biphenyls, radon gas, infectious or medical wastes and all other substances or wastes of any nature regulated pursuant to any Environmental Law. “Hostile Acquisition” means (a) the acquisition of the Equity Interests of a Person through a tender offer or similar solicitation of the owners of such Equity Interests which has not been approved (prior to such acquisition) by the board of directors (or any other applicable governing body) of such Person or by similar action if such Person is not a corporation and (b) any such acquisition as to which such approval has been withdrawn. “Hybrid Securities” means debt or equity securities that meet the following requirements: (a) such securities are issued by (i) the Borrower or (ii) a Subsidiary or an independent trust (a “Hybrid Securities Subsidiary”) that engages in no business other than the issuance of such securities and lending the proceeds thereof to the Borrower; (b) each of such securities of the Borrower and the loans, if any, 11 made to the Borrower by the applicable Hybrid Securities Subsidiary with the proceeds of such securities (i) are subordinated to the payment by the Borrower of its obligations hereunder and (ii) require no repayment, prepayment, mandatory redemption or mandatory repurchase prior to the date that is at least 91 days after the scheduled Maturity Date; and (c) such securities are classified as possessing a minimum of at least one of the following: (x) “intermediate equity content” by S&P, (y) “Basket C equity credit” by Moody’s and (z) “50% equity credit” by Fitch. “Indebtedness” of a Person means, at a particular date, the sum (without duplication) at such date of (a) indebtedness for borrowed money or for the deferred purchase price of property, goods or services, excluding (i) trade accounts payable arising in the ordinary course of business, (ii) pension liabilities that are not then due and payable and (iii) obligations in respect of Hybrid Securities that are not then due and payable, (b) obligations of such Person under capitalized leases and synthetic leases, (c) debts of third persons guaranteed by such Person or secured by property of such Person (provided that the amount of Indebtedness secured by property of such Person shall be the lesser of (x) the fair market value of such property as of the date of determination and (y) the amount of the Indebtedness as of the date of determination) and (d) any non-contingent reimbursement obligations of such Person in respect of letters of credit, acceptances or similar obligations issued or created for the account of such Person. “Indemnified Taxes” means (a) Taxes, other than Excluded Taxes, imposed on or with respect to any payment made by or on account of any obligation of the Borrower under any Loan Document and (b) to the extent not otherwise described in clause (a) hereof, Other Taxes. “Indemnitee” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 9.03(b). “Ineligible Institution” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(b). “Information” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 9.12. “Interest Election Request” means a request by the Borrower to convert or continue a Borrowing in accordance with Section 2.08, which shall be substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit D-2 or any other form approved by the Administrative Agent and separately provided to the Borrower. “Interest Payment Date” means (a) with respect to any ABR Loan, the second Business Day following the last day of each March, June, September and December and the Maturity Date, and (b) with respect to any Term SOFR Loan, the last day of each Interest Period applicable to the Borrowing of which such Loan is a part and, in the case of a Term SOFR Borrowing with an Interest Period of more than three months’ duration, each day prior to the last day of such Interest Period that occurs at intervals of three months’ duration after the first day of such Interest Period, and the Maturity Date. “Interest Period” means, with respect to any Term SOFR Borrowing, the period commencing on the date of such Borrowing and ending on the numerically corresponding day in the calendar month that is one, three or six months thereafter (in each case, subject to the availability for the Benchmark applicable to the relevant Loan or Commitment), as the Borrower may elect; provided, that (i) if any Interest Period would end on a day other than a Business Day, such Interest Period shall be extended to the next succeeding Business Day unless such next succeeding Business Day would fall in the next calendar month, in which case such Interest Period shall end on the next preceding Business Day, (ii) any Interest Period that commences on the last Business Day of a calendar month (or on a day for which there is no numerically corresponding day in the last calendar month of such Interest Period) shall end on the last Business Day of the last calendar month of such Interest Period, (iii) no Interest Period shall extend beyond the Maturity Date and (iv) no tenor that has been removed from this definition 12 pursuant to Section 2.14(b)(iv) shall be available for specification in such Borrowing Request or Interest Election Request. For purposes hereof, the date of a Borrowing initially shall be the date on which such Borrowing is made and thereafter shall be the effective date of the most recent conversion or continuation of such Borrowing. “Investment Grade Rating” means, for S&P, Fitch or ▇▇▇▇▇’▇, as applicable, (a) if such rating agency has a rating assigned to the Borrower’s senior, unsecured, non-credit enhanced long-term debt of BBB- or higher by S&P or Fitch and Baa3 or higher by ▇▇▇▇▇’▇; and (b) if such rating agency does not have a rating assigned to the Borrower’s senior, unsecured, non-credit enhanced long-term debt but has a rating assigned to the Borrower’s senior, secured long-term debt, BBB or higher by S&P or Fitch and Baa2 or higher by Moody’s. “IRS” means the United States Internal Revenue Service. “Lender Parent” means, with respect to any Lender, any Person as to which such Lender is, directly or indirectly, a subsidiary. “Lender-Related Person” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 9.03(d). “Lenders” means the Persons listed on Schedule 2.01 and any other Person that shall have become a party hereto pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption or otherwise, other than any such Person that ceases to be a party hereto pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption or otherwise. “Liabilities” means any losses, claims (including intraparty claims), demands, damages or liabilities of any kind. “Loan Documents” means this Agreement, including schedules and exhibits hereto, and any agreements entered into in connection with the commercial lending facility made available hereunder by the Borrower with or in favor of the Administrative Agent and/or the Lenders, including any promissory notes issued pursuant to Section 2.10(e), any amendments, modifications or supplements thereto or waivers thereof and any other documents instruments or certificates delivered by the Borrower pursuant to the terms of any other Loan Document. Any reference in this Agreement or any other Loan Document to a Loan Document shall include all appendices, exhibits or schedules thereto, and all amendments, restatements, supplements or other modifications thereto, and shall refer to this Agreement or such Loan Document as the same may be in effect at any and all times such reference becomes operative. “Loans” means the loans made by the Lenders to the Borrower pursuant to this Agreement. “Margin Stock” means margin stock within the meaning of Regulations T, U and X, as applicable. “Material Adverse Effect” means a material adverse effect on (a) the operations, the business or financial condition of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole, (b) the ability of the Borrower to perform any of its Obligations or (c) the validity or enforceability of this Agreement or any and all other Loan Documents or the rights or remedies of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders thereunder. “Maturity Date” means April 6, 2026; provided, however, if such date is not a Business Day, the Maturity Date shall be the next preceding Business Day.
13 “Maximum Rate” has the meaning assigned to it in Section 9.16. “▇▇▇▇▇’▇” means ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ Investors Service, Inc. “Multiemployer Plan” means a multiemployer plan as defined in Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA. “NW Natural” means Northwest Natural Gas Company, an Oregon corporation. “NYFRB” means the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “Obligations” means all advances to, and debts, liabilities, obligations, covenants and duties of, the Borrower and its Subsidiaries arising under any Loan Document or otherwise with respect to any Loan, whether direct or indirect (including those acquired by assumption), absolute or contingent, due or to become due, now existing or hereafter arising and including interest and fees that accrue after the commencement by or against the Borrower or any Affiliate thereof of any proceeding under any debtor relief laws naming such Person as the debtor in such proceeding, regardless of whether such interest and fees are allowed or allowable claims in such proceeding. Without limiting the foregoing, the Obligations include (a) the obligation to pay principal, interest, charges, expenses, fees, indemnities and other amounts payable by the Borrower under any Loan Document and (b) the obligation of the Borrower to reimburse any amount in respect of any of the foregoing that the Administrative Agent or any Lender, in each case in its sole discretion, may elect to pay or advance on behalf of the Borrower. “OFAC” means the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Other Connection Taxes” means, with respect to any Recipient, Taxes imposed as a result of a present or former connection between such Recipient and the jurisdiction imposing such Tax (other than connections arising from such Recipient having executed, delivered, become a party to, performed its obligations under, received payments under, received or perfected a security interest under, engaged in any other transaction pursuant to or enforced any Loan Document, or sold or assigned an interest in any Loan or Loan Document). “Other Taxes” means all present or future stamp, court or documentary, intangible, recording, filing or similar Taxes that arise from any payment made under, from the execution, delivery, performance, enforcement or registration of, from the receipt or perfection of a security interest under, or otherwise with respect to, any Loan Document, except any such Taxes that are Other Connection Taxes imposed with respect to an assignment (other than an assignment made pursuant to Section 2.19). “Participant” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(c). “Participant Register” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(c). “Patriot Act” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.14. “Payment Recipient” is defined in Section 8.06(b). “PBGC” means the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation referred to and defined in ERISA and any successor entity performing similar functions. 14 “Person” means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, association, company, partnership, Governmental Authority or other entity. “Plan” means any employee pension benefit plan (other than a Multiemployer Plan) subject to the provisions of Title IV of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA, and in respect of which the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate is (or, if such plan were terminated, would under Section 4069 of ERISA be deemed to be) an “employer” as defined in Section 3(5) of ERISA. “Plan Asset Regulations” means 29 CFR § 2510.3-101 et seq., as modified by Section 3(42) of ERISA. “Platform” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 5.02. “Prime Rate” means a rate per annum equal to the prime rate of interest announced from time to time by U.S. Bank or its parent (which is not necessarily the lowest rate charged to any customer), changing when and as such prime rate changes. “Proceeding” means any claim, litigation, investigation, action, suit, arbitration or administrative, judicial or regulatory action or proceeding in any jurisdiction. “PTE” means a prohibited transaction class exemption issued by the U.S. Department of Labor, as any such exemption may be amended from time to time. “Public Lender” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 5.02. “Recipient” means (a) the Administrative Agent and (b) any Lender, as applicable. “Reference Time” means the time determined by the Administrative Agent in its reasonable discretion. “Register” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 9.04(b). “Regulation D” means Regulation D of the Federal Reserve Board, as in effect from time to time and all official rulings and interpretations thereunder or thereof. “Regulation T” means Regulation T of the Federal Reserve Board, as in effect from time to time and all official rulings and interpretations thereunder or thereof. “Regulation U” means Regulation U of the Federal Reserve Board, as in effect from time to time and all official rulings and interpretations thereunder or thereof. “Regulation X” means Regulation X of the Federal Reserve Board, as in effect from time to time and all official rulings and interpretations thereunder or thereof. “Related Parties” means, with respect to any specified Person, such Person’s Affiliates and the respective directors, officers, employees, agents, advisors and representatives of such Person and such Person’s Affiliates. “Relevant Governmental Body” means the Federal Reserve Board and/or the NYFRB, or a committee officially endorsed or convened by the Federal Reserve Board or the NYFRB, or, in each case, any successor thereto. 15 “Reportable Event” means a reportable event, as defined in Section 4043 of ERISA and the regulations issued under such section, with respect to a Plan, excluding any event as to which the PBGC by regulation waived the requirements of Section 4043(a) of ERISA that it be notified within 30 days of the occurrence of such event, provided that a failure to meet the minimum funding standard of Section 412 of the Code and of Section 302 of ERISA shall be a Reportable Event regardless of the issuance of any such waiver of the notice requirement in accordance with either Section 4043(a) of ERISA or Section 412(c) of the Code. “Required Lenders” means, subject to Section 2.20, at any time, Lenders having Credit Exposures representing more than 50% of the sum of the Total Credit Exposure. “Requirement of Law” means, as to any Person, the certificate of incorporation and bylaws or other organizational or governing documents of such Person, and any law, treaty, rule or regulation or order or determination of an arbitrator or a court or other Governmental Authority, in each case applicable to or binding upon such Person or any of its property or to which such Person or any of its property is subject. “Resolution Authority” means an EEA Resolution Authority or, with respect to any UK Financial Institution, a UK Resolution Authority. “Responsible Officer” means the chief executive officer, the president, any senior vice president, the chief financial officer, the chief accounting officer, the treasurer or the general counsel of the Borrower. “S&P” means Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC business. “Sanctioned Country” means, at any time, a country, region or territory (other than the United States or any region or territory therein) which is itself the subject or target of any Sanctions (at the time of this Agreement, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria). “Sanctioned Person” means, at any time, (a) any Person listed in any Sanctions-related list of designated Persons maintained by OFAC, the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, any European Union member state, His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom, or other relevant sanctions authority, (b) any Person operating, organized or resident in a Sanctioned Country, (c) any Person owned or controlled by any such Person or Persons described in the foregoing clauses (a) or (b), or (d) any Person otherwise the subject of any Sanctions. “Sanctions” means all economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes imposed, administered or enforced from time to time by (a) the U.S. government, including those administered by OFAC or the U.S. Department of State, or (b) the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, any European Union member state, His Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom or other relevant sanctions authority. “Screen” has the meaning provided in the definition of Term SOFR Screen Rate. “SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America. “Securities Act” means the United States Securities Act of 1933. 16 “Significant Subsidiary” means a Subsidiary that is a “significant subsidiary” as that term is defined in Rule 1-02(w) of Regulation S-X promulgated by the SEC (as in effect on the Effective Date). “SOFR” means, with respect to any Business Day, a rate per annum equal to the secured overnight financing rate for such Business Day published by the SOFR Administrator on the SOFR Administrator’s Website. “SOFR Adjustment” means, with respect to the adjustment of any SOFR-based Benchmark, 0.10% (10 basis points). “SOFR Administrator” means the NYFRB (or a successor administrator of the secured overnight financing rate). “SOFR Administrator’s Website” means the website of the NYFRB, currently at ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇, or any successor source for the secured overnight financing rate identified as such by the SOFR Administrator from time to time. “subsidiary” means, with respect to any Person (the “parent”) at any date, any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association or other entity (a) of which securities or other ownership interests representing more than 50% of the equity or more than 50% of the ordinary voting power or, in the case of a partnership, more than 50% of the general partnership interests are, as of such date, owned, Controlled or held, or (b) that is, as of such date, otherwise Controlled, by the parent and/or one or more subsidiaries of the parent. “Subsidiary” means any subsidiary of the Borrower. “Swap Agreement” means any agreement with respect to any swap, forward, future or derivative transaction or option or similar agreement involving, or settled by reference to, one or more rates, currencies, commodities, equity or debt instruments or securities, or economic, financial or pricing indices or measures of economic, financial or pricing risk or value or any similar transaction or any combination of these transactions; provided that no phantom stock or similar plan providing for payments only on account of services provided by current or former directors, officers, employees or consultants of the Borrower or the Subsidiaries shall be a Swap Agreement. “Taxes” means all present or future taxes, levies, imposts, duties, deductions, withholdings (including backup withholding), value added taxes, or any other goods and services, use or sales taxes, assessments, fees or other charges imposed by any Governmental Authority, including any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable thereto. “Term SOFR” means the rate per annum determined by the Administrative Agent as the forward-looking term rate based on SOFR. “Term SOFR Administrator” means CME Group Benchmark Administration Ltd. (or a successor administrator of ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇). “Term SOFR Administrator’s Website” means ▇▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇/▇▇▇▇▇▇- data/cme-group-benchmark-administration/term-sofr, or any successor source for Term SOFR identified as such by the Term SOFR Administrator from time to time.
17 “Term SOFR Rate” means, for the relevant Interest Period, the sum of (a) the Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate applicable to such Interest Period, plus (b) the Applicable Rate. “Term SOFR Screen Rate” means, for the relevant Interest Period, the Term SOFR rate quoted by the Administrative Agent from the Term SOFR Administrator’s Website or the applicable Bloomberg screen (or other commercially available source providing such quotations as may be selected by the Administrative Agent from time to time) (the “Screen”) for such Interest Period, which shall be the Term SOFR rate published two Business Days before the first day of such Interest Period (such Business Day, the “Determination Date”). If as of 5:00 p.m. (New York time) on any Determination Date, the Term SOFR rate has not been published by the Term SOFR Administrator or on the Screen, then the rate used will be that as published by the Term SOFR Administrator or on the Screen for the first preceding Business Day for which such rate was published on such Screen so long as such first preceding Business Day is not more than three (3) Business Days prior to such Determination Date. “Total Capitalization” means the sum of Indebtedness, Equity Interests, additional paid-in capital and retained earnings of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, taken on a consolidated basis after eliminating all intercompany items. “Total Credit Exposure” means the sum of the outstanding principal amount of all Lenders’ Loans. “Transactions” means the execution and delivery by the Borrower of, and the performance by the Borrower of its obligations under, this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, the borrowing of Loans and other credit extensions, and the use of the proceeds thereof. “Type”, when used in reference to any Loan or Borrowing, refers to whether the rate of interest on such Loan, or on the Loans comprising such Borrowing, is determined by reference to the Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate or the Alternate Base Rate. For the avoidance of doubt, a Loan that bears interest at a rate determined pursuant to clause (d) of the definition of “Alternate Base Rate” shall, for all purposes of this Agreement, be deemed to be an ABR Loan and not a Term SOFR Loan. “UK Financial Institutions” means any BRRD Undertaking (as such term is defined under the PRA Rulebook (as amended from time to time) promulgated by the United Kingdom Prudential Regulation Authority) or any Person falling within IFPRU 11.6 of the FCA Handbook (as amended from time to time) promulgated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, which includes certain credit institutions and investment firms, and certain affiliates of such credit institutions or investment firms. “UK Resolution Authority” means the Bank of England or any other public administrative authority having responsibility for the resolution of any UK Financial Institution. “Unadjusted Benchmark Replacement” means the applicable Benchmark Replacement excluding the related Benchmark Replacement Adjustment. “U.S. Bank” means U.S. Bank National Association, a national banking association, in its individual capacity, and its successors. “U.S. Person” means a “United States person” within the meaning of Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code. 18 “U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate” has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 2.17(f)(ii)(B)(3). “Withdrawal Liability” means liability to a Multiemployer Plan as a result of a complete or partial withdrawal from such Multiemployer Plan, as such terms are defined in Part 1 of Subtitle E of Title IV of ERISA. “Write-Down and Conversion Powers” means, (a) with respect to any EEA Resolution Authority, the write-down and conversion powers of such EEA Resolution Authority from time to time under the Bail-In Legislation for the applicable EEA Member Country, which write-down and conversion powers are described in the EU Bail-In Legislation Schedule, and (b) with respect to the United Kingdom, any powers of the applicable Resolution Authority under the Bail-In Legislation to cancel, reduce, modify or change the form of a liability of any UK Financial Institution or any contract or instrument under which that liability arises, to convert all or part of that liability into shares, securities or obligations of that person or any other person, to provide that any such contract or instrument is to have effect as if a right had been exercised under it or to suspend any obligation in respect of that liability or any of the powers under that Bail-In Legislation that are related to or ancillary to any of those powers. Classification of Loans and Borrowings. For purposes of this Agreement, Loans may be classified and referred to by Type (e.g., a “Term SOFR Loan”). Borrowings also may be classified and referred to by Type (e.g., a “Term SOFR Borrowing”). Terms Generally. The definitions of terms herein shall apply equally to the singular and plural forms of the terms defined. Whenever the context may require, any pronoun shall include the corresponding masculine, feminine and neuter forms. The words “include”, “includes” and “including” shall be deemed to be followed by the phrase “without limitation”. The word “will” shall be construed to have the same meaning and effect as the word “shall”. The word “law” shall be construed as referring to all statutes, rules, regulations, codes and other laws (including official rulings and interpretations thereunder having the force of law or with which affected Persons customarily comply), and all judgments, orders and decrees, of all Governmental Authorities. Unless the context requires otherwise (a) any definition of or reference to any agreement, instrument or other document herein shall be construed as referring to such agreement, instrument or other document as from time to time amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified (subject to any restrictions on such amendments, restatements, supplements or modifications set forth herein), (b) any reference herein to any Person shall be construed to include such Person’s successors and assigns (subject to any restrictions on assignment set forth herein) and, in the case of any Governmental Authority, any other Governmental Authority that shall have succeeded to any or all functions thereof, (c) the words “herein”, “hereof” and “hereunder”, and words of similar import, shall be construed to refer to this Agreement in its entirety and not to any particular provision hereof, (d) all references herein to Articles, Sections, Exhibits and Schedules shall be construed to refer to Articles and Sections of, and Exhibits and Schedules to, this Agreement, (e) any reference to any law, rule or regulation herein shall, unless otherwise specified, refer to such law, rule or regulation as amended, modified or supplemented from time to time and (f) the words “asset” and “property” shall be construed to have the same meaning and effect and to refer to any and all tangible and intangible assets and properties, including cash, securities, accounts and contract rights. Accounting Terms; GAAP; Pro Forma Calculations. (a) Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, all terms of an accounting or financial nature shall be construed in accordance with GAAP, as in effect from time to time; provided that, if the Borrower notifies the Administrative Agent that the Borrower requests an amendment to any provision hereof to eliminate the effect of any change occurring after the date hereof in GAAP or in the application thereof on the operation of such provision (or if the Administrative Agent notifies the Borrower that the Required Lenders request an amendment to 19 any provision hereof for such purpose), regardless of whether any such notice is given before or after such change in GAAP or in the application thereof, then such provision shall be interpreted on the basis of GAAP as in effect and applied immediately before such change shall have become effective until such notice shall have been withdrawn or such provision amended in accordance herewith. Notwithstanding any other provision contained herein, all terms of an accounting or financial nature used herein shall be construed, and all computations of amounts and ratios referred to herein shall be made without giving effect to (i) any election under Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification 825 (or any other Financial Accounting Standard having a similar result or effect) to value any Indebtedness or other liabilities of the Borrower or any Subsidiary at “fair value”, as defined therein and (ii) any treatment of Indebtedness in respect of convertible debt instruments under Accounting Standards Codification 470-20 (or any other Accounting Standards Codification or Financial Accounting Standard having a similar result or effect) to value any such Indebtedness in a reduced or bifurcated manner as described therein, and such Indebtedness shall at all times be valued at the full stated principal amount thereof. (b) All pro forma computations required to be made hereunder giving effect to any acquisition or disposition, or issuance, incurrence or assumption of Indebtedness, or other transaction shall in each case be calculated giving pro forma effect thereto (and, in the case of any pro forma computation made hereunder to determine whether such acquisition or disposition, or issuance, incurrence or assumption of Indebtedness, or other transaction is permitted to be consummated hereunder, to any other such transaction consummated since the first day of the period covered by any component of such pro forma computation and on or prior to the date of such computation) as if such transaction had occurred on the first day of the period of four consecutive fiscal quarters ending with the most recent fiscal quarter for which financial statements shall have been delivered pursuant to Section 5.01(a) or 5.01(b) (or, prior to the delivery of any such financial statements, ending with the last fiscal quarter included in the financial statements referred to in Section 3.03(a)), and, to the extent applicable, to the historical earnings and cash flows associated with the assets acquired or disposed of (but without giving effect to any synergies or cost savings) and any related incurrence or reduction of Indebtedness, all in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X under the Securities Act. If any Indebtedness bears a floating rate of interest and is being given pro forma effect, the interest on such Indebtedness shall be calculated as if the rate in effect on the date of determination had been the applicable rate for the entire period (taking into account any Swap Agreement applicable to such Indebtedness). (c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in Section 1.04(a), any change in accounting for leases pursuant to GAAP resulting from the adoption of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) (“FAS 842”), to the extent such adoption would require treating any lease (or similar arrangement conveying the right to use) as a capital lease where such lease (or similar arrangement) would not have been required to be so treated under GAAP as in effect on December 31, 2015, such lease shall not be considered a capital lease, and all calculations (including with respect to assets and liabilities associated with such lease) and deliverables under this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall be made or delivered, as applicable, in accordance therewith. Interest Rates; Benchmark Notification. The interest rate on Term SOFR Borrowings is determined by reference to the Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate, which is derived from Term SOFR. Section 2.14(b) provides a mechanism for (a) determining an alternative rate of interest if Term SOFR is no longer available or in the other circumstances set forth in Section 2.14(b), and (b) modifying this Agreement to give effect to such alternative rate of interest. The Administrative Agent does not warrant or accept any responsibility for, and shall not have any liability with respect to, the administration, submission or any other matter related to Term SOFR or other rates in the definition of Term SOFR Rate or with respect to any alternative or successor rate thereto, or replacement rate thereof (including any 20 Benchmark Replacement), including without limitation, whether any such alternative, successor or replacement reference rate (including any Benchmark Replacement), as it may or may not be adjusted pursuant to Section 2.14(b), will have the same value as, or be economically equivalent to, Term SOFR. The Administrative Agent and its affiliates or other related entities may engage in transactions that affect the calculation of Alternate Base Rate, Term SOFR, the Term SOFR Rate, any alternative, successor or replacement rate (including any Benchmark Replacement) or any relevant adjustments thereto, in each case, in a manner adverse to the Borrower. The Administrative Agent may select information sources or services in its reasonable discretion to ascertain the Alternate Base Rate, the Term SOFR Rate, Term SOFR or any other Benchmark, in each case pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, and shall have no liability to the Borrower, any Lender or any other person or entity for damages of any kind, including direct or indirect, special, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, costs, losses or expenses (whether in tort, contract or otherwise and whether at law or in equity), for any error or calculation of any such rate (or component thereof) provided by any such information source or service. Divisions. For all purposes under the Loan Documents, in connection with any division or plan of division under Delaware law (or any comparable event under a different jurisdiction’s laws): (a) if any asset, right, obligation or liability of any Person becomes the asset, right, obligation or liability of a different Person, then it shall be deemed to have been transferred from the original Person to the subsequent Person, and (b) if any new Person comes into existence, such new Person shall be deemed to have been organized and acquired on the first date of its existence by the holders of its Equity Interests at such time. ARTICLE II The Credits Commitments. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, each Lender (severally and not jointly) agrees to make a Loan to the Borrower in Dollars on the Effective Date, in an amount equal to such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s Commitment by making immediately available funds available to the Administrative Agent’s designated account, not later than the time specified by the Administrative Agent. Amounts repaid or prepaid in respect of Loans may not be reborrowed. Loans and Borrowings. (a) Each Loan shall be made as part of the Borrowing consisting of Loans made by the Lenders ratably in accordance with their respective Commitments on the Effective Date. The failure of any Lender to make any Loan required to be made by it shall not relieve any other Lender of its obligations hereunder; provided that the Commitments of the Lenders are several and no Lender shall be responsible for any other Lender’s failure to make Loans as required. (b) Subject to Section 2.14, each Borrowing shall be comprised entirely of ABR Loans or Term SOFR Loans, as applicable, in each case as the Borrower may request in accordance herewith. Each Lender at its option may make any Term SOFR Loan (and any ABR Loan, the interest on which is determined pursuant to clause (d) of the definition of “Alternate Base Rate”) by causing any domestic or foreign branch or Affiliate of such Lender to make such Loan (and in the case of an Affiliate, the provisions of Sections 2.14, 2.15, 2.16 and 2.17 shall apply to such Affiliate to the same extent as to such Lender); provided that any exercise of such option shall not affect the obligation of the Borrower to repay such Loan in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. (c) At the commencement of each Interest Period for any Term SOFR Borrowing, such Borrowing shall be in an aggregate amount that is an integral multiple of $1,000,000 thereof. At the time that each ABR Borrowing is made, such Borrowing shall be in an aggregate amount that is an integral multiple of $1,000,000. Borrowings of more than one Type may be outstanding at the same time;
21 provided that there shall not at any time be more than a total of five (5) Term SOFR Borrowings outstanding. (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Borrower shall not be entitled to request, or to elect to convert or continue, any Borrowing if the Interest Period requested with respect thereto would end after the Maturity Date. Request for the Initial Borrowing. To request the initial Borrowing on the Effective Date, the Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent of such request by submitting a Borrowing Request (a) in the case of a Term SOFR Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, three (3) Business Days before the date of the proposed Borrowing or (b) in the case of an ABR Borrowing, not later than 1:00 p.m., New York City time, on the date of the proposed Borrowing. Such Borrowing Request shall be irrevocable and shall be signed by an Authorized Officer of the Borrower. Each such Borrowing Request shall specify the following information in compliance with Section 2.02: (i) the aggregate principal amount of the requested Borrowing; (ii) the date of such Borrowing, which shall be a Business Day; (iii) whether such Borrowing is to be an ABR Borrowing or a Term SOFR Borrowing; (iv) in the case of a Term SOFR Borrowing, the initial Interest Period to be applicable thereto, which shall be a period contemplated by the definition of the term “Interest Period”; and (v) the location and number of the Borrower’s account to which funds are to be disbursed, which shall comply with the requirements of Section 2.07. If no election as to the Type of Borrowing is specified, then the requested Borrowing shall be an ABR Borrowing. If no Interest Period is specified with respect to any requested Term SOFR Borrowing, then the Borrower shall be deemed to have selected an Interest Period of one month’s duration. Promptly following receipt of a Borrowing Request in accordance with this Section, the Administrative Agent shall advise each Lender of the details thereof and of the amount of such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s Loan to be made as part of the requested Borrowing. SECTION 2.04 Intentionally Omitted. Intentionally Omitted. Intentionally Omitted. Funding of Borrowings. (a) Each Lender shall make each Loan to be made by it hereunder on the proposed date thereof solely by wire transfer of immediately available funds by 12:00 noon, New York City time (or, with respect to any ABR Borrowing, the Borrowing Request for which shall have been received after 10:00 a.m. but at or before 1:00 p.m., New York City time, by 3:00 p.m., New York City time), to the account of the Administrative Agent most recently designated by it for such purpose by notice to the Lenders. The Administrative Agent will make such Loans available to the Borrower by promptly making available the funds so received in the aforesaid account of the Administrative Agent by wire transfer of immediately available funds to an account of the Borrower designated by the Borrower in the applicable Borrowing Request. 22 (b) Unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice from a Lender prior to the proposed date of any Borrowing that such Lender will not make available to the Administrative Agent such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s share of such Borrowing, the Administrative Agent may assume that such Lender has made such share available on such date in accordance with paragraph (a) of this Section and may, in reliance upon such assumption, make available to the Borrower a corresponding amount. In such event, if a Lender has not in fact made its share of the applicable Borrowing available to the Administrative Agent, then the applicable Lender and the Borrower severally agree to pay to the Administrative Agent forthwith on demand such corresponding amount with interest thereon, for each day from and including the date such amount is made available to the Borrower to but excluding the date of payment to the Administrative Agent, at (i) in the case of such Lender, a rate determined by the Administrative Agent in accordance with banking industry rules on interbank compensation or (ii) in the case of the Borrower, the interest rate applicable to ABR Loans. Any payment by the Borrower, however, shall be without prejudice to its rights against the applicable Lender. If such Lender pays such amount to the Administrative Agent, then such amount shall constitute such Lender’s Loan included in such Borrowing. Interest Elections. (a) The initial Borrowing on the Effective Date shall be of the Type specified in the Borrowing Request in accordance with Section 2.03 and, in the case of a Term SOFR Borrowing, shall have an initial Interest Period as specified in such Borrowing Request. Thereafter, the Borrower may elect to convert such Borrowing to a different Type or to continue such Borrowing and, in the case of a Term SOFR Borrowing, may elect Interest Periods therefor, all as provided in this Section. The Borrower may elect different options with respect to different portions of the affected Borrowing, in which case each such portion shall be allocated ratably among the Lenders holding the Loans comprising such Borrowing, and the Loans comprising each such portion shall be considered a separate Borrowing. (b) To make an election pursuant to this Section, the Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent of such election by the time that a Borrowing Request would be required under Section 2.03 if the Borrower were requesting the initial Borrowing of the Type resulting from such election to be made on the effective date of such election. Each such Interest Election Request shall be irrevocable and shall be signed by an Authorized Officer of the Borrower. Notwithstanding any contrary provision herein, this Section shall not be construed to permit the Borrower to elect an Interest Period for Term SOFR Loans that does not comply with Section 2.02(d). (c) Each Interest Election Request shall specify the following information in compliance with Section 2.02: (i) the Borrowing to which such Interest Election Request applies and, if different options are being elected with respect to different portions thereof, the portions thereof to be allocated to each resulting Borrowing (in which case the information to be specified pursuant to clauses (iii) and (iv) below shall be specified for each resulting Borrowing); (ii) the effective date of the election made pursuant to such Interest Election Request, which shall be a Business Day; (iii) whether the resulting Borrowing is to be an ABR Borrowing or a Term SOFR Borrowing; and (iv) if the resulting Borrowing is a Term SOFR Borrowing, the Interest Period to be applicable thereto after giving effect to such election, which Interest Period shall be a period contemplated by the definition of the term “Interest Period”. 23 If any such Interest Election Request requests a Term SOFR Borrowing but does not specify an Interest Period, then the Borrower shall be deemed to have selected an Interest Period of one month’s duration. (d) Promptly following receipt of an Interest Election Request, the Administrative Agent shall advise each Lender of the details thereof and of such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s portion of each resulting Borrowing. (e) If the Borrower fails to deliver a timely Interest Election Request with respect to a Term SOFR Borrowing prior to the end of the Interest Period applicable thereto, then, unless such Borrowing is repaid as provided herein, at the end of such Interest Period such Borrowing shall be deemed to have an Interest Period of one month. Notwithstanding any contrary provision hereof, if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and the Administrative Agent, at the request of the Required Lenders, so notifies the Borrower, then, so long as an Event of Default is continuing (i) no outstanding Borrowing may be converted to or continued as a Term SOFR Borrowing and (ii) unless repaid, each Term SOFR Borrowing shall be converted to an ABR Borrowing at the end of the Interest Period applicable thereto. Termination of Commitments. Unless previously terminated, the Commitments shall terminate at the earlier of (a) the funding of the Loans on the Effective Date and (b) 4:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Effective Date. Repayment of Loans; Evidence of Debt. (a) The Borrower hereby unconditionally promises to pay to the Administrative Agent for the account of each Lender the then unpaid principal amount of each Loan on the Maturity Date. (b) Each Lender shall maintain in accordance with its usual practice an account or accounts evidencing the indebtedness of the Borrower to such Lender resulting from each Loan made by such ▇▇▇▇▇▇, including the amounts of principal and interest payable and paid to such Lender from time to time hereunder. (c) The Administrative Agent shall maintain accounts in which it shall record (i) the amount of each Loan made hereunder, the Type thereof and the Interest Period applicable thereto, (ii) the amount of any principal or interest due and payable or to become due and payable from the Borrower to each Lender hereunder and (iii) the amount of any sum received by the Administrative Agent hereunder for the account of the Lenders and each Lender’s share thereof. (d) The entries made in the accounts maintained pursuant to paragraph (b) or (c) of this Section shall be prima facie evidence of the existence and amounts of the obligations recorded therein; provided that the failure of any Lender or the Administrative Agent to maintain such accounts or any error therein shall not in any manner affect the obligation of the Borrower to repay the Loans in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. (e) Any Lender may request that Loans made by it be evidenced by a promissory note. In such event, the Borrower shall prepare, execute and deliver to such Lender a promissory note payable to such Lender (or, if requested by such Lender, to such Lender and its registered assigns) and in a form approved by the Administrative Agent. Thereafter, the Loans evidenced by such promissory note and interest thereon shall at all times (including after assignment pursuant to Section 9.04) be represented by one or more promissory notes in such form. Prepayment of Loans. 24 The Borrower shall have the right at any time and from time to time to prepay any Borrowing in whole or in part, subject to prior notice in accordance with paragraph (b) of this Section 2.11. (b) The Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent by telephone (confirmed by telecopy or electronic mail), of any prepayment hereunder (i) in the case of prepayment of a Term SOFR Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, three (3) Business Days before the date of prepayment or (ii) in the case of prepayment of an ABR Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, one (1) Business Day before the date of prepayment. Each such notice shall be irrevocable and shall specify the prepayment date and the principal amount of each Borrowing or portion thereof to be prepaid. Promptly following receipt of any such notice relating to a Borrowing, the Administrative Agent shall advise the Lenders of the contents thereof. Each partial prepayment of any Borrowing shall be in an amount that would be permitted in the case of an advance of a Borrowing of the same Type as provided in Section 2.02. Each prepayment of a Borrowing shall be applied ratably to the Loans included in the prepaid Borrowing. Prepayments shall be accompanied by (i) accrued interest to the extent required by Section 2.13 and (ii) break funding payments pursuant to Section 2.16. Fees(a) . The Borrower agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent, for its own account, fees payable in the amounts and at the times separately agreed upon between the Borrower and the Administrative Agent. All fees payable hereunder shall be paid on the dates due, in immediately available funds, to the Administrative Agent for distribution, in the case of facility fees and participation fees, to the Lenders. Fees paid shall not be refundable under any circumstances. All fees shall be computed on the basis of a year of 360 days and shall be payable for the actual number of days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the last day). Interest. (a) The Loans comprising each ABR Borrowing shall bear interest at the Alternate Base Rate plus the Applicable Rate. (b) The Loans comprising each Term SOFR Borrowing shall bear interest at the Term SOFR Rate for the Interest Period in effect for such Borrowing. (c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any principal of or interest on any Loan or any fee or other amount payable by the Borrower hereunder is not paid when due, whether at stated maturity, upon acceleration or otherwise, such overdue amount shall bear interest, after as well as before judgment, at a rate per annum equal to (i) in the case of overdue principal of any Loan, 2% plus the rate otherwise applicable to such Loan as provided in the preceding paragraphs of this Section or (ii) in the case of any other amount, 2% plus the rate applicable to ABR Loans as provided in paragraph (a) of this Section. (d) Accrued interest on each Loan shall be payable in arrears on each Interest Payment Date for such Loan; provided that (i) interest accrued pursuant to paragraph (c) of this Section shall be payable on demand, (ii) in the event of any repayment or prepayment of the Loan, accrued interest on the principal amount repaid or prepaid shall be payable on the date of such repayment or prepayment and (iii) in the event of any conversion of any Term SOFR Loan prior to the end of the current Interest Period therefor, accrued interest on such Loan shall be payable on the effective date of such conversion. (e) All interest hereunder shall be computed on the basis of a year of 360 days, except that interest computed by reference to the Alternate Base Rate at times when the Alternate Base Rate is based on the Prime Rate shall be computed on the basis of a year of 365 days (or 366 days in a leap year), and in each case shall be payable for the actual number of days elapsed (including the first day but excluding the last day). The applicable Alternate Base Rate, Term SOFR Rate, Adjusted Daily Simple SOFR or Daily Simple SOFR shall be determined by the Administrative Agent, and such determination shall be conclusive absent manifest error.
25 Alternate Rate of Interest. (a) Availability of Term SOFR Borrowings. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement or any other Loan Document, but subject to Section 2.14(b), if the Administrative Agent determines (which determination shall be conclusive absent manifest error), or the Required Lenders notify the Administrative Agent that the Required Lenders have determined, that: (i) for any reason in connection with any request for a Term SOFR Borrowing or a conversion or continuation thereof that the Adjusted Term SOFR Screen Rate for any requested Interest Period with respect to a proposed Term SOFR Borrowing does not adequately and fairly reflect the cost to such Lenders of the funding such Loans, or (ii) the interest rate applicable to Term SOFR Borrowings for any requested Interest Period is not ascertainable or available (including, without limitation, because the applicable Screen (or on any successor or substitute page on such screen) is unavailable) and such inability to ascertain or unavailability is not expected to be permanent, then the Administrative Agent shall suspend the availability of Term SOFR Borrowings and require any affected Term SOFR Borrowings to be repaid or converted to ABR Borrowings at the end of the applicable Interest Period. (b) Benchmark Replacement. (i) Benchmark Transition Event. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein or in any other Loan Document, if a Benchmark Transition Event and its related Benchmark Replacement Date have occurred prior to the Reference Time in respect of any setting of the then-current Benchmark, then (x) if a Benchmark Replacement is determined in accordance with clause (1) of the definition of “Benchmark Replacement” for such Benchmark Replacement Date, such Benchmark Replacement will replace such Benchmark for all purposes hereunder and under any Loan Document in respect of such Benchmark setting and subsequent Benchmark settings without any amendment to, or further action or consent of any other party to, this Agreement or any other Loan Document and (y) if a Benchmark Replacement is determined in accordance with clause (2) of the definition of “Benchmark Replacement” for such Benchmark Replacement Date, such Benchmark Replacement will replace such Benchmark for all purposes hereunder and under any Loan Document in respect of any Benchmark setting at or after 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on the fifth Business Day after the date notice of such Benchmark Replacement is provided by the Administrative Agent to the Lenders without any amendment to, or further action or consent of any other party to, this Agreement or any other Loan Document so long as the Administrative Agent has not received, by such time, written notice of objection to such Benchmark Replacement from Lenders comprising the Required Lenders. (ii) Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes. In connection with the implementation of a Benchmark Replacement, the Administrative Agent will have the right to make Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes from time to time and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein or in any other Loan Document, any amendments implementing such Benchmark Replacement Conforming Changes will become effective without any further action or consent of any other party to this Agreement or any other Loan Document. (iii) Notices; Standards for Decisions and Determinations. The Administrative Agent will promptly notify the Borrower and the Lenders of (A) the implementation of any Benchmark Replacement, (B) the effectiveness of any Benchmark 26 Replacement Conforming Changes, (C) the removal or reinstatement of any tenor of a Benchmark pursuant to clause (iv) below and (D) the commencement or conclusion of any Benchmark Unavailability Period. Any determination, decision or election that may be made by the Administrative Agent or, if applicable, any Lender (or group of Lenders) pursuant to this Section 2.14(b), including any determination with respect to a tenor, rate or adjustment or of the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event, circumstance or date and any decision to take or refrain from taking any action or any selection, will be conclusive and binding absent manifest error and may be made in its or their sole discretion and without consent from any other party to this Agreement or any other Loan Document, except, in each case, as expressly required pursuant to this Section 2.14(b). (iv) Unavailability of Tenor of Benchmark. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein or in any other Loan Document, at any time (including in connection with the implementation of a Benchmark Replacement), (i) if the then-current Benchmark is a term rate (including the Term SOFR Screen Rate) and either (A) any tenor for such Benchmark is not displayed on a screen or other information service that publishes such rate from time to time as selected by the Administrative Agent in its reasonable discretion or (B) the regulatory supervisor for the administrator of such ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ has provided a public statement or publication of information announcing that any tenor for such Benchmark is or will be no longer representative, then the Administrative Agent may modify the definition of “Interest Period” (or any similar or analogous definition) for any Benchmark settings at or after such time to remove any tenor of such Benchmark that is unavailable or non-representative for any Benchmark settings and (ii) if a tenor that was removed pursuant to clause (i) above either (A) is subsequently displayed on a screen or information service for a Benchmark (including a Benchmark Replacement) or (B) is not, or is no longer, subject to an announcement that it is or will no longer be representative for a Benchmark (including a Benchmark Replacement), then the Administrative Agent may modify the definition of “Interest Period” (or any similar or analogous definition) for all Benchmark settings at or after such time to reinstate such previously removed tenor. (v) Benchmark Unavailability Period. Upon notice to the Borrower by the Administrative Agent in accordance with Section 9.01 of the commencement of a Benchmark Unavailability Period and until a Benchmark Replacement is determined in accordance with this Section 2.14(b), the Borrower may revoke any request for a Term SOFR Borrowing, or any request for the conversion or continuation of a Term SOFR Borrowing to be made, converted or continued during any Benchmark Unavailability Period at the end of the applicable Interest Period, and, failing that, the Borrower will be deemed to have converted any such request at the end of the applicable Interest Period into a request for an ABR Borrowing or conversion to an ABR Borrowing. During any Benchmark Unavailability Period or at any time that a tenor for the then-current Benchmark is not an Available Tenor, the component of the Alternate Base Rate based upon the then-current Benchmark or such tenor for such Benchmark, as applicable, will not be used in any determination of the Alternate Base Rate. Increased Costs; Illegality. (a) If any Change in Law shall: (i) impose, modify or deem applicable any reserve, special deposit, liquidity or similar requirement (including any compulsory loan requirement, insurance charge or other assessment) against assets of, deposits with or for the account of, or credit extended by, any Lender; 27 (ii) impose on any Lender or the applicable offshore interbank market any other condition, cost or expense (other than Taxes) affecting this Agreement or Loans made by such Lender; or (iii) subject any Recipient to any Taxes (other than (A) Indemnified Taxes, (B) Taxes described in clauses (b) through (d) of the definition of Excluded Taxes and (C) Connection Income Taxes) on its loans, loan principal, commitments, or other obligations, or its deposits, reserves, other liabilities or capital attributable thereto; and the result of any of the foregoing shall be to increase the cost to such Lender or such other Recipient of making, continuing, converting into or maintaining any Loan or of maintaining its obligation to make any such Loan or to reduce the amount of any sum received or receivable by such Lender or such other Recipient hereunder, whether of principal, interest or otherwise, then the Borrower will pay to such Lender or such other Recipient, as the case may be, such additional amount or amounts as will compensate such Lender or such other Recipient, as the case may be, for such additional costs incurred or reduction suffered. (b) If any Lender determines that any Change in Law regarding capital or liquidity requirements has or would have the effect of reducing the rate of return on such Lender’s capital or on the capital of such Lender’s holding company, if any, as a consequence of this Agreement or the Loans made by, such Lender, to a level below that which such Lender or such Lender’s holding company could have achieved but for such Change in Law (taking into consideration such Lender’s policies and the policies of such Lender’s holding company with respect to capital adequacy and liquidity), then from time to time the Borrower will pay to such Lender, as the case may be, such additional amount or amounts as will compensate such Lender or such Lender’s holding company for any such reduction suffered. (c) A certificate of a Lender setting forth the amount or amounts necessary to compensate such Lender or its holding company, as the case may be, as specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section shall be delivered to the Borrower and shall be conclusive absent manifest error. The Borrower shall pay such Lender, as the case may be, the amount shown as due on any such certificate within ten (10) days after receipt thereof. (d) Failure or delay on the part of any Lender to demand compensation pursuant to this Section shall not constitute a waiver of such Lender’s right to demand such compensation; provided that the Borrower shall not be required to compensate a Lender pursuant to this Section for any increased costs or reductions incurred more than 270 days prior to the date that such Lender notifies the Borrower of the Change in Law giving rise to such increased costs or reductions and of such Lender’s intention to claim compensation therefor; provided further that, if the Change in Law giving rise to such increased costs or reductions is retroactive, then the 270-day period referred to above shall be extended to include the period of retroactive effect thereof. (e) If any Lender determines that any law has made it unlawful, or that any Governmental Authority has asserted that it is unlawful, for any Lender or its applicable lending office to make, maintain, or fund Loans whose interest is determined by reference to the Term SOFR Rate, or to determine or charge interest rates based upon the Term SOFR Rate, or any Governmental Authority has imposed material restrictions on the authority of such Lender to purchase or sell, or to take deposits of, Dollars in any applicable interbank market, then, upon notice thereof by such Lender to the Borrower (through the Administrative Agent), (a) any obligation of such Lender to make or continue Term SOFR Borrowings or to convert ABR Borrowings to Term SOFR Borrowings shall be suspended, and (b) if such notice asserts the illegality of such Lender making or maintaining ABR Borrowings the interest rate on which is determined by reference to the Term SOFR Rate component of the Alternate Base Rate, the 28 interest rate on which ABR Loans of such Lender shall, if necessary to avoid such illegality, be determined by the Administrative Agent without reference to the Term SOFR Rate component of the Alternate Base Rate, in each case until such Lender notifies the Administrative Agent and the Borrower that the circumstances giving rise to such determination no longer exist. Upon receipt of such notice, (x) the Borrower shall, upon demand from such Lender (with a copy to the Administrative Agent), prepay or, if applicable, convert each Term SOFR Loan of such Lender to an ABR Loan (the interest rate on which ABR Loan shall, if necessary to avoid such illegality, be determined by the Administrative Agent without reference to the Term SOFR Rate component of the Alternate Base Rate), either on the last day of the Interest Period therefor, if such Lender can lawfully continue to maintain such Term SOFR Loan to such day, or immediately, if such Lender cannot lawfully continue to maintain such Term SOFR Loan, and (y) if such notice asserts the illegality of such Lender determining or charging interest rates based upon the Term SOFR Rate, the Administrative Agent shall during the period of such suspension compute the Alternate Base Rate applicable to such Lender without reference to the Term SOFR Rate component thereof until the Administrative Agent is advised in writing by such Lender that it is no longer illegal for such Lender to determine or charge interest rates based upon the Term SOFR Rate. Upon any such prepayment or conversion, the Borrower shall also pay accrued interest on the amount so prepaid or converted, together with any additional amounts required pursuant to Section 2.16. Funding Indemnification. (a) If (i) any payment of a Term SOFR Borrowing occurs on a date that is not the last day of the applicable Interest Period, whether because of acceleration, prepayment or otherwise; (ii) a Term SOFR Borrowing is not made on the date specified by the Borrower for any reason other than default by the Lenders; (iii) a Term SOFR Borrowing is converted other than on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto; (iv) the Borrower fails to borrow, convert, continue or prepay a Term SOFR Borrowing on the date specified in any notice delivered pursuant hereto; or (v) a Term SOFR Borrowing is assigned other than on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto as a result of a request by the Borrower pursuant to Section 2.19(b); then the Borrower shall compensate each Lender for the loss, cost and expense attributable to such event. (b) A certificate of any Lender setting forth any amount or amounts that such Lender is entitled to receive pursuant to this Section 2.16 shall be delivered to the Borrower and shall be conclusive absent manifest error. The Borrower shall pay such Lender the amount shown as due on any such certificate within 10 days after receipt thereof. Withholding of Taxes; Gross-Up. (a) Payments Free of Taxes. Any and all payments by or on account of any obligation of the Borrower under any Loan Document shall be made without deduction or withholding for any Taxes, except as required by applicable law. If any applicable law (as determined in the good faith discretion of an applicable withholding agent) requires the deduction or withholding of any Tax from any such payment by a withholding agent, then the applicable withholding agent shall be entitled to make such deduction or withholding and shall timely pay the full amount deducted or withheld to the relevant Governmental Authority in accordance with applicable law and, if such Tax is an Indemnified Tax, then the sum payable by the Borrower shall be increased as necessary so that after such deduction or withholding has been made (including such deductions and withholdings applicable to additional sums payable under this Section 2.17) the applicable Recipient receives an amount equal to the sum it would have received had no such deduction or withholding been made. (b) Payment of Other Taxes by the Borrower. The Borrower shall timely pay to the relevant Governmental Authority in accordance with applicable law, or at the option of the Administrative Agent timely reimburse it for, Other Taxes.
29 (c) Evidence of Payments. As soon as practicable after any payment of Taxes by the Borrower to a Governmental Authority pursuant to this Section 2.17, the Borrower shall deliver to the Administrative Agent the original or a certified copy of a receipt issued by such Governmental Authority evidencing such payment, a copy of the return reporting such payment or other evidence of such payment reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent. (d) Indemnification by the Borrower. The Borrower shall indemnify each Recipient, within 10 days after demand therefor, for the full amount of any Indemnified Taxes (including Indemnified Taxes imposed or asserted on or attributable to amounts payable under this Section) payable or paid by such Recipient or required to be withheld or deducted from a payment to such Recipient and any reasonable expenses arising therefrom or with respect thereto, whether or not such Indemnified Taxes were correctly or legally imposed or asserted by the relevant Governmental Authority. A certificate as to the amount of such payment or liability delivered to the Borrower by a Lender (with a copy to the Administrative Agent), or by the Administrative Agent on its own behalf or on behalf of a Lender, shall be conclusive absent manifest error. (e) Indemnification by the Lenders. Each Lender shall severally indemnify the Administrative Agent, within 10 days after demand therefor, for (i) any Indemnified Taxes attributable to such Lender (but only to the extent that the Borrower has not already indemnified the Administrative Agent for such Indemnified Taxes and without limiting the obligation of the Borrower to do so), (ii) any Taxes attributable to such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s failure to comply with the provisions of Section 9.04(c) relating to the maintenance of a Participant Register and (iii) any Excluded Taxes attributable to such Lender, in each case, that are payable or paid by the Administrative Agent in connection with any Loan Document, and any reasonable expenses arising therefrom or with respect thereto, whether or not such Taxes were correctly or legally imposed or asserted by the relevant Governmental Authority. A certificate as to the amount of such payment or liability delivered to any Lender by the Administrative Agent shall be conclusive absent manifest error. Each Lender hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to set off and apply any and all amounts at any time owing to such Lender under any Loan Document or otherwise payable by the Administrative Agent to the Lender from any other source against any amount due to the Administrative Agent under this paragraph (e). (f) Status of Lenders. (i) Any Lender that is entitled to an exemption from or reduction of withholding Tax with respect to payments made under any Loan Document shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent, at the time or times reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, such properly completed and executed documentation reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent as will permit such payments to be made without withholding or at a reduced rate of withholding. In addition, any Lender, if reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, shall deliver such other documentation prescribed by applicable law or reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent as will enable the Borrower or the Administrative Agent to determine whether or not such Lender is subject to backup withholding or information reporting requirements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding two sentences, the completion, execution and submission of such documentation (other than such documentation set forth in Section 2.17(f)(ii)(A), (ii)(B) and (ii)(D) below) shall not be required if in the Lender’s reasonable judgment such completion, execution or submission would subject such Lender to any material unreimbursed cost or expense or would materially prejudice the legal or commercial position of such Lender. (ii) Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, in the event that the Borrower is a U.S. Person: 30 (A) any Lender that is a U.S. Person shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent on or prior to the date on which such ▇▇▇▇▇▇ becomes a Lender under this Agreement (and from time to time thereafter upon the reasonable request of the Borrower or the Administrative Agent), an executed copy of IRS Form W-9 certifying that such Lender is exempt from U.S. federal backup withholding tax; (B) any Foreign Lender shall, to the extent it is legally entitled to do so, deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent (in such number of copies as shall be requested by the recipient) on or prior to the date on which such Foreign Lender becomes a Lender under this Agreement (and from time to time thereafter upon the reasonable request of the Borrower or the Administrative Agent), whichever of the following is applicable: (1) in the case of a Foreign Lender claiming the benefits of an income tax treaty to which the United States is a party (x) with respect to payments of interest under any Loan Document, an executed copy of IRS Form W-8BEN-E or IRS Form W-8BEN establishing an exemption from, or reduction of, U.S. federal withholding Tax pursuant to the “interest” article of such tax treaty and (y) with respect to any other applicable payments under any Loan Document, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or IRS Form W-8BEN establishing an exemption from, or reduction of, U.S. Federal withholding Tax pursuant to the “business profits” or “other income” article of such tax treaty; (2) in the case of a Foreign Lender claiming that its extension of credit will generate U.S. effectively connected income, an executed copy of IRS Form W- 8ECI; (3) in the case of a Foreign Lender claiming the benefits of the exemption for portfolio interest under Section 881(c) of the Code, (x) a certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit C-1 to the effect that such Foreign Lender is not a “bank” within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(A) of the Code, a “10 percent shareholder” of the Borrower within the meaning of Section 881(c)(3)(B) of the Code, or a “controlled foreign corporation” described in Section 881(c)(3)(C) of the Code (a “U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate”) and (y) an executed copy of IRS Form W-8BEN-E or IRS Form W-8BEN; or (4) to the extent a Foreign Lender is not the beneficial owner, an executed copy of IRS Form W-8IMY, accompanied by IRS Form W-8ECI, IRS Form W- 8BEN-E or IRS Form W-8BEN, a U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit C-2 or Exhibit C-3, IRS Form W-9, and/or other certification documents from each beneficial owner, as applicable; provided that if the Foreign Lender is a partnership and one or more direct or indirect partners of such Foreign Lender are claiming the portfolio interest exemption, such Foreign Lender may provide a U.S. Tax Compliance Certificate substantially in the form of Exhibit C-4 on behalf of each such direct and indirect partner; (C) any Foreign Lender shall, to the extent it is legally entitled to do so, deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent (in such number of copies as shall be requested by the recipient) on or prior to the date on which such Foreign Lender becomes a Lender under this Agreement (and from time to time thereafter upon the reasonable request of the Borrower or the Administrative Agent), executed copies of any 31 other form prescribed by applicable law as a basis for claiming exemption from or a reduction in U.S. Federal withholding Tax, duly completed, together with such supplementary documentation as may be prescribed by applicable law to permit the Borrower or the Administrative Agent to determine the withholding or deduction required to be made; and (D) if a payment made to a Lender under any Loan Document would be subject to U.S. federal withholding Tax imposed by FATCA if such Lender were to fail to comply with the applicable reporting requirements of FATCA (including those contained in Section 1471(b) or 1472(b) of the Code, as applicable), such Lender shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent at the time or times prescribed by law and at such time or times reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent such documentation prescribed by applicable law (including as prescribed by Section 1471(b)(3)(C)(i) of the Code) and such additional documentation reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent as may be necessary for the Borrower and the Administrative Agent to comply with their obligations under FATCA and to determine that such ▇▇▇▇▇▇ has complied with such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s obligations under FATCA or to determine the amount to deduct and withhold from such payment. Solely for purposes of this clause (D), “FATCA” shall include any amendments made to FATCA after the date of this Agreement. Each Lender agrees that if any form or certification it previously delivered expires or becomes obsolete or inaccurate in any respect, it shall update such form or certification or promptly notify the Borrower and the Administrative Agent in writing of its legal inability to do so. (g) Treatment of Certain Refunds. If any party determines, in its sole discretion exercised in good faith, that it has received a refund of any Taxes as to which it has been indemnified pursuant to this Section 2.17 (including by the payment of additional amounts pursuant to this Section 2.17), it shall pay to the indemnifying party an amount equal to such refund (but only to the extent of indemnity payments made under this Section 2.17 with respect to the Taxes giving rise to such refund), net of all out-of-pocket expenses (including Taxes) of such indemnified party and without interest (other than any interest paid by the relevant Governmental Authority with respect to such refund). Such indemnifying party, upon the request of such indemnified party, shall repay to such indemnified party the amount paid over pursuant to this paragraph (g) (plus any penalties, interest or other charges imposed by the relevant Governmental Authority) in the event that such indemnified party is required to repay such refund to such Governmental Authority. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this paragraph (g), in no event will the indemnified party be required to pay any amount to an indemnifying party pursuant to this paragraph (g) the payment of which would place the indemnified party in a less favorable net after-Tax position than the indemnified party would have been in if the Tax subject to indemnification and giving rise to such refund had not been deducted, withheld or otherwise imposed and the indemnification payments or additional amounts with respect to such Tax had never been paid. This paragraph shall not be construed to require any indemnified party to make available its Tax returns (or any other information relating to its Taxes that it deems confidential) to the indemnifying party or any other Person. (h) Survival. Each party’s obligations under this Section 2.17 shall survive the resignation or replacement of the Administrative Agent or any assignment of rights by, or the replacement of, a Lender, the termination of the Commitments and the repayment, satisfaction or discharge of all obligations under any Loan Document. 32 (i) Defined Terms. For purposes of this Section 2.17, the term “applicable law” includes FATCA. Payments Generally; Pro Rata Treatment; Sharing of Set-offs. (a) The Borrower shall make each payment required to be made by it hereunder (whether of principal, interest or fees, or of amounts payable under Section 2.15, 2.16 or 2.17, or otherwise) prior to 12:00 noon, New York City time on the date when due, in immediately available funds, without set-off, recoupment or counterclaim. Any amounts received after such time on any date may, in the discretion of the Administrative Agent, be deemed to have been received on the next succeeding Business Day for purposes of calculating interest thereon. All such payments shall be made to the Administrative Agent at its offices as specified on Schedule 2.18 and except that payments pursuant to Sections 2.15, 2.16, 2.17 and 9.03 shall be made directly to the Persons entitled thereto. The Administrative Agent shall distribute any such payments received by it for the account of any other Person to the appropriate recipient promptly following receipt thereof. If any payment hereunder shall be due on a day that is not a Business Day, the date for payment shall be extended to the next succeeding Business Day, and, in the case of any payment accruing interest, interest thereon shall be payable for the period of such extension. All payments hereunder shall be made in Dollars. (b) If at any time insufficient funds are received by and available to the Administrative Agent to pay fully all amounts of principal, interest and fees then due hereunder, such funds shall be applied (i) first, towards payment of interest and fees then due hereunder, ratably among the parties entitled thereto in accordance with the amounts of interest and fees then due to such parties, and (ii) second, towards payment of principal then due hereunder, ratably among the parties entitled thereto in accordance with the amounts of principal then due to such parties. (c) If any Lender shall, by exercising any right of set-off or counterclaim or otherwise, obtain payment in respect of any principal of or interest on any of its Loans resulting in such Lender receiving payment of a greater proportion of the aggregate amount of its Loans and accrued interest thereon than the proportion received by any other Lender, then the Lender receiving such greater proportion shall purchase (for cash at face value) participations in the Loans of other Lenders to the extent necessary so that the benefit of all such payments shall be shared by the Lenders ratably in accordance with the aggregate amount of principal of and accrued interest on their respective Loans; provided that (i) if any such participations are purchased and all or any portion of the payment giving rise thereto is recovered, such participations shall be rescinded and the purchase price restored to the extent of such recovery, without interest, and (ii) the provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to apply to any payment made by the Borrower pursuant to and in accordance with the express terms of this Agreement or any payment obtained by a Lender as consideration for the assignment of or sale of a participation in any of its Loans to any assignee or participant, other than to the Borrower or any Subsidiary or Affiliate thereof (as to which the provisions of this paragraph shall apply). The Borrower consents to the foregoing and agrees, to the extent it may effectively do so under applicable law, that any Lender acquiring a participation pursuant to the foregoing arrangements may exercise against the Borrower rights of set-off and counterclaim with respect to such participation as fully as if such Lender were a direct creditor of the Borrower in the amount of such participation. (d) Unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice from the Borrower prior to the date on which any payment is due to the Administrative Agent for the account of the Lenders hereunder that the Borrower will not make such payment, the Administrative Agent may assume that the Borrower has made such payment on such date in accordance herewith and may, in reliance upon such assumption, distribute to the Lenders the amount due. In such event, if the Borrower has not in fact made such payment, then each of the Lenders severally agrees to repay to the Administrative Agent forthwith on demand the amount so distributed to such Lender with interest thereon, for each day from and
33 including the date such amount is distributed to it to but excluding the date of payment to the Administrative Agent, at the greater of the Federal Funds Effective Rate and a rate determined by the Administrative Agent in accordance with banking industry rules on interbank compensation. Mitigation Obligations; Replacement of Lenders. (a) If any Lender requests compensation under Section 2.15, or the Borrower is required to pay any Indemnified Taxes or additional amounts to any Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to Section 2.17, then such Lender shall use reasonable efforts to designate a different lending office for funding or booking its Loans hereunder or to assign its rights and obligations hereunder to another of its offices, branches or Affiliates, if, in the judgment of such Lender, such designation or assignment (i) would eliminate or reduce amounts payable pursuant to Section 2.15 or 2.17, as the case may be, in the future and (ii) would not subject such Lender to any unreimbursed cost or expense and would not otherwise be disadvantageous to such Lender. The Borrower hereby agrees to pay all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by any Lender in connection with any such designation or assignment. (b) If any Lender requests compensation under Section 2.15, or if the Borrower is required to pay any Indemnified Taxes or additional amounts to any Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to Section 2.17, or if any Lender becomes a Defaulting Lender, or if any Lender does not consent to any proposed amendment, supplement, modification, consent or waiver of any provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document that requires the consent of each of the Lenders or each of the Lenders affected thereby (so long as the consent of the Required Lenders (with the percentage in such definition being deemed to be 50% for this purpose) has been obtained), then the Borrower may, at its sole expense and effort, upon notice to such Lender and the Administrative Agent, require such Lender to assign and delegate, without recourse (in accordance with and subject to the restrictions contained in Section 9.04), all its interests, rights (other than its existing rights to payments pursuant to Sections 2.15 or 2.17) and obligations under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents to an assignee that shall assume such obligations (which assignee may be another Lender, if a Lender accepts such assignment); provided that (i) the Borrower shall have received the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent, which consent shall not unreasonably be withheld, (ii) such Lender 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 the assignee (to the extent of such outstanding principal and accrued interest and fees) or the Borrower (in the case of all other amounts) and (iii) in the case of any such assignment resulting from a claim for compensation under Section 2.15 or payments required to be made pursuant to Section 2.17, such assignment will result in a reduction in such compensation or payments. A Lender shall not be required to make any such assignment and delegation if, prior thereto, as a result of a waiver by such Lender or otherwise, the circumstances entitling the Borrower to require such assignment and delegation cease to apply. Each party hereto agrees that (a) an assignment required pursuant to this paragraph may be effected pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption executed by the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the assignee (or, to the extent applicable, an agreement incorporating an Assignment and Assumption by reference pursuant to an Approved Electronic Platform as to which the Administrative Agent and such parties are participants), and (b) the Lender required to make such assignment need not be a party thereto in order for such assignment to be effective and shall be deemed to have consented to an be bound by the terms thereof; provided that, following the effectiveness of any such assignment, the other parties to such assignment agree to execute and deliver such documents necessary to evidence such assignment as reasonably requested by the applicable Lender, provided that any such documents shall be without recourse to or warranty by the parties thereto. Defaulting Lenders. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, if any Lender becomes a Defaulting Lender, then the following provisions shall apply for so long as such Lender is a Defaulting Lender: 34 (a) any payment of principal, interest, fees or other amounts received by the Administrative Agent for the account of such Defaulting Lender (whether voluntary or mandatory, at maturity, pursuant to Section 7.02 or otherwise) or received by the Administrative Agent from a Defaulting Lender pursuant to Section 9.08 shall be applied at such time or times as may be determined by the Administrative Agent as follows: first, to the payment of any amounts owing by such Defaulting Lender to the Administrative Agent hereunder; second, as the Borrower may request (so long as no Default or Event of Default exists), to the funding of any Loan in respect of which such Defaulting Lender has failed to fund its portion thereof as required by this Agreement, as determined by the Administrative Agent; third, if so determined by the Administrative Agent and the Borrower, to be held in a deposit account and released pro rata in order to satisfy such Defaulting Lender’s potential future funding obligations with respect to Loans under this Agreement; fourth, to the payment of any amounts owing to the Lenders as a result of any judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction obtained by any Lender against such Defaulting Lender as a result of such Defaulting Lender’s breach of its obligations under this Agreement or under any other Loan Document; fifth, so long as no Default or Event of Default exists, to the payment of any amounts owing to the Borrower as a result of any judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction obtained by the Borrower against such Defaulting Lender as a result of such Defaulting Lender's breach of its obligations under this Agreement or under any other Loan Document; and sixth, to such Defaulting Lender or as otherwise directed by a court of competent jurisdiction; provided that if (x) such payment is a payment of the principal amount of any Loans in respect of which such Defaulting Lender has not fully funded its appropriate share, and (y) such Loans were made at a time when the conditions set forth in Section 4.01 were satisfied or waived, such payment shall be applied solely to pay the Loans of all non-Defaulting Lenders on a pro rata basis prior to being applied to the payment of any Loans of such Defaulting Lender until such time as all Loans are held by the Lenders pro rata in accordance with the Commitments. Any payments, prepayments or other amounts paid or payable to a Defaulting Lender that are applied (or held) to pay amounts owed by a Defaulting Lender pursuant to this Section shall be deemed paid to and redirected by such Defaulting Lender, and each Lender irrevocably consents hereto; and (b) the Credit Exposure of such Defaulting Lender shall not be included in determining whether the Required Lenders have taken or may take any action hereunder (including any consent to any amendment, waiver or other modification pursuant to Section 9.02); provided, that, except as otherwise provided in Section 9.02, this clause (b) shall not apply to the vote of a Defaulting Lender in the case of an amendment, waiver or other modification requiring the consent of such Lender or each Lender directly affected thereby. ARTICLE III Representations and Warranties The Borrower represents and warrants to the Lenders that: Corporate Existence; Authorization. The Borrower (a) has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation, (b) has the requisite corporate power and authority to consummate the Transactions and (c) has duly taken all necessary corporate action to authorize the Transactions. Enforceability. This Agreement and each note delivered hereunder has been duly executed and delivered by the Borrower is the legal, valid and binding obligation of the Borrower, enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, and any other instrument or agreement required hereunder, when executed and delivered, will be similarly valid, binding and enforceable, except (in each 35 case) to the extent that the enforcement thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar laws generally affecting creditors’ rights and by general principles of equity. Financial Condition; No Material Adverse Change. (a) All fiscal year-end financial statements furnished by the Borrower to the Administrative Agent or any Lender have been prepared in accordance with GAAP consistently applied, except as noted therein, and fairly present the consolidated financial position and the consolidated results of operations of the Borrower as of the dates and for the periods presented. Financial statements and other information and data furnished to the Administrative Agent or any Lender other than fiscal year-end statements of the Borrower are in reasonable detail and present fairly the consolidated financial position and consolidated results of operations of the Borrower as of the dates and for the periods presented, subject to year-end audit adjustments. (b) As of the Effective Date, there has been no material adverse change in the business or financial condition of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except as disclosed in the Borrower’s periodic reports filed with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on or before the Effective Date. Compliance with Laws and Material Contractual Obligations. The operations of the Borrower and its Significant Subsidiaries are in compliance with (a) all Requirements of Law and (b) its obligations under material agreements to which it is a party, (i) except to the extent that the failure to comply therewith could not, in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a Material Adverse Effect or (ii) except as disclosed in the Borrower’s periodic reports filed prior to the date of this Agreement with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Neither the execution and delivery of this Agreement, nor the consummation of the transactions herein contemplated, will violate (x) any Requirement of Law, (y) violate or result in a default under any indenture or other material agreement or other material instrument binding upon the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or its assets, or give rise to a right thereunder to require any material payment to be made by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or (z) result in the creation or imposition of, or the requirement to create, any lien or security interest on any asset of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries. No Material Litigation. No litigation, investigation or proceeding of or before any arbitrator or Governmental Authority is pending or, to the knowledge of the Borrower, threatened by or against the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or against any of its or their respective properties or revenues (a) with respect to this Agreement or any of the transactions contemplated hereby or (b) which could, insofar as the Borrower may reasonably foresee, have a Material Adverse Effect, except as disclosed in the Borrower’s periodic reports filed with the SEC prior to the date of this Agreement under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Ownership of Property. Each of the Borrower and each of its Significant Subsidiaries has title in fee simple to or valid leasehold interests in all its real property material to the operation of its business, and title to or valid leasehold interests in all its other property useful and necessary in its business, except for defects in title that do not interfere in any material respect with its ability to conduct its business as currently conducted. Taxes. Each of the Borrower and each of its Significant Subsidiaries has filed or caused to be filed all Tax returns which to the knowledge of the Borrower are required to be filed and has paid all material taxes shown to be due and payable on said returns or on any assessments made against it or any of its property and all other material Taxes, fees or other charges imposed on it or any of its property by any Governmental Authority (other than those the amount or validity of which is currently being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and with respect to which reserves in conformity with GAAP have been provided on the books of the Borrower or the applicable Subsidiary, as the case may 36 be); and no material Tax liens have been filed and, to the knowledge of the Borrower, no material claims are being asserted with respect to any such Taxes, fees or other charges. Subsidiaries. Schedule 3.08 contains an accurate list of all of the Subsidiaries of the Borrower existing as of the Effective Date, setting forth their respective jurisdictions of incorporation and the percentage of their respective Equity Interests owned by the Borrower and/or other Subsidiaries. All of the issued and outstanding shares of Equity Interests of such Subsidiaries have been duly authorized and issued and are fully paid and nonassessable. Investment Company Act; No Consents. Neither the Borrower nor any Subsidiary is an “Investment Company”, as defined in, or subject to regulation under, the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. No authorizations, approvals or consents of, no filings or registrations with, any Governmental Authority are necessary for the consummation of the Transactions or for the validity or enforceability hereof or the notes delivered hereunder. ERISA. The Borrower is in compliance in all material respects with all applicable provisions of ERISA. The Borrower has not violated any provision of any Plan maintained or contributed to by the Borrower which could, insofar as the Borrower may reasonably foresee, have a Material Adverse Effect. No Reportable Event has occurred and is continuing with respect to any Plan initiated by the Borrower. The Borrower has met its minimum funding requirements under ERISA with respect to each Plan. Each Plan will be able to fulfill its benefit obligations as they come due in accordance with the Plan documents and under GAAP. Environmental. In the ordinary course of its business, the Borrower conducts an ongoing review of the effect of Environmental Laws on the business, operations, and properties of the Borrower, in the course of which it identifies and evaluates associated liabilities and costs (including any capital or operating expenditures required for clean-up or closure of properties presently or previously owned or operated, any capital or operating expenditures required to achieve or maintain compliance with environmental protection standards imposed by law or as a condition of any license, permit or contract, any related constraints on operating activities, including any periodic or permanent shutdown of any facility or reduction in the level of or change in the nature of operations conducted thereat and any actual or potential liabilities to third parties, including employees, and any related costs and expenses). On the basis of these reviews, the Borrower has reasonably concluded that Environmental Laws are unlikely to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Borrower hereby represents and warrants that its business and assets and those of its Subsidiaries are operated, and covenants that its and its Subsidiaries’ business and assets will continue to be operated, in compliance with applicable Environmental Laws and that no enforcement action in respect thereof is threatened or pending that could, in the case of any failure to so comply or any such enforcement action, insofar as the Borrower may reasonably foresee, have a Material Adverse Effect, except as disclosed in the Borrower’s periodic reports filed with the SEC on or prior to the date of this Agreement under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Margin Regulations. The Borrower is not engaged and will not engage, principally or as one of its important activities, in the business of purchasing or carrying Margin Stock, or extending credit for the purpose of purchasing or carrying Margin Stock, and no part of the proceeds of any Borrowing hereunder will be used to buy or carry any Margin Stock. Following the application of the proceeds of each Borrowing, not more than 25% of the value of the assets (either of the Borrower only or of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on a consolidated basis) will be Margin Stock. Disclosure. (a) As of the Effective Date, no reports, financial statements, certificates or other information furnished by or on behalf of the Borrower or any Subsidiary to the Administrative Agent or any Lender in connection with the negotiation of this Agreement or delivered hereunder (as
37 modified or supplemented by other information so furnished) contains any material misstatement of fact or omits to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided that, with respect to projected financial information, the Borrower represents only that such information was prepared in good faith based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time. (b) As of the Effective Date, to the best knowledge of the Borrower, the information included in the Beneficial Ownership Certification provided on or prior to the Effective Date to any Lender in connection with this Agreement is true and correct in all respects. Anti-Corruption Laws and Sanctions. The Borrower has implemented and maintains in effect policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance by the Borrower, its Subsidiaries and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents with Anti-Corruption Laws and applicable Sanctions, and the Borrower, its Subsidiaries and their respective officers and directors and to the knowledge of the Borrower its employees and agents, are in compliance with Anti-Corruption Laws and applicable Sanctions in all material respects. None of (a) the Borrower, any Subsidiary, any of their respective directors or officers, or employees, or (b) to the knowledge of the Borrower, any agent of the Borrower or any Subsidiary that will act in any capacity in connection with or benefit from the credit facility established hereby, is a Sanctioned Person. No Borrowing, use of proceeds or other Transactions will violate any Anti-Corruption Law or applicable Sanctions. Affected Financial Institutions. The Borrower is not an Affected Financial Institution. Plan Assets; Prohibited Transactions. None of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries is an entity deemed to hold “plan assets” (within the meaning of the Plan Asset Regulations), and assuming the accuracy of the representations and warranties and compliance with the covenants set forth in Section 8.07(a), neither the execution, delivery or performance of the Transactions, including the making of any Loan hereunder, gives rise to a non-exempt prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code. ARTICLE IV Conditions Effective Date. The obligations of the Lenders to make Loans hereunder shall not become effective until the date on which each of the following conditions is satisfied (or waived in accordance with Section 9.02): (a) The Administrative Agent (or its counsel) shall have received (i) from each party hereto either (A) a counterpart of this Agreement signed on behalf of such party or (B) written evidence satisfactory to the Administrative Agent (which may include telecopy or electronic transmission of a signed signature page of this Agreement) that such party has signed a counterpart of this Agreement and (ii) duly executed copies of the Loan Documents and such other legal opinions, certificates and corporate and organizational documents as the Administrative Agent shall reasonably request in connection with the Transactions, all in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and its counsel and as further described in the list of closing documents attached as Exhibit B. (b) The Administrative Agent shall have received a favorable written opinion (addressed to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders and dated the Effective Date) of ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ LLP, counsel for the Borrower, covering such matters relating to the Borrower, the Loan Documents or 38 the Transactions as the Administrative Agent shall reasonably request. The Borrower hereby requests such counsel to deliver such opinion. (c) The Administrative Agent shall have received such certificates as the Administrative Agent or its counsel may reasonably request relating to the organization and valid existence of the Borrower, the authorization of the Transactions and any other legal matters relating to the Borrower, the Loan Documents or the Transactions, all in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and its counsel and as further described in the list of closing documents attached as Exhibit B. (d) The Administrative Agent shall have received a certificate, dated the Effective Date and signed by a Responsible Officer of the Borrower, certifying (i) that no Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing as of such date and (ii) that the representations and warranties contained in Article III are true and correct as of such date. (e) The Administrative Agent shall have received an executed Borrowing Request in compliance with the provisions of Section 2.03 for the initial Borrowing of Loans on the Effective Date. (f) The Administrative Agent shall have received all fees and other amounts due and payable under the Loan Documents on or prior to the Effective Date, including, to the extent invoiced not fewer than three (3) Business Days prior to the Effective Date, reimbursement or payment of all out-of- pocket expenses required to be reimbursed or paid by the Borrower hereunder. (g) [Reserved]. (h) (i) The Administrative Agent shall have received, at least five days prior to the Effective Date (or such shorter period agreed to by the Administrative Agent in its sole discretion), all documentation and other information regarding the Borrower requested in connection with applicable “know your customer” and anti-money laundering rules and regulations, including the Patriot Act, to the extent requested in writing of the Borrower at least 10 days prior to the Effective Date and (ii) to the extent the Borrower qualifies as a “legal entity customer” under the Beneficial Ownership Regulation, at least five days prior to the Effective Date, any Lender that has requested, in a written notice to the Borrower at least 10 days prior to the Effective Date, a Beneficial Ownership Certification in relation to the Borrower shall have received such Beneficial Ownership Certification (provided that, upon the execution and delivery by such Lender of its signature page to this Agreement, the condition set forth in this clause (ii) shall be deemed to be satisfied). (i) The Administrative Agent shall have received such other documents as the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders (through the Administrative Agent) may reasonably request. The Administrative Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders of the Effective Date, and such notice shall be conclusive and binding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the obligations of the Lenders to make Loans hereunder shall not become effective unless each of the foregoing conditions is satisfied (or waived pursuant to Section 9.02) at or prior to 4:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 6, 2025 (and, in the event such conditions are not so satisfied or waived, the Commitments shall terminate at such time). ARTICLE V Affirmative Covenants 39 Until the Commitments have expired or been terminated and the principal of and interest on each Loan and all fees payable hereunder shall have been paid in full, the Borrower covenants and agrees with the Lenders that: Financial Statements and Other Information. The Borrower will furnish to the Administrative Agent and each Lender: (a) as soon as practicable, but in any event within 120 days after the end of each fiscal year of the Borrower (commencing with the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024), a copy of the consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and its audited consolidated Subsidiaries as at the end of such year and the related consolidated statements of income, of shareholders’ equity and comprehensive income and of cash flows for such year, setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures for the previous year, audited by independent certified public accountants of nationally recognized standing (without any qualification or exception as to the scope of such audit) to the effect that such consolidated financial statements present fairly in all material respects the financial condition and results of operations of the Borrower and its consolidated Subsidiaries on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP consistently applied; (b) as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than 60 days after the end of each of the first three quarterly periods of each fiscal year of the Borrower (commencing with the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2025), the Form 10-Q as filed by the Borrower with the SEC for each such fiscal quarter, certified by an Authorized Officer as being complete and correct (subject to normal year- end audit adjustments); and (c) together with the financial statements required hereunder, a compliance certificate in form and substance satisfactory to the Administrative Agent signed by its chief financial officer or chief accounting officer showing the calculations necessary to determine compliance with this Agreement, including its calculation of maintenance of Consolidated Indebtedness to Total Capitalization, and stating that no Default exists, or if any Default exists, stating the nature and status thereof. All such financial statements shall be prepared in reasonable detail and in accordance with GAAP applied consistently throughout the periods reflected therein (except as approved by such accountants or officer, as the case may be, and disclosed therein). Certificates; Other Information. The Borrower shall furnish to the Administrative Agent and each Lender as soon as practicable, but in any event within ten days after the same are sent, copies of all financial statements and reports which the Borrower sends to its shareholders, and within ten days after the same are filed, copies of all financial statements and reports which the Borrower may make to, or file with, the SEC or any successor or analogous Governmental Authority. Promptly following any request therefor, the Borrower shall furnish (x) such other information regarding the operations, business affairs and financial condition of the Borrower or any Subsidiary, or compliance with the terms of this Agreement, as the Administrative Agent or any Lender may reasonably request and (y) information and documentation reasonably requested by the Administrative Agent or any Lender for purposes of compliance with applicable “know your customer” and anti-money laundering rules and regulations, including the Patriot Act and the Beneficial Ownership Regulation; and the Borrower shall furnish to the Administrative Agent and each Lender prompt written notice of any change in the information provided in the Beneficial Ownership Certification delivered to such Lender that would result in a change to the list of beneficial owners identified in such certification. The Borrower hereby acknowledges that (a) the Administrative Agent and/or the Arranger will make available to the Lenders materials and/or information provided by or on behalf of the Borrower hereunder (collectively, “Borrower Materials”) by posting the Borrower Materials on IntraLinks or another similar electronic system (the “Platform”) and 40 (b) certain of the Lenders may be “public-side” Lenders (i.e., Lenders that do not wish to receive material non-public information with respect to the Borrower or its securities) (each, a “Public Lender”). The Borrower hereby agrees that (w) all Borrower Materials that are to be made available to Public Lenders shall be clearly and conspicuously marked “PUBLIC” which, at a minimum, shall mean that the word “PUBLIC” shall appear prominently on the first page thereof; (x) by marking Borrower Materials “PUBLIC,” the Borrower shall be deemed to have authorized the Administrative Agent, the Arranger and the Lenders to treat such Borrower Materials as either publicly available information or not material information (although it may be sensitive and proprietary) with respect to the Borrower or its securities for purposes of United States Federal and state securities laws; (y) all Borrower Materials marked “PUBLIC” are permitted to be made available through a portion of the Platform designated “Public Investor;” and (z) the Administrative Agent and the Arranger shall be entitled to treat any Borrower Materials that are not marked “PUBLIC” as being suitable only for posting on a portion of the Platform not designated “Public Investor.” Payment of Taxes. The Borrower shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, pay, discharge or otherwise satisfy at or before maturity or before they become delinquent, as the case may be, all taxes, except when (a) the amount or validity thereof is currently being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings or (b) reserves in conformity with GAAP with respect thereto have been provided on the books of the Borrower or such Subsidiary, as the case may be. Conduct of Business. The Borrower shall (a) carry on and conduct its business in substantially the same manner and in substantially the same fields of enterprise as it is presently conducted and to do all things necessary to remain duly incorporated and validly existing as a domestic corporation in its jurisdiction of incorporation and maintain all requisite authority to conduct its business in each jurisdiction in which its business is conducted, and (b) comply with all Requirements of Law, except to the extent that failure to comply therewith could not, in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. The Borrower will maintain in effect and enforce policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance by the Borrower, its Subsidiaries and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents with Anti-Corruption Laws and applicable Sanctions. Maintenance of Property; Insurance. The Borrower shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries to, (a) keep all property useful and necessary in its business in good working order and condition; (b) maintain with financially sound and reputable insurance companies insurance on such property in at least such amounts and against at least such risks as are usually insured against in the same general area by companies engaged in the same or a similar business; and (c) furnish to the Administrative Agent or any Lender, upon written request, full information as to the insurance carried. Inspection of Property; Books and Records; Discussions. The Borrower shall, and shall cause each of its Subsidiaries that have business operations to, (a) keep proper books of records and accounts in which entries in conformity with GAAP shall be made of all dealings and transactions in relation to its business and activities and (b) permit representatives of the Administrative Agent or any Lender, at such Person’s expense, to visit and inspect any of its properties and examine and make abstracts from any of its books and records upon reasonable notice and during regular working hours, and to discuss the business, operations, properties and financial and other condition of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries with officers and employees of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries. Notices. The Borrower shall promptly give notice to the Administrative Agent and each Lender of (a) the occurrence of any Default; (b) any litigation, investigation or proceeding involving the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries which, if not cured or if adversely determined, as the case may be, would have a Material Adverse Effect; and (c) any change in any Debt Rating. Each notice pursuant to
41 this Section 5.07 shall be accompanied by a statement of an Authorized Officer setting forth details of the occurrence referred to therein and stating what action the Borrower proposes to take with respect thereto. Use of Proceeds. The proceeds of the Loans will be used for working capital needs, and for general corporate purposes, of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries (other than Hostile Acquisitions). No part of the proceeds of any Loan will be used, whether directly or indirectly, for any purpose that entails a violation of any of the regulations of the Federal Reserve Board, including Regulations T, U and X. The Borrower shall not use, and shall procure that its Subsidiaries and its or their respective directors, officers, employees and agents shall not use, the proceeds of any Borrowing (i) in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment or giving of money, or anything else of value, to any Person in violation of any Anti-Corruption Laws, (ii) for the purpose of funding, financing or facilitating any activities, business or transaction of or with any Sanctioned Person, or in any Sanctioned Country, except to the extent permitted for a Person required to comply with Sanctions, or (iii) in any manner that would result in the violation of any Sanctions applicable to any party hereto. Debt Rating. The Borrower shall cause NW Natural to maintain at all times a Debt Rating from both ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ and S&P. ARTICLE VI Negative Covenants Until the Commitments have expired or terminated and the principal of and interest on each Loan and all fees payable hereunder have been paid in full, the Borrower covenants and agrees with the Lenders that it will not: Fundamental Changes. (a) With respect to the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary, without the consent of the Administrative Agent and the Required Lenders enter into any transaction of merger or consolidation or amalgamation, or liquidate, wind up or dissolve (or suffer any liquidation or dissolution), convey, sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of, in one transaction or a series of transactions, all or substantially all of the consolidated assets of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except (i) for sales, leases or rentals of property or assets in the ordinary course of business, (ii) that any consolidated Subsidiary of the Borrower may be merged or consolidated with or into the Borrower (provided that the Borrower shall be the continuing or surviving corporation) or with any one or more Subsidiaries of the Borrower (provided that if any such transaction shall be between a Subsidiary and a wholly-owned Subsidiary, the wholly-owned Subsidiary shall be the continuing or surviving corporation), (iii) any Subsidiary may sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of any or all of its assets (upon voluntary liquidation or otherwise) to the Borrower or another wholly-owned Subsidiary of the Borrower and (iv) the Borrower may be merged with any other Person if (x) the Borrower is the surviving corporation, (y) immediately after giving effect to such merger, there shall exist no condition or event which constitutes an Event of Default or which, with the giving of notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute an Event of Default, and (z) all representations and warranties contained in Article III hereof are true and correct in all material respects (except for any such representation and warranty that is qualified by materiality or reference to Material Adverse Effect, which representation shall be true and correct in all respects) on and as of the date of the consummation of such merger, and after giving effect thereto, as though restated on and as of such date (except to the extent that such representations and warranties specifically refer to an earlier date, in which case they shall be true and correct in all material respects (except for any such representation and warranty that is qualified by materiality or reference to Material Adverse Effect, which representation shall be true and correct in all respects) as of such earlier date). 42 (b) With respect to the Borrower, without the consent of the Administrative Agent and the Required Lenders, cease to own, directly or indirectly, 100% of the Equity Interests of NW Natural (other than a single share of the junior preferred capital stock of NW Natural held by an independent third party), free and clear of any lien, pledge, charge or other security interest. Financial Covenant. Maintenance of Consolidated Indebtedness to Total Capitalization. As at the end of any fiscal quarter of the Borrower, permit Consolidated Indebtedness to be greater than 70% of Total Capitalization. ARTICLE VII Events of Default Events of Default. If any of the following events (“Events of Default”) shall occur: (a) The Borrower shall fail to pay any principal of the Loans when due in accordance with the terms hereof; or (b) The Borrower shall fail to pay any interest on the Loans, or any other amount payable by the Borrower hereunder, within five days after any such amount becomes due in accordance with the terms hereof; or (c) Any representation or warranty made or deemed made by the Borrower herein shall prove to have been incorrect in any material respect on or as of the date made; or (d) The Borrower shall default in the observance or performance of any covenant described in Sections 5.08, 6.01 or 6.02; or the Borrower shall default in the observance or performance of any other agreement or covenant contained in this Agreement, and such default shall continue unremedied for a period of 30 days after the earlier of (i) the date a Responsible Officer has knowledge of such default or (ii) written notice of such default shall have been given to the Borrower by the Administrative Agent or any Lender; or (e) The Borrower or any Subsidiary of the Borrower shall fail to make any payment in respect of any Indebtedness having singly or in the aggregate an outstanding amount in excess of $50 million when due or within any applicable grace period; or (f) A final judgment for the payment of money exceeding an aggregate of $15 million shall be rendered or entered against the Borrower and/or any Significant Subsidiary and the same shall remain undischarged for a period of 60 days during which execution shall not be effectively stayed or contested in good faith; or (g) An involuntary proceeding shall be commenced or an involuntary petition shall be filed seeking (i) liquidation, reorganization or other relief in respect of the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary or its debts, or of a substantial part of its assets, under any Federal, state or foreign bankruptcy, insolvency, receivership or similar law now or hereafter in effect or (ii) the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian, sequestrator, conservator or similar official for the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary or for a substantial part of its assets, and, in any such case, such proceeding or petition shall continue undismissed for 60 days or an order or decree approving or ordering any of the foregoing shall be entered; or 43 (h) The Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary shall (i) voluntarily commence any proceeding or file any petition seeking liquidation, reorganization or other relief under any Federal, state or foreign bankruptcy, insolvency, receivership or similar law now or hereafter in effect, (ii) consent to the institution of, or fail to contest in a timely and appropriate manner, any proceeding or petition described in clause (g) above, (iii) apply for or consent to the appointment of a receiver, trustee, custodian, sequestrator, conservator or similar official for the Borrower or any Significant Subsidiary or for a substantial part of its assets, (iv) file an answer admitting the material allegations of a petition filed against it in any such proceeding, (v) make a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, (vi) become unable, admit in writing its inability or fail generally to pay its debts as they become due or (vii) take any action for the purpose of effecting any of the foregoing; (i) a Change in Control shall occur; (j) an ERISA Event shall have occurred (other than NW Natural’s December 22, 2013 withdrawal from the Western States Office and Professional Employees International Union Pension Fund) that, in the opinion of the Required Lenders, when taken together with all other ERISA Events that have occurred, could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; or (k) any material provision of any Loan Document, at any time after its execution and delivery and for any reason other than as expressly permitted hereunder or thereunder or satisfaction in full of all Obligations, ceases to be in full force and effect; or the Borrower or any Subsidiary contests in writing the validity or enforceability of any provision of any Loan Document; or, prior to satisfaction in full of all Obligations, the Borrower denies in writing that it has any or further liability or obligation under any Loan Document, or the Borrower purports in writing to revoke, terminate or rescind any Loan Document other than in compliance with Section 9.02; then, and in every such event (other than an event with respect to the Borrower, described in clause (g) or (h) above), and at any time thereafter during the continuance of such event, the Administrative Agent may, and at the request of the Required Lenders shall, by notice to the Borrower, take either or both of the following actions, at the same or different times: (i) declare the Loans then outstanding to be due and payable in whole (or in part, in which case any principal not so declared to be due and payable may thereafter be declared to be due and payable), and thereupon the principal of the Loans so declared to be due and payable, together with accrued interest thereon and all fees and other Obligations of the Borrower accrued hereunder, shall become due and payable immediately, without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby waived by the Borrower, and (ii) exercise on behalf of itself, the Lenders all rights and remedies available to it, the Lenders under the Loan Documents and applicable law; and in case of any event with respect to the Borrower described in clause (g) or (h) of this Section, the principal of the Loans then outstanding, together with accrued interest thereon and all fees and other Obligations accrued hereunder and under the other Loan Documents, shall automatically become due and payable, without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any kind, all of which are hereby waived by the Borrower. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, the Administrative Agent may, and at the request of the Required Lenders shall, exercise any rights and remedies provided to the Administrative Agent under the Loan Documents or at law or equity. Application of Payments. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, following the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, and notice thereof to the Administrative Agent by the Borrower or the Required Lenders, all payments received on account of the Obligations shall, subject to Section 2.20, be applied by the Administrative Agent as follows: (i) first, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting fees, indemnities, expenses and other amounts payable to the Administrative Agent (including fees and 44 disbursements and other charges of counsel to the Administrative Agent payable under Section 9.03 and amounts pursuant to Section 2.12 payable to the Administrative Agent in its capacity as such); (ii) second, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting fees, expenses, indemnities and other amounts (other than principal and interest) payable to the Lenders (including fees and disbursements and other charges of counsel to the Lenders payable under Section 9.03) arising under the Loan Documents, ratably among them in proportion to the respective amounts described in this clause (ii) payable to them; (iii) third, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting accrued and unpaid charges and interest on the Loans, ratably among the Lenders in proportion to the respective amounts described in this clause (iii) payable to them; (iv) fourth, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting unpaid principal of the Loans, ratably among the Lenders in proportion to the respective amounts described in this clause (iv) payable to them; (v) fifth, to the payment in full of all other Obligations, in each case ratably among the Administrative Agent, the Lenders based upon the respective aggregate amounts of all such Obligations owing to them in accordance with the respective amounts thereof then due and payable; and (vi) finally, the balance, if any, after all Obligations have been indefeasibly paid in full, to the Borrower or as otherwise required by law. ARTICLE VIII The Administrative Agent Authorization and Action. (a) Each Lender hereby irrevocably appoints the entity named as Administrative Agent in the heading of this Agreement and its successors and assigns to serve as the administrative agent under the Loan Documents and each Lender authorizes the Administrative Agent to take such actions as agent on its behalf and to exercise such powers under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents as are delegated to the Administrative Agent under such agreements and to exercise such powers as are reasonably incidental thereto. Without limiting the foregoing, each Lender hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to execute and deliver, and to perform its obligations under, each of the Loan Documents to which the Administrative Agent is a party, to exercise all rights, powers and remedies that the Administrative Agent may have under such Loan Documents. (b) As to any matters not expressly provided for herein and in the other Loan Documents (including enforcement or collection), the Administrative Agent shall not be required to exercise any discretion or take any action, but shall be required to act or to refrain from acting (and shall be fully protected in so acting or refraining from acting) upon the written instructions of the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, pursuant to the terms in the Loan Documents), and, unless and until revoked in writing, such instructions shall be binding upon each Lender; provided, however, that the Administrative Agent shall not be required to take any action that (i) the Administrative Agent in good faith believes exposes it to liability unless the Administrative Agent receives an indemnification and is exculpated in a manner satisfactory to it from the Lenders with respect to such action or (ii) is contrary to this Agreement or any other Loan Document or applicable law, including any action that may be in violation of the automatic stay under any requirement of law relating
45 to bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization or relief of debtors or that may effect a forfeiture, modification or termination of property of a Defaulting Lender in violation of any requirement of law relating to bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization or relief of debtors; provided, further, that the Administrative Agent may seek clarification or direction from the Required Lenders prior to the exercise of any such instructed action and may refrain from acting until such clarification or direction has been provided. Except as expressly set forth in the Loan Documents, the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty to disclose, and shall not be liable for the failure to disclose, any information relating to the Borrower, any Subsidiary or any Affiliate of any of the foregoing that is communicated to or obtained by the Person serving as Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates in any capacity. Nothing in this Agreement shall require the Administrative Agent to expend or risk its own funds or otherwise incur any financial liability in the performance of any of its duties hereunder or in the exercise of any of its rights or powers if it shall have reasonable grounds for believing that repayment of such funds or adequate indemnity against such risk or liability is not reasonably assured to it. (c) In performing its functions and duties hereunder and under the other Loan Documents, the Administrative Agent is acting solely on behalf of the Lenders (except in limited circumstances expressly provided for herein relating to the maintenance of the Register), and its duties are entirely mechanical and administrative in nature. The motivations of the Administrative Agent are commercial in nature and not to invest in the general performance or operations of the Borrower. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing: (i) the Administrative Agent does not assume and shall not be deemed to have assumed any obligation or duty or any other relationship as the agent, fiduciary or trustee of or for any Lender or holder of any other obligation other than as expressly set forth herein and in the other Loan Documents, regardless of whether a Default or an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing (and it is understood and agreed that the use of the term “agent” (or any similar term) herein or in any other Loan Document with reference to the Administrative Agent is not intended to connote any fiduciary duty or other implied (or express) obligations arising under agency doctrine of any applicable law, and that such term is used as a matter of market custom and is intended to create or reflect only an administrative relationship between contracting parties); additionally, each Lender agrees that it will not assert any claim against the Administrative Agent based on an alleged breach of fiduciary duty by the Administrative Agent in connection with this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby; (ii) nothing in this Agreement or any Loan Document shall require the Administrative Agent to account to any Lender for any sum or the profit element of any sum received by the Administrative Agent for its own account; (d) The Administrative Agent may perform any of its duties and exercise its rights and powers hereunder or under any other Loan Document by or through any one or more sub-agents appointed by the Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent may perform any of their respective duties and exercise their respective rights and powers through their respective Related Parties. The exculpatory provisions of this Article shall apply to any such sub-agent and to the Related Parties of the Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent, and shall apply to their respective activities pursuant to this Agreement. The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for the negligence or misconduct of any sub-agent except to the extent that a court of competent jurisdiction 46 determines in a final and nonappealable judgment that the Administrative Agent acted with gross negligence or willful misconduct in the selection of such sub-agent. (e) The Arranger shall have no obligations or duties whatsoever in such capacity under this Agreement or any other Loan Document and shall incur no liability hereunder or thereunder in such capacity, but shall have the benefit of the indemnities provided for hereunder. (f) In case of the pendency of any proceeding with respect to the Borrower under any Federal, state or foreign bankruptcy, insolvency, receivership or similar law now or hereafter in effect, the Administrative Agent (irrespective of whether the principal of any Loan or any other obligation shall then be due and payable as herein expressed or by declaration or otherwise and irrespective of whether the Administrative Agent shall have made any demand on the Borrower) shall be entitled and empowered (but not obligated) by intervention in such proceeding or otherwise: (i) to file and prove a claim for the whole amount of the principal and interest owing and unpaid in respect of the Loans and all other Obligations that are owing and unpaid and to file such other documents as may be necessary or advisable in order to have the claims of the Lenders and the Administrative Agent (including any claim under Sections 2.12, 2.13, 2.15, 2.17 and 9.03) allowed in such judicial proceeding; and (ii) to collect and receive any monies or other property payable or deliverable on any such claims and to distribute the same; and any custodian, receiver, assignee, trustee, liquidator, sequestrator or other similar official in any such proceeding is hereby authorized by each Lender to make such payments to the Administrative Agent and, in the event that the Administrative Agent shall consent to the making of such payments directly to the Lenders, to pay to the Administrative Agent any amount due to it, in its capacity as the Administrative Agent, under the Loan Documents (including under Section 9.03). Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to authorize the Administrative Agent to authorize or consent to or accept or adopt on behalf of any Lender any plan of reorganization, arrangement, adjustment or composition affecting the Obligations or the rights of any Lender or to authorize the Administrative Agent to vote in respect of the claim of any Lender in any such proceeding. (g) The provisions of this Article are solely for the benefit of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders, and, except solely to the extent of the Borrower’s rights to consent pursuant to and subject to the conditions set forth in this Article, none of the Borrower or any Subsidiary, or any of their respective Affiliates, shall have any rights as a third party beneficiary under any such provisions. Administrative Agent’s Reliance, Indemnification, Etc. (a) Neither the Administrative Agent nor any of its Related Parties shall be (i) liable for any action taken or omitted to be taken by it under or in connection with this Agreement or the other Loan Documents (x) with the consent of or at the request of the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, or as the Administrative Agent shall believe in good faith to be necessary, under the circumstances as provided in the Loan Documents) or (y) in the absence of its own gross negligence or willful misconduct (such absence to be presumed unless otherwise determined by a court of competent jurisdiction by a final and nonappealable judgment) or (ii) responsible in any manner to any of the Lenders for any recitals, statements, representations or warranties made by the Borrower or any officer thereof contained in this Agreement or any other Loan Document or in any certificate, report, statement or other document referred to or provided for in, or received by the Administrative Agent under or in connection with, this 47 Agreement or any other Loan Document or for the value, validity, effectiveness, genuineness, enforceability or sufficiency of this Agreement or any other Loan Document (including, for the avoidance of doubt, in connection with the Administrative Agent’s reliance on any Electronic Signature transmitted by telecopy, emailed pdf, or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page) or for any failure of the Borrower to perform its obligations hereunder or thereunder. (b) The Administrative Agent shall be deemed not to have knowledge of any Default unless and until written notice thereof (stating that it is a “notice of default”) is given to the Administrative Agent by the Borrower or a Lender, and the Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to ascertain or inquire into (i) any statement, warranty or representation made in or in connection with any Loan Document, (ii) the contents of any certificate, report or other document delivered thereunder or in connection therewith, (iii) the performance or observance of any of the covenants, agreements or other terms or conditions set forth in any Loan Document or the occurrence of any Default, (iv) the sufficiency, validity, enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of any Loan Document or any other agreement, instrument or document, or (v) the satisfaction of any condition set forth in Article IV or elsewhere in any Loan Document, other than to confirm receipt of items expressly required to be delivered to the Administrative Agent or satisfaction of any condition that expressly refers to the matters described therein being acceptable or satisfactory to the Administrative Agent. (c) Without limiting the foregoing, the Administrative Agent (i) may treat the payee of any promissory note as its holder until such promissory note has been assigned in accordance with Section 9.04, (ii) may rely on the Register to the extent set forth in Section 9.04(b), (iii) may consult with legal counsel (including counsel to the 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, (iv) makes no warranty or representation to any Lender and shall not be responsible to any Lender for any statements, warranties or representations made by or on behalf of the Borrower in connection with this Agreement or any other Loan Document, (v) in determining compliance with any condition hereunder to the making of a Loan, that by its terms must be fulfilled to the satisfaction of a Lender, may presume that such condition is satisfactory to such Lender unless the Administrative Agent shall have received notice to the contrary from such Lender sufficiently in advance of the making of such Loan and (vi) shall be entitled to rely on, and shall incur no liability under or in respect of this Agreement or any other Loan Document by acting upon, any notice, consent, certificate or other instrument or writing (which writing may be a fax, any electronic message, Internet or intranet website posting or other distribution) or any statement made to it orally or by telephone and believed by it to be genuine and signed or sent or otherwise authenticated by the proper party or parties (whether or not such Person in fact meets the requirements set forth in the Loan Documents for being the maker thereof). Posting of Communications. (a) The Borrower agrees that the Administrative Agent may, but shall not be obligated to, make any Communications available to the Lenders by posting the Communications on IntraLinks™, DebtDomain, SyndTrak, ClearPar or any other electronic platform chosen by the Administrative Agent to be its electronic transmission system (the “Approved Electronic Platform”). (b) Although the Approved Electronic Platform and its primary web portal are secured with generally-applicable security procedures and policies implemented or modified by the Administrative Agent from time to time (including, as of the Effective Date, a user ID/password authorization system) and the Approved Electronic Platform is secured through a per-deal authorization method whereby each user may access the Approved Electronic Platform only on a deal-by-deal basis, each of the Lenders and the Borrower acknowledges and agrees that the distribution of material through an electronic medium is not necessarily secure, that the Administrative Agent is not responsible for 48 approving or vetting the representatives or contacts of any Lender that are added to the Approved Electronic Platform, and that there are confidentiality and other risks associated with such distribution. Each of the Lenders and the Borrower hereby approves distribution of the Communications through the Approved Electronic Platform and understands and assumes the risks of such distribution. (c) THE APPROVED ELECTRONIC PLATFORM AND THE COMMUNICATIONS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”. THE APPLICABLE PARTIES (AS DEFINED BELOW) DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE COMMUNICATIONS, OR THE ADEQUACY OF THE APPROVED ELECTRONIC PLATFORM AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM LIABILITY FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN THE APPROVED ELECTRONIC PLATFORM AND THE COMMUNICATIONS. NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS OR FREEDOM FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER CODE DEFECTS, IS MADE BY THE APPLICABLE PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS OR THE APPROVED ELECTRONIC PLATFORM. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT, THE ARRANGER OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE RELATED PARTIES (COLLECTIVELY, “APPLICABLE PARTIES”) HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO THE BORROWER, ANY LENDER OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSSES OR EXPENSES (WHETHER IN TORT, CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE) ARISING OUT OF THE BORROWER’S OR THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT’S TRANSMISSION OF COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH THE INTERNET OR THE APPROVED ELECTRONIC PLATFORM. “Communications” means, collectively, any notice, demand, communication, information, document or other material provided by or on behalf of the Borrower pursuant to any Loan Document or the transactions contemplated therein which is distributed by the Administrative Agent or any Lender by means of electronic communications pursuant to this Section, including through an Approved Electronic Platform. (d) Each Lender agrees that notice to it (as provided in the next sentence) specifying that Communications have been posted to the Approved Electronic Platform shall constitute effective delivery of the Communications to such Lender for purposes of the Loan Documents. Each Lender agrees (i) to notify the Administrative Agent in writing (which could be in the form of electronic communication) from time to time of such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s email address to which the foregoing notice may be sent by electronic transmission and (ii) that the foregoing notice may be sent to such email address. (e) Each of the Lenders and the Borrower agrees that the Administrative Agent may, but (except as may be required by applicable law) shall not be obligated to, store the Communications on the Approved Electronic Platform in accordance with the Administrative Agent’s generally applicable document retention procedures and policies. (f) Nothing herein shall prejudice the right of the Administrative Agent, any Lender to give any notice or other communication pursuant to any Loan Document in any other manner specified in such Loan Document. The Administrative Agent Individually. With respect to its Commitment and Loans, the Person serving as the Administrative Agent shall have and may exercise the same rights and powers hereunder and is subject to the same obligations and liabilities as and to the extent set forth herein for any other Lender. The terms “Lenders”, “Required Lenders” and any similar terms shall, unless the context clearly otherwise indicates, include the Administrative Agent in its individual capacity as a Lender or as
49 one of the Required Lenders, as applicable. The Person serving as the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates may accept deposits from, lend money to, own securities of, act as the financial advisor or in any other advisory capacity for and generally engage in any kind of banking, trust or other business with, the Borrower, any Subsidiary or any Affiliate of any of the foregoing as if such Person was not acting as the Administrative Agent and without any duty to account therefor to the Lenders. Successor Administrative Agent. Subject to the appointment and acceptance of a successor Administrative Agent as provided in this paragraph, the Administrative Agent may resign at any time by notifying the Lenders and the Borrower. Upon any such resignation, the Required Lenders shall have the right, in consultation with the Borrower, to appoint a successor. If no successor shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders and shall have accepted such appointment within 30 days after the retiring Administrative Agent gives notice of its resignation, then the retiring Administrative Agent may, on behalf of the Lenders, appoint a successor Administrative Agent which shall be a bank with an office in New York, New York, or an Affiliate of any such bank. Upon the acceptance of its appointment as Administrative Agent hereunder by a successor, such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring Administrative Agent, and the retiring Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations hereunder. The fees payable by the Borrower to a successor Administrative Agent shall be the same as those payable to its predecessor unless otherwise agreed between the Borrower and such successor. After the Administrative Agent’s resignation hereunder, the provisions of this Article and Section 9.03, as well as any exculpatory, reimbursement and indemnification provisions set forth in any other Loan Document, shall continue in effect for the benefit of such retiring Administrative Agent, its sub agents and their respective Related Parties in respect of any actions taken or omitted to be taken by any of them while it was acting as Administrative Agent. Acknowledgments of Lenders. (a) Each Lender represents and warrants that (i) the Loan Documents set forth the terms of a commercial lending facility, (ii) it is engaged in making, acquiring or holding commercial loans and in providing other facilities set forth herein as may be applicable to such Lender in the ordinary course of business, and not for the purpose of investing in the general performance or operations of the Borrower, or for the purpose of purchasing, acquiring or holding any other type of financial instrument such as a security (and each Lender agrees not to assert a claim in contravention of the foregoing, such as a claim under the federal or state securities laws), (iii) it has, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent, the Arranger or any other Lender, or any of the Related Parties of any of the foregoing, and based on such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, made its own credit analysis and decision to enter into this Agreement as a Lender, and to make, acquire or hold Loans hereunder and (iv) it is sophisticated with respect to decisions to make, acquire and/or hold commercial loans and to provide other facilities set forth herein, as may be applicable to such Lender, and either it, or the Person exercising discretion in making its decision to make, acquire and/or hold such commercial loans or to provide such other facilities, is experienced in making, acquiring or holding such commercial loans or providing such other facilities. Each Lender also acknowledges that it will, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent, the Arranger or any other Lender, or any of the Related Parties of any of the foregoing, and based on such documents and information (which may contain material, non-public information within the meaning of the United States securities laws concerning the Borrower and its Affiliates) as it shall from time to time deem appropriate, continue to make its own decisions in taking or not taking action under or based upon this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any related agreement or any document furnished hereunder or thereunder. Each Lender, by delivering its signature page to this Agreement on the Effective Date, or delivering its signature page to an Assignment and Assumption or any other Loan Document pursuant to which it shall become a Lender hereunder, shall be deemed to have acknowledged receipt of, and consented to and approved, each Loan Document and each other document required to be delivered to, or be approved by or satisfactory to, the Administrative Agent or the Lenders on the Effective Date. 50 (b) (i) If the Administrative Agent notifies a Lender or other holder of any Obligations (each, a “Lender Party”), or any Person who has received funds on behalf of a Lender Party (any such Lender Party or other recipient, a “Payment Recipient”), that the Administrative Agent has determined in its sole discretion (whether or not after receipt of any notice under Section 8.06(b)(ii)) that any funds received by such Payment Recipient from the Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates were erroneously transmitted to, or otherwise erroneously received by, such Payment Recipient (whether or not such error is known to any Payment Recipient) (any such funds, whether received as a payment, prepayment or repayment of principal, interest, fees, distribution or otherwise, individually and collectively, an “Erroneous Payment”) and demands the return of such Erroneous Payment (or a portion thereof), such Erroneous Payment shall at all times remain the property of the Administrative Agent and shall be segregated by the Payment Recipient and held in trust for the benefit of the Administrative Agent, and such Payment Recipient shall promptly, but in no event later than one Business Day thereafter, return to the Administrative Agent the amount of any such Erroneous Payment (or portion thereof) as to which such a demand was made, in same day funds (in the currency so received), together with interest thereon in respect of each day from and including the date such Erroneous Payment (or portion thereof) was received by such Payment Recipient to the date such amount is repaid to the Administrative Agent in same day funds at the greater of the Federal Funds Effective Rate and a rate determined by the Administrative Agent in accordance with banking industry rules on interbank compensation from time to time in effect. A notice of the Administrative Agent to any Payment Recipient under this clause (b)(ii) shall be conclusive, absent manifest error. (ii) Without limiting Section 8.06(b)(i), if any Payment Recipient receives a payment, prepayment or repayment (whether received as a payment, prepayment or repayment of principal, interest, fees, distribution or otherwise) from the Administrative Agent (or any of its Affiliates) that (x) is in a different amount than, or on a different date from, that specified in a notice of payment, prepayment or repayment sent by the Administrative Agent (or any of its Affiliates) with respect to such payment, prepayment or repayment, (y) was not preceded or accompanied by a notice of payment, prepayment or repayment sent by the Administrative Agent (or any of its Affiliates), or (z) such Payment Recipient otherwise becomes aware was transmitted, or received, in error (in whole or in part): (A) (1) in the case of immediately preceding clause (x) or (y), an error shall be presumed to have been made (absent written confirmation from the Administrative Agent to the contrary) or (2) in the case of immediately preceding clause (z), an error has been made, in each case, with respect to such payment, prepayment or repayment; and (B) such Payment Recipient shall promptly (and, in all events, within one Business Day of its knowledge of such error) notify the Administrative Agent of its receipt of such payment, prepayment or repayment, the details thereof (in reasonable detail) and that it is so notifying the Administrative Agent pursuant to this Section 8.06(b)(ii). (iii) Each Lender Party hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to set off, net and apply any and all amounts at any time owing to such Lender Party under any Loan Document, or otherwise payable or distributable by the Administrative Agent to such Lender Party from any source, against any amount due to the Administrative Agent under Section 8.06(b)(i) or under the indemnification provisions of this Agreement. 51 (iv) An Erroneous Payment shall not pay, prepay, repay, discharge or otherwise satisfy any Obligations, except to the extent such Erroneous Payment comprises funds received by the Administrative Agent from the Borrower for the purpose of making such Erroneous Payment. (v) To the extent permitted by applicable law, each Payment Recipient hereby agrees not to assert any right or claim to an Erroneous Payment, and hereby waives, and is deemed to waive, any claim, counterclaim, defense or right of set-off or recoupment, including without limitation any defense based on “discharge for value” or any similar doctrine, with respect to any demand, claim or counterclaim by the Administrative Agent for the return of any Erroneous Payment. (vi) Each party’s agreements under this Section 8.06(b) shall survive the resignation or replacement of the Administrative Agent, any transfer of rights or obligations by, or the replacement of, a Lender, the termination of the Commitments, or the repayment, satisfaction or discharge of any or all Obligations. Certain ERISA Matters. (a) Each Lender (x) represents and warrants, as of the date such Person became a Lender party hereto, to, and (y) covenants, from the date such Person became a Lender party hereto to the date such Person ceases being a Lender party hereto, for the benefit of, the Administrative Agent, and the Arranger and their respective Affiliates, and not, for the avoidance of doubt, to or for the benefit of the Borrower, that at least one of the following is and will be true: (i) such Lender is not using “plan assets” (within the meaning of the Plan Asset Regulations) of one or more Benefit Plans in connection with the Loans or the Commitments, (ii) the transaction exemption set forth in one or more PTEs, such as PTE 84- 14 (a class exemption for certain transactions determined by independent qualified professional asset managers), PTE 95-60 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving insurance company general accounts), PTE 90-1 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving insurance company pooled separate accounts), PTE 91-38 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving bank collective investment funds) or PTE 96-23 (a class exemption for certain transactions determined by in-house asset managers), is applicable with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement, and the conditions for exemptive relief thereunder are and will continue to be satisfied in connection therewith, (iii) (A) such Lender is an investment fund managed by a “Qualified Professional Asset Manager” (within the meaning of Part VI of PTE 84-14), (B) such Qualified Professional Asset Manager made the investment decision on behalf of such Lender to enter into, participate in, administer and perform the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement, (C) the entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement satisfies the requirements of sub-sections (b) through (g) of Part I of PTE 84- 14 and (D) to the best knowledge of such Lender, the requirements of subsection (a) of Part I of PTE 84-14 are satisfied with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement, or (iv) such other representation, warranty and covenant as may be agreed in writing between the Administrative Agent, in its sole discretion, and such Lender. 52 (b) In addition, unless either (1) sub-clause (i) in the immediately preceding clause (a) is true with respect to a Lender or (2) a Lender has provided another representation, warranty and covenant in accordance with sub-clause (iv) in the immediately preceding clause (a), such Lender further (x) represents and warrants, as of the date such Person became a Lender party hereto, to, and (y) covenants, from the date such Person became a Lender party hereto to the date such Person ceases being a Lender party hereto, for the benefit of, the Administrative Agent, the Arranger and their respective Affiliates, and not, for the avoidance of doubt, to or for the benefit of the Borrower, that none of the Administrative Agent, or the Arranger or any of their Affiliates is a fiduciary with respect to the assets of such Lender involved in such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement (including in connection with the reservation or exercise of any rights by the Administrative Agent under this Agreement, any Loan Document or any documents related hereto or thereto). (c) The Administrative Agent, and the Arranger hereby informs the Lenders that each such Person is not undertaking to provide impartial investment advice, or to give advice in a fiduciary capacity, in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, and that such Person has a financial interest in the transactions contemplated hereby in that such Person or an Affiliate thereof (i) may receive interest or other payments with respect to the Loans, the Commitments and this Agreement, (ii) may recognize a gain if it extended the Loans or the Commitments for an amount less than the amount being paid for an interest in the Loans or the Commitments by such Lender or (iii) may receive fees or other payments in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, the Loan Documents or otherwise, including structuring fees, commitment fees, arrangement fees, upfront fees, underwriting fees, ticking fees, agency fees, administrative agent or collateral agent fees, utilization fees, minimum usage fees, deal-away or alternate transaction fees, amendment fees, processing fees, term out premiums, banker’s acceptance fees, breakage or other early termination fees or fees similar to the foregoing. ARTICLE IX Miscellaneous Notices. (a) Except in the case of notices and other communications expressly permitted to be given by telephone (and subject to paragraph (b) below), all notices and other communications provided for herein shall be in writing and shall be delivered by hand or overnight courier service, mailed by certified or registered mail or sent by telecopy, as follows: (i) if to the Borrower, to it at ▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, Attention of ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇, Vice President, Treasurer, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller (Telecopy No. *****; Telephone No. *****; Email Address: *****); (ii) if to the Administrative Agent from the Borrower, to U.S. Bank National Association, at the address separately provided to the Borrower; (iii) if to the Administrative Agent from the Lenders, to U.S. Bank National Association, at ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, Attention: ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ (Telephone No. (▇▇▇) ▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇; Email Address: *****) and ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ (Telephone No. *****; Email Address: *****); and (iv) if to any other Lender, to it at its address (or telecopy number) set forth in its Administrative Questionnaire.
53 Notices sent by hand or overnight courier service, or mailed by certified or registered mail, shall be deemed to have been given when received; notices sent by facsimile shall be deemed to have been given when sent (except that, if not given during normal business hours for the recipient, shall be deemed to have been given at the opening of business on the next Business Day for the recipient). Notices delivered through Approved Electronic Platforms or other electronic means, to the extent provided in paragraph (b) below, shall be effective as provided in said paragraph (b). (b) Notices and other communications to the Lenders hereunder may be delivered or furnished by using Approved Electronic Platforms pursuant to procedures approved by the Administrative Agent; provided that the foregoing shall not apply to notices pursuant to Article II unless otherwise agreed by the Administrative Agent and the applicable Lender. The Administrative Agent or the Borrower may, in its discretion, agree to accept notices and other communications to it hereunder by electronic communications pursuant to procedures approved by it; provided that approval of such procedures may be limited to particular notices or communications. Unless the Administrative Agent otherwise prescribes, (i) notices and other communications sent to an e-mail address shall be deemed received upon the sender’s receipt of an acknowledgement from the intended recipient (such as by the “return receipt requested” function, as available, return e-mail or other written acknowledgement), and (ii) notices or communications posted to an Internet or intranet website shall be deemed received upon the deemed receipt by the intended recipient, at its e-mail address as described in the foregoing clause (i), of notification that such notice or communication is available and identifying the website address therefor; provided that, for both clauses (i) and (ii) above, if such notice, email or other communication is not sent during the normal business hours of the recipient, such notice or communication shall be deemed to have been sent at the opening of business on the next Business Day for the recipient. The Borrower hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to extend, convert or continue Loans and to transfer funds based on oral or written requests, including Borrowing Requests and Interest Election Requests via telephone; provided that any request to change the location or number of the account to which proceeds of any borrowing are to be disbursed must be in writing. The Administrative Agent may rely upon, and shall incur no liability for relying upon, any oral or written requests that the Administrative Agent reasonably believes to be genuine and to have been signed, sent or made by an authorized person. Upon request by the Administrative Agent, the Borrower shall promptly confirm each oral notice in writing (which may include email), authenticated by an Authorized Officer. (c) Any party hereto may change its address or telecopy number for notices and other communications hereunder by written notice to the other parties hereto. Waivers; Amendments. (a) No failure or delay by the Administrative Agent or any Lender in exercising any right or power hereunder or under any other Loan Document shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right or power, or any abandonment or discontinuance of steps to enforce such a right or power, preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right or power. The rights and remedies of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders hereunder and under the other Loan Documents are cumulative and are not exclusive of any rights or remedies that they would otherwise have. No waiver of any provision of this Agreement or consent to any departure by the Borrower therefrom shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be permitted by paragraph (b) of this Section, and then such waiver or consent shall be effective only in the specific instance and for the purpose for which given. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the making of a Loan shall not be construed as a waiver of any Default, regardless of whether the Administrative Agent or any Lender may have had notice or knowledge of such Default at the time. 54 (b) Subject to Section 2.14(b), (c) and (d), and clause (c) below, neither this Agreement nor any provision hereof may be waived, amended or modified except pursuant to an agreement or agreements in writing entered into by the Borrower and the Required Lenders or by the Borrower and the Administrative Agent with the consent of the Required Lenders; provided that no such agreement shall (i) increase or reinstate the Commitment of any Lender without the written consent of such Lender, (ii) reduce the principal amount of any Loan or reduce the rate of interest thereon, or reduce any fees payable hereunder, without the written consent of each Lender directly affected thereby, (iii) postpone the scheduled date of payment of the principal amount of any Loan, or any interest thereon, or any fees payable hereunder, or reduce the amount of, waive or excuse any such payment, or postpone the scheduled date of expiration of any Commitment, without the written consent of each Lender directly affected thereby, (iv) change Section 2.18(b) or (d) in a manner that would alter the ratable reduction of Commitments or Loans or pro rata sharing of payments required thereby, without the written consent of each Lender, (v) change the payment waterfall provisions of Section 2.20(a) or 7.02 without the written consent of each Lender or (vi) change any of the provisions of this Section or the definition of “Required Lenders” or any other provision hereof specifying the number or percentage of Lenders required to waive, amend or modify any rights hereunder or make any determination or grant any consent hereunder, without the written consent of each Lender; provided further that no such agreement shall amend, modify or otherwise affect the rights or duties of the Administrative Agent hereunder without the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no consent with respect to any amendment, waiver or other modification of this Agreement shall be required of any Defaulting Lender, except with respect to any amendment, waiver or other modification referred to in clause (i), (ii) or (iii) of the first proviso of this paragraph and then only in the event such Defaulting Lender shall be directly affected by such amendment, waiver or other modification. (c) If the Administrative Agent and the Borrower acting together identify any ambiguity, omission, mistake, typographical error or other defect in any provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document, then the Administrative Agent and the Borrower shall be permitted to amend, modify or supplement such provision to cure such ambiguity, omission, mistake, typographical error or other defect, and such amendment shall become effective without any further action or consent of any other party to this Agreement. Expenses; Limitation of Liability; Indemnity; Etc.. (a) Expenses. The Borrower shall pay (i) all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Administrative Agent, the Arranger and their respective Affiliates, including the reasonable fees, charges and disbursements of counsel and other advisors and professionals for such Persons, in connection with the syndication and distribution (including, without limitation, via the internet or through a service such as Intralinks), if any, of the credit facilities provided for herein, the investigation, preparation, negotiation, documentation, collection and administration of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents or any amendments, modifications or waivers of the provisions hereof or thereof (whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby shall be consummated) and (ii) all out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Administrative Agent, the Arranger or any Lender, including the fees, charges and disbursements of any counsel for the Administrative Agent, the Arranger or any Lender, in connection with the enforcement or protection of its rights in connection with this Agreement and any other Loan Document, including its rights under this Section, or in connection with the Loans made hereunder, including all such out-of-pocket expenses incurred during any workout, restructuring or negotiations in respect of such Loans. (b) Indemnity. The Borrower shall indemnify the Administrative Agent, the Arranger and each Lender, and each Related Party of any of the foregoing Persons (each such Person being called an “Indemnitee”) against, and hold each Indemnitee harmless from, any and all Liabilities 55 and related expenses, including the fees, charges and disbursements of any counsel for any Indemnitee, incurred by or asserted against any Indemnitee arising out of, in connection with, or as a result of (i) the execution or delivery of this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any agreement or instrument contemplated hereby or thereby, the performance by the parties hereto of their respective obligations hereunder or thereunder or the consummation of the Transactions or any other transactions contemplated hereby, (ii) any Loan or the use of the proceeds therefrom, (iii) any actual or alleged presence or release of Hazardous Materials on or from any property owned or operated by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, or any Environmental Liability related in any way to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries, or (iv) any actual or prospective Proceeding relating to any of the foregoing, whether or not such Proceeding is brought by the Borrower or its respective equity holders, Affiliates, creditors or any other third Person and whether based on contract, tort or any other theory and regardless of whether any Indemnitee is a party thereto; provided that such indemnity shall not, as to any Indemnitee, be available to the extent that such Liabilities or related expenses (A) result from a claim brought by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries against such Indemnitee for material breach of such Indemnitee’s or any of its Related Parties’ obligations under any Loan Document if the Borrower or such Subsidiary has obtained a final and nonappealable judgment in its favor on such claim as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction or (B) are determined by a court of competent jurisdiction by final and nonappealable judgment to have resulted from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of such Indemnitee. This Section 9.03(b) shall not apply with respect to Taxes other than any Taxes that represent losses, claims or damages arising from any non-Tax claim. (c) Lender Reimbursement. Each Lender severally agrees to pay any amount required to be paid by the Borrower under paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section 9.03 to the Administrative Agent and the Arranger, and each Related Party of any of the foregoing Persons (each, an “Agent-Related Person”) (to the extent not reimbursed by the Borrower and without limiting the obligation of the Borrower to do so), ratably according to their respective Credit Exposure in effect on the date on which such payment is sought under this Section (or, if such payment is sought after the date upon which the Commitments shall have terminated and the Loans shall have been paid in full, ratably in accordance with such Credit Exposure immediately prior to such date), and agrees to indemnify and hold each Agent- Related Person harmless from and against any and all Liabilities and related expenses, including the fees, charges and disbursements of any kind whatsoever that may at any time (whether before or after the payment of the Loans) be imposed on, incurred by or asserted against such Agent-Related Person in any way relating to or arising out of the Commitments, this Agreement, any of the other Loan Documents or any documents contemplated by or referred to herein or therein or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby or any action taken or omitted by such Agent-Related Person under or in connection with any of the foregoing; provided that the unreimbursed expense or Liability or related expense, as the case may be, was incurred by or asserted against such Agent-Related Person in its capacity as such; provided further that no Lender shall be liable for the payment of any portion of such Liabilities, costs, expenses or disbursements that are found by a final and nonappealable decision of a court of competent jurisdiction to have resulted from such Agent-Related Person’s gross negligence or willful misconduct. The agreements in this Section shall survive the termination of this Agreement and the payment of the Loans and all other amounts payable hereunder. (d) Limitation of Liability. To the extent permitted by applicable law, (i) the Borrower shall not assert, and hereby waives, any claim against the Administrative Agent, the Arranger and any Lender, and any Related Party of any of the foregoing Persons (each such Person being called a “Lender-Related Person”) for any Liabilities arising from the use by others of information or other materials obtained through telecommunications, electronic or other information transmission systems (including the Internet and any Approved Electronic Platform), and (ii) no party hereto shall assert, and each such party hereby waives, any claim against any other party hereto, on any theory of liability, for special, indirect, consequential or punitive damages (as opposed to direct or actual damages) arising out 56 of, in connection with, or as a result of, this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any agreement or instrument contemplated hereby or thereby, the Transactions, any Loan or the use of the proceeds thereof; provided that, nothing in this clause (d)(ii) shall relieve the Borrower of any obligation it may have to indemnify an Indemnitee against special, indirect, consequential or punitive damages asserted against such Indemnitee by a third party. (e) Payments. All amounts due under this Section shall be payable promptly after written demand therefor. Successors and Assigns. (a) The provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, except that (i) the Borrower may not assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of each Lender (and any attempted assignment or transfer by the Borrower without such consent shall be null and void) and (ii) no Lender may assign or otherwise transfer its rights or obligations hereunder except in accordance with this Section. Nothing in this Agreement, expressed or implied, shall be construed to confer upon any Person (other than the parties hereto, their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, Participants (to the extent provided in paragraph (c) of this Section) and, to the extent expressly contemplated hereby, the Related Parties of each of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders) any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or by reason of this Agreement. (b) (i) Subject to the conditions set forth in paragraph (b)(ii) below, any Lender may assign to one or more Persons (other than an Ineligible Institution) all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Loans at the time owing to it) with the prior written consent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld) of: (A) the Borrower (provided that the Borrower shall be deemed to have consented to any such assignment unless it shall object thereto by written notice to the Administrative Agent within ten (10) Business Days after having received notice thereof); provided, further, that no consent of the Borrower shall be required for an assignment to a Lender, an Affiliate of a Lender, an Approved Fund or, if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, any other assignee; and (B) the Administrative Agent; provided, that no consent of the Administrative Agent shall be required for an assignment of any portion of the Loans to an assignee that is a Lender (other than a Defaulting Lender) with a portion of the Loans immediately prior to giving effect to such assignment; and (ii) Assignments shall be subject to the following additional conditions: (A) except in the case of an assignment to a Lender or an Affiliate of a Lender or an Approved Fund or an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the assigning ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s Commitment or Loans, the amount of the Commitment or Loans of the assigning Lender subject to each such assignment (determined as of the date the Assignment and Assumption with respect to such assignment is delivered to the Administrative Agent) shall not be less than $5,000,000 unless each of the Borrower and the Administrative Agent otherwise consent to a lesser amount, provided that no such consent of the Borrower shall be required if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing;
57 (B) each partial assignment shall be made as an assignment of a proportionate part of all the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement; (C) the parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent (x) an Assignment and Assumption or (y) to the extent applicable, an agreement incorporating an Assignment and Assumption by reference pursuant to an Approved Electronic Platform as to which the Administrative Agent and the parties to the Assignment and Assumption are participants, together with a processing and recordation fee of $3,500, such fee to be paid by either the assigning Lender or the assignee Lender or shared between such Lenders; and (D) the assignee, if it shall not be a Lender, shall deliver to the Administrative Agent an Administrative Questionnaire in which the assignee designates one or more credit contacts to whom all syndicate-level information (which may contain material non-public information about the Borrower and its Affiliates and their Related Parties or their respective securities) will be made available and who may receive such information in accordance with the assignee’s compliance procedures and applicable laws, including Federal and state securities laws. For the purposes of this Section 9.04(b), the terms “Approved Fund” and “Ineligible Institution” have the following meanings: “Approved Fund” means any Person (other than a natural person) that is engaged in making, purchasing, holding or investing in bank loans and similar extensions of credit in the ordinary course of its business and that is administered or managed by (a) a Lender, (b) an Affiliate of a Lender or (c) an entity or an Affiliate of an entity that administers or manages a Lender. “Ineligible Institution” means (a) a natural person, (b) a Defaulting Lender or its Lender Parent, (c) a holding company, investment vehicle or trust for, or owned and operated for the primary benefit of, a natural person or relative(s) thereof or (d) the Borrower or any of its Affiliates; provided that, with respect to clause (c), such holding company, investment vehicle or trust shall not constitute an Ineligible Institution if it (x) has not been established for the primary purpose of acquiring any Loans or Commitments, (y) is managed by a professional advisor, who is not such natural person or a relative thereof, having significant experience in the business of making or purchasing commercial loans, and (z) has assets greater than $25,000,000 and a significant part of its activities consist of making or purchasing commercial loans and similar extensions of credit in the ordinary course of its business. (iii) Subject to acceptance and recording thereof pursuant to paragraph (b)(iv) of this Section, from and after the effective date specified in each Assignment and Assumption the assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto and, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption, have the rights and obligations of a Lender under this Agreement, and the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption, be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and Assumption covering all of the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto but shall continue to be entitled to the benefits of Sections 2.15, 2.16, 2.17 and 9.03). Any assignment or transfer by a Lender of rights or obligations under this Agreement that does not comply with this Section 9.04 shall be treated for purposes of this Agreement as a sale by such Lender of a participation in such rights and obligations in accordance with paragraph (c) of this Section. 58 (iv) The Administrative Agent, acting for this purpose as a non-fiduciary agent of the Borrower, shall maintain at one of its offices a copy of each Assignment and Assumption delivered to it and a register for the recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders, and the Commitment of, and principal amount (and stated interest) of the Loans owing to, each Lender pursuant to the terms hereof from time to time (the “Register”). The entries in the Register shall be conclusive, and the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the Lenders shall treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Register pursuant to the terms hereof as a Lender hereunder for all purposes of this Agreement, notwithstanding notice to the contrary. The Register shall be available for inspection by the Borrower and any Lender, at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice. (v) Upon its receipt of (x) a duly completed Assignment and Assumption executed by an assigning Lender and an assignee or (y) to the extent applicable, an agreement incorporating an Assignment and Assumption by reference pursuant to an Approved Electronic Platform as to which the Administrative Agent and the parties to the Assignment and Assumption are participants, the assignee’s completed Administrative Questionnaire (unless the assignee shall already be a Lender hereunder), the processing and recordation fee referred to in paragraph (b) of this Section and any written consent to such assignment required by paragraph (b) of this Section, the Administrative Agent shall accept such Assignment and Assumption and record the information contained therein in the Register; provided that if either the assigning Lender or the assignee shall have failed to make any payment required to be made by it pursuant to Section 2.07(b), 2.18(e) or 9.03(c), the Administrative Agent shall have no obligation to accept such Assignment and Assumption and record the information therein in the Register unless and until such payment shall have been made in full, together with all accrued interest thereon. No assignment shall be effective for purposes of this Agreement unless it has been recorded in the Register as provided in this paragraph. (c) Any Lender may, without the consent of, or notice to, the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, sell participations to one or more banks or other entities (a “Participant”), other than an Ineligible Institution, in all or a portion of such Lender’s rights and/or obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitment and/or the Loans owing to it); provided that (A) such Lender’s obligations under this Agreement shall remain unchanged; (B) such Lender shall remain solely responsible to the other parties hereto for the performance of such obligations; and (C) the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the other Lenders shall continue to deal solely and directly with such Lender in connection with such ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s rights and obligations under this Agreement. Any agreement or instrument pursuant to which a Lender sells such a participation shall provide that such Lender shall retain the sole right to enforce this Agreement and to approve any amendment, modification or waiver of any provision of this Agreement; provided that such agreement or instrument may provide that such Lender will not, without the consent of the Participant, agree to any amendment, modification or waiver described in the first proviso to Section 9.02(b) that affects such Participant. The Borrower agrees that each Participant shall be entitled to the benefits of Sections 2.15, 2.16 and 2.17 (subject to the requirements and limitations therein, including the requirements under Section 2.17(f) (it being understood that the documentation required under Section 2.17(f) shall be delivered to the participating Lender)) to the same extent as if it were a Lender and had acquired its interest by assignment pursuant to paragraph (b) of this Section; provided that such Participant (A) agrees to be subject to the provisions of Sections 2.18 and 2.19 as if it were an assignee under paragraph (b) of this Section; and (B) shall not be entitled to receive any greater payment under Sections 2.15 or 2.17, with respect to any participation, than its participating Lender would have been entitled to receive, except to the extent such entitlement to receive a greater payment results from a Change in Law that occurs after the Participant acquired the applicable participation. Each Lender that sells a participation agrees, at the Borrower’s request and expense, to use reasonable efforts to cooperate with the Borrower to effectuate the provisions of Section 59 2.19(b) with respect to any Participant. To the extent permitted by law, each Participant also shall be entitled to the benefits of Section 9.08 as though it were a Lender, provided that such Participant agrees to be subject to Section 2.18(c) as though it were a Lender. Each Lender that sells a participation shall, acting solely for this purpose as a non-fiduciary agent of the Borrower, maintain a register on which it enters the name and address of each Participant and the principal amounts (and stated interest) of each Participant’s interest in the Loans or other obligations under the Loan Documents (the “Participant Register”); provided that no Lender shall have any obligation to disclose all or any portion of the Participant Register (including the identity of any Participant or any information relating to a Participant’s interest in any Loans or its other obligations under any Loan Document) to any Person except to the extent that such disclosure is necessary to establish that such Commitment, Loan or other obligation is in registered form under Section 5f.103-1(c) of the United States Treasury Regulations. The entries in the Participant Register shall be conclusive absent manifest error, and such Lender shall treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Participant Register as the owner of such participation for all purposes of this Agreement notwithstanding any notice to the contrary. For the avoidance of doubt, the Administrative Agent (in its capacity as Administrative Agent) shall have no responsibility for maintaining a Participant Register. (d) Any Lender may at any time pledge or assign a security interest in all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement to secure obligations of such Lender, including any pledge or assignment to secure obligations to a Federal Reserve Bank, and this Section shall not apply to any such pledge or assignment of a security interest; provided that no such pledge or assignment of a security interest shall release a Lender from any of its obligations hereunder or substitute any such pledgee or assignee for such Lender as a party hereto. Survival. All covenants, agreements, representations and warranties made by the Borrower in the Loan Documents and in the certificates or other instruments delivered in connection with or pursuant to this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall be considered to have been relied upon by the other parties hereto and shall survive the execution and delivery of the Loan Documents and the making of any Loans, regardless of any investigation made by any such other party or on its behalf and notwithstanding that the Administrative Agent or any Lender may have had notice or knowledge of any Default or incorrect representation or warranty at the time any credit is extended hereunder, and shall continue in full force and effect as long as the principal of or any accrued interest on any Loan or any fee or any other amount payable under this Agreement or any other Loan Document is outstanding and unpaid and so long as the Commitments have not expired or terminated. The provisions of Sections 2.15, 2.16, 2.17 and 9.03 and Article VIII shall survive and remain in full force and effect regardless of the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, the repayment of the Loans, the expiration or termination of the Commitments or the termination of this Agreement or any other Loan Document or any provision hereof or thereof. Counterparts; Integration; Effectiveness; Electronic Execution. (a) This Agreement may be executed in counterparts (and by different parties hereto on different counterparts), each of which shall constitute an original, but all of which when taken together shall constitute a single contract. This Agreement, the other Loan Documents and any separate letter agreements with respect to fees payable to the Administrative Agent constitute the entire contract among the parties relating to the subject matter hereof and supersede any and all previous agreements and understandings, oral or written, relating to the subject matter hereof. Except as provided in Section 4.01, this Agreement shall become effective when it shall have been executed by the Administrative Agent and when the Administrative Agent shall have received counterparts hereof which, when taken together, bear the signatures of each of the other parties hereto, and thereafter shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns. 60 (b) Delivery of an executed counterpart of a signature page of (x) this Agreement, (y) any other Loan Document and/or (z) any document, amendment, approval, consent, information, notice (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any notice delivered pursuant to Section 9.01), certificate, request, statement, disclosure or authorization related to this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or the transactions contemplated hereby and/or thereby (each an “Ancillary Document”) that is an Electronic Signature transmitted by telecopy, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page shall be effective as delivery of a manually executed counterpart of this Agreement, such other Loan Document or such Ancillary Document, as applicable. The words “execution,” “signed,” “signature,” “delivery,” and words of like import in or relating to this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document shall be deemed to include Electronic Signatures, deliveries or the keeping of records in any electronic form (including deliveries by telecopy, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page), each of which shall be of the same legal effect, validity or enforceability as a manually executed signature, physical delivery thereof or the use of a paper-based recordkeeping system, as the case may be; provided that nothing herein shall require the Administrative Agent to accept Electronic Signatures in any form or format without its prior written consent and pursuant to procedures approved by it; provided, further, without limiting the foregoing, (i) to the extent the Administrative Agent has agreed to accept any Electronic Signature, the Administrative Agent and each of the Lenders shall be entitled to rely on such Electronic Signature purportedly given by or on behalf of the Borrower without further verification thereof and without any obligation to review the appearance or form of any such Electronic signature and (ii) upon the request of the Administrative Agent or any Lender, any Electronic Signature shall be promptly followed by a manually executed counterpart. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Borrower hereby (i) agrees that, for all purposes, including without limitation, in connection with any workout, restructuring, enforcement of remedies, bankruptcy proceedings or litigation among the Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Borrower, Electronic Signatures transmitted by telecopy, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page and/or any electronic images of this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document shall have the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as any paper original, (ii) the Administrative Agent and each of the Lenders may, at its option, create one or more copies of this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document in the form of an imaged electronic record in any format, which shall be deemed created in the ordinary course of such Person’s business, and destroy the original paper document (and all such electronic records shall be considered an original for all purposes and shall have the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as a paper record), (iii) waives any argument, defense or right to contest the legal effect, validity or enforceability of this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document based solely on the lack of paper original copies of this Agreement, such other Loan Document and/or such Ancillary Document, respectively, including with respect to any signature pages thereto and (iv) waives any claim against any Lender-Related Person for any Liabilities arising solely from the Administrative Agent’s and/or any Lender’s reliance on or use of Electronic Signatures and/or transmissions by telecopy, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page, including any Liabilities arising as a result of the failure of the Borrower to use any available security measures in connection with the execution, delivery or transmission of any Electronic Signature. Severability. Any provision of any Loan Document held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability without affecting the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions thereof; and the invalidity of a particular provision in a particular jurisdiction shall not invalidate such provision in any other jurisdiction. Right of Setoff. If an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, each Lender and each of their respective Affiliates is hereby authorized at any time and from time to time, to
61 the fullest extent permitted by law, with the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent, to set off and apply any and all deposits (general or special, time or demand, provisional or final and in whatever currency denominated) at any time held, and other obligations at any time owing, by such Lender or any such Affiliate, to or for the credit or the account of the Borrower against any and all of the Obligations now or hereafter existing under this Agreement or any other Loan Document to such Lender or its respective Affiliates, irrespective of whether or not such Lender or Affiliate shall have made any demand under this Agreement or any other Loan Document and although such obligations may be contingent or unmatured or are owed to a branch office or Affiliate of such Lender different from the branch office or Affiliate holding such deposit or obligated on such indebtedness; provided that in the event that any Defaulting Lender shall exercise any such right of setoff, (x) all amounts so set off shall be paid over immediately to the Administrative Agent for further application in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.20 and, pending such payment, shall be segregated by such Defaulting Lender from its other funds and deemed held in trust for the benefit of the Administrative Agent, and the Lenders, and (y) the Defaulting Lender shall provide promptly to the Administrative Agent a statement describing in reasonable detail the Obligations owing to such Defaulting Lender as to which it exercised such right of setoff. The rights of each Lender and its Affiliates under this Section are in addition to other rights and remedies (including other rights of setoff) that such Lender or its Affiliates may have. Each Lender agrees to notify the Borrower and the Administrative Agent promptly after any such setoff and application; provided that the failure to give such notice shall not affect the validity of such setoff and application. Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Consent to Service of Process. (a) This Agreement and the other Loan Documents shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the law of the State of New York. (b) Each of the Lenders and the Administrative Agent hereby irrevocably and unconditionally agrees that, notwithstanding the governing law provisions of any applicable Loan Document, any claims brought against the Administrative Agent by any Lender relating to this Agreement, any other Loan Document or the consummation or administration of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the law of the State of New York. (c) Each of the parties hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally submits, for itself and its property, to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York sitting in the Borough of Manhattan (or if such court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of the State of New York sitting in the Borough of Manhattan), and any appellate court from any thereof, in any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document or the transactions relating hereto or thereto, or for recognition or enforcement of any judgment, and each of the parties hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally agrees that all claims in respect of any such action or proceeding may (and any such claims brought against the Administrative Agent or any of its Related Parties may only) be heard and determined in such Federal (to the extent permitted by law) or New York State court. Each of the parties hereto agrees that a final judgment in any such action or proceeding shall be conclusive and may be enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner provided by law. Nothing in this Agreement or in any other Loan Document shall affect any right that the Administrative Agent or any Lender may otherwise have to bring any action or proceeding relating to this Agreement against the Borrower or its properties in the courts of any jurisdiction. (d) Each of the parties hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waives, to the fullest extent it may legally and effectively do so, any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any suit, action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any other 62 Loan Document in any court referred to in paragraph (c) of this Section. Each of the parties hereto hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of such action or proceeding in any such court. (e) Each party to this Agreement irrevocably consents to service of process in the manner provided for notices in Section 9.01. Nothing in this Agreement or any other Loan Document will affect the right of any party to this Agreement to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. EACH PARTY HERETO HEREBY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, ANY OTHER LOAN DOCUMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY (WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER THEORY). EACH PARTY HERETO (A) CERTIFIES THAT NO REPRESENTATIVE, AGENT OR ATTORNEY OF ANY OTHER PARTY HAS REPRESENTED, EXPRESSLY OR OTHERWISE, THAT SUCH OTHER PARTY WOULD NOT, IN THE EVENT OF LITIGATION, SEEK TO ENFORCE THE FOREGOING WAIVER AND (B) ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT AND THE OTHER PARTIES HERETO HAVE BEEN INDUCED TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT BY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE MUTUAL WAIVERS AND CERTIFICATIONS IN THIS SECTION. Headings. Article and Section headings and the Table of Contents used herein are for convenience of reference only, are not part of this Agreement and shall not affect the construction of, or be taken into consideration in interpreting, this Agreement. Confidentiality. Each of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders agrees to maintain the confidentiality of the Information (as defined below), except that Information may be disclosed (a) to its and its Affiliates’ directors, officers, employees and agents, including accountants, legal counsel and other advisors (it being understood that the Persons to whom such disclosure is made will be informed of the confidential nature of such Information and instructed to keep such Information confidential), (b) to the extent requested by any Governmental Authority (including any self-regulatory authority, such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners), (c) to the extent required by applicable laws or regulations or by any subpoena or similar legal process, (d) to any other party to this Agreement, (e) in connection with the exercise of any remedies under this Agreement or any other Loan Document or any suit, action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document or the enforcement of rights hereunder or thereunder, (f) subject to an agreement containing provisions substantially the same as those of this Section, to (1) any assignee of or Participant in, or any prospective assignee of or Participant in, any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement or (2) any actual or prospective counterparty (or its advisors) to any swap or derivative transaction relating to the Borrower and its obligations, (g) on a confidential basis to (1) any rating agency in connection with rating the Borrower or its Subsidiaries or the credit facilities provided for herein or (2) the CUSIP Service Bureau or any similar agency in connection with the issuance and monitoring of identification numbers with respect to the credit facilities provided for herein, (h) with the consent of the Borrower or (i) to the extent such Information (1) becomes publicly available other than as a result of a breach of this Section or (2) becomes available to the Administrative Agent or any Lender on a nonconfidential basis from a source other than the Borrower. For the purposes of this Section, “Information” means all information received from the Borrower relating to the Borrower or its business, other than any such information that is available to the Administrative Agent or any Lender on a nonconfidential basis prior to disclosure by the Borrower and other than information pertaining to this Agreement routinely provided by arrangers to data service providers, including league table providers, that serve the lending industry; provided that, in the case of information received from the Borrower after the date hereof, such information is clearly identified at the 63 time of delivery as confidential. Any Person required to maintain the confidentiality of Information as provided 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. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Section 9.12 shall prohibit any Person from voluntarily disclosing or providing any Information within the scope of this confidentiality provision to any governmental, regulatory or self-regulatory organization (any such entity, a “Regulatory Authority”) to the extent that any such prohibition on disclosure set forth in this Section 9.12 shall be prohibited by the laws or regulations applicable to such Regulatory Authority. Material Non-Public Information. (a) EACH LENDER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT INFORMATION AS DEFINED IN SECTION 9.12 FURNISHED TO IT PURSUANT TO THIS AGREEMENT MAY INCLUDE MATERIAL NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION CONCERNING THE BORROWER AND ITS RELATED PARTIES OR THEIR RESPECTIVE SECURITIES, AND CONFIRMS THAT IT HAS DEVELOPED COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES REGARDING THE USE OF MATERIAL NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION AND THAT IT WILL HANDLE SUCH MATERIAL NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THOSE PROCEDURES AND APPLICABLE LAW, INCLUDING FEDERAL AND STATE SECURITIES LAWS. (b) ALL INFORMATION, INCLUDING REQUESTS FOR WAIVERS AND AMENDMENTS, FURNISHED BY THE BORROWER OR THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT PURSUANT TO, OR IN THE COURSE OF ADMINISTERING, THIS AGREEMENT WILL BE SYNDICATE-LEVEL INFORMATION, WHICH MAY CONTAIN MATERIAL NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE BORROWER AND ITS RELATED PARTIES OR ITS RESPECTIVE SECURITIES. ACCORDINGLY, EACH LENDER REPRESENTS TO THE BORROWER AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT THAT IT HAS IDENTIFIED IN ITS ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTIONNAIRE A CREDIT CONTACT WHO MAY RECEIVE INFORMATION THAT MAY CONTAIN MATERIAL NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES AND APPLICABLE LAW. USA PATRIOT Act. Each Lender that is subject to the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (the “Patriot Act”) hereby notifies the Borrower that pursuant to the requirements of the Patriot Act, it is required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies the Borrower, which information includes the name and address of the Borrower and other information that will allow such Lender to identify the Borrower in accordance with the Patriot Act. Intentionally Omitted. Interest Rate Limitation. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if at any time the interest rate applicable to any Loan, together with all fees, charges and other amounts which are treated as interest on such Loan under applicable law (collectively the “Charges”), shall exceed the maximum lawful rate (the “Maximum Rate”) which may be contracted for, charged, taken, received or reserved by the Lender holding such Loan in accordance with applicable law, the rate of interest payable in respect of such Loan hereunder, together with all Charges payable in respect thereof, shall be limited to the Maximum Rate and, to the extent lawful, the interest and Charges that would have been payable in respect of such Loan but were not payable as a result of the operation of this Section shall be cumulated and the interest and Charges payable to such Lender in respect of other Loans or periods shall be increased (but not above the Maximum Rate therefor) until such cumulated amount, together with interest 64 thereon at the Federal Funds Effective Rate to the date of repayment, shall have been received by such Lender. No Fiduciary Duty, etc. The Borrower acknowledges and agrees, and acknowledges its Subsidiaries’ understanding, that no Credit Party will have any obligations except those obligations expressly set forth herein and in the other Loan Documents and each Credit Party is acting solely in the capacity of an arm’s length contractual counterparty to the Borrower with respect to the Loan Documents and the transactions contemplated therein and not as a financial advisor or a fiduciary to, or an agent of, the Borrower or any other person. The Borrower agrees that it will not assert any claim against any Credit Party based on an alleged breach of fiduciary duty by such Credit Party in connection with this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby. Additionally, the Borrower acknowledges and agrees that no Credit Party is advising the Borrower as to any legal, tax, investment, accounting, regulatory or any other matters in any jurisdiction. The Borrower shall consult with its own advisors concerning such matters and shall be responsible for making its own independent investigation and appraisal of the transactions contemplated hereby, and the Credit Parties shall have no responsibility or liability to the Borrower with respect thereto. The Borrower further acknowledges and agrees, and acknowledges its Subsidiaries’ understanding, that each Credit Party, together with its Affiliates, is a full service securities or banking firm engaged in securities trading and brokerage activities as well as providing investment banking and other financial services. In the ordinary course of business, any Credit Party may provide investment banking and other financial services to, and/or acquire, hold or sell, for its own accounts and the accounts of customers, equity, debt and other securities and financial instruments (including bank loans and other obligations) of, the Borrower and other companies with which it may have commercial or other relationships. With respect to any securities and/or financial instruments so held by any Credit Party or any of its customers, all rights in respect of such securities and financial instruments, including any voting rights, will be exercised by the holder of the rights, in its sole discretion. In addition, the Borrower acknowledges and agrees, and acknowledges its Subsidiaries’ understanding, that each Credit Party and its affiliates may be providing debt financing, equity capital or other services (including financial advisory services) to other companies in respect of which the Borrower or its Subsidiaries may have conflicting interests regarding the transactions described herein and otherwise. No Credit Party will use confidential information obtained from the Borrower by virtue of the transactions contemplated by the Loan Documents or its other relationships with the Borrower in connection with the performance by such Credit Party of services for other companies, and no Credit Party will furnish any such information to other companies. The Borrower also acknowledges that no Credit Party has any obligation to use in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Loan Documents, or to furnish to the Borrower, confidential information obtained from other companies. Acknowledgment and Consent to Bail-In of Affected Financial Institutions. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Loan Document or in any other agreement, arrangement or understanding among any such parties, each party hereto acknowledges that any liability of any Affected Financial Institution arising under any Loan Document may be subject to the Write-Down and Conversion Powers of the applicable Resolution Authority and agrees and consents to, and acknowledges and agrees to be bound by: (a) the application of any Write-Down and Conversion Powers by the applicable Resolution Authority to any such liabilities arising hereunder which may be payable to it by any party hereto that is an Affected Financial Institution; and (b) the effects of any Bail-In Action on any such liability, including, if applicable:
65 (i) a reduction in full or in part or cancellation of any such liability; (ii) a conversion of all, or a portion of, such liability into shares or other instruments of ownership in such Affected Financial Institution, its parent entity, or a bridge institution that may be issued to it or otherwise conferred on it, and that such shares or other instruments of ownership will be accepted by it in lieu of any rights with respect to any such liability under this Agreement or any other Loan Document; or (iii) the variation of the terms of such liability in connection with the exercise of the Write-Down and Conversion Powers of the applicable Resolution Authority. [Signature Pages Follow] Signature Page to Term Loan Credit Agreement (Northwest Natural Holding Company) IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be duly executed and delivered by their respective authorized officers as of the day and year first above written. NORTHWEST NATURAL HOLDING COMPANY, as the Borrower By /s/ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Name: ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Title: Vice President, Treasurer, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller Signature Page to Term Loan Credit Agreement (Northwest Natural Holding Company) U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, individually as a Lender and as Administrative Agent By /s/ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Name: ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Title: Vice President SCHEDULE 2.01 COMMITMENTS LENDER COMMITMENT U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION $50,000,000.00 AGGREGATE COMMITMENT $50,000,000.00
SCHEDULE 2.18 PLACE AND MANNER OF PAYMENTS All payments of principal, interest, fees, expenses and other amounts to be made by the Borrower under this Agreement shall be made to the Administrative Agent as follows: Administrative Agent’s Principal Office to Receive Funds: U.S. Bank National Association ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇. ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ Wiring Instructions: U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION ABA#: ***** Account #: ***** Beneficiary: ***** Ref: Northwest Natural Holding Company