Interest and Applicable Margins (a) Borrower shall pay interest to Agent, for the ratable benefit of Lenders with respect to the various Loans made by each Lender, in arrears on each applicable Interest Payment Date, at the following rates: (i) with respect to the Revolving Loans which are designated as Index Rate Loans (and for all other Obligations not otherwise set forth below), the Index Rate plus the Applicable Revolver Index Margin per annum or, with respect to Revolving Loans which are designated as LIBOR Loans, at the election of Borrower, the applicable LIBOR Rate plus the Applicable Revolver LIBOR Margin per annum; and (ii) with respect to such portion of the Term Loans designated as an Index Rate Loan, the Index Rate plus the Applicable Term Loan Index Margin per annum or, with respect to such portion of the Term Loans designated as a LIBOR Loan, the applicable LIBOR Rate plus the Applicable Term Loan LIBOR Margin per annum. The Applicable Margins shall be as follows: Applicable Revolver Index Margin 2.75 % Applicable Revolver LIBOR Margin 3.75 % Applicable Term Loan Index Margin 2.75 % Applicable Term Loan LIBOR Margin 3.75 % 1 Borrower to supply account information. provided; however, the Applicable Margins, with respect to the Term Loan, shall be adjusted (up or down) prospectively on a quarterly basis as determined by Holdings’ and its Subsidiaries’ consolidated financial performance. Adjustments in Applicable Margins will be determined by reference to the following grids: Level I ³ 4.00 to 1.00 3.25 % 4.25 % Level II ³ 2.50 to 1.00, and < 4.00 to 1.00 2.75 % 3.75 % Level III < 2.50 to 1.00 2.25 % 3.25 % All adjustments in the Applicable Margins shall be implemented quarterly on a prospective basis, five (5) Business Days after the date of delivery to Lenders of the quarterly unaudited Financial Statements evidencing the need for an adjustment. Concurrently with the delivery of those Financial Statements, Borrower shall deliver to Agent and Lenders a certificate, signed by its chief financial officer, setting forth in reasonable detail the basis for the continuance of, or any change in, the Applicable Margins. If any Default or an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing at the time any reduction in the Applicable Margins is to be implemented, that reduction shall be deferred until the first day of the first calendar month following the date on which all Defaults or Events of Default are waived or cured.
(b) If any payment on any Loan becomes due and payable on a day other than a Business Day, the maturity thereof will be extended to the next succeeding Business Day (except as set forth in the definition of LIBOR Period) and, with respect to payments of principal, interest thereon shall be payable at the then applicable rate during such extension.
(c) All computations of Fees calculated on a per annum basis and interest shall be made by Agent on the basis of a 360-day year, in each case for the actual number of days occurring in the period for which such Fees and interest are payable. The Index Rate is a floating rate determined for each day. Each determination by Agent of an interest rate and Fees hereunder shall be presumptive evidence of the correctness of such rates and Fees.
(d) So long as an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing under Section 8.1(a), (f) or (g) and without notice of any kind, or so long as any other Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and at the election of Agent (or upon the written request of Requisite Lenders) confirmed by written notice from Agent to Borrower, the interest rates applicable to the Loans and the Letter of Credit Fee shall be increased by two percentage points (2%) per annum above the rates of interest or the rate of such Fee otherwise applicable hereunder (“Default Rate”), and the outstanding principal balance of the Loans shall bear interest at the Default Rate applicable to such Obligations. Interest and Letter of Credit Fees at the Default Rate shall accrue from the initial date of such Event of Default until that Event of Default is cured or waived and shall be payable upon demand, but in any event, shall be payable on the next regularly scheduled payment date set forth herein for such Obligation.
(e) After the earlier of sixty days following the Closing Date and the completion of the primary syndication of the credit facility, Borrower shall have the option to (i) request that any Revolving Credit Advance be made as a LIBOR Loan, (ii) convert at any time all or any part of outstanding Loans from Index Rate Loans to LIBOR Loans, (iii) convert any LIBOR Loan to an Index Rate Loan, subject to payment of the LIBOR Breakage Costs in accordance with Section 2.3(d) if such conversion is made prior to the expiration of the LIBOR Period applicable thereto, or (iv) continue all or any portion of any Loan as a LIBOR Loan upon the expiration of the applicable LIBOR Period and the succeeding LIBOR Period of that continued Loan shall commence on the first day after the last day of the LIBOR Period of the Loan to be continued. Any Loan or group of Loans having the same proposed LIBOR Period to be made or continued as, or converted into, a LIBOR Loan must be in a minimum amount of $1,000,000 and integral multiples of $500,000 in excess of such amount. Any such election must be made by noon (Chicago time) on the 3rd Business Day prior to (1) the date of any proposed Revolving Credit Advance which is to bear interest at the LIBOR Rate, (2) the end of each LIBOR Period with respect to any LIBOR Loans to be continued as such, or (3) the date on which Borrower wishes to convert any Index Rate Loan to a LIBOR Loan for a LIBOR Period designated by Borrower in such election. If no election is received with respect to a LIBOR Loan by noon (Chicago time) on the 3rd Business Day prior to the end of the LIBOR Period with respect thereto, that LIBOR Loan shall be converted to an Index Rate Loan at the end of its LIBOR Period. Borrower must make such election by notice to Agent in writing, by fax or overnight courier (or by telephone, to be promptly confirmed in writing). In the case of any conversion or continuation, such election must be made pursuant to a written notice (a “Notice of Conversion/Continuation”) in the form of Exhibit 2.2(e). No Loan shall be made, converted into or continued as a LIBOR Loan, if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and Agent or Requisite Lenders have determined not to make or continue any Loan as a LIBOR Loan as a result thereof.
(f) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Section 2.2, if a court of competent jurisdiction determines in a final order that the rate of interest payable hereunder exceeds the highest rate of interest permissible under law (the “Maximum Lawful Rate”), then so long as the Maximum Lawful Rate would be so exceeded, the rate of interest payable hereunder shall be equal to the Maximum Lawful Rate; provided, however, that if at any time thereafter the rate of interest payable hereunder is less than the Maximum Lawful Rate, Borrower shall continue to pay interest hereunder at the Maximum Lawful Rate until such time as the total interest received by Agent, on behalf of Lenders, is equal to the total interest that would have been received had the interest rate payable hereunder been (but for the operation of this paragraph) the interest rate payable since the Closing Date as otherwise provided in this Agreement. Thereafter, interest hereunder shall be paid at the rate(s) of interest and in the manner provided in Sections 2.2(a) through (e), unless and until the rate of interest again exceeds the Maximum Lawful Rate, and at that time this paragraph shall again apply. In no event shall the total interest received by any Lender pursuant to the terms hereof exceed the amount that such Lender could lawfully have received had the interest due hereunder been calculated for the full term hereof at the Maximum Lawful Rate. If the Maximum Lawful Rate is calculated pursuant to this paragraph, such interest shall be calculated at a daily rate equal to the Maximum Lawful Rate divided by the number of days in the year in which such calculation is made. If, notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 2.2(f), a court of competent jurisdiction shall determine by a final, non-appealable order that a Lender has received interest hereunder in excess of the Maximum Lawful Rate, Agent shall, to the extent permitted by applicable law, promptly apply such excess as specified in Section 2.5(e) and thereafter shall refund any excess to Borrower or as such court of competent jurisdiction may otherwise order.
