Merger, Consolidation, Acquisition and Sale of Assets (a) Enter into any merger, consolidation or other reorganization with or into any other Person or acquire all or a substantial portion of the assets or stock of any Person or permit any other Person to consolidate with or merge with it.
Consolidation and Merger; Asset Acquisitions The Borrower will not consolidate with or merge into any Person, or permit any other Person to merge into it, or acquire (in a transaction analogous in purpose or effect to a consolidation or merger) all or substantially all the assets of any other Person.
Liquidations, Mergers, Consolidations, Acquisitions Holdings shall not, and shall not permit any of its Material Subsidiaries to, dissolve, liquidate, or wind-up its affairs, or become a party to any amalgamation, merger or consolidation, or acquire by purchase, lease, or otherwise all or substantially all of the assets or capital stock of or other ownership interest in any other Person, provided that
(1) any Material Subsidiary may consolidate, amalgamate or merge into Holdings or any other Material Subsidiary provided that the Company may not merge, amalgamate or consolidate with Holdings, and the Company may only merge, amalgamate or consolidate with another Material Subsidiary if the Company is the surviving entity of such merger, amalgamation or consolidation; and
(2) Holdings or any Material Subsidiary may acquire, whether by purchase, by amalgamation or by merger, (A) all of the ownership interests of another Person or (B) substantially all of the assets of another Person or of a business or division of another Person (each a “Permitted Acquisition”), provided that each of the following requirements is met:
(i) if Holdings or any Material Subsidiary is acquiring the ownership interests in such Person and such Person meets the criteria for a Material Subsidiary set forth in the definition of such term at Section 1.01, such Person shall execute a Guarantor Joinder and join this Agreement as a Guarantor pursuant to Section 10.18 [Joinder of Guarantors] on or before the date of such Permitted Acquisition;
(ii) the board of directors or other equivalent governing body of such Person shall have approved such Permitted Acquisition and Holdings or the relevant Material Subsidiary shall have delivered to the Banks written evidence of such approval of the board of directors (or equivalent body) of such Person for such Permitted Acquisition;
(iii) the business acquired, or the business conducted by the Person whose ownership interests are being acquired, as applicable, shall be substantially the same as, or otherwise complementary or related to, one or more lines of business conducted by Holdings or any Material Subsidiary, or otherwise incidental to the business of a financial services company, and shall comply with Section 7.02(j) [Continuation of or Change in Business];
(iv) no Potential Default or Event of Default shall exist immediately prior to and after giving effect to such Permitted Acquisition; and
(v) upon the reasonable request of Agent, Holdings or the relevant Material Subsidiary shall deliver to the Agent at least five (5) Business Days before such Permitted Acquisition such information about such Person or its assets as Agent may reasonably require.
Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, etc The Borrower will not be a party to any merger or consolidation, or purchase or otherwise acquire all or substantially all of the assets or any stock of any class of, or any partnership or joint venture interest in, any other Person, or, sell, transfer, convey or lease all or any substantial part of its assets, or sell or assign with or without recourse any Loan, Contracts, Related Security or other Collateral or any interest therein (other than pursuant to and in accordance with the Transaction Documents).
Investments and Acquisitions Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall have outstanding, acquire, commit itself to acquire or hold any Investment (including any Investment consisting of the acquisition of any business) (or become contractually committed to do so) except for the following:
(a) Investments of the Company and its Subsidiaries in Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (a) which are domestic Subsidiaries as of the date of this Agreement or (b) which become domestic Wholly Owned Subsidiaries after the Closing Date and become Guarantors to the extent required by Section 10.09; provided, however, that the aggregate book value of all assets (other than intercompany obligations) owned by Immaterial Subsidiaries shall not exceed $10,000,000.
(b) Intercompany loans and advances from any Subsidiary to the Company or any Guarantor that, in the case of loans or advances from Foreign Subsidiaries, are subordinated to the Obligations in accordance with the Foreign Subsidiary Subordination Agreement.
(c) Investments in Cash Equivalents.
(d) Guarantees permitted by Section 6.06.
(e) So long as immediately before and after giving effect thereto no Default exists, and so long as the Company (if the Company is party thereto) or a Guarantor (if the Company is not party thereto) is the surviving entity, the Company and its Subsidiaries may acquire another entity in the same line of business as the Company as described in Section 6.02(a) if:
(i) at all times when the Consolidated Leverage Ratio is greater than 2.50 for the most recent period of four consecutive fiscal quarters (calculated on a pro forma basis giving effect to the proposed acquisition as if such acquisition had been consummated at the beginning of such period) for which financial reports have been (or are required to have been) furnished to the Lenders in accordance with Sections 6.04(a) or 6.04(b), the purchase price for all such acquisitions permitted pursuant to this clause (e)(i) does not exceed, except with the consent of the Required Lenders, $100,000,000 in cash (excluding consideration consisting of Capital Stock, the proceeds of the issuance of Capital Stock or Subordinated Indebtedness) in the aggregate over the term of the Agreement;
(ii) at all times when the Consolidated Leverage Ratio is less than or equal to 2.50 for the most recent period of four consecutive fiscal quarters (calculated on a pro forma basis giving effect to the proposed acquisition as if such acquisition had been consummated at the beginning of such period) for which financial reports have been (or are required to have been) furnished to the Lenders in accordance with Sections 6.04(a) or 6.04(b), the Company and its Subsidiaries may make unlimited acquisitions; provided, however that in the event a transaction permitted pursuant to this clause (e)(ii) would, on a pro forma basis after giving effect thereto, cause the Consolidated Leverage Ratio to exceed 2.50, the portion of the cash purchase price with respect to such transaction attributed to causing the Consolidated Leverage Ratio to be greater than 2.50 shall only be permitted to be paid to the extent the Company has sufficient availability in the $100,000,000 basket set forth in clause (e)(i) to take into account such excess amount; provided, further, that with respect to any acquisition permitted pursuant to this Section 6.08(e)(ii), (i) the acquisition must be approved by the target entity’s board of directors, (ii) the Company must be in compliance with the Computation Covenants immediately after giving effect to such acquisition, (iii) the acquired entity must not have any environmental liabilities which, after giving effect to such acquisition, would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect and (iv) any Subsidiary acquired under this Section 6.08(e) (other than (a) a Foreign Subsidiary or (b) any Immaterial Subsidiary if the aggregate book value of the assets (other than intercompany obligations) of all Immaterial Subsidiaries acquired under this Section 6.08(e) since the Closing Date does not exceed $10,000,000) shall guarantee the Obligations, as contemplated by Section 10.09.
(f) So long as immediately before and after giving effect thereto no Default exists, the Company and its Subsidiaries may make (i) Investments in Unrestricted Affiliates engaged in businesses contemplated by Section 6.02(a) and (ii) Investments consisting of contributions of Property to Unrestricted Affiliates, in an aggregate amount for all such Investments permitted pursuant to this clause (f) (calculated at net book value at the time of such Investment), when taken together with the aggregate amount of all Dispositions permitted pursuant to Section 6.10(e), not to exceed $100,000,000.
(g) Loans or advances to employees of the Company in an amount not to exceed (i) $1,000,000 in the aggregate outstanding at any time for the purchase of capital stock of the Company and (ii) $5,000,000 in the aggregate outstanding at any time for all other purposes.
(h) So long as immediately before and after giving effect thereto no Default exists, Investments of the Company and its Subsidiaries in foreign Wholly Owned Subsidiaries; provided, however, that other than with respect to Investments outstanding as of the Closing Date as described on Schedule 6.08(h), (i) such Investments shall not involve the transfer of substantial noncash assets from the Company and its domestic Subsidiaries to its Foreign Subsidiaries other than up to $35,000,000 in book value of foreign patents and foreign trademarks; and (ii) net cash Investments of the Company and its domestic Subsidiaries in Foreign Subsidiaries made pursuant to this Section 6.08(h) at any one time outstanding shall not exceed $125,000,000 in the aggregate.
(i) So long as immediately before and after giving effect thereto no Default exists, and provided that the Company complies with Section 10.09, the Company may create a Wholly Owned Subsidiary that constitutes a holding company for the Company’s European Subsidiaries.
Investments; Acquisitions Company shall not, and shall not permit any of its Subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly, make or own any Investment in any Person, including any Joint Venture, or acquire, by purchase or otherwise, all or substantially all the business, property or fixed assets of, or Capital Stock of any Person, or any division or line of business of any Person except:
(i) Company and its Subsidiaries may make and own Investments consisting of Cash and Cash Equivalents; provided that, at any time Revolving Loans or Swing Line Loans are outstanding, the aggregate amount of Cash and Cash Equivalents permitted to be owned by Company and its Domestic Subsidiaries shall not exceed $35,000,000 for any period of five (5) consecutive days;
(ii) Company and its Subsidiaries may continue to own the Investments owned by them as of the Closing Date in the Company and in any Subsidiaries of Company (and may convert any such Investments in the form of Indebtedness into Investments in the form of Capital Stock), and Company and its Subsidiaries may make and own additional Investments in the Company or any Subsidiary Guarantor;
(iii) Company and its Subsidiaries may (a) become liable in respect of Contingent Obligations permitted by subsection 7.4 and (b) make and incur intercompany loans to the extent permitted under subsection 7.1(v);
(iv) Company and its Subsidiaries may make Consolidated Capital Expenditures permitted by subsection 7.8;
(v) Company and its Subsidiaries may continue to own the Investments described in Schedule 7.3A annexed hereto (and may make incremental Investments contemplated in connection therewith) and any extension or renewal thereof; provided that any additional Investments made with respect thereto shall be permitted only to the extent such Investments are described on Schedule 7.3A or made in accordance with the other provisions of this subsection 7.3;
(vi) Company and its Subsidiaries may acquire any business, division, line or assets (including Capital Stock and including Capital Stock of Subsidiaries formed in connection with any such acquisition) for an aggregate purchase price (determined at the time of purchase thereof) not in excess of $75,000,000 in any individual case (provided that such amount may be increased by the amount of any Net Securities Proceeds from the issuance of any Capital Stock, Net Asset Sale Proceeds or Net Insurance/Condemnation Proceeds used to fund such purchase price in accordance with this Agreement, subject, however, to the provisions of subsections 2.4B(iii) and 6.4C hereof (and, with respect to any such Net Securities Proceeds, solely to the extent such Net Securities Proceeds are not applied to increase the limit under subsection 7.8)), and continue to own such assets after the acquisition thereof; provided that (a) no Potential Event of Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing at the time such acquisition occurs or immediately after giving effect thereto, (b) Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, comply with the requirements of subsections 6.8 and 6.9 (within the time period required thereunder or within such other time period as Administrative Agent may permit in its sole discretion) with respect to each such acquisition that results in a Person becoming a Material Subsidiary, (c) all representations and warranties contained herein and in the other Loan Documents shall be true and correct in all material respects with the same effect as though such representations and warranties had been made on and as of the date of such acquisition (both before and after giving effect thereto), unless stated to relate to a specific earlier date, in which case such representations and warranties shall be true and correct in all material respects as of such earlier date, (d) for any such acquisitions Company shall have provided (I) financial statements for any Person (or line of business) acquired in any such acquisition for the last Fiscal Year of such Person or line of business, audited or reviewed by independent certified public accountants reasonably satisfactory to Administrative Agent or such other financial statements, in each case, available to Company and (II) to Administrative Agent a pro-forma Compliance Certificate certified by a Financial Officer of Company and demonstrating that after giving effect to such acquisition, Company and its Subsidiaries shall be in Pro Forma Compliance, and (e) the amount by which (1) the Revolving Loan Commitment Amount exceeds (2) the Total Utilization of Revolving Loan Commitments after giving effect to such acquisition and any related transactions, is not less than $25,000,000;
(vii) so long as no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, Company and its Subsidiaries may make additional Investments in any Subsidiary that is not a Subsidiary Guarantor; provided that the amount of all such Investments does not (together with Indebtedness permitted by subsection 7.1(v)) exceed $100,000,000 (net of cash amounts paid by any Subsidiary that is not a Subsidiary Guarantor to Company or any Subsidiary Guarantor after the Closing Date in respect of (A) Investments made in such Subsidiary that is not a Subsidiary Guarantor and (B) the share capital of such Subsidiary that is not a Subsidiary Guarantor, including, without limitation, cash payments that are comprised of dividends, share repurchases, share redemptions or other cash returns on such share capital) in the aggregate outstanding at any time for all such Investments;
(viii) Company and its Subsidiaries may make and own other Investments in an aggregate amount not to exceed at any time $25,000,000;
(ix) Company may acquire and hold obligations of one or more officers or other employees of Company or its Subsidiaries in connection with such officers’ or employees’ acquisition of shares of Company’s Capital Stock, so long as no cash is actually advanced by Company or any of its Subsidiaries to such officers or employees in connection with the acquisition of any such obligations;
(x) Company and its Subsidiaries may receive and hold promissory notes and other non-cash consideration received in connection with any Asset Sale permitted by subsection 7.7;
(xi) Company and its Subsidiaries may acquire and hold Investments in Securities in connection with the full or partial satisfaction, settlement or enforcement of Indebtedness or claims or other obligations due or owing to Company or any of its Subsidiaries or as security for any such Indebtedness or claim;
(xii) any transaction permitted by subsections 7.5 or 7.7;
(xiii) deposits, prepayments and extensions of trade credit in the ordinary course of business;
(xiv) Company and its Subsidiaries may make the Investments described in Schedule 7.3B annexed hereto; provided that the aggregate fair market value of such Investments (as determined as of the date each such Investment is made) shall not exceed $42,000,000; and
(xv) Investments by Company or any Subsidiary Guarantor in any of their respective Subsidiaries (1) consisting of Capital Stock and/or intercompany notes made to achieve cash repatriation strategies or (2) the consideration for which is the cancellation or other settlement of any corresponding intercompany Indebtedness incurred in connection with Investments permitted pursuant to the foregoing clause (1), in each case so long as the net cash Investment by Company or such Subsidiary Guarantor in connection therewith does not (a) exceed zero after the tenth day following the making of such cash Investment and (b) in any event exceed $50,000,000 (taken together with the amount of all other cash Investments then outstanding under this subsection 7.3(xv)) at any time.
Mergers, Consolidations, Sales of Assets and Acquisitions (a) Merge into or consolidate with any other Person, or permit any other Person to merge into or consolidate with it, or sell, transfer, lease or otherwise dispose of (in one transaction or in a series of transactions) all or substantially all the assets (whether now owned or hereafter acquired) of the Borrower or less than all the Equity Interests of any Restricted Subsidiary, or purchase or otherwise acquire (in one transaction or a series of transactions) all or substantially all of the assets of any other Person or division or line of business of such Person, except that (i) the Borrower and any Restricted Subsidiary may purchase and sell inventory in the ordinary course of business and (ii) if at the time thereof and immediately after giving effect thereto no Event of Default or Default shall have occurred and be continuing (1) any Wholly Owned Restricted Subsidiary may merge into the Borrower in a transaction in which the Borrower is the surviving corporation, (2) any Wholly Owned Restricted Subsidiary may merge into or consolidate with any other Wholly Owned Restricted Subsidiary in a transaction in which the surviving entity is a Wholly Owned Restricted Subsidiary (provided that if any party to any such transaction is a Loan Party, the surviving entity of such transaction shall be a Loan Party), (3) any Restricted Subsidiary may dispose of any or all of its assets (upon voluntary liquidation or otherwise) to the Borrower or any other Restricted Subsidiary (which such recipient Restricted Subsidiary shall be a Loan Party if the disposing Restricted Subsidiary is a Loan Party), (4) any Restricted Subsidiary may liquidate (other than in connection with a merger or a consolidation which shall be governed by the other clauses of this Section 6.05(a)) and distribute its assets ratably to its shareholders if the Borrower determines in good faith that such liquidation or dissolution is in the best interests of the Borrower and is not materially disadvantageous to the Lenders, and (5) the Borrower and the Restricted Subsidiaries may make Permitted Acquisitions, including by means of mergers or consolidations.
(b) Make any Asset Sale otherwise permitted under paragraph (a) above unless (i) such Asset Sale is for consideration at least 75% of which consists of cash, (ii) such consideration is at least equal to the fair market value of the assets being sold, transferred, leased or disposed of and (iii) the fair market value of all assets sold, transferred, leased or disposed of pursuant to this paragraph (b) shall not exceed the greater of (i) $100,000,000 and (ii) 3.0% of the Consolidated Net Tangible Assets in any fiscal year.
Creation/Acquisition of Subsidiaries In the event Borrower, or any of its Subsidiaries creates or acquires any Subsidiary, Borrower shall provide prior written notice to Collateral Agent and each Lender of the creation or acquisition of such new Subsidiary and take all such action as may be reasonably required by Collateral Agent or any Lender to cause each such Subsidiary to become a co-Borrower hereunder or to guarantee the Obligations of Borrower under the Loan Documents and, in each case, grant a continuing pledge and security interest in and to the assets of such Subsidiary (substantially as described on Exhibit A hereto); and Borrower (or its Subsidiary, as applicable) shall grant and pledge to Collateral Agent, for the ratable benefit of the Lenders, a perfected security interest in the Shares; provided, however, that solely in the circumstance in which Borrower or any Subsidiary creates or acquires a Foreign Subsidiary in an acquisition permitted by Section 7.7 hereof or otherwise approved by the Required Lenders, (i) such Foreign Subsidiary shall not be required to guarantee the Obligations of Borrower under the Loan Documents and grant a continuing pledge and security interest in and to the assets of such Foreign Subsidiary, and (ii) Borrower shall not be required to grant and pledge to Collateral Agent, for the ratable benefit of Lenders, a perfected security interest in more than sixty-five percent (65%) of the Shares of such Foreign Subsidiary, if Borrower demonstrates to the reasonable satisfaction of Collateral Agent that such Foreign Subsidiary providing such guarantee or pledge and security interest or Borrower providing a perfected security interest in more than sixty-five percent (65%) of the Shares would create a present and existing adverse tax consequence to Borrower under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
Sale of Assets; Merger and Consolidation Subject to right of Shareholders, if any, to vote pursuant to Section 6.1, the Trustees may cause (i) the Trust or one or more of its Portfolios to the extent consistent with applicable law to sell all or substantially all of its assets to, or be merged into or consolidated with, another Portfolio, statutory trust (or series thereof) or Company (or series thereof), (ii) the Shares of the Trust or any Portfolio (or Class) to be converted into beneficial interests in another statutory trust (or series thereof) created pursuant to this Section 9.4, (iii) the Shares of any Class to be converted into another Class of the same Portfolio, or (iv) the Shares to be exchanged under or pursuant to any state or federal statute to the extent permitted by law. In all respects not governed by statute or applicable law, the Trustees shall have power to prescribe the procedure necessary or appropriate to accomplish a sale of assets, merger or consolidation including the power to create one or more separate statutory trusts to which all or any part of the assets, liabilities, profits or losses of the Trust may be transferred and to provide for the conversion of Shares of the Trust or any Portfolio (or Class) into beneficial interests in such separate statutory trust or trusts (or series or class thereof).
TRANSACTIONS IN CAPITAL STOCK Except as set forth on Schedule 5.4, the COMPANY has not acquired any COMPANY Stock since January l, 1995. Except as set forth on Schedule 5.4, (i) no option, warrant, call, conversion right or commitment of any kind exists which obligates the COMPANY to issue any of its capital stock; (ii) the COMPANY has no obligation (contingent or otherwise) to purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any of its equity securities or any interests therein or to pay any dividend or make any distribution in respect thereof; and (iii) neither the voting stock structure of the COMPANY nor the relative ownership of shares among any of its respective stockholders has been altered or changed in contemplation of the Merger and/or the VPI Plan of Organization. Schedule 5.4 also includes complete and accurate copies of all stock option or stock purchase plans, including a list of all outstanding options, warrants or other rights to acquire shares of the COMPANY's stock and the material terms of such outstanding options, warrants or other rights.
