Guarantors May Consolidate, etc., on Certain Terms Except as otherwise provided in Section 14.5 of this Indenture, no Guarantor may sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets to, or consolidate with or merge with or into (regardless of whether such Guarantor is the surviving Person) another Person, other than the Company or another Guarantor, unless:
(a) immediately after giving effect to such transaction, no Default or Event of Default exists; and
(b) either:
(i) subject to Section 14.5 hereof, if it is not such Guarantor, the Person acquiring the property in any such sale or disposition or the Person formed by or surviving any such consolidation or merger assumes all the obligations of that Guarantor under this Indenture (including its Subsidiary Guarantee), on the terms set forth herein, pursuant to a supplemental indenture in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Trustee, in which case the Subsidiary Guarantee of such Guarantor will be released as contemplated by Section 14.5 of this Indenture; or
(ii) the Net Proceeds of such sale or other disposition are applied in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Indenture, including without limitation Section 10.12. In case of any such consolidation, merger, sale or conveyance and upon the assumption by the successor Person, by supplemental indenture, executed and delivered to the Trustee and satisfactory in form to the Trustee, of the Subsidiary Guarantee of such Guarantor and the due and punctual performance of all of the covenants and conditions of this Indenture to be performed by the Guarantor, such successor Person will succeed to and be substituted for the Guarantor with the same effect as if it had been named herein as a Guarantor. Such successor Person thereupon may cause to be signed any or all of the Subsidiary Guarantee notations to be endorsed upon all of the Notes issuable hereunder which theretofore shall not have been signed by the Company and delivered to the Trustee. All the Subsidiary Guarantees so issued will in all respects have the same legal rank and benefit under this Indenture as the Subsidiary Guarantees theretofore and thereafter issued in accordance with the terms of this Indenture as though all of such Subsidiary Guarantees had been issued at the date of the execution hereof. Except as set forth in Articles Eight and Ten of this Indenture, and notwithstanding clauses (i) and (ii) above, nothing contained in this Indenture or in any of the Notes will prevent any consolidation or merger of a Guarantor with or into the Company or another Guarantor, or will prevent any sale or conveyance of the property of a Guarantor as an entirety or substantially as an entirety to the Company or another Guarantor.
Issuer May Consolidate, etc., Only on Certain Terms (a) The Issuer shall not consolidate or merge with or into any other Person, unless:
(i) the Person (if other than the Issuer) formed by or surviving such consolidation or merger shall be a Person organized and existing under the laws of the United States of America or any State or the District of Columbia and shall expressly assume, by an indenture supplemental hereto, executed and delivered to the Indenture Trustee, in form satisfactory to the Indenture Trustee, the duty to make due and punctual payments of the principal of and interest on all Notes in accordance with the terms thereof and the performance or observance of every agreement and covenant of this Indenture on the part of the Issuer to be performed or observed, all as provided herein;
(ii) immediately after giving effect to such transaction, no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing;
(iii) each Rating Agency shall have notified the Indenture Trustee and the Owner Trustee that such transaction will not result in the removal or reduction of the rating then assigned thereby to any Class of Notes;
(iv) the Issuer shall have received an Opinion of Counsel (and shall have delivered copies thereof to the Indenture Trustee) to the effect that such transaction will not have any material adverse tax consequence to the Issuer, any Noteholder or any Certificateholder;
(v) any action that is necessary to maintain each lien and security interest created by the Trust Agreement, the Sale and Servicing Agreement or by this Indenture shall have been taken; and
(vi) the Issuer shall have delivered to the Indenture Trustee an Officer’s Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel each stating that such consolidation or merger and any related supplemental indenture complies with this Section 3.10 and that all conditions precedent provided for in this Indenture relating to such transaction have been complied with (including any filing required by the Exchange Act).
(b) Except as expressly provided in this Indenture or in the Basic Documents, the Issuer shall not convey or transfer its properties or assets, including those included in the Trust Estate, to any Person, unless:
(i) the Person that acquires by conveyance or transfer such properties and assets of the Issuer shall (A) be a United States citizen or a Person organized and existing under the laws of the United States of America or any State or the District of Columbia, (B) expressly assume, by an indenture supplemental hereto, executed and delivered to the Indenture Trustee, in form satisfactory to the Indenture Trustee, the duty to make due and punctual payments of the principal of and interest on all Notes and the performance or observance of every agreement and covenant of this Indenture on the part of the Issuer to be performed or observed, all as provided herein, (C) expressly agrees by means of such supplemental indenture that all right, title and interest so conveyed or transferred shall be subject and subordinate to the rights of Holders of the Notes, (D) unless otherwise provided in such supplemental indenture, expressly agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Issuer, the Owner Trustee and the Indenture Trustee against and from any loss, liability or expense arising under or related to this Indenture and the Notes, and (E) expressly agrees by means of such supplemental indenture that such Person (or if a group of Persons, then one specified Person) shall make all filings that counsel satisfactory to such purchaser or transferee and the Indenture Trustee determines must be made with (1) the Commission (and any other appropriate Person) required by the Exchange Act or the appropriate authorities in any State in which the Notes have been sold pursuant to any qualification or exemption under the securities or “blue sky” laws of such State, in connection with the Notes or (2) the Internal Revenue Service or the relevant state or local taxing authorities of any jurisdiction;
(ii) immediately after giving effect to such transaction, no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing;
(iii) each Rating Agency shall have notified the Indenture Trustee and the Owner Trustee that such transaction would not result in the removal or reduction of the rating then assigned thereby to any Class of Notes;
(iv) the Issuer shall have received an Opinion of Counsel (and shall have delivered copies thereof to the Indenture Trustee) to the effect that such transaction will not have any material adverse tax consequence to the Issuer, any Noteholder or any Certificateholder;
(v) any action that is necessary to maintain each lien and security interest created by the Trust Agreement, the Sale and Servicing Agreement or by this Indenture shall have been taken; and
(vi) the Issuer shall have delivered to the Indenture Trustee an Officer’s Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel each stating that such conveyance or transfer and such supplemental indenture comply with this Section 3.10 and that all conditions precedent herein provided for relating to such transaction have been complied with (including any filing required by the Exchange Act).
