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.
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.
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.
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”).
Assignments and transfer by Obligors No Obligor may assign any of its rights or transfer any of its rights or obligations under the Finance Documents.
Assignments and Transfers by Investors The provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Investors and their respective successors and assigns. An Investor may transfer or assign, in whole or from time to time in part, to one or more persons its rights hereunder in connection with the transfer of Registrable Securities by such Investor to such person, provided that such Investor complies with all laws applicable thereto and provides written notice of assignment to the Company promptly after such assignment is effected.
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.
Assignments; Participations (a) Any Lender may, with the written consent of (i) the Agent, (ii) the Swingline Lender and the Letter of Credit Issuers, and (iii) so long as no Event of Default under any of Section 10.1(a), (e), (f) or (g) has occurred and is continuing, the Borrower (in each case, which consents shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), assign and delegate to one or more Eligible Assignees (provided that (x) no such Borrower consent shall be required in connection with any assignment to an existing Lender, an Affiliate of a Lender, or an Approved Fund of a Lender and (y) such Borrower consent shall be deemed to have been given if the Borrower has not responded within ten (10) Business Days of receipt of a written request for consent (each an “Assignee”) all, or any ratable part of all, of the Loans, the Commitments and the other rights and obligations of such Lender hereunder, in a minimum amount of $5,000,000, or an integral multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof (provided that an amount less than the minimum amount of $5,000,000 may be assigned if agreed to by the Borrower and the Agent, or if such amount represents all of the Loans, the Commitments and the other rights and obligations of the Lender hereunder) (provided, further that no such minimum amount shall apply to any assignment to an Approved Fund or to a Lender or to an Affiliate of a Lender); provided, however, that (A) written notice of such assignment, together with payment instructions, addresses and related information with respect to the Assignee, shall be given to the Borrower and the Agent by such Lender and the Assignee; (B) such Lender and its Assignee shall deliver to the Borrower and the Agent an Assignment and Acceptance, along with an Administrative Questionnaire and any know-your-customer documentation; and (C) the assignor Lender or Assignee shall pay to the Agent a processing fee in the amount of $3,500; provided, further, that the Agent may elect to waive such processing fee in its sole discretion.
(b) From and after the date that the Agent has received an executed Assignment and Acceptance, the Agent has received payment of the above-referenced processing fee and the Agent has recorded such assignment in the Register as provided in Section 13.20 herein, (i) the Assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto and, to the extent that rights and obligations, including, but not limited to, the obligation to participate in Letters of Credit, have been assigned to it pursuant to such Assignment and Acceptance, shall have the rights and obligations of a Lender under the Loan Documents, and (ii) the assignor Lender shall, to the extent that rights and obligations hereunder and under the other Loan Documents have been assigned by it pursuant to such Assignment and Acceptance, relinquish its rights and be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and in the case of an Assignment and Acceptance covering all or the remaining portion of an assignor Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such assignor Lender shall cease to be a party hereto).
(c) By executing and delivering an Assignment and Acceptance, the assignor Lender thereunder and the Assignee thereunder confirm to and agree with each other and the other parties hereto as follows: (i) other than as provided in such Assignment and Acceptance, such assignor Lender makes no representation or warranty and assumes no responsibility with respect to any statements, warranties or representations made in or in connection with this Agreement or any other Loan Document or the execution, legality, validity, enforceability, genuineness, sufficiency or value of this Agreement or any other Loan Document furnished pursuant hereto or the attachment, perfection, or priority of any Lien granted by any Obligor to the Agent or any Lender in the applicable Collateral; (ii) such assignor Lender makes no representation or warranty and assumes no responsibility with respect to the financial condition of any Obligor or the performance or observance by any Obligor of any of its obligations under this Agreement or any other Loan Document furnished pursuant hereto; (iii) such Assignee confirms that it has received a copy of this Agreement, together with such other documents and information as it has deemed appropriate to make its own credit analysis and decision to enter into such Assignment and Acceptance; (iv) such Assignee will, independently and without reliance upon the Agent, such assignor Lender or any other Lender, and based on such documents and information as it shall deem appropriate at the time, continue to make its own credit decisions in taking or not taking action under this Agreement; (v) such Assignee appoints and authorizes the Agent to take such action as agent on its behalf and to exercise such powers under this Agreement as are delegated to the Agent by the terms hereof, together with such powers, including the discretionary rights and incidental powers, as are reasonably incidental thereto; and (vi) such Assignee agrees that it will perform in accordance with their terms all of the obligations which by the terms of this Agreement are required to be performed by it as a Lender.
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.
