Class B Shares (i) In consideration of the Underwriter's services as principal underwriter of each Fund's Class B shares pursuant to this Agreement and in accordance with the provisions of the Trust's Amended and Restated Distribution and Service Plan (the "Class B Plan") in respect of such shares each Fund agrees:
(I) to pay to the Underwriter or, at the Underwriter's direction, to a third party, monthly in arrears on or prior to the 5th business day of the following calendar month (A) a service fee (the "Service Fee") equal to 0.25 of 1% per annum of the average daily net asset value of the Class B shares of the Fund outstanding from time to time, and (B) the Underwriter's "Allocable Portion" (as hereinafter defined) of a fee (the "Distribution Fee") equal to 0.75% of 1% per annum of the average daily net asset value of the Class B shares of the Fund outstanding from time to time, and (II) to withhold from redemption proceeds in respect of Class B shares of the Fund the Underwriter's Allocable Portion of the Contingent Deferred Sales Charges ("CDSCs") payable in respect of such redemption as provided in the Prospectus of the Fund and to pay the same over to the Underwriter or, at the Underwriter's direction, to a third party, at the time the redemption proceeds in respect of such redemption are payable to the holder of the Class B shares redeemed.
(ii) The Underwriter will be deemed to have performed all services required to be performed in order to be entitled to receive its Allocable Portion of the Distribution Fee payable in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund upon the settlement date of each sale of a "Commission Share" (as defined in the Allocation Schedule attached hereto as Schedule A) of the Fund taken into account in determining the Underwriter's Allocable Portion of such Distribution Fees.
(iii) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Agreement of (to the extent waiver thereof is permitted thereby) applicable law, the Fund's obligation to pay the Underwriter's Allocable Portion of the Distribution Fees payable in respect to the Class B shares of the Fund shall not be terminated or modified for any reason (including a termination of this Agreement) except to the extent required by a change in the 1940 Act, the rules thereunder or the Conduct Rules of the NASD, in each case enacted or promulgated after December 29, 1997, or in connection with a "Complete Termination" (as hereinafter defined) of the Class B Plan.
(iv) The Fund will not take any action to waive or change any CDSC in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund, except as provided in the Fund's Prospectus or statement of additional information as in effect as of the date hereof, without the consent of the Underwriter and the permitted assigns of all or any portion of its rights to its Allocable Portion of the CDSCs.
(v) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, neither the termination of the Underwriter's role as principal distributor of the Class B shares of any fund, nor the termination of this Agreement nor the termination of the Class B Plan will terminate the Underwriter's right to its Allocable Portion of the CDSCs in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund.
(vi) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Underwriter may assign, sell or pledge (collectively, "Transfer") its rights to the Service Fees and its Allocable Portion of the Distribution Fees and CDSCs (but not its obligations to the Fund under this Agreement) to raise funds to make the expenditures related to the distribution of Class B shares of the Fund and in connection therewith, upon receipt of notice of such Transfer, the Fund shall pay, or cause to be paid, to the assignee, purchaser or pledgee (collectively with their subsequent transferees, "Transferees") such portion of the Underwriter's Service Fees, Allocable Portion of the Distribution Fees and CDSCs in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund so Transferred. Except as provided in (iii) above and notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth elsewhere in this Agreement, to the extent the Underwriter has Transferred its rights thereto to raise funds as aforesaid, the Fund's obligation to pay the Underwriter's Allocable Portion of the Distribution Fees and CDSCs payable in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund shall be absolute and unconditional and shall not be subject to dispute, offset, counterclaim or any defense whatsoever, at law or equity, including, without limitation, any of the foregoing based on the insolvency or bankruptcy of the Underwriter's right to the Distribution Fees and CDSCs in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund, which have been so transferred in connection with such Transfer). The Fund agrees that each such Transferee is a third party beneficiary of the provisions of this clause (vi) but only insofar as those provisions relate to Distribution Fees and CDSCs transferred to such Transferee.
(vii) For purposes of the Agreement, the term "Allocable Portion" of Distribution Fees and CDSCs payable in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund shall mean the portion of such Distribution Fees and CDSCs allocated to the Underwriter in accordance with the Allocation Schedule attached hereto as Schedule A.
(viii) For purposes of this Agreement, the term "Complete Termination" of the Plan in respect of the Fund means a termination of the Class B Plan involving the complete cessation of the payment of Distribution Fees in respect of all Class B shares of the Fund, and the termination of the Class B Plan and the complete cessation of the payment of distribution fees pursuant to any other distribution Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act in respect of the Class B shares of the Fund and any successor fund or the Fund acquiring a substantial portion of the assets of the Fund and for every future class of shares which has substantially similar characteristics to the Class B shares of the Fund taking into account the manner of payment and amount of sales charge, CDSC or other similar charges borne directly or indirectly by the holders of such shares.
Reservation of Class A Ordinary Shares The Company shall at all times reserve and keep available a number of its authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares that shall be sufficient to permit the exercise in full of all outstanding Warrants issued pursuant to this Agreement.
Class B Units Class B Unitholders shall not be entitled to vote in any matters relating to the Company, unless otherwise reserved to the Members by the Act. In addition to the other rights and obligations of Class B Unitholders hereunder, Class B Units shall entitle the holder of such Class B Units to (i) Tax Distributions pursuant to Section 4.01(b), and (ii) a preferred return equal to the Class B Preferred Return Amount. The Class B Preferred Return Amount shall not be required to be paid annually but shall accrue and become payable at the earlier of (x) the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Effective Time, or (y) a liquidation of, or a taxable sale of substantially all of the assets of, the Company. Upon the occurrence of an event referenced in clause (y) above, each Class B Unitholder shall also be paid such Class B Unitholder’s Class B Preferred Return Base Amount, in addition to all of the outstanding, accrued and unpaid Class B Preferred Return Amount. On the seventh (7th) anniversary of the Effective Time, each Class B Unitholder may, at its option and in accordance with the notice and other procedural provisions set forth in Section 11.01(a) (the “7 Year Put Option”), sell all (but not less than all) of its Class B Units to the Company for an amount equal to such Class B Unitholder’s Class B Preferred Return Base Amount plus any outstanding and accrued Class B Preferred Return Amount of such Class B Unitholder (the “Class B Option Consideration”) and, upon the exercise of the 7 Year Put Option by any Class B Unitholder, the Company shall purchase all of such holder’s Class B Units for the Class B Option Consideration. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no Class B Preferred Return Amount shall be due and payable with respect to such Class B Units pursuant this Section 3.02(b) at such time or times specified in this Section 3.02(b) unless such Class B Units remain issued and outstanding at such time or times and no Redemption or Direct Exchange of such Class B Units described in Article XI hereof has occurred.
Preferred Shares The Preferred Shares have been duly and validly authorized, and, when issued and delivered pursuant to this Agreement, such Preferred Shares will be duly and validly issued and fully paid and non-assessable, will not be issued in violation of any preemptive rights, and will rank pari passu with or senior to all other series or classes of Preferred Stock, whether or not issued or outstanding, with respect to the payment of dividends and the distribution of assets in the event of any dissolution, liquidation or winding up of the Company.
Series A Preferred Stock On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, as soon as practicable after the receipt of the approvals of the Board of Directors of the Company and the stockholders of the Company, including the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, referred to in Paragraph 5, the Company will amend the terms of the Series A Preferred Stock so that, as amended, the Series A Preferred Stock will have only such rights, preferences and privileges set forth on Exhibit A hereto (as so amended, the "New Preferred Stock"). As set forth in Exhibit A hereto, the New Preferred Stock will offer the holders thereof the options set forth in subparagraphs (a)-(c) below, as such holder may elect. All references herein to the Series A Preferred Stock or the New Preferred Stock shall be deemed to include all rights to dividends or other distributions in respect of such Series A Preferred Stock or the New Preferred Stock.
(a) OPTION 1 - CASH. The New Preferred Stock shall be exchangeable at the option of the holder thereof at any time prior to the date which is ten days after the Closing Date (as defined in Paragraph 5 below) for cash in amount equal to 50% of the face value of the New Preferred Stock plus all accrued but unpaid dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock, up to an aggregate amount of $6.4 million face value and accrued and unpaid dividends. If, in the judgment of the Board of Directors of the Company, the Company's financial condition and results of operations permit the Company to permit the exchange for cash of more than $6.4 million face value (plus accrued dividends) of the New Preferred Stock, the terms of the New Preferred Stock will permit the exchange for cash of up to $8.0 million face value (plus accrued and unpaid dividends) of the New Preferred Stock. To the extent that holders of Series A Preferred Stock desire to exchange in the aggregate a greater face value (plus accrued and unpaid dividends) of the New Preferred Stock than is permitted under the terms of the New Preferred Stock, New Preferred Stock will be accepted for exchange by the Company for cash on a pro rata basis based upon the aggregate face value (plus accrued and unpaid dividends) of the New Preferred Stock tendered for exchange.
Series B Preferred Stock Section 1.2(d)......................... 5 Shares............................ Section 3.2(a).........................
Common Shares 4 Company...................................................................................... 4
Availability of Shares of Preferred Stock (a) The Company covenants and agrees that it will cause to be reserved and kept available out of its authorized and unissued shares of Preferred Stock or any shares of Preferred Stock held in its treasury, the number of shares of Preferred Stock that will be sufficient to permit the exercise in full of all outstanding Rights.
(b) So long as the shares of Preferred Stock issuable upon the exercise of Rights may be listed or admitted to trading on any national securities exchange, or quoted on NASDAQ, the Company shall use its best efforts to cause, from and after such time as the Rights become exercisable, all shares reserved for such issuance to be listed or admitted to trading on such exchange, or quoted on NASDAQ, upon official notice of issuance upon such exercise.
(c) From and after such time as the Rights become exercisable, the Company shall use its best efforts, if then necessary to permit the issuance of shares of Preferred Stock upon the exercise of Rights, to register and qualify such shares of Preferred Stock under the Securities Act and any applicable state securities or "Blue Sky" laws (to the extent exemptions therefrom are not available), cause such registration statement and qualifications to become effective as soon as possible after such filing and keep such registration and qualifications effective (with a prospectus at all times meeting the requirements of the Securities Act) until the earlier of the date as of which the Rights are no longer exercisable for such securities and the Expiration Date. The Company may temporarily suspend, for a period of time not to exceed 90 days, the exercisability of the Rights in order to prepare and file a registration statement under the Securities Act and permit it to become effective. Upon any such suspension, the Company shall issue a public announcement stating that the exercisability of the Rights has been temporarily suspended, as well as a public announcement at such time as the suspension is no longer in effect. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, the Rights shall not be exercisable in any jurisdiction unless the requisite qualification in such jurisdiction shall have been obtained and until a registration statement under the Securities Act shall have been declared effective, unless an exemption therefrom is available.
(d) The Company covenants and agrees that it will take all such action as may be necessary to ensure that all shares of Preferred Stock delivered upon exercise of Rights shall, at the time of delivery of the certificates therefor (subject to payment of the Purchase Price), be duly and validly authorized and issued and fully paid and nonassessable shares.
(e) The Company further covenants and agrees that it will pay when due and payable any and all federal and state transfer taxes and charges which may be payable in respect of the issuance or delivery of the Right Certificates or of any shares of Preferred Stock upon the exercise of Rights. The Company shall not, however, be required to pay any transfer tax which may be payable in respect of any transfer or delivery of Right Certificates to a Person other than, or the issuance or delivery of certificates or depositary receipts for the Preferred Stock in a name other than that of, the registered holder of the Right Certificate evidencing Rights surrendered for exercise or to issue or deliver any certificates or depositary receipts for Preferred Stock upon the exercise of any Rights until any such tax shall have been paid (any such tax being payable by that holder of such Right Certificate at the time of surrender) or until it has been established to the Company's reasonable satisfaction that no such tax is due.
Common Stock 1 Company........................................................................1
Ordinary Shares The Ordinary Shares included in the Units have been duly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment for the Offered Securities by the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement and registered in the Company’s register of members, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable. The holders of such Ordinary Shares are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; such Ordinary Shares are not and will not be subject to any preemptive or other similar contractual rights granted by the Company.
