EXHIBIT 4.1

TETRA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

_________

NOTE PURCHASE AGREEMENT

_________

Dated as of April 29, 2013

$35,000,000 4.00% Senior Notes due April 29, 2020

PPN: 88162F C@2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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TETRA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
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$35,000,000 4.00% Senior Notes due April 29, 2020

Dated as of April 29, 2013

TO EACH OF THE PURCHASERS LISTED IN

THE ATTACHED SCHEDULE A:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

TETRA TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), agrees with you as follows:

1.                   AUTHORIZATION OF NOTES.

1.1.              Description of Notes to be Initially Issued.

The Company has authorized the issue and sale of $35,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 4.00% Senior Notes due April 29, 2020 (the “Notes”, such term to include any such notes issued in substitution therefor pursuant to Section 13 of this Agreement).  The Notes shall be substantially in the form set out in Exhibit 1.1, with such changes therefrom, if any, as may be approved by you and the Company.  Certain capitalized terms used in this Agreement are defined in Schedule B; references to a “Schedule” or an “Exhibit” are, unless otherwise specified, to a Schedule or an Exhibit attached to this Agreement.

1.2.              Subsidiary Guaranty; Release.

2.                   SALE AND PURCHASE OF NOTES.

Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Company will issue and sell to you and each of the other purchasers named in Schedule A (the “Other Purchasers”), and you and the Other Purchasers will purchase from the Company, at the Closing provided for in Section 3, Notes in the denomination, principal amount and series specified opposite your names in Schedule A at the purchase price of 100% of the principal amount thereof.  Your obligation hereunder and the obligations of the Other Purchasers are several and not joint obligations and you shall have no liability to any Person for the performance or non-performance by any Other Purchaser hereunder.

3.                   CLOSING.

The sale and purchase of the Notes to be purchased by you and the Other Purchasers shall occur at the offices of ▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ LLP, ▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇  ▇▇▇▇▇ at 9:00 a.m., Chicago time, at a closing (the “Closing”) on any Business Day on or prior to May 15, 2013 as may be agreed upon by the Company and you and the Other Purchasers.  At the Closing the Company will deliver to you the Notes to be purchased by you in the form of a single Note (or such greater number of Notes in denominations of at least $100,000 as you may request) dated the date of the Closing and registered in your name (or in the name of your nominee), against delivery by you to the Company or their order of immediately available funds in the amount of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of immediately available funds for the account of the Company (for the benefit of the Company) to account number 4140282499 at Bank of America, N.A., ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, for ACH ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ABA No. for wires ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.  If at the Closing the Company fails to tender such Notes to you as provided above in this Section 3, or any of the conditions specified in Section 4 shall not have been fulfilled to your satisfaction, you shall, at your election, be relieved of all further obligations under this Agreement, without thereby waiving any rights you may have by reason of such failure or such nonfulfillment.

4.                   CONDITIONS TO CLOSING.

Your obligation to purchase and pay for the Notes to be sold to you at the Closing is subject to the fulfillment to your satisfaction, prior to or at the Closing, of the following conditions:

4.1.              Representations and Warranties.

The representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement shall be correct when made and at the time of the Closing.

4.2.              Performance; No Default.

The Company shall have performed and complied with all agreements and conditions contained in this Agreement required to be performed or complied with by it prior to or at the Closing and after giving effect to the issue and sale of the Notes (and the application of the proceeds thereof as contemplated by Section 5.14) no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary shall have entered into any transaction since the date of the Memorandum that would have been prohibited by Section 10 had such Section applied since such date.

4.3.              Compliance Certificates.

4.4.              Opinions of Counsel.

You shall have received opinions in form and substance satisfactory to you, dated the date of the Closing (a) from ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ LLP, and from ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ & Associates, P.C., each counsel to the Company, covering the matters set forth in Exhibit 4.4(a) and covering such other matters incident to the transactions contemplated hereby as you or your counsel may reasonably request (and the Company instructs its counsel to deliver such opinion to you) and (b) from ▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ LLP, your special counsel in connection with such transactions, substantially in the form set forth in Exhibit 4.4(b) and covering such other matters incident to such transactions as you may reasonably request.

4.5.              Purchase Permitted By Applicable Law, etc.

On the date of the Closing your purchase of Notes shall (i) be permitted by the laws and regulations of each jurisdiction to which you are subject, without recourse to provisions (such as Section 1405(a)(8) of the New York Insurance Law) permitting limited investments by insurance companies without restriction as to the character of the particular investment, (ii) not violate any applicable law or regulation (including, without limitation, Regulation U, T or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) and (iii) not subject you to any tax, penalty or liability under or pursuant to any applicable law or regulation, which law or regulation was not in effect on the date hereof.  If requested by you, you shall have received an Officer’s Certificate certifying as to such matters of fact as you may reasonably specify to enable you to determine whether such purchase is so permitted.

4.6.              Sale of Other Notes.

Contemporaneously with the Closing the Company shall sell to the Other Purchasers and the Other Purchasers shall purchase the Notes to be purchased by them at the Closing as specified in Schedule A.

4.7.              Payment of Special Counsel Fees.

Without limiting the provisions of Section 15.1, the Company shall have paid on or before the Closing the fees, charges and disbursements of your special counsel referred to in Section 4.4, to the extent reflected in a statement of such counsel rendered to the Company at least one Business Day prior to the Closing.

4.8.              Private Placement Number.

A Private Placement Number issued by Standard & Poor’s CUSIP Service Bureau (in cooperation with the Securities Valuations Office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners) shall have been obtained by ▇▇▇▇▇ & Lardner LLP for the Notes.

4.9.              Changes in Corporate Structure.

The Company shall not have changed its jurisdiction of organization or been a party to any merger or consolidation and shall not have succeeded to all or any substantial part of the liabilities of any other entity, at any time following the date of the most recent financial statements referred to in Schedule 5.5. 

4.10.           Subsidiary Guaranty.

Each Subsidiary Guarantor shall have executed and delivered the Subsidiary Guaranty in favor of you and the Other Purchasers and you shall have received a copy of the executed Subsidiary Guaranty.

4.11.           Funding Instructions.

At least three Business Days prior to the date of the Closing, each Purchaser shall have received written instructions signed by a Responsible Officer on letterhead of the Company confirming the information specified in Section 3 including (i) the name and address of the transferee bank, (ii) such transferee bank’s ABA number and (iii) the account name and number into which the purchase price for the Notes is to be deposited.

4.12.           Proceedings and Documents.

All corporate and other proceedings in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and all documents and instruments incident to such transactions shall be satisfactory to you and your special counsel, and you and your special counsel shall have received all such counterpart originals or certified or other copies of such documents as you or they may reasonably request.

5.                   REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY.

The Company represents and warrants to you that:

5.1.              Organization; Power and Authority.

The Company is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization, and is duly qualified as a foreign corporation and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required by law, other than those jurisdictions as to which the failure to be so qualified or in good standing could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company has the corporate power and authority to own or hold under lease the properties it purports to own or hold under lease, to transact the business it transacts and proposes to transact, to execute and deliver this Agreement and the Notes and to perform the provisions hereof and thereof.

5.2.              Authorization, etc.

This Agreement and the Notes have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate or partnership action on the part of the Company, and this Agreement constitutes, and upon execution and delivery thereof each Note will constitute, a legal, valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by (i) applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and (ii) general principles of equity (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law).

The Subsidiary Guaranty has been duly authorized by all necessary corporate, partnership or limited liability company action (as the case may be) on the part of each Subsidiary Guarantor and upon execution and delivery thereof will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligation of each Subsidiary Guarantor, enforceable against each Subsidiary Guarantor in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by (i) applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer, moratorium or other similar laws affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and (ii) general principles of equity (regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in equity or at law).

5.3.              Disclosure.

The Company, through its agent ▇.▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Securities Inc., has delivered to you and each Other Purchaser a copy of a Private Placement Memorandum, dated March 2013 (the “Memorandum”), relating to the transactions contemplated hereby.  The Memorandum along with the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC Reports”) fairly describes, in all material respects, the general nature of the business and principal properties of the Company and its Subsidiaries.  Except as disclosed in Schedule 5.3, this Agreement, the Memorandum (taking into consideration the Company’s SEC Reports as referenced in the Memorandum), the documents, certificates or other writings delivered to you by or on behalf of the Company in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby and the financial statements listed in Schedule 5.5 (this Agreement, the Memorandum and such

documents, certificates or other writings and such financial statements delivered to each Purchaser being referred to, collectively, as the “Disclosure Documents”), taken as a whole, do not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein not misleading in light of the circumstances under which they were made; provided that (i) with respect to projected financial information, the Company represents only that such information was prepared in good faith based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time, and (ii) projections concerning volumes attributable to oil and gas properties and production and cost estimates contained in reserve reports are necessarily based on professional opinions, estimates and projections, and the Company does not warrant that such opinions, estimates and projections will ultimately prove to have been accurate.  Except as disclosed in the Memorandum (taking into consideration the Company’s SEC Reports as referenced in the Memorandum) or as expressly described in Schedule 5.3, or in one of the documents, certificates or other writings identified therein, or in the financial statements listed in Schedule 5.5, since December 31, 2012, there has been no change in the financial condition, operations, business or properties of the Company or any Subsidiary except changes that individually or in the aggregate could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.  There is no fact known to the Company that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect that has not been set forth herein, in the Memorandum (taking into consideration the Company’s SEC Reports as referenced in the Memorandum) or in the other documents, certificates and other writings delivered to you by or on behalf of the Company specifically for use in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby.

5.4.              Organization and Ownership of Shares of Subsidiaries; Affiliates.

5.5.              Financial Statements.

The Company has delivered to you and each Other Purchaser copies of the financial statements of the Company and its Subsidiaries listed on Schedule 5.5.  All of said financial statements (including in each case the related schedules and notes) fairly present in all material respects the consolidated financial position of the Company and its Subsidiaries as of the respective dates specified in such Schedule and the consolidated results of their operations and cash flows for the respective periods so specified and have been prepared in accordance with GAAP consistently applied throughout the periods involved except as set forth in the notes thereto (subject, in the case of any interim financial statements, to normal year-end adjustments); provided that with respect to projected financial information, the Company represents only that such information was prepared in good faith based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time.  The Company and its Subsidiaries do not have any Material liabilities that are not disclosed in the Disclosure Documents.

5.6.              Compliance with Laws, Other Instruments, etc.

The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the Notes will not (i) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of the Company or any Subsidiary under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan, purchase or credit agreement, lease, corporate charter or by-laws, or any other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any Subsidiary is bound or by which the Company or any Subsidiary or any of their respective properties may be bound or affected, (ii) conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any order, judgment, decree, or ruling of any court, arbitrator or Governmental Authority applicable to the Company or any Subsidiary or (iii) violate any provision of any statute or other rule or regulation of any Governmental Authority, including the USA PATRIOT Act, applicable to the Company or any Subsidiary.

The execution, delivery and performance by each Subsidiary Guarantor of the Subsidiary Guaranty will not (i) contravene, result in any breach of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation of any Lien in respect of any property of such Subsidiary Guarantor under, any agreement, or corporate charter or by-laws, to which such Subsidiary Guarantor is bound or by which such Subsidiary Guarantor or any of its properties may be bound or affected, (ii) conflict

with or result in a breach of any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any order, judgment, decree, or ruling of any court, arbitrator or Governmental Authority applicable to such Subsidiary Guarantor or (iii) violate any provision of any statute or other rule or regulation of any Governmental Authority applicable to such Subsidiary Guarantor.

5.7.              Governmental Authorizations, etc.

No consent, approval or authorization of, or registration, filing or declaration with, any Governmental Authority is required in connection with the execution, delivery or performance by the Company of this Agreement or the Notes or the execution, delivery or performance by each Subsidiary Guarantor of the Subsidiary Guaranty.

5.8.              Litigation; Observance of Agreements, Statutes and Orders.

5.9.              Taxes.

The Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries have filed all tax returns that are required to have been filed in any jurisdiction, and have paid all taxes shown to be due and payable on such returns and all other taxes and assessments levied upon them or their properties, assets, income or franchises, to the extent such taxes and assessments have become due and payable and before they have become delinquent, except for any taxes and assessments (i) the amount of which is not individually or in the aggregate Material or (ii) the amount, applicability or validity of which is currently being diligently contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and with respect to which the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be, has established adequate reserves in accordance with GAAP.  The Company knows of no basis for any other tax or assessment that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.  The charges, accruals and reserves on the books of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries in respect of Federal, state or other taxes for all fiscal periods are adequate.  The Federal income tax liabilities of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries have been paid for all fiscal years up to and including the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011.

5.10.           Title to Property; Leases.

The Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries have good and sufficient title to their respective properties that individually or in the aggregate are Material, including all such properties reflected in the most recent audited balance sheet referred to in Section 5.5 or purported to have been acquired by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary after said date (except as sold or otherwise disposed of in the ordinary course of business), in each case free and clear of Liens prohibited by this Agreement.  All leases that individually or in the aggregate are Material are valid and subsisting and are in full force and effect in all material respects.

5.11.           Licenses, Permits, etc.

5.12.           Compliance with ERISA.

5.13.           Private Offering by the Company.

Neither the Company nor anyone acting on its behalf has offered the Notes or any similar securities for sale to, or solicited any offer to buy any of the same from, or otherwise approached or negotiated in respect thereof with, any person other than you and the Other Purchasers and not more than 9 other Institutional Investors, each of which has been offered the Notes at a private sale for investment.  Neither the Company nor anyone acting on its behalf has taken, or will take, any action that would subject the issuance or sale of the Notes to the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act.

5.14.           Use of Proceeds; Margin Regulations.

The Company will apply the proceeds of the sale of the Notes to refinance Indebtedness of the Company as set forth in Schedule 5.14, for general corporate purposes and for acquisitions and capital expenditures.  No part of the proceeds from the sale of the Notes will be used, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of buying or carrying any margin stock within the meaning of Regulation U of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (12 CFR 221), or for the purpose of buying or carrying or trading in any securities under such circumstances as to involve the Company in a violation of Regulation X of said Board (12 CFR 224) or to involve any broker or dealer in a violation of Regulation T of said Board (12 CFR 220).  Margin stock does not constitute more than 1% of the value of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries and the Company does not have any present intention that margin stock will constitute more than 1% of the value of such assets.  As used in this Section, the terms “margin

stock” and “purpose of buying or carrying” shall have the meanings assigned to them in said Regulation U.

5.15.           Existing Indebtedness; Future Liens.

5.16.           Foreign Assets Control Regulations, etc.

5.17.           Status under Certain Statutes.

Neither the Company nor any Restricted Subsidiary is subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005, as amended, the ICC Termination Act, as amended, or the Federal Power Act, as amended.

5.18.           Environmental Matters.

5.19.           Solvency of Subsidiary Guarantors.

After giving effect to the issuance and sale of the Notes and the application of the proceeds thereof and due consideration to any rights of contribution and reimbursement, (i) each Subsidiary Guarantor has received fair consideration and reasonably equivalent value for the incurrence of its obligations under the Subsidiary Guaranty or as contemplated by the Subsidiary Guaranty, (ii) the fair value of the assets of each Subsidiary Guarantor (at fair valuation) exceeds

its liabilities, (iii) each Subsidiary Guarantor is able to and expects to be able to pay its debts as they mature, and (iv) each Subsidiary Guarantor has capital sufficient to carry on its business as conducted and as proposed to be conducted.

6.                   REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PURCHASERS.

6.1.              Purchase for Investment.

You represent that you are purchasing the Notes for your own account or for one or more separate accounts maintained by you or for the account of one or more pension or trust funds and not with a view to the distribution thereof, provided that the disposition of your or their property shall at all times be within your or their control.  You understand that the Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act and may be resold only if registered pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Act or if an exemption from registration is available, except under circumstances where neither such registration nor such an exemption is required by law, and that the Company is not required to register the Notes.  You represent that you are an accredited investor as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (2), (3) or (7) under the Securities Act.

6.2.              Source of Funds.

You represent that at least one of the following statements is an accurate representation as to each source of funds (a “Source”) to be used by you to pay the purchase price of the Notes to be purchased by you hereunder:

As used in this Section 6.2, the terms “employee benefit plan”, “governmental plan” and “separate account” shall have the respective meanings assigned to such terms in section 3 of ERISA.

7.                   INFORMATION AS TO COMPANY.

7.1.              Financial and Business Information

The Company will deliver to each holder of Notes that is an Institutional Investor:

(i)                 a consolidated balance sheet of the Company and its Subsidiaries as at the end of such quarter,

(ii)               consolidated statements of income of the Company and its Subsidiaries for such quarter and (in the case of the second and third quarters) for the portion of the fiscal year ending with such quarter, and

(iii)            consolidated statements of cash flows of the Company and its Subsidiaries for such quarter or (in the case of the second and third quarters) for the portion of the fiscal year ending with such quarter,

setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures for the corresponding periods in the previous fiscal year, all in reasonable detail, prepared in accordance with GAAP applicable to quarterly financial statements generally, and certified by a Senior Financial Officer as fairly presenting, in all material respects, the financial position of the companies being reported on and their results of operations and cash flows, subject to changes resulting from year-end adjustments, provided that delivery within the time period specified above of copies of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q prepared in compliance with the requirements therefor and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this Section 7.1(a), provided, further, that the Company shall be deemed to have made such delivery of such Form 10-Q if it shall have timely made such Form 10-Q available on “▇▇▇▇▇” and on its home page on the worldwide web (at the date of this Agreement located at:  ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇) and shall have given each holder of Notes prior notice of such availability on ▇▇▇▇▇ and on its home page in connection with each delivery (such availability and notice thereof being referred to as “Electronic Delivery”);

(i)                 a consolidated balance sheet of the Company and its Subsidiaries, as at the end of such year, and

(ii)               consolidated statements of income, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its Subsidiaries, for such year,

setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures for the previous fiscal year, all in reasonable detail, prepared in accordance with GAAP, and accompanied by an opinion of independent certified public accountants of recognized national standing, which opinion shall

state that such financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the companies being reported upon and their results of operations and cash flows and have been prepared in conformity with GAAP, and that the examination of such accountants in connection with such financial statements has been made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, and that such audit provides a reasonable basis for such opinion in the circumstances, provided that the delivery within the time period specified above of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for such fiscal year (together with the Company’s annual report to shareholders, if any, prepared pursuant to Rule 14a-3 under the Exchange Act) prepared in accordance with the requirements therefor and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this Section 7.1(b), provided, further, that the Company shall be deemed to have made such delivery of such Form 10-K if it shall have timely made Electronic Delivery thereof;

(i)                 with respect to any Plan, any reportable event, as defined in section 4043(b) of ERISA and the regulations thereunder, for which notice thereof has not been waived pursuant to such regulations as in effect on the date hereof; or

(ii)               the taking by the PBGC of steps to institute, or the threatening by the PBGC of the institution of, proceedings under section 4042 of ERISA for the termination of, or the appointment of a trustee to administer, any Plan, or the receipt by the Company or any ERISA Affiliate of a notice from a Multiemployer Plan that such action has been taken by the PBGC with respect to such Multiemployer Plan; or

(iii)            any event, transaction or condition that could result in the incurrence of any liability by the Company or any ERISA Affiliate pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA or the penalty or excise tax provisions of the Code relating to employee benefit plans, or in the imposition of any Lien on any of the rights, properties or assets of the Company or any ERISA Affiliate pursuant to Title I or IV of ERISA or such penalty or excise tax provisions, if such liability or Lien, taken together with any other such liabilities or Liens then existing, could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

7.2.              Officer’s Certificate.

Each set of financial statements delivered to a holder of Notes pursuant to Section 7.1(a) or (b) shall be accompanied by a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer setting forth (which, in the case of Electronic Delivery of any such financial statements, shall be by separate concurrent delivery of such certificate to each holder of Notes):

7.3.              Inspection.

The Company will permit the representatives of each holder of Notes that is an Institutional Investor:

8.                   PREPAYMENT OF THE NOTES.

8.1.              No Scheduled Prepayments.

No regularly scheduled prepayments are due on the Notes prior to their stated maturity.

8.2.              Optional Prepayments.

The Company may, at its option, upon notice as provided below, prepay at any time all, or from time to time any part of the Notes, in an amount not less than $1,000,000 in the

aggregate in the case of a partial prepayment, at 100% of the principal amount so prepaid, plus the Make-Whole Amount determined for the prepayment date with respect to such principal amount.  The Company will give each holder of Notes to be prepaid written notice of each optional prepayment under this Section 8.2 not less than 30 days and not more than 60 days prior to the date fixed for such prepayment.  Each such notice shall specify such date, the aggregate principal amount of Notes to be prepaid on such date, the principal amount of each Note held by such holder to be prepaid (determined in accordance with Section 8.4), and the interest to be paid on the prepayment date with respect to such principal amount being prepaid, and shall be accompanied by a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer as to the estimated Make-Whole Amount due in connection with such prepayment (calculated as if the date of such notice were the date of the prepayment), setting forth the details of such computation.  Two Business Days prior to such prepayment, the Company shall deliver to each holder of Notes being prepaid a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer specifying the calculation of such Make-Whole Amount as of the specified prepayment date.

8.3.              Mandatory Offer to Prepay Upon Change of Control.

8.4.              Allocation of Partial Prepayments.

In the case of each partial prepayment of Notes pursuant to Section 8.2, the principal amount of the Notes to be prepaid shall be allocated among all of the Notes at the time

outstanding in proportion, as nearly as practicable, to the respective unpaid principal amounts thereof not theretofore called for prepayment.

8.5.              Maturity; Surrender, etc.

In the case of each prepayment of Notes pursuant to this Section 8, the principal amount of each Note to be prepaid shall mature and become due and payable on the date fixed for such prepayment, together with interest on such principal amount accrued to such date and the applicable Make-Whole Amount, if any.  From and after such date, unless the Company shall fail to pay such principal amount when so due and payable, together with the interest and Make-Whole Amount, if any, as aforesaid, interest on such principal amount shall cease to accrue.  Any Note paid or prepaid in full, after such payment and upon the written request of the Company, shall be surrendered to the Company and canceled and shall not be reissued, and no Note shall be issued in lieu of any prepaid principal amount of any Note.

8.6.              Purchase of Notes.

The Company will not and will not permit any Affiliate to purchase, redeem, prepay or otherwise acquire, directly or indirectly, any of the outstanding Notes except (a) upon the payment or prepayment of the Notes in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the Notes or (b) pursuant to an offer to purchase made by the Company or an Affiliate pro rata to the holders of any series of Notes at the time outstanding upon the same terms and conditions.  Any such offer shall provide each holder with sufficient information reasonably determined by the Company to enable it to make an informed decision with respect to such offer, and shall remain open for at least 10 Business Days.  If the holders of more than 50% of the principal amount of the Notes then outstanding accept such offer, the Company shall promptly notify the remaining holders of such fact and the expiration date for the acceptance by holders of Notes of such offer shall be extended by the number of days necessary to give each such remaining holder at least 10 Business Days from its receipt of such notice to accept such offer.  The Company will promptly cancel all Notes acquired by the Company or any Affiliate pursuant to any payment, prepayment or purchase of Notes pursuant to any provision of this Agreement and no Notes may be issued in substitution or exchange for any such Notes

8.7.              Make-Whole Amount.

“Called Principal” means, with respect to any Note, the principal of such Note that is to be prepaid pursuant to Section 8.2 or has become or is declared to be immediately due and payable pursuant to Section 12.1, as the context requires.

“Discounted Value” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, the amount obtained by discounting all Remaining Scheduled Payments with respect to such

Called Principal from their respective scheduled due dates to the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, in accordance with accepted financial practice and at a discount factor (applied on the same periodic basis as that on which interest on the Notes is payable) equal to the Reinvestment Yield with respect to such Called Principal.

“Reinvestment Yield” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, 0.50% over the yield to maturity implied by the yield(s) reported as of 10:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the second Business Day preceding the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, on the display designated as “Page PX1” (or such other display as may replace Page PX1) on Bloomberg Financial Markets for the most recently issued actively traded on-the-run U.S. Treasury securities (“Reported”) having a maturity equal to the Remaining Average Life of such Called Principal as of such Settlement Date.  If there are no such U.S. Treasury securities Reported having a maturity equal to such Remaining Average Life, then such implied yield to maturity will be determined by (a) converting U.S. Treasury ▇▇▇▇ quotations to bond equivalent yields in accordance with accepted financial practice and (b) interpolating linearly between the yields Reported for the applicable most recently issued actively traded on-the-run U.S. Treasury securities with the maturities (1) closest to and greater than such Remaining Average Life and (2) closest to and less than such Remaining Average Life.  The Reinvestment Yield shall be rounded to the number of decimal places as appears in the interest rate of the applicable Note.

If such yields are not Reported or the yields Reported as of such time are not ascertainable (including by way of interpolation), then “Reinvestment Yield” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, 0.50% over the yield to maturity implied by the U.S. Treasury constant maturity yields reported, for the latest day for which such yields have been so reported as of the second Business Day preceding the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal, in Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.15 (or any comparable successor publication) for the U.S. Treasury constant maturity having a term equal to the Remaining Average Life of such Called Principal as of such Settlement Date.  If there is no such U.S. Treasury constant maturity having a term equal to such Remaining Average Life, such implied yield to maturity will be determined by interpolating linearly between (1) the U.S. Treasury constant maturity so reported with the term closest to and greater than such Remaining Average Life and (2) the U.S. Treasury constant maturity so reported with the term closest to and less than such Remaining Average Life.  The Reinvestment Yield shall be rounded to the number of decimal places as appears in the interest rate of the applicable Note

“Remaining Average Life” means, with respect to any Called Principal, the number of years obtained by dividing (i) such Called Principal into (ii) the sum of the products obtained by multiplying (a) the principal component of each Remaining Scheduled Payment with respect to such Called Principal by (b) the number of years, computed on the basis of a 360-day year composed of twelve 30-day months and calculated to two decimal places, that will elapse between the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal and the scheduled due date of such Remaining Scheduled Payment.

“Remaining Scheduled Payments” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, all payments of such Called Principal and interest thereon that would be due after the Settlement Date with respect to such Called Principal if no payment of such Called Principal were made prior to its scheduled due date, provided that if such Settlement Date is not a date on which interest payments are due to be made under the Notes, then the amount of the next succeeding scheduled interest payment will be reduced by the amount of interest accrued to such Settlement Date and required to be paid on such Settlement Date pursuant to Section 8.4 or Section 12.1.

“Settlement Date” means, with respect to the Called Principal of any Note, the date on which such Called Principal is to be prepaid pursuant to Section 8.2 or has become or is declared to be immediately due and payable pursuant to Section 12.1, as the context requires.

9.                   AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS.

The Company covenants that from the date of this Agreement and for so long as any of the Notes are outstanding:

9.1.              Compliance with Law.

The Company will, and will cause each Restricted Subsidiary to, comply with all laws, ordinances or governmental rules or regulations to which each of them is subject, including Environmental Laws and the USA PATRIOT Act and the other laws and regulations that are referred to in Section 5.16, and will obtain and maintain in effect all licenses, certificates, permits, franchises and other governmental authorizations necessary to the ownership of their respective properties or to the conduct of their respective businesses, in each case to the extent necessary to ensure that non-compliance with such laws, ordinances or governmental rules or regulations or failures to obtain or maintain in effect such licenses, certificates, permits, franchises and other governmental authorizations could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.2.              Insurance.

The Company will, and will cause each Restricted Subsidiary to, maintain, with financially sound and reputable insurers, insurance with respect to their respective properties and businesses against such casualties and contingencies, of such types, on such terms and in such amounts (including deductibles, co-insurance and self-insurance, if adequate reserves are maintained with respect thereto) as is reasonable in the case of entities of established reputations engaged in the same or a similar business and similarly situated.

9.3.              Maintenance of Properties.

The Company will, and will cause each Restricted Subsidiary to, maintain and keep, or cause to be maintained and kept, their respective properties in good repair, working order and condition (other than ordinary wear and tear), so that the business carried on in connection therewith may be properly conducted at all times, provided that this Section shall not prevent the Company or any Subsidiary from discontinuing the operation and the maintenance of any of its

properties if such discontinuance is desirable in the conduct of its business and the Company has concluded that such discontinuance could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.4.              Payment of Taxes and Claims.

The Company will, and will cause each Restricted Subsidiary to, file all tax returns required to be filed in any jurisdiction and to pay and discharge when due all taxes shown to be due and payable on such returns and all other taxes, assessments, governmental charges, or levies imposed on them or any of their properties, assets, income or franchises, to the extent such taxes and assessments have become due and payable and before they have become delinquent and all claims for which sums have become due and payable that have or might become a Lien on properties or assets of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary, provided that neither the Company nor any Subsidiary need pay any such tax or assessment or claims if (i) the amount, applicability or validity thereof is contested by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary on a timely basis in good faith and in appropriate proceedings, and the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary has established adequate reserves therefor in accordance with GAAP on the books of the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary or (ii) the non-filing of such returns or nonpayment of all such taxes and assessments in the aggregate could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.5.              Corporate Existence, etc.

Subject to Section 10.7, the Company will at all times preserve and keep in full force and effect its corporate existence.  Subject to Sections 10.6 and 10.7, the Company will at all times preserve and keep in full force and effect the corporate, partnership or limited liability company existence of each of its Restricted Subsidiaries (unless merged into the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary) and all rights and franchises of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries unless, in the good faith judgment of the Company, the termination of or failure to preserve and keep in full force and effect such corporate, partnership or limited liability company existence, right or franchise could not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.

9.6.              Additional Subsidiary Guarantors.

The Company will cause any Subsidiary that (whether or not required by the terms of the Credit Agreement) guarantees Indebtedness in respect of the Credit Agreement, to enter into the Subsidiary Guaranty concurrently therewith and as a part thereof to deliver to each of the holders:

9.7.              Ranking of Notes; Granting of Liens.

9.8.              Books and Records.

The Company will, and will cause each of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, maintain proper books of record and account in conformity with GAAP and all applicable requirements of any Governmental Authority having legal or regulatory jurisdiction over the Company or such Subsidiary, as the case may be.  The Company will, and will cause each of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, keep books, records and accounts which, in reasonable detail, accurately reflect all transactions and dispositions of assets.  The Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries have devised a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that their respective books, records, and accounts accurately reflect all transactions and dispositions of assets and the Company will, and will cause each of its Restricted Subsidiaries to, continue to maintain such system.

10.              NEGATIVE COVENANTS.

The Company covenants that from the date of this Agreement and for so long as any of the Notes are outstanding:

10.1.           Interest Coverage Ratio.

The Company will not permit the Interest Coverage Ratio at the end of any fiscal quarter to be less than 2.50 to 1.

10.2.           Consolidated Funded Indebtedness.

The Company will not permit the ratio of Consolidated Funded Indebtedness as of the end of any fiscal quarter to Consolidated EBITDA (for then most recently completed four fiscal quarters) to be greater than 3.50 to 1.00.

10.3.           Priority Debt.

The Company will not permit Priority Debt to exceed 25% of Consolidated Net Worth (as of the end of the Company’s then most recently completed fiscal quarter) at any time.

10.4.           Subsidiary Indebtedness.

The Company will not at any time permit any Restricted Subsidiary, directly or indirectly, to create, incur, assume, guarantee, have outstanding, or otherwise become or remain directly or indirectly liable for, any Indebtedness other than:

(i)                 no Default or Event of Default exists, and

(ii)               Priority Debt does not exceed 25% of Consolidated Net Worth.

10.5.           Liens.

The Company will not, and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, permit to exist, create, assume or incur, directly or indirectly, any Lien on its properties or assets, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, except:

10.6.           Mergers, Consolidations, etc.

The Company will not, and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, consolidate with or merge with any other Person or convey, transfer, sell or lease all or substantially all of its assets in a single transaction or series of transactions to any Person except that:

(i)                 the successor formed by such consolidation or the survivor of such merger or the Person that acquires by conveyance, transfer, sale or lease all or substantially all of the assets of the Company as an entirety, as the case may be, is a solvent corporation or limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the United States or any state thereof (including the District of Columbia), and, if the Company is not such corporation or limited liability company, such entity (y) shall have executed and delivered to each holder of any Notes its assumption of the due and punctual performance and observance of each covenant and condition of this Agreement and the Notes and (z) shall have caused to be delivered to each holder of any Notes an opinion of independent counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Required Holders, to the effect that all agreements or instruments effecting such assumption are enforceable in accordance with their terms and comply with the terms hereof (provided that if the Company effects a reorganization pursuant to Section 251(g) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, whereby, among other things, the equity interests issued by it become owned by a holding company, no such opinion shall be required); and

(ii)               immediately before and after giving effect to such transaction, no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing;

No such conveyance, transfer, sale or lease of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company shall have the effect of releasing the Company or any successor corporation that shall theretofore have become such in the manner prescribed in this Section 10.6 from its liability under this Agreement or the Notes.

10.7.           Sale of Assets.

Except as permitted by Section 10.6, the Company will not, and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of, including by way of merger (collectively a “Disposition”), any assets, including capital stock of Restricted Subsidiaries, in one or a series of transactions, to any Person, other than:

(i)                 the aggregate net book value of all assets disposed of in any fiscal year pursuant to this Section 10.7(c) does not exceed the greater of (A) 15% of Consolidated Total Assets as of the end of the immediately preceding fiscal year or (B) $50,000,000; and

(ii)               at the time of such Disposition and after giving effect thereto no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 10.7, the Company may, or may permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, make a Disposition and the assets subject to such Disposition shall not be subject to or included in any of the foregoing limitations or the computation contained in Section 10.7(c)(i) of the preceding sentence if the net proceeds from such Disposition are within 365 days of such Disposition:

Any prepayment of Notes pursuant to this Section 10.7 shall be in accordance with Sections 8.2 or 8.4, as applicable, without regard to the minimum prepayment requirements of Section 8.2 or 8.4, as applicable, if such proceeds are less than such minimum.

10.8.           Designation of Restricted and Unrestricted Subsidiaries.

The Company may designate any Restricted Subsidiary as an Unrestricted Subsidiary and any Unrestricted Subsidiary as a Restricted Subsidiary by notice in writing given to the holders of the Notes; provided that,

10.9.           Nature of Business.

The Company will not, and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, engage in any business if, as a result, the general nature of the business in which the Company and its  Restricted Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, would then be engaged would be substantially changed from the general nature of the business in which the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, are engaged on the date of this Agreement as described in the Memorandum.

10.10.        Transactions with Affiliates.

The Company will not and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to enter into directly or indirectly any Material transaction or Material group of related transactions (including without limitation the purchase, lease, sale or exchange of properties of any kind or the rendering of any service) with any Affiliate (other than the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary), except in the ordinary course of the Company’s or such Restricted Subsidiary’s business and upon fair and reasonable terms no less favorable to the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary than would be obtainable in a comparable arm’s-length transaction with a Person not an Affiliate.

10.11.        Terrorism Sanctions Regulations.

The Company will not and will not permit any Controlled Entity (a) to become (including by virtue of being owned or controlled by a Blocked Person), own or control a Blocked Person or any Person that is the target  of sanctions imposed by the United Nations or by the European Union, or (b) directly or indirectly to have any investment in or engage in any dealing or transaction (including, without limitation, any investment, dealing or transaction involving the proceeds of the Notes) with any Person if such investment, dealing or transaction (i) would cause any holder to be in violation of any law or regulation applicable to such holder, or (ii) is prohibited by or subject to sanctions under any U.S. Economic Sanctions, or (c)  to engage, nor shall any Affiliate of either engage, in any activity that could subject such Person or any holder to sanctions under CISADA or any similar law or regulation with respect to Iran or any other country that is subject to U.S. Economic Sanctions.

11.              EVENTS OF DEFAULT.

An “Event of Default” shall exist if any of the following conditions or events shall occur and be continuing:

As used in Section 11(j), the terms “employee benefit plan” and “employee welfare benefit plan” shall have the respective meanings assigned to such terms in Section 3 of ERISA.

12.              REMEDIES ON DEFAULT, ETC.

12.1.           Acceleration.

Upon any Notes becoming due and payable under this Section 12.1, whether automatically or by declaration, such Notes will forthwith mature and the entire unpaid principal amount of such Notes, plus (w) all accrued and unpaid interest thereon, and (x) any applicable Make-Whole Amount determined in respect of such principal amount (to the full extent permitted by applicable law), shall all be immediately due and payable, in each and every case without presentment, demand, protest or further notice, all of which are hereby waived.  The Company acknowledges, and the parties hereto agree, that each holder of a Note has the right to maintain its investment in the Notes free from repayment by the Company (except as herein specifically provided for) and that the provision for payment of a Make-Whole Amount by the Company in the event that the Notes are prepaid or are accelerated as a result of an Event of Default, is intended to provide compensation for the deprivation of such right under such circumstances.

12.2.           Other Remedies.

If any Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, and irrespective of whether any Notes have become or have been declared immediately due and payable under Section 12.1, the holder of any Note at the time outstanding may proceed to protect and enforce the rights of such holder by an action at law, suit in equity or other appropriate proceeding, whether for the specific performance of any agreement contained herein or in any Note, or for an injunction against a violation of any of the terms hereof or thereof, or in aid of the exercise of any power granted hereby or thereby or by law or otherwise.

12.3.           Rescission.

At any time after any Notes have been declared due and payable pursuant to clause (b) or (c) of Section 12.1, the holders of more than 50% in principal amount of the Notes then outstanding, by written notice to the Company, may rescind and annul any such declaration and its consequences if (a) the Company has paid all overdue interest on the Notes, all principal of and any Make-Whole Amount on any Notes that are due and payable and are unpaid other than by reason of such declaration, and all interest on such overdue principal and any Make-Whole Amount and (to the extent permitted by applicable law) any overdue interest in respect of the Notes, at the Default Rate, (b) all Events of Default and Defaults, other than non-payment of amounts that have become due solely by reason of such declaration, have been cured or have been waived pursuant to Section 17, and (c) no judgment or decree has been entered for the payment of any monies due pursuant hereto or to the Notes.  No rescission and annulment under this Section 12.3 will extend to or affect any subsequent Event of Default or Default or impair any right consequent thereon.

12.4.           No Waivers or Election of Remedies, Expenses, etc.

No course of dealing and no delay on the part of any holder of any Note in exercising any right, power or remedy shall operate as a waiver thereof or otherwise prejudice such holder’s rights, powers or remedies.  No right, power or remedy conferred by this Agreement or by any Note or the Subsidiary Guaranty upon any holder thereof shall be exclusive of any other right, power or remedy referred to herein or therein or now or hereafter available at law, in equity, by statute or otherwise.  Without limiting the obligations of the Company under Section 15, the Company will pay to the holder of each Note on demand such further amount as shall be

sufficient to cover all costs and expenses of such holder incurred in any enforcement or collection under this Section 12, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses and disbursements.

13.              REGISTRATION; EXCHANGE; SUBSTITUTION OF NOTES.

13.1.           Registration of Notes.

The Company shall keep at its principal executive office a register for the registration and registration of transfers of Notes.  The name and address of each holder of one or more Notes, each transfer thereof and the name and address of each transferee of one or more Notes shall be registered in such register.  Prior to due presentment for registration of transfer, the Person in whose name any Note shall be registered shall be deemed and treated as the owner and holder thereof for all purposes hereof, and the Company shall not be affected by any notice or knowledge to the contrary.  The Company shall give to any holder of a Note that is an Institutional Investor, promptly upon request therefor, a complete and correct copy of the names and addresses of all registered holders of Notes.

13.2.           Transfer and Exchange of Notes.

Upon surrender of any Note at the principal executive office of the Company for registration of transfer or exchange (and in the case of a surrender for registration of transfer, duly endorsed or accompanied by a written instrument of transfer duly executed by the registered holder of such Note or his attorney duly authorized in writing and accompanied by the address for notices of each transferee of such Note or part thereof), the Company shall execute and deliver within ten days, at the Company’ expense (except as provided below), one or more new Notes (as requested by the holder thereof) of the same series in exchange therefor, in an aggregate principal amount equal to the unpaid principal amount of the surrendered Note.  Each such new Note shall be payable to such Person as such holder may request and shall be substantially in the form of Note specified for the Notes of such series and tranche, if any.  Each such new Note shall be dated and bear interest from the date to which interest shall have been paid on the surrendered Note or dated the date of the surrendered Note if no interest shall have been paid thereon.  The Company may require payment of a sum sufficient to cover any stamp tax or governmental charge imposed in respect of any such transfer of Notes. Notes shall not be transferred in denominations of less than $100,000, provided that if necessary to enable the registration of transfer by a holder of its entire holding of Notes, one Note may be in a denomination of less than $100,000.  Any transferee, by its acceptance of a Note registered in its name (or the name of its nominee), shall be deemed to have made the representation set forth in Section 6.2.

13.3.           Replacement of Notes.

Upon receipt by the Company of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the ownership of and the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of any Note (which evidence shall be, in the case of an Institutional Investor, notice from such Institutional Investor of such ownership and such loss, theft, destruction or mutilation), and

the Company at its own expense shall execute and deliver within ten days, in lieu thereof, a new Note of the same series and tranche, dated and bearing interest from the date to which interest shall have been paid on such lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated Note or dated the date of such lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated Note if no interest shall have been paid thereon.

14.              PAYMENTS ON NOTES.

14.1.           Place of Payment.

Subject to Section 14.2, payments of principal, Make-Whole Amount, if any, and interest becoming due and payable on the Notes shall be made in New York, New York at the principal office of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. in such jurisdiction.  The Company may at any time, by notice to each holder of a Note, change the place of payment of the Notes so long as such place of payment shall be either the principal office of the Company in such jurisdiction or the principal office of a bank or trust company in such jurisdiction.

14.2.           Home Office Payment.

So long as you or your nominee shall be the holder of any Note, and notwithstanding anything contained in Section 14.1 or in such Note to the contrary, the Company will pay all sums becoming due on such Note for principal, Make-Whole Amount, if any, breakage amount, if any, and interest by the method and at the address specified for such purpose below your name in Schedule A, or by such other method or at such other address as you shall have from time to time specified to the Company in writing for such purpose, without the presentation or surrender of such Note or the making of any notation thereon, except that upon written request of the Company made concurrently with or reasonably promptly after payment or prepayment in full of any Note, you shall surrender such Note for cancellation, reasonably promptly after any such request, to the Company at its principal executive office or at the place of payment most recently designated by the Company pursuant to Section 14.1.  Prior to any sale or other disposition of any Note held by you or your nominee you will, at your election, either endorse thereon the amount of principal paid thereon and the last date to which interest has been paid thereon or surrender such Note to the Company in exchange for a new Note or Notes pursuant to Section 13.2.  The Company will afford the benefits of this Section 14.2 to any Institutional Investor that is the direct or indirect transferee of any Note purchased by you under this Agreement and that has made the same agreement relating to such Note as you have made in this Section 14.2.

15.              EXPENSES, ETC.

15.1.           Transaction Expenses.

Whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby are consummated, the Company will pay all reasonable costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees of a special counsel and, if reasonably required, local or other counsel) incurred by you and each Other Purchaser or holder of a Note in connection with such transactions and in connection with any amendments, waivers or consents under or in respect of this Agreement or the Notes (whether or not such amendment, waiver or consent becomes effective), including:  (a) the reasonable costs and expenses incurred in enforcing or defending (or determining whether or how to enforce or defend) any rights under this Agreement or the Notes, or in responding to any subpoena or other legal process or informal investigative demand issued in connection with this Agreement or the Notes, or by reason of being a holder of any Note, (b) the reasonable costs and expenses, including financial advisors’ fees, incurred in connection with the insolvency or bankruptcy of the Company or any Subsidiary or in connection with any work-out or restructuring of the transactions contemplated hereby and by the Notes, and (c) the reasonable costs and expenses incurred in connection with the initial filing of this Agreement and all related documents and financial information, and all subsequent annual and interim filings of documents and financial information related to this Agreement, with the Securities Valuation Office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or any successor organization succeeding to the authority thereof.  The Company will pay, and will save you and each other holder of a Note harmless from, all claims in respect of any fees, costs or expenses if any, of brokers and finders (other than those retained by you).

15.2.           Survival.

The obligations of the Company under this Section 15 will survive the payment or transfer of any Note, the enforcement, amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement or the Notes, and the termination of this Agreement.

16.              SURVIVAL OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES; ENTIRE AGREEMENT.

All representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the Notes, the purchase or transfer by you of any Note or portion thereof or interest therein and the payment of any Note through the payment or prepayment in full thereof, and may be relied upon by any subsequent holder of a Note, regardless of any investigation made at any time by or on behalf of you or any other holder of a Note.  All statements contained in any certificate or other instrument delivered by or on behalf of the Company pursuant to this Agreement shall be deemed representations and warranties of the Company under this Agreement.  Subject to the preceding sentence, this Agreement and the Notes embody the entire agreement and understanding between you and the Company and supersede all prior agreements and understandings relating to the subject matter hereof.

17.              AMENDMENT AND WAIVER.

17.1.           Requirements.

This Agreement, the Notes and the Subsidiary Guaranty may be amended, and the observance of any term hereof or of the Notes may be waived (either retroactively or prospectively), with (and only with) the written consent of the Company (and the Subsidiary Guarantors, in the case of the Subsidiary Guaranty) and the Required Holders, except that (a) no amendment or waiver of any of the provisions of Section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 21 hereof, or any defined term (as it is used therein), will be effective as to you unless consented to by you in writing, and (b) no such amendment or waiver may, without the written consent of the holder of each Note at the time outstanding affected thereby, (i) subject to the provisions of Section 12 relating to acceleration or rescission, change the amount or time of any prepayment or payment of principal of, or reduce the rate or change the time of payment or method of computation of interest or of the Make-Whole Amount on, the Notes, (ii) change the percentage of the principal amount of the Notes the holders of which are required to consent to any such amendment or waiver, or (iii) amend any of Sections 8, 11(a), 11(b), 12, 17 or 20.

17.2.           Solicitation of Holders of Notes.

17.3.           Binding Effect, etc.

Any amendment or waiver consented to as provided in this Section 17 applies equally to all holders of Notes and is binding upon them and upon each future holder of any Note and upon the Company without regard to whether such Note has been marked to indicate such amendment or waiver.  No such amendment or waiver will extend to or affect any obligation, covenant, agreement, Default or Event of Default not expressly amended or waived or impair any right consequent thereon.  No course of dealing between the Company and the holder of any Note nor any delay in exercising any rights hereunder or under any Note shall operate as a waiver of any rights of any holder of such Note.  As used herein, the term “this Agreement” or “the Agreement” and references thereto shall mean this Agreement as it may from time to time be amended or supplemented.

17.4.           Notes held by Company, etc.

Solely for the purpose of determining whether the holders of the requisite percentage of the aggregate principal amount of Notes then outstanding approved or consented to any amendment, waiver or consent to be given under this Agreement or the Notes, or have directed the taking of any action provided herein or in the Notes to be taken upon the direction of the holders of a specified percentage of the aggregate principal amount of Notes then outstanding, Notes directly or indirectly owned by the Company or any of its Affiliates shall be deemed not to be outstanding.

18.              NOTICES.

All notices and communications provided for hereunder shall be in writing and sent (a) by facsimile if the sender on the same day sends a confirming copy of such notice by a recognized overnight delivery service (charges prepaid) or (b) by a recognized overnight delivery service (with charges prepaid).  Any such notice must be sent:

(i)                 if to you or your nominee, to you or it at the address specified for such communications in Schedule A, or at such other address as you or it shall have specified to the Company in writing,

(ii)               if to any other holder of any Note, to such holder at such address as such other holder shall have specified to the Company in writing, or

(iii)            if to the Company, at its address set forth at the beginning hereof to the attention of the Chief Financial Officer and the General Counsel, or at such other address as the Company shall have specified to the holder of each Note in writing.

Notices under this Section 18 will be deemed given only when actually received.

19.              REPRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.

This Agreement and all documents relating thereto, including (a) consents, waivers and modifications that may hereafter be executed, (b) documents received by you at the Closing (except the Notes themselves), and (c) financial statements, certificates and other information previously or hereafter furnished to you, may be reproduced by you by any photographic, photostatic, microfilm, microcard, miniature photographic or other similar process and you may destroy any original document so reproduced.  The Company agrees and stipulates that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, any such reproduction shall be admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding (whether or not the original is in existence and whether or not such reproduction was made by you in the regular course of business) and any enlargement, facsimile or further reproduction of such reproduction shall likewise be admissible in evidence.  This Section 19 shall not prohibit the Company or any holder of Notes from contesting any such reproduction to the same extent that it could contest the original, or from introducing evidence to demonstrate the inaccuracy of any such reproduction.

20.              CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.

For the purposes of this Section 20, “Confidential Information” means information delivered to you by or on behalf of the Company or any Subsidiary in connection with the transactions contemplated by or otherwise pursuant to this Agreement that is proprietary in nature and that was clearly marked or labeled or otherwise adequately identified when received by you as being confidential information of the Company or such Subsidiary, provided that such term does not include information that (a) was publicly known or otherwise known to you prior to the time of such disclosure, (b) subsequently becomes publicly known through no act or omission by you or any person acting on your behalf, (c) otherwise becomes known to you other than through disclosure by the Company or any Subsidiary or (d) constitutes financial statements delivered to you under Section 7.1 that are otherwise publicly available.  You will maintain the confidentiality of such Confidential Information in accordance with procedures adopted by you in good faith to protect confidential information of third parties delivered to you, provided that you may deliver or disclose Confidential Information to (i) your directors, trustees, officers, employees, agents, attorneys and affiliates (to the extent such disclosure reasonably relates to the administration of the investment represented by your Notes), (ii) your financial advisors and other professional advisors who agree to hold confidential the Confidential Information substantially in accordance with the terms of this Section 20, (iii) any other holder of any Note, (iv) any Institutional Investor to which you sell or offer to sell such Note or any part thereof or any participation therein (if such Person has agreed in writing prior to its receipt of such Confidential Information to be bound by the provisions of this Section 20), (v) any Person from which you offer to purchase any security of the Company (if such Person has agreed in writing prior to its receipt of such Confidential Information to be bound by the provisions of this Section 20), (vi) any federal or state regulatory authority having jurisdiction over you, (vii) the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or any similar organization, or any nationally recognized rating agency that requires access to information about your investment portfolio or (viii) any other Person to which such delivery or disclosure may be necessary or appropriate (w) to effect compliance with any law, rule, regulation or order applicable to you, (x) in response to any subpoena or other legal process, (y) in connection with any litigation to which you are a party or (z) if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, to the extent you may

reasonably determine such delivery and disclosure to be necessary or appropriate in the enforcement or for the protection of the rights and remedies under your Notes and this Agreement.  Each holder of a Note, by its acceptance of a Note, will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by and to be entitled to the benefits of this Section 20 as though it were a party to this Agreement.  On reasonable request by the Company in connection with the delivery to any holder of a Note of information required to be delivered to such holder under this Agreement or requested by such holder (other than a holder that is a party to this Agreement or its nominee), such holder will enter into an agreement with the Company embodying the provisions of this Section 20.

21.              SUBSTITUTION OF PURCHASER.

You shall have the right to substitute any one of your Affiliates as the purchaser of the Notes that you have agreed to purchase hereunder, by written notice to the Company, which notice shall be signed by both you and such Affiliate, shall contain such Affiliate’s agreement to be bound by this Agreement and shall contain a confirmation by such Affiliate of the accuracy with respect to it of the representations set forth in Section 6.  Upon receipt of such notice, wherever the word “you” is used in this Agreement (other than in this Section 21), such word shall be deemed to refer to such Affiliate in lieu of you.  In the event that such Affiliate is so substituted as a purchaser hereunder and such Affiliate thereafter transfers to you all of the Notes then held by such Affiliate, upon receipt by the Company of notice of such transfer, wherever the word “you” is used in this Agreement (other than in this Section 21), such word shall no longer be deemed to refer to such Affiliate, but shall refer to you, and you shall have all the rights of an original holder of the Notes under this Agreement.

22.              MISCELLANEOUS.

22.1.           Successors and Assigns.

All covenants and other agreements contained in this Agreement by or on behalf of any of the parties hereto bind and inure to the benefit of their respective successors and assigns (including, without limitation, any subsequent holder of a Note) whether so expressed or not.

22.2.           Jurisdiction and Process; Waiver of Jury Trial.

22.3.           Payments Due on Non-Business Days.

Anything in this Agreement or the Notes to the contrary notwithstanding, any payment of principal of or Make-Whole Amount or breakage amount or interest on any Note that is due on a date other than a Business Day shall be made on the next succeeding Business Day without including the additional days elapsed in the computation of the interest payable on such next succeeding Business Day.

22.4.           Severability.

Any provision of this Agreement that is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall (to the full extent permitted by law) not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction.

22.5.           Construction.

Each covenant contained herein shall be construed (absent express provision to the contrary) as being independent of each other covenant contained herein, so that compliance with any one covenant shall not (absent such an express contrary provision) be deemed to excuse compliance with any other covenant.  Where any provision herein refers to action to be taken by

any Person, or which such Person is prohibited from taking, such provision shall be applicable whether such action is taken directly or indirectly by such Person.

22.6.           Counterparts.

This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be an original but all of which together shall constitute one instrument.  Each counterpart may consist of a number of copies hereof, each signed by less than all, but together signed by all, of the parties hereto.

22.7.           Governing Law; Submission to Jurisdiction.

This Agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with, and the rights of the parties shall be governed by, the law of the State of New York, excluding choice-of-law principles of the law of such State that would require the application of the laws of a jurisdiction other than such State.

22.8.           GAAP.

All financial amounts shall be computed without duplication.  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 Company notifies the holders that the Company 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 Required Holders notify the Company that the Required Holders request an amendment to any provision hereof for such purpose), regardless of whether any such notice requesting an amendment 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.

If you are in agreement with the foregoing, please sign the form of agreement on the accompanying counterpart of this Agreement and return it to the Company, whereupon the foregoing shall become a binding agreement between you and the Company.

Very truly yours,

TETRA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

By:  /s/▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇

Name: ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇

Title: Vice President – Finance, Treasurer

The foregoing is agreed

to as of the date thereof.

THE LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

By:  Delaware Investments Advisers,

a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, Attorney in Fact

By:/s/▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇

Name:  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇

Title:  Senior Vice President

LINCOLN LIFE & ANNUITY COMPANY OF NEW YORK

By:  Delaware Investments Advisers,

a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, Attorney in Fact

By:/s/▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇

Name:  ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇

Title:  Senior Vice President

SCHEDULE B

As used herein, the following terms have the respective meanings set forth below or set forth in the Section hereof following such term:

“Acquisition” means the acquisition by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of (a) sufficient equity or voting interests of a Person to cause such Person to become a Subsidiary or (b) all or substantially all of the assets or operations, division or line of business of a Person.

“Affiliate” means, at any time, and with respect to any Person, (a) any other Person that at such time directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries Controls, or is Controlled by, or is under common Control with, such first Person, and (b) any Person beneficially owning or holding, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of any class of voting or equity interests of the Company or any Subsidiary or any corporation of which the Company and its Subsidiaries beneficially own or hold, in the aggregate, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of any class of voting or equity interests.  As used in this definition, “Control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise. Unless the context otherwise clearly requires, any reference to an “Affiliate” is a reference to an Affiliate of the Company.  Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing to the contrary, a Person that (i) would be an Affiliate of the Company solely by virtue of its ownership of voting or equity interests of the Company and (ii) is eligible pursuant to Rule 13d-1(b) under the Exchange Act to file a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Schedule 13G, shall not be deemed to be an Affiliate.

“Anti-Corruption Laws” is defined in Section 5.16(d)(1).

“Anti-Money Laundering Laws” is defined in Section 5.16(c).

“Blocked Person” is defined in Section 5.16(a).

“Business Day” means (a) for the purposes of Section 8.7 only, any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a day on which commercial banks in New York City are required or authorized to be closed, and (b) for the purposes of any other provision of this Agreement, any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a day on which commercial banks in Chicago, Illinois, or New York City are required or authorized to be closed.

“Capital Expenditure” means, for any period, all expenditures and costs of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries that are (or should be) capitalized on the consolidated balance sheet of the Company in accordance with GAAP as of the end of such period, but in any event excluding (a) any transaction constituting an Acquisition and (b) capital expenditures for the restoration, repair or replacement of any fixed or capital asset that was destroyed or damaged, in whole or in part, to the extent financed by the proceeds of insurance on such property.

“Capital Lease” means, at any time, a lease with respect to which the lessee is required concurrently to recognize the acquisition of an asset and the incurrence of a liability in accordance with GAAP.

“Change of Control” means an event or series of events by which any person or “group” (within the meaning of Sections 13(d) and 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act) (such person or persons hereinafter referred to as an “Acquiring Person”) becomes the “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of more than 50% of the voting power of the then outstanding Voting Stock of the Company; provided that, notwithstanding the foregoing, a “Change of Control” shall not be deemed to have occurred if (i) the Company (or the Acquiring Person if either (x) the Company is no longer in existence or (y) the Acquiring Person has acquired all or substantially all of the assets thereof) shall have an Investment Grade Rating immediately following such Acquiring Person becoming the “beneficial owner” or consummating such acquisition or (ii) the Company effects a reorganization pursuant to Section 251(g) of the Delaware General Corporate Law, whereby, among other things, stock issued by it becomes owned by a holding company; provided that the references to the Company in the preceding clause of this definition shall be deemed to be references to such holding company.

“CISADA” means the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act.

“Closing” is defined in Section 3.

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time.

“Company” means TETRA Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

“Confidential Information” is defined in Section 20.

“Consolidated Funded Indebtedness” means, as of any date, the outstanding Indebtedness of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries on such date of the kinds referred to in clauses (a), (b), (d), (f), (g) and (h) of the definition of Indebtedness, determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP.

“Consolidated Net Earnings” means, for any period, the net income or loss of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries for such period, including cash dividends and distributions (not return of capital) received from Persons other than Restricted Subsidiaries and after allowances for taxes for such period, determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP, provided that there shall be excluded therefrom (to the extent otherwise included therein): (i) extraordinary or nonrecurring gains, losses or expenses (including, whether or not otherwise includable as a separate item in the earnings statement for such period, non-cash losses on sales of assets outside of the ordinary course of business); (ii) non-cash gains, losses, expenses or adjustments under FASB Statement No. 133 as a result of changes in the fair market value of derivatives; (iii) any gains or losses attributable to write-ups or write-downs of assets, including ceiling test write-downs; (iv) adjustments due to changes in accounting principles and the effect of discontinued operations; and (v) any equity interest of the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary in the undistributed earnings of a Person that is not a Restricted Subsidiary.

“Consolidated Net Worth” means, as of any date, consolidated stockholders’ equity of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries on such date, determined in accordance with GAAP.

“Consolidated Total Assets” means, as of any date, the total assets of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries as of such date, determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP.

“Control Event” means the execution by the Company of a definitive written agreement (excluding, for the avoidance of doubt, any letter of intent) that, when fully performed by the parties thereto, would result in a Change of Control.

“Credit Agreement” means the Credit Agreement dated as of June 27, 2006 among the Company, the foreign subsidiaries of the Company from time to time party thereto as borrowers, the lenders from time to time party thereto, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, Bank of America, National Association and ▇▇▇▇▇ Fargo Bank, N.A., as syndication agents, and ▇.▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ Securities Inc. and Banc of America Securities LLC, as co-lead arrangers and co-bookrunners, as such agreement was amended on December 15, 2006 and October 29, 2010, and may be further amended, restated, supplemented, refinanced, increased or reduced from time to time, and any successor credit agreement or similar facility.

“Default” means an event or condition the occurrence or existence of which would, with the lapse of time or the giving of notice or both, become an Event of Default.

“Default Rate” means that rate of interest that is the greater of (i) 2% per annum above the rate of interest stated in clause (a) of the first paragraph of the Notes or (ii) 2% over the rate of interest publicly announced by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. in New York, New York as its “base” or “prime” rate.

“Disclosure Documents” is defined in Section 5.3.

“Disposition” is defined in Section 10.7.

“Divestiture” means the divesture by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary of either (a) sufficient equity interests of a Restricted Subsidiary to cause it no longer to be a Subsidiary or (b) substantially all of the assets or operations of a Restricted Subsidiary or a division or line of business of the Company or a Restricted Subsidiary.

“EBITDA” means, for any period, without duplication, Consolidated Net Earnings for such period plus, to the extent deducted in calculating Consolidated Net Earnings: (i) Interest Expense, amortization or write-off of debt discount and debt issuance costs and commissions, discounts and other fees and charges associated with Indebtedness (including the Notes); (ii) federal, state and foreign income tax expense; (iii) depreciation, depletion and amortization expense; and (iv) any other noncash charges and minus, to the extent included in determining Consolidated Net Earnings, any non-cash income.  If, during the period for which EBITDA is being calculated: (x) the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary has made any Divestiture, EBITDA shall be reduced by an amount equal to the EBITDA (if positive) attributable to the property subject to such Divestiture or increased by an amount equal to the

EBITDA (if negative) attributable thereto; (y) the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary has made an Acquisition or a Capital Expenditure, EBITDA shall be calculated after giving pro forma effect thereto as if such Acquisition or Capital Expenditure had occurred on the first day of such period, and after giving effect to any credit received for costs and savings associated with such Acquisition that are permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be included in pro forma financial statements filed therewith; or (z) a Restricted Subsidiary is designated an Unrestricted Subsidiary or an Unrestricted Subsidiary is designated a Restricted Subsidiary, EBITDA shall be determined after giving pro forma effect to such designation as if it had occurred on the first day of such period.

“Electronic Delivery” is defined in Section 7.1(a).

“Environmental Laws” means any and all Federal, state, local, and foreign statutes, laws, regulations, ordinances, rules, judgments, orders, decrees, permits, concessions, grants, franchises, licenses, agreements or governmental restrictions relating to pollution and the protection of the environment or the release of any materials into the environment, including but not limited to those related to hazardous substances or wastes, air emissions and discharges to waste or public systems.

“ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time in effect.

“ERISA Affiliate” means any trade or business (whether or not incorporated) that is treated as a single employer together with the Company under section 414 of the Code.

“Event of Default” is defined in Section 11.

“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

“GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles as in effect from time to time in the United States of America.

“Governmental Authority” means:

“Guaranty” means, with respect to any Person, any obligation (except the endorsement in the ordinary course of business of negotiable instruments for deposit or collection) of such Person guaranteeing or in effect guaranteeing any indebtedness, dividend or

other obligation of any other Person in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, including (without limitation) obligations incurred through an agreement, contingent or otherwise, by such Person:

In any computation of the indebtedness or other liabilities of the obligor under any Guaranty, the indebtedness or other obligations that are the subject of such Guaranty shall be assumed to be direct obligations of such obligor.

“Hazardous Material” means any and all pollutants, toxic or hazardous wastes or any other substances that might pose a hazard to health or safety, the removal of which may be required or the generation, manufacture, refining, production, processing, treatment, storage, handling, transportation, transfer, use, disposal, release, discharge, spillage, seepage, or filtration of which is or shall be restricted, prohibited or penalized by any applicable law (including, without limitation, asbestos, urea formaldehyde foam insulation and polychlorinated biphenyls).

“holder” means, with respect to any Note, the Person in whose name such Note is registered in the register maintained by the Company pursuant to Section 13.1.

“Indebtedness” with respect to any Person means, at any time, without duplication,

provided however, that Indebtedness shall not include normal operating liabilities accrued in the ordinary course of business.  Indebtedness of any Person shall include the Indebtedness of any other entity (including any partnership in which such person is a general partner) to the extent such Person is liable therefor as a result of such Person’s ownership interest in or other relationship with such entity, except to the extent the terms of such Indebtedness provide that such Person is not liable therefor.  For all purposes of this Agreement, Indebtedness shall be calculated at its stated principal amount, without regard to the effect of utilizing FASB No. 159 (Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities).

“INHAM Exemption” is defined in Section 6.2(e).

“Institutional Investor” means (a) any original purchaser of a Note, (b)  any holder of more than $2,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of the Notes at the time outstanding, and (c) any bank, trust company, savings and loan association or other financial institution, any pension plan, any investment company, any insurance company, any broker or dealer, or any other similar financial institution or entity, regardless of legal form.

“Interest Coverage Ratio” means, as of the last day of any fiscal quarter, the ratio of (a) EBITDA minus cash income tax expense minus Maintenance Capital Expenditures minus cash dividends and cash distributions by the Company and minus cash spent by the Company to acquire treasury stock to (b) Interest Expense, in each case for the 12 months then ending and determined on a consolidated basis for the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries.

“Interest Expense” means, for any period, total cash interest expense (including imputed interest on Capital Leases and amounts, both positive and negative, attributable to interest expense incurred under Swaps) accruing on Indebtedness of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries, determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP.

“Investment Grade Rating” in respect of any Person means, at the time of determination, at least a majority of the following ratings of its senior, unsecured long-term indebtedness for borrowed money pari passu with the Notes: (i) by Standard & Poor’s Rating

Services, a division of The ▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇ Companies, or any successor thereof (“S&P”), “BBB-” or better, (ii) by ▇▇▇▇▇’▇ Investors Service, Inc., or any successor thereof (“Moody’s”), “Baa3” or better, or (iii) by another rating agency of recognized national standing, an equivalent or better rating.  For the avoidance of doubt, a Person shall not be obligated to obtain more than one rating to obtain an Investment Grade Rating.

“Lien” means, with respect to any Person, any mortgage, lien, pledge, charge, security interest or other encumbrance, or any interest or title of any vendor, lessor, lender or other secured party to or of such Person under any conditional sale or other title retention agreement or Capital Lease, upon or with respect to any property or asset of such Person (including in the case of stock, stockholder agreements, voting trust agreements and all similar arrangements).

“Make-Whole Amount” is defined in Section 8.7.

“Maintenance Capital Expenditures” means, for any date in any fiscal year of the Company, an amount equal to 8% of the property, plant and equipment (net of depreciation and amortization, and as established in accordance with GAAP) of the Company and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year.

“Material” means material in relation to the business, operations, affairs, financial condition, assets or properties of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole.

“Material Adverse Effect” means a material adverse effect on (a) the business, operations, affairs, financial condition, assets or properties of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries taken as a whole, or (b) the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement and the Notes, or (c) the ability of any Subsidiary Guarantor to perform its obligation under the Subsidiary Guaranty, or (d) the validity or enforceability of this Agreement, the Notes or the Subsidiary Guaranty.

“Memorandum” is defined in Section 5.3.

“Multiemployer Plan” means any Plan that is a “multiemployer plan” (as such term is defined in section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA).

“NAIC Annual Statement” is defined in Section 6.2(a).

“Notes” is defined in Section 1.

“OFAC” is defined in Section 5.16(a).

“OFAC Listed Person” is defined in Section 5.16(a).

“OFAC Sanctions Program” means any economic or trade sanction that OFAC is responsible for administering and enforcing.  A list of OFAC Sanctions Programs may be found at ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇/▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇▇/▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇/▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇/▇▇▇▇▇/▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇▇.

“Officer’s Certificate” means a certificate of a Senior Financial Officer or of any other officer of the Company whose responsibilities extend to the subject matter of such certificate.

“Other Purchasers” is defined in Section 2.

“PBGC” means the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation referred to and defined in ERISA or any successor thereto.

“Person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, trust, unincorporated organization, or a government or agency or political subdivision thereof.

“Plan” means an “employee benefit plan” (as defined in section 3(3) of ERISA) that is or, within the preceding five years, has been established or maintained, or to which contributions are or, within the preceding five years, have been made or required to be made, by the Company or any ERISA Affiliate or with respect to which the Company or any ERISA Affiliate may have any liability.

“Priority Debt” means, as of any date, the sum (without duplication) of (a) outstanding unsecured Indebtedness of Restricted Subsidiaries not otherwise permitted by Sections 10.4(a) through (c) and (b) Indebtedness of the Company and its Restricted Subsidiaries secured by Liens not otherwise permitted by Sections 10.5(a) through (k).

“property” or “properties” means, unless otherwise specifically limited, real or personal property of any kind, tangible or intangible, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ or inchoate.

“Proposed Prepayment Date” is defined in Section 8.3(c).

“Purchaser” means each purchaser listed in Schedule A.

“QPAM Exemption” is defined in Section 6.2(d).

“Required Holders” means, at any time, the holders of more than 50% in principal amount of the Notes at the time outstanding (exclusive of Notes then owned by the Company or any of its Affiliates).

“Responsible Officer” means any Senior Financial Officer and any other officer of the Company with responsibility for the administration of the relevant portion of this Agreement.

“Restricted Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary (a) of which at least a majority of the voting securities are owned by the Company and/or one or more Restricted Subsidiaries and (b) that the Company has not designated an Unrestricted Subsidiary by notice in writing given to the holders of the Notes pursuant to Section 10.8.

“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended from time to time.

“Senior Indebtedness” means (a) any Indebtedness of the Company, other than any Indebtedness that is in any manner subordinated in right of payment or security in any respect to the Notes, and (b) any Indebtedness of any Restricted Subsidiary, other than Indebtedness that is in any manner subordinated in right of payment or security in any respect to the Notes.

“Senior Financial Officer” means the chief financial officer, principal accounting officer, treasurer or comptroller of the Company.

“Notes” is defined in Section 1.1.

“Source” is defined in Section 6.2.

“Subsidiary” means, as to any Person, any corporation, association or other business entity in which such Person or one or more of its Subsidiaries or such Person and one or more of its Subsidiaries owns sufficient equity or voting interests to enable it or them (as a group) ordinarily, in the absence of contingencies, to elect a majority of the directors (or Persons performing similar functions) of such entity, and any partnership, limited liability company or joint venture if more than a 50% interest in the profits or capital thereof is owned by such Person or one or more of its Subsidiaries or such Person and one or more of its Subsidiaries (unless such partnership, limited liability company or joint venture can and does ordinarily take major business actions without the prior approval of such Person or one or more of its Subsidiaries).  Unless the context otherwise clearly requires, any reference to a “Subsidiary” is a reference to a Subsidiary of the Company.

“Subsidiary Guarantor” means any Subsidiary of the Company that executes and delivers, or becomes a party to, the Subsidiary Guaranty.

“Subsidiary Guaranty” is defined in Section 1.2(a).

“Swap” 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; but 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 Company or any Restricted Subsidiary shall be a Swap Agreement.

“this Agreement” or “the Agreement” is defined in Section 17.3.

“Unrestricted Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary of the Company that has been so designated by notice in writing given to the holders of the Notes.

“USA PATRIOT Act” means United States Public Law 107-56, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001, as amended from time to time, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder from time to time in effect.

“U.S. Economic Sanctions” is defined in Section 5.16(a).

“Voting Stock” means, with respect to any Person, any class of shares of stock or other equity interests of such Person having general voting power under ordinary circumstances to elect a majority of the board of directors or other managing entities, as appropriate, of such Person (irrespective of whether or not at the time stock of any other class or classes or other equity interests of such Person shall have or might have voting power by reason of the happening of any contingency).

“Wholly Owned Restricted Subsidiary” means, at any time, any Restricted Subsidiary 100% of all of the equity interests (except directors’ qualifying shares) and voting interests of which are owned by any one or more of the Company and the Company’s other Wholly Owned Restricted Subsidiaries at such time.