Assignments and Participations (a) The provisions of the Loan Documents shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, except that the Borrower may not assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of each Credit Party (and any attempted assignment or transfer by the Borrower without such consent shall be null and void). Nothing in the Loan Documents, expressed or implied, shall be construed to confer upon any Person (other than the parties hereto, their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby and, to the extent expressly contemplated hereby, the Related Parties of each Credit Party) any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or by reason of any Loan Document.
(b) Any Lender may assign to one or more Eligible Assignees all or a portion of its rights and obligations under the Loan Documents (including all or a portion of its Commitment or obligations in respect of its LC Exposure and the applicable Loans at the time owing to it), provided that (i) except in the case of an assignment to a Lender or an Affiliate or an Approved Fund of a Lender, each of the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the Issuing Bank must give its prior written consent to such assignment (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed)), (ii) except in the case of an assignment to a Lender or an Affiliate or an Approved Fund of a Lender or an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the assigning Lender's Commitment, the amount of the Commitment of the assigning Lender subject to each such assignment (determined as of the date the Assignment and Acceptance Agreement with respect to such assignment is delivered to the Administrative Agent) shall not be less than $5,000,000 unless the Borrower and the Administrative Agent otherwise consent, (iii) no assignments to the Borrower or any of its Affiliates shall be permitted, (iv) the parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent an Assignment and Acceptance Agreement together with, unless otherwise agreed by the Administrative Agent, a processing and recordation fee of $3,500, and (v) the assignee, if it shall not be a Lender, shall deliver to the Administrative Agent an Administrative Questionnaire, and provided further, that any consent of the Borrower otherwise required under this paragraph shall not be required if a Default has occurred and is continuing. Subject to
Assignments and Participations Successors 83 14.1. Assignments and Participations................................................................83 14.2. Successors....................................................................................85 15.
Benefit of Agreement Assignments and Participations (a) This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Borrower, the Lenders and the Agent and their respective successors and permitted assigns, and all subsequent holders of any of the Notes or any portion thereof.
(b) Each Lender may assign its rights and interests under this Agreement, the Notes and the Security Documents and/or delegate its obligations hereunder and thereunder, in whole or in part, and sell participations in the Notes and the Security Documents as security therefor, to any bank or financial institution with net capital, capital surplus and undivided profits in excess of $500,000,000, provided as follows:
(i) No Lender shall make any assignment, other than an assignment in whole or to a separately organized branch or an affiliate of the same Lender, if, after giving effect thereto, such Lender would hold less than $5,000,000 of the then aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Notes, notwithstanding this provision any Lender may make assignments in any amount to any other existing Lender, subject to the Agent's and the Borrower's consent, which consent will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed, provided that the Borrower's consent will not be required if a Default (other than a de minimus default under the Loan Documents) then exists and is continuing hereunder.
(ii) Any such assignment made other than to a separately organized branch, or an affiliate of, a Lender shall reflect an assignment of such assigning Lender's Notes and Commitments which is in an aggregate principal amount of at least $ 1,000,000, and if greater, shall be an integral multiple of $1,000,000.
(iii) Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, each Lender may at any time assign all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement and each of the other Loan Documents, including, without limitation, the Notes held by such Lender, to a Federal Reserve Bank (or equivalent thereof in the case of Lenders chartered outside of the United States); provided that no such assignment shall release a Lender from any of its obligations and liabilities under the Loan Documents. Any Federal Reserve Bank (or equivalent thereof) which receives such an assignment from any Lender may make further assignments of such rights in accordance with the provisions of this Section.
(iv) Any assignments and/or delegations made hereunder shall be pursuant to an instrument of assignment and acceptance (the "Assignment and Acceptance") substantially in the form of Schedule 13(b)(iv) and the parties to each such assignment shall execute and deliver to the Agent for its acceptance the Assignment and Acceptance together with any Note or Notes subject thereto. Upon such execution and delivery, from and after the effective date specified in each Assignment and Acceptance, which effective date shall be at least five (5) Business Days after the execution thereof, (A) the assignee thereunder shall become a party hereto and, to the extent provided in such Assignment and Acceptance, have the rights and obligations of a Lender hereunder with Commitments as set forth therein and (B) the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent provided in such assignment, be released from its obligations under this Agreement as to that portion of its obligation being so assigned and delegated. The Assignment and Acceptance shall be deemed to amend this Agreement to the extent, and only to the extent, necessary to reflect the addition of the assignee as a Lender and the resulting adjustment of Commitments arising from the purchase by and delegation to such assignee of all or a portion of the rights and obligations of such assigning Lender under this Agreement.
(v) Upon its receipt of an Assignment and Acceptance executed by an assigning Lender and the assignee together with the Note or Notes subject to such assignment and payment by the assignee to the Agent of a registration and processing fee of $3,500, the Agent shall accept such Assignment and Acceptance. Promptly upon delivering such Assignment and Acceptance to the Agent, the assigning Lender shall give notice thereof to the Borrower pursuant to a Notice of Assignment and Acceptance substantially in the form of Schedule 13(b)(y) and addressed to the Agent and the Borrower. Within five (5) Business Days after receipt of such notice, the Borrower shall, execute and deliver to the Agent in exchange for each such surrendered Note a new Note payable to the order of such assignee in an amount equal to the portion of the applicable Commitment(s) assumed by such assignee pursuant to such Assignment and Acceptance and a new Note payable to the order of the assigning Lender in an amount equal to the portion of the applicable Commitment(s) retained by it hereunder. Such new Notes shall be dated the effective date of such Assignment and Acceptance and shall otherwise be in substantially the form provided in Section 1.01. Canceled Notes shall be returned to the Borrower upon the execution and delivery of such new Notes.
(vi) Each Lender may sell participations in all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including, without limitation, all or a portion of its Commitment and the Notes held by it); provided, however, that, (A) the selling Lender shall remain obligated under this Agreement to the extent as it would if it had not sold such participation, (B) the selling Lender shall remain solely responsible to the other parties hereto for the performance of such obligations, (C) at no time shall the selling Lender agree with such participant to take or refrain from taking any action hereunder or under any other Loan Document, except that the selling Lender may agree not to consent, without such participant's consent, to any of the actions referred to Article XII, to the extent that the same require the consent of each Lender hereunder, (D) all amounts payable by the Borrower hereunder shall be determined as if such Lender had not sold such participation and no participant shall be entitled to receive any greater amount pursuant to this Agreement than the selling Lender would have been entitled to receive in respect of the amount of the participation transferred by such Lender to such participant had no such transfer occurred, and (E) the Borrower, the Agent and the other Lenders shall continue to deal solely and directly with the selling Lender in connection with such Lendees rights and obligations under this Agreement.
(vii) Except for an assignment made to a separately organized branch or an Affiliate of a Lender, no assignment or participation referred to above shall be permitted without the prior written consent of the Agent and the Borrower, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed, provided that the Borrower's consent will not be required if an Event of Default (other than a de minimus default under the Loan Documents) then exists and is continuing hereunder.
(viii) The Borrower may not assign any of its rights or delegate any of its duties or obligations hereunder.
(ix) Any Lender may, in connection with any assignment or participation pursuant to this Section, disclose to the assignee or participant any information relating to the Companies, the Parent Companies and their respective Affiliates furnished to such Lender by or on behalf of the Borrower and such assignee or participant shall treat such information as confidential.
Assignment and Participations (a) Subject to the terms of this Section 9.1, any Lender may make an assignment to a Qualified Assignee of, or sell participations in, at any time or times, the Loan Documents, Loans, Letter of Credit Obligations and any Commitment or any portion thereof or interest therein, including any Lender's rights, title, interests, remedies, powers or duties thereunder. Any assignment by a Lender shall: (i) require the consent of Agent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed with respect to a Qualified Assignee) and, so long as no Event of Default has occurred and is then continuing, Borrower (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed; provided, that any assignment to Black Diamond Capital Management or any of its Affiliates shall require the consent of Borrower so long as no Event of Default pursuant to Sections 8.1(a)(i), 8.1(a)(ii), 8.1(h) or 8.1(i) has occurred and is then continuing), and the execution of an assignment agreement (an "Assignment Agreement") substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 9.1(a) and otherwise in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to, and acknowledged by, Agent; (ii) be conditioned on such assignee Lender representing to the assigning Lender and Agent that it is purchasing the applicable Loans to be assigned to it for its own account, for investment purposes and not with a view to the distribution thereof; (iii) after giving effect to any such partial assignment, the assignee Lender shall have Commitments in an amount at least equal to $5,000,000 and the assigning Lender shall have retained Commitments in an amount at least equal to $2,500,000; and (iv) include a payment to Agent of an assignment fee of $3,500. In the case of an assignment by a Lender under this Section 9.1, the assignee shall have, to the extent of such assignment, the same rights, benefits and obligations as all
(a) have been complied with. Agent hereby agrees to provide Borrower with commercially reasonable prior written notice of any assignment or sale contemplated by this Section 9.1(a), the consummation of which does not require consent of Borrower.
(b) Any participation by a Lender of all or any part of its Commitments shall be made with the understanding that all amounts payable by Borrower hereunder shall be determined as if that Lender had not sold such participation, and that the holder of any such participation shall not be entitled to require such Lender to take or omit to take any action hereunder except actions directly affecting (i) any reduction in the principal amount of, or interest rate or Fees payable with respect to, any Loan in which such holder participates, (ii) any extension of the scheduled amortization of the principal amount of any Loan in which such holder participates or the final maturity date thereof, and (iii) any release of all or substantially all of the Collateral (other than in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Collateral Documents or the other Loan Documents). Solely for purposes of Sections 1.13, 1.15, 1.16 and 9.8, Borrower acknowledges and agrees that a participation shall give rise to a direct obligation of Borrower to the participant and the participant shall be considered to be a "Lender". Except as set forth in the preceding sentence, neither Borrower nor any other Credit Party shall have any obligation or duty to any participant. Neither Agent nor any Lender (other than the Lender selling a participation) shall have any duty to any participant and may continue to deal solely with the Lender selling a participation as if no such sale had occurred.
Certain Other Assignments and Participations In addition to any other assignment or participation permitted pursuant to this Section 11.6 any Lender may assign, pledge and/or grant a security interest in all or any portion of its Loans, the other Obligations owed by or to such Lender, and its Notes, if any, to secure obligations of such Lender including any Federal Reserve Bank as collateral security pursuant to Regulation A and any operating circular issued by such Federal Reserve Bank; provided that (1) no Lender, as between the Borrower and such Lender, shall be relieved of any of its obligations hereunder as a result of any such assignment and pledge, and (2) in no event shall the applicable Federal Reserve Bank, pledgee or trustee, be considered to be a “Lender” or be entitled to require the assigning Lender to take or omit to take any action hereunder.
Successors and Assigns; Assignments and Participations (a) This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns, except that (i) Borrower may not, directly or indirectly, assign or transfer, or attempt to assign or transfer, any of its Rights, duties, or obligations under any Loan Documents without the express written consent of all Lenders, and (ii) except as permitted NBPLP CREDIT AGREEMENT under this Section, no Lender may transfer, pledge, assign, sell any participation in, or otherwise encumber its portion of the Obligation.
(b) Each Lender may assign to one or more Eligible Assignees all or a portion of its Rights and obligations under the Loan Documents (including, without limitation, all or a portion of its Borrowings and its Notes to the extent any Principal Debt owed to such assigning Lender is evidenced by a Note or Notes); provided, however, that:
(i) each such assignment shall be to an Eligible Assignee;
(ii) except in the case of an assignment to another Lender or in the case of an assignment of all of a Lender's Rights and obligations under the Loan Documents, any such partial assignment under the Facility shall not be less than $5,000,000 unless Borrower and Administrative Agent consent thereto (in their sole discretion) in writing which may be evidenced by their acceptance and execution of the related Assignment and Acceptance Agreement; provided that, no partial assignment for the Facility (including any assignment among Lenders) may result in any Lender holding less than $10,000,000, provided further that, a Lender may hold an amount less than $10,000,000 but greater than $5,000,000 only if such Lender shall hold at least $10,000,000 in the aggregate of this Facility and the Multi- Year Revolving Agreement (notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event the Multi-Year Revolving Agreement is terminated, any Lender may continue to hold an amount in this Facility greater than or equal to the amount such Lender held on the date of the termination of the Multi-Year Revolving Agreement);
(iii) the parties to such assignment shall execute and deliver to Administrative Agent for its acceptance an Assignment and Acceptance Agreement in the form of EXHIBIT E hereto, together with any Notes (to the extent any Principal Debt owed to such assigning Lender is evidenced by a Note or Notes) subject to such assignment and a processing fee of $3,500, including, without limitation, any assignment between Lenders; and
(iv) so long as any Lender is an Agent under this Agreement, such Lender (or an Affiliate of such Lender) shall retain an economic interest in the Loan Documents, will not assign all of its Rights, duties, or obligations under the Loan Documents, except to an Affiliate of such Lender, and will not enter into any Assignment and Acceptance Agreement that would have the effect of such Lender assigning all of its Rights, duties, or obligations under the Loan Documents to any Person other than an Affiliate of such Lender unless such Agent has relinquished such title in accordance with SECTION 13.1 (with respect to Administrative Agent) or SECTION 13.10 (with respect to the other Agents). Upon execution, delivery, and acceptance of such Assignment and Acceptance Agreement, the assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto and, to the extent of such assignment, have the obligations, Rights, and benefits of a Lender under the Loan Documents and the assigning Lender shall, to the extent of such assignment, relinquish its Rights and be released from its obligations under the Loan Documents. Upon the consummation of any assignment pursuant to this Section, but only upon the request of the assignor or assignee made through Administrative Agent, Borrower shall issue appropriate Notes to the assignor and the assignee, reflecting such Assignment and Acceptance. If the assignee is not incorporated under the laws of the United States of America or a state thereof, it shall deliver to Borrower and Administrative Agent certification as to exemption from deduction or withholding of Taxes in accordance with SECTION 4.6.
(c) Administrative Agent shall maintain at its address referred to in SECTION 14.3 a copy of each Assignment and Acceptance Agreement delivered to and accepted by it and a register for NBPLP CREDIT AGREEMENT the recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders and the Commitment Percentage, and principal amount of the Borrowings owing to, each Lender from time to time (the "REGISTER"). The entries in the Register shall be conclusive and binding for all purposes, absent manifest error, and Borrower, Administrative Agent and the Lenders may treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Register as a Lender hereunder for all purposes of the Loan Documents. The Register shall be available for inspection by Borrower or any Lender at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice. Upon the consummation of any assignment in accordance with this SECTION 14.13, SCHEDULE 2.1 shall automatically be deemed amended (to the extent required) by Administrative Agent to reflect the name, address, and, where appropriate, respective Committed Sums under the Facility (as the case may be) of the assignor and assignee.
(d) Upon its receipt of an Assignment and Acceptance Agreement executed by the parties thereto, together with any Notes (to the extent any Principal Debt owed to such assigning Lender is evidenced by a Note or Notes) subject to such assignment and payment of the processing fee, Administrative Agent shall, if such Assignment and Acceptance has been completed and is in substantially the form of EXHIBIT E hereto, (i) accept such Assignment and Acceptance Agreement, (ii) record the information contained therein in the Register, and (iii) give prompt notice thereof to the parties thereto.
(e) Subject to the provisions of this Section and in accordance with applicable Law, any Lender may, in the ordinary course of its commercial banking business and in accordance with applicable Law, at any time sell to one or more Persons (each a "PARTICIPANT") participating interests in its portion of the Obligation. In the event of any such sale to a Participant, (i) such Lender shall remain a "Lender" under the Loan Documents and the Participant shall not constitute a "Lender" hereunder, (ii) such Lender's obligations under the Loan Documents shall remain unchanged, (iii) such Lender shall remain solely responsible for the performance thereof, (iv) such Lender shall remain the holder of its share of the Principal Debt for all purposes under the Loan Documents, (v) Borrower and Administrative Agent shall continue to deal solely and directly with such Lender in connection with such Lender's Rights and obligations under the Loan Documents, and (vi) such Lender shall be solely responsible for any withholding taxes or any filing or reporting requirements relating to such participation and shall hold Borrower and Administrative Agent and their respective successors, permitted assigns, officers, directors, employees, agents, and representatives harmless against the same. Participants shall have no Rights under the Loan Documents, other than certain voting Rights as provided below. Subject to the following, each Lender shall be entitled to obtain (on behalf of its Participants) the benefits of SECTION 4 with respect to all participations in its part of the Obligation outstanding from time to time, so long as Borrower shall not be obligated to pay any amount in excess of the amount that would be due to such Lender under SECTION 4 calculated as though no participations have been made. No Lender shall sell any participating interest under which the Participant shall have any Rights to approve any amendment, modification, or waiver of any Loan Document, except to the extent such amendment, modification, or waiver extends the due date for payment of any amount in respect of principal (other than mandatory prepayments), interest, or fees due under the Loan Documents, reduces the interest rate or the amount of principal or fees applicable to the Obligation (except such reductions as are contemplated by the Loan Documents), or releases all or any substantial portion of the Guaranties under the Loan Documents; provided that, in those cases where a Participant is entitled to the benefits of SECTION 4 or a Lender grants Rights to its Participants to approve amendments to or waivers of the Loan Documents respecting the matters previously described in this sentence, such Lender must include a voting mechanism in the relevant participation agreement or agreements, as the case may be, whereby a majority of such Lender's portion of the Obligation (whether held by such Lender or Participant) shall control the vote for all of such Lender's portion of the Obligation. Except in the case of the sale of a participating interest to another Lender, the relevant participation agreement shall not permit the Participant to transfer, pledge, assign, sell participations in, or otherwise encumber its portion of the Obligation, unless the consent of the transferring Lender (which consent will not be unreasonably withheld) has been obtained. NBPLP CREDIT AGREEMENT
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision set forth in this Agreement, any Lender may, without notice to, or the consent of Borrower or Administrative Agent, at any time assign and pledge all or any portion of its Borrowings and its Notes (to the extent any Principal Debt owed to such assigning Lender is evidenced by a Note or Notes) to any Federal Reserve Bank as collateral security pursuant to Regulation A and any Operating Circular issued by such Federal Reserve Bank or any Lender which is a fund may pledge all or any portion of its Borrowings and its Notes (to the extent any Principal Debt owed to such assigning Lender is evidenced by a Note or Notes) to its trustee in support of its obligations to its trustee. No such assignment shall release the assigning Lender from its obligations hereunder.
(g) Any Lender may furnish any information concerning the Loan Parties in the possession of such Lender from time to time to Eligible Assignees and Participants (including prospective Eligible Assignees and Participants), subject to the provisions of SECTION 14.14.
Assignments and Participations Binding Effect (a) This Agreement shall become effective when it shall have been executed by the Borrowers, the other Credit Parties signatory hereto and the Agent and when the Agent shall have been notified by each Lender and the initial L/C Issuer that such Lender or L/C Issuer has executed it. Thereafter, it shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of, but only to the benefit of, the Borrowers, the other Credit Parties hereto (in each case except for Article VIII), the Agent, each Lender and L/C Issuer party hereto and, to the extent provided in Section 8.11, each other Secured Party and, in each case, their respective successors and permitted assigns. Except as expressly provided in any Loan Document (including in Section 8.9), none of any Borrower, any other Credit Party, any L/C Issuer or the Agent shall have the right to assign any rights or obligations hereunder or any interest herein.
(b) Each Lender may sell, transfer, negotiate or assign (a “Sale”) all or a portion of its rights and obligations hereunder (including all or a portion of its Commitments and its rights and obligations with respect to Loans and Letters of Credit) to (i) any existing Lender, (ii) any Affiliate or Approved Fund of any existing Lender or (iii) any other Person acceptable (which acceptance shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed) to the Agent and, as long as no Event of Default is continuing, the Borrower Representative; provided, however, that (x) such Sales must be ratable among the obligations owing to and owed by such Lender with respect to the Revolving Loans and (y) for each Loan, the aggregate outstanding principal amount (determined as of the effective date of the applicable Assignment) of the Loans, Commitments and Letter of Credit Obligations subject to any such Sale shall be in a minimum amount of $500,000, unless such Sale is made to an existing Lender or an Affiliate or Approved Fund of any existing Lender, is of the assignor’s (together with its Affiliates and Approved Funds) entire interest in such Facility or is made with the prior consent of the Borrower Representative and the Agent.
(c) The parties to each Sale made in reliance on clause (b) above (other than those described in clause (e) or (f) below) shall execute and deliver to the Agent an Assignment via an electronic settlement system designated by the Agent (or, if previously agreed with the Agent, via a manual execution and delivery of the Assignment) evidencing such Sale, together with any existing Note subject to such Sale (or any affidavit of loss therefor acceptable to the Agent), any tax forms required to be delivered pursuant to Section 10.1 and payment of an assignment fee in the amount of $3,500, provided that (1) if a Sale by a Lender is made to an Affiliate or an Approved Fund of such assigning Lender, then no assignment fee shall be due in connection with such Sale, and (2) if a Sale by a Lender is made to an assignee that is not an Affiliate or Approved Fund of such assignor Lender, and concurrently to one or more Affiliates or Approved Funds of such Assignee, then only one assignment fee of $3,500 shall be due in connection with such Sale. Upon receipt of all the foregoing, and conditioned upon such receipt and, if such Assignment is made in accordance with Section 9.9(b)(iii), upon the Agent (and the Borrower, if applicable) consenting to such Assignment (if required), from and after the effective date specified in such Assignment, the Agent shall record or cause to be recorded in the Register the information contained in such Assignment.
(d) Subject to the recording of an Assignment by the Agent in the Register pursuant to Section 1.4(b), (i) the assignee thereunder shall become a party hereto and, to the extent that rights and obligations under the Loan Documents have been assigned to such assignee pursuant to such Assignment, shall have the rights and obligations of a Lender, (ii) any applicable Note shall be transferred to such assignee through such entry and (iii) the assignor thereunder shall, to the extent that rights and obligations under this Agreement have been assigned by it pursuant to such Assignment, relinquish its rights (except for those surviving the termination of the Commitments and the payment in full of the Obligations) and be released from its obligations under the Loan Documents, other than those relating to events or circumstances occurring prior to such assignment (and, in the case of an Assignment covering all or the remaining portion of an assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under the Loan Documents, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto).
(e) In addition to the other rights provided in this Section 9.9, each Lender may grant a security interest in, or otherwise assign as collateral, any of its rights under this Agreement, whether now owned or hereafter acquired (including rights to payments of principal or interest on the Loans), to (A) any federal reserve bank (pursuant to Regulation A of the Federal Reserve Board), without notice to the Agent or (B) any holder of, or trustee for the benefit of the holders of, such Lender’s Indebtedness or equity securities, by notice to the Agent; provided, however, that no such holder or trustee, whether because of such grant or assignment or any foreclosure thereon (unless such foreclosure is made through an assignment in accordance with clause (b) above), shall be entitled to any rights of such Lender hereunder and no such Lender shall be relieved of any of its obligations hereunder.
(f) In addition to the other rights provided in this Section 9.9, each Lender may, (x) with notice to the Agent, grant to an SPV the option to make all or any part of any Loan that such Lender would otherwise be required to make hereunder (and the exercise of such option by such SPV and the making of Loans pursuant thereto shall satisfy the obligation of such Lender to make such Loans hereunder) and such SPV may assign to such Lender the right to receive payment with respect to any Obligation and (y) without notice to or consent from the Agent or the Borrowers, sell participations to one or more Persons in or to all or a portion of its rights and obligations under the Loan Documents (including all its rights and obligations with respect to the Revolving Loans and Letters of Credit); provided, however, that, whether as a result of any term of any Loan Document or of such grant or participation, (i) no such SPV or participant shall have a commitment, or be deemed to have made an offer to commit, to make Loans hereunder, and, except as provided in the applicable option agreement, none shall be liable for any obligation of such Lender hereunder, (ii) such Lender’s rights and obligations, and the rights and obligations of the Credit Parties and the Secured Parties towards such Lender, under any Loan Document shall remain unchanged and each other party hereto shall continue to deal solely with such Lender, which shall remain the holder of the Obligations in the Register, except that (A) each such participant and SPV shall be entitled to the benefit of Article X, but, with respect to Section 10.1, only to the extent such participant or SPV delivers the tax forms such Lender is required to collect pursuant to subsection 10.1(f) and then only to the extent of any amount to which such Lender would be entitled in the absence of any such grant or participation and (B) each such SPV may receive other payments that would otherwise be made to such Lender with respect to Loans funded by such SPV to the extent provided in the applicable option agreement and set forth in a notice provided to the Agent by such SPV and such Lender, provided, however, that in no case (including pursuant to clause (A) or (B) above) shall an SPV or participant have the right to enforce any of the terms of any Loan Document, and (iii) the consent of such SPV or participant shall not be required (either directly, as a restraint on such Lender’s ability to consent hereunder or otherwise) for any amendments, waivers or consents with respect to any Loan Document or to exercise or refrain from exercising any powers or rights such Lender may have under or in respect of the Loan Documents (including the right to enforce or direct enforcement of the Obligations), except for those described in clauses (ii) and (iii) of subsection 9.1(a) with respect to amounts, or dates fixed for payment of amounts, to which such participant or SPV would otherwise be entitled and, in the case of participants, except for those described in clause (vi) of subsection 9.1
(a) No party hereto shall institute (and each Borrower shall cause each other Credit Party not to institute) against any SPV grantee of an option pursuant to this clause (f) any bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, liquidation or similar proceeding, prior to the date that is one year and one day after the payment in full of all outstanding commercial paper of such SPV; provided, however, that each Lender having designated an SPV as such agrees to indemnify each Indemnitee against any Liability that may be incurred by, or asserted against, such Indemnitee as a result of failing to institute such proceeding (including a failure to get reimbursed by such SPV for any such Liability). The agreement in the preceding sentence shall survive the termination of the Commitments and the payment in full of the Obligations.
Assignment and Third Party Beneficiaries 14.1 Except as provided in Section 15.1 below, neither this Agreement nor any rights or obligations hereunder may be assigned or subcontracted by either party without the written consent of the other party. Any attempt to do so in violation of this Section shall be void. Unless specifically stated to the contrary in any written consent to an assignment, no assignment will release or discharge the assignor from any duty or responsibility under this Agreement.
14.2 Except as explicitly stated elsewhere in this Agreement, nothing under this Agreement shall be construed to give any rights or benefits in this Agreement to anyone other than the Transfer Agent and the Fund, and the duties and responsibilities undertaken pursuant to this Agreement shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the Transfer Agent and the Fund. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns.
14.3 This Agreement does not constitute an agreement for a partnership or joint venture between the Transfer Agent and the Fund. Other than as provided in Section 14.1, neither party shall make any commitments with third parties that are binding on the other party without the other party’s prior written consent.
Assignments and transfers by the Lenders Subject to this Clause 23, a Lender (the “Existing Lender”) may:
(a) assign any of its rights; or
(b) transfer by novation any of its rights and obligations, to another bank or financial institution or to a trust, fund or other entity which is regularly engaged in or established for the purpose of making, purchasing or investing in loans, securities or other financial assets (the “New Lender”).
Successors and Assigns Participations Assignments (a) This Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the Borrowers and the Lenders and their respective successors and assigns.
(b) The foregoing shall not authorize any assignment by any Borrower of its rights or duties hereunder, and, except as otherwise provided herein, no such assignment shall be made (or be effective) without the prior written approval of the Lenders.
(c) No Lenders may at any time assign or grant participations in such Lender’s rights and obligations hereunder and under the other Loan Documents except (i) by way of assignment to any Eligible Assignee in accordance with clause (d) of this Section, (ii) by way of a participation in accordance with the provisions of clause (e) of this Section or (iii) by way of a pledge or assignment of a security interest subject to the restrictions of clause (f) of this Section (and any other attempted assignment or transfer by any Lender shall be deemed to be null and void).
(d) Each assignment by a Lender of all or any portion of its rights and obligations hereunder and under the other Loan Documents, shall be subject to the following terms and conditions:
(i) each such assignment shall be made on a pro rata basis, and shall be in a minimum amount of the lesser of (x) Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) or such lesser amount as the Agent shall agree and (y) the entire remaining amount of assigning Lender’s aggregate interest in the Revolving Credit (and participations in any outstanding Letters of Credit); provided however that, after giving effect to such assignment, in no event shall the entire remaining amount (if any) of assigning Lender’s aggregate interest in the Revolving Credit (and participations in any outstanding Letters of Credit) be less than $5,000,000; and
(ii) the parties to any assignment shall execute and deliver to Agent an Assignment Agreement substantially (as determined by Agent) in the form attached hereto as Exhibit H (with appropriate insertions acceptable to Agent), together with a processing and recordation fee in the amount, if any, required as set forth in the Assignment Agreement (provided however that such Lender need not deliver an Assignment Agreement in connection with assignments to such Lender’s Affiliates or to a Federal Reserve Bank). Until the Assignment Agreement becomes effective in accordance with its terms, and Agent has confirmed that the assignment satisfies the requirements of this Section 13.8, the Borrowers and the Agent shall be entitled to continue to deal solely and directly with the assigning Lender in connection with the interest so assigned. From and after the effective date of each Assignment Agreement that satisfies the requirements of this Section 13.8, the assignee thereunder shall be deemed to be a party to this Agreement, such assignee shall have the rights and obligations of a Lender under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents (including without limitation the right to receive fees payable hereunder in respect of the period following such assignment) and the assigning Lender shall relinquish its rights and be released from its obligations under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents. Upon request, Borrowers shall execute and deliver to the Agent, new Note(s) payable to the order of the assignee in an amount equal to the amount assigned to the assigning Lender pursuant to such Assignment Agreement, and with respect to the portion of the Indebtedness retained by the assigning Lender, to the extent applicable, new Note(s) payable to the order of the assigning Lender in an amount equal to the amount retained by such Lender hereunder. The Agent, the Lenders and each Borrower acknowledges and agrees that any such new Note(s) shall be given in renewal and replacement of the Notes issued to the assigning lender prior to such assignment and shall not effect or constitute a novation or discharge of the Indebtedness evidenced by such prior Note, and each such new Note may contain a provision confirming such agreement.
(e) The Borrowers and the Agent acknowledge that each of the Lenders may at any time and from time to time, subject to the terms and conditions hereof, grant participations in such Lender’s rights and obligations hereunder (on a pro rata basis only) and under the other Loan Documents to any Person (other than a natural person or to any Borrower or any of Borrower’s Affiliates or Subsidiaries); provided that any participation permitted hereunder shall comply with all applicable laws and shall be subject to a participation agreement that incorporates the following restrictions:
(i) such Lender shall remain the holder of its Notes hereunder (if such Notes are issued), notwithstanding any such participation;
(ii) a participant shall not reassign or transfer, or grant any sub-participations in its participation interest hereunder or any part thereof; and
(iii) such Lender shall retain the sole right and responsibility to enforce the obligations of the Credit Parties relating to the Notes and the other Loan Documents, including, without limitation, the right to proceed against any Guarantors, or cause the Agent to do so (subject to the terms and conditions hereof), and the right to approve any amendment, modification or waiver of any provision of this Agreement without the consent of the participant (unless such participant is an Affiliate of such Lender), except for those matters covered by Section 13.10(a) through (e) hereof (provided that a participant may exercise any of the approval rights granted above in this clause (iii) only on an indirect basis, acting through such Lender and the Credit Parties, Agent and the other Lenders may continue to deal directly with such Lender in connection with such Lender’s rights and duties hereunder). Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, in the case of any participation granted by any Lender hereunder, the participant shall not have any rights under this Agreement or any of the other Loan Documents against the Agent, any other Lender or any Credit Party; provided, however that the participant may have rights against such Lender in respect of such participation as may be set forth in the applicable participation agreement and all amounts payable by the Credit Parties hereunder shall be determined as if such Lender had not sold such participation. Each such participant shall be entitled to the benefits of Article 11 of this Agreement to the same extent as if it were a Lender and had acquired its interest by assignment pursuant to clause (d) of this Section, provided that no participant shall be entitled to receive any greater amount pursuant to such the provisions of Article 11 than the issuing Lender would have been entitled to receive in respect of the amount of the participation transferred by such issuing Lender to such participant had no such transfer occurred and each such participant shall also be entitled to the benefits of Section 9.6 hereof as though it were a Lender, provided that such participant agrees to be subject to Section 10.3 hereof as though it were a Lender.
(f) Any Lender may at any time pledge or assign a security interest in all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement (including its Notes, if any) to secure obligations of such Lender, including any pledge or assignment to secure obligations to a Federal Reserve Bank; provided that no such pledge or assignment shall release such Lender from any of its obligations hereunder or substitute any such pledge or assignee for such Lender as a party hereto.
(g) The Agent shall maintain at its principal office a copy of each Assignment Agreement delivered to it and a register (the “Register”) for the recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders, the Percentages of such Lenders and the principal amount of each type of Advance owing to each such Lender from time to time. The entries in the Register shall be conclusive evidence, absent manifest error, and the Borrowers, the Agent, and the Lenders may treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Register as the owner of the Advances recorded therein for all purposes of this Agreement. The Register shall be available for inspection by the Borrowers or any Lender upon reasonable notice to the Agent and a copy of such information shall be provided to any such party on their prior written request. The Agent shall give prompt written notice to the Borrower Representative of the making of any entry in the Register or any change in such entry.
(h) Each Borrower authorizes each Lender to disclose to any prospective assignee or participant which has satisfied the requirements hereunder, any and all financial information in such Lender’s possession concerning the Credit Parties which has been delivered to such Lender pursuant to this Agreement, provided that each such prospective assignee or participant shall execute a confidentiality agreement consistent with the terms of Section 13.11 hereof or shall otherwise agree to be bound by the terms thereof.
(i) Nothing in this Agreement, the Notes or the other Loan Documents, expressed or implied, is intended to or shall confer on any Person other than the respective parties hereto and thereto and their successors and assignees and participants permitted hereunder and thereunder any benefit or any legal or equitable right, remedy or other claim under this Agreement, the Notes or the other Loan Documents.
