Competitive Bid Procedure (a) Subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, from time to time during the Availability Period any Borrower may request Competitive Bids for Competitive Loans in US Dollars and may (but shall not have any obligation to) accept Competitive Bids and borrow Competitive Loans; provided that the aggregate Exposures at any time shall not exceed the aggregate Commitments. To request Competitive Bids, the Company or the applicable Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent of such request by telephone (i) in the case of a Eurocurrency Competitive Borrowing, not later than 10:00 a.m., New York City time, four Business Days before the date of the proposed Competitive Borrowing and (ii) in the case of a Fixed Rate Borrowing, not later than 12:00 noon, New York City time, one Business Day before the date of the proposed Competitive Borrowing. Not more than three Competitive Bid Requests may be submitted on the same day. Each telephonic Competitive Bid Request shall be confirmed promptly by hand delivery or telecopy to the Administrative Agent of a written Competitive Bid Request in a form approved by the Administrative Agent and signed by the Company. Each such telephonic and written Competitive Bid Request shall specify the following information in compliance with Section 2.02:
(i) the Borrower requesting the Competitive Bid and the aggregate amount of the requested Borrowing;
(ii) the date of such Borrowing, which shall be a Business Day;
(iii) whether such Borrowing is to be a Eurocurrency Borrowing or a Fixed Rate Borrowing;
(iv) the Interest Period to be applicable to such Borrowing, which shall be a period contemplated by the definition of the term “Interest Period”; and
(v) the location and number of the Company’s account to which funds are to be disbursed, which shall comply with the requirements of Section 2.05. Promptly following receipt of a Competitive Bid Request in accordance with this Section, the Administrative Agent shall notify the Lenders of the details thereof by telecopy, inviting the Lenders to submit Competitive Bids.
(b) Each Lender may (but shall not have any obligation to) make one or more Competitive Bids to the Company in response to a Competitive Bid Request. Each Competitive Bid by a Lender must be in a form approved by the Administrative Agent and must be received by the Administrative Agent by telecopy, (i) in the case of a Eurocurrency Competitive Borrowing, not later than 12:00 noon, New York City time, four Business Days before the date of the proposed Competitive Borrowing and (ii) in the case of a Fixed Rate Borrowing, not later than 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the date of the proposed Competitive Borrowing. Competitive Bids that do not conform to the form approved by the Administrative Agent may be rejected by the Administrative Agent, and the Administrative Agent shall notify the applicable Lender as promptly as practicable. Each Competitive Bid shall specify (i) the principal amount (which may equal the entire principal amount of the Competitive Borrowing requested by the Company) of the Competitive Loan or Loans that the Lender is willing to make, (ii) the Competitive Bid Rate or Rates at which the Lender is prepared to make such Loan or Loans (expressed as a percentage rate per annum in the form of a decimal to no more than four decimal places) and (iii) the Interest Period applicable to each such Loan and the last day thereof.
(c) The Administrative Agent shall promptly notify the Company by telecopy of the Competitive Bid Rate and the principal amount specified in each Competitive Bid and the identity of the Lender that shall have made such Competitive Bid.
(d) Subject only to the provisions of this paragraph, the applicable Borrower may accept or reject any Competitive Bid. The Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent by telephone, confirmed by telecopy in a form approved by the Administrative Agent, whether and to what extent it has decided to accept or reject each Competitive Bid, (i) in the case of a Eurocurrency Competitive Borrowing, not later than 11:00 a.m., New York City time, three Business Days before the date of the proposed Competitive Borrowing and (ii) in the case of a Fixed Rate Borrowing, not later than 10:30 a.m., New York City time, on the date of the proposed Competitive Borrowing; provided that (i) the failure of the Borrower to give such notice shall be deemed to be a rejection of each Competitive Bid, (ii) the Borrower shall not accept a Competitive Bid made at a particular Competitive Bid Rate if such Borrower rejects a Competitive Bid made at a lower Competitive Bid Rate, (iii) the aggregate amount of the Competitive Bids accepted by the Borrower shall not exceed the aggregate amount of the requested Competitive Borrowing specified in the related Competitive Bid Request and (iv) to the extent necessary to comply with clause (iii) above, the Borrower may accept Competitive Bids at the same Competitive Bid Rate in part, which acceptance, in the case of multiple Competitive Bids at such Competitive Bid Rate, shall be made pro rata in accordance with the amount of each such Competitive Bid; provided further that in calculating the pro rata allocation of acceptances of portions of multiple Competitive Bids at a particular Competitive Bid Rate pursuant to clause (iv) the amounts shall be rounded to integral multiples of the Borrowing Multiple in a manner determined by the Borrower. A notice given by the Borrower pursuant to this paragraph shall be irrevocable.
(e) The Administrative Agent shall promptly notify each bidding Lender by telecopy whether or not its Competitive Bid has been accepted (and, if so, the amount and Competitive Bid Rate so accepted), and each successful bidder will thereupon become bound, subject to the terms and conditions hereof, to make the Competitive Loan in respect of which its Competitive Bid has been accepted.
(f) If the Administrative Agent or one of its Affiliates shall elect to submit a Competitive Bid in its capacity as a Lender, it shall submit such Competitive Bid directly to the applicable Borrower at least one quarter of an hour earlier than the time by which the other Lenders are required to submit their Competitive Bids to the Administrative Agent pursuant to paragraph (b) of this Section.
Competitive Bid Quote Request When the Borrower wishes to request offers to make Competitive Bid Loans under this Section 2.16, it shall transmit to the Administrative Agent by telecopy a Competitive Bid Quote Request substantially in the form of Exhibit C-1 hereto so as to be received no later than (i) 10:00 a.m. (Chicago time) at least five Business Days prior to the Borrowing Date proposed therein, in the case of a request for a Competitive LIBOR Margin or (ii) 9:00 a.m. (Chicago time) at least one Business Day prior to the Borrowing Date proposed therein, in the case of a request for an Absolute Rate specifying:
(i) the proposed Borrowing Date for the proposed Competitive Bid Loan,
(ii) the requested aggregate principal amount of such Competitive Bid Loan,
(iii) whether the Competitive Bid Quotes requested are to set forth a Competitive LIBOR Margin or an Absolute Rate, or both, and
(iv) the LIBOR Interest Period, if a Competitive LIBOR Margin is requested, or the Absolute Interest Period, if an Absolute Rate is requested. The Borrower may request offers to make Competitive Bid Loans for more than one Interest Period (but not more than five Interest Periods) in a single Competitive Bid Quote Request. No Competitive Bid Quote Request shall be given within five Business Days (or such other number of days as the Borrower and the Administrative Agent may agree) of any other Competitive Bid Quote Request. A Competitive Bid Quote Request that does not conform substantially to the form of Exhibit C-1 hereto shall be rejected, and the Administrative Agent shall promptly notify the Borrower of such rejection by telecopy.
Acceptance of Competitive Bids Not later than 11:30 a.m. (i) on the requested date of any Bid Borrowing that is to consist of Absolute Rate Loans, and (ii) three Business Days prior to the requested date of any Bid Borrowing that is to consist of Eurodollar Margin Bid Loans, the Borrower shall notify the Administrative Agent of its acceptance or rejection of the offers notified to it pursuant to Section 2.03(d). The Borrower shall be under no obligation to accept any Competitive Bid and may choose to reject all Competitive Bids. In the case of acceptance, such notice shall specify the aggregate principal amount of Competitive Bids for each Interest Period that is accepted. The Borrower may accept any Competitive Bid in whole or in part; provided that:
(i) the aggregate principal amount of each Bid Borrowing may not exceed the applicable amount set forth in the related Bid Request;
(ii) the principal amount of each Bid Loan must be $5,000,000 or a whole multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof;
(iii) the acceptance of offers may be made only on the basis of ascending Absolute Rates or Eurodollar Bid Margins within each Interest Period; and
(iv) the Borrower may not accept any offer that is described in Section 2.03(c)(iii) or that otherwise fails to comply with the requirements hereof.
PRE-BID MEETING 3.1. The contracting Agency/Department will hold a pre-bid meeting at LOCATION on DAY, DATE and TIME
International Competitive Bidding Except as otherwise provided in paragraph 2 below, goods and works shall be procured under contracts awarded on the basis of International Competitive Bidding.
National Competitive Bidding Goods estimated to cost less than $250,000 equivalent per contract and works estimated to cost less than $500,000 equivalent per contract, may be procured under contracts awarded on the basis of National Competitive Bidding.
Competitive Bidding 3.5.2.1 Bidding Documents shall consist of bidding requirements and proposed Contract Documents.
Competitive Bid Loans The Company may obtain loans under Sections 1.1 and 1.2 pursuant to the competitive bid procedures set forth in the Section 1.10 ("Competitive Bid Loans"), subject to the terms and conditions of Section 1.1 or 1.1 (as the case may be), except as otherwise provided in this Section 1.10. Each Bank may make such Competitive Bid Loans to the Company, subject to the terms and conditions hereof, in such amounts as such Bank, in its sole discretion, desires to make to the Company. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of Section 1.1, the aggregate outstanding amount of Competitive Bid Loans made against the Aggregate Commitment shall reduce each Bank's Commitment pro rata in accordance with its respective Percentage Interest, regardless of which Bank makes such Competitive Bid Loans. Any Competitive Bid Loan made under the Demand Line shall be due and payable upon demand in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, notwithstanding any of the terms of such Competitive Bid Loan. The procedure for making Competitive Bid Loans shall be as follows:
(a) The Company may make requests for bids from the Banks to make Competitive Bid Loans ("Competitive Bids") not later than 9:00 a.m., Milwaukee time, on the proposed borrowing date for one or more Competitive Bid Loans. Each such request shall be given directly to each of the Banks, shall be given in writing (which may be a facsimile transmission) signed by the Company, and shall specify (I) the proposed borrowing date, which shall be a Business Day, (ii) the aggregate amount of the requested Competitive Bid Loans, which shall not be less than $1,000,000 or, for amounts in excess thereof, an integral multiple of $100,000, (iii) the interest period for each Competitive Bid Loan ("Loan Period"), which shall commence on the applicable borrowing date and end on a specified date thereafter not exceeding 180 days from such borrowing date (up to three (3) Loan Periods may be requested pursuant to each Competitive Bid), and the last day of each such Loan Period, and (iv) if more than one Loan Period is so specified, the principal amount allocable to each such Loan Period.
(b) Each Bank in its sole discretion may (but is not obligated to) submit one or more Competitive Bids to the Company not later than 11:00 a.m., Milwaukee time, on the proposed borrowing date specified in such request for Competitive Bids (such 11:00 a.m. time being herein called the "Submission Deadline") by facsimile or in writing, and thereby irrevocably offer to make all or any part (any such part referred to as a "Portion") of any Competitive Bid Loan described in the relevant request for Competitive Bids at a fixed rate of interest per annum (each a "Bid Rate") specified therein, without reference to the LIBOR Rate or other basis for interest rates, in an aggregate principal amount of not less than $1,000,000 and, for amounts in excess thereof, an integral multiple of $100,000. Multiple Competitive Bids may be delivered by any Bank.
(c) The Company shall, in its sole discretion but subject to paragraph (d) below, irrevocably accept or reject any such Competitive Bid (or any Portion thereof) not later than 12:00 noon on the proposed borrowing date by notice to the appropriate Bank by telephone (confirmed in writing promptly delivered to such Bank and the Agent the same day). If a Bank fails to receive notice from the Company of its acceptance or rejection of any Competitive Bids made by such Bank at or prior to 12:00 noon on such day, all such Competitive Bids shall be deemed to have been rejected by the Company. The Company's written acceptance of any Competitive Bid shall constitute a borrowing notice of the Company, and shall specify the amount, maturity date and Bid Rate for each Competitive Bid Loan. The Company will give written notice to the Agent in the form of Part 3 to Exhibit 2.1 hereto on each Business Day on which there is any change in the aggregate outstanding principal amount of Competitive Bid Loans, setting forth the aggregate principal amount of all Competitive Bid Loans then outstanding after giving effect to any Competitive Bid Loans made on such Business Day.
(d) If the Company accepts a Portion of a proposed Competitive Bid Loan for a single Loan Period at the Bid Rate provided therefor in a Bank's Competitive Bid, such Portion shall be in a principal amount of $1,000,000 or, for amounts in excess thereof, an integral multiple of $100,000. If the Company accepts any Competitive Bid Loan or Portion offered in any Competitive Bid, the Company must accept Competitive Bids (and Competitive Bid Loans and Portions thereby offered) based exclusively upon the successively lowest Bid Rates within each Loan Period an no other criteria. If two (2) or more Banks submit Competitive Bids with identical Bid Rates for the same Loan Period and the Company accepts any thereof, the Company shall accept all such Competitive Bids as nearly as possible in proportion to the amounts of such Banks' respective Competitive Bids with identical Bid Rates for such Loan Period, provided, that if the amount of Competitive Bid Loans to be so allocated is not sufficient to enable each such Bank to make such Competitive Bid Loan (or Portions thereof) in an aggregate principal amount of $1,000,000, or for amounts in excess thereof, an integral multiple of $100,000, the Company shall round the Competitive Bid Loans (or Portions thereof) allocated to such Bank or Banks as the Company shall select as necessary to a minimum of $1,000,000 and, if greater than $1,000,000 the nearest multiple of $100,000, or select the Competitive Bid of only one of such Banks.
(e) Not later than 1:30 p.m., Milwaukee time, on the relevant borrowing date, each Bank whose Competitive Bid was accepted by the Company shall make available to the Agent, in immediately available funds, the proceeds of such Bank's Competitive Bid Loan(s). Upon fulfillment of the applicable borrowing conditions, the Agent shall deposit in the Company's account maintained with the Agent or as the Company may otherwise direct in writing on the relevant borrowing date the proceeds of such Competitive Bid Loans, in immediately available funds.
(h) Section 2.2(b) of the Credit Agreement is amended by adding an additional subparagraph (3) thereto, reading in its entirety as follows:
Notice of Complaints Each Seller shall promptly notify the applicable Purchaser upon becoming aware of any complaint concerning any Serviced Appointment made by any party to the Serviced Corporate Trust Contracts, any Securityholder, any Credit Enhancement Provider or any rating agency.
Notice of Changes If a Party makes a change in its network which it believes will materially affect the interoperability of its network with the other Party, the Party making the change shall provide at least ninety (90) days advance written notice of such change to the other Party.
