儘管如上所述，在第七修正案生效日期後，借款人不得，也不得允許其任何受限子公司與被釋放集團的任何成員合併或合併，允許被釋放集團的任何成員合併或與任何貸款方合併，或拆分或以其他方式處置資產給被釋放集團的任何成員

 

第6.04節投資、貸款、墊款、擔保和收購。借款人不會，也不會允許任何受限制的子公司進行任何投資，但：

 

(A)允許的投資和現金；

 

(B)構成購買或以其他方式獲取(在一次交易或一系列相關交易中)任何人的全部或實質所有財產及資產或業務的投資，或構成該人的業務單位、業務範圍或分部的資產的投資，或構成該人的股權的投資，而在該等投資完成後，如借款人會遵守第6.12及6.13條的規定，則該等投資在完成後即為受限制附屬公司；但涉及收購不成為貸款方的受限子公司的貸款方就此類投資(包括以貸款或墊款形式向非貸款方的受限子公司)支付的現金對價總額，在進行此類投資時和生效後，不得導致 超出非擔保人投資籃子，但為免生疑問，在本節第6.04節另一條款中的任何其他籃子或比率測試下的可用金額範圍內(可用於貸款方以外的受限制子公司的投資)，用於允許此類投資(且條件是，在此類受限制子公司確實成為貸款方的範圍內，依賴於本條款(B)的未償還總額應減去最初使用的金額)；

 

(C)在正常業務過程中向客户提供與受限集團融資業務相關的貸款、設備租賃和其他信貸延伸；

 

(D)附表6.04所列於截止日期已存在且本金總額超過$5,000,000或$1,000,000的投資(每種情況下，公司間投資除外)及其任何修改、替換、續期、再投資或延期；

 

(E)借款人和受限制附屬公司對其各自受限制附屬公司股權的投資；但(I)借款方在任何其他借款方持有的任何此類股權，應在“抵押品和擔保要求”一詞的定義所要求的範圍內質押(並受第5.12、5.13或5.15節或抵押品協議或其他適用擔保文件中規定的時間框架的限制)和(Ii)任何貸款方對非貸款方的任何受限制子公司的此類投資不應：在進行此類投資時並在其生效後，致使非擔保人投資籃子超出，但如果根據第(2)款進行的任何此類投資是為了進行本條第(B)款(U)款允許的投資、貸款或墊款，則本條(E)項下的可用金額不得減去任何此類投資、貸款或墊款的金額，從而減少本節第(U)款所述籃子的金額；

 

(F)借款人向任何受限制附屬公司作出的貸款或墊款，以及任何受限制附屬公司向借款人或任何其他受限制附屬公司作出的貸款或墊款；但(I) 貸款方提供的超過20,000,000美元的任何此類貸款和墊款應在截止日期當日及之後由全球公司間票據或行政代理人合理接受的其他本票證明，條件是： 對於在截止日期之後發放的貸款和墊款，全球公司間票據或其他本票的此類貸款和墊款的證據應在此類貸款或墊款發放後60天內才需要 和(Ii)在發放此類貸款或墊款時由貸款方根據本條(F)向非貸款方的受限制子公司發放的此類貸款和墊款的未償還金額，並且在其生效後， 不得導致超出非擔保人投資籃子，但任何貸款方向不是貸款方的受限制附屬公司發放的任何公司間貸款或墊款，在計算本款第(Ii)款規定的任何限制或籃子(包括非擔保人投資籃子)時，不得考慮在計算本款第(Ii)款規定的任何限制或籃子(包括非擔保人投資籃子)時，使用從並非貸款方的受限制子公司獲得的任何公司間貸款或墊款。此外，如果第(Ii)款下的任何此類貸款或墊款是為了進行本節(U)款允許的投資、貸款或墊款 ，則本條(F)項下的可用金額不得減去任何此類投資、貸款或墊款的金額，該等投資、貸款或墊款使本節(U)款下的籃子縮水，條件是：任何貸款方向非貸款方的受限制子公司提供的任何貸款或墊款，就計算本款第(Ii)款和非擔保人投資籃子的用途而言，應按美元對美元減去貸款方欠非貸款方的受限制子公司的任何金額；

 

(G)借款人或任何受限附屬公司就第6.01節允許的債務和本節未予考慮的其他義務提供的擔保，適用於借款人或任何受限附屬公司；但在任何貸款方並非貸款方的受限附屬公司的每一種情況下，任何此類債務擔保在提供擔保時和生效後，不得導致超出非擔保人投資籃子；

 

(H)借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的董事、高級人員、顧問或僱員在借款人或該受限制附屬公司(視何者適用而定)的正常業務運作中作出的貸款或墊款，但在任何時間未償還的總額不得超過$10,000,000(釐定時無須考慮該等貸款或墊款的任何撇賬或撇賬)；

 

(I)工資、差旅和類似墊款，以支付在墊款發生時預計最終將被視為借款人或任何受限制附屬公司在會計上的費用並在正常業務過程中支付的事項；

 

(J)因客户和供應商的破產或重組，或與客户和供應商之間的拖欠帳目和糾紛的結清，或因任何擔保投資或任何擔保投資的其他所有權轉讓而喪失抵押品贖回權而收到的投資，在每一種情況下，在正常業務過程中；

 

(K)第6.07節允許的以對衝協議形式進行的投資；

 

(L)在該人成為受限制附屬公司或與借款人或任何受限制附屬公司合併或合併時存在的任何人的投資，只要該等投資並非是在預期該人成為受限制附屬公司或該等合併或合併時作出的；

 

(M)“準許產權負擔”一詞的定義第(C)、(D)、(O)、(R)、(Aa)或(Dd)款或第6.02(A)(Viii)節所述的質押或存款所產生的投資；

 

(N)因按照第6.05節的規定出售、轉讓、租賃或以其他方式處置任何資產而收取非現金對價而進行的投資；[(O)借款人或任何受限制附屬公司從其任何附屬公司以股權、債務證據或其他證券的形式收取股息或其他限制性付款而純粹產生的投資(但不包括在收到股息或其他證券之日後增加的股息或其他限制性付款)；];

 

(P)應付借款人或受限制附屬公司的應收款或其他貿易應付款項，如在正常業務過程中產生或取得，並可按照慣例貿易條件按 支付或清償；但此類貿易條件可包括借款人或任何受限制附屬公司在當時情況下認為合理的優惠貿易條件；

 

(Q)第6.03節允許的不涉及借款人以外的任何人的合併和合並，以及作為全資擁有的受限子公司的受限子公司 ；

 

(R)借款人在正常業務過程中以信用證、銀行擔保、履約保函或類似工具或其他債權人支持或償還義務的形式進行的投資，由借款人代表任何受限制附屬公司作出，並由任何受限制附屬公司代表借款人或任何其他受限制附屬公司作出；但在該等信用證、銀行擔保、履約保證金或類似票據或其他債權人支持或償還義務由貸款方代表非貸款方的受限制子公司根據第(R)款作出時，且在其生效後，該等義務不得導致非擔保人投資籃子的超額；

 

(S)借款人或任何受限附屬公司對租賃(資本化租賃除外)或不構成債務的其他債務的擔保，在每種情況下都是在正常業務過程中訂立的 ；[(T)投資，只要(X)在按形式實施後，綜合總槓桿率不超過1.50：1.00和(Y)根據第5.01(A)或(B)節交付財務報表的最近兩個財政季度結束時的綜合總槓桿率不超過1.50至1.00；];

 

(U)借款人或任何受限制附屬公司(以及借款人的貸款和墊款)在借款人或該受限制附屬公司的正常業務過程中作出的其他投資(以及借款人的貸款和墊款)，為真正的商業目的而進行的總金額，按每項投資作出時的成本價值計算，幷包括未來投資的所有相關承諾(以及與該等投資有關而假設或以其他方式招致的任何債務的本金)，根據本條款(U)在任何時間未清償的總金額不得超過(I)根據第5.01(A)或(B)節已交付財務報表的最近終了四個會計季度的綜合EBITDA 的(X)$50,000,000和(Y)15.0%之和，加上(Ii)相等於就任何該等投資以現金形式實際收到的資本或銷售收益的任何回報的款額(該數額不得超過作出此類投資時按成本價計算的投資額)；但在第五修正案期間，在根據第(U)款實施任何此類投資後，綜合總槓桿率不得超過2：50：1.00；此外，自第五修正案生效日期起至2026年1月1日(或如果較早，則為第五修正案期間終止日期)，不得根據第(U)款進行投資；

 

(V)投資包括：(I)在正常業務過程中擴大貿易信貸和通融擔保，以及(Ii)向客户提供貸款和墊款；但根據本條第(Ii)款，任何時候此類貸款和墊款的本金總額不得超過10,000,000美元；

 

(W)構成投資的獲準債券對衝交易；

 

(X)在正常業務過程中的投資，包括《統一商法典》第3條託收或存款背書和《統一商法典》第4條與客户在正常業務過程中的慣常貿易安排；

 

(Y)投資(A)公用事業、保證金、租賃和在正常業務過程中發生的類似預付費用，以及(B)在正常業務過程中創建的貿易賬户或應計預付費用；^{(Z)與税務規劃和重組活動有關的非現金投資；但在任何這類活動生效後，貸款人在抵押品上的擔保權益作為一個整體不會受到損害；}(Aa)與獲準應收賬款融資有關的慣常投資(由借款人真誠決定)；^{(Bb)對合資企業的投資；但在按形式進行任何此類投資時，根據本條款(Bb)進行的所有此類投資在任何時間的未償還總額不得超過最近終了的四個財政季度合併EBITDA的50,000,000美元和15.0%，其中財務報表已根據第5.01(A)或 (B)節交付；}(Cc)在正常業務過程中以貸款或墊款形式向分銷商和供應商進行的投資；

(Dd)在其構成投資的範圍內，在正常業務過程中擔保借款人的供應商、客户、特許經營商、出租人和被許可人以及任何受限制的子公司的義務。

 

(Ee)對任何受限制子公司的投資，涉及公司間現金管理安排或在正常業務過程中發生的相關活動，或與過去的做法一致；[(Ff)僅通過借款人發行股權(不合格股權除外)來支付此類投資的投資；](Gg)借款人和/或作為一個或多個特定GEC 實體的貸款方的一個或多個受限制子公司以指定GEC DIP融資的形式進行的投資，本金總額不超過60,000,000美元；但此類指定的GEC DIP融資應根據和按照抵押品協議的條款質押給抵押品代理人(為擔保當事人的利益)作為抵押品；以及

 

(Hh)(X)獲免除集團的所有權，(Y)獲免除集團欠借款人或其附屬公司的債務(或債務註銷)，包括環球公司間票據項下的任何未償還餘額 或(Z)指定GEC票據明文規定的餘額。

 

就本節而言，如果根據上述一項或多項規定和/或本節中包含的一項或多項例外，允許任何投資(或部分投資)，借款人和受限制子公司可按照符合本公約的任何方式對此類投資(或部分投資)進行劃分和分類；但儘管有前述規定或其他任何相反規定，(X)根據本第6.04節的規定，僅允許依據上述(Gg)條款以指定的GEC DIP融資的形式進行投資，並且在任何情況下，都不允許依賴於本條款第6.04和(Y)條的任何其他條款進行指定的GEC DIP融資，自第七修正案生效之日起及之後，本協議禁止對任何指定的GEC實體或其任何直接或間接子公司進行任何形式的投資。 除非第6.04(Gg)或(Hh)節允許或共享服務協議允許。

 

第6.05節資產出售。借款人將不會，也不會允許任何受限子公司出售、轉讓、租賃或以其他方式處置任何資產(不包括在單一交易或一系列相關交易中出售、轉讓、租賃或以其他方式處置的資產，公平市值為25,000,000美元或以下的資產)，包括其擁有的任何股權，借款人也不允許 任何受限制子公司發行該受限制子公司的任何額外股權(發行董事合格股票和向借款人或另一家受限制子公司發行股權除外)， 除外：

 

(A)出售、轉讓、租賃和以其他方式處置(1)庫存、(2)用過、陳舊、損壞、破舊或剩餘的設備、(3)在借款人和受限制子公司的業務中不再使用或不再有用的財產(包括知識產權)和(4)現金和許可投資，每種情況下均在正常業務過程中進行；

 

(B)向借款人或受限制附屬公司出售、轉讓、租賃及其他處置；但涉及並非貸款方的受限制附屬公司的任何此類出售、轉讓、租賃或其他處置，在適用範圍內須符合第6.04、6.09及6.17節的規定；

 

(C)不屬於任何應收款融資交易(包括向保理商和其他第三方的銷售)的任何應收款融資交易的一部分，對與其妥協、結算或收款相關的應收款的出售、轉讓和其他處置或免除；

 

(D)(I)出售、轉讓、租賃及其他處置資產，但以該等資產構成第6.04節(J)、(L)或(N)條所準許的投資為限，或(Br)出售、轉讓、租賃及其他作為處置本條所準許的任何資產的代價而收取的資產(在每種情況下，受限制附屬公司的股權除外，除非該受限制附屬公司的所有股權(董事合資格股份除外)均已出售)及(Ii)出售、轉讓、借款人或受限附屬公司對受限附屬公司股權的其他處置，以第6.04(E)或(U)節允許的此類出售、轉讓或其他處置作為對受限附屬公司的投資為限。

 

(E)在正常業務過程中訂立的租賃或分租，但不得對借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的業務造成實質性幹擾；

 

(F)在正常業務過程中授予的非排他性知識產權許可或再許可，或在正常業務過程中授予的不會對借款人或任何受限制子公司的業務造成實質性幹擾的其他知識產權許可或再許可。

 

(G)因借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的任何資產遭受傷亡或其他保險損害，或在徵用權的授權下被接管，或因喪失抵押品贖回權或任何受限制附屬公司的任何資產而喪失抵押品贖回權或類似訴訟而導致的財產轉移或類似法律程序而導致的處置；

 

(H)在下列情況下處置資產：(1)此類資產以類似重置資產的購買價換取貸方，或(2)此種處置的收益迅速用於此類重置資產的購買價；

 

(I)第6.02、6.04及6.08條所準許的處置；

 

(J)附表6.05所列的產權處置；

 

(K)對本節任何其他條款不允許的資產的出售、轉讓、租賃和其他處置；前提是沒有發生違約事件，而且違約事件正在持續或將會導致違約；

 

(L)出售、轉讓或以其他方式處置與許可應收賬款安排有關的許可應收賬款安排資產；

 

(M)出售、轉讓或以其他方式處置因第6.04條允許的任何收購或其他投資而獲得的任何資產(包括股權)， 哪些資產不用於借款人和受限制子公司的核心或主要業務，和/或(B)為獲得任何適用的反壟斷機構的批准而進行的與第6.04條允許的收購相關的批准 ；

 

(N)出售、轉讓或以其他方式處置合營企業中的投資，範圍為合營企業各方要求或根據合營企業安排和類似的具有約束力的安排中規定的合營各方之間的慣常買賣安排作出的；

 

(O)在構成受本節管限的處置的範圍內，解除或提前終止或結算任何對衝協議或任何準許債券對衝交易或準許認股權證交易或其他期權、遠期或其他衍生合約；及

 

(P)借款人及其受限制附屬公司根據電子商務重組定義第(B)款出售、處置或以其他方式轉讓(包括第三方認購)PBGEC的股權

 

但本協議允許的所有銷售、轉讓、租賃和其他處置(條款(A)(Iii)、(B)和(C)允許的除外)的購買價超過25,000,000美元，應按公允價值(由借款人善意確定)作出，應遵守第6.17條，本協議允許的所有出售、轉讓、租賃和其他處置的對價至少75%((B)、(D)、(B)、(D)、(G)或(H))以現金或許可投資的形式；此外，(I)在出售、轉讓或其他處置後30天內以現金代價處置的任何許可投資形式的代價，應被視為現金代價，其金額應等同於就本但書而言的此類現金代價的數額，(Ii)借款人或該受限附屬公司根據本條款提供的最近資產負債表或其腳註所示的任何負債，受讓人就適用的出售、轉讓、租賃或其他處置承擔的債務，且借款人和所有受限制的子公司已被所有適用的 債權人以書面形式有效解除的債務除外，其金額應被視為現金代價，其金額與所承擔的負債相等；及(Iii)借款人或該附屬公司就該等出售、轉讓、租賃或其他處置而收取的任何指定非現金代價，具有總公平市場價值的租賃或其他處置，連同根據第(Iii)款收到的當時未償還的所有其他指定非現金對價，不超過(X) $50,000,000美元及(Y)10.0%以上最近截至四個會計季度的綜合EBITDA(於收到該等指定非現金對價時已根據第5.01(A)或(B)節呈交的財務報表)的50,000,000美元及(Y)10.0%，且每項指定非現金對價的公平市價於收到時計量，且不影響其後的價值變動，應被視為現金對價。

 

儘管有上述規定，發行人或其任何附屬公司不得向已發行集團的任何成員公司出售、轉讓、租賃或以其他方式處置資產或發行股權，但提供指定的GEC DIP融資除外。

 

第6.06節銷售和回租交易。借款人將不會，也不會允許任何受限子公司直接或間接地(借款人與任何其他借款方之間或之間或非貸款方的受限子公司之間的公司間安排除外)達成任何 安排，據此，借款人將出售或轉讓其業務中使用或有用的任何 財產，無論是現在擁有的還是以後獲得的，並在其後出租或租賃該財產或其他財產，而該財產或其他財產擬用作與出售或轉讓財產實質上相同的一項或多於一項目的；但第6.06條並不禁止在遵守第2.11(C)條和第6.05節的前提下，對位於康涅狄格州謝爾頓水景道27號的物業進行先前的出售和回租，或就該物業進行任何續簽、延期或更換租約。

 

第6.07節套期保值協議。借款人不得，也不得允許任何受限制的附屬公司簽訂任何套期保值協議，但在正常業務過程中籤訂且非出於投機目的的套期保值協議除外。

 

第6.08節限制付款；次級債務的某些付款。(I)借款人將不會，也不會允許任何受限制的子公司直接或間接地聲明或支付，或同意支付或支付任何限制付款，或產生任何義務(或有或以其他方式)，除非違約事件尚未發生且仍在繼續 (或將由此產生的後果)：

 

(I)任何受限制附屬公司可就其股權 宣佈及支付股息或作出其他分配，或就其股權作出其他受限制的付款，在每種情況下按比例(或按高於任何貸款方的應課税額)向該等股權的持有人支付；

 

(2)借款人可以宣佈和支付其股權的股息，僅以符合條件的股權或本協議允許的不符合條件的股權的股份支付；

 

(Iii)借款人可在任何財政年度內進行限制性付款，但不得超過(A)35,000,000美元和(B)根據第5.01(A)或(B)節交付財務報表的最近四個財政季度合併EBITDA的7.5%(未使用的金額將結轉到下一個財政年度，根據本條款第(Iii)款，任何財政年度的總額上限最高為50,000,000美元)，根據並按照借款人和受限制子公司的董事、高級管理人員、顧問或僱員的股票期權計劃或其他福利或基於股票的薪酬計劃；

 

(Iv)從借款人截至2019年12月31日的財政年度開始，只要沒有發生違約或違約事件 並且仍在繼續(就定期季度股息而言，只要相關股息是在宣佈股息日期後60天內支付的，這種情況只應在宣佈股息時進行測試)，借款人可以就其股權宣佈和支付股息，或回購其股權，其所有此類股息和回購的總金額不得超過借款人每個財政年度的36,000,000美元，條件是， 如果此類限制性付款是基於股權進行的，這種限制性支付不會導致年化股息收益率(根據借款人在紐約證券交易所截至相關股息宣佈日期前10個工作日的連續30個交易日內的每日成交量加權平均價格計算)超過6.25%；但根據第6.16節使用的金額將減少本條第(Iv)款下的可用金額；此外，就第(Iv)款而言，在計算本籃子的目的時，適用於此類股權回購的每一美元應計為2美元；

 

保留區

 

借款人可在行使或結算與借款人的股本有關的任何認股權證或其他期權或遠期合同，或轉換或交換可轉換為或可交換為借款人股權的可轉換債務或其他證券時支付現金，以代替發行零碎股份 ；

 

(Vii)借款人可以在行使股票期權時回購股權，如果這種股權代表這種股票期權行權價格的一部分(以及為支付與根據這種股票期權或其他福利計劃行使有關的税款或其他金額而進行的股票贖回或相關注銷)；

 

(Viii)在發行任何合格股權的同時，借款人可以使用借款人的任何股權收益贖回、購買或註銷借款人的任何股權，或將借款人的任何股權轉換或交換為此類合格股權；

 

(Ix)借款人可以就任何轉換或交換可轉換債務支付現金，金額 等於(I)該等可轉換債務的本金金額及(Ii)借款人或其任何受限制附屬公司根據任何與 有關的準許債券對衝交易的行使、結算或終止而收到的任何付款的收益之和；

 

(X)借款人可就許可債券對衝交易和任何相關的許可認股權證交易的結算進行付款：(I)在股份淨額結算時交付借款人的股權份額，或(Ii)通過(A)抵銷相關的許可債券對衝交易和(B)在任何提前終止借款人的普通股權益中支付提前終止的金額；

 

(Xi)借款人可以聲明和支付限制性付款的總額不得超過在作出此類限制性付款時和在其生效後當時的可用金額；但借款人只有在下列情況下才可根據本條(Xi)作出受限制付款：(X)並無違約或違約事件發生，且(Br)繼續(或將因此而導致)及(Y)(A)在按形式生效後，綜合總槓桿率不得超過1：50：1.00，且(B)根據第5.01(A)或(B)節發佈財務報表的最近兩個會計季末的綜合總槓桿率不超過1.50至1.00；和

 

(Xii)(I)與行使股票期權、認股權證或類似權利有關的任何非現金回購或扣留股權，如果該等股權代表與該等期權、認股權證或類似權利有關的行使或扣繳義務的一部分(為免生疑問，應理解為所需的任何預扣或類似税款可由借款人或任何受限制附屬公司以現金支付)，及(Ii)向高級人員提供的貸款或墊款，借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的董事及僱員與該人購買借款人的股權有關，但除支付與該項購買有關的應付税款外，不得根據第(Ii)款實際預支任何現金，除非立即償還 。

 

(B)借款人不會，也不會允許任何受限制附屬公司提前償還、贖回、購買或以其他方式償還在償付權上從屬於債務的任何債務(為免生疑問，不包括欠借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的任何從屬債務)(統稱為“受限制債務支付”)，但以下情況除外：

 

(I)償還根據本協定或任何其他貸款文件產生的債務；

 

(Ii)就任何該等債項到期的定期預定利息及本金付款，但就該等債項作出的次要規定所禁止的付款除外；

 

(3)用第6.01節允許的其他債務的收益對債務進行再融資；

 

(四)

 

保留區

 

保留區

 

(6)有關債務條款所要求的付款，這些條款旨在確保此類票據在發行時不會被視為《守則》第163(I)條所指的“適用的高收益貼現債務”；以及

 

(Vii)將該等債務轉換為借款人的合資格股權，或將該等債務交換為借款人的合資格股權。

 

就本節而言，如果根據上述一項或多項規定和/或本節中包含的一項或多項例外情況允許任何限制性付款(或部分付款)，借款人和受限制子公司可按照符合本公約的任何方式對此類限制性付款(或部分付款)進行劃分和分類。

 

第6.09節與關聯公司的交易。借款人將不會，也不會允許任何受限制子公司向其任何關聯公司出售、租賃或以其他方式轉讓任何資產，或 從其任何關聯公司購買、租賃或以其他方式獲得任何資產，或以其他方式與其任何關聯公司進行總代價超過20,000,000美元的任何其他交易(或一系列相關交易)，但(I) 以不低於借款人或該受限制子公司的價格和條款和條件進行的交易除外，(Ii)貸款方之間或之間不涉及任何其他關聯公司的交易，或(B)非貸款方的受限制子公司之間的交易，(Iii)向借款人或第6.08節允許的任何受限制子公司支付的限制性付款，以及對第6.04節允許的子公司的投資，以及涉及借款人和第6.03節允許的受限制子公司的任何其他交易，前提是借款人與一個或多個受限制子公司之間或兩個或多個受限制子公司之間的交易。(Iv)向並非借款人或任何受限制附屬公司僱員的借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的董事支付合理費用，並向借款人或受限制附屬公司的董事、高級人員、顧問或僱員支付薪酬和僱員福利安排，以及為借款人或受限制附屬公司的董事、高級人員、顧問或僱員的利益而提供的彌償；。(V)依據僱傭協議以現金、證券或其他方式發行證券或其他付款、獎勵或授予，或以僱傭協議提供資金，借款人董事會批准的股票期權和股票所有權計劃，(Vi)借款人或其任何受限附屬公司與借款人董事會批准的任何僱員在正常業務過程中訂立的僱傭和遣散安排，(Vii)向其他受限附屬公司支付的款項，這些款項因任何慣常的税務合併和集團安排而產生或與之相關，(Viii)指定的GEC DIP融資和(Ix)電子商務重組。

 

第6.10節限制性協議。借款人將不會，也不會允許任何受限制子公司訂立或允許 存在禁止、限制或對以下方面施加任何條件的協議或其他安排：(A)借款人或任何受限制子公司創造、對其作為抵押品或必須作為抵押品的任何資產產生或允許存在任何留置權，以保證義務，或(B)非貸款方的任何受限制子公司有能力就其任何股權支付股息或其他分配，向借款人或任何貸款方發放或償還貸款或墊款，或將其任何財產或資產轉讓給借款人或任何貸款方；但上述規定不適用於(A)法律或本協議施加的限制和條件、任何貸款文件、任何增量貸款修正案、任何再融資貸款協議、管理任何再融資定期貸款債務或再融資債務的任何文件或管理替代增量貸款債務的任何文件，(B)在截止日期生效的現有高級票據文件或證明第6.01(A)節第(Ii)款所允許的其他債務的任何協議或文件所施加的限制和條件；但任何該等協議或文件所載的限制及條件(由借款人真誠地釐定)對貸款人而言並不比現有優先票據文件所施加的限制及條件或其他有關債務類型的慣常限制(可能為“高收益”票據或定期貸款)所施加的限制及條件差多少，(C)在並非全資擁有的受限制附屬公司的情況下，其組織文件或任何相關合資企業或類似協議施加的習慣限制和條件；但該等限制及條件只適用於該受限制附屬公司及該受限制附屬公司的股權，(D)協議所載有關出售受限制附屬公司或借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的任何資產的慣常限制及條件(由借款人真誠地決定)，在每種情況下均有待出售；但該等限制及條件只適用於該受限制附屬公司或擬出售的資產，且在每種情況下，此類出售均為本協議所允許的；(E)在截止日期存在並於附表6.10確定的限制及條件(以及對該附表所列文件的任何延長或續期，或對該附表所列文件的任何修訂、修改或替換，但不會在任何實質方面擴大任何該等限制或條件的範圍)；(F)關於任何受限制附屬公司的債務的任何協議所施加的限制和條件 在該受限制附屬公司成為受限制附屬公司之時已存在，並由第6.01(A)節第(Vii)款允許的其他限制，或第6.01(A)條第(Viii)或(Xix)條允許的非貸款方受限制附屬公司的任何債務限制，在每種情況下，如果該等限制和條件僅適用於該受限制附屬公司及其子公司，(G)習慣性禁止，與允許應收賬款融資有關的協議中包含的限制和條件(由借款人善意確定)，(H)管理借款人和任何受限制子公司根據第6.01節允許發生的其他債務的文件中規定的任何產權負擔或限制，但此類產權負擔或限制不會實質性損害(由借款人善意確定的)(1)借款人支付本協議項下本金和利息的能力，或(2)貸款方對其作為抵押品或必須作為抵押品的任何資產提供任何留置權的能力，(I)租賃、許可、再許可和其他合同(包括知識產權的非排他性許可和再許可)中限制轉讓的習慣條款，(J)任何與本協議允許的有擔保債務或其他留置權有關的協議對 僅適用於擔保此類債務的財產或此類留置權涵蓋的財產施加的限制，(K)在正常業務過程中訂立的協議對現金(或允許的投資)或其他存款施加的限制(或對現金或存款的其他限制，受限制或構成允許的產權負擔的限制)，(L)租約、轉租、許可證、因此，在此允許轉授許可證或資產出售協議，只要此類限制僅涉及受其約束的資產，(M)限制轉租或轉讓管理借款人或任何受限制子公司的租賃權益的任何租約的習慣條款，以及(N)子公司簽訂的不動產租賃中包含的習慣淨值條款，只要借款人真誠地確定此類淨值條款不會合理地預計會損害借款人及其子公司履行其持續債務的能力。

 

第6.11節材料文件的修訂等。借款人不會，也不會允許其任何受限制的子公司在未經所需貸款人同意的情況下，修改、修改或放棄其公司註冊證書、章程或其他組織文件，但與“電子商務重組”定義第(A)款有關的修訂、修改或豁免的影響將對貸款人造成實質性不利的情況除外。

 

第6.12.節綜合調整利息覆蓋率。借款人不得允許借款人截至(A)截止日期或之後且在第三修正案生效日期之前的任何連續四個會計季度的任何期間的最後一天的綜合調整利息覆蓋率小於2.75%至1.00，(B)在第三修正案生效日期或之後且在第五修正案生效日期之前的合併調整利息覆蓋率小於2.25%至1.00，(C)在第五修正案生效日期或之後但在2025年1月1日之前小於1.75至1.00和(D)在 或在2025年1月1日之後小於2.00至1.00。

 

儘管有上述規定，如果借款人在2025年3月31日或之前結束的連續四個會計季度的任何期間，應已向行政代理提交了第五次修訂期間終止通知，則對於借款人連續四個會計季度的該期間和隨後的每個期間，前款規定的比率不適用，借款人將不允許借款人在連續四個會計季度的任何該等期間的最後一天的綜合調整利息覆蓋率低於2.25%至1.00(“未經修訂的綜合調整利息覆蓋率”)。

 

本節的規定完全是為了循環貸款人、A期定期貸款人和增量B期定期貸款人的利益，除非任何增量貸款修正案另有規定，否則不是為了提供任何其他增量貸款的任何貸款人的利益。儘管有第9.02節的規定，但所需的Covenant貸款人可以(I)直接或間接地修改或以其他方式修改本節，或僅為本節的目的而修改其中使用的定義術語，或(Ii)放棄不遵守第6.12節的任何情況或因不遵守第6.12條而導致的任何違約事件，在每種情況下，均無需任何其他貸款人的同意。

 

第6.13.節合併調整後總槓桿率。借款人不得允許借款人連續四個會計季度的任何 期間在下列任何期間或大約在任何日期結束的合併調整後總槓桿率超過以下與該期間相對的比率：

 

財政季度結束

 

合併調整後總槓桿率

 

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)就支付總額超過$75,000,000的款項而作出的一項或多於一項判決(保險(自我保險計劃除外)所涵蓋的任何該等判決除外，但以書面提出索償且保險人並未否認對該等判決的責任的範圍內)，須針對借款人、任何受限制附屬公司或其任何組合作出，而該等判決須在連續60天內保持不解除，在此期間不得有效地暫停執行，或判定債權人應依法採取任何行動，以扣押或徵收借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的任何資產，而該等資產對借款人或任何受限制附屬公司的整體業務和運作是至關重要的，以強制執行任何此類判決；

 

 

(Iii)本協議或任何貸款文件中的任何規定均不得要求行政代理向任何貸款人或開證行交代行政代理為其自己的賬户收到的任何款項或其利潤因素。

 

(C)擔任本合同項下行政代理行的人應享有與任何其他貸款人或開證行相同的放貸人或開證行身份的權利和權力，並可行使與不是行政代理人相同的權利和權力。除非文意另有明確指示，否則術語“開證行”、“貸款人”、“要求貸款人”和任何類似術語應包括行政代理人作為貸款人、開證行或作為要求貸款人之一的個人身份。擔任行政代理的人及其關聯公司可接受借款人或其任何附屬公司或其他關聯公司的存款、借出資金、持有其證券、擔任借款人或其任何子公司或其他關聯公司的財務顧問或任何其他顧問，並一般與借款人或其任何附屬公司從事任何類型的業務，就像該人不是本協議項下的行政代理一樣，並且沒有向貸款人或開證行交代的責任。

 

(D)除貸款文件中明確規定的義務外，行政代理人不應承擔任何責任或義務，本合同項下的職責應為行政性質。在不限制前述一般性的原則下，(A)行政代理人不應承擔任何受託責任或其他默示責任，無論違約是否已經發生並仍在繼續，(B)行政代理人不應承擔採取任何自由裁量行動或行使任何自由裁量權的任何責任，除貸款文件明確規定的行政代理按所需貸款人的書面指示(或在貸款文件規定的情況下，必要的其他數目或百分比的貸款人，或行政代理真誠地認為必要的其他數目或百分比)行使的自由裁量權和權力外；但不得要求行政代理採取下列行為：(I)行政代理善意地認為使其承擔責任，除非行政代理收到貸款人和開證行就此類行為向其提供的令其滿意的賠償，或(Ii)違反本協議或任何其他貸款文件或適用法律，包括根據任何有關破產、破產、重組或債務減免的法律要求可能違反自動中止的任何行動，或可能導致沒收的任何行動，違反與債務人破產、資不抵債、重組或救濟有關的法律規定，修改或終止違約貸款人的財產；此外，行政代理可在執行任何此類指示的行動之前向所需貸款人尋求澄清或指示，並可在提供此類澄清或指示之前不採取行動，以及(C)除貸款文件中明確規定外，行政代理不負有披露任何與借款人有關的信息的責任，也不對未能披露借款人的任何信息承擔責任。以任何身份傳達給作為行政代理的人員或其任何附屬公司，或由其以任何身份獲得的上述任何附屬公司或任何其他附屬公司。

 

(E)行政代理人可由行政代理人委任的任何一名或多名次級代理人或透過其委任的任何一名或多名次級代理人履行其任何及所有職責，並行使其在本協議或任何其他貸款文件下的權利及權力。行政代理人及任何該等次級代理人可由其各自的關聯方或透過其關聯方履行其任何及所有職責，並行使其各自的權利及權力。本條的免責條款適用於任何該等次級代理人及關聯方行政代理人和任何此類次級代理人的責任，並應適用於他們各自與本協議規定的信貸安排的辛迪加有關的活動以及行政代理人的活動。行政代理人不對任何次級代理人的疏忽或不當行為負責，除非有管轄權的法院在不可上訴的最終判決中裁定行政代理人在選擇此等次級代理人時存在嚴重疏忽或故意不當行為。

 

(F)如果根據現在或以後生效的任何聯邦、州或外國破產、接管或類似法律對任何貸款方的任何法律程序懸而未決，行政代理人(無論任何貸款或任何信用證支出的本金屆時是否如本文所示或通過聲明或其他方式到期並應支付，也不論行政代理人 是否應向借款人提出任何要求)應有權通過幹預或以其他方式幹預該程序並賦予其權力(但不是義務)：

 

(I)就貸款、信用證風險及所有其他欠款及未付債務的全部本金及利息欠款提出申索及證明，並提交其他必要或適宜的文件，以便放款人、開證行及行政代理人的申索(包括根據第2.12、2.13、2.15、2.16、2.17及9.03條提出的任何申索)在該司法程序中獲準提出；及

 

(Ii)收集和接收任何此類索賠應支付或可交付的任何款項或其他財產，並分發這些款項或財產；

 

任何此類程序中的任何託管人、接管人、受讓人、受託人、清算人、扣押人或其他類似官員，均獲各貸款人、各開證行和其他擔保當事人授權向行政代理人支付此類款項，如果行政代理人同意直接向貸款人、開證行或其他擔保當事人支付此類款項，則可以行政代理人的身份向行政代理人支付應付給它的任何款項。根據貸款文件(包括第9.03節)。本文件中包含的任何內容不得被視為授權行政代理授權或同意，或代表任何貸款人或開證行接受或採納影響任何貸款人或開證行義務或權利的任何重組、安排、調整或組成計劃，或授權行政代理在任何此類訴訟中就任何貸款人或開證行的索賠進行表決。

 

(G)儘管本協議有任何相反規定，安排人或本協議封面上被指定為辛迪加代理或文件代理的任何人均不承擔本協議或任何其他貸款文件項下的任何責任或義務(除非以貸款人或開證行的身份(視情況而定))，但所有此等人士應享有本協議規定的賠償的利益。

 

(H)本條的規定完全是為了行政代理、貸款人和開證行的利益，除非借款人根據本條規定的條件和在符合條件的範圍內獲得同意，否則借款人或任何附屬公司均不享有作為任何此類規定的第三方受益人的任何權利。每一有擔保的一方，無論是否為本條款的當事人，都將被視為：通過接受抵押品的利益和對貸款文件規定的義務的擔保，即表示同意本條的規定。

 

(B)行政代理應被視為不知道任何(I)第5.02節所述或描述的任何事件或情況的通知，除非且直到借款人向行政代理髮出書面通知，説明該通知是關於本協議的“第5.02條下的通知”並指明上述部分下的具體條款，或(Ii)任何違約或違約事件的通知 ，除非借款人、貸款人或開證行向管理代理髮出書面通知(説明該通知為“違約通知”)。此外，行政代理不負責，也沒有責任確定或調查(I)在本協議或任何其他貸款文件中或與之相關的任何陳述、擔保或陳述，(Ii)根據本協議或根據本協議交付的任何證書、報告或其他文件的內容，或與本協議或與本協議相關的其他文件的內容，(Iii)任何契諾的履行或遵守情況，本協議或任何其他貸款文件中規定的協議或其他條款或條件或任何違約或違約事件的發生，(Iv)本協議或任何其他貸款文件或任何其他協議、文書或文件的充分性、有效性、可執行性、有效性或真實性，(V)滿足第四條或本協議或任何其他貸款文件中規定的任何條件。除非確認收到明確要求交付給行政代理人的物品，或確認滿足下列條件：(br}行政代理人可接受或滿意其中所述事項，或(Vi)抵押品上留置權的設定、完善或優先權。儘管本合同有任何相反規定，行政代理人不對借款人、任何子公司、任何貸款人或任何開證行因下列原因而遭受的任何損失、費用或開支負責，對可歸因於每個貸款人或開證行的循環風險或其組成部分金額或其任何部分的任何確定。

 

(C)在不限制前述規定的情況下，行政代理(I)可將任何本票的收款人視為其持有人，直至該本票已根據第9.04節轉讓為止，(Ii)可在第9.04(B)節規定的範圍內依賴登記冊，(Iii)可諮詢法律顧問(包括借款人的律師)、獨立公共會計師和由其選定的其他專家，且不對其根據上述律師、會計師或專家的建議真誠地採取或不採取的任何行動負責，(Iv)不向任何貸款人或開證行作出擔保或陳述，也不對任何貸款人或開證行就任何貸款方或其代表就本協議或任何其他貸款文件所作的任何陳述、擔保或陳述負責。(V)在確定貸款或信用證的發放或簽發是否符合本協議規定的任何條件時，根據其條款，必須達到貸款人或開證行滿意的程度，除非行政代理在發放貸款或簽發信用證之前充分提前從貸款人或開證行收到相反的通知，且(Vi)有權依據任何通知、同意、證書或其他文書或書面形式(可以是傳真、任何電子消息、 互聯網或內聯網網站張貼或以其他方式分發)或任何口頭或通過電話向其作出的聲明，並被其認為是真實的，並由適當的一方或多方簽署、發送或以其他方式認證(無論 此人實際上是否符合貸款文件中規定的作為貸款文件製作者的要求)。

 

第8.03節繼任行政代理。

 

(A)在符合本款規定的情況下，行政代理人可在向貸款人、開證行和借款人發出辭職意向的30天通知後辭去行政代理人的職務。*在收到任何該等辭職通知後，所需的貸款人有權徵得借款人的同意(不得無理拒絕或拖延)，指定繼任者。如果沒有繼任者由所要求的貸款人如此指定，並且應在即將退休的行政代理人發出辭職意向通知後30天內接受該任命，則即將退休的行政代理人可代表貸款人和開證行指定繼任者行政代理人，該行政代理人應是在紐約設有辦事處的銀行。或任何此類銀行的關聯機構。如果繼承人接受其在本協議項下的行政代理的任命，該繼承人將繼承並被授予即將退休的行政代理人的所有權利、權力、特權和義務，即將退休的行政代理人應解除其在本協議和其他貸款文件項下的職責和義務。借款人支付給繼任行政代理人的費用應與支付給其前任的費用相同，除非借款人和該 繼任者另有約定。

 

(B)儘管有本節(A)段的規定，如果沒有繼任的行政代理人被如此任命，並且在退休的行政代理人發出辭職意向的通知後30天內接受任命，則退休的行政代理人可以向貸款人、開證行和借款人發出辭職生效的通知，從而在通知中所述辭職生效的日期，(I)退休的行政代理人應被解除其在本協議和其他貸款文件項下的職責和義務；但僅為維護根據任何擔保文件為擔保當事人的利益授予行政代理的任何擔保權益的目的，退役的行政代理人應繼續被授予擔保代理人的擔保權益，以擔保當事人的利益為目的，如果擔保由行政代理人擁有，則應繼續持有此類抵押品。在每種情況下，直到根據本款指定並接受這種任命的繼任行政代理人為止(已理解並同意，即將退休的行政代理人沒有義務或義務根據任何擔保文件採取任何進一步行動，包括維持任何此類擔保權益的完美性所需的任何行動)，以及(Ii)所需貸款人應繼承並被授予退休行政代理人的所有權利、權力、特權和義務；但(A)根據本協議或任何其他貸款文件的規定，為行政代理人以外的任何人的賬户向行政代理人支付的所有款項應直接支付給該人，以及(B)要求或計劃向行政代理人發出或作出的所有通知和其他通信也應直接發給或發出給每一貸款人和每家開證行。在行政代理人辭去其職務、本條和第9.03節的規定以及任何免責聲明生效後，任何其他貸款文件中規定的報銷和賠償條款應繼續有效 ，以使即將退休的行政代理、其子代理及其各自的關聯方在擔任行政代理期間採取或未採取的任何行動，以及在 上述第(I)款的但書中提到的事項方面繼續有效。

 

第8.04節：貸款人和開證行的認可。

 

(A)每一貸款人和每一開證行承認，它在正常業務過程中從事發放、收購或持有商業貸款，並且它在不依賴行政代理的情況下，根據其認為適當的文件和信息，獨立地作出了自己的信用分析和決定，作為貸款人訂立本協議，並作出：收購或持有本協議項下的貸款。每個貸款人和每個開證行還承認，它將根據其認為適當的文件和信息(可能包含美國證券法中關於借款人及其附屬公司的重大、非公開信息)，獨立且不依賴行政代理、任何其他貸款人或開證行、或上述任何相關方的任何一方，繼續自行決定是否根據或基於本協議、任何其他貸款文件或任何相關協議或根據本協議或根據本協議提供的任何文件採取或不採取行動。

 

(B)對於每一貸款人，通過向本協議交付其簽名頁並在截止日期為其貸款提供資金，或將其簽名頁交付給轉讓和假設或根據其成為本協議項下的貸款人的任何其他貸款文件，應被視為已確認已收到本協議以及要求在截止日期交付給行政代理或貸款人的每一份其他貸款文件和每一份其他文件，或由行政代理或貸款人批准或令其滿意。[(C)：(I)每一貸款人和開證行在此同意：(X)如果行政代理通知該貸款人或開證行，該行政代理已自行決定該貸款人或開證行從該行政代理或其任何附屬公司收到的任何資金(無論是作為本金、利息、手續費或其他款項的付款、預付或償還)；單獨地和 集體地)被錯誤地傳送給該貸款人或開證行(無論該貸款人或開證行是否知道)，並要求退還該付款(或其部分)，該貸款人或開證行應迅速(但在任何情況下不得遲於其後一個營業日)將任何該等付款(或其部分)的金額(或其部分)退還給行政代理，該款項是在同一天的資金中作出的，連同自該貸款人或開證行收到付款(或部分款項)之日起至向管理代理償還該款項之日為止的每一天的利息 ，按NYFRB利率和管理代理根據銀行業不時生效的銀行同業補償規則確定的利率中的較大者為準，並且(Y)在適用法律允許的範圍內，該貸款人或開證行不得主張， ，特此放棄：就行政代理人而言，行政代理人就退還任何已收款項的任何要求、索賠或反索賠而提出的任何索賠、反索賠、抗辯或抵消權，包括但不限於基於“價值解除”或任何類似原則的任何抗辯。行政代理人根據本條款第8.04(C)條向任何貸款人或開證行發出的通知應是決定性的，不存在明顯錯誤。](Ii)每一貸款人和開證行在此進一步同意，如果其從行政代理或其任何關聯公司(X)收到的付款金額或日期與行政代理(或其任何關聯公司)就該付款(“付款通知”)或(Y)發出的付款通知(“付款通知”)或(Y)中規定的付款通知(“付款通知”)或(Y)中規定的付款金額或日期不同， 在每種情況下，均應予以通知。此類付款有誤。如果每一貸款人和開證行同意，在每一種情況下，或如果它以其他方式意識到付款(或其部分)可能被錯誤發送，則該貸款人或開證行應迅速將該情況通知行政代理，並應行政代理的要求，迅速，但在任何情況下不得遲於此後一個營業日，將任何此類付款(或其部分)的金額(或部分)返還給行政代理，連同自貸款人或開證行收到付款(或其部分)之日起至按NYFRB利率和行政代理根據不時生效的銀行業同業補償規則確定的利率(以較大者為準)償還給管理代理之日為止的每一天的利息。

 

(Iii)借款人和每一其他貸款方特此同意：(X)如果錯誤付款(或其部分)因任何原因未能從收到該付款的任何貸款人處追回 (或其部分)，則行政代理應取代該貸款人對該金額的所有權利，(Y)錯誤付款不得支付、預付、償還、解除或以其他方式履行借款人或任何其他貸款方所欠的任何 義務。

 

(Iv)在行政代理人辭職或更換，或貸款人或開證行的任何權利或義務的轉移，或貸款人或開證行的替換，承諾終止，或任何貸款文件項下的所有義務的償還、清償或解除後，各方在第8.04(C)款項下的義務應繼續存在。

 

(j)  [第8.05條。抵押品事宜。];

 

(A)除(X)關於任何貸款人根據第9.08節行使抵銷權或(Y)關於有擔保的一方在破產程序中提出債權證明的權利外，任何有擔保的一方不得單獨對任何抵押品變現或強制執行債務的任何擔保，應理解並同意，所有權力，貸款文件規定的權利和補救辦法只能由行政代理根據貸款文件的條款代表擔保當事人行使。

 

(B)為促進前述規定，但不限於與現金管理服務有關的任何安排構成有擔保現金管理債務的債務和無套期保值協議構成有擔保對衝債務的債務將產生(或被視為產生)與管理或解除任何抵押品或任何貸款方在本協議或任何其他貸款文件下的義務有關的任何權利。作為有關現金管理服務或任何套期保值協議的任何此類安排的一方的每一位擔保方，應被視為已指定行政代理作為貸款文件項下的行政代理和抵押品代理，並同意作為貸款文件項下的擔保方受貸款文件的約束，但須遵守本款規定的限制。

 

(C)本合同的擔保當事人不可撤銷地授權行政代理人根據第6.02(A)(V)條所允許的任何貸款文件和任何可接受的債權人間協議，解除或從屬於行政代理人根據任何貸款文件授予或持有的任何財產的任何留置權。行政代理人不對 或有責任確定或調查關於抵押品的存在、價值或可收集性、存在、行政代理對抵押品的留置權或任何貸款方出具的任何與此相關的證書的優先權或完善性，行政代理也不對貸款人未能監督或維護任何部分抵押品負責或承擔責任。

 

(D)擔保當事人在此不可撤銷地授權行政代理在所需貸款人的指示下，對全部或任何部分債務進行信貸投標(包括根據代替止贖的契據或其他方式接受部分或全部適用抵押品以償還部分或全部此類債務)，並以這種方式(直接或通過一項或多項收購 車輛)購買全部或任何部分抵押品(A)根據《破產法》的規定，包括根據第363條進行的任何出售，破產法1123或1129，或貸款方受制於的任何其他司法管轄區的任何類似法律，或(B)行政代理(或經其同意或指示)根據任何適用法律進行的(或經其同意或指示)的任何其他出售、止贖或接受抵押品代替債務的行為 。就任何此類信貸投標和購買而言，對擔保當事人的債務應有權且應為：行政代理在 指示下要求貸款人在應收差餉的基礎上為如此購買的一項或多項資產(或收購工具的股權或債務工具或有權益或債務工具，或有或有權益或未清償債權的債務，該等債權在清盤時應按比例分配或有權益的金額為 )進行信貸投標。與該等購買有關而發出的車輛)。(I)行政代理應被授權組成一輛或多輛收購車輛，並將任何成功的信用投標轉讓給該一輛或多輛收購車輛，(Ii)擔保各方在信用投標債務中的每一應課税權益應被視為轉讓給該車輛，而無需根據本協議採取任何進一步行動，以結束此類銷售。(3)行政代理應被授權通過規定對一個或多個購置車輛進行治理的文件(但行政代理就該購置車輛或車輛採取的任何行動，包括對其資產或股權的任何處置，應直接或間接由根據本協議或適用的購置車輛的管理文件(視情況而定)規定的借款人或其獲準受讓人投票進行控制)，無論本協議終止，且不實施本協議第9.02節中所包含的對所需貸款人的訴訟的限制)，(Iv)行政代理應被授權代表此類收購工具或工具按比例向每個擔保當事人發行債券，按比例計入相關義務，包括信貸投標、權益，無論是股權、合夥、有限合夥企業權益還是會員權益，在這種收購工具發行的任何此類收購工具和/或債務工具中，均不需要任何有擔保的當事人或收購工具採取任何進一步行動，以及(V)在轉讓給收購工具的債務因任何原因(由於另一個出價更高或更高，因為分配給收購工具的債務金額超過收購工具的信用出價或其他原因)未用於收購抵押品的範圍內，此類債務應自動按其在此類債務中的原始權益按比例重新分配給適用的擔保當事人，任何收購工具因此類債務而發行的股權和/或債務工具應自動註銷，而無需任何擔保當事人或任何收購工具採取任何進一步行動。儘管每個擔保當事人的債務的可分攤部分被視為如上文第(Ii)款所述分配給一個或多個收購工具，每一有擔保的一方應簽署行政代理可能合理要求的關於擔保一方(和/或擔保一方的任何指定人，將收到該收購工具中的權益或由該收購工具發行的債務票據)的文件，並提供該行政代理可能合理要求的與組建任何收購工具、制定或提交任何信貸投標或完成該信貸投標預期的交易有關的信息。

 

(E)貸款人和本協議的其他擔保當事人在此不可撤銷地授權並指示行政代理在未經任何貸款人或任何其他擔保當事人進一步同意的情況下，訂立(或確認並同意)或修訂、續簽、延長、補充、重述、替換、放棄或以其他方式修改任何可接受的債權人間協議；但任何修訂、續期、延期、補充、重述，均須徵得構成有擔保對衝義務的任何套期保值協議的交易對手、構成有擔保現金管理義務的各現金管理服務提供者或各開證行的具體同意。僅在其權利和義務受到實質性不利影響的範圍內替換或放棄。貸款人和其他有擔保的當事人不可撤銷地同意，行政代理簽訂的任何可接受的債權人間協議應對有擔保的各方具有約束力，每一貸款人和每一其他擔保當事人在此同意，它不會採取違反可接受的債權人間協議的規定的行動。上述條款旨在誘使任何不受本條款第6.01節禁止的債務的提供者向貸款當事人提供信貸，而這些人是此類條款的第三方受益人。

 

第8.06節關於ERISA的某些事項。

 

(I)該貸款人沒有就該貸款人加入、參與、管理或履行貸款、信用證、承諾書或本協議而使用一個或多個福利計劃的“計劃資產”(按ERISA第3(42)條或其他規定的含義)，

 

(Iv)行政代理以其全權酌情決定權與貸款人以書面商定的其他陳述、擔保和契諾。

 

(B)此外，除非(1)前一款(A)第(I)款對於貸款人而言是真實的，或(2)貸款人已根據前一款(A)第(Iv)款提供另一陳述、擔保和契諾，否則該貸款人還(X)表示和(Y)契諾的貸款人在其成為本條款的貸款人一方之日，從該人 成為本合同的貸款方之日起至該人不再是本合同的貸款方之日為止，為管理代理人的利益，而不是為了避免懷疑，借款人或任何其他貸款方的利益， 行政代理人不是貸款人資產的受託人，該貸款人的資產參與、參與、管理和履行貸款、信用證、信用證、承諾和本協議(包括行政代理保留或行使本協議項下的任何權利、任何貸款文件或與本協議有關的任何文件)。

 

第九條

 

雜類

 

第9.01節通知。(A)總則：除明確允許通過電話 發出的通知和其他通信(且符合本節(B)段的規定)外，此處規定的所有通知和其他通信應以書面形式，並應以專人或隔夜快遞服務、掛號或掛號信郵寄或傳真發送 (以下提供傳真信息)，如下：

 

(I)向借款人，康涅狄格州斯坦福德夏街3001號Pitney Bowes Inc.，電話：(06926-0700)收件人：總裁副財長黛比·薩爾斯；電話號碼：(203)351-6926；電子郵件：debbie.salce@pb.com)；複印件：康涅狄格州斯坦福德夏街3001號Pitney Bowes Inc.，電話：(203)351-7587；電子郵件：Daniel.Goldstein@pb.com)；

 

(Ii)致JPMorgan Chase Bank，N.A.貸款和機構服務集團行政代理，地址：德州19713，紐瓦克，斯坦頓克里斯蒂安娜路500號，1樓，郵編：Mitchell Soobryan，電子郵件：mitchell.soobryan@asche.com和Marc-Jonathan Seya，電子郵件：marcjonathan。電子郵件：seya@chase.com，地址：紐約麥迪遜大道383號，24層，郵編：10179，傳真：吉恩·裏戈·德·迪奧斯；

 

(3)如發給任何開證行，則按開證行在向行政代理和借款人發出的通知中最近指明的地址或電子郵件地址(或傳真號碼)送達該開證行(如無此類通知，則寄往作為該開證行或其附屬公司的貸款人的行政調查問卷中規定的地址或電子郵件地址(或傳真號碼))；以及

 

(Iv)如果給任何其他貸款人，則按其行政調查問卷中規定的其地址或電子郵件地址(或傳真號碼)發送給該貸款人。

 

第9.04節繼承人和受讓人。(A)總則。本協議的規定對本協議雙方及其在此允許的各自的繼承人和受讓人(包括任何簽發信用證的開證行的任何關聯公司)具有約束力並符合其利益，但以下情況除外：(I)未經行政代理和每個貸款人事先書面同意，借款人不得轉讓、轉授或以其他方式轉讓其在本協議項下的任何權利或義務，以及(Ii)貸款人不得轉讓，除非按照本節的規定，否則不得將本協議項下的權利或義務轉授或以其他方式轉讓。本協議中任何明示或暗示的內容均不得被解釋為授予任何人(除本協議雙方之外，其各自的繼承人和在此允許的受讓人(包括簽發任何信用證的開證行的任何關聯機構)、參與者(在本節(C)段規定的範圍內)、安排人、辛迪加代理、文件代理，以及在本協議明確規定的範圍內，任何行政代理、任何安排人、任何辛迪加代理、任何文件代理、任何開證行和任何貸款人的相關方)根據或由於本協議而享有的任何法律或衡平法權利、補救或索賠。

 

(B)貸款人的轉讓。(I)在符合以下(B)(Ii)段所述條件的前提下，任何貸款人可將其在本協議項下的全部或部分權利和義務(包括其全部或部分承諾以及當時欠其的貸款)轉讓給一個或多個符合條件的受讓人，並事先徵得(A)借款人的書面同意(同意不得被無理扣留或拖延)；但不需要借款人同意：(1)將任何類別的承諾或貸款轉讓給該類別下的另一貸款人、該類別下貸款人的附屬機構或核準基金，以及(2)如果第7.01(A)、(B)、(H)或(I)項所述類型的違約事件已經發生並仍在繼續，則進行任何其他轉讓和轉授；此外，借款人應被視為已同意權利和義務的轉讓和轉授，除非借款人在收到通知後五個工作日內以書面通知向行政代理提出反對，(B)行政代理 (不得無理拒絕或拖延此類同意)；但將定期承諾或定期貸款的全部或任何部分轉讓和授權給貸款人、貸款人的關聯公司或核準基金，以及(C)在所有或部分循環承諾或任何貸款人關於其LC風險敞口的義務的轉讓和授權的情況下，不需要行政代理的同意(不得無理扣留或延遲)。

 

(2)轉讓和轉授應受下列附加條件的限制：(A)除非轉讓和轉授給貸款人、貸款人的關聯公司或核準基金，或轉讓貸款人承諾或任何類別貸款的全部剩餘金額的轉讓和轉授，轉讓貸款人的承諾或貸款的金額須受每項此類轉讓和轉授的限制(自轉讓和轉授中規定的交易日期起確定)，或如未指明交易日期，則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，否則轉讓和委託的轉讓和假設)不得低於5,000,000美元，或者，如果是遞增的b期定期貸款，則不少於1,000,000美元(就最低轉讓額而言，將兩個或更多核準資金的同時轉讓視為單一轉讓)；但如果第7.01(A)、(B)、(H)或(I)項所述類型的違約事件已經發生並仍在繼續，則不需要借款人同意，(B)每次部分轉讓和轉授應作為轉讓方在本協議項下所有權利和義務的按比例部分的轉讓和轉授；但第(B)款不得解釋為禁止轉讓貸款人就一類承諾或貸款按比例轉讓和轉授所有權利和義務，(C)每項轉讓和轉授的當事人應籤立轉讓和承擔，並將其交付行政代理，以及3,500美元的處理和記錄費；但(1)如果由兩個或兩個以上批准的基金同時進行轉讓和轉授，則只需支付一次此類處理和記錄費，(2)行政代理機構可自行決定免除或減少此類費用，以及(3)對於根據第2.19(B)或9.02(C)節進行的任何轉讓和轉授， 雙方同意，此類轉讓和轉授可根據借款人執行的轉讓和假設進行，行政代理人和受讓人，且需要進行此類轉讓的貸款人和受讓人不一定是當事人，以及(D)受讓人應向行政代理人提交第2.17(F)節所要求的任何税務表格和行政調查問卷，受讓人在其中指定一個或多個信用 聯繫人將向其提供所有辛迪加級別的信息(可能包含MNPI)，以及根據受讓人的合規程序和適用法律(包括聯邦、州和外國證券法。

 

(Iv)僅為此目的而作為借款人的非受信代理人行事的行政代理應在其其中一個辦事處保存一份交付給它的每項轉讓和假設的副本，並保存一份登記冊，記錄貸款人的名稱和地址，以及根據本協議條款不時欠每個貸款人的貸款和LC 付款的承諾額和本金(以及所述利息)(“登記冊”)。對於本協議的所有目的，借款人、行政代理、開證行和貸款人應將根據本協議條款記錄在登記冊上的每個人視為本協議項下的出借人，儘管有相反的通知。借款人應在任何合理的時間，在合理的事先通知後，隨時可查閲登記冊上的條目，任何開證行或貸款人均可查閲與其相關的條目。

 

(V)行政代理收到轉讓貸款人和受讓人簽署的已填妥的轉讓和假設、受讓人填寫的行政調查表和第2.17(F)節要求的任何税務表格(除非受讓人已經是本條款下的貸款人)、本節第(B)款 所指的處理和記錄費以及本節第(B)款所要求的對此類轉讓和轉授的任何書面同意，行政代理機構應接受此類指派和假設，並將其中所載信息記錄在登記冊中；但如果行政代理人合理地認為該轉讓和承擔缺乏本節所要求的任何書面同意或不是適當的形式，則行政代理人不應被要求接受該轉讓和承擔或記錄其中包含的信息，並承認行政代理人在獲得(或確認收到)任何該等書面同意或該轉讓和承擔的形式(或其中的任何缺陷)方面不應承擔任何責任或義務(也不會產生任何責任)，任何此類義務和義務僅由轉讓貸款人和受讓人承擔。對於本協議而言，任何轉讓或轉授均不生效，除非已按本款規定記錄在登記冊中，並且在記錄後，除非行政代理另有決定(此類決定由行政代理自行決定，該決定可以轉讓貸款人和受讓人的同意為條件)，即使轉讓和與之相關的假設有任何缺陷，轉讓和承擔仍應有效。每個轉讓貸款人和受讓人通過其籤立和交付轉讓和承擔，應被視為已向行政代理表明，已獲得本節要求的所有與此有關的書面同意(行政代理同意除外)，並且此類轉讓和承擔已以其他方式正式完成並以適當的形式完成，並且每個受讓人通過其籤立和交付轉讓和承擔被視為已向行政代理表示，應被視為已向轉讓貸款人和行政代理表示，該受讓人是合格的受讓人。

 

(Vi)在任何轉讓和假設中，“執行”、“簽署”、“簽字”等詞語和類似含義的詞語應被視為包括電子簽名或以電子形式保存記錄，在任何適用的法律，包括《聯邦全球電子簽名和國家商法》所規定的範圍內，每一項應與手動簽署的簽名或紙質記錄保存系統的使用具有相同的法律效力、有效性或可執行性。紐約州《電子簽名和記錄法案》或基於《統一電子交易法案》的任何其他類似州法律 。

 

(C)參與。任何貸款人可在未經借款人、行政代理或任何開證行同意的情況下，向一個或多個合格受讓人(每個受讓人均為“參與者”)出售參與本協議項下該貸款人的全部或部分權利和/或義務(包括其全部或部分承諾和任何類別的貸款)；但(A)該貸款人在本協議項下的義務應保持不變，(B)該貸款人仍應就履行該等義務對本協議的其他各方單獨負責(C)借款人、行政代理、開證行和其他貸款人應繼續就該貸款人在本協議項下的權利和義務與該貸款人進行單獨和直接的交易，並且(D)在任何情況下(X)參與者都不會被代位或被替代，貸款人在本協議項下的債權和(Y)在其他方面與借款人有任何合同關係，或在本協議項下或與本協議有關的情況下對借款人有任何權利。貸款人根據其出售此類參與的任何協議或文書應規定，貸款人應保留執行本協議和批准對本協議或任何其他貸款文件的任何條款的任何修訂、修改或豁免的唯一權利；但該協議或文書可規定，未經參與者同意，該貸款人不得同意第9.02(B)條 第一個但書第(I)、(Ii)、(Iii)、(Vi)或(Vii)款所述的影響該參與者或需要所有貸款人批准的任何修訂、修改或豁免。借款人同意，每個參與者應有權享受第2.15節的利益，2.16和2.17(受其中的要求和限制的約束， 包括第2.17(F)節的要求(應理解並同意，第2.17(F)節所要求的文件應交付給參與貸款人))，其程度與其作為貸款人並根據本節(B)段通過轉讓和授權獲得其權益的程度相同；但該參與者(A)同意遵守第2.18和2.19節的規定，如同它是本節第(B)款(B)項下的受讓人一樣，並且(B)無權根據第2.15或2.17節就任何參與獲得比其參與貸款人有權獲得的任何付款更多的付款，除非這種參與是在借款人事先書面同意的情況下進行的。出售參與的每個貸款人在借款人的要求和費用下同意，盡合理努力與借款人合作，以履行第2.19(B)節對任何參與者的規定。在法律允許的範圍內，每個參與者也應有權享受第9.08節的利益，就像它是貸款人一樣；但該參與方同意受制於第2.18(C)節，將其視為貸款人。出售參與方的每一貸款方應僅為此目的作為借款方的非受託代理人，保存一份登記冊，在登記冊上登記每一參與方的名稱和地址，以及每一參與方在本協議或任何其他貸款文件項下的貸款或其他義務中的權益的本金金額(和聲明的利息)(“參與方登記簿”)；但貸款人 沒有義務向任何人披露參與者登記冊的全部或任何部分(包括任何參與者的身份或與參與者在本協議或任何其他貸款文件項下的任何承諾、貸款、信用證或其他義務中的權益有關的任何信息)，但為確定此類承諾、貸款、信用證或其他義務是按照《美國財政部條例》第5f.103-1(C)節的規定以登記的形式進行的。參與者名冊中的條目應是確鑿的，沒有明顯的錯誤，即使有任何相反的通知，貸款人仍應將參與者登記冊中記錄姓名的每個人視為此類參與的所有者。行政代理(以行政代理的身份)不負責維護參與者名冊。

 

(D)某些質押。任何貸款人在未徵得借款人、行政代理或任何開證行同意的情況下，可隨時質押或轉讓其根據本協議享有的全部或任何部分擔保權益(自然人除外)，以擔保該貸款人的義務，包括擔保對聯邦儲備銀行或任何其他“中央”銀行的義務的任何質押或轉讓，且本條不適用於任何此類質押或轉讓擔保權益；但擔保權益的質押或轉讓不得解除貸款人在本合同項下的任何義務，也不得以任何該等質權人或受讓人代替該貸款人作為本合同的當事人。

 

第9.05節存續。借款方在本協議和其他貸款文件中以及在與本協議相關或根據本協議或任何其他貸款文件交付的證書或其他文書中作出的所有契諾、協議、陳述和擔保，應被視為本協議其他各方的依賴，在本協議和其他貸款文件的執行和交付、任何貸款的發放和任何信用證的簽發後仍應繼續存在。無論上述任何一方或其代表進行的任何調查，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、任何開證行、任何貸款人或任何附屬公司在本協議或任何其他貸款文件執行和交付或在本協議項下擴展任何信貸時，可能已注意到或知道任何默認或不正確的陳述或擔保，只要本協議項下任何貸款的本金或任何應計利息、任何費用或任何其他款項未償還或未支付，或任何信用證風險未償還，且只要承諾尚未到期或終止，任何貸款或任何費用或任何其他款項的本金或應計利息即應繼續有效。儘管有前述規定或本協議或任何其他貸款文件中規定的任何其他相反規定，如果與本協議或任何其他貸款文件有關的再融資或全額償還本文規定的信貸便利，開證行應已向行政代理行提供書面同意，同意解除循環貸款人對該開證行簽發的任何信用證項下的義務(無論是由於借款人(和任何其他賬户方)對該開證行的義務，該信用證已通過在開證行交存現金全額抵押，或由指定開證行為受益人的信用證支持)，則從該時間起及之後，就本協議和其他貸款文件的所有目的而言，該信用證應不再是本協議項下未償還的“信用證”，循環貸款人應被視為不參與該信用證，也不承擔第2.05(D)或2.05(E)條規定的義務。第2.15條、第2.16條、第2.17條、第2.18(E)條和第9.03條以及第VIII條的規定應繼續有效，無論本協議或本協議或本協議任何規定的完成、貸款的償還或預付、信用證的到期或終止、承諾的終止或本協議或本協議的任何規定的終止。

 

第9.06節：合作伙伴；整合；有效性。本協議可以一式兩份(以及本協議的不同當事人對不同的副本)簽署，每個副本應構成一份正本，但當所有副本合併在一起時，將構成一份合同。在本協議中，其他貸款文件以及與支付給行政代理人的費用有關的任何單獨的書面協議，或貸款和承諾的銀團構成各方之間與本協議標的有關的完整合同，並取代任何和所有先前的協議和諒解，無論是口頭的還是書面的，除第4.01節另有規定外，本協議應在行政代理簽署後生效，且行政代理應已收到本協議的副本，當副本合計時，應有本協議其他各方的簽名，此後，應對本協議雙方及其各自的繼承人和受讓人的利益具有約束力。交付(X)任何貸款文件和/或(Y)任何文件、修訂、批准、同意、信息、通知(為免生疑問，包括根據第9.01條交付的任何通知)、證書、請求、聲明、與本協議有關的披露或授權的簽署副本。任何其他貸款文件和/或本協議和/或因此而計劃進行的交易(每個都是“附屬文件”)是通過傳真、電子郵件發送的PDF或任何其他電子方式傳輸的電子簽名，複製實際執行的簽名頁面的圖像的任何其他貸款文件和/或交易應與手動簽署的本協議副本、適用的此類其他貸款文件或此類附屬文件的交付一樣有效。如“執行”、“簽署”、“簽署”、“交付”、“在本協議中或與本協議、任何其他貸款文件和/或任何附屬文件有類似含義的詞語應被視為包括電子簽名、交付或以任何電子形式保存記錄(包括通過傳真、電子郵件發送的pdf交付)。或複製實際執行的簽名頁面圖像的任何其他電子手段)，其中每個簽名應與手動執行的簽名、實際交付的簽名或使用紙質記錄保存系統(視情況而定)具有相同的法律效力、有效性或可執行性；但本協議中的任何規定均不得要求行政機關在未經其事先書面同意的情況下，按照其批准的程序接受任何形式或格式的電子簽名；此外，在不限制前述規定的情況下，(I)至 在行政代理同意接受任何電子簽名的範圍內，行政代理和每個出借人有權依賴據稱由借款人或代表借款人提供的電子簽名，而無需對其進行進一步驗證，也沒有義務審查任何此類電子簽名的外觀或形式，以及(Ii)在行政代理或任何出借人的請求下，任何電子簽名申請之後應立即有手動簽署的副本。在不限制上述一般性的情況下，借款人特此(I)同意，出於所有目的，包括但不限於與任何工作、重組、補救措施的執行、破產程序或行政代理、貸款人和借款人之間的訴訟、通過傳真傳送的電子簽名或通過電子郵件發送的pdf有關的目的。任何其他貸款文件和/或任何附屬文件應與任何紙質原件具有同等的法律效力、有效性和可執行性，(Ii)行政代理和每一貸款人可根據其選擇，以任何格式以影像電子記錄的形式製作本協議、任何其他貸款文件和/或任何附屬文件的一份或多份副本，應被視為在該人的正常業務過程中創建，並銷燬原始紙質文件(所有此類電子記錄在所有目的下均應被視為原件，具有與紙質記錄相同的法律效力、有效性和可執行性)，(Iii)放棄對本協議的法律效力、有效性或可執行性提出異議的任何論點、抗辯或權利，任何其他貸款文件和/或僅基於缺少本協議的紙質原件的任何其他貸款文件和/或任何附屬文件，包括與其任何簽名頁有關的文件，以及(Iv)放棄就行政代理和/或任何貸款人依賴或使用電子簽名和/或通過傳真、電子郵件pdf傳輸而產生的任何 責任向任何貸款人提出索賠。或複製實際簽署的簽名頁圖像的任何其他電子手段，包括因借款人未能使用與任何電子簽名的執行、交付或傳輸相關的任何可用的安全措施而產生的任何責任。

 

第9.07節可分割性。本協議的任何條款在任何司法管轄區被認定為無效、非法或不可執行，在該司法管轄區內，在該無效、非法或不可執行性範圍內無效，而不影響本協議其餘條款的有效性、合法性和可執行性；且某一特定司法管轄區的某一特定條款的無效不應使該條款在任何其他司法管轄區失效。

 

第9.08節抵銷權。如果違約事件已經發生並且仍在繼續，則在適用法律允許的最大範圍內，授權每家貸款人和每家開證行在任何時間和不時在適用法律允許的最大程度上抵銷和運用任何和所有存款(一般或特別、定期或即期、臨時或最終、貸款人或該開證行在任何時間持有的其他債務(以任何貨幣計)或其他金額(以任何貨幣計)，以及該貸款人或該開證行在任何時間欠借款人的貸方或借款人賬户的其他債務，以及該貸款人或該開證行根據本協議所持有的借款人現在或以後到期的任何債務和所有債務，不論該貸款人或該開證行是否已根據本協議提出任何要求，亦不論借款人 的該等債務是欠該貸款人或該開證行與持有該存款的分行或辦事處不同的分行或辦事處，或對該等債務負有義務。但沒有發出通知或延遲發出通知，並不影響根據本節提出的任何此類抵銷和申請的有效性。各貸款人和每家開證行根據本節享有的權利是該貸款人或開證行可能享有的其他權利和補救措施(包括其他抵銷權利)之外的權利。

 

第9.09節適用法律；管轄權；同意送達程序文件。(I)本協議和基於、引起或與本協議和本協議有關的任何索賠、爭議、糾紛或訴訟(無論是合同或侵權行為或其他)應受紐約州法律管轄，並按紐約州法律解釋。

 

(B)借款人不可撤銷且無條件地同意，它不會、也不會允許任何受控附屬公司以任何與本協議或任何其他貸款文件或與本協議或其有關的交易有關的任何方式，在法律或衡平法上，以合同或侵權或其他方式，對行政代理人、任何貸款人、任何開證行或任何關聯方提起任何訴訟、訴訟或法律程序。在除位於曼哈頓區的紐約州法院和位於紐約南區的美國地區法院(或如果該法院沒有標的物管轄權，位於曼哈頓區的紐約州最高法院)以外的任何法院和任何來自該法院的上訴法院，本協議的每一方都不可撤銷和無條件地將其自身及其財產提交給該等法院的管轄權，並同意關於任何訴訟的所有索賠，訴訟或訴訟程序應在紐約州法院審理和裁決，或在適用法律允許的最大範圍內在聯邦法院審理和裁決。本協議各方同意，任何此類訴訟、訴訟或程序的最終判決應為終局判決，並可通過對判決的訴訟或法律規定的任何其他方式在其他司法管轄區強制執行。本協議中的任何規定均不影響行政代理、任何貸款人或任何開證銀行以其他方式可能必須提起的任何訴訟的任何權利，在任何司法管轄區法院對任何借款方或其任何財產提起與本協議或任何其他貸款文件有關的訴訟或程序。

 

(C)本協議各方在適用法律允許的最大限度內，在適用法律允許的最大限度內，不可撤銷且無條件地放棄其現在或今後可能對在本協議或本節(B)段所述任何法院提起的、與本協議或任何其他貸款文件有關的任何訴訟、訴訟或程序提出的任何異議。本協議各方在法律允許的最大範圍內，不可撤銷地放棄在任何此類法院維持此類訴訟或程序的不方便的法庭辯護。

 

(D)本協議的每一方都不可撤銷地同意以第9.01節中規定的方式送達程序文件。*本協議或任何其他貸款文件中的任何內容都不會影響本協議的任何一方以法律允許的任何其他方式送達程序文件的權利。

 

第9.10節放棄陪審團審判。在適用法律允許的最大範圍內，合同各方不可撤銷地放棄在因本協議或任何其他貸款文件或本協議擬進行的交易(無論是基於合同、侵權行為或任何其他理論)直接或間接引起或與之相關的任何法律程序中由陪審團審判的任何權利。本合同各方(A)證明任何其他方的代表、代理人或律師沒有明確或以其他方式代表：在發生訴訟的情況下，該另一方不會尋求強制執行上述豁免，並且(B)承認該另一方和本協議的其他當事人是受本協議和其他貸款文件的引誘而訂立本協議和其他貸款文件的，其中包括本節中的相互放棄和證明。

 

第9.11節標題。此處使用的條款和章節標題以及目錄僅供參考，不是本協議的一部分，不得影響萬億.IS協議的構建或在解釋時被考慮在內。

 

第9.12節保密。行政代理人、貸款人和開證行均同意對信息保密(定義見下文)，但信息可向其相關方披露，包括會計師、法律顧問和其他代理人和顧問，有一項諒解並同意，將告知被披露人此類信息的保密性質，並指示對此類信息保密，以及代表行政代理人行事的此類人員的任何失職。任何開證行或有關貸款人遵守本節的規定，將構成行政代理、該開證行或相關貸款人(視情況而定)違反本節的行為，(B)任何聲稱對此人或其相關方擁有管轄權的監管機構(包括任何自律機構，如全國保險監理員協會)要求或要求的範圍，(C)在適用法律或法規或任何傳票或類似法律程序要求的範圍內(只要在法律允許的範圍內，借款人在披露前已得到通知，以便借款人可以自費尋求保護令或其他適當的補救措施)，(D)向本協議的任何其他一方，(E)在根據本協議或任何其他貸款文件或任何訴訟行使任何補救措施時，與本協議或任何其他貸款文件有關的訴訟或程序，或與本協議或任何其他貸款文件有關的權利的執行，但每一貸款人和行政代理應採取商業上合理的努力，以確保在行使此類補救措施時對此類信息保密：(F)遵守一項協議，該協議包含與本節的保密承諾大體相似的保密承諾；(I)任何受讓人或參與者，或任何預期的受讓人或參與者，其在本協議項下的任何權利或義務，或(Ii)與借款人或任何子公司有關的任何套期保值協議的任何實際或預期的對手方(或其關聯方)及其在本協議或任何其他貸款文件項下的義務；(G)以保密方式向(I)任何評級機構就借款人或其子公司或本協議規定的信貸安排進行評級，或(Ii)CUSIP服務局或任何類似機構就本協議規定的信用安排發放和監測CUSIP號碼，(H)經借款人同意，(I)在此類信息(I)因違反本節以外的其他原因而變得可公開的範圍內，或(Ii)行政代理、任何貸款人或任何開證行或前述任何關聯公司以非保密方式從借款人或任何附屬公司以外的來源獲得的情況下，這類信息的接收者不知道哪個來源受保密義務的約束，或(J)與借款人或其義務有關的任何信用保險提供者。就本節而言，“信息”是指從借款人或任何子公司收到的與借款人或任何子公司或其業務有關的所有信息，但行政代理可獲得的任何此類信息除外。任何貸款人或任何開證行在借款人披露信息之前以非機密性為基礎進行保密。任何被要求按照本節規定對信息保密的人應被視為已遵守其義務，如果該人對該信息保密的謹慎程度與該人對其自身保密信息的謹慎程度相同，則該人應被視為已履行其義務。

 

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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