尽管如上所述，在第七修正案生效日期后，借款人不得，也不得允许其任何受限子公司与被释放集团的任何成员合并或合并，允许被释放集团的任何成员合并或与任何贷款方合并，或拆分或以其他方式处置资产给被释放集团的任何成员

 

第6.04节投资、贷款、垫款、担保和收购。借款人不会，也不会允许任何受限制的子公司进行任何投资，但：

 

(A)允许的投资和现金；

 

(B)构成购买或以其他方式获取(在一次交易或一系列相关交易中)任何人的全部或实质所有财产及资产或业务的投资，或构成该人的业务单位、业务范围或分部的资产的投资，或构成该人的股权的投资，而在该等投资完成后，如借款人会遵守第6.12及6.13条的规定，则该等投资在完成后即为受限制附属公司；但涉及收购不成为贷款方的受限子公司的贷款方就此类投资(包括以贷款或垫款形式向非贷款方的受限子公司)支付的现金对价总额，在进行此类投资时和生效后，不得导致 超出非担保人投资篮子，但为免生疑问，在本节第6.04节另一条款中的任何其他篮子或比率测试下的可用金额范围内(可用于贷款方以外的受限制子公司的投资)，用于允许此类投资(且条件是，在此类受限制子公司确实成为贷款方的范围内，依赖于本条款(B)的未偿还总额应减去最初使用的金额)；

 

(C)在正常业务过程中向客户提供与受限集团融资业务相关的贷款、设备租赁和其他信贷延伸；

 

(D)附表6.04所列于截止日期已存在且本金总额超过$5,000,000或$1,000,000的投资(每种情况下，公司间投资除外)及其任何修改、替换、续期、再投资或延期；

 

(E)借款人和受限制附属公司对其各自受限制附属公司股权的投资；但(I)借款方在任何其他借款方持有的任何此类股权，应在“抵押品和担保要求”一词的定义所要求的范围内质押(并受第5.12、5.13或5.15节或抵押品协议或其他适用担保文件中规定的时间框架的限制)和(Ii)任何贷款方对非贷款方的任何受限制子公司的此类投资不应：在进行此类投资时并在其生效后，致使非担保人投资篮子超出，但如果根据第(2)款进行的任何此类投资是为了进行本条第(B)款(U)款允许的投资、贷款或垫款，则本条(E)项下的可用金额不得减去任何此类投资、贷款或垫款的金额，从而减少本节第(U)款所述篮子的金额；

 

(F)借款人向任何受限制附属公司作出的贷款或垫款，以及任何受限制附属公司向借款人或任何其他受限制附属公司作出的贷款或垫款；但(I) 贷款方提供的超过20,000,000美元的任何此类贷款和垫款应在截止日期当日及之后由全球公司间票据或行政代理人合理接受的其他本票证明，条件是： 对于在截止日期之后发放的贷款和垫款，全球公司间票据或其他本票的此类贷款和垫款的证据应在此类贷款或垫款发放后60天内才需要 和(Ii)在发放此类贷款或垫款时由贷款方根据本条(F)向非贷款方的受限制子公司发放的此类贷款和垫款的未偿还金额，并且在其生效后， 不得导致超出非担保人投资篮子，但任何贷款方向不是贷款方的受限制附属公司发放的任何公司间贷款或垫款，在计算本款第(Ii)款规定的任何限制或篮子(包括非担保人投资篮子)时，不得考虑在计算本款第(Ii)款规定的任何限制或篮子(包括非担保人投资篮子)时，使用从并非贷款方的受限制子公司获得的任何公司间贷款或垫款。此外，如果第(Ii)款下的任何此类贷款或垫款是为了进行本节(U)款允许的投资、贷款或垫款 ，则本条(F)项下的可用金额不得减去任何此类投资、贷款或垫款的金额，该等投资、贷款或垫款使本节(U)款下的篮子缩水，条件是：任何贷款方向非贷款方的受限制子公司提供的任何贷款或垫款，就计算本款第(Ii)款和非担保人投资篮子的用途而言，应按美元对美元减去贷款方欠非贷款方的受限制子公司的任何金额；

 

(G)借款人或任何受限附属公司就第6.01节允许的债务和本节未予考虑的其他义务提供的担保，适用于借款人或任何受限附属公司；但在任何贷款方并非贷款方的受限附属公司的每一种情况下，任何此类债务担保在提供担保时和生效后，不得导致超出非担保人投资篮子；

 

(H)借款人或任何受限制附属公司的董事、高级人员、顾问或雇员在借款人或该受限制附属公司(视何者适用而定)的正常业务运作中作出的贷款或垫款，但在任何时间未偿还的总额不得超过$10,000,000(厘定时无须考虑该等贷款或垫款的任何撇账或撇账)；

 

(I)工资、差旅和类似垫款，以支付在垫款发生时预计最终将被视为借款人或任何受限制附属公司在会计上的费用并在正常业务过程中支付的事项；

 

(J)因客户和供应商的破产或重组，或与客户和供应商之间的拖欠帐目和纠纷的结清，或因任何担保投资或任何担保投资的其他所有权转让而丧失抵押品赎回权而收到的投资，在每一种情况下，在正常业务过程中；

 

(K)第6.07节允许的以对冲协议形式进行的投资；

 

(L)在该人成为受限制附属公司或与借款人或任何受限制附属公司合并或合并时存在的任何人的投资，只要该等投资并非是在预期该人成为受限制附属公司或该等合并或合并时作出的；

 

(M)“准许产权负担”一词的定义第(C)、(D)、(O)、(R)、(Aa)或(Dd)款或第6.02(A)(Viii)节所述的质押或存款所产生的投资；

 

(N)因按照第6.05节的规定出售、转让、租赁或以其他方式处置任何资产而收取非现金对价而进行的投资；[(O)借款人或任何受限制附属公司从其任何附属公司以股权、债务证据或其他证券的形式收取股息或其他限制性付款而纯粹产生的投资(但不包括在收到股息或其他证券之日后增加的股息或其他限制性付款)；];

 

(P)应付借款人或受限制附属公司的应收款或其他贸易应付款项，如在正常业务过程中产生或取得，并可按照惯例贸易条件按 支付或清偿；但此类贸易条件可包括借款人或任何受限制附属公司在当时情况下认为合理的优惠贸易条件；

 

(Q)第6.03节允许的不涉及借款人以外的任何人的合并和合并，以及作为全资拥有的受限子公司的受限子公司 ；

 

(R)借款人在正常业务过程中以信用证、银行担保、履约保函或类似工具或其他债权人支持或偿还义务的形式进行的投资，由借款人代表任何受限制附属公司作出，并由任何受限制附属公司代表借款人或任何其他受限制附属公司作出；但在该等信用证、银行担保、履约保证金或类似票据或其他债权人支持或偿还义务由贷款方代表非贷款方的受限制子公司根据第(R)款作出时，且在其生效后，该等义务不得导致非担保人投资篮子的超额；

 

(S)借款人或任何受限附属公司对租赁(资本化租赁除外)或不构成债务的其他债务的担保，在每种情况下都是在正常业务过程中订立的 ；[(T)投资，只要(X)在按形式实施后，综合总杠杆率不超过1.50：1.00和(Y)根据第5.01(A)或(B)节交付财务报表的最近两个财政季度结束时的综合总杠杆率不超过1.50至1.00；];

 

(U)借款人或任何受限制附属公司(以及借款人的贷款和垫款)在借款人或该受限制附属公司的正常业务过程中作出的其他投资(以及借款人的贷款和垫款)，为真正的商业目的而进行的总金额，按每项投资作出时的成本价值计算，并包括未来投资的所有相关承诺(以及与该等投资有关而假设或以其他方式招致的任何债务的本金)，根据本条款(U)在任何时间未清偿的总金额不得超过(I)根据第5.01(A)或(B)节已交付财务报表的最近终了四个会计季度的综合EBITDA 的(X)$50,000,000和(Y)15.0%之和，加上(Ii)相等于就任何该等投资以现金形式实际收到的资本或销售收益的任何回报的款额(该数额不得超过作出此类投资时按成本价计算的投资额)；但在第五修正案期间，在根据第(U)款实施任何此类投资后，综合总杠杆率不得超过2：50：1.00；此外，自第五修正案生效日期起至2026年1月1日(或如果较早，则为第五修正案期间终止日期)，不得根据第(U)款进行投资；

 

(V)投资包括：(I)在正常业务过程中扩大贸易信贷和通融担保，以及(Ii)向客户提供贷款和垫款；但根据本条第(Ii)款，任何时候此类贷款和垫款的本金总额不得超过10,000,000美元；

 

(W)构成投资的获准债券对冲交易；

 

(X)在正常业务过程中的投资，包括《统一商法典》第3条托收或存款背书和《统一商法典》第4条与客户在正常业务过程中的惯常贸易安排；

 

(Y)投资(A)公用事业、保证金、租赁和在正常业务过程中发生的类似预付费用，以及(B)在正常业务过程中创建的贸易账户或应计预付费用；^{(Z)与税务规划和重组活动有关的非现金投资；但在任何这类活动生效后，贷款人在抵押品上的担保权益作为一个整体不会受到损害；}(Aa)与获准应收账款融资有关的惯常投资(由借款人真诚决定)；^{(Bb)对合资企业的投资；但在按形式进行任何此类投资时，根据本条款(Bb)进行的所有此类投资在任何时间的未偿还总额不得超过最近终了的四个财政季度合并EBITDA的50,000,000美元和15.0%，其中财务报表已根据第5.01(A)或 (B)节交付；}(Cc)在正常业务过程中以贷款或垫款形式向分销商和供应商进行的投资；

(Dd)在其构成投资的范围内，在正常业务过程中担保借款人的供应商、客户、特许经营商、出租人和被许可人以及任何受限制的子公司的义务。

 

(Ee)对任何受限制子公司的投资，涉及公司间现金管理安排或在正常业务过程中发生的相关活动，或与过去的做法一致；[(Ff)仅通过借款人发行股权(不合格股权除外)来支付此类投资的投资；](Gg)借款人和/或作为一个或多个特定GEC 实体的贷款方的一个或多个受限制子公司以指定GEC DIP融资的形式进行的投资，本金总额不超过60,000,000美元；但此类指定的GEC DIP融资应根据和按照抵押品协议的条款质押给抵押品代理人(为担保当事人的利益)作为抵押品；以及

 

(Hh)(X)获免除集团的所有权，(Y)获免除集团欠借款人或其附属公司的债务(或债务注销)，包括环球公司间票据项下的任何未偿还余额 或(Z)指定GEC票据明文规定的余额。

 

就本节而言，如果根据上述一项或多项规定和/或本节中包含的一项或多项例外，允许任何投资(或部分投资)，借款人和受限制子公司可按照符合本公约的任何方式对此类投资(或部分投资)进行划分和分类；但尽管有前述规定或其他任何相反规定，(X)根据本第6.04节的规定，仅允许依据上述(Gg)条款以指定的GEC DIP融资的形式进行投资，并且在任何情况下，都不允许依赖于本条款第6.04和(Y)条的任何其他条款进行指定的GEC DIP融资，自第七修正案生效之日起及之后，本协议禁止对任何指定的GEC实体或其任何直接或间接子公司进行任何形式的投资。 除非第6.04(Gg)或(Hh)节允许或共享服务协议允许。

 

第6.05节资产出售。借款人将不会，也不会允许任何受限子公司出售、转让、租赁或以其他方式处置任何资产(不包括在单一交易或一系列相关交易中出售、转让、租赁或以其他方式处置的资产，公平市值为25,000,000美元或以下的资产)，包括其拥有的任何股权，借款人也不允许 任何受限制子公司发行该受限制子公司的任何额外股权(发行董事合格股票和向借款人或另一家受限制子公司发行股权除外)， 除外：

 

(A)出售、转让、租赁和以其他方式处置(1)库存、(2)用过、陈旧、损坏、破旧或剩余的设备、(3)在借款人和受限制子公司的业务中不再使用或不再有用的财产(包括知识产权)和(4)现金和许可投资，每种情况下均在正常业务过程中进行；

 

(B)向借款人或受限制附属公司出售、转让、租赁及其他处置；但涉及并非贷款方的受限制附属公司的任何此类出售、转让、租赁或其他处置，在适用范围内须符合第6.04、6.09及6.17节的规定；

 

(C)不属于任何应收款融资交易(包括向保理商和其他第三方的销售)的任何应收款融资交易的一部分，对与其妥协、结算或收款相关的应收款的出售、转让和其他处置或免除；

 

(D)(I)出售、转让、租赁及其他处置资产，但以该等资产构成第6.04节(J)、(L)或(N)条所准许的投资为限，或(Br)出售、转让、租赁及其他作为处置本条所准许的任何资产的代价而收取的资产(在每种情况下，受限制附属公司的股权除外，除非该受限制附属公司的所有股权(董事合资格股份除外)均已出售)及(Ii)出售、转让、借款人或受限附属公司对受限附属公司股权的其他处置，以第6.04(E)或(U)节允许的此类出售、转让或其他处置作为对受限附属公司的投资为限。

 

(E)在正常业务过程中订立的租赁或分租，但不得对借款人或任何受限制附属公司的业务造成实质性干扰；

 

(F)在正常业务过程中授予的非排他性知识产权许可或再许可，或在正常业务过程中授予的不会对借款人或任何受限制子公司的业务造成实质性干扰的其他知识产权许可或再许可。

 

(G)因借款人或任何受限制附属公司的任何资产遭受伤亡或其他保险损害，或在征用权的授权下被接管，或因丧失抵押品赎回权或任何受限制附属公司的任何资产而丧失抵押品赎回权或类似诉讼而导致的财产转移或类似法律程序而导致的处置；

 

(H)在下列情况下处置资产：(1)此类资产以类似重置资产的购买价换取贷方，或(2)此种处置的收益迅速用于此类重置资产的购买价；

 

(I)第6.02、6.04及6.08条所准许的处置；

 

(J)附表6.05所列的产权处置；

 

(K)对本节任何其他条款不允许的资产的出售、转让、租赁和其他处置；前提是没有发生违约事件，而且违约事件正在持续或将会导致违约；

 

(L)出售、转让或以其他方式处置与许可应收账款安排有关的许可应收账款安排资产；

 

(M)出售、转让或以其他方式处置因第6.04条允许的任何收购或其他投资而获得的任何资产(包括股权)， 哪些资产不用于借款人和受限制子公司的核心或主要业务，和/或(B)为获得任何适用的反垄断机构的批准而进行的与第6.04条允许的收购相关的批准 ；

 

(N)出售、转让或以其他方式处置合营企业中的投资，范围为合营企业各方要求或根据合营企业安排和类似的具有约束力的安排中规定的合营各方之间的惯常买卖安排作出的；

 

(O)在构成受本节管限的处置的范围内，解除或提前终止或结算任何对冲协议或任何准许债券对冲交易或准许认股权证交易或其他期权、远期或其他衍生合约；及

 

(P)借款人及其受限制附属公司根据电子商务重组定义第(B)款出售、处置或以其他方式转让(包括第三方认购)PBGEC的股权

 

但本协议允许的所有销售、转让、租赁和其他处置(条款(A)(Iii)、(B)和(C)允许的除外)的购买价超过25,000,000美元，应按公允价值(由借款人善意确定)作出，应遵守第6.17条，本协议允许的所有出售、转让、租赁和其他处置的对价至少75%((B)、(D)、(B)、(D)、(G)或(H))以现金或许可投资的形式；此外，(I)在出售、转让或其他处置后30天内以现金代价处置的任何许可投资形式的代价，应被视为现金代价，其金额应等同于就本但书而言的此类现金代价的数额，(Ii)借款人或该受限附属公司根据本条款提供的最近资产负债表或其脚注所示的任何负债，受让人就适用的出售、转让、租赁或其他处置承担的债务，且借款人和所有受限制的子公司已被所有适用的 债权人以书面形式有效解除的债务除外，其金额应被视为现金代价，其金额与所承担的负债相等；及(Iii)借款人或该附属公司就该等出售、转让、租赁或其他处置而收取的任何指定非现金代价，具有总公平市场价值的租赁或其他处置，连同根据第(Iii)款收到的当时未偿还的所有其他指定非现金对价，不超过(X) $50,000,000美元及(Y)10.0%以上最近截至四个会计季度的综合EBITDA(于收到该等指定非现金对价时已根据第5.01(A)或(B)节呈交的财务报表)的50,000,000美元及(Y)10.0%，且每项指定非现金对价的公平市价于收到时计量，且不影响其后的价值变动，应被视为现金对价。

 

尽管有上述规定，发行人或其任何附属公司不得向已发行集团的任何成员公司出售、转让、租赁或以其他方式处置资产或发行股权，但提供指定的GEC DIP融资除外。

 

第6.06节销售和回租交易。借款人将不会，也不会允许任何受限子公司直接或间接地(借款人与任何其他借款方之间或之间或非贷款方的受限子公司之间的公司间安排除外)达成任何 安排，据此，借款人将出售或转让其业务中使用或有用的任何 财产，无论是现在拥有的还是以后获得的，并在其后出租或租赁该财产或其他财产，而该财产或其他财产拟用作与出售或转让财产实质上相同的一项或多於一项目的；但第6.06条并不禁止在遵守第2.11(C)条和第6.05节的前提下，对位于康涅狄格州谢尔顿水景道27号的物业进行先前的出售和回租，或就该物业进行任何续签、延期或更换租约。

 

第6.07节套期保值协议。借款人不得，也不得允许任何受限制的附属公司签订任何套期保值协议，但在正常业务过程中签订且非出于投机目的的套期保值协议除外。

 

第6.08节限制付款；次级债务的某些付款。(I)借款人将不会，也不会允许任何受限制的子公司直接或间接地声明或支付，或同意支付或支付任何限制付款，或产生任何义务(或有或以其他方式)，除非违约事件尚未发生且仍在继续 (或将由此产生的后果)：

 

(I)任何受限制附属公司可就其股权 宣布及支付股息或作出其他分配，或就其股权作出其他受限制的付款，在每种情况下按比例(或按高于任何贷款方的应课税额)向该等股权的持有人支付；

 

(2)借款人可以宣布和支付其股权的股息，仅以符合条件的股权或本协议允许的不符合条件的股权的股份支付；

 

(Iii)借款人可在任何财政年度内进行限制性付款，但不得超过(A)35,000,000美元和(B)根据第5.01(A)或(B)节交付财务报表的最近四个财政季度合并EBITDA的7.5%(未使用的金额将结转到下一个财政年度，根据本条款第(Iii)款，任何财政年度的总额上限最高为50,000,000美元)，根据并按照借款人和受限制子公司的董事、高级管理人员、顾问或雇员的股票期权计划或其他福利或基于股票的薪酬计划；

 

(Iv)从借款人截至2019年12月31日的财政年度开始，只要没有发生违约或违约事件 并且仍在继续(就定期季度股息而言，只要相关股息是在宣布股息日期后60天内支付的，这种情况只应在宣布股息时进行测试)，借款人可以就其股权宣布和支付股息，或回购其股权，其所有此类股息和回购的总金额不得超过借款人每个财政年度的36,000,000美元，条件是， 如果此类限制性付款是基于股权进行的，这种限制性支付不会导致年化股息收益率(根据借款人在纽约证券交易所截至相关股息宣布日期前10个工作日的连续30个交易日内的每日成交量加权平均价格计算)超过6.25%；但根据第6.16节使用的金额将减少本条第(Iv)款下的可用金额；此外，就第(Iv)款而言，在计算本篮子的目的时，适用于此类股权回购的每一美元应计为2美元；

 

保留区

 

借款人可在行使或结算与借款人的股本有关的任何认股权证或其他期权或远期合同，或转换或交换可转换为或可交换为借款人股权的可转换债务或其他证券时支付现金，以代替发行零碎股份 ；

 

(Vii)借款人可以在行使股票期权时回购股权，如果这种股权代表这种股票期权行权价格的一部分(以及为支付与根据这种股票期权或其他福利计划行使有关的税款或其他金额而进行的股票赎回或相关注销)；

 

(Viii)在发行任何合格股权的同时，借款人可以使用借款人的任何股权收益赎回、购买或注销借款人的任何股权，或将借款人的任何股权转换或交换为此类合格股权；

 

(Ix)借款人可以就任何转换或交换可转换债务支付现金，金额 等于(I)该等可转换债务的本金金额及(Ii)借款人或其任何受限制附属公司根据任何与 有关的准许债券对冲交易的行使、结算或终止而收到的任何付款的收益之和；

 

(X)借款人可就许可债券对冲交易和任何相关的许可认股权证交易的结算进行付款：(I)在股份净额结算时交付借款人的股权份额，或(Ii)通过(A)抵销相关的许可债券对冲交易和(B)在任何提前终止借款人的普通股权益中支付提前终止的金额；

 

(Xi)借款人可以声明和支付限制性付款的总额不得超过在作出此类限制性付款时和在其生效后当时的可用金额；但借款人只有在下列情况下才可根据本条(Xi)作出受限制付款：(X)并无违约或违约事件发生，且(Br)继续(或将因此而导致)及(Y)(A)在按形式生效后，综合总杠杆率不得超过1：50：1.00，且(B)根据第5.01(A)或(B)节发布财务报表的最近两个会计季末的综合总杠杆率不超过1.50至1.00；和

 

(Xii)(I)与行使股票期权、认股权证或类似权利有关的任何非现金回购或扣留股权，如果该等股权代表与该等期权、认股权证或类似权利有关的行使或扣缴义务的一部分(为免生疑问，应理解为所需的任何预扣或类似税款可由借款人或任何受限制附属公司以现金支付)，及(Ii)向高级人员提供的贷款或垫款，借款人或任何受限制附属公司的董事及雇员与该人购买借款人的股权有关，但除支付与该项购买有关的应付税款外，不得根据第(Ii)款实际预支任何现金，除非立即偿还 。

 

(B)借款人不会，也不会允许任何受限制附属公司提前偿还、赎回、购买或以其他方式偿还在偿付权上从属于债务的任何债务(为免生疑问，不包括欠借款人或任何受限制附属公司的任何从属债务)(统称为“受限制债务支付”)，但以下情况除外：

 

(I)偿还根据本协定或任何其他贷款文件产生的债务；

 

(Ii)就任何该等债项到期的定期预定利息及本金付款，但就该等债项作出的次要规定所禁止的付款除外；

 

(3)用第6.01节允许的其他债务的收益对债务进行再融资；

 

(四)

 

保留区

 

保留区

 

(6)有关债务条款所要求的付款，这些条款旨在确保此类票据在发行时不会被视为《守则》第163(I)条所指的“适用的高收益贴现债务”；以及

 

(Vii)将该等债务转换为借款人的合资格股权，或将该等债务交换为借款人的合资格股权。

 

就本节而言，如果根据上述一项或多项规定和/或本节中包含的一项或多项例外情况允许任何限制性付款(或部分付款)，借款人和受限制子公司可按照符合本公约的任何方式对此类限制性付款(或部分付款)进行划分和分类。

 

第6.09节与关联公司的交易。借款人将不会，也不会允许任何受限制子公司向其任何关联公司出售、租赁或以其他方式转让任何资产，或 从其任何关联公司购买、租赁或以其他方式获得任何资产，或以其他方式与其任何关联公司进行总代价超过20,000,000美元的任何其他交易(或一系列相关交易)，但(I) 以不低于借款人或该受限制子公司的价格和条款和条件进行的交易除外，(Ii)贷款方之间或之间不涉及任何其他关联公司的交易，或(B)非贷款方的受限制子公司之间的交易，(Iii)向借款人或第6.08节允许的任何受限制子公司支付的限制性付款，以及对第6.04节允许的子公司的投资，以及涉及借款人和第6.03节允许的受限制子公司的任何其他交易，前提是借款人与一个或多个受限制子公司之间或两个或多个受限制子公司之间的交易。(Iv)向并非借款人或任何受限制附属公司雇员的借款人或任何受限制附属公司的董事支付合理费用，并向借款人或受限制附属公司的董事、高级人员、顾问或雇员支付薪酬和雇员福利安排，以及为借款人或受限制附属公司的董事、高级人员、顾问或雇员的利益而提供的弥偿；。(V)依据雇佣协议以现金、证券或其他方式发行证券或其他付款、奖励或授予，或以雇佣协议提供资金，借款人董事会批准的股票期权和股票所有权计划，(Vi)借款人或其任何受限附属公司与借款人董事会批准的任何雇员在正常业务过程中订立的雇佣和遣散安排，(Vii)向其他受限附属公司支付的款项，这些款项因任何惯常的税务合并和集团安排而产生或与之相关，(Viii)指定的GEC DIP融资和(Ix)电子商务重组。

 

第6.10节限制性协议。借款人将不会，也不会允许任何受限制子公司订立或允许 存在禁止、限制或对以下方面施加任何条件的协议或其他安排：(A)借款人或任何受限制子公司创造、对其作为抵押品或必须作为抵押品的任何资产产生或允许存在任何留置权，以保证义务，或(B)非贷款方的任何受限制子公司有能力就其任何股权支付股息或其他分配，向借款人或任何贷款方发放或偿还贷款或垫款，或将其任何财产或资产转让给借款人或任何贷款方；但上述规定不适用于(A)法律或本协议施加的限制和条件、任何贷款文件、任何增量贷款修正案、任何再融资贷款协议、管理任何再融资定期贷款债务或再融资债务的任何文件或管理替代增量贷款债务的任何文件，(B)在截止日期生效的现有高级票据文件或证明第6.01(A)节第(Ii)款所允许的其他债务的任何协议或文件所施加的限制和条件；但任何该等协议或文件所载的限制及条件(由借款人真诚地厘定)对贷款人而言并不比现有优先票据文件所施加的限制及条件或其他有关债务类型的惯常限制(可能为“高收益”票据或定期贷款)所施加的限制及条件差多少，(C)在并非全资拥有的受限制附属公司的情况下，其组织文件或任何相关合资企业或类似协议施加的习惯限制和条件；但该等限制及条件只适用于该受限制附属公司及该受限制附属公司的股权，(D)协议所载有关出售受限制附属公司或借款人或任何受限制附属公司的任何资产的惯常限制及条件(由借款人真诚地决定)，在每种情况下均有待出售；但该等限制及条件只适用于该受限制附属公司或拟出售的资产，且在每种情况下，此类出售均为本协议所允许的；(E)在截止日期存在并于附表6.10确定的限制及条件(以及对该附表所列文件的任何延长或续期，或对该附表所列文件的任何修订、修改或替换，但不会在任何实质方面扩大任何该等限制或条件的范围)；(F)关于任何受限制附属公司的债务的任何协议所施加的限制和条件 在该受限制附属公司成为受限制附属公司之时已存在，并由第6.01(A)节第(Vii)款允许的其他限制，或第6.01(A)条第(Viii)或(Xix)条允许的非贷款方受限制附属公司的任何债务限制，在每种情况下，如果该等限制和条件仅适用于该受限制附属公司及其子公司，(G)习惯性禁止，与允许应收账款融资有关的协议中包含的限制和条件(由借款人善意确定)，(H)管理借款人和任何受限制子公司根据第6.01节允许发生的其他债务的文件中规定的任何产权负担或限制，但此类产权负担或限制不会实质性损害(由借款人善意确定的)(1)借款人支付本协议项下本金和利息的能力，或(2)贷款方对其作为抵押品或必须作为抵押品的任何资产提供任何留置权的能力，(I)租赁、许可、再许可和其他合同(包括知识产权的非排他性许可和再许可)中限制转让的习惯条款，(J)任何与本协议允许的有担保债务或其他留置权有关的协议对 仅适用于担保此类债务的财产或此类留置权涵盖的财产施加的限制，(K)在正常业务过程中订立的协议对现金(或允许的投资)或其他存款施加的限制(或对现金或存款的其他限制，受限制或构成允许的产权负担的限制)，(L)租约、转租、许可证、因此，在此允许转授许可证或资产出售协议，只要此类限制仅涉及受其约束的资产，(M)限制转租或转让管理借款人或任何受限制子公司的租赁权益的任何租约的习惯条款，以及(N)子公司签订的不动产租赁中包含的习惯净值条款，只要借款人真诚地确定此类净值条款不会合理地预计会损害借款人及其子公司履行其持续债务的能力。

 

第6.11节材料文件的修订等。借款人不会，也不会允许其任何受限制的子公司在未经所需贷款人同意的情况下，修改、修改或放弃其公司注册证书、章程或其他组织文件，但与“电子商务重组”定义第(A)款有关的修订、修改或豁免的影响将对贷款人造成实质性不利的情况除外。

 

第6.12.节综合调整利息覆盖率。借款人不得允许借款人截至(A)截止日期或之后且在第三修正案生效日期之前的任何连续四个会计季度的任何期间的最后一天的综合调整利息覆盖率小于2.75%至1.00，(B)在第三修正案生效日期或之后且在第五修正案生效日期之前的合并调整利息覆盖率小于2.25%至1.00，(C)在第五修正案生效日期或之后但在2025年1月1日之前小于1.75至1.00和(D)在 或在2025年1月1日之后小于2.00至1.00。

 

尽管有上述规定，如果借款人在2025年3月31日或之前结束的连续四个会计季度的任何期间，应已向行政代理提交了第五次修订期间终止通知，则对于借款人连续四个会计季度的该期间和随后的每个期间，前款规定的比率不适用，借款人将不允许借款人在连续四个会计季度的任何该等期间的最后一天的综合调整利息覆盖率低于2.25%至1.00(“未经修订的综合调整利息覆盖率”)。

 

本节的规定完全是为了循环贷款人、A期定期贷款人和增量B期定期贷款人的利益，除非任何增量贷款修正案另有规定，否则不是为了提供任何其他增量贷款的任何贷款人的利益。尽管有第9.02节的规定，但所需的Covenant贷款人可以(I)直接或间接地修改或以其他方式修改本节，或仅为本节的目的而修改其中使用的定义术语，或(Ii)放弃不遵守第6.12节的任何情况或因不遵守第6.12条而导致的任何违约事件，在每种情况下，均无需任何其他贷款人的同意。

 

第6.13.节合并调整后总杠杆率。借款人不得允许借款人连续四个会计季度的任何 期间在下列任何期间或大约在任何日期结束的合并调整后总杠杆率超过以下与该期间相对的比率：

 

财政季度结束

 

合并调整后总杠杆率

 

2019年12月31日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2020年3月31日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2020年6月30日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2020年9月30日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2020年12月31日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2021年3月31日

 

4.00至1.00

 

2021年6月30日

 

(v)  [4.00至1.00];

 

2021年9月30日

 

4.00至1.00

 

2021年12月31日

 

4.00至1.00

 

2022年3月31日

 

4.00至1.00

 

2022年6月30日

 

2022年9月30日

 

3.75至1.00

 

2022年12月31日

 

4.00至1.00[2023年3月31];

 

(v)  [4.00至1.00];

 

2023年6月30日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2023年9月30日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2023年12月31日

 

4.25至1.00

 

2024年3月31日

 

4.00至1.00

 

(K)就支付总额超过$75,000,000的款项而作出的一项或多于一项判决(保险(自我保险计划除外)所涵盖的任何该等判决除外，但以书面提出索偿且保险人并未否认对该等判决的责任的范围内)，须针对借款人、任何受限制附属公司或其任何组合作出，而该等判决须在连续60天内保持不解除，在此期间不得有效地暂停执行，或判定债权人应依法采取任何行动，以扣押或征收借款人或任何受限制附属公司的任何资产，而该等资产对借款人或任何受限制附属公司的整体业务和运作是至关重要的，以强制执行任何此类判决；

 

 

(Iii)本协议或任何贷款文件中的任何规定均不得要求行政代理向任何贷款人或开证行交代行政代理为其自己的账户收到的任何款项或其利润因素。

 

(C)担任本合同项下行政代理行的人应享有与任何其他贷款人或开证行相同的放贷人或开证行身份的权利和权力，并可行使与不是行政代理人相同的权利和权力。除非文意另有明确指示，否则术语“开证行”、“贷款人”、“要求贷款人”和任何类似术语应包括行政代理人作为贷款人、开证行或作为要求贷款人之一的个人身份。担任行政代理的人及其关联公司可接受借款人或其任何附属公司或其他关联公司的存款、借出资金、持有其证券、担任借款人或其任何子公司或其他关联公司的财务顾问或任何其他顾问，并一般与借款人或其任何附属公司从事任何类型的业务，就像该人不是本协议项下的行政代理一样，并且没有向贷款人或开证行交代的责任。

 

(D)除贷款文件中明确规定的义务外，行政代理人不应承担任何责任或义务，本合同项下的职责应为行政性质。在不限制前述一般性的原则下，(A)行政代理人不应承担任何受托责任或其他默示责任，无论违约是否已经发生并仍在继续，(B)行政代理人不应承担采取任何自由裁量行动或行使任何自由裁量权的任何责任，除贷款文件明确规定的行政代理按所需贷款人的书面指示(或在贷款文件规定的情况下，必要的其他数目或百分比的贷款人，或行政代理真诚地认为必要的其他数目或百分比)行使的自由裁量权和权力外；但不得要求行政代理采取下列行为：(I)行政代理善意地认为使其承担责任，除非行政代理收到贷款人和开证行就此类行为向其提供的令其满意的赔偿，或(Ii)违反本协议或任何其他贷款文件或适用法律，包括根据任何有关破产、破产、重组或债务减免的法律要求可能违反自动中止的任何行动，或可能导致没收的任何行动，违反与债务人破产、资不抵债、重组或救济有关的法律规定，修改或终止违约贷款人的财产；此外，行政代理可在执行任何此类指示的行动之前向所需贷款人寻求澄清或指示，并可在提供此类澄清或指示之前不采取行动，以及(C)除贷款文件中明确规定外，行政代理不负有披露任何与借款人有关的信息的责任，也不对未能披露借款人的任何信息承担责任。以任何身份传达给作为行政代理的人员或其任何附属公司，或由其以任何身份获得的上述任何附属公司或任何其他附属公司。

 

(E)行政代理人可由行政代理人委任的任何一名或多名次级代理人或透过其委任的任何一名或多名次级代理人履行其任何及所有职责，并行使其在本协议或任何其他贷款文件下的权利及权力。行政代理人及任何该等次级代理人可由其各自的关联方或透过其关联方履行其任何及所有职责，并行使其各自的权利及权力。本条的免责条款适用于任何该等次级代理人及关联方行政代理人和任何此类次级代理人的责任，并应适用于他们各自与本协议规定的信贷安排的辛迪加有关的活动以及行政代理人的活动。行政代理人不对任何次级代理人的疏忽或不当行为负责，除非有管辖权的法院在不可上诉的最终判决中裁定行政代理人在选择此等次级代理人时存在严重疏忽或故意不当行为。

 

(F)如果根据现在或以后生效的任何联邦、州或外国破产、接管或类似法律对任何贷款方的任何法律程序悬而未决，行政代理人(无论任何贷款或任何信用证支出的本金届时是否如本文所示或通过声明或其他方式到期并应支付，也不论行政代理人 是否应向借款人提出任何要求)应有权通过干预或以其他方式干预该程序并赋予其权力(但不是义务)：

 

(I)就贷款、信用证风险及所有其他欠款及未付债务的全部本金及利息欠款提出申索及证明，并提交其他必要或适宜的文件，以便放款人、开证行及行政代理人的申索(包括根据第2.12、2.13、2.15、2.16、2.17及9.03条提出的任何申索)在该司法程序中获准提出；及

 

(Ii)收集和接收任何此类索赔应支付或可交付的任何款项或其他财产，并分发这些款项或财产；

 

任何此类程序中的任何托管人、接管人、受让人、受托人、清算人、扣押人或其他类似官员，均获各贷款人、各开证行和其他担保当事人授权向行政代理人支付此类款项，如果行政代理人同意直接向贷款人、开证行或其他担保当事人支付此类款项，则可以行政代理人的身份向行政代理人支付应付给它的任何款项。根据贷款文件(包括第9.03节)。本文件中包含的任何内容不得被视为授权行政代理授权或同意，或代表任何贷款人或开证行接受或采纳影响任何贷款人或开证行义务或权利的任何重组、安排、调整或组成计划，或授权行政代理在任何此类诉讼中就任何贷款人或开证行的索赔进行表决。

 

(G)尽管本协议有任何相反规定，安排人或本协议封面上被指定为辛迪加代理或文件代理的任何人均不承担本协议或任何其他贷款文件项下的任何责任或义务(除非以贷款人或开证行的身份(视情况而定))，但所有此等人士应享有本协议规定的赔偿的利益。

 

(H)本条的规定完全是为了行政代理、贷款人和开证行的利益，除非借款人根据本条规定的条件和在符合条件的范围内获得同意，否则借款人或任何附属公司均不享有作为任何此类规定的第三方受益人的任何权利。每一有担保的一方，无论是否为本条款的当事人，都将被视为：通过接受抵押品的利益和对贷款文件规定的义务的担保，即表示同意本条的规定。

 

(B)行政代理应被视为不知道任何(I)第5.02节所述或描述的任何事件或情况的通知，除非且直到借款人向行政代理发出书面通知，说明该通知是关于本协议的“第5.02条下的通知”并指明上述部分下的具体条款，或(Ii)任何违约或违约事件的通知 ，除非借款人、贷款人或开证行向管理代理发出书面通知(说明该通知为“违约通知”)。此外，行政代理不负责，也没有责任确定或调查(I)在本协议或任何其他贷款文件中或与之相关的任何陈述、担保或陈述，(Ii)根据本协议或根据本协议交付的任何证书、报告或其他文件的内容，或与本协议或与本协议相关的其他文件的内容，(Iii)任何契诺的履行或遵守情况，本协议或任何其他贷款文件中规定的协议或其他条款或条件或任何违约或违约事件的发生，(Iv)本协议或任何其他贷款文件或任何其他协议、文书或文件的充分性、有效性、可执行性、有效性或真实性，(V)满足第四条或本协议或任何其他贷款文件中规定的任何条件。除非确认收到明确要求交付给行政代理人的物品，或确认满足下列条件：(br}行政代理人可接受或满意其中所述事项，或(Vi)抵押品上留置权的设定、完善或优先权。尽管本合同有任何相反规定，行政代理人不对借款人、任何子公司、任何贷款人或任何开证行因下列原因而遭受的任何损失、费用或开支负责，对可归因于每个贷款人或开证行的循环风险或其组成部分金额或其任何部分的任何确定。

 

(C)在不限制前述规定的情况下，行政代理(I)可将任何本票的收款人视为其持有人，直至该本票已根据第9.04节转让为止，(Ii)可在第9.04(B)节规定的范围内依赖登记册，(Iii)可咨询法律顾问(包括借款人的律师)、独立公共会计师和由其选定的其他专家，且不对其根据上述律师、会计师或专家的建议真诚地采取或不采取的任何行动负责，(Iv)不向任何贷款人或开证行作出担保或陈述，也不对任何贷款人或开证行就任何贷款方或其代表就本协议或任何其他贷款文件所作的任何陈述、担保或陈述负责。(V)在确定贷款或信用证的发放或签发是否符合本协议规定的任何条件时，根据其条款，必须达到贷款人或开证行满意的程度，除非行政代理在发放贷款或签发信用证之前充分提前从贷款人或开证行收到相反的通知，且(Vi)有权依据任何通知、同意、证书或其他文书或书面形式(可以是传真、任何电子消息、 互联网或内联网网站张贴或以其他方式分发)或任何口头或通过电话向其作出的声明，并被其认为是真实的，并由适当的一方或多方签署、发送或以其他方式认证(无论 此人实际上是否符合贷款文件中规定的作为贷款文件制作者的要求)。

 

第8.03节继任行政代理。

 

(A)在符合本款规定的情况下，行政代理人可在向贷款人、开证行和借款人发出辞职意向的30天通知后辞去行政代理人的职务。*在收到任何该等辞职通知后，所需的贷款人有权征得借款人的同意(不得无理拒绝或拖延)，指定继任者。如果没有继任者由所要求的贷款人如此指定，并且应在即将退休的行政代理人发出辞职意向通知后30天内接受该任命，则即将退休的行政代理人可代表贷款人和开证行指定继任者行政代理人，该行政代理人应是在纽约设有办事处的银行。或任何此类银行的关联机构。如果继承人接受其在本协议项下的行政代理的任命，该继承人将继承并被授予即将退休的行政代理人的所有权利、权力、特权和义务，即将退休的行政代理人应解除其在本协议和其他贷款文件项下的职责和义务。借款人支付给继任行政代理人的费用应与支付给其前任的费用相同，除非借款人和该 继任者另有约定。

 

(B)尽管有本节(A)段的规定，如果没有继任的行政代理人被如此任命，并且在退休的行政代理人发出辞职意向的通知后30天内接受任命，则退休的行政代理人可以向贷款人、开证行和借款人发出辞职生效的通知，从而在通知中所述辞职生效的日期，(I)退休的行政代理人应被解除其在本协议和其他贷款文件项下的职责和义务；但仅为维护根据任何担保文件为担保当事人的利益授予行政代理的任何担保权益的目的，退役的行政代理人应继续被授予担保代理人的担保权益，以担保当事人的利益为目的，如果担保由行政代理人拥有，则应继续持有此类抵押品。在每种情况下，直到根据本款指定并接受这种任命的继任行政代理人为止(已理解并同意，即将退休的行政代理人没有义务或义务根据任何担保文件采取任何进一步行动，包括维持任何此类担保权益的完美性所需的任何行动)，以及(Ii)所需贷款人应继承并被授予退休行政代理人的所有权利、权力、特权和义务；但(A)根据本协议或任何其他贷款文件的规定，为行政代理人以外的任何人的账户向行政代理人支付的所有款项应直接支付给该人，以及(B)要求或计划向行政代理人发出或作出的所有通知和其他通信也应直接发给或发出给每一贷款人和每家开证行。在行政代理人辞去其职务、本条和第9.03节的规定以及任何免责声明生效后，任何其他贷款文件中规定的报销和赔偿条款应继续有效 ，以使即将退休的行政代理、其子代理及其各自的关联方在担任行政代理期间采取或未采取的任何行动，以及在 上述第(I)款的但书中提到的事项方面继续有效。

 

第8.04节：贷款人和开证行的认可。

 

(A)每一贷款人和每一开证行承认，它在正常业务过程中从事发放、收购或持有商业贷款，并且它在不依赖行政代理的情况下，根据其认为适当的文件和信息，独立地作出了自己的信用分析和决定，作为贷款人订立本协议，并作出：收购或持有本协议项下的贷款。每个贷款人和每个开证行还承认，它将根据其认为适当的文件和信息(可能包含美国证券法中关于借款人及其附属公司的重大、非公开信息)，独立且不依赖行政代理、任何其他贷款人或开证行、或上述任何相关方的任何一方，继续自行决定是否根据或基于本协议、任何其他贷款文件或任何相关协议或根据本协议或根据本协议提供的任何文件采取或不采取行动。

 

(B)对于每一贷款人，通过向本协议交付其签名页并在截止日期为其贷款提供资金，或将其签名页交付给转让和假设或根据其成为本协议项下的贷款人的任何其他贷款文件，应被视为已确认已收到本协议以及要求在截止日期交付给行政代理或贷款人的每一份其他贷款文件和每一份其他文件，或由行政代理或贷款人批准或令其满意。[(C)：(I)每一贷款人和开证行在此同意：(X)如果行政代理通知该贷款人或开证行，该行政代理已自行决定该贷款人或开证行从该行政代理或其任何附属公司收到的任何资金(无论是作为本金、利息、手续费或其他款项的付款、预付或偿还)；单独地和 集体地)被错误地传送给该贷款人或开证行(无论该贷款人或开证行是否知道)，并要求退还该付款(或其部分)，该贷款人或开证行应迅速(但在任何情况下不得迟于其后一个营业日)将任何该等付款(或其部分)的金额(或其部分)退还给行政代理，该款项是在同一天的资金中作出的，连同自该贷款人或开证行收到付款(或部分款项)之日起至向管理代理偿还该款项之日为止的每一天的利息 ，按NYFRB利率和管理代理根据银行业不时生效的银行同业补偿规则确定的利率中的较大者为准，并且(Y)在适用法律允许的范围内，该贷款人或开证行不得主张， ，特此放弃：就行政代理人而言，行政代理人就退还任何已收款项的任何要求、索赔或反索赔而提出的任何索赔、反索赔、抗辩或抵消权，包括但不限于基于“价值解除”或任何类似原则的任何抗辩。行政代理人根据本条款第8.04(C)条向任何贷款人或开证行发出的通知应是决定性的，不存在明显错误。](Ii)每一贷款人和开证行在此进一步同意，如果其从行政代理或其任何关联公司(X)收到的付款金额或日期与行政代理(或其任何关联公司)就该付款(“付款通知”)或(Y)发出的付款通知(“付款通知”)或(Y)中规定的付款通知(“付款通知”)或(Y)中规定的付款金额或日期不同， 在每种情况下，均应予以通知。此类付款有误。如果每一贷款人和开证行同意，在每一种情况下，或如果它以其他方式意识到付款(或其部分)可能被错误发送，则该贷款人或开证行应迅速将该情况通知行政代理，并应行政代理的要求，迅速，但在任何情况下不得迟于此后一个营业日，将任何此类付款(或其部分)的金额(或部分)返还给行政代理，连同自贷款人或开证行收到付款(或其部分)之日起至按NYFRB利率和行政代理根据不时生效的银行业同业补偿规则确定的利率(以较大者为准)偿还给管理代理之日为止的每一天的利息。

 

(Iii)借款人和每一其他贷款方特此同意：(X)如果错误付款(或其部分)因任何原因未能从收到该付款的任何贷款人处追回 (或其部分)，则行政代理应取代该贷款人对该金额的所有权利，(Y)错误付款不得支付、预付、偿还、解除或以其他方式履行借款人或任何其他贷款方所欠的任何 义务。

 

(Iv)在行政代理人辞职或更换，或贷款人或开证行的任何权利或义务的转移，或贷款人或开证行的替换，承诺终止，或任何贷款文件项下的所有义务的偿还、清偿或解除后，各方在第8.04(C)款项下的义务应继续存在。

 

(j)  [第8.05条。抵押品事宜。];

 

(A)除(X)关于任何贷款人根据第9.08节行使抵销权或(Y)关于有担保的一方在破产程序中提出债权证明的权利外，任何有担保的一方不得单独对任何抵押品变现或强制执行债务的任何担保，应理解并同意，所有权力，贷款文件规定的权利和补救办法只能由行政代理根据贷款文件的条款代表担保当事人行使。

 

(B)为促进前述规定，但不限于与现金管理服务有关的任何安排构成有担保现金管理债务的债务和无套期保值协议构成有担保对冲债务的债务将产生(或被视为产生)与管理或解除任何抵押品或任何贷款方在本协议或任何其他贷款文件下的义务有关的任何权利。作为有关现金管理服务或任何套期保值协议的任何此类安排的一方的每一位担保方，应被视为已指定行政代理作为贷款文件项下的行政代理和抵押品代理，并同意作为贷款文件项下的担保方受贷款文件的约束，但须遵守本款规定的限制。

 

(C)本合同的担保当事人不可撤销地授权行政代理人根据第6.02(A)(V)条所允许的任何贷款文件和任何可接受的债权人间协议，解除或从属于行政代理人根据任何贷款文件授予或持有的任何财产的任何留置权。行政代理人不对 或有责任确定或调查关于抵押品的存在、价值或可收集性、存在、行政代理对抵押品的留置权或任何贷款方出具的任何与此相关的证书的优先权或完善性，行政代理也不对贷款人未能监督或维护任何部分抵押品负责或承担责任。

 

(D)担保当事人在此不可撤销地授权行政代理在所需贷款人的指示下，对全部或任何部分债务进行信贷投标(包括根据代替止赎的契据或其他方式接受部分或全部适用抵押品以偿还部分或全部此类债务)，并以这种方式(直接或通过一项或多项收购 车辆)购买全部或任何部分抵押品(A)根据《破产法》的规定，包括根据第363条进行的任何出售，破产法1123或1129，或贷款方受制于的任何其他司法管辖区的任何类似法律，或(B)行政代理(或经其同意或指示)根据任何适用法律进行的(或经其同意或指示)的任何其他出售、止赎或接受抵押品代替债务的行为 。就任何此类信贷投标和购买而言，对担保当事人的债务应有权且应为：行政代理在 指示下要求贷款人在应收差饷的基础上为如此购买的一项或多项资产(或收购工具的股权或债务工具或有权益或债务工具，或有或有权益或未清偿债权的债务，该等债权在清盘时应按比例分配或有权益的金额为 )进行信贷投标。与该等购买有关而发出的车辆)。(I)行政代理应被授权组成一辆或多辆收购车辆，并将任何成功的信用投标转让给该一辆或多辆收购车辆，(Ii)担保各方在信用投标债务中的每一应课税权益应被视为转让给该车辆，而无需根据本协议采取任何进一步行动，以结束此类销售。(3)行政代理应被授权通过规定对一个或多个购置车辆进行治理的文件(但行政代理就该购置车辆或车辆采取的任何行动，包括对其资产或股权的任何处置，应直接或间接由根据本协议或适用的购置车辆的管理文件(视情况而定)规定的借款人或其获准受让人投票进行控制)，无论本协议终止，且不实施本协议第9.02节中所包含的对所需贷款人的诉讼的限制)，(Iv)行政代理应被授权代表此类收购工具或工具按比例向每个担保当事人发行债券，按比例计入相关义务，包括信贷投标、权益，无论是股权、合伙、有限合伙企业权益还是会员权益，在这种收购工具发行的任何此类收购工具和/或债务工具中，均不需要任何有担保的当事人或收购工具采取任何进一步行动，以及(V)在转让给收购工具的债务因任何原因(由于另一个出价更高或更高，因为分配给收购工具的债务金额超过收购工具的信用出价或其他原因)未用于收购抵押品的范围内，此类债务应自动按其在此类债务中的原始权益按比例重新分配给适用的担保当事人，任何收购工具因此类债务而发行的股权和/或债务工具应自动注销，而无需任何担保当事人或任何收购工具采取任何进一步行动。尽管每个担保当事人的债务的可分摊部分被视为如上文第(Ii)款所述分配给一个或多个收购工具，每一有担保的一方应签署行政代理可能合理要求的关于担保一方(和/或担保一方的任何指定人，将收到该收购工具中的权益或由该收购工具发行的债务票据)的文件，并提供该行政代理可能合理要求的与组建任何收购工具、制定或提交任何信贷投标或完成该信贷投标预期的交易有关的信息。

 

(E)贷款人和本协议的其他担保当事人在此不可撤销地授权并指示行政代理在未经任何贷款人或任何其他担保当事人进一步同意的情况下，订立(或确认并同意)或修订、续签、延长、补充、重述、替换、放弃或以其他方式修改任何可接受的债权人间协议；但任何修订、续期、延期、补充、重述，均须征得构成有担保对冲义务的任何套期保值协议的交易对手、构成有担保现金管理义务的各现金管理服务提供者或各开证行的具体同意。仅在其权利和义务受到实质性不利影响的范围内替换或放弃。贷款人和其他有担保的当事人不可撤销地同意，行政代理签订的任何可接受的债权人间协议应对有担保的各方具有约束力，每一贷款人和每一其他担保当事人在此同意，它不会采取违反可接受的债权人间协议的规定的行动。上述条款旨在诱使任何不受本条款第6.01节禁止的债务的提供者向贷款当事人提供信贷，而这些人是此类条款的第三方受益人。

 

第8.06节关于ERISA的某些事项。

 

(I)该贷款人没有就该贷款人加入、参与、管理或履行贷款、信用证、承诺书或本协议而使用一个或多个福利计划的“计划资产”(按ERISA第3(42)条或其他规定的含义)，

 

(Iv)行政代理以其全权酌情决定权与贷款人以书面商定的其他陈述、担保和契诺。

 

(B)此外，除非(1)前一款(A)第(I)款对于贷款人而言是真实的，或(2)贷款人已根据前一款(A)第(Iv)款提供另一陈述、担保和契诺，否则该贷款人还(X)表示和(Y)契诺的贷款人在其成为本条款的贷款人一方之日，从该人 成为本合同的贷款方之日起至该人不再是本合同的贷款方之日为止，为管理代理人的利益，而不是为了避免怀疑，借款人或任何其他贷款方的利益， 行政代理人不是贷款人资产的受托人，该贷款人的资产参与、参与、管理和履行贷款、信用证、信用证、承诺和本协议(包括行政代理保留或行使本协议项下的任何权利、任何贷款文件或与本协议有关的任何文件)。

 

第九条

 

杂类

 

第9.01节通知。(A)总则：除明确允许通过电话 发出的通知和其他通信(且符合本节(B)段的规定)外，此处规定的所有通知和其他通信应以书面形式，并应以专人或隔夜快递服务、挂号或挂号信邮寄或传真发送 (以下提供传真信息)，如下：

 

(I)向借款人，康涅狄格州斯坦福德夏街3001号Pitney Bowes Inc.，电话：(06926-0700)收件人：总裁副财长黛比·萨尔斯；电话号码：(203)351-6926；电子邮件：debbie.salce@pb.com)；复印件：康涅狄格州斯坦福德夏街3001号Pitney Bowes Inc.，电话：(203)351-7587；电子邮件：Daniel.Goldstein@pb.com)；

 

(Ii)致JPMorgan Chase Bank，N.A.贷款和机构服务集团行政代理，地址：德州19713，纽瓦克，斯坦顿克里斯蒂安娜路500号，1楼，邮编：Mitchell Soobryan，电子邮件：mitchell.soobryan@asche.com和Marc-Jonathan Seya，电子邮件：marcjonathan。电子邮件：seya@chase.com，地址：纽约麦迪逊大道383号，24层，邮编：10179，传真：吉恩·里戈·德·迪奥斯；

 

(3)如发给任何开证行，则按开证行在向行政代理和借款人发出的通知中最近指明的地址或电子邮件地址(或传真号码)送达该开证行(如无此类通知，则寄往作为该开证行或其附属公司的贷款人的行政调查问卷中规定的地址或电子邮件地址(或传真号码))；以及

 

(Iv)如果给任何其他贷款人，则按其行政调查问卷中规定的其地址或电子邮件地址(或传真号码)发送给该贷款人。

 

第9.04节继承人和受让人。(A)总则。本协议的规定对本协议双方及其在此允许的各自的继承人和受让人(包括任何签发信用证的开证行的任何关联公司)具有约束力并符合其利益，但以下情况除外：(I)未经行政代理和每个贷款人事先书面同意，借款人不得转让、转授或以其他方式转让其在本协议项下的任何权利或义务，以及(Ii)贷款人不得转让，除非按照本节的规定，否则不得将本协议项下的权利或义务转授或以其他方式转让。本协议中任何明示或暗示的内容均不得被解释为授予任何人(除本协议双方之外，其各自的继承人和在此允许的受让人(包括签发任何信用证的开证行的任何关联机构)、参与者(在本节(C)段规定的范围内)、安排人、辛迪加代理、文件代理，以及在本协议明确规定的范围内，任何行政代理、任何安排人、任何辛迪加代理、任何文件代理、任何开证行和任何贷款人的相关方)根据或由于本协议而享有的任何法律或衡平法权利、补救或索赔。

 

(B)贷款人的转让。(I)在符合以下(B)(Ii)段所述条件的前提下，任何贷款人可将其在本协议项下的全部或部分权利和义务(包括其全部或部分承诺以及当时欠其的贷款)转让给一个或多个符合条件的受让人，并事先征得(A)借款人的书面同意(同意不得被无理扣留或拖延)；但不需要借款人同意：(1)将任何类别的承诺或贷款转让给该类别下的另一贷款人、该类别下贷款人的附属机构或核准基金，以及(2)如果第7.01(A)、(B)、(H)或(I)项所述类型的违约事件已经发生并仍在继续，则进行任何其他转让和转授；此外，借款人应被视为已同意权利和义务的转让和转授，除非借款人在收到通知后五个工作日内以书面通知向行政代理提出反对，(B)行政代理 (不得无理拒绝或拖延此类同意)；但将定期承诺或定期贷款的全部或任何部分转让和授权给贷款人、贷款人的关联公司或核准基金，以及(C)在所有或部分循环承诺或任何贷款人关于其LC风险敞口的义务的转让和授权的情况下，不需要行政代理的同意(不得无理扣留或延迟)。

 

(2)转让和转授应受下列附加条件的限制：(A)除非转让和转授给贷款人、贷款人的关联公司或核准基金，或转让贷款人承诺或任何类别贷款的全部剩余金额的转让和转授，转让贷款人的承诺或贷款的金额须受每项此类转让和转授的限制(自转让和转授中规定的交易日期起确定)，或如未指明交易日期，则除非借款人和行政代理人另行同意(除非借款人和行政代理人另有同意，否则转让和委托的转让和假设)不得低于5,000,000美元，或者，如果是递增的b期定期贷款，则不少于1,000,000美元(就最低转让额而言，将两个或更多核准资金的同时转让视为单一转让)；但如果第7.01(A)、(B)、(H)或(I)项所述类型的违约事件已经发生并仍在继续，则不需要借款人同意，(B)每次部分转让和转授应作为转让方在本协议项下所有权利和义务的按比例部分的转让和转授；但第(B)款不得解释为禁止转让贷款人就一类承诺或贷款按比例转让和转授所有权利和义务，(C)每项转让和转授的当事人应签立转让和承担，并将其交付行政代理，以及3,500美元的处理和记录费；但(1)如果由两个或两个以上批准的基金同时进行转让和转授，则只需支付一次此类处理和记录费，(2)行政代理机构可自行决定免除或减少此类费用，以及(3)对于根据第2.19(B)或9.02(C)节进行的任何转让和转授， 双方同意，此类转让和转授可根据借款人执行的转让和假设进行，行政代理人和受让人，且需要进行此类转让的贷款人和受让人不一定是当事人，以及(D)受让人应向行政代理人提交第2.17(F)节所要求的任何税务表格和行政调查问卷，受让人在其中指定一个或多个信用 联系人将向其提供所有辛迪加级别的信息(可能包含MNPI)，以及根据受让人的合规程序和适用法律(包括联邦、州和外国证券法。

 

(Iv)仅为此目的而作为借款人的非受信代理人行事的行政代理应在其其中一个办事处保存一份交付给它的每项转让和假设的副本，并保存一份登记册，记录贷款人的名称和地址，以及根据本协议条款不时欠每个贷款人的贷款和LC 付款的承诺额和本金(以及所述利息)(“登记册”)。对于本协议的所有目的，借款人、行政代理、开证行和贷款人应将根据本协议条款记录在登记册上的每个人视为本协议项下的出借人，尽管有相反的通知。借款人应在任何合理的时间，在合理的事先通知后，随时可查阅登记册上的条目，任何开证行或贷款人均可查阅与其相关的条目。

 

(V)行政代理收到转让贷款人和受让人签署的已填妥的转让和假设、受让人填写的行政调查表和第2.17(F)节要求的任何税务表格(除非受让人已经是本条款下的贷款人)、本节第(B)款 所指的处理和记录费以及本节第(B)款所要求的对此类转让和转授的任何书面同意，行政代理机构应接受此类指派和假设，并将其中所载信息记录在登记册中；但如果行政代理人合理地认为该转让和承担缺乏本节所要求的任何书面同意或不是适当的形式，则行政代理人不应被要求接受该转让和承担或记录其中包含的信息，并承认行政代理人在获得(或确认收到)任何该等书面同意或该转让和承担的形式(或其中的任何缺陷)方面不应承担任何责任或义务(也不会产生任何责任)，任何此类义务和义务仅由转让贷款人和受让人承担。对于本协议而言，任何转让或转授均不生效，除非已按本款规定记录在登记册中，并且在记录后，除非行政代理另有决定(此类决定由行政代理自行决定，该决定可以转让贷款人和受让人的同意为条件)，即使转让和与之相关的假设有任何缺陷，转让和承担仍应有效。每个转让贷款人和受让人通过其签立和交付转让和承担，应被视为已向行政代理表明，已获得本节要求的所有与此有关的书面同意(行政代理同意除外)，并且此类转让和承担已以其他方式正式完成并以适当的形式完成，并且每个受让人通过其签立和交付转让和承担被视为已向行政代理表示，应被视为已向转让贷款人和行政代理表示，该受让人是合格的受让人。

 

(Vi)在任何转让和假设中，“执行”、“签署”、“签字”等词语和类似含义的词语应被视为包括电子签名或以电子形式保存记录，在任何适用的法律，包括《联邦全球电子签名和国家商法》所规定的范围内，每一项应与手动签署的签名或纸质记录保存系统的使用具有相同的法律效力、有效性或可执行性。纽约州《电子签名和记录法案》或基于《统一电子交易法案》的任何其他类似州法律 。

 

(C)参与。任何贷款人可在未经借款人、行政代理或任何开证行同意的情况下，向一个或多个合格受让人(每个受让人均为“参与者”)出售参与本协议项下该贷款人的全部或部分权利和/或义务(包括其全部或部分承诺和任何类别的贷款)；但(A)该贷款人在本协议项下的义务应保持不变，(B)该贷款人仍应就履行该等义务对本协议的其他各方单独负责(C)借款人、行政代理、开证行和其他贷款人应继续就该贷款人在本协议项下的权利和义务与该贷款人进行单独和直接的交易，并且(D)在任何情况下(X)参与者都不会被代位或被替代，贷款人在本协议项下的债权和(Y)在其他方面与借款人有任何合同关系，或在本协议项下或与本协议有关的情况下对借款人有任何权利。贷款人根据其出售此类参与的任何协议或文书应规定，贷款人应保留执行本协议和批准对本协议或任何其他贷款文件的任何条款的任何修订、修改或豁免的唯一权利；但该协议或文书可规定，未经参与者同意，该贷款人不得同意第9.02(B)条 第一个但书第(I)、(Ii)、(Iii)、(Vi)或(Vii)款所述的影响该参与者或需要所有贷款人批准的任何修订、修改或豁免。借款人同意，每个参与者应有权享受第2.15节的利益，2.16和2.17(受其中的要求和限制的约束， 包括第2.17(F)节的要求(应理解并同意，第2.17(F)节所要求的文件应交付给参与贷款人))，其程度与其作为贷款人并根据本节(B)段通过转让和授权获得其权益的程度相同；但该参与者(A)同意遵守第2.18和2.19节的规定，如同它是本节第(B)款(B)项下的受让人一样，并且(B)无权根据第2.15或2.17节就任何参与获得比其参与贷款人有权获得的任何付款更多的付款，除非这种参与是在借款人事先书面同意的情况下进行的。出售参与的每个贷款人在借款人的要求和费用下同意，尽合理努力与借款人合作，以履行第2.19(B)节对任何参与者的规定。在法律允许的范围内，每个参与者也应有权享受第9.08节的利益，就像它是贷款人一样；但该参与方同意受制于第2.18(C)节，将其视为贷款人。出售参与方的每一贷款方应仅为此目的作为借款方的非受托代理人，保存一份登记册，在登记册上登记每一参与方的名称和地址，以及每一参与方在本协议或任何其他贷款文件项下的贷款或其他义务中的权益的本金金额(和声明的利息)(“参与方登记簿”)；但贷款人 没有义务向任何人披露参与者登记册的全部或任何部分(包括任何参与者的身份或与参与者在本协议或任何其他贷款文件项下的任何承诺、贷款、信用证或其他义务中的权益有关的任何信息)，但为确定此类承诺、贷款、信用证或其他义务是按照《美国财政部条例》第5f.103-1(C)节的规定以登记的形式进行的。参与者名册中的条目应是确凿的，没有明显的错误，即使有任何相反的通知，贷款人仍应将参与者登记册中记录姓名的每个人视为此类参与的所有者。行政代理(以行政代理的身份)不负责维护参与者名册。

 

(D)某些质押。任何贷款人在未征得借款人、行政代理或任何开证行同意的情况下，可随时质押或转让其根据本协议享有的全部或任何部分担保权益(自然人除外)，以担保该贷款人的义务，包括担保对联邦储备银行或任何其他“中央”银行的义务的任何质押或转让，且本条不适用于任何此类质押或转让担保权益；但担保权益的质押或转让不得解除贷款人在本合同项下的任何义务，也不得以任何该等质权人或受让人代替该贷款人作为本合同的当事人。

 

第9.05节存续。借款方在本协议和其他贷款文件中以及在与本协议相关或根据本协议或任何其他贷款文件交付的证书或其他文书中作出的所有契诺、协议、陈述和担保，应被视为本协议其他各方的依赖，在本协议和其他贷款文件的执行和交付、任何贷款的发放和任何信用证的签发后仍应继续存在。无论上述任何一方或其代表进行的任何调查，即使上述任何一方的行政代理、安排人、辛迪加代理、任何文件代理、任何开证行、任何贷款人或任何附属公司在本协议或任何其他贷款文件执行和交付或在本协议项下扩展任何信贷时，可能已注意到或知道任何默认或不正确的陈述或担保，只要本协议项下任何贷款的本金或任何应计利息、任何费用或任何其他款项未偿还或未支付，或任何信用证风险未偿还，且只要承诺尚未到期或终止，任何贷款或任何费用或任何其他款项的本金或应计利息即应继续有效。尽管有前述规定或本协议或任何其他贷款文件中规定的任何其他相反规定，如果与本协议或任何其他贷款文件有关的再融资或全额偿还本文规定的信贷便利，开证行应已向行政代理行提供书面同意，同意解除循环贷款人对该开证行签发的任何信用证项下的义务(无论是由于借款人(和任何其他账户方)对该开证行的义务，该信用证已通过在开证行交存现金全额抵押，或由指定开证行为受益人的信用证支持)，则从该时间起及之后，就本协议和其他贷款文件的所有目的而言，该信用证应不再是本协议项下未偿还的“信用证”，循环贷款人应被视为不参与该信用证，也不承担第2.05(D)或2.05(E)条规定的义务。第2.15条、第2.16条、第2.17条、第2.18(E)条和第9.03条以及第VIII条的规定应继续有效，无论本协议或本协议或本协议任何规定的完成、贷款的偿还或预付、信用证的到期或终止、承诺的终止或本协议或本协议的任何规定的终止。

 

第9.06节：合作伙伴；整合；有效性。本协议可以一式两份(以及本协议的不同当事人对不同的副本)签署，每个副本应构成一份正本，但当所有副本合并在一起时，将构成一份合同。在本协议中，其他贷款文件以及与支付给行政代理人的费用有关的任何单独的书面协议，或贷款和承诺的银团构成各方之间与本协议标的有关的完整合同，并取代任何和所有先前的协议和谅解，无论是口头的还是书面的，除第4.01节另有规定外，本协议应在行政代理签署后生效，且行政代理应已收到本协议的副本，当副本合计时，应有本协议其他各方的签名，此后，应对本协议双方及其各自的继承人和受让人的利益具有约束力。交付(X)任何贷款文件和/或(Y)任何文件、修订、批准、同意、信息、通知(为免生疑问，包括根据第9.01条交付的任何通知)、证书、请求、声明、与本协议有关的披露或授权的签署副本。任何其他贷款文件和/或本协议和/或因此而计划进行的交易(每个都是“附属文件”)是通过传真、电子邮件发送的PDF或任何其他电子方式传输的电子签名，复制实际执行的签名页面的图像的任何其他贷款文件和/或交易应与手动签署的本协议副本、适用的此类其他贷款文件或此类附属文件的交付一样有效。如“执行”、“签署”、“签署”、“交付”、“在本协议中或与本协议、任何其他贷款文件和/或任何附属文件有类似含义的词语应被视为包括电子签名、交付或以任何电子形式保存记录(包括通过传真、电子邮件发送的pdf交付)。或复制实际执行的签名页面图像的任何其他电子手段)，其中每个签名应与手动执行的签名、实际交付的签名或使用纸质记录保存系统(视情况而定)具有相同的法律效力、有效性或可执行性；但本协议中的任何规定均不得要求行政机关在未经其事先书面同意的情况下，按照其批准的程序接受任何形式或格式的电子签名；此外，在不限制前述规定的情况下，(I)至 在行政代理同意接受任何电子签名的范围内，行政代理和每个出借人有权依赖据称由借款人或代表借款人提供的电子签名，而无需对其进行进一步验证，也没有义务审查任何此类电子签名的外观或形式，以及(Ii)在行政代理或任何出借人的请求下，任何电子签名申请之后应立即有手动签署的副本。在不限制上述一般性的情况下，借款人特此(I)同意，出于所有目的，包括但不限于与任何工作、重组、补救措施的执行、破产程序或行政代理、贷款人和借款人之间的诉讼、通过传真传送的电子签名或通过电子邮件发送的pdf有关的目的。任何其他贷款文件和/或任何附属文件应与任何纸质原件具有同等的法律效力、有效性和可执行性，(Ii)行政代理和每一贷款人可根据其选择，以任何格式以影像电子记录的形式制作本协议、任何其他贷款文件和/或任何附属文件的一份或多份副本，应被视为在该人的正常业务过程中创建，并销毁原始纸质文件(所有此类电子记录在所有目的下均应被视为原件，具有与纸质记录相同的法律效力、有效性和可执行性)，(Iii)放弃对本协议的法律效力、有效性或可执行性提出异议的任何论点、抗辩或权利，任何其他贷款文件和/或仅基于缺少本协议的纸质原件的任何其他贷款文件和/或任何附属文件，包括与其任何签名页有关的文件，以及(Iv)放弃就行政代理和/或任何贷款人依赖或使用电子签名和/或通过传真、电子邮件pdf传输而产生的任何 责任向任何贷款人提出索赔。或复制实际签署的签名页图像的任何其他电子手段，包括因借款人未能使用与任何电子签名的执行、交付或传输相关的任何可用的安全措施而产生的任何责任。

 

第9.07节可分割性。本协议的任何条款在任何司法管辖区被认定为无效、非法或不可执行，在该司法管辖区内，在该无效、非法或不可执行性范围内无效，而不影响本协议其余条款的有效性、合法性和可执行性；且某一特定司法管辖区的某一特定条款的无效不应使该条款在任何其他司法管辖区失效。

 

第9.08节抵销权。如果违约事件已经发生并且仍在继续，则在适用法律允许的最大范围内，授权每家贷款人和每家开证行在任何时间和不时在适用法律允许的最大程度上抵销和运用任何和所有存款(一般或特别、定期或即期、临时或最终、贷款人或该开证行在任何时间持有的其他债务(以任何货币计)或其他金额(以任何货币计)，以及该贷款人或该开证行在任何时间欠借款人的贷方或借款人账户的其他债务，以及该贷款人或该开证行根据本协议所持有的借款人现在或以后到期的任何债务和所有债务，不论该贷款人或该开证行是否已根据本协议提出任何要求，亦不论借款人 的该等债务是欠该贷款人或该开证行与持有该存款的分行或办事处不同的分行或办事处，或对该等债务负有义务。但没有发出通知或延迟发出通知，并不影响根据本节提出的任何此类抵销和申请的有效性。各贷款人和每家开证行根据本节享有的权利是该贷款人或开证行可能享有的其他权利和补救措施(包括其他抵销权利)之外的权利。

 

第9.09节适用法律；管辖权；同意送达程序文件。(I)本协议和基于、引起或与本协议和本协议有关的任何索赔、争议、纠纷或诉讼(无论是合同或侵权行为或其他)应受纽约州法律管辖，并按纽约州法律解释。

 

(B)借款人不可撤销且无条件地同意，它不会、也不会允许任何受控附属公司以任何与本协议或任何其他贷款文件或与本协议或其有关的交易有关的任何方式，在法律或衡平法上，以合同或侵权或其他方式，对行政代理人、任何贷款人、任何开证行或任何关联方提起任何诉讼、诉讼或法律程序。在除位于曼哈顿区的纽约州法院和位于纽约南区的美国地区法院(或如果该法院没有标的物管辖权，位于曼哈顿区的纽约州最高法院)以外的任何法院和任何来自该法院的上诉法院，本协议的每一方都不可撤销和无条件地将其自身及其财产提交给该等法院的管辖权，并同意关于任何诉讼的所有索赔，诉讼或诉讼程序应在纽约州法院审理和裁决，或在适用法律允许的最大范围内在联邦法院审理和裁决。本协议各方同意，任何此类诉讼、诉讼或程序的最终判决应为终局判决，并可通过对判决的诉讼或法律规定的任何其他方式在其他司法管辖区强制执行。本协议中的任何规定均不影响行政代理、任何贷款人或任何开证银行以其他方式可能必须提起的任何诉讼的任何权利，在任何司法管辖区法院对任何借款方或其任何财产提起与本协议或任何其他贷款文件有关的诉讼或程序。

 

(C)本协议各方在适用法律允许的最大限度内，在适用法律允许的最大限度内，不可撤销且无条件地放弃其现在或今后可能对在本协议或本节(B)段所述任何法院提起的、与本协议或任何其他贷款文件有关的任何诉讼、诉讼或程序提出的任何异议。本协议各方在法律允许的最大范围内，不可撤销地放弃在任何此类法院维持此类诉讼或程序的不方便的法庭辩护。

 

(D)本协议的每一方都不可撤销地同意以第9.01节中规定的方式送达程序文件。*本协议或任何其他贷款文件中的任何内容都不会影响本协议的任何一方以法律允许的任何其他方式送达程序文件的权利。

 

第9.10节放弃陪审团审判。在适用法律允许的最大范围内，合同各方不可撤销地放弃在因本协议或任何其他贷款文件或本协议拟进行的交易(无论是基于合同、侵权行为或任何其他理论)直接或间接引起或与之相关的任何法律程序中由陪审团审判的任何权利。本合同各方(A)证明任何其他方的代表、代理人或律师没有明确或以其他方式代表：在发生诉讼的情况下，该另一方不会寻求强制执行上述豁免，并且(B)承认该另一方和本协议的其他当事人是受本协议和其他贷款文件的引诱而订立本协议和其他贷款文件的，其中包括本节中的相互放弃和证明。

 

第9.11节标题。此处使用的条款和章节标题以及目录仅供参考，不是本协议的一部分，不得影响万亿.IS协议的构建或在解释时被考虑在内。

 

第9.12节保密。行政代理人、贷款人和开证行均同意对信息保密(定义见下文)，但信息可向其相关方披露，包括会计师、法律顾问和其他代理人和顾问，有一项谅解并同意，将告知被披露人此类信息的保密性质，并指示对此类信息保密，以及代表行政代理人行事的此类人员的任何失职。任何开证行或有关贷款人遵守本节的规定，将构成行政代理、该开证行或相关贷款人(视情况而定)违反本节的行为，(B)任何声称对此人或其相关方拥有管辖权的监管机构(包括任何自律机构，如全国保险监理员协会)要求或要求的范围，(C)在适用法律或法规或任何传票或类似法律程序要求的范围内(只要在法律允许的范围内，借款人在披露前已得到通知，以便借款人可以自费寻求保护令或其他适当的补救措施)，(D)向本协议的任何其他一方，(E)在根据本协议或任何其他贷款文件或任何诉讼行使任何补救措施时，与本协议或任何其他贷款文件有关的诉讼或程序，或与本协议或任何其他贷款文件有关的权利的执行，但每一贷款人和行政代理应采取商业上合理的努力，以确保在行使此类补救措施时对此类信息保密：(F)遵守一项协议，该协议包含与本节的保密承诺大体相似的保密承诺；(I)任何受让人或参与者，或任何预期的受让人或参与者，其在本协议项下的任何权利或义务，或(Ii)与借款人或任何子公司有关的任何套期保值协议的任何实际或预期的对手方(或其关联方)及其在本协议或任何其他贷款文件项下的义务；(G)以保密方式向(I)任何评级机构就借款人或其子公司或本协议规定的信贷安排进行评级，或(Ii)CUSIP服务局或任何类似机构就本协议规定的信用安排发放和监测CUSIP号码，(H)经借款人同意，(I)在此类信息(I)因违反本节以外的其他原因而变得可公开的范围内，或(Ii)行政代理、任何贷款人或任何开证行或前述任何关联公司以非保密方式从借款人或任何附属公司以外的来源获得的情况下，这类信息的接收者不知道哪个来源受保密义务的约束，或(J)与借款人或其义务有关的任何信用保险提供者。就本节而言，“信息”是指从借款人或任何子公司收到的与借款人或任何子公司或其业务有关的所有信息，但行政代理可获得的任何此类信息除外。任何贷款人或任何开证行在借款人披露信息之前以非机密性为基础进行保密。任何被要求按照本节规定对信息保密的人应被视为已遵守其义务，如果该人对该信息保密的谨慎程度与该人对其自身保密信息的谨慎程度相同，则该人应被视为已履行其义务。

 

SECTION 8.05.  Collateral Matters.

(a)  Except (x) with respect to the exercise of setoff rights of any Lender in accordance with Section 9.08 or (y) with respect to a Secured Party’s right to file a proof of claim in an insolvency proceeding, no Secured Party shall have any right individually to realize upon any of the Collateral or to enforce any Guarantee of the Obligations, it being understood and agreed that all powers, rights and remedies under the Loan Documents may be exercised solely by the Administrative Agent on behalf of the Secured Parties in accordance with the terms thereof.

 

(b)  In furtherance of the foregoing and not in limitation thereof, no arrangements in respect of Cash Management Services the obligations under which constitute Secured Cash Management Obligations and no Hedging Agreement the obligations under which constitute Secured Hedging Obligations will create (or be deemed to create) in favor of any Secured Party that is a party thereto any rights in connection with the management or release of any Collateral or of the obligations of any Loan Party under this Agreement or any other Loan Document.  By accepting the benefits of the Collateral, each Secured Party that is a party to any such arrangement in respect of Cash Management Services or any Hedging Agreement shall be deemed to have appointed the Administrative Agent to serve as administrative agent and collateral agent under the Loan Documents and agreed to be bound by the Loan Documents as a Secured Party thereunder, subject to the limitations set forth in this paragraph.

 

(c)  The Secured Parties party hereto irrevocably authorize the Administrative Agent, at its option and in its discretion, to release or subordinate any Lien on any property granted to or held by the Administrative Agent under any Loan Document and any Acceptable Intercreditor Agreement to the holder of any Lien on such property that is permitted by Section 6.02(a)(v).  The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have a duty to ascertain or inquire into any representation or warranty regarding the existence, value or collectability of the Collateral, the existence, priority or perfection of the Administrative Agent’s Lien thereon or any certificate prepared by any Loan Party in connection therewith, nor shall the Administrative Agent be responsible or liable to the Lenders for any failure to monitor or maintain any portion of the Collateral.

 

(d)  The Secured Parties hereby irrevocably authorize the Administrative Agent, at the direction of the Required Lenders, to credit bid all or any portion of the Obligations (including by accepting some or all of the applicable Collateral in satisfaction of some or all of such Obligations pursuant to a deed in lieu of foreclosure or otherwise) and in such manner purchase (either directly or through one or more acquisition vehicles) all or any portion of the Collateral (a) at any sale thereof conducted under the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, including under Sections 363, 1123 or 1129 of the Bankruptcy Code, or any similar laws in any other jurisdictions to which a Loan Party is subject, or (b) at any other sale, foreclosure or acceptance of collateral in lieu of debt conducted by (or with the consent or at the direction of) the Administrative Agent (whether by judicial action or otherwise) in accordance with any applicable law.  In connection with any such credit bid and purchase, the Obligations owed to the Secured Parties shall be entitled to be, and shall be, credit bid by the Administrative Agent at the direction of the Required Lenders on a ratable basis (with Obligations with respect to contingent or unliquidated claims receiving contingent interests in the acquired assets on a ratable basis that shall vest upon the liquidation of such claims in an amount proportional to the liquidated portion of the contingent claim amount used in allocating the contingent interests) for the asset or assets so purchased (or for the equity interests or debt instruments of the acquisition vehicle or vehicles that are issued in connection with such purchase).  In connection with any such bid, (i) the Administrative Agent shall be authorized to form one or more acquisition vehicles and to assign any successful credit bid to such acquisition vehicle or vehicles, (ii) each of the Secured Parties’ ratable interests in the Obligations which were credit bid shall be deemed without any further action under this Agreement to be assigned to such vehicle or vehicles for the purpose of closing such sale, (iii) the Administrative Agent shall be authorized to adopt documents providing for the governance of the acquisition vehicle or vehicles (provided that any actions by the Administrative Agent with respect to such acquisition vehicle or vehicles, including any disposition of the assets or equity interests thereof, shall be governed, directly or indirectly, by, and the governing documents shall provide for, control by the vote of the Required Lenders or their permitted assignees under the terms of this Agreement or the governing documents of the applicable acquisition vehicle or vehicles, as the case may be, irrespective of the termination of this Agreement and without giving effect to the limitations on actions by the Required Lenders contained in Section 9.02 of this Agreement), (iv) the Administrative Agent on behalf of such acquisition vehicle or vehicles shall be authorized to issue to each of the Secured Parties, ratably on account of the relevant Obligations which were credit bid, interests, whether as equity, partnership, limited partnership interests or membership interests, in any such acquisition vehicle and/or debt instruments issued by such acquisition vehicle, all without the need for any Secured Party or acquisition vehicle to take any further action, and (v) to the extent that Obligations that are assigned to an acquisition vehicle are not used to acquire Collateral for any reason (as a result of another bid being higher or better, because the amount of Obligations assigned to the acquisition vehicle exceeds the amount of Obligations credit bid by the acquisition vehicle or otherwise), such Obligations shall automatically be reassigned to the applicable Secured Parties pro rata with their original interest in such Obligations and the equity interests and/or debt instruments issued by any acquisition vehicle on account of such Obligations shall automatically be cancelled, without the need for any Secured Party or any acquisition vehicle to take any further action.  Notwithstanding that the ratable portion of the Obligations of each Secured Party are deemed assigned to the acquisition vehicle or vehicles as set forth in clause (ii) above, each Secured Party shall execute such documents and provide such information regarding the Secured Party (and/or any designee of the Secured Party which will receive interests in or debt instruments issued by such acquisition vehicle) as the Administrative Agent may reasonably request in connection with the formation of any acquisition vehicle, the formulation or submission of any credit bid or the consummation of the transactions contemplated by such credit bid.

 

(e)  The Lenders and the other Secured Parties party hereto hereby irrevocably authorize and instruct the Administrative Agent to, without any further consent of any Lender or any other Secured Party, enter into (or acknowledge and consent to) or amend, renew, extend, supplement, restate, replace, waive or otherwise modify any Acceptable Intercreditor Agreement; provided that the specific consent of counterparties to any Hedging Agreement the obligations under which constitute Secured Hedging Obligations, each provider of Cash Management Services the obligations under which constitute Secured Cash Management Obligations, or each Issuing Bank shall be required for any amendment, renewal, extension, supplement, restatement, replacement or waiver to the extent its rights and obligations solely in its capacity as such are materially adversely affected.  The Lenders and the other Secured Parties irrevocably agree that any Acceptable Intercreditor Agreement entered into by the Administrative Agent shall be binding on the Secured Parties, and each Lender and each of the other Secured Parties hereby agrees that it will take no actions contrary to the provisions of an Acceptable Intercreditor Agreement.  The foregoing provisions are intended as an inducement to any provider of any Indebtedness not prohibited by Section 6.01 hereof to extend credit to the Loan Parties and such persons are intended third-party beneficiaries of such provisions.

 

SECTION 8.06.  Certain ERISA Matters.

 

(a)  Each Lender (x) represents and warrants, as of the date such Person became a Lender party hereto, to, and (y) covenants, from the date such Person became a Lender party hereto to the date such Person ceases being a Lender party hereto, for the benefit of, the Administrative Agent, and each Arranger and their respective Affiliates, and not, for the avoidance of doubt, to or for the benefit of the Borrower or any other Loan Party, that at least one of the following is and will be true:

 

(i)  such Lender is not using “plan assets” (within the meaning of the Section 3(42) of ERISA or otherwise) of one or more Benefit Plans with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of, or performance of the Loans, the Letters of Credit, the Commitments, or this Agreement,

 

(ii)  the transaction exemption set forth in one or more PTEs, such as PTE 84-14 (a class exemption for certain transactions determined by independent qualified professional asset managers), PTE 95-60 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving insurance company general accounts), PTE 90-1 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving insurance company pooled separate accounts), PTE 91-38 (a class exemption for certain transactions involving bank collective investment funds) or PTE 96-23 (a class exemption for certain transactions determined by in-house asset managers), is applicable with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Letters of Credit, the Commitments and this Agreement, and the conditions for exemptive relief thereunder are and will continue to be satisfied in connection therewith,

 

(iii)  (A) such Lender is an investment fund managed by a “Qualified Professional Asset Manager” (within the meaning of Part VI of PTE 84-14), (B) such Qualified Professional Asset Manager made the investment decision on behalf of such Lender to enter into, participate in, administer and perform the Loans, the Letters of Credit, the Commitments and this Agreement, (C) the entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Letters of Credit, the Commitments and this Agreement satisfies the requirements of sub-sections (b) through (g) of Part I of PTE 84-14 and (D) to the best knowledge of such Lender, the requirements of subsection (a) of Part I of PTE 84-14 are satisfied with respect to such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Letters of Credit, the Commitments and this Agreement, or

 

(iv)  such other representation, warranty and covenant as may be agreed in writing between the Administrative Agent, in its sole discretion, and such Lender.

 

(b)  In addition, unless either (1) sub-clause (i) in the immediately preceding clause (a) is true with respect to a Lender or (2) a Lender has provided another representation, warranty and covenant in accordance with sub-clause (iv) in the immediately preceding clause (a), such Lender further (x) represents and warrants, as of the date such Person became a Lender party hereto, to, and (y) covenants, from the date such Person became a Lender party hereto to the date such Person ceases being a Lender party hereto, for the benefit of, the Administrative Agent and not, for the avoidance of doubt, to or for the benefit of the Borrower or any other Loan Party, that the Administrative Agent is not a fiduciary with respect to the assets of such Lender involved in such Lender’s entrance into, participation in, administration of and performance of the Loans, the Letters of Credit, the Commitments and this Agreement (including in connection with the reservation or exercise of any rights by the Administrative Agent under this Agreement, any Loan Document or any documents related hereto or thereto).

 

SECTION 9.01.  Notices.  (a) General.  Except in the case of notices and other communications expressly permitted to be given by telephone (and subject to paragraph (b) of this Section), all notices and other communications provided for herein shall be in writing and shall be delivered by hand or overnight courier service, mailed by certified or registered mail or sent by fax (to the extent fax information is provided below), as follows:

 

(i)  if to the Borrower, to it at Pitney Bowes Inc., 3001 Summer Street, Stamford, Connecticut  06926-0700, Attention: Debbie Salce, Vice President & Treasurer; Telephone No.: (203) 351-6926; Email: debbie.salce@pb.com); with a copy to Pitney Bowes Inc., 3001 Summer Street, Stamford, Connecticut  06926-0700, Attention: Daniel Goldstein, Esq., General Counsel; Telephone No.: (203) 351-7587; Email: Daniel.Goldstein@pb.com);

 

(ii)  if to the Administrative Agent to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Loan and Agency Services Group, 500 Stanton Christiana Road, NCC5, Floor 1, Newark, DE 19713, Attention of Mitchell Soobryan, Email: mitchell.soobryan@chase.com and Marc-Jonathan Seya, Email: marcjonathan. seya@chase.com with a copy to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 383 Madison Avenue, Floor 24, New York, New York 10179, Attention: Gene Riego de Dios (Fax No. 855-234-2120);

 

(iii)  if to any Issuing Bank, to it at its address or email address (or fax number) most recently specified by it in a notice delivered to the Administrative Agent and the Borrower (or, in the absence of any such notice, to the address or email address (or fax number) set forth in the Administrative Questionnaire of the Lender that is serving as such Issuing Bank or is an Affiliate thereof); and

 

(iv)  if to any other Lender, to it at its address or email address (or fax number) set forth in its Administrative Questionnaire.

 

(i)  The Borrower agrees that the Administrative Agent may, but shall not be obligated to, make any Communications by posting such Communication on Debt Domain, IntraLinks, SyndTrak or any other electronic platform chosen by the Administrative Agent to be its electronic transmission system (the “Platform”).

 

(ii)  Although the Platform and its primary web portal are secured with generally-applicable security procedures and policies implemented or modified by the Administrative Agent from time to time (including, as of the Closing Date, a user ID/password authorization system) and the Platform is secured through a per-deal authorization method whereby each user may access the Platform only on a deal-by-deal basis, each of the Lenders, each of the Issuing Banks and the Borrower acknowledges and agrees that the distribution of material through an electronic medium is not necessarily secure, that the Administrative Agent is not responsible for approving or vetting the representatives or contacts of any Lender that are added to the Platform, and that there are confidentiality and other risks associated with such distribution. Each of the Lenders, each of the Issuing Banks and the Borrower hereby approves distribution of the Communications through the Platform and understands and assumes the risks of such distribution.

 

(iii)  THE PLATFORM AND THE COMMUNICATIONS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”. THE APPLICABLE PARTIES (AS DEFINED BELOW) DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE COMMUNICATIONS, OR THE ADEQUACY OF THE PLATFORM AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM LIABILITY FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN THE PLATFORM AND THE COMMUNICATIONS. NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS OR FREEDOM FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER CODE DEFECTS, IS MADE BY THE APPLICABLE PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS OR THE PLATFORM.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT, ANY ARRANGER, ANY DOCUMENTATION AGENT, ANY SYNDICATION AGENT OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE RELATED PARTIES (COLLECTIVELY, “APPLICABLE PARTIES”) HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO ANY LOAN PARTY, ANY LENDER, ANY ISSUING BANK OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSSES OR EXPENSES (WHETHER IN TORT, CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE) ARISING OUT OF ANY LOAN PARTY’S OR THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT’S TRANSMISSION OF COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH THE INTERNET OR THE PLATFORM EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT SUCH DAMAGES ARE FOUND IN A FINAL AND NON-APPEALABLE JUDGMENT OF A COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION TO HAVE RESULTED FROM THE BAD FAITH, WILLFUL MISCONDUCT OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE OF AN APPLICABLE PARTY OR ANY OF ITS RELATED PARTIES.

 

(iv)  Each Lender and each Issuing Bank agrees that notice to it (as provided in the next sentence) specifying that Communications have been posted to the Platform shall constitute effective delivery of the Communications to such Lender or Issuing Bank (as applicable) for purposes of the Loan Documents.  Each Lender and each Issuing Bank agrees (i) to notify the Administrative Agent in writing (which could be in the form of electronic communication) from time to time of such Lender’s or Issuing Bank’s (as applicable) email address to which the foregoing notice may be sent by electronic transmission and (ii) that the foregoing notice may be sent to such email address.

 

(v)  Nothing herein shall prejudice the right of the Administrative Agent, any Lender or any Issuing Bank to give any notice or other communication pursuant to any Loan Document in any other manner specified in such Loan Document.

 

SECTION 9.02.  Waivers; Amendments.  (a) No failure or delay by the Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank or any Lender in exercising any right or power hereunder or under any other Loan Document shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right or power, or any abandonment or discontinuance of steps to enforce such a right or power, preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right or power.  The rights and remedies of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Banks and the Lenders hereunder and under the other Loan Documents are cumulative and are not exclusive of any rights or remedies that they would otherwise have.  No waiver of any provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document or consent to any departure by any Loan Party therefrom shall in any event be effective unless the same shall be permitted by paragraph (b) of this Section, and then such waiver or consent shall be effective only in the specific instance and for the specific purpose for which given.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the making of a Loan or the issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of a Letter of Credit shall not be construed as a waiver of any Default, regardless of whether the Administrative Agent, any Lender or any Issuing Bank may have had notice or knowledge of such Default at the time.  No notice or demand on the Borrower in any case shall entitle the Borrower to any other or further notice or demand in similar or other circumstances.

 

(b)  Except as provided in Sections 2.14(b), 2.21, 2.22, 2.23 and 9.02(c), none of this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any provision hereof or thereof may be waived, amended or modified except, in the case of this Agreement, pursuant to an agreement or agreements in writing entered into by the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the Required Lenders (provided that the Administrative Agent shall post any such amendments reasonably promptly after such amendment becomes effective) and, in the case of any other Loan Document, pursuant to an agreement or agreements in writing entered into by the Administrative Agent and the Loan Party or Loan Parties that are parties thereto, in each case with the consent of the Required Lenders; provided that no such agreement shall (i) increase the Commitment of any Lender without the written consent of such Lender (it being understood and agreed that a waiver of any Default or Event of Default will not constitute an increase in the Commitment of any Lender), (ii) reduce the principal amount of any Loan or LC Disbursement or reduce the rate of interest thereon, or reduce any fees payable hereunder, in each case without the written consent of each Lender adversely affected thereby (it being understood and agreed that a waiver of any Default or Event of Default will not constitute a reduction in the principal amount of any Loan), (iii) postpone the scheduled maturity date of any Loan, or the date of any scheduled payment of the principal amount of any Term Loan under Section 2.10 or the applicable Incremental Facility Amendment or the required date of reimbursement of any LC Disbursement, or any date for the payment of any interest or fees payable hereunder, or reduce the amount of, waive or excuse any such payment, or postpone the scheduled date of expiration of any Commitment, without the written consent of each Lender adversely affected thereby (it being understood and agreed that a waiver of any Default or Event of Default will not constitute a postponement of the scheduled maturity date of any loan, or the date of any scheduled payment of principal, interest or fees payable hereunder), (iv) change the last sentence of Section 2.08(c), Section 2.18(a), Section 2.18(b), Section 2.18(c) or any other Section hereof or any other Loan Document providing for the ratable treatment of the Lenders, in each case in a manner that would alter the pro rata termination of commitments or sharing of payments required thereby, without the written consent of each Lender adversely affected thereby, (v) change any of the provisions of this Section or the definition of the term “Required Lenders” or “Majority in Interest” or any other provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document specifying the number or percentage of Lenders (or Lenders of any Class) required to waive, amend or otherwise modify any rights thereunder or make any determination or grant any consent thereunder, without the written consent of each Lender (or each Lender of such Class, as applicable); provided that, with the consent of the Required Lenders, the provisions of this Section and the definition of the term “Required Lenders” or “Majority in Interest” may be amended to include references to any new class of loans created under this Agreement (or to lenders extending such loans) on substantially the same basis as the corresponding references relating to the existing Classes of Loans or Lenders; provided further that the definition of “Required Covenant Lenders” may be amended to include the Lenders in respect of any additional Incremental Facility that will have the benefit of Section 6.12 or 6.13 to the extent provided in any Incremental Facility Amendment without the consent of any other Lenders, (vi) release all or substantially all of the value of the Guarantees provided by the Loan Parties under the Security Documents, in each case without the written consent of each Lender (except as expressly provided in Section 9.14 or the Security Documents) (including any such release by the Administrative Agent in connection with any sale or other disposition of any Subsidiary upon the exercise of remedies under the Security Documents), it being understood and agreed that an amendment or other modification of the type of obligations guaranteed under the Security Documents shall not be deemed to be a release of any Guarantee), (vii) release all or substantially all the Collateral from the Liens of the Security Documents without the written consent of each Lender (except as expressly provided in Section 9.14 or the applicable Security Document (including any such release by the Administrative Agent in connection with any sale or other disposition of the Collateral upon the exercise of remedies under the Security Documents), it being understood and agreed that an amendment or other modification of the type of obligations secured by the Security Documents shall not be deemed to be a release of the Collateral from the Liens of the Security Documents), (viii) waive any condition set forth in Section 4.01 (other than as it relates to the payment of fees and expenses of counsel), or, in the case of any Loans made or Letters of Credit issued on the Closing Date, Section 4.02, without the written consent of each Lender with a Revolving Commitment and each Issuing Bank (as applicable), (ix) change any provisions of this Agreement or any other Loan Document in a manner that by its terms adversely affects the rights in respect of Collateral securing the obligations owed to, or payments due to, Lenders holding Loans of any Class differently than those holding Loans of any other Class, without the written consent of Lenders representing a Majority in Interest of each affected Class, (x) change the rights of the Tranche A Term Lenders to decline mandatory prepayments as provided in Section 2.11 or the rights of any Additional Lenders of any Class to decline mandatory prepayments of Term Loans of such Class as provided in the applicable Incremental Facility Amendment, without the written consent of Tranche A Term Lenders or Additional Lenders of such Class, as applicable, holding a majority of the outstanding Tranche A Term Loans or Incremental Term Loans of such Class, (xi) change Section 6.12 or 6.13 or the definitions of “Consolidated Adjusted Interest Coverage Ratio” or “Consolidated Adjusted Total Leverage Ratio” (or in each case any of the component definitions thereof), in each case solely as used within such Sections, without the written consent of the Required Covenant Lenders (and the Consent of any other Lenders shall not be required) and (xii) change Section 6.18 without the written consent of the Required Revolving Lenders; provided further that (A) no such agreement shall amend, modify, extend or otherwise affect the rights or obligations of the Administrative Agent or any Issuing Bank without the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent or such Issuing Bank, as applicable, (B) any waiver, amendment or other modification of this Agreement that by its terms affects the rights or duties under this Agreement of the Lenders of one or more Classes (but not the Lenders of any other Class) may be effected by an agreement or agreements in writing entered into by the Borrower and the requisite number or percentage in interest of each affected Class of Lenders that would be required to consent thereto under this Section if such Class of Lenders were the only Class of Lenders hereunder at the time (provided that any change that would directly and adversely affect a Class of Lenders hereunder shall require the written consent of the Majority in Interest with respect to each such Class directly and adversely affected thereby) and (C) if the terms of any waiver, amendment or other modification of this Agreement or any other Loan Document provide that any Class of Loans (together with all accrued interest thereon and all accrued fees payable with respect to the Commitments of such Class) will be repaid or paid in full, and the Commitments of such Class (if any) terminated, as a condition to the effectiveness of such waiver, amendment or other modification, then so long as the Loans of such Class (together with such accrued interest and fees) are in fact repaid or paid in full and such Commitments are in fact terminated, in each case prior to or substantially simultaneously with the effectiveness of such amendment, then such Loans and Commitments shall not be included in the determination of the Required Lenders with respect to such amendment.  Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, (1) no consent with respect to any waiver, amendment or other modification of this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall be required of any Defaulting Lender, except with respect to any waiver, amendment or other modification referred to in clause (i), (ii) or (iii) of the first proviso of this paragraph and then only in the event such Defaulting Lender shall be affected by such waiver, amendment or other modification, (2) any provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document may be amended by an agreement in writing entered into by the Borrower and the Administrative Agent (i) to cure any ambiguity, omission, mistake, defect or inconsistency, (ii) to comply with local law or advice of local counsel, (iii) to cause any guarantee, collateral security document (including Mortgages) or other document to be consistent with this Agreement, the other Loan Documents and each Acceptable Intercreditor Agreement or (iv) to give effect to the provisions of Section 2.14(b) or to amend time periods, minimum amounts and currency exchange rate calculations mechanics with respect to borrowing and payment mechanics with respect to the Revolving Commitments solely to the extent necessary to implement a Permitted Foreign Currency and (3) this Agreement may be amended to provide for Incremental Extensions of Credit in the manner contemplated by Section 2.21, the extension of the Maturity Date as provided in Section 2.22 and the incurrence of Refinancing Commitments and Refinancing Loans as provided in Section 2.23, in each case without any additional consents, and such amendments may effect such changes to the Loan Documents as may be necessary or appropriate, in the opinion of the Administrative Agent and the Borrower, to give effect to the existence and the terms of the Incremental Extensions of Credit, the extension of the Maturity Date or the incurrence of Refinancing Commitments and Refinancing Loans, as applicable, and to the extent permitted under the terms of this Agreement, will be effective to amend the terms of this Agreement and the other applicable Loan Documents (including to permit the extensions of credit from time to time outstanding thereunder and the accrued interest and fees in respect thereof to share ratably in the benefits of this Agreement and the other applicable Loan Documents with the other Term Loans and the accrued interest and fees in respect thereof and to include appropriately the Lenders holding such credit facilities in any determination of the Required Lenders), in each case, without any further action or consent of any other party to any Loan Document.

 

SECTION 9.03.  Expenses; Indemnity; Damage Waiver.  (a) The Borrower shall pay (i) all reasonable, documented and invoiced out‑of‑pocket expenses incurred by the Administrative Agent, the Arrangers, the Syndication Agents, the Documentation Agents and their respective Affiliates (without duplication), including the reasonable fees and documented charges and disbursements of a single primary counsel and to the extent reasonably determined by the Administrative Agent to be necessary, one local counsel in each appropriate jurisdiction, in connection with the structuring, arrangement and syndication of the credit facilities provided for herein and any credit or similar facility refinancing or replacing, in whole or in part, any of the credit facilities provided for herein, as well as the preparation, negotiation, execution, delivery and administration of this Agreement, the other Loan Documents or any waiver, amendments or modifications of the provisions hereof or thereof, (ii) all reasonable, documented and invoiced out-of-pocket expenses incurred by any Issuing Bank in connection with the issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of any Letter of Credit or any demand for payment thereunder and (iii) all reasonable, documented and invoiced out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank, any Lender or any Arranger, including the reasonable, documented and invoiced fees, charges and disbursements of counsel for any of the foregoing, in connection with the enforcement or protection of its rights in connection with the Loan Documents, including its rights under this Section, or in connection with the Loans made or Letters of Credit issued hereunder, including all such out-of-pocket expenses incurred during any workout, restructuring or negotiations in respect of such Loans or Letters of Credit.

 

SECTION 9.04.  Successors and Assigns.   (a) General.  The provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby (including any Affiliate of any Issuing Bank that issues any Letter of Credit), except that (i) the Borrower may not assign, delegate or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent and each Lender and (ii) no Lender may assign, delegate or otherwise transfer its rights or obligations hereunder except in accordance with this Section.  Nothing in this Agreement, expressed or implied, shall be construed to confer upon any Person (other than the parties hereto, their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby (including any Affiliate of any Issuing Bank that issues any Letter of Credit), Participants (to the extent provided in paragraph (c) of this Section), the Arrangers, the Syndication Agents, the Documentation Agents and, to the extent expressly contemplated hereby, the Related Parties of any of the Administrative Agent, any Arranger, any Syndication Agent, any Documentation Agent, any Issuing Bank and any Lender) any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or by reason of this Agreement.

 

(b)  Assignments by Lenders.  (i) Subject to the conditions set forth in paragraph (b)(ii) below, any Lender may assign and delegate to one or more Eligible Assignees all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitment and the Loans at the time owing to it) with the prior written consent of (A) the Borrower (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed); provided that no consent of the Borrower shall be required (1) for assignments of Commitments or Loans of any Class to another Lender under such Class, an Affiliate of a Lender under such Class or an Approved Fund and (2) if an Event of Default of the type set forth in Section 7.01(a), (b), (h) or (i) has occurred and is continuing, for any other assignment and delegation; provided further that the Borrower shall be deemed to have consented to an assignment and delegation of rights and obligations unless it shall object thereto by written notice to the Administrative Agent within five Business Days after having received notice thereof, (B) the Administrative Agent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed); provided that no consent of the Administrative Agent shall be required for an assignment and delegation of all or any portion of a Term Commitment or Term Loan to a Lender, an Affiliate of a Lender or an Approved Fund and (C) each Issuing Bank (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) in the case of any assignment and delegation of all or a portion of a Revolving Commitment or any Lender’s obligations in respect of its LC Exposure.

 

(ii)  Assignments and delegations shall be subject to the following additional conditions: (A) except in the case of an assignment and delegation to a Lender, an Affiliate of a Lender or an Approved Fund or an assignment and delegation of the entire remaining amount of the assigning Lender’s Commitment or Loans of any Class, the amount of the Commitment or Loans of the assigning Lender subject to each such assignment and delegation (determined as of the trade date specified in the Assignment and Assumption with respect to such assignment and delegation or, if no trade date is so specified, as of the date the Assignment and Assumption with respect to such assignment and delegation is delivered to the Administrative Agent) shall not be less than $5,000,000 or, in the case of an Incremental Tranche B Term Loan, $1,000,000 (treating contemporaneous assignments by or to two or more Approved Funds as a single assignment for purposes of such minimum transfer amount), unless each of the Borrower and the Administrative Agent otherwise consents (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed); provided that no such consent of the Borrower shall be required if an Event of Default of the type set forth in Section 7.01(a), (b), (h) or (i) has occurred and is continuing, (B) each partial assignment and delegation shall be made as an assignment and delegation of a proportionate part of all the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement; provided that this clause (B) shall not be construed to prohibit the assignment and delegation of a proportionate part of all the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations in respect of one Class of Commitments or Loans, (C) the parties to each assignment and delegation shall execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent an Assignment and Assumption, together with a processing and recordation fee of $3,500; provided that (1) only one such processing and recordation fee shall be payable in the event of simultaneous assignments and delegations by or to two or more Approved Funds, (2) the Administrative Agent may waive or reduce such fee in its sole discretion and (3) with respect to any assignment and delegation pursuant to Section 2.19(b) or 9.02(c), the parties hereto agree that such assignment and delegation may be effected pursuant to an Assignment and Assumption executed by the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the assignee and that the Lender required to make such assignment and delegation need not be a party thereto, and (D) the assignee shall deliver to the Administrative Agent any tax forms required by Section 2.17(f) and an Administrative Questionnaire in which the assignee designates one or more credit contacts to whom all syndicate-level information (which may contain MNPI) will be made available and who may receive such information in accordance with the assignee’s compliance procedures and applicable law, including Federal, State and foreign securities laws.

 

(iii)  Subject to acceptance and recording thereof pursuant to paragraph (b)(v) of this Section, from and after the effective date specified in each Assignment and Assumption, the assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto and, to the extent of the interest assigned and delegated by such Assignment and Assumption, have the rights and obligations of a Lender under this Agreement, and the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent of the interest assigned and delegated by such Assignment and Assumption, be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and Assumption covering all the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto but shall continue to be entitled to the benefits of (and subject to the obligations and limitations of) Sections 2.15, 2.16, 2.17 and 9.03 and to any fees payable hereunder that have accrued for such Lender’s account but have not yet been paid).  Any assignment, delegation or other transfer by a Lender of rights or obligations under this Agreement that does not comply with this Section shall be treated for purposes of this Agreement as a sale by such Lender of a participation in such rights and obligations in accordance with Section 9.04(c).

 

(iv)  The Administrative Agent, acting solely for this purpose as a non-fiduciary agent of the Borrower, shall maintain at one of its offices a copy of each Assignment and Assumption delivered to it and a register for the recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders, and the Commitment of, and principal amount (and stated interest) of the Loans and LC Disbursements owing to, each Lender pursuant to the terms hereof from time to time (the “Register”). The entries in the Register shall be conclusive absent manifest error, and the Borrower, the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Banks and the Lenders shall treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Register pursuant to the terms hereof as a Lender hereunder for all purposes of this Agreement, notwithstanding notice to the contrary.  The Register shall be available for inspection by the Borrower and, as to entries pertaining to it, any Issuing Bank or any Lender, at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice.

 

(v)  Upon receipt by the Administrative Agent of a duly completed Assignment and Assumption executed by an assigning Lender and an assignee, the assignee’s completed Administrative Questionnaire and any tax forms required by Section 2.17(f) (unless the assignee shall already be a Lender hereunder), the processing and recordation fee referred to in paragraph (b) of this Section and any written consent to such assignment and delegation required by paragraph (b) of this Section, the Administrative Agent shall accept such Assignment and Assumption and record the information contained therein in the Register; provided that the Administrative Agent shall not be required to accept such Assignment and Assumption or so record the information contained therein if the Administrative Agent reasonably believes that such Assignment and Assumption lacks any written consent required by this Section or is otherwise not in proper form, it being acknowledged that the Administrative Agent shall have no duty or obligation (and shall incur no liability) with respect to obtaining (or confirming the receipt) of any such written consent or with respect to the form of (or any defect in) such Assignment and Assumption, any such duty and obligation being solely with the assigning Lender and the assignee.  No assignment or delegation shall be effective for purposes of this Agreement unless it has been recorded in the Register as provided in this paragraph and, following such recording, unless otherwise determined by the Administrative Agent (such determination to be made in the sole discretion of the Administrative Agent, which determination may be conditioned on the consent of the assigning Lender and the assignee), shall be effective notwithstanding any defect in the Assignment and Assumption relating thereto.  Each assigning Lender and the assignee, by its execution and delivery of an Assignment and Assumption, shall be deemed to have represented to the Administrative Agent that all written consents required by this Section with respect thereto (other than the consent of the Administrative Agent) have been obtained and that such Assignment and Assumption is otherwise duly completed and in proper form, and each assignee, by its execution and delivery of an Assignment and Assumption, shall be deemed to have represented to the assigning Lender and the Administrative Agent that such assignee is an Eligible Assignee.

 

(vi)  The words “execution”, “signed”, “signature” and words of like import in any Assignment and Assumption shall be deemed to include electronic signatures or the keeping of records in electronic form, each of which shall be of the same legal effect, validity or enforceability as a manually executed signature or the use of a paper-based recordkeeping system, as applicable, to the extent and as provided for in any applicable law, including the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the New York State Electronic Signatures and Records Act or any other similar State laws based on the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

 

SECTION 9.05.  Survival.  All covenants, agreements, representations and warranties made by the Loan Parties in this Agreement and the other Loan Documents and in the certificates or other instruments delivered in connection with or pursuant to this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall be considered to have been relied upon by the other parties hereto and shall survive the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents and the making of any Loans and issuance of any Letters of Credit, regardless of any investigation made by any such other party or on its behalf and notwithstanding that the Administrative Agent, the Arrangers, any Syndication Agent, any Documentation Agent, any Issuing Bank, any Lender or any Affiliate of any of the foregoing may have had notice or knowledge of any Default or incorrect representation or warranty at the time this Agreement or any other Loan Document is executed and delivered or any credit is extended hereunder, and shall continue in full force and effect as long as the principal of or any accrued interest on any Loan or any fee or any other amount payable under this Agreement is outstanding and unpaid or any LC Exposure is outstanding and so long as the Commitments have not expired or terminated. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything else to the contrary set forth in this Agreement or any other Loan Document, in the event that, in connection with the refinancing or repayment in full of the credit facilities provided for herein, an Issuing Bank shall have provided to the Administrative Agent a written consent to the release of the Revolving Lenders from their obligations hereunder with respect to any Letter of Credit issued by such Issuing Bank (whether as a result of the obligations of the Borrower (and any other account party) in respect of such Letter of Credit having been collateralized in full by a deposit of cash with such Issuing Bank, or being supported by a letter of credit that names such Issuing Bank as the beneficiary thereunder, or otherwise), then from and after such time such Letter of Credit shall cease to be a “Letter of Credit” outstanding hereunder for all purposes of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, and the Revolving Lenders shall be deemed to have no participations in such Letter of Credit, and no obligations with respect thereto, under Section 2.05(d) or 2.05(e). The provisions of Sections 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18(e) and 9.03 and Article VIII shall survive and remain in full force and effect regardless of the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby, the repayment or prepayment of the Loans, the expiration or termination of the Letters of Credit and the Commitments or the termination of this Agreement or any provision hereof.

 

SECTION 9.06.  Counterparts; Integration; Effectiveness.  This Agreement may be executed in counterparts (and by different parties hereto on different counterparts), each of which shall constitute an original, but all of which when taken together shall constitute a single contract.  This Agreement, the other Loan Documents and any separate letter agreements with respect to fees payable to the Administrative Agent or the syndication of the Loans and Commitments constitute the entire contract among the parties relating to the subject matter hereof and supersede any and all previous agreements and understandings, oral or written, relating to the subject matter hereof.  Except as provided in Section 4.01, this Agreement shall become effective when it shall have been executed by the Administrative Agent and the Administrative Agent shall have received counterparts hereof that, when taken together, bear the signatures of each of the other parties hereto, and thereafter shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns.  Delivery of an executed counterpart of a signature page of (x) any Loan Document and/or (y) any document, amendment, approval, consent, information, notice (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any notice delivered pursuant to Section 9.01), certificate, request, statement, disclosure or authorization related to this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or the transactions contemplated hereby and/or thereby (each an “Ancillary Document”) that is an Electronic Signature transmitted by fax, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page shall be effective as delivery of a manually executed counterpart of this Agreement, such other Loan Document or such Ancillary Document, as applicable.  The words “execution,” “signed,” “signature,” “delivery,” and words of like import in or relating to this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document shall be deemed to include Electronic Signatures, deliveries or the keeping of records in any electronic form (including deliveries by telecopy, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page), each of which shall be of the same legal effect, validity or enforceability as a manually executed signature, physical delivery thereof or the use of a paper-based recordkeeping system, as the case may be; provided that nothing herein shall require the Administrative Agent to accept Electronic Signatures in any form or format without its prior written consent and pursuant to procedures approved by it; provided, further, without limiting the foregoing, (i) to the extent the Administrative Agent has agreed to accept any Electronic Signature, the Administrative Agent and each of the Lenders shall be entitled to rely on such Electronic Signature purportedly given by or on behalf of the Borrower without further verification thereof and without any obligation to review the appearance or form of any such Electronic signature and (ii) upon the request of the Administrative Agent or any Lender, any Electronic Signature  shall be promptly followed by a manually executed counterpart.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Borrower hereby (i) agrees that, for all purposes, including without limitation, in connection with any workout, restructuring, enforcement of remedies, bankruptcy proceedings or litigation among the Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Borrower, Electronic Signatures transmitted by telecopy, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page and/or any electronic images of this Agreement,  any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document shall have the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as any paper original, (ii) the Administrative Agent and each of the Lenders may, at its option, create one or more copies of this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document in the form of an imaged electronic record in any format, which shall be deemed created in the ordinary course of such Person’s business, and destroy the original paper document (and all such electronic records shall be considered an original for all purposes and shall have the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as a paper record), (iii) waives any argument, defense or right to contest the legal effect, validity or enforceability of this Agreement, any other Loan Document and/or any Ancillary Document based solely on the lack of paper original copies of this Agreement, such other Loan Document and/or such Ancillary Document, respectively, including with respect to any signature pages thereto and (iv) waives any claim against any Lender-Related Person for any Liabilities arising solely from the Administrative Agent’s and/or any Lender’s reliance on or use of Electronic Signatures and/or transmissions by telecopy, emailed pdf. or any other electronic means that reproduces an image of an actual executed signature page, including any Liabilities arising as a result of the failure of the Borrower to use any available security measures in connection with the execution, delivery or transmission of any Electronic Signature.

 

SECTION 9.07.  Severability.  Any provision of this Agreement held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability without affecting the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions hereof; and the invalidity of a particular provision in a particular jurisdiction shall not invalidate such provision in any other jurisdiction.

 

SECTION 9.08.  Right of Setoff.  If an Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, each Lender and each Issuing Bank is hereby authorized at any time and from time to time, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, to set off and apply any and all deposits (general or special, time or demand, provisional or final, in whatever currency) or other amounts at any time held and other obligations (in whatever currency) at any time owing by such Lender or such Issuing Bank to or for the credit or the account of the Borrower against any of and all the obligations then due of the Borrower now or hereafter existing under this Agreement held by such Lender or such Issuing Bank, irrespective of whether or not such Lender or such Issuing Bank shall have made any demand under this Agreement and although such obligations of the Borrower are owed to a branch or office of such Lender or such Issuing Bank different from the branch or office holding such deposit or obligated on such Indebtedness.  Each Lender and each Issuing Bank agrees to notify the Borrower and the Administrative Agent promptly after any such setoff and application; provided that the failure to give or any delay in giving such notice shall not affect the validity of any such setoff and application under this Section.  The rights of each Lender and each Issuing Bank under this Section are in addition to other rights and remedies (including other rights of setoff) that such Lender or such Issuing Bank may have.

 

SECTION 9.09.  Governing Law; Jurisdiction; Consent to Service of Process.  i)This Agreement and any claim, controversy, dispute or cause of action (whether in contract or tort or otherwise) based upon, arising out of or relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of the State of New York.

 

SECTION 9.10.  WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL.  EACH PARTY HERETO HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER LOAN DOCUMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY (WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER THEORY).  EACH PARTY HERETO (A) CERTIFIES THAT NO REPRESENTATIVE, AGENT OR ATTORNEY OF ANY OTHER PARTY HAS REPRESENTED, EXPRESSLY OR OTHERWISE, THAT SUCH OTHER PARTY WOULD NOT, IN THE EVENT OF LITIGATION, SEEK TO ENFORCE THE FOREGOING WAIVER AND (B) ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT AND THE OTHER PARTIES HERETO HAVE BEEN INDUCED TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT AND THE OTHER LOAN DOCUMENTS  BY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE MUTUAL WAIVERS AND CERTIFICATIONS IN THIS SECTION.

 

SECTION 9.11.  Headings.  Article and Section headings and the Table of Contents used herein are for convenience of reference only, are not part of this Agreement and shall not affect the construction of, or be taken into consideration in interpreting, this Agreement.

 

SECTION 9.12.  Confidentiality.  Each of the Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Issuing Banks agrees to maintain the confidentiality of the Information (as defined below), except that Information may be disclosed (a) to its Related Parties, including accountants, legal counsel and other agents and advisors, it being understood and agreed that the Persons to whom such disclosure is made will be informed of the confidential nature of such Information and instructed to keep such Information confidential and any failure of such Persons acting on behalf of the Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank or the relevant Lender to comply with this Section shall constitute a breach of this Section by the Administrative Agent, such Issuing Bank or the relevant Lender, as applicable, (b) to the extent required or requested by any regulatory authority purporting to have jurisdiction over such Person or its Related Parties (including any self-regulatory authority, such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners), (c) to the extent required by applicable laws or regulations or by any subpoena or similar legal process (provided, that to the extent practicable and permitted by law, the Borrower has been notified prior to such disclosure so that the Borrower may seek, at the Borrower’s sole expense, a protective order or other appropriate remedy), (d) to any other party to this Agreement, (e) in connection with the exercise of any remedies under this Agreement or any other Loan Document or any suit, action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document or the enforcement of rights hereunder or thereunder, provided that each Lender and the Administrative Agent shall use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that such Information is kept confidential in connection with the exercise of such remedies (f) subject to an agreement containing confidentiality undertakings substantially similar to those of this Section, to (i) any assignee of or Participant in, or any prospective assignee of or Participant in, any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement or (ii) any actual or prospective counterparty (or its Related Parties) to any Hedging Agreement relating to the Borrower or any Subsidiary and its obligations hereunder or under any other Loan Document, (g) on a confidential basis to (i) any rating agency in connection with rating the Borrower or its Subsidiaries or the credit facilities provided for herein or (ii) the CUSIP Service Bureau or any similar agency in connection with the issuance and monitoring of CUSIP numbers with respect to the credit facilities provided for herein, (h) with the consent of the Borrower, (i) to the extent such Information (i) becomes publicly available other than as a result of a breach of this Section or (ii) becomes available to the Administrative Agent, any Lender or any Issuing Bank or any Affiliate of any of the foregoing on a non-confidential basis from a source other than the Borrower or any Subsidiary, which source is not known by the recipient of such information to be subject to a confidentiality obligation or (j) to any credit insurance provider relating to the Borrower or its Obligations. For purposes of this Section, “Information” means all information received from the Borrower or any Subsidiary relating to the Borrower or any Subsidiary or their businesses, other than any such information that is available to the Administrative Agent, any Lender or any Issuing Bank on a nonconfidential basis prior to disclosure by the Borrower.  Any Person required to maintain the confidentiality of Information as provided in this Section shall be considered to have complied with its obligation to do so if such Person has exercised the same degree of care to maintain the confidentiality of such Information as such Person would accord to its own confidential information.

 

SECTION 9.13.  Interest Rate Limitation.  Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if at any time the interest rate applicable to any Loan or participation in any LC Disbursement, together with all fees, charges and other amounts that are treated as interest on such Loan or LC Disbursement or participation therein under applicable law (collectively the “Charges”), shall exceed the maximum lawful rate (the “Maximum Rate”) that may be contracted for, charged, taken, received or reserved by the Lender or Issuing Bank holding such Loan or LC Disbursement or participation therein in accordance with applicable law, the rate of interest payable in respect of such Loan hereunder, together with all Charges payable in respect thereof, shall be limited to the Maximum Rate and, to the extent lawful, the interest and Charges that would have been payable in respect of such Loan or LC Disbursement or participation therein but were not payable as a result of the operation of this Section shall be cumulated and the interest and Charges payable to such Lender or Issuing Bank in respect of other Loans or LC Disbursements or participation therein or periods shall be increased (but not above the Maximum Rate therefor) until such cumulated amount, together with interest thereon at the Federal Funds Effective Rate to the date of repayment, shall have been received by such Lender or Issuing Bank.

 

SECTION 9.14.  Release of Liens and Guarantees.  Subject to the reinstatement provisions set forth in any applicable Security Document, unless an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, a Loan Party shall automatically be released from its obligations under the Loan Documents, and all security interests created by the Security Documents in Collateral owned by such Loan Party shall be automatically released, upon the consummation of any transaction permitted by this Agreement as a result of which such Loan Party ceases to be a Restricted Subsidiary or becomes an Excluded Subsidiary (or in case the Borrower elects that any Designated Subsidiary that would otherwise constitute an Excluded Subsidiary cease to be a Designated Subsidiary); provided that, if so required by this Agreement, the Required Lenders (or if applicable, the Lenders) shall have consented to such transaction and the terms of such consent shall not have provided otherwise; provided, further, however, that notwithstanding the foregoing, without the consent of the Required Lenders, no Loan Party shall be released from its obligations under the Loan Documents if such Loan Party either (a) becomes an Excluded Subsidiary as a result of any transaction undertaken by the Borrower or any Subsidiary or (b) ceases to be a Subsidiary but the Borrower or a Subsidiary or Affiliate thereof retains any direct or indirect Equity Interest in, or otherwise Controls, such Person, unless (i) the transaction pursuant to which such Loan Party becomes an Excluded Subsidiary or ceases to be a Subsidiary is entered into for legitimate bona fide business purposes (other than for purposes of releasing guarantees or collateral hereunder) in good faith with an unaffiliated third party (or with a joint venture entity pursuant to a joint venture entered into for legitimate bona fide business purposes with an unaffiliated third party), (ii) at the time of such release (and after giving effect thereto), all outstanding Indebtedness and Liens of any such Subsidiary becoming an Excluded Subsidiary, and all Investments previously made in any such Subsidiary or other Person remaining outstanding after giving effect to the relevant transaction, would then be permitted to be incurred or made in accordance with the relevant provisions of Section 6.01, Section 6.02, Section 6.04 and Section 6.08 (for this purpose, with the Borrower being required to reclassify any such items made in reliance upon such Subsidiary or other Person being a Loan Party or a wholly-owned Subsidiary on another basis as would be permitted by such applicable Section), and any previous asset sale to such Subsidiary pursuant to Section 6.05 shall be re-characterized and would be permitted at the time of such release, as if the same were made to a Subsidiary that was not a Loan Party (and all items described above in this clause (ii) shall thereafter be deemed re-characterized as provided above in this clause (ii)), (iii) such Subsidiary or other Person shall not be (or shall simultaneously be released as) an obligor with respect to any other Indebtedness of the Borrower or any other Subsidiary (other than, in the case of a Subsidiary that becomes an Excluded Subsidiary, Indebtedness of any other Subsidiary becoming an Excluded Subsidiary as part of the same transaction) and (iv) such Subsidiary or other Person owns no assets which were previously transferred to it by another Note Party which constituted Collateral or proceeds of Collateral (or the transfer of any such assets to such Subsidiary or other Person by such Note Party would be permitted hereunder immediately following such release).  Upon any sale or other transfer by any Loan Party (other than to the Borrower or any other Loan Party) of any Collateral in a transaction permitted under this Agreement, or upon the effectiveness of any written consent to the release of the security interest created under any Security Document in any Collateral pursuant to Section 9.02, the security interests in such Collateral created by the Security Documents shall be automatically released.  Upon the release of any Loan Party from its Guarantee in compliance with this Agreement, the security interest in any Collateral owned by such Loan Party created by the Security Documents shall be automatically released.  On the date on which all (1) Obligations have been paid in full in cash (other than (x) Secured Hedging Obligations not yet due and payable, (y) Secured Cash Management Obligations not yet due and payable and (z) contingent indemnification obligations not yet accrued and payable) and (2) all Letters of Credit have expired or been terminated (other than Letters of Credit that have been cash collateralized or backstopped in an amount, by an institution and otherwise pursuant to arrangements reasonably satisfactory to the applicable Issuing Bank),  all obligations under the Loan Documents and all security interests under the Security Documents shall be automatically released.  In connection with any termination or release pursuant to this Section, and in connection with any Collateral becoming Excluded Property, the Administrative Agent shall execute and deliver to any Loan Party, at such Loan Party’s expense, all documents that such Loan Party shall reasonably request to file or register in any office, or to evidence, such termination or release, or, in the case of Collateral becoming Excluded Property, to effect, to file or register in any office, or to evidence the release of any security interest created by the Security Documents in such assets.  Any execution and delivery of documents pursuant to this Section shall be without recourse to or warranty by the Administrative Agent.  Each of the Secured Parties irrevocably authorizes the Administrative Agent, at its option and in its discretion, to effect the releases set forth in this Section.

 

SECTION 9.15.  Certain Notices.  Each Lender, each Issuing Bank and the Administrative Agent (for itself and not on behalf of any Lender) hereby notifies each Loan Party that, pursuant to the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act and/or the Beneficial Ownership Regulation, it is required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies such Loan Party, which information includes the name and address of such Loan Party and other information that will allow such Lender, such Issuing Bank or the Administrative Agent, as applicable, to identify such Loan Party in accordance with the USA PATRIOT Act and the Beneficial Ownership Regulation, and each Loan Party agrees to provide such information from time to time to such Lender, such Issuing Bank and the Administrative Agent, as applicable.

 

SECTION 9.16.  No Fiduciary Relationship.  The Borrower, on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries, agrees that in connection with all aspects of the transactions contemplated hereby and any communications in connection therewith, the Borrower, the Subsidiaries and their respective Affiliates, on the one hand, and the Administrative Agent, the Arrangers, the Syndication Agents, the Documentation Agents, the Lenders, the Issuing Banks and their respective Affiliates, on the other hand, will have a business relationship that does not create, by implication or otherwise, any fiduciary duty on the part of the Administrative Agent, the Arrangers, the Syndication Agents, the Documentation Agents, the Lenders, the Issuing Banks or their respective Affiliates, and no such duty will be deemed to have arisen in connection with any such transactions or communications.  The Administrative Agent, the Arrangers, the Syndication Agents, the Documentation Agents, the Lenders, the Issuing Banks and their respective Affiliates may be engaged, for their own accounts or the accounts of customers, in a broad range of transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Borrower, the Subsidiaries and their respective Affiliates, and none of the Administrative Agent, the Arrangers, the Syndication Agents, the Documentation Agents, the Lenders, the Issuing Banks or any of their respective Affiliates has any obligation to disclose any of such interests to the Borrower, the Subsidiaries or any of their respective Affiliates.  To the fullest extent permitted by law, each of the Borrower hereby waives and releases any claims that it or any of its Affiliates may have against the Administrative Agent, the Arrangers, the Syndication Agents, the Documentation Agents, the Lenders, the Issuing Banks or any of their respective Affiliates with respect to any breach or alleged breach of agency or fiduciary duty in connection with any aspect of any transaction contemplated hereby.

 

SECTION 9.17.  Non-Public Information.  (a) Each Lender acknowledges that all information, including requests for waivers and amendments, furnished by the Borrower or the Administrative Agent pursuant to or in connection with, or in the course of administering, this Agreement will be syndicate-level information, which may contain MNPI.  Each Lender represents to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent that (i) it has developed compliance procedures regarding the use of MNPI and that it will handle MNPI in accordance with such procedures and applicable law, including Federal, State and foreign securities laws, and (ii) it has identified in its Administrative Questionnaire a credit contact who may receive information that may contain MNPI in accordance with its compliance procedures and applicable law, including Federal, State and foreign securities laws.

 

SECTION 9.18.  Acknowledgement and Consent to Bail-In of Affected Financial Institutions.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Loan Document or in any other agreement, arrangement or understanding among any such parties, each party hereto acknowledges that any liability of any Lender or Issuing Bank that is an Affected Financial Institution arising under any Loan Document may be subject to the Write-Down and Conversion Powers of the applicable Resolution Authority and agrees and consents to, and acknowledges and agrees to be bound by:

 

(a)  the application of any Write-Down and Conversion Powers by the applicable Resolution Authority to any such liabilities arising hereunder which may be payable to it by any Lender or Issuing Bank party hereto that is an Affected Financial Institution; and

 

(b)  the effects of any Bail-In Action on any such liability, including, if applicable:

 

(i)  a reduction in full or in part or cancellation of any such liability;

 

(ii)  a conversion of all, or a portion of, such liability into shares or other instruments of ownership in such Affected Financial Institution, its parent entity, or a bridge institution that may be issued to it or otherwise conferred on it, and that such shares or other instruments of ownership will be accepted by it in lieu of any rights with respect to any such liability under this Agreement or any other Loan Document; or

 

(iii)  the variation of the terms of such liability in connection with the exercise of the Write-Down and Conversion Powers of the applicable Resolution Authority.

 

SECTION 9.19.  Judgment Currency.  If, for the purposes of obtaining judgment in any court, it is necessary to convert a sum due hereunder or any other Loan Document in one currency into another currency, the rate of exchange used shall be that at which in accordance with normal banking procedures the Administrative Agent could purchase the first currency with such other currency on the Business Day preceding that on which final judgment is given.  The obligation of the Borrower in respect of any such sum due from it to the Administrative Agent or the Lenders hereunder or under the other Loan Documents shall, notwithstanding any judgment in a currency (the “Judgment Currency”) other than that in which such sum is denominated in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Agreement (the “Agreement Currency”), be discharged only to the extent that on the Business Day following receipt by the Administrative Agent of any sum adjudged to be so due in the Judgment Currency, the Administrative Agent may in accordance with normal banking procedures purchase the Agreement Currency with the Judgment Currency.  If the amount of the Agreement Currency so purchased is less than the sum originally due to the Administrative Agent from the Borrower in the Agreement Currency, the Borrower agree, as a separate obligation and notwithstanding any such judgment, to indemnify the Administrative Agent or the Person to whom such obligation was owing against such loss.  If the amount of the Agreement Currency so purchased is greater than the sum originally due to the Administrative Agent in such currency, the Administrative Agent agrees to return the amount of any excess to the Borrower (or to any other Person who may be entitled thereto under applicable Law).

 

SECTION 9.20.  Cashless Settlement.  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, any Lender may exchange, continue or rollover all or a portion of its Loans in connection with any refinancing, extension, loan modification or similar transaction permitted by the terms of this Agreement, pursuant to a cashless settlement mechanism approved by the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and such Lender.

 

SECTION 9.21.  Acknowledgement Regarding Any Supported QFCs.  To the extent that the Loan Documents provide support, through a guarantee or otherwise, for Hedging Agreements or any other agreement or instrument that is a QFC (such support “QFC Credit Support” and each such QFC a “Supported QFC”), the parties acknowledge and agree as follows with respect to the resolution power of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (together with the regulations promulgated thereunder, the “U.S. Special Resolution Regimes”) in respect of such Supported QFC and QFC Credit Support (with the provisions below applicable notwithstanding that the Loan Documents and any Supported QFC may in fact be stated to be governed by the laws of the State of New York and/or of the United States or any other state of the United States):

 

In the event a Covered Entity that is party to a Supported QFC (each, a “Covered Party”) becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer of such Supported QFC and the benefit of such QFC Credit Support (and any interest and obligation in or under such Supported QFC and such QFC Credit Support, and any rights in property securing such Supported QFC or such QFC Credit Support) from such Covered Party will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if the Supported QFC and such QFC Credit Support (and any such interest, obligation and rights in property) were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States. In the event a Covered Party or a BHC Act Affiliate of a Covered Party becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under the Loan Documents that might otherwise apply to such Supported QFC or any QFC Credit Support that may be exercised against such Covered Party are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if the Supported QFC and the Loan Documents were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States. Without limitation of the foregoing, it is understood and agreed that rights and remedies of the parties with respect to a Defaulting Lender shall in no event affect the rights of any Covered Party with respect to a Supported QFC or any QFC Credit Support.

 

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