Benefit of Agreement Assignments Participations (a) This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the respective successors and assigns of the parties hereto; provided, however, that (i) no Credit Party may assign or transfer any of its rights, obligations or interest hereunder or under any other Credit Document without the prior written consent of the Lenders, (ii) although any Lender may grant participations in its rights hereunder, such Lender shall remain a “Lender” for all purposes hereunder (and may not transfer or assign all or any portion of its Commitments hereunder except as provided in Section 11.04(b)) and no participant shall constitute a “Lender” hereunder and (iii) no Lender shall transfer or grant any participation under which the participant shall have rights to approve any amendment to or waiver of this Agreement or any other Credit Document except to the extent such amendment or waiver would (x) extend the final scheduled maturity of any Loan or Note in which such participant is participating, or reduce the rate or extend the time of payment of interest or Commitment Commission thereon (except (I) in connection with a waiver of applicability of any post-default increase in interest rates and (II) that any amendment or modification to the financial definitions in this Agreement shall not constitute a reduction in the rate of interest for purposes of this clause (x)) or reduce the principal amount thereof, or increase the amount of the participant’s participation over the amount thereof then in effect (it being understood that a waiver of any Default or Event of Default or of a mandatory reduction in the Total Commitments shall not constitute a change in the terms of such participation, and that an increase in any Commitment or Loan shall be permitted without the consent of any participant if the participant’s participation is not increased as a result thereof), (y) consent to the assignment or transfer by the Borrower of any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement or (z) release all or substantially all of the Collateral under all of the Security Documents (except as expressly provided in the Credit Documents) securing the Loans hereunder in which such participant is participating. In the case of any such participation, the participant shall not have any rights under this Agreement or any of the other Credit Documents (the participant’s rights against such Lender in respect of such participation to be those set forth in the agreement executed by such Lender in favor of the participant relating thereto) and all amounts payable by the Borrower hereunder shall be determined as if such Lender had not sold such participation. Each Lender that sells a participation shall, acting solely for this purpose as an agent of the Borrower, maintain a register on which it enters the name and address of each participant and the principal amounts (and stated interest) of each participant’s interest in the Loan or other obligations under the Note (the “Participant Register”); provided that no Lender shall have any obligation to disclose all or any portion of the Participant Register (including the identity of any participant or any information relating to a participant’s interest in any commitments, loans or its other obligations under any Note) to any Person except to the extent that such disclosure is necessary to establish that such commitment, loan, letter of credit or other obligation is in registered form under Section 5f.103-1(c) of the United States Treasury Regulations. The entries in the Participant Register shall be conclusive absent manifest error, and such Lender shall treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Participant Register as the owner of such participation for all purposes of this Agreement notwithstanding any notice to the contrary. For the avoidance of doubt, the Administrative Agent (in its capacity as Administrative Agent) shall have no responsibility for maintaining a Participant Register.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, any Lender (or any Lender together with one or more other Lenders) may:
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, provided as follows:
(i) Any such assignment, other than an assignment in whole, made other than to (A) another Lender, (B) a separately organized branch of a Lender or (C) a Related Lender Party, shall reflect an assignment of such assigning Lender's Notes and Commitments which is in an aggregate principal amount of at least $500,000, unless each of the Borrower and the Agent otherwise consents to a lesser amount.
(ii) Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, (A) each Lender may at any time pledge all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement and each of the other Loan Documents, including without limitation its Loans and 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) in support of borrowings made by such Lender from such Federal Reserve Bank and (B) any Lender that is a fund or similar investment vehicle that invests in or makes commercial loans may, without the consent of the Agent or the Borrower, pledge all or any portion of its Notes or Loans to any holders of obligations owed, or securities issued, by such Person, as security for such obligations or securities, or to any trustee for, or any other representative of, such holders; provided that any foreclosure or similar action by such trustee shall be subject to the provisions of this Section concerning assignments. No pledge pursuant to this subsection (ii) shall release the transferor Lender from any of its obligations and liabilities under the Loan Documents.
(iii) 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 12 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 unless otherwise permitted by the Agent, (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 applicable Loans 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 Loans 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.
(iv) The Agent, on behalf of the Borrower, shall maintain at the address of the Agent referred to in Section 13.03 a copy of each Assignment and Acceptance delivered to it and a register (the "Register") for the recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders and the Commitments of, and principal amounts of the Loans owing to, and any Notes evidencing the Loans owned by, each Lender from time to time. The entries in the Register shall be conclusive, in the absence of manifest error, and the Borrower, the Agent and the Lenders shall treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Register as the owner of a Loan or other obligation hereunder as the owner thereof for all purposes of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, notwithstanding any notice to the contrary. Any assignment of any Loan or other obligation hereunder shall be effective only upon appropriate entries with respect thereto being made in the Register; provided that in the case of an assignment by a Lender to any Related Lender Party that is not reflected on the Register, the assigning Lender shall maintain a comparable register on behalf of the Agent. The Register shall be available for inspection by the Borrower or any Lender at any reasonable time and from time to time upon reasonable prior notice.
(v) Upon its receipt of an Assignment and Acceptance executed by an assigning Lender and the assignee together with the Note or Notes, if any, subject to such assignment (or a standard indemnity letter from the respective assigning Lender in respect of any lost Note or Notes) and payment by the assigning Lender or the assignee to the Agent of registration and processing fees of $3,500 in the aggregate (except with respect to assignments (A) to any Related Lender Party or another Lender or (B) by the Agent, the Syndication Agent or the Documentation Agent, in their capacities as Lenders), the Agent shall promptly accept such Assignment and Acceptance and record the information contained therein in the Register and give notice of such acceptance and recordation to the Lenders and the Borrower. Such Assignment and Acceptance and the assignment evidenced thereby shall only be effective upon appropriate entries with respect to the information contained therein being made in the Register pursuant to subparagraph (iv) above.
(vi) Within five (5) Business Days after receipt of such notice, the Borrower shall, if requested by the assignee Lender, execute and deliver to the Agent in exchange for evidence of the delivery to the Agent of a copy of each such surrendered Note, marked "Superseded", one or more new Notes payable to the order of such assignee in an amount equal to the portion of the applicable Commitment assumed and/or Loans purchased 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) and/or Loans 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 Sections 1.01, 1.03, 1.04 or 1.04A as applicable. Copies of the superseded Notes shall be delivered to the Borrower upon execution and delivery of such new Notes and the original superseded Notes shall be returned to the assignors thereof.
(vii) 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 the Notes held by it); provided, however, that, no Lender shall transfer or grant any participation under which the participant shall have rights to approve any amendment to or waiver of this Agreement or any other Loan Document, except to the extent such amendment or waiver would (A) extend the final scheduled maturity of any Loan or Note in which such participant is participating, or reduce the rate or extend the time of payment of interest or fees thereon (except in connection with a waiver of applicability of any post-default increase in interest rates) or reduce the principal amount thereof, or increase the amount of the participant's participation over the amount thereof, or increase the amount of the participant's participation over the amount thereof then in effect (it being understood that no waiver or modification of any condition precedent, covenant or Default or of any mandatory reduction in the aggregate Commitments shall constitute a change in the terms of such participation, that an increase in any Commitment or Loan shall be permitted without the consent of any participant if the participant's participation is not increased as a result thereof and that any amendment or modification to the financial definitions in this Agreement shall not constitute a reduction in any rate of interest or fees for purposes of this clause (A)), (B) consent to the assignment or transfer by the Borrower of any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement or (C) release all or substantially all of the Collateral under all of the Security Documents (except as expressly provided in the Security Documents) supporting the Loans hereunder in which such participant is participating or (D) eliminate the rights set forth in Section 1.21. In the case of any such participation, the participant shall not have any rights under this Agreement or any of the other Loan Documents (the participant's rights against such Lender in respect of such participation to be those set forth in the agreement executed by such Lender in favor of the participant relating thereto) and all amounts payable by the Borrower hereunder shall be determined as if such Lender had not sold such participation.
(viii) Except for an assignment made to (i) another Lender, (ii) a separately organized branch of a Lender, (iii) a Related Lender Party or (iv) a Qualified Institutional Lender, and except during the existence of a Default, no assignment 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.
(ix) The Borrower may not assign any of its rights or delegate any of its duties or obligations hereunder.
(x) To the extent that an assignment of all or any portion of a Lender's Commitment and outstanding Loans pursuant to subsection (b) of Article XI or this Article XII would, due to circumstances existing at the time of such assignment, result in costs under Sections 1.11, 1.13 or 1.14 which are increased from those being charged by the respective assigning Lender prior to such assignment, then the Borrower shall not be obligated to pay such increased costs (although the Borrower shall be obligated to pay any other increased costs of the type described above resulting from changes after the date of the respective assignment).
(xi) 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 and the Parent Affiliates furnished to such Lender by or on behalf of the Borrower and such assignee or participant shall treat such information as confidential.
