Limitations on Liens (a) The Company will not, and will not permit any Restricted Subsidiary to, create, assume, incur or guarantee any Indebtedness secured by a mortgage, security interest, pledge, lien, charge or other encumbrance upon any of its or its Restricted Subsidiaries’ properties or assets (a “Lien”), whether owned on the date of issuance of the Notes or thereafter acquired, unless the Notes are at least equally and ratably secured with such secured Indebtedness (together with, if the Company so determines, any other Indebtedness of or guaranty by the Company or such Restricted Subsidiary then existing or thereafter created that is not subordinated to the Notes) for so long as such other Indebtedness is so secured (and any Lien created for the benefit of the holders of the Notes and any other debt securities of any series issued pursuant to the Indenture and having the benefit of this Section 2.8 shall provide by its terms that such Lien will be automatically released and discharged upon the release and discharge of the Lien securing such other Indebtedness); provided, however, that the above restrictions shall not apply to the following (the “Permitted Liens”):
(i) Liens on property or other assets of any Person existing at the time such Person becomes a Restricted Subsidiary, provided that such Lien was not incurred in anticipation of such Person becoming a Restricted Subsidiary;
(ii) Liens on property or other assets existing at the time of acquisition by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary, provided that such Lien was not incurred in anticipation of such acquisition;
(iii) Liens on property or assets to secure any Indebtedness incurred prior to, at the time of, or within 270 days after, the acquisition of such property or in the case of real property, the completion of construction, the completion of improvements or the beginning of substantial commercial operation of such real property for the purpose of financing all or any part of the purchase price of such real property, the construction thereof or the making of improvements thereto;
(iv) Liens in the Company’s favor or in favor of a Restricted Subsidiary;
(v) Liens existing on the date of issuance of the Notes;
(vi) Liens on property or other assets of a Person existing at the time the Person is merged into or consolidated with the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary or at the time of a sale, lease or other disposition of the properties of a Person as an entirety or substantially as an entirety to either the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary, provided that such Lien was not incurred in anticipation of the merger or consolidation or sale, lease or other disposition;
(vii) Liens arising in connection with the financing of accounts receivable by the Company or any Restricted Subsidiary; provided that the uncollected amount of account receivables subject at any time to any such financing shall not exceed $150,000,000; and
(viii) extensions, renewals or replacements (or successive extensions, renewals or replacements) in whole or in part of any Lien referred to in this Section 2.8 without increase of the principal of the Indebtedness (plus any premium or fee payable in connection with any such extension, renewal or replacement) secured by the Lien; provided, however, that any Permitted Liens shall not extend to or cover any property of the Company or that of any Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be, other than the property specified in this Section 2.8 and improvements to this property.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company and any Restricted Subsidiary may create, assume, incur or guarantee Indebtedness secured by a Lien without equally and ratably securing the Notes; provided, that at the time of such creation, assumption, incurrence or guarantee, after giving effect thereto and to the retirement of any Indebtedness that is concurrently being retired, the sum of (i) the aggregate amount of all outstanding Indebtedness secured by Liens other than Permitted Liens, and (ii) the Attributable Debt of all the Company’s Sale/Leaseback Transactions permitted by Section 2.9(c) does not at such time exceed 5% of Consolidated Total Assets.
Restrictions on Liens, Etc The Credit Parties will not (a) create or incur or suffer to be created or incurred or to exist any lien, security title, encumbrance, mortgage, pledge, Negative Pledge, charge, or other security interest of any kind upon the Unencumbered Properties, the Equity Interests in any Unencumbered Property Subsidiary, or any of the Unencumbered Property Subsidiary’s material respective property or assets of any character whether now owned or hereafter acquired, or upon the income or profits therefrom; (b) transfer any of the Borrower or the Subsidiary Guarantor’s material property or assets or the income or profits therefrom for the purpose of subjecting the same to the payment of Indebtedness or performance of any other obligation in priority to payment of its general creditors; (c) acquire, or agree or have an option to acquire, any property or assets upon conditional sale or other title retention or purchase money security agreement, device or arrangement; (d) suffer to exist for a period of more than thirty (30) days after the same shall have been incurred any Indebtedness or claim or demand against any of them that if unpaid could by law or upon bankruptcy or insolvency, or otherwise, be given any priority whatsoever as to the Unencumbered Properties over any of their general creditors; (e) sell, assign, pledge or otherwise transfer any accounts, contract rights, general intangibles, chattel paper or instruments, with or without recourse; or (f) incur or maintain any obligation to any holder of Indebtedness of any of such Persons which prohibits the creation or maintenance of any lien securing the Obligations (collectively, “Liens”); provided that notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the Borrower and the Subsidiary Guarantors may create or incur or suffer to be created or incurred or to exist:
Release of Liens and Guarantees A Subsidiary Loan Party (other than a Borrower) shall automatically be released from its obligations under the Loan Documents, and all security interests created by the Security Documents in Collateral owned by such Subsidiary Loan Party shall be automatically released, (1) upon the consummation of any transaction permitted by this Agreement as a result of which such Subsidiary Loan Party ceases to be a Restricted Subsidiary (including pursuant to a merger with a Subsidiary that is not a Loan Party or a designation as an Unrestricted Subsidiary) or (2) upon the request of the Borrower, in connection with a transaction permitted under this Agreement, as a result of which such Subsidiary Loan party ceases to be a wholly-owned Subsidiary. Upon any sale or other transfer by any Loan Party (other than to Holdings, the Parent Borrower, the Co-Borrower or any other Subsidiary Loan Party) of any Collateral in a transaction permitted under this Agreement, or upon the effectiveness of any written consent to the release of the security interest created under any Security Document in any Collateral or the release of any Loan Party from its Guarantee under the Guarantee Agreement pursuant to Section 9.02, the security interests in such Collateral created by the Security Documents or such guarantee shall be automatically released. Upon termination of the aggregate Commitments and payment in full of all Secured Obligations (other than contingent indemnification obligations) and the expiration or termination of all Letters of Credit including as a result of obtaining the consent of the applicable Issuing Bank as described in Section 9.05 of the Credit Agreement), all obligations under the Loan Documents and all security interests created by the Security Documents shall be automatically released. In connection with any termination or release pursuant to this Section, the Administrative Agent shall execute and deliver to any Loan Party, at such Loan Party’s expense, all documents that such Loan Party shall reasonably request to evidence such termination or release. Any execution and delivery of documents pursuant to this Section shall be without recourse to or warranty by the Administrative Agent.
Limitations on Guarantees The obligations of each Guarantor under its Guarantee are limited to the maximum amount which, after giving effect to all other contingent and fixed liabilities of such Guarantor and after giving effect to any collections from or payments made by or on behalf of any other Guarantor in respect of the obligations of such other Guarantor under its Guarantee or pursuant to its contribution obligations under this Indenture, will result in the obligations of such Guarantor under the Guarantee not constituting a fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer under applicable law.
Restrictions on Liens Create, incur, assume or suffer to exist any Lien upon or with respect to any property or assets (real or personal, tangible or intangible, including, without limitation, the Borrowing Base Properties), whether now owned or hereafter acquired, or sell any such property or assets subject to an understanding or agreement, contingent or otherwise, to repurchase such property or assets (including sales of accounts receivable with recourse) or assign any right to receive income or permit the filing of any financing statement under the UCC or any other similar notice of Lien under any similar recording or notice statute, or grant rights with respect to, or otherwise encumber or create a security interest in, such property or assets (including, without limitation, any item of Collateral) or any portion thereof or any other revenues therefrom or the proceeds payable upon the sale, transfer or other disposition of such property or asset or any portion thereof, or permit or suffer any such action to be taken, except the following (singly and collectively, “Permitted Liens”):
8.2.1 Liens created by the Loan Documents;
8.2.2 Liens to secure Permitted Debt that by the terms of Section 8.4 is permitted to be secured, provided that (x) the Borrower will be in compliance with the Financial Covenants considering the consequences of the granting of any such Lien and (y) no such Lien shall be secured by any Borrowing Base Property, the ownership interest in any Borrowing Base Property Owner, or any other assets of any Borrowing Base Property Owner;
8.2.3 Liens for taxes, assessments or other governmental charges not yet delinquent or which are being diligently contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings, if (x) to the extent such contest concerns a Borrowing Base Property, reasonable reserves in an amount not less than the tax, assessment or governmental charge being so contested shall have been established in a manner reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent or deposited in cash (or cash equivalents) with the Administrative Agent to be held during the pendency of such contest, or such contested amount shall have been duly bonded in accordance with applicable law, (y) no imminent risk of sale, forfeiture or loss of any interest in any Borrowing Base Property or the Collateral or any part thereof arises during the pendency of such contest and (z) such contest does not have and could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;
8.2.4 Liens in respect of property or assets imposed by law, which do not secure Debt, such as judgment Liens (provided such judgment Liens do not cause the occurrence of an Event of Default under Section 10.1), carriers’, warehousemen’s, material men’s and mechanics’ liens and other similar Liens arising in the ordinary course of business, (x) which, except for such judgment Liens, do not in the aggregate materially detract from the value of any property or assets or have, and could not reasonably be expected to have, a Material Adverse Effect, (y) which, except for such judgment Liens, are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings, which proceedings have the effect of preventing the forfeiture or sale of the property or assets subject to any such Lien, and (z) which as to any Borrowing Base Property do not have a lien priority prior to the Lien in favor of the Administrative Agent, for the benefit of the Lenders, with respect to the Obligations, including, without limitation, any future Loan Advances;
8.2.5 Personal property financing leases entered into in the ordinary course of business with respect to equipment, fixtures, furniture, furnishings and similar assets.
Limitation on Liens on Collateral Such Grantor shall not create, incur or permit to exist, will defend the Collateral against, and will take such other action as is necessary to remove, any Lien or claim on or to the Collateral, other than Liens permitted pursuant to the Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents, and will defend the right, title and interest of the Collateral Agent and the other Secured Parties and the other holders of the Secured Obligations in and to any of the Collateral against the claims and demands of all Persons whomsoever.
Authorization to Release Liens and Guarantees The Administrative Agent is hereby irrevocably authorized by each of the Lenders to effect any release of Liens or guarantee obligations contemplated by Section 10.15.
Limitation on Guarantees (a) In addition to the restrictions set forth in Section 3.2(b), the Company shall not permit any of its Domestic Subsidiaries that are Restricted Subsidiaries, other than a Guarantor, a Foreign Subsidiary, a Captive Insurance Subsidiary or a Securitization Subsidiary, to Guarantee the payment of (i) any syndicated Credit Facility permitted under Section 3.2(b)(1) or (ii) capital markets debt securities of the Company or any other Guarantor unless:
(1) such Restricted Subsidiary within 60 days executes and delivers a supplemental indenture to this Indenture providing for a Guarantee by such Restricted Subsidiary, except that with respect to a guarantee of Indebtedness of the Company or any Guarantor, if such Indebtedness is by its express terms subordinated in right of payment to the Notes or such Guarantor’s Guarantee, any such guarantee by such Restricted Subsidiary with respect to such Indebtedness shall be subordinated in right of payment to such Guarantee substantially to the same extent as such Indebtedness is subordinated to the Notes or such Guarantor’s Guarantee of the Notes; and
(2) such Restricted Subsidiary waives and will not in any manner whatsoever claim or take the benefit or advantage of, any rights of reimbursement, indemnity or subrogation or any other rights against the Company or any other Restricted Subsidiary as a result of any payment by such Restricted Subsidiary under its Guarantee until payment in full of Obligations under this Indenture. provided that this Section 3.7 shall not be applicable to any guarantee of any Restricted Subsidiary that existed at the time such Person became a Restricted Subsidiary and was not incurred in connection with, or in contemplation of, such Person becoming a Restricted Subsidiary.
(b) The Company may elect, in its sole discretion, to cause or allow, as the case may be, any Subsidiary that is not otherwise required to be a Guarantor to become a Guarantor, in which case, such Subsidiary shall not be required to comply with the 60-day period described in Section 3.7(a) and such Guarantee may be released at any time in the Company’s sole discretion so long as any Indebtedness of such Subsidiary then outstanding could have been incurred by such Subsidiary (either (x) when so incurred or (y) at the time of the release of such Guarantee) assuming such Subsidiary were not a Guarantor at such time.
(c) If any Guarantor becomes an Immaterial Subsidiary, the Company shall have the right, by execution and delivery of a supplemental indenture to the Trustee, to cause such Immaterial Subsidiary to cease to be a Guarantor, subject to the requirement described in Section 3.7(a) above that such Subsidiary shall be required to become a Guarantor if it ceases to be an Immaterial Subsidiary (except that if such Subsidiary has been properly designated as an Unrestricted Subsidiary it shall not be so required to become a Guarantor or execute a supplemental indenture); provided, further, that such Immaterial Subsidiary shall not be permitted to Guarantee other Indebtedness of the Issuer or the other Guarantors, unless it again becomes a Guarantor.
Limitation on Liens For so long as any of the Securities or the Guarantees are outstanding, the Parent Guarantor shall not, and shall not permit any Subsidiary to, create, assume, incur, issue or otherwise have outstanding any Lien upon, or with respect to, any of the present or future business, property, undertaking, assets or revenues (including, without limitation, any Equity Interests and uncalled capital), whether now owned or hereafter acquired (together, “assets”) of the Parent Guarantor or such Subsidiary, to secure any Indebtedness, unless the Securities and Guarantees are secured by such Lien equally and ratably with (or prior to) such Indebtedness, except for the following, to which this covenant shall not apply:
(1) Liens on assets securing Indebtedness of the Parent Guarantor or such Subsidiary outstanding on the Issue Date;
(2) Liens on assets securing Indebtedness owing to the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary (other than a Project Subsidiary);
(3) Liens existing on any asset prior to the acquisition of such asset by the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary after the Issue Date, provided that (i) such Lien has not been created in anticipation of such asset being so acquired, (ii) such Lien shall not apply to any other asset of the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary, other than to proceeds and products of, and, in the case of any assets other than Equity Interests, after-acquired property that is affixed or incorporated into, the assets covered by such Lien on the date of such acquisition of such assets, (iii) such Lien shall secure only the Indebtedness secured by such Lien on the date of such acquisition of such asset and (iv) such Lien shall be discharged within one year of the date of acquisition of such asset or such later date as may be the date of the maturity of the Indebtedness that such Lien secures if such Indebtedness is fixed interest rate indebtedness that provides a commercial financial advantage to the Parent Guarantor and the Subsidiaries;
(4) Liens on any assets of a Person that becomes a Subsidiary (or of any Person not previously a Subsidiary that is merged or consolidated with or into a Subsidiary) after the Issue Date that existed prior to the time such Person becomes a Subsidiary (or is so merged or consolidated), provided that (i) such Lien has not been created in anticipation of such Person becoming a Subsidiary (or such merger or consolidation), (ii) such Lien shall not apply to any other asset of the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary, other than to proceeds and products of, and, in the case of any assets other than Equity Interests, after-acquired property that is affixed or incorporated into, the assets covered by such Lien on the date such Person becomes a Subsidiary (or is so merged or consolidated), (iii) such Lien shall secure only the Indebtedness secured by such Lien on the date such Person becomes a Subsidiary (or is so merged or consolidated) and (iv) such Lien shall be discharged within one year of the date such Person becomes a Subsidiary (or is so merged or consolidated) or such later date as may be the date of the maturity of the Indebtedness that such Lien secures if such Indebtedness is fixed interest rate indebtedness that provides a commercial financial advantage to the Parent Guarantor and the Subsidiaries;
(5) Liens created to secure Indebtedness, directly or indirectly, incurred for the purpose of purchasing Equity Interests or other assets (other than real or personal property of the type contemplated by clause (6) below), provided that (i) such Lien shall secure only such Indebtedness incurred for the purpose of purchasing such assets, (ii) such Lien shall apply only to the assets so purchased (and to proceeds and products of, and, in the case of any assets other than Equity Interests, any subsequently after-acquired property that is affixed or incorporated into, the assets so purchased) and (iii) such Lien shall be discharged within two years of such Lien being granted;
(6) Liens created to secure Indebtedness incurred for the purpose of acquiring or developing any real or personal property or for some other purpose in connection with the acquisition or development of such property, provided that (i) such Lien shall secure only such Indebtedness, (ii) such Lien shall not apply to any other assets of the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary, other than to proceeds and products of, and after-acquired property that is affixed or incorporated into, the property so acquired or developed and (iii) the rights of the holder of the Indebtedness secured by such Lien shall be limited to the property that is subject to such Lien, it being the intention that the holder of such Lien shall not have any recourse to the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiaries personally or to any other property of the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary;
(7) Liens for any borrowings from any financial institution for the purpose of financing any import or export contract in respect of which any part of the price receivable is guaranteed or insured by such financial institution carrying on an export credit guarantee or insurance business, provided that (i) such Lien applies only to the assets that are the subject of such import or export contract and (ii) the amount of Indebtedness secured thereby does not exceed the amount so guaranteed or insured;
(8) Liens for Indebtedness from an international or governmental development agency or authority to finance the development of a specific project, provided that (i) such Lien is required by applicable law or practice and (ii) the Lien is created only over assets used in or derived from the development of such project;
(9) any Lien created in favor of co-venturers of the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary pursuant to any agreement relating to an unincorporated joint venture, provided that (i) such Lien applies only to the Equity Interests in, or the assets of, such unincorporated joint venture and (ii) such Lien secures solely the payment of obligations arising under such agreement;
(10) Liens over goods and products, or documents of title to goods and products, arising in the ordinary course of business in connection with letters of credit and similar transactions, provided that such Liens secure only the acquisition cost or selling price (and amounts incidental thereto) of such goods and products required to be paid within 180 days;
(11) Liens arising by operation of law in the ordinary course of business of the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary;
(12) Liens created by the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary over a Project Asset of the Parent Guarantor or such Subsidiary, provided that such Lien secures only (i) in the case of a Lien over assets referred to in clause (a) of the definition of Project Assets, Limited Recourse Indebtedness incurred by the Parent Guarantor or such Subsidiary or (ii) in the case of a Lien over Equity Interests referred to in clause (b) of the definition of Project Assets, Limited Recourse Indebtedness incurred by the direct Subsidiary of the Parent Guarantor or such Subsidiary;
(13) Liens arising under any netting or set-off arrangement entered into by the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary in the ordinary course of its banking arrangements for the purpose of netting debit and credit balances of the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary;
(14) Liens incurred in connection with any extension, renewal, replacement or refunding (together, a “refinancing”) of any Lien permitted in clauses (1) through (13) above and any successive refinancings thereof permitted by this clause (12) (each, an “Existing Security”), provided that (i) such Liens do not extend to any asset that was not expressed to be subject to the Existing Security, (ii) the principal amount of Indebtedness secured by such Liens does not exceed the principal amount of Indebtedness that was outstanding and secured by the Existing Security at the time of such refinancing and (iii) any refinancing of an Existing Security incurred in accordance with clauses (3) through (5) above (and any subsequent refinancings thereof permitted by this clause (12)) will not affect the obligation to discharge such Liens within the time frames that applied to such Existing Security at the time it was first incurred (as specified in the applicable clause);
(15) any Lien arising as a result of a Change in Lease Accounting Standard; and
(16) other Liens by the Parent Guarantor or any Subsidiary securing Indebtedness, provided that, immediately after giving effect to the incurrence or assumption of any such Lien or the incurrence of any Indebtedness secured thereby, the aggregate principal amount of all outstanding Indebtedness of the Parent Guarantor and any Subsidiary secured by any Liens pursuant to this clause (13) shall not exceed 10% of Total Tangible Assets at such time.
Limitations on Indebtedness (a) Until the Notes are rated Investment Grade by both Rating Agencies (after which time the following covenant will no longer be in effect), the Company will not, and will not cause or permit any Restricted Subsidiary, directly or indirectly, to, create, incur, assume, become liable for or guarantee the payment of (collectively, an “incurrence”) any Indebtedness (including Acquired Indebtedness) unless, after giving effect thereto and the application of the proceeds therefrom, the Consolidated Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio on the date thereof would be at least 2.0 to 1.0.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this Supplemental Indenture will not prevent the incurrence of: (i) Permitted Indebtedness, (ii) Refinancing Indebtedness, (iii) Non-Recourse Indebtedness, (iv) any Guarantee of Indebtedness of the Company represented by the Notes and (v) any guarantee of Indebtedness incurred under Credit Facilities in compliance with this Indenture.
(c) For purposes of determining compliance with this covenant, in the event that an item of Indebtedness may be incurred through the first paragraph of this covenant or by meeting the criteria of one or more of the types of Indebtedness described in the second paragraph of this covenant (or the definitions of the terms used therein), the Company, in its sole discretion, (i) may classify such item of Indebtedness under and comply with either of such paragraphs (or any of such definitions), as applicable, (ii) may classify and divide such item of Indebtedness into more than one of such paragraphs (or definitions), as applicable, and (iii) may elect to comply with such paragraphs (or definitions), as applicable, in any order.
(d) The Company will not, and will not cause or permit any Guarantor to, directly or indirectly, in any event incur any Indebtedness that purports to be by its terms (or by the terms of any agreement governing such Indebtedness) subordinated to any other Indebtedness of the Company or of such Guarantor, as the case may be, unless such Indebtedness is also by its terms (or by the terms of any agreement governing such Indebtedness) made expressly subordinated to the Notes or the Guarantee of such Guarantor, as the case may be, to the same extent and in the same manner as such Indebtedness is subordinated to such other Indebtedness of the Company or such Guarantor, as the case may be.
