The Administrative Agent Each of the Lenders and the Issuing Bank hereby irrevocably appoints the Administrative Agent as its agent and authorizes the Administrative Agent to take such actions on its behalf and to exercise such powers as are delegated to the Administrative Agent by the terms hereof, together with such actions and powers as are reasonably incidental thereto. The bank serving as the Administrative Agent hereunder shall have the same rights and powers in its capacity as a Lender as any other Lender and may exercise the same as though it were not the Administrative Agent, and such bank and its Affiliates may accept deposits from, lend money to and generally engage in any kind of business with the Borrower or any Subsidiary or other Affiliate thereof as if it were not the Administrative Agent hereunder. The Administrative Agent shall not have any duties or obligations except those expressly set forth herein. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, (a) the Administrative Agent shall not be subject to any fiduciary or other implied duties, regardless of whether a Default has occurred and is continuing, (b) the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty to take any discretionary action or exercise any discretionary powers, except discretionary rights and powers expressly contemplated hereby that the Administrative Agent is required to exercise in writing as directed by the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.02), and (c) except as expressly set forth herein, the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty to disclose, and shall not be liable for the failure to disclose, any information relating to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries that is communicated to or obtained by the bank serving as Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates in any capacity. The Administrative Agent shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it with the consent or at the request of the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.02) or in the absence of its own gross negligence or willful misconduct. The Administrative Agent shall be deemed not to have knowledge of any Default unless and until written notice thereof is given to the Administrative Agent by the Borrower or a Lender, and the Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to ascertain or inquire into (i) any statement, warranty or representation made in or in connection with this Agreement, (ii) the contents of any certificate, report or other document delivered hereunder or in connection herewith, (iii) the performance or observance of any of the covenants, agreements or other terms or conditions set forth herein, (iv) the validity, enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of this Agreement or any other agreement, instrument or document, or (v) the satisfaction of any condition set forth in Article IV or elsewhere herein, other than to confirm receipt of items expressly required to be delivered to the Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent shall be entitled to rely upon, and shall not incur any liability for relying upon, any notice, request, certificate, consent, statement, instrument, document or other writing believed by it to be genuine and to have been signed or sent by the proper Person. The Administrative Agent also may rely upon any statement made to it orally or by telephone and believed by it to be made by the proper Person, and shall not incur any liability for relying thereon. The Administrative Agent may consult with legal counsel (who may be counsel for the Borrower), independent accountants and other experts selected by it, and shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it in accordance with the advice of any such counsel, accountants or experts. The Administrative Agent may perform any and all its duties and exercise its rights and powers by or through any one or more sub-agents appointed by the Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent may perform any and all its duties and exercise its rights and powers through their respective Related Parties. The exculpatory provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall apply to any such sub-agent and to the Related Parties of the Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent, and shall apply to their respective activities in connection with the syndication of the credit facilities provided for herein as well as activities as Administrative Agent. Subject to the appointment and acceptance of a successor Administrative Agent as provided in this paragraph, the Administrative Agent may resign at any time by notifying the Lenders, the Issuing Bank and the Borrower. Upon any such resignation, the Required Lenders shall have the right, in consultation with the Borrower, to appoint a successor. If no successor shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders and shall have accepted such appointment within 30 days after the retiring Administrative Agent gives notice of its resignation, then the retiring Administrative Agent may, on behalf of the Lenders and the Issuing Bank, appoint a successor Administrative Agent which shall be a Lender and a commercial bank with an office in New York, New York and having a combined capital and surplus of at least $500,000,000, or an Affiliate of any such bank. Upon the acceptance of its appointment as Administrative Agent hereunder by a successor, such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring Administrative Agent, and the retiring Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations hereunder. The fees payable by the Borrower to a successor Administrative Agent shall be the same as those payable to its predecessor unless otherwise agreed between the Borrower and such successor. After the Administrative Agent’s resignation hereunder, the provisions of this Article and Section 10.03 shall continue in effect for the benefit of such retiring Administrative Agent, its sub-agents and their respective Related Parties in respect of any actions taken or omitted to be taken by any of them while it was acting as Administrative Agent. Each Lender acknowledges that it has, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent or any other Lender and based on such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, made its own credit analysis and decision to enter into this Agreement. Each Lender also acknowledges that it will, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent or any other Lender and based on such documents and information as it shall from time to time deem appropriate, continue to make its own decisions in taking or not taking action under or based upon this Agreement, any related agreement or any document furnished hereunder or thereunder.
Notice to the Administrative Agent The Borrower shall give notice to the Administrative Agent by no later than 10:00 a.m. (Chicago time): (i) at least three (3) Business Days before the date on which the Borrower requests the Lenders to advance a Borrowing of Eurodollar Loans and (ii) on the date the Borrower requests the Lenders to advance a Borrowing of Base Rate Loans. The Loans included in each Borrowing shall bear interest initially at the type of rate specified in such notice of a new Borrowing. Thereafter, subject to the terms and conditions hereof, the Borrower may from time to time elect to change or continue the type of interest rate borne by each Borrowing or, subject to the minimum amount requirement for each outstanding Borrowing set forth in Section 1.5 hereof, a portion thereof, as follows: (i) if such Borrowing is of Eurodollar Loans, on the last day of the Interest Period applicable thereto, the Borrower may continue part or all of such Borrowing as Eurodollar Loans or convert part or all of such Borrowing into Base Rate Loans or (ii) if such Borrowing is of Base Rate Loans, on any Business Day, the Borrower may convert all or part of such Borrowing into Eurodollar Loans for an Interest Period or Interest Periods specified by the Borrower. The Borrower shall give all such notices requesting the advance, continuation or conversion of a Borrowing to the Administrative Agent by telephone, telecopy, or other telecommunication device acceptable to the Administrative Agent (which notice shall be irrevocable once given and, if by telephone, shall be promptly confirmed in writing), substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B (Notice of Borrowing) or Exhibit C (Notice of Continuation/Conversion), as applicable, or in such other form acceptable to the Administrative Agent. Notice of the continuation of a Borrowing of Eurodollar Loans for an additional Interest Period or of the conversion of part or all of a Borrowing of Base Rate Loans into Eurodollar Loans must be given by no later than 10:00 a.m. (Chicago time) at least three (3) Business Days before the date of the requested continuation or conversion. All such notices concerning the advance, continuation or conversion of a Borrowing shall specify the date of the requested advance, continuation or conversion of a Borrowing (which shall be a Business Day), the amount of the requested Borrowing to be advanced, continued or converted, the type of Loans to comprise such new, continued or converted Borrowing and, if such Borrowing is to be comprised of Eurodollar Loans, the Interest Period applicable thereto. No Borrowing of Eurodollar Loans shall be advanced, continued, or created by conversion if any Default or Event of Default then exists. The Borrower agrees that the Administrative Agent may rely on any such telephonic, telecopy or other telecommunication notice given by any person the Administrative Agent in good faith believes is an Authorized Representative without the necessity of independent investigation, and in the event any such notice by telephone conflicts with any written confirmation such telephonic notice shall govern if the Administrative Agent has acted in reliance thereon.
Issuing Bank Reports to the Administrative Agent Unless otherwise agreed by the Administrative Agent, each Issuing Bank shall, in addition to its notification obligations set forth elsewhere in this Section, report in writing to the Administrative Agent (i) periodic activity (for such period or recurrent periods as shall be requested by the Administrative Agent) in respect of Letters of Credit issued by such Issuing Bank, including all issuances, extensions, amendments and renewals, all expirations and cancelations and all disbursements and reimbursements, (ii) reasonably prior to the time that such Issuing Bank issues, amends, renews or extends any Letter of Credit, the date of such issuance, amendment, renewal or extension, and the stated amount of the Letters of Credit issued, amended, renewed or extended by it and outstanding after giving effect to such issuance, amendment, renewal or extension (and whether the amounts thereof shall have changed), (iii) on each Business Day on which such Issuing Bank makes any LC Disbursement, the date and amount of such LC Disbursement, (iv) on any Business Day on which the Borrower fails to reimburse an LC Disbursement required to be reimbursed to such Issuing Bank on such day, the date of such failure and the amount of such LC Disbursement, and (v) on any other Business Day, such other information as the Administrative Agent shall reasonably request as to the Letters of Credit issued by such Issuing Bank.
Resignation of the Administrative Agent (a) The Administrative Agent may at any time give notice of its resignation to the Lenders and the Borrower. Upon receipt of any such notice of resignation, the Required Lenders shall have the right, subject to the reasonable approval of the Borrower (with any Lender or affiliate of a Lender being deemed approved, unless such Lender is a Defaulting Lender, and which approval shall not be required if an Event Default shall be in existence), to appoint a successor, which shall be a bank with an office in the United States, or an Affiliate of any such bank with an office in the United States. If no such successor shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders and shall have accepted such appointment within 30 days after the retiring Administrative Agent gives notice of its resignation (or such earlier day as shall be agreed by the Required Lenders) (the “Resignation Effective Date”), then the retiring Administrative Agent may (but shall not be obligated to) on behalf of the Lenders, appoint a successor Administrative Agent meeting the qualifications set forth above. Whether or not a successor has been appointed, such resignation shall become effective in accordance with such notice on the Resignation Effective Date.
(b) If the Person serving as the Administrative Agent is a Defaulting Lender pursuant to clause (d) of the definition thereof, the Required Lenders may, to the extent permitted by applicable law, by notice in writing to the Borrower and such Person remove such Person as the Administrative Agent and, in consultation with the Borrower, appoint a successor. If no such successor shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders and shall have accepted such appointment within 30 days (or such earlier day as shall be agreed by the Required Lenders) (the “Removal Effective Date”), then such removal shall nonetheless become effective in accordance with such notice on the Removal Effective Date.
(c) With effect from the Resignation Effective Date or the Removal Effective Date (as applicable) (1) the retiring or removed Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations hereunder and under the other Loan Documents (except that in the case of any pledge security held by the Administrative Agent on behalf of the Lenders under any of the Loan Documents, the retiring or removed Administrative Agent shall continue to hold such collateral security until such time as a successor Administrative Agent is appointed) and (2) except for any indemnity payments or other amounts then owed to the retiring or removed Administrative Agent, all payments, communications and determinations provided to be made by, to or through the Administrative Agent shall instead be made by or to each Lender directly, until such time, if any, as the Required Lenders appoint a successor Administrative Agent as provided for above. Upon the acceptance of a successor’s appointment as the Administrative Agent hereunder, such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all of the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring (or removed) the Administrative Agent (other than as provided in Section 3.01(g) and other than any rights to indemnity payments or other amounts owed to the retiring or removed Administrative Agent as of the Resignation Effective Date or the Removal Effective Date, as applicable), and the retiring or removed Administrative Agent shall be discharged from all of its duties and obligations hereunder or under the other Loan Documents (if not already discharged therefrom as provided above in this Section). The fees payable by the Borrower to a successor Administrative Agent shall be the same as those payable to its predecessor unless otherwise agreed between the Borrower and such successor. After the retiring or removed Administrative Agent’s resignation or removal hereunder and under the other Loan Documents, the provisions of this Article and Section 10.04 shall continue in effect for the benefit of such retiring or removed Administrative Agent, its sub-agents and their respective Related Parties in respect of any actions taken or omitted to be taken by any of them while the retiring or removed Administrative Agent was acting as the Administrative Agent.
L/C Issuer Reports to the Administrative Agent Unless otherwise agreed by the Administrative Agent, each L/C Issuer shall, in addition to its notification obligations set forth elsewhere in this Section 2.03, provide the Administrative Agent a Letter of Credit Report, as set forth below:
(i) reasonably prior to the time that such L/C Issuer issues, amends, renews, increases or extends a Letter of Credit, the date of such issuance, amendment, renewal, increase or extension and the stated amount of the applicable Letters of Credit after giving effect to such issuance, amendment, renewal or extension (and whether the amounts thereof shall have changed);
(ii) on each Business Day on which such L/C Issuer makes a payment pursuant to a Letter of Credit, the date and amount of such payment;
(iii) on any Business Day on which the Borrower fails to reimburse a payment made pursuant to a Letter of Credit required to be reimbursed to such L/C Issuer on such day, the date of such failure and the amount of such payment;
(iv) on any other Business Day, such other information as the Administrative Agent shall reasonably request as to the Letters of Credit issued by such L/C Issuer; and
(v) for so long as any Letter of Credit issued by an L/C Issuer is outstanding, such L/C Issuer shall deliver to the Administrative Agent (A) on the last Business Day of each calendar month, (B) at all other times a Letter of Credit Report is required to be delivered pursuant to this Agreement, and (C) on each date that (1) an L/C Credit Extension occurs or (2) there is any expiration, cancellation and/or disbursement, in each case, with respect to any such Letter of Credit, a Letter of Credit Report appropriately completed with the information for every outstanding Letter of Credit issued by such L/C Issuer.
Rights of the Administrative Agent (a) If an Event of Default shall occur and be continuing and the Administrative Agent shall give notice of its intent to exercise such rights to the Pledgor, and subject to the receipt of any applicable approvals from Insurance Regulators, and compliance by Administrative Agent and Lenders with any applicable filing or other requirements of the applicable Insurance Regulators, (i) the Administrative Agent shall have the right to receive any and all cash dividends paid in respect of the Pledged Stock and partnership and membership distributions in respect of the Partnership Interests and make application thereof to the Obligation in the order set forth in SECTION 11.8 of the Credit Agreement and (ii) all shares of the Pledged Stock shall be registered in the name of the Administrative Agent or its nominee, and the Administrative Agent or its nominee may thereafter exercise (A) all voting, corporate and other rights pertaining to such shares of the Pledged Stock at any meeting of shareholders of the applicable Issuer or otherwise and (B) any and all rights of conversion, exchange, subscription, and any other rights, privileges or options pertaining to such shares of the Pledged Stock as if it were the absolute owner thereof (including, without limitation, the right to exchange at its discretion any and all of the Pledged Stock upon the merger, consolidation, reorganization, recapitalization or other fundamental change in the corporate structure of the applicable Issuer, or upon the exercise by the Pledgor or the Administrative Agent of any right, privilege or option pertaining to such shares of the Pledged Stock, and in connection therewith, the right to deposit and deliver any and all of the Pledged Stock with any committee, depositary, transfer agent, registrar or other designated agency upon such terms and conditions as it may determine), all without liability except to account for property actually received by it, but the Administrative Agent shall have no duty to the Pledgor to exercise any such right, privilege or option and shall not be responsible for any failure to do so or delay in so doing.
(b) The rights of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders hereunder shall not be conditioned or contingent upon the pursuit by the Administrative Agent or any Lender of any right or remedy against the Pledgor or against any other Person which may be or become liable in respect of all or any part of the Obligation or against any collateral security therefor, guarantee therefor or right of offset with respect thereto. Neither the Administrative Agent nor any Lender shall be liable for any failure to demand, collect or realize upon all or any part of the Collateral or for any delay in doing so, nor shall the Administrative Agent be under any obligation to sell or otherwise dispose of any Collateral upon the request of the Pledgor or any other Person or to take any other action whatsoever with regard to the Collateral or any part thereof.
(c) Pledgor agrees to cooperate with and assist Administrative Agent and Lenders in connection with any filings to be with, or approvals required from, any Insurance Regulators or other Governmental Authorities.
Lack of Reliance on the Administrative Agent Independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent, each Lender and the holder of each Note, to the extent it deems appropriate, has made and shall continue to make (i) its own independent investigation of the financial condition and affairs of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries in connection with the making and the continuance of the Loans and the taking or not taking of any action in connection herewith and (ii) its own appraisal of the creditworthiness of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries and, except as expressly provided in this Agreement, the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty or responsibility, either initially or on a continuing basis, to provide any Lender or the holder of any Note with any credit or other information with respect thereto, whether coming into its possession before the making of the Loans or at any time or times thereafter. The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible to any Lender or the holder of any Note for any recitals, statements, information, representations or warranties herein or in any document, certificate or other writing delivered in connection herewith or for the execution, effectiveness, genuineness, validity, enforceability, perfection, collectibility, priority or sufficiency of this Agreement or any other Credit Document or the financial condition of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or be required to make any inquiry concerning either the performance or observance of any of the terms, provisions or conditions of this Agreement or any other Credit Document, or the financial condition of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or the existence or possible existence of any Default or Event of Default.
Appointment of the Administrative Agent (a) Each Lender irrevocably appoints SunTrust Bank as the Administrative Agent and authorizes it to take such actions on its behalf and to exercise such powers as are delegated to the Administrative Agent under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, together with all such actions and powers that are reasonably incidental thereto. The Administrative Agent may perform any of its duties hereunder or under the other Loan Documents by or through any one or more sub-agents or attorneys-in-fact appointed by the Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent or attorney-in-fact may perform any and all of its duties and exercise its rights and powers through their respective Related Parties. The exculpatory provisions set forth in this Article shall apply to any such sub-agent, attorney-in-fact or Related Party and shall apply to their respective activities in connection with the syndication of the credit facilities provided for herein as well as activities as the Administrative Agent.
(b) The Issuing Bank shall act on behalf of the Lenders with respect to any Letters of Credit issued by it and the documents associated therewith until such time and except for so long as the Administrative Agent may agree at the request of the Required Lenders to act for the Issuing Bank with respect thereto; provided that the Issuing Bank shall have all the benefits and immunities (i) provided to the Administrative Agent in this Article with respect to any acts taken or omissions suffered by the Issuing Bank in connection with Letters of Credit issued by it or proposed to be issued by it and the application and agreements for letters of credit pertaining to the Letters of Credit as fully as if the term “Administrative Agent” as used in this Article included the Issuing Bank with respect to such acts or omissions and (ii) as additionally provided in this Agreement with respect to the Issuing Bank.
Notice by the Administrative Agent to the Lenders Promptly following receipt of a Borrowing Request in accordance with this Section, the Administrative Agent shall advise each applicable Lender of the details thereof and of the amounts of such Lender’s Loan to be made as part of the requested Borrowing.
Credit Decision with Respect to the Administrative Agent Each Lender acknowledges that it has, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent, or any of the Administrative Agent’s Affiliates, and based upon such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, made its own evaluation and decision to enter into this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents to which it is a party. Each Lender also acknowledges that it will, independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent, or any of the Administrative Agent’s Affiliates, and based on such documents and information as it shall deem appropriate at the time, continue to make its own decisions in taking or not taking action under this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents to which it is a party.
