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Exhibit 4.5
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BLACK HILLS CORPORATION
AND
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AS TRUSTEE
INDENTURE
DATED AS OF __________, 200__
SENIOR DEBT SECURITIES
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS AND OTHER PROVISIONS
OF GENERAL APPLICATION
SECTION 1.1 DEFINITIONS........................................................................1
SECTION 1.2 COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATES AND OPINIONS...............................................9
SECTION 1.3 FORM OF DOCUMENTS DELIVERED TO TRUSTEE............................................10
SECTION 1.4 ACTS OF HOLDERS; RECORD DATES.....................................................11
SECTION 1.5 NOTICES, ETC., TO TRUSTEE AND COMPANY.............................................13
SECTION 1.6 NOTICE TO HOLDERS; WAIVER. .......................................................14
SECTION 1.7 CONFLICT WITH TRUST INDENTURE ACT.................................................14
SECTION 1.8 EFFECT OF HEADINGS AND TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................14
SECTION 1.9 SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS............................................................14
SECTION 1.10 SEPARABILITY CLAUSE...............................................................15
SECTION 1.11 BENEFITS OF INDENTURE. ...........................................................15
SECTION 1.12 GOVERNING LAW. ...................................................................16
SECTION 1.13 LEGAL HOLIDAYS....................................................................16
SECTION 1.14 INDENTURE AND SECURITIES SOLELY CORPORATE
OBLIGATIONS. ..............................................................16
SECTION 1.15 INDENTURE MAY BE EXECUTED IN COUNTERPARTS.........................................16
ARTICLE II
SECURITY FORMS
SECTION 2.1 FORMS GENERALLY...................................................................17
SECTION 2.2 FORM OF LEGEND FOR GLOBAL SECURITIES..............................................17
SECTION 2.3 FORM OF TRUSTEE'S CERTIFICATE OF
AUTHENTICATION............................................................19
SECTION 2.4 FORM OF CONVERSION NOTICE.........................................................19
ARTICLE III
THE SECURITIES
SECTION 3.1 AMOUNT UNLIMITED; ISSUABLE IN SERIES..............................................21
SECTION 3.2 DENOMINATIONS.....................................................................24
SECTION 3.3 EXECUTION, AUTHENTICATION, DELIVERY AND
DATING....................................................................24
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SECTION 3.4 TEMPORARY SECURITIES..............................................................26
SECTION 3.5 REGISTRATION; REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER AND
EXCHANGE. ................................................................27
SECTION 3.6 MUTILATED, DESTROYED, LOST AND STOLEN
SECURITIES................................................................29
SECTION 3.7 PAYMENT OF INTEREST; INTEREST RIGHTS
PRESERVED..........................................................................30
SECTION 3.8 PERSONS DEEMED OWNERS.............................................................33
SECTION 3.9 CANCELLATION......................................................................33
SECTION 3.10 COMPUTATION OF INTEREST..........................................................33
ARTICLE IV
SATISFACTION AND DISCHARGE
SECTION 4.1 SATISFACTION AND DISCHARGE OF INDENTURE...........................................33
SECTION 4.2 APPLICATION OF TRUST MONEY........................................................35
ARTICLE V
REMEDIES
SECTION 5.1 EVENTS OF DEFAULT.................................................................35
SECTION 5.2 ACCELERATION OF MATURITY; RESCISSION AND
ANNULMENT.................................................................37
SECTION 5.3 COLLECTION OF INDEBTEDNESS AND SUITS FOR
ENFORCEMENT BY TRUSTEE. ..................................................38
SECTION 5.4 TRUSTEE MAY FILE PROOFS OF CLAIM..................................................39
SECTION 5.5 TRUSTEE MAY ENFORCE CLAIMS WITHOUT
POSSESSION OF SECURITIES. ................................................39
SECTION 5.6 APPLICATION OF MONEY COLLECTED....................................................40
SECTION 5.7 LIMITATION ON SUITS...............................................................40
SECTION 5.8 UNCONDITIONAL RIGHT OF HOLDERS TO RECEIVE
PRINCIPAL, PREMIUM AND INTEREST AND TO
CONVERT...................................................................41
SECTION 5.9 RESTORATION OF RIGHTS AND REMEDIES................................................41
SECTION 5.10 RIGHTS AND REMEDIES CUMULATIVE...................................................42
SECTION 5.11 DELAY OR OMISSION NOT WAIVER.....................................................42
SECTION 5.12 CONTROL BY HOLDERS...............................................................42
SECTION 5.13 WAIVER OF PAST DEFAULTS. ........................................................43
SECTION 5.14 UNDERTAKING FOR COSTS............................................................43
SECTION 5.15 WAIVER OF USURY, STAY OR EXTENSION LAWS..........................................43
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ARTICLE VI
THE TRUSTEE
SECTION 6.1 CERTAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES...............................................44
SECTION 6.2 NOTICE OF DEFAULTS................................................................44
SECTION 6.3 CERTAIN RIGHTS OF TRUSTEE.........................................................44
SECTION 6.4 NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR RECITALS OR ISSUANCE OF
SECURITIES................................................................47
SECTION 6.5 MAY HOLD SECURITIES AND ACT AS TRUSTEE
UNDER OTHER INDENTURES....................................................47
SECTION 6.6 MONEY HELD IN TRUST...............................................................47
SECTION 6.7 COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT....................................................47
SECTION 6.8 CONFLICTING INTERESTS.............................................................48
SECTION 6.9 CORPORATE TRUSTEE REQUIRED; ELIGIBILITY...........................................48
SECTION 6.10 RESIGNATION AND REMOVAL; APPOINTMENT
OF SUCCESSOR..............................................................49
SECTION 6.11 ACCEPTANCE OF APPOINTMENT BY SUCCESSOR...........................................50
SECTION 6.12 MERGER, CONVERSION, CONSOLIDATION OR
SUCCESSION TO BUSINESS....................................................53
SECTION 6.13 PREFERENTIAL COLLECTION OF CLAIMS AGAINST
COMPANY...................................................................53
SECTION 6.14 APPOINTMENT OF AUTHENTICATING AGENT..............................................53
ARTICLE VII
HOLDERS' LISTS AND REPORTS BY TRUSTEE AND COMPANY
SECTION 7.1 COMPANY TO FURNISH TRUSTEE NAMES AND
ADDRESSES OF HOLDERS......................................................55
SECTION 7.2 PRESERVATION OF INFORMATION; COMMUNICATIONS
TO HOLDERS................................................................55
SECTION 7.3 REPORTS BY TRUSTEE................................................................56
SECTION 7.4 REPORTS BY COMPANY................................................................56
ARTICLE VIII
CONSOLIDATION, MERGER, CONVEYANCE, TRANSFER OR LEASE
SECTION 8.1 COMPANY MAY CONSOLIDATE, ETC., ONLY ON
CERTAIN TERMS.............................................................57
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SECTION 8.2 SUCCESSOR SUBSTITUTED.............................................................58
ARTICLE IX
SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES
SECTION 9.1 SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES WITHOUT CONSENT
OF HOLDERS................................................................58
SECTION 9.2 SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES WITH CONSENT OF
HOLDERS. .................................................................60
SECTION 9.3 EXECUTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES..............................................62
SECTION 9.4 EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES.................................................62
SECTION 9.5 CONFORMITY WITH TRUST INDENTURE ACT...............................................62
SECTION 9.6 REFERENCE IN SECURITIES TO SUPPLEMENTAL
INDENTURES................................................................62
ARTICLE X
COVENANTS
SECTION 10.1 PAYMENT OF PRINCIPAL, PREMIUM AND INTEREST.......................................63
SECTION 10.2 MAINTENANCE OF OFFICE OR AGENCY..................................................64
SECTION 10.3 MONEY FOR SECURITIES PAYMENTS TO BE HELD
IN TRUST..................................................................64
SECTION 10.4 STATEMENT BY OFFICERS AS TO DEFAULT..............................................66
SECTION 10.5 EXISTENCE........................................................................66
SECTION 10.6 WAIVER OF CERTAIN COVENANTS......................................................66
ARTICLE XI
REDEMPTION OF SECURITIES
SECTION 11.1 APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE.........................................................66
SECTION 11.2 ELECTION TO REDEEM; NOTICE TO TRUSTEE............................................67
SECTION 11.3 SELECTION BY TRUSTEE OF SECURITIES TO BE
REDEEMED. ................................................................67
SECTION 11.4 NOTICE OF REDEMPTION.............................................................68
SECTION 11.5 DEPOSIT OF REDEMPTION PRICE......................................................69
SECTION 11.6 SECURITIES PAYABLE ON REDEMPTION DATE............................................69
SECTION 11.7 SECURITIES REDEEMED IN PART......................................................70
ARTICLE XII
SINKING FUNDS
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SECTION 12.1 APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE.........................................................70
SECTION 12.2 SATISFACTION OF SINKING FUND PAYMENTS WITH
SECURITIES. ..............................................................72
SECTION 12.3 REDEMPTION OF SECURITIES FOR SINKING FUND........................................72
ARTICLE XIII
DEFEASANCE AND COVENANT DEFEASANCE
SECTION 13.1 COMPANY'S OPTION TO EFFECT DEFEASANCE OR
COVENANT DEFEASANCE.......................................................73
SECTION 13.2 DEFEASANCE AND DISCHARGE.........................................................73
SECTION 13.3 COVENANT DEFEASANCE..............................................................74
SECTION 13.4 CONDITIONS TO DEFEASANCE OR COVENANT
DEFEASANCE................................................................74
SECTION 13.5 DEPOSITED MONEY AND U.S. GOVERNMENT
OBLIGATIONS TO BE HELD IN TRUST;
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS..................................................77
SECTION 13.6 REINSTATEMENT....................................................................77
ARTICLE XIV
CONVERSION OF SECURITIES
SECTION 14.1 APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE.........................................................78
SECTION 14.2 EXERCISE OF CONVERSION PRIVILEGE.................................................78
SECTION 14.3 NO FRACTIONAL SHARES.............................................................80
SECTION 14.4 ADJUSTMENT OF CONVERSION PRICE...................................................80
SECTION 14.5 NOTICE OF CERTAIN CORPORATE ACTIONS..............................................82
SECTION 14.6 RESERVATION OF SHARES OF COMMON STOCK............................................83
SECTION 14.7 PAYMENT OF CERTAIN TAXES UPON CONVERSION.........................................83
SECTION 14.8 NONASSESSABILITY.................................................................83
SECTION 14.9 PROVISION IN CASE OF CONSOLIDATION, MERGER
OR SALE OF ASSETS.........................................................83
SECTION 14.10 DUTIES OF TRUSTEE REGARDING CONVERSION..........................................84
SECTION 14.11 REPAYMENT OF CERTAIN FUNDS UPON
CONVERSION................................................................85
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INDENTURE, dated as of ___________, 200__, between Black Hills
Corporation, a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the
State of South Dakota (herein called the "Company"), having its principal
executive office at 625 Ninth Street, P.O. Box 1400, Rapid City, South Dakota
57709, and [___________________], as Trustee (herein called the "Trustee").
W I T N E S S E T H :
- - - - - - - - - -
WHEREAS, the Company has duly authorized the execution and
delivery of this Indenture to provide for the issuance from time to time of
its unsecured debentures, notes or other evidences of indebtedness (herein
called the "Securities"), to be issued in one or more series as provided in
this Indenture; and
WHEREAS, all things necessary to make this Indenture a
valid agreement of the Company, in accordance with its terms, have been done;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the
purchase of the Securities by the Holders thereof, it is mutually covenanted
and agreed, for the equal and proportionate benefit of all Holders of the
Securities or of series thereof appertaining, as follows:
ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS AND OTHER PROVISIONS
OF GENERAL APPLICATION
SECTION 1.1 DEFINITIONS.
For all purposes of this Indenture, except as otherwise
expressly provided or unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) the terms defined in this Article have the
meanings assigned to them in this Article and include the plural as
well as the singular;
(2) all other terms used herein which are defined in
the Trust Indenture Act, either directly or by reference therein, have
the meanings assigned to them therein;
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(3) all accounting terms not otherwise defined herein
have the meanings assigned to them in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles, and, except as otherwise herein
expressly provided, the term "generally accepted accounting principles"
with respect to any computation required or permitted hereunder shall
mean such accounting principles as are generally accepted at the date
of such computation;
(4) unless the context otherwise requires, any
reference to an "Article" or a "Section" refers to an Article or a
Section, as the case may be, of this Indenture; and
(5) the words "herein," "hereof" and "hereunder" and
other words of similar import refer to this Indenture as a whole and
not to any particular Article, Section or other subdivision.
"Act," when used with respect to any Holder, has the meaning
specified in Section 1.4.
"Affiliate" of any specified Person means any other Person
directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by or under direct or indirect
common control with such specified Person. For the purposes of this definition,
"control" when used with respect to any specified Person means the power to
direct the management and policies of such Person, directly or indirectly,
whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise;
and the terms "controlling" and "controlled" have meanings correlative to the
foregoing.
"Authenticating Agent" means any Person authorized by the
Trustee pursuant to Section 6.14 to act on behalf of the Trustee to authenticate
Securities of one or more series.
"Board of Directors" means either the board of directors of
the Company or any duly authorized committee of that board empowered to act for
it with respect to this Indenture.
"Board Resolution" means a copy of a resolution certified by
the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Company to have been duly adopted
by the Board of Directors and to be in full force and effect on the date of such
certification, and delivered to the Trustee.
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"Business Day," when used with respect to any Place of
Payment, means each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which is not
a day on which banking institutions in that Place of Payment are authorized or
obligated by law or executive order to close.
"Commission" means the Securities and Exchange Commission,
from time to time constituted, created under the Exchange Act, or, if at any
time after the execution of this instrument such Commission is not existing and
performing the duties now assigned to it under the Trust Indenture Act, then the
body performing such duties at such time.
"Common Stock" includes any stock of any class of the Company,
which has no preference in respect of dividends or of amounts payable in the
event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of
the Company and which is not subject to redemption by the Company; provided,
however, subject to the provisions of Section 14.9, shares issuable upon
conversion of Securities shall include only shares of the class designated as
Common Stock of the Company at the date of this Indenture or shares of any class
or classes resulting from any reclassification or reclassifications thereof and
which have no preference in respect of dividends or of amounts payable in the
event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of
the Company and which are not subject to redemption by the Company; provided,
further that if at any time there shall be more than one such resulting class,
the shares of each such class then so issuable shall be substantially in the
proportion which the total number of shares of such class resulting from all
such reclassifications bears to the total number of shares of all such classes
resulting from all such reclassifications.
"Company" means the corporation named as the "Company" in the
first paragraph of this instrument until a successor Person shall have become
such pursuant to the applicable provisions of this Indenture, and thereafter
"Company" shall mean such successor Person.
"Company Request" or "Company Order" means a written request
or order signed in the name of the Company by its Chairman of the Board, its
President or a Vice President, and by its principal financial officer, its
Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, its Secretary or an Assistant Secretary, and
delivered to the Trustee.
"Constituent Person" has the meaning specified in Section
14.9.
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"Corporate Trust Office" means the corporate trust office
of the Trustee at [___________________________], Attention: Corporate Trust
Department, or such other office, designated by the Trustee by written notice
to the Company, at which at any particular time its corporate trust business
shall be administered.
"Corporation" means a corporation, association, company,
joint-stock company or business trust.
"Covenant Defeasance" has the meaning specified in Section
13.3.
"Defaulted Interest" has the meaning specified in Section 3.7.
"Defeasance" has the meaning specified in Section 13.2.
"Depositary" means, with respect to Securities of any series
issuable in whole or in part in the form of one or more Global Securities, a
clearing agency registered under the Exchange Act that is designated to act as
Depositary for such Securities as contemplated by Section 3.1.
"Event of Default" has the meaning specified in Section 5.1.
"Exchange Act" means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and
any statute successor thereto, in each case as amended from time to time.
"Expiration Date" has the meaning specified in Section 1.4.
"Global Security" means a Security that evidences all or part
of the Securities of any series and bears the legend set forth in Section 2.2
(or such legend as may be specified as contemplated by Section 3.1 for such
Securities).
"Holder" means a Person in whose name a Security is registered
in the Security Register.
"Indenture" means this instrument as originally executed and
as it may from time to time be supplemented or amended by one or more indentures
supplemental hereto entered into pursuant to the applicable provisions hereof,
including, for all purposes of this instrument and any such supplemental
indenture, the provisions of the Trust Indenture Act that are deemed to be a
part of and govern this instrument and any such supplemental indenture,
respectively. The term "Indenture" shall also include the terms of particular
series of Securities established
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as contemplated by Section 3.1; provided, however, that if at any time more
than one Person is acting as Trustee under this Indenture due to the
appointment of one or more separate Trustees for any one or more separate
series of Securities, "Indenture" shall mean, with respect to such series of
Securities for which any such Person is Trustee, this instrument as
originally executed or as it may from time to time be supplemented or amended
by one or more indentures supplemental hereto entered into pursuant to the
applicable provisions hereof and shall include the terms of particular series
of Securities for which such Person is Trustee established as contemplated by
Section 3.1, exclusive, however, of any provisions or terms which relate
solely to other series of Securities for which such Person is not Trustee,
regardless of when such terms or provisions were adopted, and exclusive of
any provisions or terms adopted by means of one or more indentures
supplemental hereto executed and delivered after such Person had become such
Trustee, but to which such person, as such Trustee, was not a party;
provided, further that in the event that this Indenture is supplemented or
amended by one or more indentures supplemental hereto which are only
applicable to certain series of Securities, the term "Indenture" for a
particular series of Securities shall only include the supplemental
indentures applicable thereto.
"interest," when used with respect to an Original Issue
Discount Security which by its terms bears interest only after Maturity, means
interest payable after Maturity.
"Interest Payment Date," when used with respect to any
Security, means the Stated Maturity of an installment of interest on such
Security.
"Investment Company Act" means the Investment Company Act of
1940 and any statute successor thereto, in each case as amended from time to
time.
"Maturity," when used with respect to any Security, means the
date on which the principal of such Security or an installment of principal
becomes due and payable as therein or herein provided, whether at the Stated
Maturity or by declaration of acceleration, call for redemption or otherwise.
"Notice of Default" means a written notice of the kind
specified in Section 5.1(4).
"Officers' Certificate" means a certificate signed by the
Chairman of the Board, the President or a Vice President, and by the principal
financial officer, the Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, the Secretary or an
Assistant Secretary, of the Company, and delivered to the Trustee. One of the
officers signing an Officers'
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Certificate given pursuant to Section 10.4 shall be the principal executive,
financial or accounting officer of the Company.
"Opinion of Counsel" means a written opinion of counsel, who
may be counsel for, or an employee of, the Company, and who shall be reasonably
acceptable to the Trustee.
"Original Issue Discount Security" means any Security which
provides for an amount less than the principal amount thereof to be due and
payable upon a declaration of acceleration of the Maturity thereof pursuant to
Section 5.2.
"Outstanding," when used with respect to Securities, means, as
of the date of determination, all Securities theretofore authenticated and
delivered under this Indenture, except
(1) Securities theretofore canceled by the Trustee
or delivered to the Trustee for cancellation;
(2) Securities for whose payment or redemption money
in the necessary amount has been theretofore deposited with the Trustee
or any Paying Agent (other than the Company) in trust or set aside and
segregated in trust by the Company (if the Company shall act as its own
Paying Agent) for the Holders of such Securities; provided that, if
such Securities are to be redeemed, notice of such redemption has been
duly given pursuant to this Indenture or provision therefor
satisfactory to the Trustee has been made;
(3) Securities as to which Defeasance has been
effected pursuant to Section 13.2; and
(4) Securities which have been paid pursuant to
Section 3.6 or in exchange for or in lieu of which other Securities
have been authenticated and delivered pursuant to this Indenture, other
than any such Securities in respect of which there shall have been
presented to the Trustee proof satisfactory to it that such Securities
are held by a bona fide purchaser in whose hands such Securities are
valid obligations of the Company;
provided, however, that in determining whether the Holders of the requisite
principal amount of the Outstanding Securities have given, made or taken any
request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other
action hereunder as
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of any date, (A) the principal amount of an Original Issue Discount Security
which shall be deemed to be Outstanding shall be the amount of the principal
thereof which would be due and payable as of such date upon acceleration of
the Maturity thereof to such date pursuant to Section 5.2, (B) if, as of such
date, the principal amount payable at the Stated Maturity of a Security is
not determinable, the principal amount of such Security which shall be deemed
to be Outstanding shall be the amount as specified or determined as
contemplated by Section 3.1, (C) the principal amount of a Security
denominated in one or more foreign currencies or currency units which shall
be deemed to be Outstanding shall be the U.S. dollar equivalent, determined
as of such date in the manner provided as contemplated by Section 3.1, of the
principal amount of such Security (or, in the case of a Security described in
Clause (A) or (B) above, of the amount determined as provided in such
Clause), and (D) Securities owned by the Company or any other obligor upon
the Securities or any Affiliate of the Company or of such other obligor shall
be disregarded and deemed not to be Outstanding, except that, in determining
whether the Trustee shall be protected in relying upon any such request,
demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action,
only Securities which the Trustee knows to be so owned shall be so
disregarded. Securities so owned which have been pledged in good faith may be
regarded as Outstanding if the pledgee establishes to the satisfaction of the
Trustee the pledgee's right so to act with respect to such Securities and
that the pledgee is not the Company or any other obligor upon the Securities
or any Affiliate of the Company or of such other obligor.
"Paying Agent" means any Person authorized by the Company to
pay the principal of or any premium or interest on any Securities on behalf of
the Company.
"Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint
venture, trust, unincorporated organization or government or any agency or
political subdivision thereof.
"Place of Payment," when used with respect to the Securities
of any series, means the place or places where the principal of and any premium
and interest on the Securities of that series are payable as specified as
contemplated by Section 3.1.
"Predecessor Security" of any particular Security means every
previous Security evidencing all or a portion of the same debt as that evidenced
by such particular Security; and, for the purposes of this definition, any
Security authenticated and delivered under Section 3.6 in exchange for or in
lieu of a
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mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security shall be deemed to evidence the
same debt as the mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security.
"Record Date" means any Regular Record Date or Special Record
Date.
"Redemption Date," when used with respect to any Security to
be redeemed, means the date fixed for such redemption by or pursuant to this
Indenture.
"Redemption Price," when used with respect to any Security to
be redeemed, means the price at which it is to be redeemed pursuant to this
Indenture.
"Regular Record Date" for the interest payable on any Interest
Payment Date on the Securities of any series means the date specified for that
purpose as contemplated by Section 3.1.
"Securities" has the meaning stated in the first recital of
this Indenture and more particularly means any Securities authenticated and
delivered under this Indenture.
"Securities Act" means the Securities Act of 1933 and any
statute successor thereto, in each case as amended from time to time.
"Security Register" and "Security Registrar" have the
respective meanings specified in Section 3.5.
"Special Record Date" for the payment of any Defaulted
Interest means a date fixed by the Trustee pursuant to Section 3.7.
"Stated Maturity," when used with respect to any Security or
any installment of principal thereof or interest thereon, means the date
specified in such Security as the fixed date on which the principal of such
Security or such installment of principal or interest is due and payable.
"Subsidiary" means, with respect to any Person, (i) any
corporation or trust of which a majority of the outstanding voting securities is
at the time, and (ii) any partnership of which a majority of the equity capital
or profit interest is at the time, owned, directly or indirectly, by the
Company, by one or more other Subsidiaries or by the Company and one or more
Subsidiaries. For the purposes of this definition, "voting securities" means
securities which ordinarily have voting
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power for the election of directors, whether at all times or only so long as
no senior class of securities has such voting power by reason of any
contingency.
"Trust Indenture Act" means the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 as
in force at the date as of which this instrument was executed; provided,
however, that in the event the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 is amended after such
date, "Trust Indenture Act" means, to the extent required by any such amendment,
the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 as so amended.
"Trustee" means the Person named as the "Trustee" in the
first paragraph of this instrument until a successor Trustee shall have
become such pursuant to the applicable provisions of this Indenture, and
thereafter "Trustee" shall mean or include each Person who is then a Trustee
hereunder, and if at any time there is more than one such Person, "Trustee"
as used with respect to the Securities of any series shall mean the Trustee
with respect to Securities of that series.
"U.S. Government Obligation" has the meaning specified in
Section 13.4.
"Vice President," when used with respect to the Company or the
Trustee, means any vice president, whether or not designated by a number or a
word or words added before or after the title "vice president."
SECTION 1.2 COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATES AND OPINIONS.
Upon any application or request by the Company to the Trustee
to take any action under any provision of this Indenture, the Company shall
furnish to the Trustee such certificates and opinions as may be required under
the Trust Indenture Act. Each such certificate or opinion shall be given in the
form of an Officers' Certificate, if to be given by an officer of the Company,
or an Opinion of Counsel, if to be given by counsel, and shall comply with the
requirements of the Trust Indenture Act and any other requirements set forth in
this Indenture.
Every certificate or opinion with respect to compliance with a
condition or covenant provided for in this Indenture shall include,
(1) a statement that each individual signing such
certificate or opinion has read such covenant or condition and the
definitions herein relating thereto;
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(2) a brief statement as to the nature and scope of
the examination or investigation upon which the statements or opinions
contained in such certificate or opinion are based;
(3) a statement that, in the opinion of each such
individual, he or she has made such examination or investigation as is
necessary to enable him or her to express an informed opinion as to
whether or not such covenant or condition has been complied with; and
(4) a statement as to whether, in the opinion of each
such individual, such condition or covenant has been complied with.
SECTION 1.3 FORM OF DOCUMENTS DELIVERED TO TRUSTEE.
In any case where several matters are required to be certified
by, or covered by an opinion of, any specified Person, it is not necessary that
all such matters be certified by, or covered by the opinion of, only one such
Person, or that they be so certified or covered by only one document, but one
such Person may certify or give an opinion with respect to some matters and one
or more other such Persons as to other matters, and any such Person may certify
or give an opinion as to such matters in one or several documents.
Any certificate or opinion of an officer of the Company may be
based, insofar as it relates to legal matters, upon a certificate or opinion of,
or representations by, counsel, unless such officer knows, or in the exercise of
reasonable care should know, that the certificate or opinion or representations
with respect to the matters upon which his or her certificate or opinion is
based are erroneous. Any such certificate or opinion of counsel may be based,
insofar as it relates to factual matters, upon a certificate or opinion of, or
representations by, an officer or officers of the Company stating that the
information with respect to such factual matters is in the possession of the
Company, unless such counsel knows, or in the exercise of reasonable care should
know, that the certificate or opinion or representations with respect to such
matters are erroneous.
Where any Person is required to make, give or execute two or
more applications, requests, consents, certificates, statements, opinions or
other instruments under this Indenture, they may, but need not, be consolidated
and form one instrument.
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SECTION 1.4 ACTS OF HOLDERS; RECORD DATES.
Any request, demand, authorization, direction, notice,
consent, waiver or other action provided or permitted by this Indenture to be
given, made or taken by Holders may be embodied in and evidenced by one or
more instruments of substantially similar tenor signed by such Holders in
person or by agent duly appointed in writing; and, except as herein otherwise
expressly provided, such action shall become effective when such instrument
or instruments are delivered to the Trustee and, where it is hereby expressly
required, to the Company. The Trustee shall promptly deliver to the Company
copies of all such instrument or instruments delivered to the Trustee. Such
instrument or instruments (and the action embodied therein and evidenced
thereby) are herein sometimes referred to as the "Act" of the Holders signing
such instrument or instruments. Proof of execution of any such instrument or
of a writing appointing any such agent shall be sufficient for any purpose of
this Indenture and (subject to Section 6.1) conclusive in favor of the
Trustee and the Company, if made in the manner provided in this Section.
The fact and date of the execution by any Person of any such
instrument or writing may be proved by the affidavit of a witness of such
execution or by a certificate of a notary public or other officer authorized by
law to take acknowledgments of deeds, certifying that the individual signing
such instrument or writing acknowledged to him or her the execution thereof.
Where such execution is by a signer acting in a capacity other than his or her
individual capacity, such certificate or affidavit shall also constitute
sufficient proof of his or her authority. The fact and date of the execution of
any such instrument or writing, or the authority of the Person executing the
same, may also be proved in any other manner which the Trustee deems sufficient.
The ownership of Securities shall be proved by the Security
Register.
Any request, demand, authorization, direction, notice,
consent, waiver or other Act of the Holder of any Security shall bind every
future Holder of the same Security and the Holder of every Security issued upon
the registration of transfer thereof or in exchange therefor or in lieu thereof
in respect of anything done, omitted or suffered to be done by the Trustee or
the Company in reliance thereon, whether or not notation of such action is made
upon such Security.
The Company may set any day as a record date for the purpose
of determining the Holders of Outstanding Securities of any series entitled to
give, make or take any request, demand, authorization, direction, vote, notice,
consent, waiver or other action provided or permitted by this Indenture to be
given, made or
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taken by Holders of Securities of such series, provided that the Company may
not set a record date for, and the provisions of this paragraph shall not
apply with respect to, the giving or making of any notice, declaration,
request or direction referred to in the next paragraph. If any record date is
set pursuant to this paragraph, the Holders of Outstanding Securities of the
relevant series on such record date, and no other Holders, shall be entitled
to take the relevant action, whether or not such Holders remain Holders after
such record date; provided that no such action shall be effective hereunder
unless taken on or prior to the applicable Expiration Date by Holders of the
requisite principal amount of Outstanding Securities of such series on such
record date. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent the
Company from setting a new record date for any action for which a record date
has previously been set pursuant to this paragraph (whereupon the record date
previously set shall automatically and with no action by any Person be
canceled and of no effect), and nothing in this paragraph shall be construed
to render ineffective any action taken by Holders of the requisite principal
amount of Outstanding Securities of the relevant series on the date such
action is taken. Promptly after any record date is set pursuant to this
paragraph, the Company, at its own expense, shall cause notice of such record
date, the proposed action by Holders and the applicable Expiration Date to be
given to the Trustee in writing and to each Holder of Securities of the
relevant series in the manner set forth in Section 1.6.
The Trustee may set any day as a record date for the purpose
of determining the Holders of Outstanding Securities of any series entitled to
join in the giving or making of (i) any Notice of Default, (ii) any declaration
of acceleration referred to in Section 5.2, (iii) any request to institute
proceedings referred to in Section 5.7(2) or (iv) any direction referred to in
Section 5.12, in each case with respect to Securities of such series. If any
record date is set pursuant to this paragraph, the Holders of Outstanding
Securities of such series on such record date, and no other Holders, shall be
entitled to join in such notice, declaration, request or direction, whether or
not such Holders remain Holders after such record date; provided that no such
action shall be effective hereunder unless taken on or prior to the applicable
Expiration Date by Holders of the requisite principal amount of Outstanding
Securities of such series on such record date. Nothing in this paragraph shall
be construed to prevent the Trustee from setting a new record date for any
action for which a record date has previously been set pursuant to this
paragraph (whereupon the record date previously set shall automatically and with
no action by any Person be canceled and of no effect), and nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to render ineffective any action taken by Holders
of the requisite principal amount of Outstanding Securities of the relevant
series on the date such action is taken. Promptly after any record date is set
pursuant to this paragraph, the Trustee, at the Company's expense, shall cause
notice of such record date, the proposed action
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by Holders and the applicable Expiration Date to be given to the Company in
writing and to each Holder of Securities of the relevant series in the manner
set forth in Section 1.6.
With respect to any record date set pursuant to this Section,
the party hereto which sets such record dates may designate any day as the
"Expiration Date" and from time to time may change the Expiration Date to any
earlier or later day; provided that no such change shall be effective unless
notice of the proposed new Expiration Date is given to the other party hereto in
writing, and to each Holder of Securities of the relevant series in the manner
set forth in Section 1.6, on or prior to the existing Expiration Date. If an
Expiration Date is not designated with respect to any record date set pursuant
to this Section, the party hereto which set such record date shall be deemed to
have initially designated the 180th day after such record date as the Expiration
Date with respect thereto, subject to its right to change the Expiration Date as
provided in this paragraph. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no Expiration Date
shall be later than the 180th day after the applicable record date.
Without limiting the foregoing, a Holder entitled hereunder to
take any action hereunder with regard to any particular Security may do so with
regard to all or any part of the principal amount of such Security or by one or
more duly appointed agents each of which may do so pursuant to such appointment
with regard to all or any part of such principal amount.
SECTION 1.5 NOTICES, ETC., TO TRUSTEE AND COMPANY.
Any request, demand, authorization, direction, notice,
consent, waiver or Act of Holders or other document provided or permitted by
this Indenture to be made upon, given or furnished to, or filed with,
(1) the Trustee by any Holder or by the Company
shall be sufficient for every purpose hereunder if made, given,
furnished or filed in writing (or by facsimile transmissions, provided
that oral confirmation of receipt shall have been received) to or with
the Trustee at its Corporate Trust Office, Attention: Corporate Trust
Department, or
(2) the Company by the Trustee or by any Holder shall
be sufficient for every purpose hereunder (unless otherwise herein
expressly provided) if in writing and mailed, first-class postage
prepaid, to the Company addressed to it at the address of its principal
office specified in the first paragraph of this instrument or at any
other address previously furnished in writing to the Trustee by the
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Company, Attention: Chief Financial Officer.
SECTION 1.6 NOTICE TO HOLDERS; WAIVER.
Where this Indenture provides for notice to Holders of any
event, such notice shall be sufficiently given (unless otherwise herein
expressly provided) if in writing and mailed, first-class postage prepaid, or
delivered by hand or overnight courier to each Holder affected by such event,
at its address as it appears in the Security Register, not later than the
latest date (if any), and not earlier than the earliest date (if any),
prescribed for the giving of such notice. Neither the failure to mail or
deliver by hand or overnight courier any such notice, nor any defect in any
such notice so mailed or delivered by hand or overnight courier, to any
particular Holder shall affect the sufficiency of such notice with respect to
other Holders. Where this Indenture provides for notice in any manner, such
notice may be waived in writing by the Person entitled to receive such
notice, either before or after the event, and such waiver shall be the
equivalent of such notice. Waivers of notice by Holders shall be filed with
the Trustee, but such filing shall not be a condition precedent to the
validity of any action taken in reliance upon such waiver.
In case by reason of the suspension of regular mail service
or by reason of any other cause it shall be impracticable to give such notice
by mail, then such notification as shall be made with the approval of the
Trustee shall constitute a sufficient notification for every purpose
hereunder.
SECTION 1.7 CONFLICT WITH TRUST INDENTURE ACT.
If any provision hereof limits, qualifies or conflicts with a
provision of the Trust Indenture Act which is required under such Act to be a
part of and govern this Indenture, the latter provision shall control. If any
provision of this Indenture modifies or excludes any provision of the Trust
Indenture Act which may be so modified or excluded, the latter provision shall
be deemed to apply to this Indenture as so modified or to be excluded, as the
case may be.
SECTION 1.8 EFFECT OF HEADINGS AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The Article and Section headings herein and the Table of
Contents are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.
SECTION 1.9 SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS.
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All covenants and agreements in this Indenture by the Company
shall bind its successors and assigns, whether so expressed or not.
SECTION 1.10 SEPARABILITY CLAUSE.
In case any provision in this Indenture or in the Securities
shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality and
enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or
impaired thereby.
SECTION 1.11 BENEFITS OF INDENTURE.
Nothing in this Indenture or in the Securities, express or
implied, shall give to any Person, other than the parties hereto and their
successors hereunder and the Holders, any benefit or any legal or equitable
right, remedy or claim under this Indenture.
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SECTION 1.12 GOVERNING LAW.
THIS INDENTURE AND THE SECURITIES SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND
CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, WITHOUT GIVING
EFFECT TO SUCH STATE'S CONFLICTS OF LAWS PRINCIPLES.
SECTION 1.13 LEGAL HOLIDAYS.
In any case where any Interest Payment Date, Redemption Date
or Stated Maturity of any Security or the last date on which a Holder has the
right to convert a Security at a particular conversion price shall not be a
Business Day at any Place of Payment, then (notwithstanding any other provision
of this Indenture or of the Securities (other than a provision of any Security
which specifically states that such provision shall apply in lieu of this
Section)) payment of interest or principal (and premium, if any) or, if
applicable to a particular series of Securities, conversion need not be made at
such Place of Payment on such date, but may be made on the next succeeding
Business Day at such Place of Payment with the same force and effect as if made
on the Interest Payment Date or Redemption Date, at the Stated Maturity or on
such last day for conversion, as the case may be.
SECTION 1.14 INDENTURE AND SECURITIES SOLELY CORPORATE OBLIGATIONS.
No recourse for the payment of the principal of or premium, if
any, or interest on any Security, or for any claim based thereon or otherwise in
respect thereof, and no recourse under or upon any obligation, covenant or
agreement of the Company in this Indenture or in any supplemental indenture or
in any Security, or because of the creation of any indebtedness represented
thereby, shall be had against any incorporator, stockholder, employee, agent,
officer, or director or subsidiary, as such, past, present or future, of the
Company or of any successor corporation, either directly or through the Company
or any successor corporation, whether by virtue of any constitution, statute or
rule of law, or by the enforcement of any assessment or penalty or otherwise; it
being expressly understood that all such liability is hereby expressly waived
and released as a condition of, and as a consideration for, the execution of
this Indenture and the issue of the Securities.
SECTION 1.15 INDENTURE MAY BE EXECUTED IN COUNTERPARTS.
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This instrument may be executed in any number of counterparts,
each of which shall be an original, but such counterparts shall together
constitute but one and the same instruments.
ARTICLE II
SECURITY FORMS
SECTION 2.1 FORMS GENERALLY.
The Securities of each series shall be in substantially the
form set forth in this Article, or in such other form as shall be established by
or pursuant to a Board Resolution or in one or more indentures supplemental
hereto, in each case with such appropriate insertions, omissions, substitutions
and other variations as are required or permitted by this Indenture, and may
have such letters, numbers or other marks of identification and such legends or
endorsements placed thereon as may be required to comply with the rules of any
securities exchange or Depositary therefor or as may, consistently herewith, be
determined by the officers executing such Securities, as evidenced by their
execution thereof. If the form of Securities of any series is established by
action taken pursuant to a Board Resolution, a copy of an appropriate record of
such action shall be certified by the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the
Company and delivered to the Trustee at or prior to the delivery of the Company
Order contemplated by Section 3.3 for the authentication and delivery of such
Securities. Any such Board Resolution or record of such action shall have
attached thereto a true and correct copy of the form of Security referred to
therein approved by or pursuant to such Board Resolution.
SECTION 2.2 FORM OF LEGEND FOR GLOBAL SECURITIES.
Unless otherwise specified as contemplated by Section 3.1 for
the Securities evidenced thereby, every Global Security authenticated and
delivered hereunder shall bear a legend in substantially the following form:
THIS SECURITY IS A GLOBAL SECURITY WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE
INDENTURE HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AND IS REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF A DEPOSITARY
OR A NOMINEE THEREOF. THIS SECURITY MAY NOT BE EXCHANGED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FOR
A SECURITY REGISTERED, AND NO TRANSFER OF THIS SECURITY IN WHOLE OR IN PART MAY
BE REGISTERED, IN THE NAME OF ANY PERSON OTHER THAN SUCH DEPOSITARY OR A NOMINEE
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THEREOF, EXCEPT IN THE LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED IN THE INDENTURE.
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SECTION 2.3 FORM OF TRUSTEE'S CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICATION.
The Trustee's certificates of authentication shall be in
substantially the following form:
This is one of the Securities of the series designated herein
referred to in the within-mentioned Indenture.
[_______________________],
as Trustee
By:______________________
Authorized Officer
SECTION 2.4 FORM OF CONVERSION NOTICE.
Conversion notices shall be in substantially the following
form:
To Black Hills Corporation:
The undersigned owner of this Security hereby irrevocably
exercises the option to convert this Security, or portion hereof (which is
$1,000 or an integral multiple thereof) below designated, into shares of Common
Stock of the Company in accordance with the terms of the Indenture referred to
in this Security, and directs that the shares issuable and deliverable upon the
conversion, together with any check in payment for fractional shares and any
Securities representing any unconverted principal amount hereof, be issued and
delivered to the registered holder hereof unless a different name has been
indicated below. If this Notice is being delivered on a date after the close of
business on a Regular Record Date and prior to the opening of business on the
related Interest Payment Date (unless this Security or the portion thereof being
converted has been called for redemption on a Redemption Date during the period
beginning at the close of business on a Regular Record Date and ending at the
opening of business on the first Business Day after the next succeeding Interest
Payment Date, or if such Interest Payment Date is not a Business Day, the second
such Business Day), this Notice is accompanied by payment, in funds acceptable
to the Company, of an amount equal to the interest payable on such Interest
Payment Date of the principal of this Security to be converted. If shares are to
be issued in the name of a person other than the undersigned, the undersigned
will
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pay all transfer taxes payable with respect hereto. Any amount required to be
paid by the undersigned on account of interest accompanies this Security.
Principal Amount to be Converted
(in an integral multiple of $1,000, if less than all)
U.S. $_____________
Dated: ___________
Signature(s) must be guaranteed by an
eligible guarantor institution (banks, stock
brokers, savings and loan associations and
credit unions with membership in an approved
signature guarantee medallion program)
pursuant to Securities and Exchange
Commission Rule 17Ad-15.
-----------------------------------
Signature Guaranty
Fill in for registration of shares of Common Stock and
Security if to be issued otherwise than to the registered Holder.
------------------------- --------------------------------------------
(Name) Social Security or Other Taxpayer
Identification Number
-------------------------
(Address)
---------------------------------
Please print Name and Address
(including zip code number)
[The above conversion notice is to be modified, as appropriate, for conversion
into other securities or property of the Company.]
ARTICLE III
THE SECURITIES
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SECTION 3.1 AMOUNT UNLIMITED; ISSUABLE IN SERIES.
The aggregate principal amount of Securities which may be
authenticated and delivered under this Indenture is unlimited.
The Securities may be issued in one or more series. There
shall be established in or pursuant to a Board Resolution and, subject to
Section 3.3, set forth, or determined in the manner provided, in an Officers'
Certificate, or established in one or more indentures supplemental hereto, prior
to the issuance of Securities of any series,
(1) the title of the Securities of the series (which
shall distinguish the Securities of the series from Securities of any
other series);
(2) any limit upon the aggregate principal amount of
the Securities of the series which may be authenticated and delivered
under this Indenture (except for Securities authenticated and delivered
upon registration of transfer of, or in exchange for, or in lieu of,
other Securities of the series pursuant to Section 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 9.6
or 11.7 and except for any Securities which, pursuant to Section 3.3,
are deemed never to have been authenticated and delivered hereunder);
(3) the Person to whom any interest on a Security of
the series shall be payable, if other than the Person in whose name
that Security (or one or more Predecessor Securities) is registered at
the close of business on the Regular Record Date for such interest;
(4) the date or dates on which the principal
of any Securities of the series is payable;
(5) the rate or rates at which any Securities of the
series shall bear interest, if any, the date or dates from which any
such interest shall accrue, the Interest Payment Dates on which any
such interest shall be payable and the Regular Record Date for any such
interest payable on any Interest Payment Date;
(6) the place or places where the principal of and
any premium and interest on any Securities of the series shall be
payable;
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(7) the period or periods within which, the price or
prices at which and the terms and conditions upon which any Securities
of the series may be redeemed, in whole or in part, at the option of
the Company and, if other than by a Board Resolution, the manner in
which any election by the Company to redeem the Securities shall be
evidenced;
(8) the obligation, if any, of the Company to redeem
or purchase any Securities of the series pursuant to any sinking fund
or analogous provisions or at the option of the Holder thereof and the
period or periods within which, the price or prices at which and the
terms and conditions upon which any Securities of the series shall be
redeemed or purchased, in whole or in part, pursuant to such
obligation;
(9) if other than denominations of $1,000 and any
integral multiple thereof, the denominations in which any Securities
of the series shall be issuable;
(10) if the amount of principal of or any premium or
interest on any Securities of the series may be determined with
reference to an index or pursuant to a formula, the manner in which
such amounts shall be determined;
(11) if other than the currency of the United States
of America, the currency, currencies or currency units in which the
principal of or any premium or interest on any Securities of the series
shall be payable and the manner of determining the equivalent thereof
in the currency of the United States of America for any purpose,
including for purposes of the definition of "Outstanding" in Section
1.1;
(12) if the principal of or any premium or interest
on any Securities of the series is to be payable, at the election of
the Company or the Holder thereof, in one or more currencies or
currency units other than that or those in which such Securities are
stated to be payable, the currency, currencies or currency units in
which the principal of or any premium or interest on such Securities as
to which such election is made shall be payable, the periods within
which and the terms and conditions upon which such election is to be
made and
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the amount so payable (or the manner in which such amount shall be
determined);
(13) if other than the entire principal amount
thereof, the portion of the principal amount of any Securities of the
series which shall be payable upon declaration of acceleration of the
Maturity thereof pursuant to Section 5.2;
(14) if the principal amount payable at the Stated
Maturity of any Securities of the series will not be determinable as of
any one or more dates prior to the Stated Maturity, the amount which
shall be deemed to be the principal amount of such Securities as of any
such date for any purpose thereunder or hereunder, including the
principal amount thereof which shall be due and payable upon any
Maturity other than the Stated Maturity or which shall be deemed to be
Outstanding as of any date prior to the Stated Maturity (or, in any
such case, the manner in which such amount deemed to be the principal
amount shall be determined);
(15) if applicable, that the Securities of the
series, in whole or any specified part, shall be defeasible pursuant to
Section 13.2 or Section 13.3 or both such Sections and, if other than
by a Board Resolution, the manner in which any election by the Company
to defease such Securities shall be evidenced;
(16) if applicable, the terms of any right to convert
Securities of the series into shares of Common Stock of the Company or
other securities or property;
(17) if applicable, that any Securities of the series
shall be issuable in whole or in part in the form of one or more Global
Securities and, in such case, the respective Depositaries for such
Global Securities, the form of any legend or legends which shall be
borne by any such Global Security in addition to or in lieu of that set
forth in Section 2.2 and any circumstances in addition to or in lieu of
those set forth in Clause (2) of the last paragraph of Section 3.5 in
which any such Global Security may be exchanged in whole or in part for
Securities registered, and any transfer of such Global Security in
whole or in part may be registered, in the name or names of Persons
other than the Depositary for such Global Security or a nominee
thereof;
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(18) any addition to or change in the Events of
Default which applies to any Securities of the series and any change in
the right of the Trustee or the requisite Holders of such Securities to
declare the principal amount thereof due and payable pursuant to
Section 5.2;
(19) any addition to or change in the covenants set
forth in Article 10 which applies to Securities of the series; and
(20) any other terms of the series (which terms shall
not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Indenture, except as
permitted by Section 9.1(5)).
All Securities of any one series shall be substantially
identical except as to denomination and except as may otherwise be provided in
or pursuant to the Board Resolution referred to above and (subject to Section
3.3) set forth, or determined in the manner provided, in the Officers'
Certificate referred to above or in any such indenture supplemental hereto.
If any of the terms of the series are established by action
taken pursuant to a Board Resolution, a copy of an appropriate record of such
action shall be certified by the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the
Company and delivered to the Trustee at or prior to the delivery of the
Officers' Certificate setting forth the terms of the series.
SECTION 3.2 DENOMINATIONS.
The Securities of each series shall be issuable only in
registered form without coupons and only in such denominations as shall be
specified as contemplated by Section 3.1. In the absence of any such specified
denomination with respect to the Securities of any series, the Securities of
such series shall be issuable in denominations of $1,000 and any integral
multiple thereof.
SECTION 3.3 EXECUTION, AUTHENTICATION, DELIVERY AND DATING.
The Securities shall be executed on behalf of the Company by
its Chairman of the Board, its Chief Executive Officer, its principal financial
officer, its President or one of its Vice Presidents, attested by its Treasurer,
Secretary or one of
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its Assistant Treasurers or Assistant Secretaries. The signature of any of
these officers on the Securities may be manual or facsimile.
Securities bearing the manual or facsimile signatures of
individuals who were at any time the proper officers of the Company shall bind
the Company, notwithstanding that such individuals or any of them have ceased to
hold such offices prior to the authentication and delivery of such Securities or
did not hold such offices at the date of such Securities.
At any time and from time to time after the execution and
delivery of this Indenture, the Company may deliver Securities of any series
executed by the Company to the Trustee for authentication, together with a
Company Order for the authentication and delivery of such Securities, and the
Trustee in accordance with the Company Order shall authenticate and deliver such
Securities. If the form or terms of the Securities of the series have been
established by or pursuant to one or more Board Resolutions as permitted by
Sections 2.1 and 3.1, in authenticating such Securities, and accepting the
additional responsibilities under this Indenture in relation to such Securities,
the Trustee shall be entitled to receive, and (subject to Section 6.1) shall be
fully protected in relying upon, a copy of such Board Resolution, the Officers'
Certificate setting forth the terms of the series and an Opinion of Counsel,
with such Opinion of Counsel stating,
(1) if the form of such Securities has been
established by or pursuant to Board Resolution as permitted by Section
2.1, that such form has been established in conformity with the
provisions of this Indenture;
(2) if the terms of such Securities have been
established by or pursuant to Board Resolution as permitted by Section
3.1, that such terms have been established in conformity with the
provisions of this Indenture; and
(3) that such Securities, when authenticated and
delivered by the Trustee and issued by the Company in the manner and
subject to any conditions specified in such Opinion of Counsel, will
constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company
enforceable in accordance with their terms, subject to bankruptcy,
insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium and similar
laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors'
rights and to general equity principles.
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If such form or terms have been so established, the Trustee
shall not be required to authenticate such Securities if the issue of such
Securities pursuant to this Indenture will affect the Trustee's own rights,
duties or immunities under the Securities and this Indenture or otherwise in a
manner which is not reasonably acceptable to the Trustee.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3.1 and of the
preceding paragraph, if all Securities of a series are not to be originally
issued at one time, it shall not be necessary to deliver the Officers'
Certificate otherwise required pursuant to Section 3.1 or the Company Order
and Opinion of Counsel otherwise required pursuant to such preceding
paragraph at or prior to the authentication of each Security of such series
if such documents are delivered at or prior to the authentication upon
original issuance of the first Security of such series to be issued.
Each Security shall be dated the date of its authentication.
No Security shall be entitled to any benefit under this
Indenture or be valid or obligatory for any purpose unless there appears on such
Security a certificate of authentication substantially in the form provided for
herein executed by the Trustee by manual signature, and such certificate upon
any Security shall be conclusive evidence, and the only evidence, that such
Security has been duly authenticated and delivered hereunder. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if any Security shall have been authenticated and delivered
hereunder but never issued and sold by the Company, and the Company shall
deliver such Security to the Trustee for cancellation as provided in Section
3.9, for all purposes of this Indenture such Security shall be deemed never to
have been authenticated and delivered hereunder and shall never be entitled to
the benefits of this Indenture.
Neither the Company nor the Trustee shall have any
responsibility for any defect in the CUSIP number that appears on any
Security, check, advice of payment or redemption notice, and any such
document may contain a statement to the effect that CUSIP numbers have been
assigned by an independent service for convenience of reference and that
neither the Company nor the Trustee shall be liable for any inaccuracy in
such numbers.
SECTION 3.4 TEMPORARY SECURITIES.
Pending the preparation of definitive Securities of any
series, the Company may execute, and upon Company Order the Trustee shall
authenticate and deliver, temporary Securities which are printed, lithographed,
typewritten, mimeographed or otherwise produced, in any authorized denomination,
substantially
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of the tenor of the definitive Securities in lieu of which they are issued
and with such appropriate insertions, omissions, substitutions and other
variations as the officers executing such Securities may determine, as
evidenced by their execution of such Securities.
If temporary Securities of any series are issued, the
Company will cause definitive Securities of that series to be prepared
without unreasonable delay. After the preparation of definitive Securities of
such series, the temporary Securities of such series shall be exchangeable
for definitive Securities of such series upon surrender of the temporary
Securities of such series at the office or agency of the Company in a Place
of Payment for that series, without charge to the Holder. Upon surrender for
cancellation of any one or more temporary Securities of any series, the
Company shall execute and the Trustee shall authenticate and deliver in
exchange therefor one or more definitive Securities of the same series, of
any authorized denominations and of like tenor and aggregate principal
amount. Until so exchanged, the temporary Securities of any series shall in
all respects be entitled to the same benefits under this Indenture as
definitive Securities of such series and tenor.
SECTION 3.5 REGISTRATION; REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER AND EXCHANGE.
The Company shall cause to be kept at the Corporate Trust
Office of the Trustee a register (the register maintained in such office and in
any other office or agency of the Company in a Place of Payment being herein
sometimes collectively referred to as the "Security Register") in which, subject
to such reasonable regulations as it may prescribe, the Company shall provide
for the registration of Securities and of transfers of Securities. The Trustee
is hereby appointed "Security Registrar" for the purpose of registering
Securities and transfers of Securities as herein provided.
Upon surrender for registration of transfer of any Security of
a series at the office or agency of the Company in a Place of Payment for that
series, the Company shall execute, and the Trustee shall authenticate and
deliver, in the name of the designated transferee or transferees, one or more
new Securities of the same series, of any authorized denominations and of like
tenor and aggregate principal amount.
At the option of the Holder, Securities of any series may be
exchanged for other Securities of the same series, of any authorized
denominations and of like tenor and aggregate principal amount, upon surrender
of the Securities to
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be exchanged at such office or agency. Whenever any Securities are so
surrendered for exchange, the Company shall execute, and the Trustee shall
authenticate and deliver, the Securities which the Holder making the exchange
is entitled to receive.
All Securities issued upon any registration of transfer or
exchange of Securities shall be the valid obligations of the Company, evidencing
the same debt, and entitled to the same benefits under this Indenture, as the
Securities surrendered upon such registration of transfer or exchange.
Every Security presented or surrendered for registration of
transfer or for exchange shall (if so required by the Company or the Trustee)
be duly endorsed, or be accompanied by a written instrument of transfer in
form satisfactory to the Company and the Security Registrar duly executed, by
the Holder thereof or its attorney duly authorized in writing.
No service charge shall be made for any registration of
transfer or exchange of Securities, but the Company may require payment of a sum
sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge that may be imposed in
connection with any registration of transfer or exchange of Securities, other
than exchanges pursuant to Section 3.4, 9.6 or 11.7 not involving any transfer.
If the Securities of any series (or of any series and
specified tenor) are to be redeemed in part, the Company shall not be required
(A) to issue, register the transfer of or exchange any Securities of that series
(or of that series and specified tenor, as the case may be) during a period
beginning at the opening of business 15 days before the day of the mailing of a
notice of redemption of any such Securities selected for redemption under
Section 11.3 and ending at the close of business on the day of such mailing, or
(B) to register the transfer of or exchange any Security so selected for
redemption in whole or in part, except the unredeemed portion of any Security
being redeemed in part.
The provisions of Clauses (1), (2), (3) and (4) below shall
apply only to Global Securities:
(1) Each Global Security authenticated under this
Indenture shall be registered in the name of the Depositary designated
for such Global Security or a nominee thereof and delivered to such
Depositary or a nominee thereof or custodian therefor, and each such
Global Security shall constitute a single Security for all purposes of
this Indenture.
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(2) Notwithstanding any other provision in this
Indenture, no Global Security may be exchanged in whole or in part for
Securities registered, and no transfer of a Global Security in whole or
in part may be registered, in the name of any Person other than the
Depositary for such Global Security or a nominee thereof unless (A)
such Depositary (i) has notified the Company that it is unwilling or
unable to continue as Depositary for such Global Security or (ii) has
ceased to be a clearing agency registered under the Exchange Act, (B)
there shall have occurred and be continuing an Event of Default with
respect to such Global Security or (C) there shall exist such
circumstances, if any, in addition to or in lieu of the foregoing as
have been specified for this purpose as contemplated by Section 3.1.
(3) Subject to Clause (2) above, any exchange of a
Global Security for other Securities may be made in whole or in part,
and all Securities issued in exchange for a Global Security or any
portion thereof shall be registered in such names as the Depositary for
such Global Security shall direct.
(4) Every Security authenticated and delivered upon
registration of transfer of, or in exchange for or in lieu of, a Global
Security or any portion thereof, whether pursuant to this Section,
Section 3.4, 3.6, 9.6 or 11.7 or otherwise, shall be authenticated and
delivered in the form of, and shall be, a Global Security, unless such
Security is registered in the name of a Person other than the
Depositary for such Global Security or a nominee thereof.
SECTION 3.6 MUTILATED, DESTROYED, LOST AND STOLEN SECURITIES.
If any mutilated Security is surrendered to the Trustee, the
Company shall execute and the Trustee shall authenticate and deliver in exchange
therefor a new Security of the same series and of like tenor and principal
amount and bearing a number not contemporaneously outstanding.
If there shall be delivered to the Company and the Trustee (i)
evidence to their satisfaction of the destruction, loss or theft of any Security
and (ii) such security or indemnity as may be required by them to save each of
them and any agent of either of them harmless, then, in the absence of notice to
the Company or the Trustee that such Security has been acquired by a bona fide
purchaser, the Company
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shall execute and the Trustee shall authenticate and deliver, in lieu of any
such destroyed, lost or stolen Security, a new Security of the same series
and of like tenor and principal amount and bearing a number not
contemporaneously outstanding.
In case any such mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security
has become or is about to become due and payable, the Company in its discretion
may, instead of issuing a new Security, pay such Security.
Upon the issuance of any new Security under this Section, the
Company may require the payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other
governmental charge that may be imposed in relation thereto and any other
expenses (including the fees and expenses of the Trustee) connected therewith.
Every new Security of any series issued pursuant to this
Section in lieu of any destroyed, lost or stolen Security shall constitute an
original additional contractual obligation of the Company, whether or not the
destroyed, lost or stolen Security shall be at any time enforceable by
anyone, and shall be entitled to all the benefits of this Indenture equally
and proportionately with any and all other Securities of that series duly
issued hereunder.
The provisions of this Section are exclusive and shall
preclude (to the extent lawful) all other rights and remedies with respect to
the replacement or payment of mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Securities.
SECTION 3.7 PAYMENT OF INTEREST; INTEREST RIGHTS PRESERVED.
Except as otherwise provided as contemplated by Section 3.1
with respect to any series of Securities, interest on any Security which is
payable, and is punctually paid or duly provided for, on any Interest Payment
Date shall be paid to the Person in whose name that Security (or one or more
Predecessor Securities) is registered at the close of business on the Regular
Record Date for such interest.
Any interest on any Security of any series which is payable,
but is not punctually paid or duly provided for, on any Interest Payment Date
(herein called "Defaulted Interest") shall forthwith cease to be payable to the
Holder on the relevant Regular Record Date by virtue of having been such Holder,
and such Defaulted Interest may be paid by the Company, at its election in each
case, as provided in Clause (1) or (2) below:
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(1) The Company may elect to make payment of any
Defaulted Interest to the Persons in whose names the Securities of
such series (or their respective Predecessor Securities) are
registered at the close of business on a Special Record Date for the
payment of such Defaulted Interest, which shall be fixed in the
following manner. The Company shall notify the Trustee in writing of
the amount of Defaulted Interest proposed to be paid on each
Security of such series and the date of the proposed payment, and at
the same time the Company shall deposit with the Trustee an amount
of money equal to the aggregate amount proposed to be paid in
respect of such Defaulted Interest or shall make arrangements
satisfactory to the Trustee for such deposit prior to the date of
the proposed payment, such money when deposited to be held in trust
for the benefit of the Persons entitled to such Defaulted Interest
as in this Clause provided. Thereupon the Trustee shall fix a
Special Record Date for the payment of such Defaulted Interest which
shall be not more than 15 days and not less than 10 days prior to
the date of the proposed payment and not less than 10 days after the
receipt by the Trustee of the notice of the proposed payment. The
Trustee shall promptly notify the Company of such Special Record
Date and, in the name and at the expense of the Company, shall cause
notice of the proposed payment of such Defaulted Interest and the
Special Record Date therefor to be given to each Holder of
Securities of such series in the manner set forth in Section 1.6,
not less than 10 days prior to such Special Record Date. Notice of
the proposed payment of such Defaulted Interest and the Special
Record Date therefor having been so mailed, such Defaulted Interest
shall be paid to the Persons in whose names the Securities of such
series (or their respective Predecessor Securities) are registered
at the close of business on such Special Record Date and shall no
longer be payable pursuant to the following Clause (2).
(2) The Company may make payment of any Defaulted
Interest on the Securities of any series in any other lawful manner not
inconsistent with the requirements of any securities exchange on which
such Securities may be listed, and upon such notice as may be required
by such exchange, if, after notice given by the Company to the Trustee
of the proposed payment pursuant to this Clause, such manner of payment
as shall be deemed practicable by the Trustee.
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Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Section, each
Security delivered under this Indenture upon registration of transfer of or in
exchange for or in lieu of any other Security shall carry the rights to interest
accrued and unpaid, and to accrue, which were carried by such other Security.
Subject to the provisions of Section 14.2, in the case of any
Security (or any part thereof) which is converted after any Regular Record Date
and on or prior to the next succeeding Interest Payment Date (other than any
Security the principal of (or premium, if any, on) which shall become due and
payable, whether at Stated Maturity or by declaration of acceleration prior to
such Interest Payment Date), interest whose Stated Maturity is on such Interest
Payment Date shall be payable on such Interest Payment Date notwithstanding such
conversion and such interest (whether or not punctually paid or duly provided
for) shall be paid to the Person in whose name that Security (or any one or more
Predecessor Securities) is registered at the close of business on such Regular
Record Date. Except as otherwise expressly provided in the immediately preceding
sentence or in Section 14.2, in the case of any Security (or any part thereof)
which is converted, interest whose Stated Maturity is after the date of
conversion of such Security (or such part thereof) shall not be payable.
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SECTION 3.8 PERSONS DEEMED OWNERS.
Prior to due presentment of a Security for registration of
transfer, the Company, the Trustee and any agent of the Company or the Trustee
may treat the Person in whose name such Security is registered as the owner of
such Security for the purpose of receiving payment of principal of and any
premium and (subject to Section 3.7) any interest on such Security and for all
other purposes whatsoever, whether or not such Security be overdue, and neither
the Company, the Trustee nor any agent of the Company or the Trustee shall be
affected by notice to the contrary.
SECTION 3.9 CANCELLATION.
All Securities surrendered for payment, redemption,
registration of transfer or exchange or for credit against any sinking fund
payment shall, if surrendered to any Person other than the Trustee, be delivered
to the Trustee and shall be promptly canceled by it. The Company may at any time
deliver to the Trustee for cancellation any Securities previously authenticated
and delivered hereunder which the Company may have acquired in any manner
whatsoever, and may deliver to the Trustee (or to any other Person for delivery
to the Trustee) for cancellation any Securities previously authenticated
hereunder which the Company has not issued and sold, and all Securities so
delivered shall be promptly canceled by the Trustee. No Securities shall be
authenticated in lieu of or in exchange for any Securities canceled as provided
in this Section, except as expressly permitted by this Indenture. All canceled
Securities held by the Trustee shall be disposed of as directed by a Company
Order.
SECTION 3.10 COMPUTATION OF INTEREST.
Except as otherwise specified as contemplated by Section 3.1
for Securities of any series, interest on the Securities of each series shall be
computed on the basis of a 360-day year of twelve 30-day months.
ARTICLE IV
SATISFACTION AND DISCHARGE
SECTION 4.1 SATISFACTION AND DISCHARGE OF INDENTURE.
This Indenture shall upon Company Request cease to be of
further effect (except as to any surviving rights of registration of transfer or
exchange of
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Securities herein expressly provided for), and the Trustee, at the expense of
the Company, shall execute proper instruments acknowledging satisfaction and
discharge of this Indenture, when
(1) either
(A) all Securities theretofore authenticated
and delivered (other than (i) Securities which have been
destroyed, lost or stolen and which have been replaced or paid
as provided in Section 3.6 and (ii) Securities for whose
payment money has theretofore been deposited in trust or
segregated and held in trust by the Trustee or the Company and
thereafter repaid to the Company or discharged from such
trust, as provided in Section 10.3) have been delivered to the
Trustee for cancellation; or
(B) all such Securities not theretofore
delivered to the Trustee for cancellation
(i) have become due and payable, or
(ii) will become due and payable
at their Stated Maturity within one year, or
(iii) are to be called for
redemption within one year under arrangements satisfactory to
the Trustee for the giving of notice of redemption by the
Trustee in the name, and at the expense, of the Company, and
the Company, in the case of (i), (ii) or (iii) above, has
deposited or caused to be deposited with the Trustee as trust
funds in trust for the purpose of making the following
payments, money in an amount sufficient to pay and discharge
the entire indebtedness on such Securities not theretofore
delivered to the Trustee for cancellation, for principal and
any premium and interest to the date of such deposit (in
the case of Securities which have become due and payable) or
to the Stated Maturity or Redemption Date, as the case may be;
(2) the Company has paid or caused to be paid all
other sums payable hereunder by the Company; and
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(3) the Company has delivered to the Trustee an
Officers' Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel, each stating that all
conditions precedent herein provided for relating to the satisfaction
and discharge of this Indenture have been complied with.
Notwithstanding the satisfaction and discharge of this
Indenture, the obligations of the Company to the Trustee under Section 6.7, the
obligations of the Trustee to any Authenticating Agent under Section 6.14 and,
if money shall have been deposited with the Trustee pursuant to subclause (B) of
Clause (1) of this Section, the obligations of the Trustee under Section 4.2 and
the last paragraph of Section 10.3 shall survive.
SECTION 4.2 APPLICATION OF TRUST MONEY.
Subject to the provisions of the last paragraph of Section
10.3, all money deposited with the Trustee pursuant to Section 4.1 shall be held
in trust and applied by it, in accordance with the provisions of the Securities
and this Indenture, to the payment, either directly or through any Paying Agent
(including the Company acting as its own Paying Agent) as the Trustee may
determine, to the Persons entitled thereto, of the principal and any premium and
interest for whose payment such money has been deposited with the Trustee.
ARTICLE V
REMEDIES
SECTION 5.1 EVENTS OF DEFAULT.
"Event of Default," wherever used herein with respect to
Securities of any series, means any one of the following events (whatever the
reason for such Event of Default and whether it shall be voluntary or
involuntary or be effected by operation of law or pursuant to any judgment,
decree or order of any court or any order, rule or regulation of any
administrative or governmental body):
(1) default in the payment of any interest upon any
Security of that series when it becomes due and payable, and
continuance of such default for a period of 30 days; or
(2) default in the payment of the principal of or any
premium on any Security of that series at its Maturity; or
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(3) default in the deposit of any sinking fund
payment, when and as due by the terms of a Security of that series; or
(4) default in the performance, or breach, of any
covenant or warranty of the Company in this Indenture (other than a
covenant or warranty a default in whose performance or whose breach is
elsewhere in this Section specifically dealt with or which has
expressly been included in this Indenture solely for the benefit of
series of Securities other than that series), and continuance of such
default or breach for a period of 60 days after there has been given,
by registered or certified mail, to the Company by the Trustee or to
the Company and the Trustee by the Holders of at least 25% in principal
amount of the Outstanding Securities of that series a written notice
specifying such default or breach and requiring it to be remedied and
stating that such notice is a "Notice of Default" hereunder; or
(5) the entry by a court having jurisdiction in the
premises of a decree or order for relief in respect of the Company in
an involuntary case or proceeding under any applicable Federal or State
bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or other similar law or (B) a
decree or order adjudging the company a bankrupt or insolvent, or
approving as properly filed a petition seeking reorganization,
arrangement, adjustment or composition of or in respect of the Company
under any applicable Federal or State law, or appointing a custodian,
receiver, liquidator, assignee, trustee, equestrator or other similar
official of the Company or of any substantial part of its property, or
ordering the winding up or liquidation of its affairs, and the
continuance of any such decree or order for relief or any such other
decree or order unstayed and in effect for a period of 90 consecutive
days; or
(6) the commencement by the Company of a voluntary
case or proceeding under any applicable Federal or State bankruptcy,
insolvency, reorganization or other similar law or of any other case or
proceeding to be adjudicated a bankrupt or insolvent, or the consent by
it to the entry of a decree or order for relief in respect of the
Company in an involuntary case or proceeding under any applicable
Federal or State bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or other
similar law or to the commencement of any bankruptcy or insolvency case
or proceeding against it, or the filing by it of a petition
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or answer or consent seeking reorganization or relief under any
applicable Federal or State law, or the consent by it to the filing of
such petition or to the appointment of or taking possession by a
custodian, receiver, liquidator, assignee, trustee, sequestrator or
other similar official of the Company or of any substantial part of
its property, or the making by it of an assignment for the benefit of
creditors, or the admission by it in writing of its inability to pay
its debts generally as they become due, or the taking of corporate
action by the Company in furtherance of any such action; or
(7) any other Event of Default provided with
respect to Securities of that series.
SECTION 5.2 ACCELERATION OF MATURITY; RESCISSION AND ANNULMENT.
If an Event of Default (other than an Event of Default
specified in Section 5.1(5) or 5.1(6)) with respect to Securities of any series
at the time Outstanding occurs and is continuing, then in every such case the
Trustee or the Holders of not less than 25% in principal amount of the
Outstanding Securities of that series may declare the principal amount of all
the Securities of that series (or, if any Securities of that series are Original
Issue Discount Securities, such portion of the principal amount of such
Securities as may be specified by the terms thereof) to be due and payable
immediately, by a notice in writing to the Company (and to the Trustee if given
by Holders), and upon any such declaration such principal amount (or specified
amount) shall become immediately due and payable. If an Event of Default
specified in Section 5.1(5) or 5.1(6) with respect to Securities of any series
at the time Outstanding occurs, the principal amount of all the Securities of
that series (or, if any Securities of that series are Original Issue Discount
Securities, such portion of the principal amount of such Securities as may be
specified by the terms thereof) shall automatically, and without any declaration
or other action on the part of the Trustee or any Holder, become immediately due
and payable.
At any time after such a declaration of acceleration with
respect to Securities of any series has been made and before a judgment or
decree for payment of the money due has been obtained by the Trustee as
hereinafter in this Article provided, the Holders of a majority in principal
amount of the Outstanding Securities of that series, by written notice to the
Company and the Trustee, may rescind and annul such declaration and its
consequences if
(1) the Company has paid or deposited with the
Trustee a sum sufficient to pay
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(A) all overdue interest on all Securities
of that series,
(B) the principal of (and premium, if any,
on) any Securities of that series which have become due
otherwise than by such declaration of acceleration and any
interest thereon at the rate or rates prescribed therefor in
such Securities,
(C) to the extent that payment of such
interest is lawful, interest upon overdue interest at the rate
or rates prescribed therefor in such Securities, and
(D) all sums paid or advanced by the Trustee
hereunder and the reasonable compensation, expenses,
disbursements and advances of the Trustee, its agents and
counsel; and
(2) all Events of Default with respect to Securities
of that series, other than the non-payment of the principal of
Securities of that series which have become due solely by such
declaration of acceleration, have been cured or waived as provided in
Section 5.13. No such rescission shall affect any subsequent default or
impair any right consequent thereon.
SECTION 5.3 COLLECTION OF INDEBTEDNESS AND SUITS FOR ENFORCEMENT BY TRUSTEE.
The Company covenants that if
(1) default is made in the payment of any interest on
any Security when such interest becomes due and payable and such
default continues for a period of 30 days, or
(2) default is made in the payment of the principal
of (or premium, if any, on) any Security at the Maturity thereof, the
Company will, upon demand of the Trustee, pay to it, for the benefit of
the Holders of such Securities, the whole amount then due and payable
on such Securities for principal and any premium and interest and, to
the extent that payment of such interest shall be legally enforceable,
interest on any overdue principal and premium and on any overdue
interest, at
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the rate or rates prescribed therefor in such Securities, and in
addition thereto, such further amount as shall be sufficient to
cover the costs and expenses of collection, including the reasonable
compensation, expenses, disbursements and advances of the Trustee, its
agents and counsel.
If an Event of Default with respect to Securities of any
series occurs and is continuing, the Trustee may in its discretion proceed to
protect and enforce its rights and the rights of the Holders of Securities of
such series by such appropriate judicial proceedings as the Trustee shall deem
most effectual to protect and enforce any such rights, whether for the specific
enforcement of any covenant or agreement in this Indenture or in aid of the
exercise of any power granted herein, or to enforce any other proper remedy.
SECTION 5.4 TRUSTEE MAY FILE PROOFS OF CLAIM.
In case of any judicial proceeding relative to the Company (or
any other obligor upon the Securities), its property or its creditors, the
Trustee shall be entitled and empowered, by intervention in such proceeding or
otherwise, to take any and all actions authorized under the Trust Indenture Act
in order to have claims of the Holders and the Trustee allowed in any such
proceeding. In particular, the Trustee shall be authorized to collect and
receive any moneys or other property payable or deliverable on any such claims
and to distribute the same; and any custodian, receiver, assignee, trustee,
liquidator, sequestrator or other similar official in any such judicial
proceeding is hereby authorized by each Holder to make such payments to the
Trustee and, in the event that the Trustee shall consent to the making of such
payments directly to the Holders, to pay to the Trustee any amount due it for
the reasonable compensation, expenses, disbursements and advances of the
Trustee, its agents and counsel, and any other amounts due the Trustee under
Section 6.7.
No provision of this Indenture shall be deemed to authorize
the Trustee to authorize or consent to or accept or adopt on behalf of any
Holder any plan of reorganization, arrangement, adjustment or composition
affecting the Securities or the rights of any Holder thereof or to authorize the
Trustee to vote in respect of the claim of any Holder in any such proceeding;
provided, however, that the Trustee may, on behalf of the Holders, vote for the
election of a trustee in bankruptcy or similar official and be a member of a
creditors' or other similar committee.
SECTION 5.5 TRUSTEE MAY ENFORCE CLAIMS WITHOUT POSSESSION OF SECURITIES.
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All rights of action and claims under this Indenture or the
Securities may be prosecuted and enforced by the Trustee without the
possession of any of the Securities or the production thereof in any
proceeding relating thereto, and any such proceeding instituted by the
Trustee shall be brought in its own name as trustee of an express trust, and
any recovery of judgment shall, after provision for the payment of the
reasonable compensation, expenses, disbursements and advances of the Trustee,
its agents and counsel, be for the ratable benefit of the Holders of the
Securities in respect of which such judgment has been recovered.
SECTION 5.6 APPLICATION OF MONEY COLLECTED.
Any money collected by the Trustee pursuant to this Article
shall be applied in the following order, at the date or dates fixed by the
Trustee and, in case of the distribution of such money on account of principal
or any premium or interest, upon presentation of the Securities and the notation
thereon of the payment if only partially paid and upon surrender thereof if
fully paid:
FIRST: To the payment of all amounts due the Trustee under
Section 6.7;
SECOND: To the payment of the amounts then due and unpaid for
principal of and any premium, if any, and interest on the Securities in respect
of which or for the benefit of which such money has been collected, ratably,
without preference or priority of any kind, according to the amounts due and
payable on such Securities for principal and any premium, if any, and interest,
respectively; and
THIRD: The balance, if any, to the Company or any other Person
or Persons entitled thereto.
SECTION 5.7 LIMITATION ON SUITS.
No Holder of any Security of any series shall have any right
to institute any proceeding, judicial or otherwise, with respect to this
Indenture, or for the appointment of a receiver or trustee, or for any other
remedy hereunder, unless
(1) such Holder has previously given written notice
to the Trustee of a continuing Event of Default with respect to the
Securities of that series;
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(2) the Holders of not less than 25% in principal
amount of the Outstanding Securities of that series shall have made
written request to the Trustee to institute proceedings in respect of
such Event of Default in its own name as Trustee hereunder;
(3) such Holder or Holders have offered to the
Trustee reasonable indemnity against the costs, expenses and
liabilities to be incurred in compliance with such request;
(4) the Trustee for 60 days after its receipt of such
notice, request and offer of indemnity has failed to institute any such
proceeding; and
(5) no direction inconsistent with such written
request has been given to the Trustee during such 60-day period by the
Holders of a majority in principal amount of the Outstanding Securities
of that series; it being understood and intended that no one or more of
such Holders shall have any right in any manner whatever by virtue of,
or by availing of, any provision of this Indenture to affect, disturb
or prejudice the rights of any other of such Holders, or to obtain or
to seek to obtain priority or preference over any other of such Holders
or to enforce any right under this Indenture, except in the manner
herein provided and for the equal and ratable benefit of all of such
Holders.
SECTION 5.8 UNCONDITIONAL RIGHT OF HOLDERS TO RECEIVE PRINCIPAL, PREMIUM AND
INTEREST AND TO CONVERT.
Notwithstanding any other provision in this Indenture, the
Holder of any Security shall have the right, which is absolute and
unconditional, to receive payment of the principal of and any premium and
(subject to Section 3.7) interest on such Security on the respective Stated
Maturities expressed in such Security (or, in the case of redemption, on the
Redemption Date), to convert such Securities in accordance with Article 14 to
the extent that such right to convert is applicable to such Security and to
institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment, and such rights shall
not be impaired without the consent of such Holder.
SECTION 5.9 RESTORATION OF RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.
If the Trustee or any Holder has instituted any proceeding to
enforce any right or remedy under this Indenture and such proceeding has been
discontinued or abandoned for any reason, or has been determined adversely to
the Trustee or to such
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Holder, then and in every such case, subject to any determination in such
proceeding, the Company, the Trustee and the Holders shall be restored
severally and respectively to their former positions hereunder and thereafter
all rights and remedies of the Trustee and the Holders shall continue as
though no such proceeding had been instituted.
SECTION 5.10 RIGHTS AND REMEDIES CUMULATIVE.
Except as otherwise provided with respect to the
replacement or payment of mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Securities in
the last paragraph of Section 3.6, no right or remedy herein conferred upon
or reserved to the Trustee or to the Holders is intended to be exclusive of
any other right or remedy, and every right and remedy shall, to the extent
permitted by law, be cumulative and in addition to every other right and
remedy given hereunder or now or hereafter existing at law or in equity or
otherwise. The assertion or employment of any right or remedy hereunder, or
otherwise, shall not prevent the concurrent assertion or employment of any
other appropriate right or remedy.
SECTION 5.11 DELAY OR OMISSION NOT WAIVER.
No delay or omission of the Trustee or of any Holder of any
Securities to exercise any right or remedy accruing upon any Event of Default
shall impair any such right or remedy or constitute a waiver of any such Event
of Default or an acquiescence therein. Every right and remedy given by this
Article or by law to the Trustee or to the Holders may be exercised from time to
time, and as often as may be deemed expedient, by the Trustee (subject to the
limitations contained in this Indenture) or by the Holders, as the case may be.
SECTION 5.12 CONTROL BY HOLDERS.
The Holders of a majority in principal amount of the
Outstanding Securities of any series shall have the right to direct the time,
method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the
Trustee, or exercising any trust or power conferred on the Trustee, with respect
to the Securities of such series, provided that:
(1) such direction shall not be in conflict with any
rule of law or with this Indenture and the Trustee shall not have
determined that the action so directed would be unjustly prejudicial to
Holders of Securities of that series, or any other series, not taking
part in such direction; and
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(2) the Trustee may take any other action deemed
proper by the Trustee which is not inconsistent with such direction or
this Indenture.
SECTION 5.13 WAIVER OF PAST DEFAULTS.
The Holders of not less than a majority in principal amount of
the Outstanding Securities of any series may on behalf of the Holders of all the
Securities of such series waive any past default hereunder with respect to such
series and its consequences, except:
(1) a default in the payment of the principal of or
any premium or interest on any Security of such series; or
(2) to the extent such right is applicable to such
Security, a failure by the Company on request to convert any Security
into Common Stock; or
(3) in respect of a covenant or provision hereof
which under Article 9 cannot be modified or amended without the consent
of the Holder of each Outstanding Security of such series affected.
Upon any such waiver, such default shall cease to exist, and
any Event of Default arising therefrom shall be deemed to have been cured, for
every purpose of this Indenture; but no such waiver shall extend to any
subsequent or other default or impair any right consequent thereon.
SECTION 5.14 UNDERTAKING FOR COSTS.
In any suit for the enforcement of any right or remedy under
this Indenture, or in any suit against the Trustee for any action taken,
suffered or omitted by it as Trustee, a court may require any party litigant in
such suit to file an undertaking to pay the costs of such suit, and may assess
costs against any such party litigant, in the manner and to the extent provided
in the Trust Indenture Act; provided that neither this Section nor the Trust
Indenture Act shall be deemed to authorize any court to require such an
undertaking or to make such an assessment in any suit instituted by the Company
or in any suit for the enforcement of the right to convert any Security in
accordance with Article 14.
SECTION 5.15 WAIVER OF USURY, STAY OR EXTENSION LAWS.
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The Company covenants (to the extent that it may lawfully
do so) that it will not at any time insist upon, or plead, or in any manner
whatsoever claim or take the benefit or advantage of, any usury, stay or
extension law wherever enacted, now or at any time hereafter in force, which
may affect the covenants or the performance of this Indenture; and the
Company (to the extent that it may lawfully do so) hereby expressly waives
all benefit or advantage of any such law and covenants that it will not
hinder, delay or impede the execution of any power herein granted to the
Trustee, but will suffer and permit the execution of every such power as
though no such law had been enacted.
ARTICLE VI
THE TRUSTEE
SECTION 6.1 CERTAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
The duties and responsibilities of the Trustee shall be as
provided by the Trust Indenture Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no provision
of this Indenture shall require the Trustee to expend or risk its own funds or
otherwise incur any financial liability in the performance of any of its duties
hereunder, or in the exercise of any of its rights or powers if it shall have
reasonable grounds for believing that repayment of such funds or adequate
indemnity against such risk or liability is not reasonably assured to it.
Whether or not therein expressly so provided, every provision of this Indenture
relating to the conduct or affecting the liability of or affording protection to
the Trustee shall be subject to the provisions of this Section.
SECTION 6.2 NOTICE OF DEFAULTS.
If a default occurs hereunder with respect to Securities of
any series, the Trustee shall give the Holders of Securities of such series
notice of such default as and to the extent provided by the Trust Indenture Act;
provided, however, that in the case of any default of the character specified in
Section 5.1(4) with respect to Securities of such series, no such notice to
Holders shall be given until at least 30 days after the occurrence thereof. For
the purpose of this Section, the term "default" means any event which is, or
after notice or lapse of time or both would become, an Event of Default with
respect to Securities of such series.
SECTION 6.3 CERTAIN RIGHTS OF TRUSTEE.
Subject to the provisions of Section 6.1:
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(1) the Trustee may rely and shall be protected in
acting or refraining from acting upon any resolution, certificate,
statement, instrument, opinion, report, notice, request, direction,
consent, order, bond, debenture, note, other evidence of indebtedness
or other paper or document believed by it to be genuine and to have
been signed or presented by the proper party or parties;
(2) any request or direction of the Company
mentioned herein shall be sufficiently evidenced by a Company Request
or Company Order, and any resolution of the Board of Directors shall
be sufficiently evidenced by a Board Resolution;
(3) whenever in the administration of this Indenture
the Trustee shall deem it desirable that a matter be proved or
established prior to taking, suffering or omitting any action
hereunder, the Trustee (unless other evidence be herein specifically
prescribed) is entitled to and may, in the absence of bad faith on its
part, rely upon an Officers' Certificate;
(4) the Trustee may consult with counsel and the
written advice of such counsel or any Opinion of Counsel shall be full
and complete authorization and protection in respect of any action
taken, suffered or omitted by it hereunder in good faith and in
reliance thereon;
(5) the Trustee shall be under no obligation to
exercise any of the rights or powers vested in it by this Indenture at
the request or direction of any of the Holders pursuant to this
Indenture, unless such Holders shall have offered to the Trustee
reasonable security or indemnity against the costs, expenses and
liabilities which might be incurred by it in compliance with such
request or direction;
(6) the Trustee shall not be bound to make any
investigation into the facts or matters stated in any resolution,
certificate, statement, instrument, opinion, report, notice, request,
direction, consent, order, bond, debenture, note, other evidence of
indebtedness or other paper or document, but the Trustee, in its
discretion, may make such further inquiry or investigation into such
facts or matters as it may see fit, and, if the Trustee shall determine
to make such further inquiry or investigation, it shall be entitled to
examine the books, records and premises of the Company, personally or
by agent or attorney; and
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(7) the Trustee may execute any of the trusts or
powers hereunder or perform any duties hereunder either directly or by
or through agents or attorneys and the Trustee shall not be responsible
for any misconduct or negligence on the part of any agent or attorney
appointed with due care by it hereunder.
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SECTION 6.4 NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR RECITALS OR ISSUANCE OF SECURITIES.
The recitals contained herein and in the Securities, except
the Trustee's certificates of authentication, shall be taken as the
statements of the Company, and neither the Trustee nor any Authenticating
Agent assumes any responsibility for their correctness. The Trustee makes no
representations as to the validity, sufficiency or priority of this Indenture
or of the Securities. Neither the Trustee nor any Authenticating Agent shall
be accountable for the use or application by the Company of Securities or the
proceeds thereof.
SECTION 6.5 MAY HOLD SECURITIES AND ACT AS TRUSTEE UNDER OTHER INDENTURES.
The Trustee, any Authenticating Agent, any Paying Agent,
any Security Registrar or any other agent of the Company, in its individual
or any other capacity, may become the owner or pledgee of Securities and,
subject to Sections 6.8 and 6.13, may otherwise deal with the Company with
the same rights it would have if it were not Trustee, Authenticating Agent,
Paying Agent, Security Registrar or such other agent.
Subject to the limitations imposed by the Trust Indenture
Act, nothing in this Indenture shall prohibit the Trustee from becoming and
acting as trustee under other indentures under which other securities, or
certificates of interest of participation in other securities, of the Company
are outstanding in the same manner as if it were not Trustee hereunder.
SECTION 6.6 MONEY HELD IN TRUST.
Money held by the Trustee in trust hereunder need not be
segregated from other funds except to the extent required by law. The Trustee
shall be under no liability for interest on any money received by it
hereunder except as otherwise agreed with the Company.
SECTION 6.7 COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT.
The Company agrees:
(1) to pay to the Trustee from time to time
reasonable compensation for all services rendered by it hereunder
(which compensation shall not be limited by any provision of law in
regard to the compensation of a trustee of an express trust);
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(2) except as otherwise expressly provided herein, to
reimburse the Trustee upon its request for all reasonable expenses,
disbursements and advances incurred or made by the Trustee in
accordance with any provision of this Indenture (including the
reasonable compensation and the expenses and disbursements of its
agents and counsel), except any such expense, disbursement or advance
as may be attributable to its negligence or bad faith; and
(3) to indemnify the Trustee for, and to hold it
harmless against, any loss, liability or expense incurred without
negligence or bad faith on its part, arising out of or in connection
with the acceptance or administration of the trust or trusts hereunder,
including the costs and expenses of defending itself against any claim
or liability in connection with the exercise or performance of any of
its powers or duties hereunder.
SECTION 6.8 CONFLICTING INTERESTS.
If the Trustee has or shall acquire a conflicting interest
within the meaning of the Trust Indenture Act, the Trustee shall either
eliminate such interest or resign, to the extent and in the manner provided by,
and subject to the provisions of, the Trust Indenture Act and this Indenture. To
the extent permitted by such Act, the Trustee shall not be deemed to have a
conflicting interest by virtue of being a trustee under this Indenture with
respect to Securities of more than one series.
SECTION 6.9 CORPORATE TRUSTEE REQUIRED; ELIGIBILITY.
There shall at all times be one (and only one) Trustee
hereunder with respect to the Securities of each series, which may be Trustee
hereunder for Securities of one or more other series. Each Trustee shall be a
Person that is eligible pursuant to the Trust Indenture Act to act as such and
has (or if the Trustee is a member of a bank holding company system, its bank
holding company has) a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000. If
any such Person or bank holding company publishes reports of condition at least
annually, pursuant to law or to the requirements of its supervising or examining
authority, then for the purposes of this Section and to the extent permitted by
the Trust Indenture Act, the combined capital and surplus of such Person or bank
holding company shall be deemed to be its combined capital and surplus as set
forth in its most recent report of condition so published. If at any time the
Trustee with respect to the Securities of any series shall cease to be eligible
in
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accordance with the provisions of this Section, it shall resign immediately
in the manner and with the effect hereinafter specified in this Article.
SECTION 6.10 RESIGNATION AND REMOVAL; APPOINTMENT OF SUCCESSOR.
No resignation or removal of the Trustee and no appointment of
a successor Trustee pursuant to this Article shall become effective until the
acceptance of appointment by the successor Trustee in accordance with the
applicable requirements of Section 6.11.
The Trustee may resign at any time with respect to the
Securities of one or more series by giving written notice thereof to the
Company. If the instrument of acceptance by a successor Trustee required by
Section 6.11 shall not have been delivered to the Trustee within 30 days after
the giving of such notice of resignation, the resigning Trustee may petition any
court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a successor Trustee with
respect to the Securities of such series.
The Trustee may be removed at any time with respect to the
Securities of any series by Act of the Holders of a majority in principal amount
of the Outstanding Securities of such series, delivered to the Trustee and to
the Company.
If at any time:
(1) the Trustee shall fail to comply with Section 6.8
after written request therefor by the Company or by any Holder who has
been a bona fide Holder of a Security for at least six months, or
(2) the Trustee shall cease to be eligible under
Section 6.9 and shall fail to resign after written request therefor by
the Company or by any such Holder, or
(3) the Trustee shall become incapable of acting or
shall be adjudged a bankrupt or insolvent or a receiver of the Trustee
or of its property shall be appointed or any public officer shall take
charge or control of the Trustee or of its property or affairs for the
purpose of rehabilitation, conservation or liquidation, then, in any
such case, (A) the Company by a Board Resolution may remove the Trustee
with respect to all Securities, or (B) subject to Section 5.14, any
Holder who has been a bona fide Holder of a Security for at least six
months may, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated,
petition any court of competent
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jurisdiction for the removal of the Trustee with respect to all
Securities and the appointment of a successor Trustee or Trustees.
If the Trustee shall resign, be removed or become incapable
of acting, or if a vacancy shall occur in the office of Trustee for any
cause, with respect to the Securities of one or more series, the Company, by
a Board Resolution, shall promptly appoint a successor Trustee or Trustees
with respect to the Securities of that or those series (it being understood
that any such successor Trustee may be appointed with respect to the
Securities of one or more or all of such series and that at any time there
shall be only one Trustee with respect to the Securities of any particular
series) and shall comply with the applicable requirements of Section 6.11.
If, within one year after such resignation, removal or incapability, or the
occurrence of such vacancy, a successor Trustee with respect to the
Securities of any series shall be appointed by Act of the Holders of a
majority in principal amount of the Outstanding Securities of such series
delivered to the Company and the retiring Trustee, the successor Trustee so
appointed shall, forthwith upon its acceptance of such appointment in
accordance with the applicable requirements of Section 6.11, become the
successor Trustee with respect to the Securities of such series and to that
extent supersede the successor Trustee appointed by the Company. If no
successor Trustee with respect to the Securities of any series shall have
been so appointed by the Company or the Holders and accepted appointment in
the manner required by Section 6.11, the retiring Trustee may petition, or
any Holder who has been a bona fide Holder of a Security of such series for
at least six months may, on behalf of himself and all others similarly
situated, petition any court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of
a successor Trustee with respect to the Securities of such series.
The Company shall give notice of each resignation and each
removal of the Trustee with respect to the Securities of any series and each
appointment of a successor Trustee with respect to the Securities of any
series to all Holders of Securities of such series in the manner provided in
Section 1.6. Each notice shall include the name of the successor Trustee with
respect to the Securities of such series and the address of its Corporate
Trust Office.
SECTION 6.11 ACCEPTANCE OF APPOINTMENT BY SUCCESSOR.
In case of the appointment hereunder of a successor Trustee
with respect to all Securities, every such successor Trustee so appointed shall
execute, acknowledge and deliver to the Company and to the retiring Trustee an
instrument accepting such appointment, and thereupon the resignation or removal
of the retiring Trustee shall become effective and such successor Trustee,
without any further act, deed or conveyance, shall become vested with all the
rights, powers, trusts and duties of the
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retiring Trustee; but, on the request of the Company or the successor
Trustee, such retiring Trustee shall, upon payment of its charges, execute
and deliver an instrument transferring to such successor Trustee all the
rights, powers and trusts of the retiring Trustee and shall duly assign,
transfer and deliver to such successor Trustee all property and money held by
such retiring Trustee hereunder.
In case of the appointment hereunder of a successor Trustee
with respect to the Securities of one or more (but not all) series, the Company,
the retiring Trustee and each successor Trustee with respect to the Securities
of one or more series shall execute and deliver an indenture supplemental hereto
wherein each successor Trustee shall accept such appointment and which (1) shall
contain such provisions as shall be necessary or desirable to transfer and
confirm to, and to vest in, each successor Trustee all the rights, powers,
trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee with respect to the Securities of that
or those series to which the appointment of such successor Trustee relates, (2)
if the retiring Trustee is not retiring with respect to all Securities, shall
contain such provisions as shall be deemed necessary or desirable to confirm
that all the rights, powers, trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee with
respect to the Securities of that or those series as to which the retiring
Trustee is not retiring shall continue to be vested in the retiring Trustee, and
(3) shall add to or change any of the provisions of this Indenture as shall be
necessary to provide for or facilitate the administration of the trusts
hereunder by more than one Trustee, it being understood that nothing herein or
in such supplemental indenture shall constitute such Trustees co-trustees of the
same trust and that each such Trustee shall be trustee of a trust or trusts
hereunder separate and apart from any trust or trusts hereunder administered by
any other such Trustee; and upon the execution and delivery of such supplemental
indenture the resignation or removal of the retiring Trustee shall become
effective to the extent provided therein and each such successor Trustee,
without any further act, deed or conveyance, shall become vested with all the
rights, powers, trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee with respect to the
Securities of that or those series to which the appointment of such successor
Trustee relates; but, on request of the Company or any successor Trustee, such
retiring Trustee shall duly assign, transfer and deliver to such successor
Trustee all property and money held by such retiring Trustee hereunder with
respect to the Securities of that or those series to which the appointment of
such successor Trustee relates.
Upon request of any such successor Trustee, the Company shall
execute any and all instruments for more fully and certainly vesting in and
confirming to such successor Trustee all such rights, powers and trusts referred
to in the first or second preceding paragraph, as the case may be.
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No successor Trustee shall accept its appointment unless at
the time of such acceptance such successor Trustee shall be qualified and
eligible under this Article.
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SECTION 6.12 MERGER, CONVERSION, CONSOLIDATION OR SUCCESSION TO BUSINESS.
Any corporation into which the Trustee may be merged or
converted or with which it may be consolidated, or any corporation resulting
from any merger, conversion or consolidation to which the Trustee shall be a
party, or any corporation succeeding to all or substantially all the corporate
trust business of the Trustee, shall be the successor of the Trustee hereunder,
provided such corporation shall be otherwise qualified and eligible under this
Article, without the execution or filing of any paper or any further act on the
part of any of the parties hereto. In case any Securities shall have been
authenticated, but not delivered, by the Trustee then in office, any successor
by merger, conversion or consolidation to such authenticating Trustee may adopt
such authentication and deliver the Securities so authenticated with the same
effect as if such successor Trustee had itself authenticated such Securities.
SECTION 6.13 PREFERENTIAL COLLECTION OF CLAIMS AGAINST COMPANY.
If and when the Trustee shall be or become a creditor of the
Company (or any other obligor upon the Securities), the Trustee shall be subject
to the provisions of the Trust Indenture Act regarding the collection of claims
against the Company (or any such other obligor).
SECTION 6.14 APPOINTMENT OF AUTHENTICATING AGENT.
The Trustee may appoint an Authenticating Agent or Agents with
respect to one or more series of Securities which shall be authorized to act on
behalf of the Trustee to authenticate Securities of such series issued upon
original issue and upon exchange, registration of transfer or partial redemption
thereof or pursuant to Section 3.6, and Securities so authenticated shall be
entitled to the benefits of this Indenture and shall be valid and obligatory for
all purposes as if authenticated by the Trustee hereunder. Wherever reference is
made in this Indenture to the authentication and delivery of Securities by the
Trustee or the Trustee's certificate of authentication, such reference shall be
deemed to include authentication and delivery on behalf of the Trustee by an
Authenticating Agent and a certificate of authentication executed on behalf of
the Trustee by an Authenticating Agent. Each Authenticating Agent shall be
acceptable to the Company and shall at all times be a corporation organized and
doing business under the laws of the United States of America, any State thereof
or the District of Columbia, authorized under such laws to act as Authenticating
Agent, having (or if the Authenticating Agent is a member of a bank holding
company system, its bank holding company has) a combined capital and surplus of
not less than
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$50,000,000 and subject to supervision or examination by Federal or State
authority. If such Authenticating Agent publishes reports of condition at
least annually, pursuant to law or to the requirements of said supervising or
examining authority, then for the purposes of this Section, the combined
capital and surplus of such Authenticating Agent shall be deemed to be its
combined capital and surplus as set forth in its most recent report of
condition so published. If at any time an Authenticating Agent shall cease to
be eligible in accordance with the provisions of this Section, such
Authenticating Agent shall resign immediately in the manner and with the
effect specified in this Section.
Any corporation into which an Authenticating Agent may be
merged or converted or with which it may be consolidated, or any corporation
resulting from any merger, conversion or consolidation to which such
Authenticating Agent shall be a party, or any corporation succeeding to the
corporate agency or corporate trust business of an Authenticating Agent, shall
continue to be an Authenticating Agent, provided such corporation shall be
otherwise eligible under this Section, without the execution or filing of any
paper or any further act on the part of the Trustee or the Authenticating Agent.
An Authenticating Agent may resign at any time by giving
written notice thereof to the Trustee and to the Company. The Trustee may at any
time terminate the agency of an Authenticating Agent by giving written notice
thereof to such Authenticating Agent and to the Company. Upon receiving such a
notice of resignation or upon such a termination, or in case at any time such
Authenticating Agent shall cease to be eligible in accordance with the
provisions of this Section, the Trustee may appoint a successor Authenticating
Agent which shall be acceptable to the Company and shall give notice of such
appointment in the manner provided in Section 1.6 to all Holders of Securities
of the series with respect to which such Authenticating Agent will serve. Any
successor Authenticating Agent upon acceptance of its appointment hereunder
shall become vested with all the rights, powers and duties of its predecessor
hereunder, with like effect as if originally named as an Authenticating Agent.
No successor Authenticating Agent shall be appointed unless eligible under the
provisions of this Section.
The Trustee agrees to pay to each Authenticating Agent from
time to time reasonable compensation for its services under this Section, and
the Trustee shall be entitled to be reimbursed for such payments, subject to the
provisions of Section 6.7.
If an appointment with respect to one or more series is made
pursuant to this Section 6.12, the Securities of such series may have endorsed
thereon, in addition
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to the Trustee's certificate of authentication, an alternative certificate of
authentication in the following form:
This is one of the Securities of the series designated therein
referred to in the within-mentioned Indenture.
[____________________],
as Trustee
By:_______________________
As Authenticating Agent
By:_______________________
Authorized Officer
ARTICLE VII
HOLDERS' LISTS AND REPORTS BY TRUSTEE AND COMPANY
SECTION 7.1 COMPANY TO FURNISH TRUSTEE NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF HOLDERS.
The Company will furnish or cause to be furnished to the
Trustee:
(1) semi-annually, not later than 15 days after the
Regular Record Date, a list, in such form as the Trustee may reasonably
require, of the names and addresses of the Holders of Securities of
each series as of such Regular Record Date, as the case may be; and
(2) at such other times as the Trustee may request in
writing, within 30 days after the receipt by the Company of any such
request, a list of similar form and content as of a date not more than
15 days prior to the time such list is furnished; provided that no such
list need be furnished by the Company to the Trustee so long as the
Trustee is acting as Security Registrar.
SECTION 7.2 PRESERVATION OF INFORMATION; COMMUNICATIONS TO HOLDERS.
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The Trustee shall preserve, in as current a form as is
reasonably practicable, the names and addresses of Holders contained in the
most recent list furnished to the Trustee as provided in Section 7.1 and the
names and addresses of Holders received by the Trustee in its capacity as
Security Registrar. The Trustee may destroy any list furnished to it as
provided in Section 7.1 upon receipt of a new list so furnished.
The rights of Holders to communicate with other Holders with
respect to their rights under this Indenture or under the Securities, and the
corresponding rights and privileges of the Trustee, shall be as provided by the
Trust Indenture Act.
Every Holder of Securities, by receiving and holding the same,
agrees with the Company and the Trustee that neither the Company nor the Trustee
nor any agent of either of them shall be held accountable by reason of any
disclosure of information as to names and addresses of Holders made pursuant to
the Trust Indenture Act.
SECTION 7.3 REPORTS BY TRUSTEE.
The Trustee shall transmit to Holders such reports concerning
the Trustee and its actions under this Indenture as may be required pursuant to
the Trust Indenture Act at the times and in the manner provided pursuant
thereto.
Reports so required to be transmitted at stated intervals of
not more than 12 months shall be transmitted no later than July 1 in each
calendar year, commencing with the first July 1 after the first issuance of
Securities pursuant to this Indenture.
A copy of each such report shall, at the time of such
transmission to Holders, be filed by the Trustee with each stock exchange upon
which any Securities are listed, with the Commission and with the Company. The
Company will notify the Trustee when any Securities are listed on any stock
exchange.
SECTION 7.4 REPORTS BY COMPANY.
The Company shall file with the Trustee and the Commission,
and transmit to Holders, such information, documents and other reports, and such
summaries thereof, as may be required pursuant to the Trust Indenture Act at the
times and in the manner provided pursuant to the Trust Indenture Act; provided
that any such information, documents or reports required to be filed with the
Commission pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act shall be filed
with the Trustee within 15 days after the same is so required to be filed with
the Commission.
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ARTICLE VIII
CONSOLIDATION, MERGER, CONVEYANCE, TRANSFER OR LEASE
SECTION 8.1 COMPANY MAY CONSOLIDATE, ETC., ONLY ON CERTAIN TERMS.
The Company shall not consolidate with or merge into any other
Person (in a transaction in which the Company is not the surviving corporation)
or convey, transfer or lease its properties and assets substantially as an
entirety to any Person, unless:
(1) in case the Company shall consolidate with or
merge into another Person (in a transaction in which the Company is not
the surviving corporation) or convey, transfer or lease its properties
and assets substantially as an entirety to any Person, the Person
formed by such consolidation or into which the Company is merged or the
Person which acquires by conveyance or transfer, or which leases, the
properties and assets of the Company substantially as an entirety shall
be a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or trust,
shall be organized and validly existing under the laws of the United
States of America, any State thereof or the District of Columbia and
shall expressly assume, by an indenture supplemental hereto, executed
and delivered to the Trustee, in form satisfactory to the Trustee, the
due and punctual payment of the principal of and any premium and
interest on all the Securities and the performance or observance of
every covenant of this Indenture on the part of the Company to be
performed or observed and the conversion rights shall be provided for
in accordance with Article 14, if applicable, or as otherwise specified
pursuant to Section 3.1, by supplemental indenture satisfactory in form
to the Trustee, executed and delivered to the Trustee, by the Person
(if other than the Company) formed by such consolidation or into which
the Company shall have been merged or by the Person which shall have
acquired the Company's assets;
(2) immediately after giving effect to such
transaction and treating any indebtedness which becomes an obligation
of the Company or any Subsidiary as a result of such transaction as
having been incurred by the Company or such Subsidiary at the time of
such
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transaction, no Event of Default, and no event which, after notice or
lapse of time or both, would become an Event of Default, shall have
happened and be continuing; and
(3) the Company has delivered to the Trustee an
Officers' Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel, each stating that such
consolidation, merger, conveyance, transfer or lease and, if a
supplemental indenture is required in connection with such transaction,
such supplemental indenture comply with this Article and that all
conditions precedent herein provided for relating to such transaction
have been complied with.
SECTION 8.2 SUCCESSOR SUBSTITUTED.
Upon any consolidation of the Company with, or merger of the
Company into, any other Person or any conveyance, transfer or lease of the
properties and assets of the Company substantially as an entirety in accordance
with Section 8.1, the successor Person formed by such consolidation or into
which the Company is merged or to which such conveyance, transfer or lease is
made shall succeed to, and be substituted for, and may exercise every right and
power of, the Company under this Indenture with the same effect as if such
successor Person had been named as the Company herein, and thereafter, except in
the case of a lease, the predecessor Person shall be relieved of all obligations
and covenants under this Indenture and the Securities.
ARTICLE IX
SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES
SECTION 9.1 SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES WITHOUT CONSENT OF HOLDERS.
Without the consent of any Holders, the Company, when
authorized by a Board Resolution, and the Trustee, at any time and from time to
time, may enter into one or more indentures supplemental hereto, in form
satisfactory to the Trustee, for any of the following purposes:
(1) to evidence the succession of another Person to
the Company, or successive successions, and the assumption by any
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such successor of the covenants of the Company herein and in the
Securities; or
(2) to add to the covenants of the Company for the
benefit of the Holders of all or any series of Securities (and if such
covenants are to be for the benefit of less than all series of
Securities, stating that such covenants are expressly being included
solely for the benefit of such series) or to surrender any right or
power herein conferred upon the Company; or
(3) to add any additional Events of Default for the
benefit of the Holders of all or any series of Securities (and if such
additional Events of Default are to be for the benefit of less than all
series of Securities, stating that such additional Events of Default
are expressly being included solely for the benefit of such series); or
(4) to add to or change any of the provisions of this
Indenture to such extent as shall be necessary to permit or facilitate
the issuance of Securities in bearer form, registrable or not
registrable as to principal, and with or without interest coupons, or
to permit or facilitate the issuance of Securities in uncertificated
form; or
(5) to add to, change or eliminate any of the
provisions of this Indenture in respect of one or more series of
Securities, provided that any such addition, change or elimination (A)
shall neither (i) apply to any Security of any series created prior to
the execution of such supplemental indenture and entitled to the
benefit of such provision nor (ii) modify the rights of the Holder of
any such Security with respect to such provision or (B) shall become
effective only when there is no such Security Outstanding; or
(6) to secure the Securities; or
(7) to establish the form or terms of Securities of
any series as permitted by Sections 2.1 and 3.1; or
(8) to evidence and provide for the acceptance of
appointment hereunder by a successor Trustee with respect to the
Securities of one or more series and to add to or change any of the
provisions of this Indenture as shall be necessary to provide for or
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facilitate the administration of the trusts hereunder by more than one
Trustee, pursuant to the requirements of Section 6.11; or
(9) to make provision with respect to the conversion
rights of Holders pursuant to the requirements of Article 14, including
providing for the conversion of the securities into any security (other
than the Common Stock of the Company) or property of the Company;
or
(10) to cure any ambiguity, to correct or supplement
any provision herein which may be defective or inconsistent with any
other provision herein, or to make any other provisions with respect to
matters or questions arising under this Indenture, provided that such
action pursuant to this Clause (10) shall not adversely affect the
interests of the Holders of Securities of any series in any material
respect; or
(11) to supplement any of the provisions of the
Indenture to such extent as shall be necessary to permit or facilitate
the defeasance and discharge of any series of Securities pursuant to
Articles Four and Thirteen, provided that any such action shall not
adversely affect the interests of the Holders of Securities of such
series or any other series of Securities in any material respect.
SECTION 9.2 SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES WITH CONSENT OF HOLDERS.
With the consent of the Holders of a majority in principal
amount of the Outstanding Securities of each series affected by such
supplemental indenture, by Act of said Holders delivered to the Company and the
Trustee, the Company, when authorized by a Board Resolution, and the Trustee may
enter into an indenture or indentures supplemental hereto for the purpose of
adding any provisions to or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the
provisions of this Indenture or of modifying in any manner the rights of the
Holders of Securities of such series under this Indenture; provided, however,
that no such supplemental indenture shall, without the consent of the Holder of
each Outstanding Security affected thereby,
(1) change the Stated Maturity of the principal of,
or any installment of principal of or interest on, any Security, or
reduce the principal amount thereof or the rate of interest thereon or
any premium payable upon the redemption thereof, or reduce the amount
of the principal of an Original Issue Discount Security or any other
Security
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which would be due and payable upon a declaration of acceleration of
the Maturity thereof pursuant to Section 5.2, or change any Place of
Payment where, or the coin or currency in which, any Security or any
premium or interest thereon is payable, or impair the right to
institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment on or after
the Stated Maturity thereof (or, in the case of redemption, on or
after the Redemption Date), or
(2) reduce the percentage in principal amount of the
Outstanding Securities of any series, the consent of whose Holders is
required for any such supplemental indenture, or the consent of whose
Holders is required for any waiver (of compliance with certain
provisions of this Indenture or certain defaults hereunder and their
consequences) provided for in this Indenture, or
(3) modify any of the provisions of this Section,
Section 5.13 or Section 10.06, except to increase any such percentage
or to provide that certain other provisions of this Indenture cannot be
modified or waived without the consent of the Holder of each
Outstanding Security affected thereby; provided, however, that this
clause shall not be deemed to require the consent of any Holder with
respect to changes in the references to "the Trustee" and concomitant
changes in this Section and Section 10.6, or the deletion of this
proviso, in accordance with the requirements of Sections 6.11 and
9.1(8), or
(4) if applicable, make any change that adversely
affects the right to convert any security as provided in Article 14 or
pursuant to Section 3.1 (except as permitted by Section 9.1(9)) or
decrease the conversion rate or increase the conversion price of any
such security. A supplemental indenture which changes or eliminates any
covenant or other provision of this Indenture which has expressly been
included solely for the benefit of one or more particular series of
Securities, or which modifies the rights of the Holders of Securities
of such series with respect to such covenant or other provision, shall
be deemed not to affect the rights under this Indenture of the Holders
of Securities of any other series.
It shall not be necessary for any Act of Holders under this Section to approve
the particular form of any proposed supplemental indenture, but it shall be
sufficient if such Act shall approve the substance thereof.
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SECTION 9.3 EXECUTION OF SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES.
In executing, or accepting the additional trusts created
by, any supplemental indenture permitted by this Article or the modifications
thereby of the trusts created by this Indenture, the Trustee shall be
entitled to receive, and (subject to Sections 6.1 and 6.3) shall be fully
protected in relying upon, an Opinion of Counsel stating that the execution
of such supplemental indenture is authorized or permitted by this Indenture.
The Trustee may, but shall not be obligated to, enter into any such
supplemental indenture which affects the Trustee's own rights, duties or
immunities under this Indenture or otherwise.
SECTION 9.4 EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES.
Upon the execution of any supplemental indenture under this
Article, this Indenture shall be modified in accordance therewith, and such
supplemental indenture shall form a part of this Indenture for all purposes; and
every Holder of Securities theretofore or thereafter authenticated and delivered
hereunder shall be bound thereby.
SECTION 9.5 CONFORMITY WITH TRUST INDENTURE ACT.
Every supplemental indenture executed pursuant to this Article
shall conform to the requirements of the Trust Indenture Act.
SECTION 9.6 REFERENCE IN SECURITIES TO SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES.
Securities of any series authenticated and delivered after the
execution of any supplemental indenture pursuant to this Article may, and shall
if required by the Trustee, bear a notation in form approved by the Trustee as
to any matter provided for in such supplemental indenture. If the Company shall
so determine, new Securities of any series so modified as to conform, in the
opinion of the Trustee and the Company, to any such supplemental indenture may
be prepared and executed by the Company and authenticated and delivered by the
Trustee in exchange for Outstanding Securities of such series.
ARTICLE X
COVENANTS
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SECTION 10.1 PAYMENT OF PRINCIPAL, PREMIUM AND INTEREST.
The Company covenants and agrees for the benefit of each
series of Securities that it will duly and punctually pay the principal of and
any premium and interest on the Securities of that series in accordance with the
terms of the Securities and this Indenture.
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SECTION 10.2 MAINTENANCE OF OFFICE OR AGENCY.
The Company will maintain in each Place of Payment for any
series of Securities an office or agency where Securities of that series may be
presented or surrendered for payment, where Securities of that series may be
surrendered for registration of transfer or exchange, where Securities of that
series may be surrendered for conversion and where notices and demands to or
upon the Company in respect of the Securities of that series and this Indenture
may be served. The Company will give prompt written notice to the Trustee of the
location, and any change in the location, of such office or agency. If at any
time the Company shall fail to maintain any such required office or agency or
shall fail to furnish the Trustee with the address thereof, such presentations,
surrenders, notices and demands may be made or served at the Corporate Trust
Office of the Trustee, and the Company hereby appoints the Trustee as its agent
to receive all such presentations, surrenders, notices and demands. Unless
otherwise provided in a supplemental indenture or pursuant to Section 3.1
hereof, the Place of Payment for any series of Securities shall be the Corporate
Trust Office of the Trustee.
The Company may also from time to time designate one or more
other offices or agencies where the Securities of one or more series may be
presented or surrendered for any or all such purposes and may from time to time
rescind such designations; provided, however, that no such designation or
rescission shall in any manner relieve the Company of its obligation to maintain
an office or agency in each Place of Payment for Securities of any series for
such purposes. The Company will give prompt written notice to the Trustee of any
such designation or rescission and of any change in the location of any such
other office or agency.
SECTION 10.3 MONEY FOR SECURITIES PAYMENTS TO BE HELD IN TRUST.
If the Company shall at any time act as its own Paying Agent
with respect to any series of Securities, it will, on or before each due date of
the principal of or any premium or interest on any of the Securities of that
series, segregate and hold in trust for the benefit of the Persons entitled
thereto a sum sufficient to pay the principal and any premium and interest so
becoming due until such sums shall be paid to such Persons or otherwise disposed
of as herein provided and will promptly notify the Trustee of its action or
failure so to act.
Whenever the Company shall have one or more Paying Agents for
any series of Securities, it will, on or prior to each due date of the principal
of or any premium or interest on any Securities of that series, deposit with a
Paying Agent a sum
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sufficient to pay such amount, such sum to be held as provided by the Trust
Indenture Act, and (unless such Paying Agent is the Trustee) the Company will
promptly notify the Trustee of its action or failure so to act.
The Company will cause each Paying Agent for any series of
Securities other than the Trustee to execute and deliver to the Trustee an
instrument in which such Paying Agent shall agree with the Trustee, subject to
the provisions of this Section, that such Paying Agent will (1) comply with the
provisions of the Trust Indenture Act applicable to it as a Paying Agent and (2)
during the continuance of any default by the Company (or any other obligor upon
the Securities of that series) in the making of any payment in respect of the
Securities of that series, upon the written request of the Trustee, forthwith
pay to the Trustee all sums held in trust by such Paying Agent for payment in
respect of the Securities of that series.
The Company may at any time, for the purpose of obtaining the
satisfaction and discharge of this Indenture or for any other purpose, pay, or
by Company Order direct any Paying Agent to pay, to the Trustee all sums held in
trust by the Company or such Paying Agent, such sums to be held by the Trustee
upon the same trusts as those upon which such sums were held by the Company or
such Paying Agent; and, upon such payment by any Paying Agent to the Trustee,
such Paying Agent shall be released from all further liability with respect to
such money.
Any money deposited with the Trustee or any Paying Agent, or
then held by the Company, in trust for the payment of the principal of or any
premium or interest on any Security of any series and remaining unclaimed for a
period ending on the earlier of the date that is ten Business Days prior to the
date such money would escheat to the State or two years after such principal,
premium or interest has become due and payable shall be paid to the Company on
Company Request, or (if then held by the Company) shall be discharged from such
trust; and the Holder of such Security shall thereafter, as an unsecured general
creditor, look only to the Company for payment thereof, and all liability of the
Trustee or such Paying Agent with respect to such trust money, and all liability
of the Company as trustee thereof, shall thereupon cease; provided, however,
that the Trustee or such Paying Agent, before being required to make any such
repayment, may at the expense of the Company cause to be published once, in a
newspaper published in the English language, customarily published on each
Business Day and of general circulation in each Place of Payment, notice that
such money remains unclaimed and that, after a date specified therein, which
shall not be less than 30 days from the date of such publication, any unclaimed
balance of such money then remaining will be repaid to the Company.
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SECTION 10.4 STATEMENT BY OFFICERS AS TO DEFAULT.
The Company will deliver to the Trustee, within 120 days after
the end of each fiscal year of the Company ending after the date hereof, an
Officers' Certificate, stating whether or not to the best knowledge of the
signers thereof the Company is in default in the performance and observance of
any of the terms, provisions and conditions of this Indenture (without regard to
any period of grace or requirement of notice provided hereunder) and, if the
Company shall be in default, specifying all such defaults and the nature and
status thereof of which they may have knowledge. The fiscal year of the Company
currently ends on December 31; and the Company will give the Trustee prompt
written notice of any change of its fiscal year.
SECTION 10.5 EXISTENCE.
Subject to Article 8, the Company will do or cause to be done
all things necessary to preserve and keep in full force and effect its
existence.
SECTION 10.6 WAIVER OF CERTAIN COVENANTS.
Except as otherwise specified as contemplated by Section 3.1
for Securities of such series, the Company may, with respect to the Securities
of any series, omit in any particular instance to comply with any term,
provision or condition set forth in any covenant provided pursuant to Section
3.1(19) or 9.1(2) for the benefit of the Holders of such series if before the
time for such compliance the Holders of at least a majority in principal amount
of the Outstanding Securities of such series shall, by Act of such Holders,
either waive such compliance in such instance or generally waive compliance with
such term, provision or condition, but no such waiver shall extend to or affect
such term, provision or condition except to the extent so expressly waived, and,
until such waiver shall become effective, the obligations of the Company and the
duties of the Trustee in respect of any such term, provision or condition shall
remain in full force and effect.
ARTICLE XI
REDEMPTION OF SECURITIES
SECTION 11.1 APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE.
Securities of any series which are redeemable before their
Stated Maturity shall be redeemable in accordance with their terms and (except
as otherwise
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specified as contemplated by Section 3.1 for such Securities) in accordance with
this Article.
SECTION 11.2 ELECTION TO REDEEM; NOTICE TO TRUSTEE.
The election of the Company to redeem any Securities shall be
evidenced by a Board Resolution or in another manner specified as contemplated
by Section 3.1 for such Securities. In case of any redemption at the election of
the Company of less than all the Securities of any series (including any such
redemption affecting only a single Security), the Company shall, at least 45
days prior to the Redemption Date fixed by the Company (unless a shorter notice
shall be satisfactory to the Trustee), notify the Trustee of such Redemption
Date, of the principal amount of Securities of such series to be redeemed and,
if applicable, of the tenor of the Securities to be redeemed. In the case of any
redemption of Securities prior to the expiration of any restriction on such
redemption provided in the terms of such Securities or elsewhere in this
Indenture, the Company shall furnish the Trustee with an Officers' Certificate
evidencing compliance with such restriction.
SECTION 11.3 SELECTION BY TRUSTEE OF SECURITIES TO BE REDEEMED.
If less than all the Securities of any series are to be
redeemed (unless all the Securities of such series and of a specified tenor are
to be redeemed or unless such redemption affects only a single Security), the
particular Securities to be redeemed shall be selected not more than 45 days
prior to the Redemption Date by the Trustee, from the Outstanding Securities of
such series not previously called for redemption, by lot, or in the Trustee's
discretion, on a pro-rata basis, provided that the unredeemed portion of the
principal amount of any Security shall be in an authorized denomination (which
shall not be less than the minimum authorized denomination) for such Security.
If less than all the Securities of such series and of a specified tenor are to
be redeemed (unless such redemption affects only a single Security), the
particular Securities to be redeemed shall be selected not more than 45 days
prior to the Redemption Date by the Trustee, from the Outstanding Securities of
such series and specified tenor not previously called for redemption in
accordance with the preceding sentence.
If any Security selected for partial redemption is converted
in part before termination of the conversion right with respect to the portion
of the Security so selected, the converted portion of such Security shall be
deemed (so far as may be) to be the portion selected for redemption. Securities
which have been converted during a selection of Securities to be redeemed shall
be treated by the Trustee as Outstanding for the purpose of such selection.
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The Trustee shall promptly notify the Company in writing of
the Securities selected for redemption as aforesaid and, in case of any
Securities selected for partial redemption as aforesaid, the principal amount
thereof to be redeemed.
The provisions of the two preceding paragraphs shall not apply
with respect to any redemption affecting only a single Security, whether such
Security is to be redeemed in whole or in part. In the case of any such
redemption in part, the unredeemed portion of the principal amount of the
Security shall be in an authorized denomination (which shall not be less than
the minimum authorized denomination) for such Security.
For all purposes of this Indenture, unless the context
otherwise requires, all provisions relating to the redemption of Securities
shall relate, in the case of any Securities redeemed or to be redeemed only in
part, to the portion of the principal amount of such Securities which has been
or is to be redeemed.
SECTION 11.4 NOTICE OF REDEMPTION.
Notice of redemption shall be given by first-class mail,
postage prepaid, mailed not less than 30 nor more than 60 days prior to the
Redemption Date, unless a shorter period is specified in the Securities to be
redeemed, to each Holder of Securities to be redeemed, at its address appearing
in the Security Register.
All notices of redemption shall state:
(1) the Redemption Date,
(2) the Redemption Price (including accrued
interest, if any),
(3) if less than all the Outstanding Securities of
any series consisting of more than a single Security are to be
redeemed, the identification (and, in the case of partial redemption of
any such Securities, the principal amounts) of the particular
Securities to be redeemed and, if less than all the Outstanding
Securities of any series consisting of a single Security are to be
redeemed, the principal amount of the particular Security to be
redeemed,
(4) that on the Redemption Date the Redemption Price
will become due and payable upon each such Security to be
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redeemed and, if applicable, that interest thereon will cease to
accrue on and after said date,
(5) the place or places where each such Security is
to be surrendered for payment of the Redemption Price,
(6) if applicable, the conversion price, the date on
which the right to convert the principal of the Securities or the
portions thereof to be redeemed will terminate, and the place or places
where such Securities may be surrendered for conversion, and
(7) that the redemption is for a sinking fund, if
such is the case.
Notice of redemption of Securities to be redeemed at the
election of the Company shall be given by the Company or, at the Company's
request, by the Trustee in the name and at the expense of the Company and shall
be irrevocable.
SECTION 11.5 DEPOSIT OF REDEMPTION PRICE.
On or prior to any Redemption Date, the Company shall deposit
with the Trustee or with a Paying Agent (or, if the Company is acting as its own
Paying Agent, segregate and hold in trust as provided in Section 10.3) an amount
of money sufficient to pay the Redemption Price of, and (except if the
Redemption Date shall be an Interest Payment Date) accrued interest on, all the
Securities which are to be redeemed on that date.
If any Security called for redemption is converted, any money
deposited with the Trustee or with a Paying Agent or so segregated and held in
trust for the redemption of such Security shall (subject to the right of any
Holder of such Security to receive interest as provided in the last paragraph of
Section 3.7) be paid to the Company on Company Request, or if then held by the
Company, shall be discharged from such trust.
SECTION 11.6 SECURITIES PAYABLE ON REDEMPTION DATE.
Notice of redemption having been given as aforesaid, the
Securities so to be redeemed shall, on the Redemption Date, become due and
payable at the Redemption Price therein specified, and from and after such date
(unless the Company shall default in the payment of the Redemption Price and
accrued interest) such Securities shall cease to bear interest. Upon surrender
of any such Security for
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redemption in accordance with said notice, such Security shall be paid by the
Company at the Redemption Price, together with accrued interest to the
Redemption Date; provided, however, that, unless otherwise specified as
contemplated by Section 3.1, installments of interest whose Stated Maturity
is on or prior to the Redemption Date will be payable to the Holders of such
Securities, or one or more Predecessor Securities, registered as such at the
close of business on the relevant Record Dates according to their terms and
the provisions of Section 3.7.
If any Security called for redemption shall not be so paid
upon surrender thereof for redemption, the principal and any premium shall,
until paid, bear interest from the Redemption Date at the rate prescribed
therefor in the Security.
SECTION 11.7 SECURITIES REDEEMED IN PART.
Any Security which is to be redeemed only in part shall be
surrendered at a Place of Payment therefor (with, if the Company or the Trustee
so requires, due endorsement by, or a written instrument of transfer in form
satisfactory to the Company and the Trustee duly executed by, the Holder thereof
or its attorney duly authorized in writing), and the Company shall execute, and
the Trustee shall authenticate and deliver to the Holder of such Security
without service charge, a new Security or Securities of the same series and of
like tenor, of any authorized denomination as requested by such Holder, in
aggregate principal amount equal to and in exchange for the unredeemed portion
of the principal of the Security so surrendered.
ARTICLE XII
SINKING FUNDS
SECTION 12.1 APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE.
The provisions of this Article shall be applicable to any
sinking fund for the retirement of Securities of any series except as otherwise
specified as contemplated by Section 3.1 for such Securities.
The minimum amount of any sinking fund payment provided for by
the terms of any Securities is herein referred to as a "mandatory sinking fund
payment," and any payment in excess of such minimum amount provided for by the
terms of such Securities is herein referred to as an "optional sinking fund
payment." If provided for by the terms of any Securities, the cash amount of any
sinking fund payment may be
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subject to reduction as provided in Section 12.2. Each sinking fund payment
shall be applied to the redemption of Securities as provided for by the terms
of such Securities.
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SECTION 12.2 SATISFACTION OF SINKING FUND PAYMENTS WITH SECURITIES.
The Company (1) may deliver Outstanding Securities of a series
(other than any previously called for redemption) and (2) may apply as a credit
Securities of a series which have been redeemed either at the election of the
Company pursuant to the terms of such Securities or through the application of
permitted optional sinking fund payments pursuant to the terms of such
Securities, in each case in satisfaction of all or any part of any sinking fund
payment with respect to any Securities of such series required to be made
pursuant to the terms of such Securities as and to the extent provided for by
the terms of such Securities; provided that the Securities to be so credited
have not been previously so credited. The Securities to be so credited shall be
received and credited for such purpose by the Trustee at the Redemption Price,
as specified in the Securities so to be redeemed, for redemption through
operation of the sinking fund and the amount of such sinking fund payment shall
be reduced accordingly.
SECTION 12.3 REDEMPTION OF SECURITIES FOR SINKING FUND.
Not less than 60 days prior to each sinking fund payment date
for any Securities, the Company will deliver to the Trustee an Officers'
Certificate specifying the amount of the next ensuing sinking fund payment for
such Securities pursuant to the terms of such Securities, the portion thereof,
if any, which is to be satisfied by payment of cash and the portion thereof, if
any, which is to be satisfied by delivering and crediting Securities pursuant to
Section 12.2 and will also deliver to the Trustee any Securities to be so
delivered. Not less than 30 days prior to each such sinking fund payment date,
the Trustee shall select the Securities to be redeemed upon such sinking fund
payment date in the manner specified in Section 11.3 and cause notice of the
redemption thereof to be given in the name of and at the expense of the Company
in the manner provided in Section 11.4. Such notice having been duly given, the
redemption of such Securities shall be made upon the terms and in the manner
stated in Sections 11.6 and 11.7.
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ARTICLE XIII
DEFEASANCE AND COVENANT DEFEASANCE
SECTION 13.1 COMPANY'S OPTION TO EFFECT DEFEASANCE OR COVENANT DEFEASANCE.
The Company may elect, at its option at any time, to have
Section 13.2 or Section 13.3 applied to any Securities or any series of
Securities, as the case may be, designated pursuant to Section 3.1 as being
defeasible pursuant to such Section 13.2 or 13.3, in accordance with any
applicable requirements provided pursuant to Section 3.1 and upon compliance
with the conditions set forth below in this Article. Any such election shall be
evidenced by a Board Resolution or in another manner specified as contemplated
by Section 3.1 for such Securities.
SECTION 13.2 DEFEASANCE AND DISCHARGE.
Upon the Company's exercise of its option (if any) to have
this Section applied to any Securities or any series of Securities, as the case
may be, the Company shall be deemed to have been discharged from its obligations
with respect to such Securities as provided in this Section on and after the
date the conditions set forth in Section 13.4 are satisfied (hereinafter called
"Defeasance"). For this purpose, such Defeasance means that the Company shall be
deemed to have paid and discharged the entire indebtedness represented by such
Securities and to have satisfied all its other obligations under such Securities
and this Indenture insofar as such Securities are concerned (and the Trustee, at
the expense of the Company, shall execute proper instruments acknowledging the
same), subject to the following which shall survive until otherwise terminated
or discharged hereunder:
(1) the rights of Holders of such Securities to
receive, solely from the trust fund described in Section 13.4
and as more fully set forth in such Section, payments in
respect of the principal of and any premium and interest on
such Securities when payments are due;
(2) the Company's obligations with respect to such
Securities under Sections 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 10.2 and 10.3, and,
if applicable, Article 14;
(3) the rights, powers, trusts, duties and immunities
of the Trustee hereunder; and
(4) this Article.
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Subject to compliance with this Article, the Company may
exercise its option (if any) to have this Section applied to any Securities
notwithstanding the prior exercise of its option (if any) to have Section 13.3
applied to such Securities.
SECTION 13.3 COVENANT DEFEASANCE.
Upon the Company's exercise of its option (if any) to have
this Section applied to any Securities or any series of Securities, as the case
may be:
(1) the Company shall be released from its
obligations under any covenants provided pursuant to Section 3.1(19)
or 9.1(2) or for the benefit of the Holders of such Securities; and
(2) the occurrence of any event specified in any
covenants provided pursuant to Section 3.1(19) or 9.1(2) shall be
deemed not to be or result in an Event of Default,
in each case with respect to such Securities as provided in this Section on and
after the date the conditions set forth in Section 13.4 are satisfied
(hereinafter called "Covenant Defeasance"). For this purpose, such Covenant
Defeasance means that, with respect to such Securities, the Company may omit to
comply with and shall have no liability in respect of any term, condition or
limitation set forth in any such specified Section (to the extent so specified
in the case of Section 5.1(4)), whether directly or indirectly by reason of any
reference elsewhere herein to any such Section or by reason of any reference in
any such Section to any other provision herein or in any other document, but the
remainder of this Indenture and such Securities shall be unaffected thereby.
SECTION 13.4 CONDITIONS TO DEFEASANCE OR COVENANT DEFEASANCE.
The following shall be the conditions to the application of
Section 13.2 or Section 13.3 to any Securities or any series of Securities, as
the case may be:
(1) The Company shall irrevocably have deposited or
caused to be deposited with the Trustee (or another trustee which
satisfies the requirements contemplated by Section 6.9 and agrees to
comply with the provisions of this Article applicable to it) as trust
funds in trust for the purpose of making the following payments,
specifically pledged as security for, and dedicated solely to, the
benefits of the Holders of such Securities, (A) money in an amount, or
(B) U.S.
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Government Obligations which through the scheduled payment of
principal and interest in respect thereof in accordance with their
will provide, not later than one day before the due date of any
payment, money in an amount, or (C) a combination thereof, in each case
sufficient, in the opinion of a nationally recognized firm of
independent public accountants expressed in a written certification
thereof delivered to the Trustee, to pay and discharge, and which shall
be applied by the Trustee (or any such other qualifying trustee) to pay
and discharge, the principal of and any premium and interest on such
Securities on the respective Stated Maturities, in accordance with the
terms of this Indenture and such Securities. As used herein, "U.S.
Government Obligation" means (x) any security which is (i) a direct
obligation of the United States of America for the payment of which the
full faith and credit of the United States of America is pledged or
(ii) an obligation of a Person controlled or supervised by and acting
as an agency or instrumentality of the United States of America the
payment of which is unconditionally guaranteed as a full faith and
credit obligation by the United States of America, which, in either
case (i) or (ii), is not callable or redeemable at the option of the
issuer thereof, and (y) any depositary receipt issued by a bank (as
defined in Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act) as custodian with
respect to any U.S. Government Obligation which is specified in Clause
(x) above and held by such bank for the account of the holder of such
depositary receipt, or with respect to any specific payment of
principal of or interest on any U.S. Government Obligation which is so
specified and held, provided that (except as required by law) such
custodian is not authorized to make any deduction from the amount
payable to the holder of such depositary receipt from any amount
received by the custodian in respect of the U.S. Government Obligation
or the specific payment of principal or interest evidenced by such
depositary receipt.
(2) In the event of an election to have Section 13.2
apply to any Securities or any series of Securities, as the case may
be, the Company shall have delivered to the Trustee an Opinion of
Counsel stating that (A) the Company has received from, or there has
been published by, the Internal Revenue Service a ruling or (B) since
the date of this instrument, there has been a change in the applicable
Federal income tax law, in either case (A) or (B) to the effect that,
and based thereon such opinion shall confirm that, the Holders of such
Securities will not recognize gain or loss for Federal income tax
purposes as a result of the deposit, Defeasance and discharge to be
effected with
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respect to such Securities and will be subject to Federal income tax
on the same amount, in the same manner and at the same times as would
be the case if such deposit, Defeasance and discharge were not to
occur.
(3) In the event of an election to have Section 13.3
apply to any Securities or any series of Securities, as the case may
be, the Company shall have delivered to the Trustee an Opinion of
Counsel to the effect that the Holders of such Securities will not
recognize gain or loss for Federal income tax purposes as a result of
the deposit and Covenant Defeasance to be effected with respect to such
Securities and will be subject to Federal income tax on the same
amount, in the same manner and at the same times as would be the case
if such deposit and Covenant Defeasance were not to occur.
(4) The Company shall have delivered to the Trustee
an Officers' Certificate to the effect that neither such Securities nor
any other Securities of the same series, if then listed on any
securities exchange, will be delisted as a result of such deposit.
(5) No event which is, or after notice or lapse of
time or both would become, an Event of Default with respect to such
Securities or any other Securities shall have occurred and be
continuing at the time of such deposit or, with regard to any such
event specified in Sections 5.1(5) and (6), at any time on or prior to
the 90th day after the date of such deposit (it being understood that
this condition shall not be deemed satisfied until after such 90th
day).
(6) Such Defeasance or Covenant Defeasance shall not
cause the Trustee to have a conflicting interest within the meaning of
the Trust Indenture Act (assuming all Securities are in default within
the meaning of such Act).
(7) Such Defeasance or Covenant Defeasance shall not
result in a breach or violation of, or constitute a default under, any
other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by
which it is bound.
(8) Such Defeasance or Covenant Defeasance shall not
result in the trust arising from such deposit constituting an
investment company within the meaning of the Investment Company
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Act unless such trust shall be registered under such Act or exempt from
registration thereunder.
(9) The Company shall have delivered to the Trustee
an Officers' Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel, each stating that
all conditions precedent with respect to such Defeasance or Covenant
Defeasance have been complied with.
SECTION 13.5 DEPOSITED MONEY AND U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS TO BE HELD IN
TRUST; MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
Subject to the provisions of the last paragraph of Section
10.3, all money and U.S. Government Obligations (including the proceeds thereof)
deposited with the Trustee or other qualifying trustee (solely for purposes of
this Section and Section 13.6, the Trustee and any such other trustee are
referred to collectively as the "Trustee") pursuant to Section 13.4 in respect
of any Securities shall be held in trust and applied by the Trustee, in
accordance with the provisions of such Securities and this Indenture, to the
payment, either directly or through any such Paying Agent (including the Company
acting as its own Paying Agent) as the Trustee may determine, to the Holders of
such Securities, of all sums due and to become due thereon in respect of
principal and any premium and interest, but money so held in trust need not be
segregated from other funds except to the extent required by law.
The Company shall pay and indemnify the Trustee against any
tax, fee or other charge imposed on or assessed against the U.S. Government
Obligations deposited pursuant to Section 13.4 or the principal and interest
received in respect thereof other than any such tax, fee or other charge which
by law is for the account of the Holders of Outstanding Securities.
Anything in this Article to the contrary notwithstanding, the
Trustee shall deliver or pay to the Company from time to time upon Company
Request any money or U.S. Government Obligations held by it as provided in
Section 13.4 with respect to any Securities which, in the opinion of a
nationally recognized firm of independent public accountants expressed in a
written certification thereof delivered to the Trustee, are in excess of the
amount thereof which would then be required to be deposited to effect the
Defeasance or Covenant Defeasance, as the case may be, with respect to such
Securities.
SECTION 13.6 REINSTATEMENT.
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If the Trustee or the Paying Agent is unable to apply any
money in accordance with this Article with respect to any Securities by
reason of any order or judgment of any court or governmental authority
enjoining, restraining or otherwise prohibiting such application, then the
obligations under this Indenture and such Securities from which the Company
has been discharged or released pursuant to Section 13.2 or 13.3 shall be
revived and reinstated as though no deposit had occurred pursuant to this
Article with respect to such Securities, until such time as the Trustee or
Paying Agent is permitted to apply all money held in trust pursuant to
Section 13.5 with respect to such Securities in accordance with this Article;
provided, however, that if the Company makes any payment of principal of or
any premium or interest on any such Security following such reinstatement of
its obligations, the Company shall be subrogated to the rights (if any) of
the Holders of such Securities to receive such payment from the money so held
in trust.
ARTICLE XIV
CONVERSION OF SECURITIES
SECTION 14.1 APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE.
The provisions of this Article shall be applicable to the
Securities of any series which are convertible into shares of Common Stock of
the Company, and the issuance of such shares of Common Stock upon the conversion
of such Securities, except as otherwise specified as contemplated by Section 3.1
for the Securities of such series.
SECTION 14.2 EXERCISE OF CONVERSION PRIVILEGE.
In order to exercise a conversion privilege, the Holder of a
Security of a series with such a privilege shall surrender such Security to the
Company at the office or agency maintained for that purpose pursuant to Section
10.2, accompanied by a duly executed conversion notice to the Company
substantially in the form set forth in Section 2.6 stating that the Holder
elects to convert such Security or a specified portion thereof. Such notice
shall also state, if different from the name and address of such Holder, the
name or names (with address) in which the certificate or certificates for shares
of Common Stock which shall be issuable on such conversion shall be issued.
Securities surrendered for conversion shall (if so required by the Company or
the Trustee) be duly endorsed by or accompanied by instruments of transfer in
forms satisfactory to the Company and the Trustee duly executed by the
registered Holder or its attorney duly authorized in writing; and Securities so
surrendered for conversion (in
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whole or in part) during the period from the close of business on any Regular
Record Date to the opening of business on the next succeeding Interest
Payment Date (excluding Securities or portions thereof called for redemption
during the period beginning at the close of business on a Regular Record Date
and ending at the opening of business on the first Business Day after the
next succeeding Interest Payment Date, or if such Interest Payment Date is
not a Business Day, the second such Business Day) shall also be accompanied
by payment in funds acceptable to the Company of an amount equal to the
interest payable on such Interest Payment Date on the principal amount of
such Security then being converted, and such interest shall be payable to
such registered Holder notwithstanding the conversion of such Security,
subject to the provisions of Section 3.7 relating to the payment of Defaulted
Interest by the Company. As promptly as practicable after the receipt of such
notice and of any payment required pursuant to a Board Resolution and,
subject to Section 3.3, set forth, or determined in the manner provided, in
an Officers' Certificate, or established in one or more indentures
supplemental hereto setting forth the terms of such series of Security, and
the surrender of such Security in accordance with such reasonable regulations
as the Company may prescribe, the Company shall issue and shall deliver, at
the office or agency at which such Security is surrendered, to such Holder or
on its written order, a certificate or certificates for the number of full
shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of such Security (or
specified portion thereof), in accordance with the provisions of such Board
Resolution, Officers' Certificate or supplemental indenture, and cash as
provided therein in respect of any fractional share of such Common Stock
otherwise issuable upon such conversion. Such conversion shall be deemed to
have been effected immediately prior to the close of business on the date on
which such notice and such payment, if required, shall have been received in
proper order for conversion by the Company and such Security shall have been
surrendered as aforesaid (unless such Holder shall have so surrendered such
Security and shall have instructed the Company to effect the conversion on a
particular date following such surrender and such Holder shall be entitled to
convert such Security on such date, in which case such conversion shall be
deemed to be effected immediately prior to the close of business on such
date) and at such time the rights of the Holder of such Security as such
Security Holder shall cease and the person or persons in whose name or names
any certificate or certificates for shares of Common Stock of the Company
shall be issuable upon such conversion shall be deemed to have become the
Holder or Holders of record of the shares represented thereby. Except as set
forth above and subject to the final paragraph of Section 3.7, no payment or
adjustment shall be made upon any conversion on account of any interest
accrued on the Securities (or any part thereof) surrendered for conversion or
on account of any dividends on the Common Stock of the Company issued upon
such conversion. In the case of any Security which is converted in part only,
upon such conversion the Company shall execute and the Trustee shall
authenticate and deliver to or on the order of the Holder thereof, at the
expense of the
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Company, a new Security or Securities of the same series, of authorized
denominations, in aggregate principal amount equal to the unconverted portion
of such Security.
SECTION 14.3 NO FRACTIONAL SHARES.
No fractional share of Common Stock of the Company shall be
issued upon conversions of Securities of any series. If more than one
Security shall be surrendered for conversion at one time by the same Holder,
the number of full shares which shall be issuable upon conversion shall be
computed on the basis of the aggregate principal amount of the Securities (or
specified portions thereof to the extent permitted hereby) so surrendered.
If, except for the provisions of this Section 14.3, any Holder of a Security
or Securities would be entitled to a fractional share of Common Stock of the
Company upon the conversion of such Security or Securities, or specified
portions thereof, the Company shall pay to such Holder an amount in cash
equal to the current market value of such fractional share computed, (i) if
such Common Stock is listed or admitted to unlisted trading privileges on a
national securities exchange or market, on the basis of the last reported
sale price on such exchange or market on the last trading day prior to the
date of conversion upon which such a sale shall have been effected, or (ii)
if such Common Stock is not at the time so listed or admitted to unlisted
trading privileges on a national securities exchange or market, on the basis
of the average of the bid and asked prices of such Common Stock in the
over-the-counter market, on the last trading day prior to the date of
conversion, as reported by the National Quotation Bureau, Incorporated or
similar organization if the National Quotation Bureau, Incorporated is no
longer reporting such information, or if not so available, the fair market
price as determined by the Board of Directors. For purposes of this Section,
"trading day" shall mean each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
other than any day on which the Common Stock is not traded on the New York
Stock Exchange, or if the Common Stock is not traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, on the principal exchange or market on which the Common Stock is
traded or quoted.
SECTION 14.4 ADJUSTMENT OF CONVERSION PRICE.
The conversion price of Securities of any series that is
convertible into Common Stock of the Company shall be adjusted for any stock
dividends, stock splits, reclassifications, combinations or similar transactions
in accordance with the terms of the supplemental indenture or Board Resolutions
setting forth the terms of the Securities of such series. Whenever the
conversion price is adjusted, the Company shall compute the adjusted conversion
price in accordance with terms of the applicable Board Resolution or
supplemental indenture and shall prepare an Officers' Certificate setting forth
the adjusted conversion price and showing in reasonable detail the facts
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upon which such adjustment is based, and such certificate shall forthwith be
filed at each office or agency maintained for the purpose of conversion of
Securities pursuant to Section 10.2 and, if different, with the Trustee. The
Company shall forthwith cause a notice setting forth the adjusted conversion
price to be mailed, first class postage prepaid, to each Holder of Securities
of such series at its address appearing on the Security Register and to any
conversion agent other than the Trustee.
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SECTION 14.5 NOTICE OF CERTAIN CORPORATE ACTIONS.
In case:
(1) the Company shall declare a dividend (or any
other distribution) on its Common Stock payable otherwise than in cash
out of its retained earnings (other than a dividend for which approval
of any shareholders of the Company is required) that would require an
adjustment pursuant to Section 14.4; or
(2) the Company shall authorize the granting to all
or substantially all of the holders of its Common Stock of rights,
options or warrants to subscribe for or purchase any shares of capital
stock of any class or of any other rights (other than any such grant
for which approval of any shareholders of the Company is required); or
(3) of any reclassification of the Common Stock of
the Company (other than a subdivision or combination of its outstanding
shares of Common Stock, or of any consolidation, merger or share
exchange to which the Company is a party and for which approval of any
shareholders of the Company is required), or of the sale of all or
substantially all of the assets of the Company; or
(4) of the voluntary or involuntary dissolution,
liquidation or winding up of the Company;
then the Company shall cause to be filed with the Trustee, and shall cause to be
mailed to all Holders at their last addresses as they shall appear in the
Security Register, at least 20 days (or 10 days in any case specified in Clause
(1) or (2) above) prior to the applicable record date hereinafter specified, a
notice stating (i) the date on which a record is to be taken for the purpose of
such dividend, distribution, rights, options or warrants, or, if a record is not
to be taken, the date as of which the holders of Common Stock of Record to be
entitled to such dividend, distribution, rights, options or warrants are to be
determined, or (ii) the date on which such reclassification, consolidation,
merger, share exchange, sale, dissolution, liquidation or winding up is expected
to become effective, and the date as of which it is expected that holders of
Common Stock of record shall be entitled to exchange their shares of Common
Stock for securities, cash or other property deliverable upon such
reclassification, consolidation, merger, share exchange, sale, dissolution,
liquidation or winding up. If at any time the Trustee shall not be the
conversion agent, a copy of such notice shall also forthwith be filed by the
Company with the Trustee.
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SECTION 14.6 RESERVATION OF SHARES OF COMMON STOCK.
The Company shall at all times reserve and keep available,
free from preemptive rights, out of its authorized but unissued Common Stock,
for the purpose of effecting the conversion of Securities, the full number of
shares of Common Stock of the Company then issuable upon the conversion of all
outstanding Securities of any series that has conversion rights.
SECTION 14.7 PAYMENT OF CERTAIN TAXES UPON CONVERSION.
Except as provided in the next sentence, the Company will pay
any and all taxes that may be payable in respect of the issue or delivery of
shares of its Common Stock on conversion of Securities pursuant hereto. The
Company shall not, however, be required to pay any tax which may be payable in
respect of any transfer involved in the issue and delivery of shares of its
Common Stock in a name other than that of the Holder of the Security or
Securities to be converted, and no such issue or delivery shall be made unless
and until the person requesting such issue has paid to the Company the amount of
any such tax, or has established, to the satisfaction of the Company, that such
tax has been paid.
SECTION 14.8 NONASSESSABILITY.
The Company covenants that all shares of its Common Stock
which may be issued upon conversion of Securities will upon issue in accordance
with the terms hereof be duly and validly issued and fully paid and
nonassessable.
SECTION 14.9 PROVISION IN CASE OF CONSOLIDATION, MERGER OR SALE OF ASSETS.
In case of any consolidation or merger of the Company with or
into any other Person, any merger of another Person with or into the Company
(other than a merger which does not result in any reclassification, conversion,
exchange or cancellation of outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Company)
or any conveyance, sale, transfer or lease of all or substantially all of the
assets of the Company, the Person formed by such consolidation or resulting from
such merger or which acquires such assets, as the case may be, shall execute and
deliver to the Trustee a supplemental indenture providing that the Holder of
each Security of a series then Outstanding that is convertible into Common Stock
of the Company shall have the right thereafter (which right shall be the
exclusive conversion right thereafter available to said Holder), during the
period such Security shall be convertible, to convert such
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Security only into the kind and amount of securities, cash and other property
receivable upon such consolidation, merger, conveyance, sale, transfer or
lease by a holder of the number of shares of Common Stock of the Company into
which such Security might have been converted immediately prior to such
consolidation, merger, conveyance, sale, transfer or lease, assuming such
holder of Common Stock of the Company (i) is not a Person with which the
Company consolidated or merged with or into or which merged into or with the
Company or to which such conveyance, sale, transfer or lease was made, as the
case may be (a "Constituent Person"), or an Affiliate of a Constituent Person
and (ii) failed to exercise his rights of election, if any, as to the kind or
amount of securities, cash and other property receivable upon such
consolidation, merger, conveyance, sale, transfer or lease (provided that if
the kind or amount of securities, cash and other property receivable upon
such consolidation, merger, conveyance, sale, transfer, or lease is not the
same for each share of Common Stock of the Company held immediately prior to
such consolidation, merger, conveyance, sale, transfer or lease by others
than a Constituent Person or an Affiliate thereof and in respect of which
such rights of election shall not have been exercised ("Non-electing Share"),
then for the purpose of this Section 14.9 the kind and amount of securities,
cash and other property receivable upon such consolidation, merger,
conveyance, sale, transfer or lease by the holders of each Non-electing Share
shall be deemed to be the kind and amount so receivable per share by a
plurality of the Non-electing Shares). Such supplemental indenture shall
provide for adjustments which, for events subsequent to the effective date of
such supplemental indenture, shall be as nearly equivalent as may be
practicable to the adjustments provided for in this Article or in accordance
with the terms of the supplemental indenture or Board Resolutions setting
forth the terms of such adjustments. The above provisions of this Section
14.9 shall similarly apply to successive consolidations, mergers,
conveyances, sales, transfers or leases. Notice of the execution of such a
supplemental indenture shall be given by the Company to the Holder of each
Security of a series that is convertible into Common Stock of the Company as
provided in Section 1.6 promptly upon such execution. Neither the Trustee nor
any conversion agent, if any, shall be under any responsibility to determine
the correctness of any provisions contained in any such supplemental
indenture relating either to the kind or amount of shares of stock or other
securities or property or cash receivable by Holders of Securities of a
series convertible into Common Stock of the Company upon the conversion of
their Securities after any such consolidation, merger, conveyance, transfer,
sale or lease or to any such adjustment, but may accept as conclusive
evidence of the correctness of any such provisions, and shall be protected in
relying upon, an Opinion of Counsel with respect thereto, which the Company
shall cause to be furnished to the Trustee upon request.
SECTION 14.10 DUTIES OF TRUSTEE REGARDING CONVERSION.
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Neither the Trustee nor any conversion agent shall at any
time be under any duty or responsibility to any Holder of Securities of any
series that is convertible into Common Stock of the Company to determine
whether any facts exist which may require any adjustment of the conversion
price, or with respect to the nature or extent of any such adjustment when
made, or with respect to the method employed, whether herein or in any
supplemental indenture, any resolutions of the Board of Directors or written
instrument executed by one or more officers of the Company provided to be
employed in making the same. Neither the Trustee nor any conversion agent
shall be accountable with respect to the validity or value (or the kind or
amount) of any shares of Common Stock of the Company, or of any securities or
property, which may at any time be issued or delivered upon the conversion of
any Securities and neither the Trustee nor any conversion agent makes any
representation with respect thereto. Subject to the provisions of Section
6.1, neither the Trustee nor any conversion agent shall be responsible for
any failure of the Company to issue, transfer or deliver any shares of its
Common Stock or stock certificates or other securities or property upon the
surrender of any Security for the purpose of conversion or to comply with any
of the covenants of the Company contained in this Article 14 or in the
applicable supplemental indenture, resolutions of the Board of Directors or
written instrument executed by one or more duly authorized officers of the
Company.
SECTION 14.11 REPAYMENT OF CERTAIN FUNDS UPON CONVERSION.
Any funds which at any time shall have been deposited by the
Company or on its behalf with the Trustee or any other paying agent for the
purpose of paying the principal of and any premium and interest on any of the
Securities (including, but not limited to, funds deposited for the sinking fund
referred to in Article 12 hereof and funds deposited pursuant to Article 13
hereof) and which shall not be required for such purposes because of the
conversion of such Securities as provided in this Article 14 shall after such
conversion be repaid to the Company by the Trustee upon the Company's written
request.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this
Indenture to be duly executed as of the day and year first above written.
BLACK HILLS CORPORATION
By:
-----------------------------
Name:
Title:
ATTEST:
[ ],
--------------------------
as Trustee
By:
-----------------------------
Name:
Title:
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