Separateness Covenants Each Originator hereby acknowledges that this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents are being entered into in reliance upon the Buyer’s identity as a legal entity separate from such Originator and its Affiliates. Therefore, from and after the date hereof, each Originator shall take all reasonable steps necessary to make it apparent to third Persons that the Buyer is an entity with assets and liabilities distinct from those of such Originator and any other Person, and is not a division of such Originator, its Affiliates or any other Person. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing and in addition to and consistent with the other covenants set forth herein, such Originator shall take such actions as shall be required in order that:
(a) such Originator shall not be involved in the day to day management of the Buyer;
(b) such Originator shall maintain separate records and books of account from the Buyer and otherwise will observe corporate formalities and have a separate area from the Buyer for its business (which may be located at the same address as the Buyer, and, to the extent that it and the Buyer have offices in the same location, there shall be a fair and appropriate allocation of overhead costs between them, and each shall bear its fair share of such expenses);
(c) the financial statements and books and records of such Originator shall be prepared after the date of creation of the Buyer to reflect and shall reflect the separate existence of the Buyer; provided, that the Buyer’s assets and liabilities may be included in a consolidated financial statement issued by an Affiliate of the Buyer; provided, however, that any such consolidated financial statement or the notes thereto shall make clear that the Buyer’s assets are not available to satisfy the obligations of such Affiliate;
(d) except as permitted by the Receivables Financing Agreement, (i) such Originator shall maintain its assets (including, without limitation, deposit accounts) separately from the assets (including, without limitation, deposit accounts) of the Buyer and (ii) such Originator’s assets, and records relating thereto, have not been, are not, and shall not be, commingled with those of the Buyer;
(e) such Originator shall not act as an agent for the Buyer (except in the capacity of Servicer or a Sub-Servicer);
(f) such Originator shall not conduct any of the business of the Buyer in its own name (except in the capacity of Servicer or a Sub-Servicer);
(g) such Originator shall not pay any liabilities of the Buyer out of its own funds or assets;
(h) such Originator shall maintain an arm’s-length relationship with the Buyer;
(i) such Originator shall not assume or guarantee or become obligated for the debts of the Buyer or hold out its credit as being available to satisfy the obligations of the Buyer;
(j) such Originator shall not acquire obligations of the Buyer (other than the Intercompany Loan Agreement and the Intercompany Loans);
(k) such Originator shall allocate fairly and reasonably overhead or other expenses that are properly shared with the Buyer, including, without limitation, shared office space;
(l) such Originator shall identify and hold itself out as a separate and distinct entity from the Buyer;
(m) such Originator shall correct any known misunderstanding respecting its separate identity from the Buyer;
(n) such Originator shall not enter into, or be a party to, any transaction with the Buyer, except in the ordinary course of its business and on terms which are intrinsically fair and not less favorable to it than would be obtained in a comparable arm’s-length transaction with an unrelated third party;
(o) such Originator shall not pay the salaries of the Buyer’s employees, if any; and
(p) to the extent not already covered in paragraphs (a) through (o) above, such Originator shall comply and/or act in accordance with all of the other separateness covenants set forth in Section 8.03 of the Receivables Financing Agreement.
Covenants of the Partnership The Partnership covenants with each Underwriter as follows:
Transfer of the General Partner’s General Partner Interest (a) Subject to Section 4.6(c) below, prior to the first day of the first Quarter beginning after the tenth anniversary of the Closing Date, the General Partner shall not transfer all or any part of its General Partner Interest to a Person unless such transfer (i) has been approved by the prior written consent or vote of the holders of at least a majority of the Outstanding Common Units (excluding Common Units held by the General Partner and its Affiliates) or (ii) is of all, but not less than all, of its General Partner Interest to (A) an Affiliate of the General Partner (other than an individual) or (B) another Person (other than an individual) in connection with the merger or consolidation of the General Partner with or into such other Person or the transfer by the General Partner of all or substantially all of its assets to such other Person.
(b) Subject to Section 4.6(c) below, on or after the first day of the first Quarter beginning after the tenth anniversary of the Closing Date, the General Partner may at its option transfer all or any part of its General Partner Interest without Unitholder approval.
(c) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no transfer by the General Partner of all or any part of its General Partner Interest to another Person shall be permitted unless (i) the transferee agrees to assume the rights and duties of the General Partner under this Agreement and to be bound by the provisions of this Agreement, (ii) the Partnership receives an Opinion of Counsel that such transfer would not result in the loss of limited liability under the Delaware Act of any Limited Partner or cause the Partnership to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise to be taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes (to the extent not already so treated or taxed) and (iii) such transferee also agrees to purchase all (or the appropriate portion thereof, if applicable) of the partnership or membership interest held by the General Partner as the general partner or managing member, if any, of each other Group Member. In the case of a transfer pursuant to and in compliance with this Section 4.6, the transferee or successor (as the case may be) shall, subject to compliance with the terms of Section 10.2, be admitted to the Partnership as the General Partner effective immediately prior to the transfer of the General Partner Interest, and the business of the Partnership shall continue without dissolution.
Covenants of the Company and the Operating Partnership The Company and the Operating Partnership, jointly and severally, covenant with each Underwriter as follows:
Transfer of the General Partner’s Partnership Interest (a) The General Partner shall not transfer all or any portion of its General Partnership Interest or withdraw as General Partner except as provided in or in connection with a transaction contemplated by Section 7.1(b), (c) or (d).
(b) Except as otherwise provided in Section 7.1(c) or (d) hereof, the General Partner shall not engage in any merger, consolidation or other combination with or into another Person or sale of all or substantially all of its assets, (other than in connection with a change in the General Partner’s state of incorporation or organizational form) in each case which results in a change of control of the General Partner (a “Transaction”), unless:
(i) the approval of the holders of a majority of the Partnership Units (including the Partnership Units held by the General Partner or an Affiliate thereof) is obtained;
(ii) as a result of such Transaction all Limited Partners will receive for each Partnership Unit an amount of cash, securities, or other property equal to the product of the Conversion Factor and the greatest amount of cash, securities or other property paid in the Transaction to a holder of one REIT Share in consideration of one REIT Share, provided that if, in connection with the Transaction, a purchase, tender or exchange offer (“Offer”) shall have been made to and accepted by the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding REIT Shares, each holder of Partnership Units shall be given the option to exchange its Partnership Units for the greatest amount of cash, securities, or other property which a Limited Partner would have received had it (A) exercised its Exchange Right and (B) sold, tendered or exchanged pursuant to the Offer the REIT Shares received upon exercise of the Exchange Right immediately prior to the expiration of the Offer; or
(iii) the General Partner is the surviving entity in the Transaction and either (A) the holders of REIT Shares do not receive cash, securities, or other property in the Transaction or (B) all Limited Partners (other than the General Partner or any Subsidiary) receive an amount of cash, securities, or other property (expressed as an amount per REIT Share) that is no less than the product of the Conversion Factor and the greatest amount of cash, securities, or other property (expressed as an amount per REIT Share) received in the Transaction by any holder of REIT Shares.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 7.1(b), the General Partner may merge with or into or consolidate with another entity if immediately after such merger or consolidation (i) substantially all of the assets of the successor or surviving entity (the “Surviving General Partner”), other than Partnership Units held by the General Partner, are contributed, directly or indirectly, to the Partnership as a Capital Contribution in exchange for Partnership Units with a fair market value equal to the value of the assets so contributed as determined by the Surviving General Partner in good faith and (ii) the Surviving General Partner expressly agrees to assume all obligations of the General Partner, as appropriate, hereunder. Upon such contribution and assumption, the Surviving General Partner shall have the right and duty to amend this Agreement as set forth in this Section 7.1(c). The Surviving General Partner shall in good faith arrive at a new method for the calculation of the Cash Amount, the REIT Shares Amount and Conversion Factor for a Partnership Unit after any such merger or consolidation so as to approximate the existing method for such calculation as closely as reasonably possible. Such calculation shall take into account, among other things, the kind and amount of securities, cash and other property that was receivable upon such merger or consolidation by a holder of REIT Shares or options, warrants or other rights relating thereto, and to which a holder of Partnership Units could have acquired had such Partnership Units been exchanged immediately prior to such merger or consolidation. Such amendment to this Agreement shall provide for adjustment to such method of calculation, which shall be as nearly equivalent as may be practicable to the adjustments provided for with respect to the Conversion Factor. The Surviving General Partner also shall in good faith modify the definition of REIT Shares and make such amendments to Section 8.4 hereof so as to approximate the existing rights and obligations set forth in Section 8.4 as closely as reasonably possible. The above provisions of this Section 7.1(c) shall similarly apply to successive mergers or consolidations permitted hereunder. In respect of any transaction described in the preceding paragraph, the General Partner is required to use its commercially reasonable efforts to structure such transaction to avoid causing the Limited Partners to recognize a gain for federal income tax purposes by virtue of the occurrence of or their participation in such transaction, provided such efforts are consistent with the exercise of the General Partner’s board of directors’ fiduciary duties to the stockholders of the General Partner under applicable law.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 7.1(b),
(i) a General Partner may transfer all or any portion of its General Partnership Interest to (A) a wholly-owned Subsidiary of such General Partner or (B) the owner of all of the ownership interests of such General Partner, and following a transfer of all of its General Partnership Interest, may withdraw as General Partner; and
(ii) the General Partner may engage in Transactions not required by law or by the rules of any National Securities Exchange on which the REIT Shares are listed to be submitted to the vote of the holders of the REIT Shares.
Representations and Warranties of the Company and the Operating Partnership The Company and the Operating Partnership hereby jointly and severally represent, warrant and covenant to each Underwriter, as of the date of this Agreement, as of the First Closing Date (as hereinafter defined) and as of each Option Closing Date (as hereinafter defined), if any, as follows:
Ownership of the General Partner Interest in the Partnership The General Partner is the sole general partner of the Partnership with a 2% general partner interest in the Partnership; such general partner interest has been duly authorized and validly issued in accordance with the Partnership Agreement; and, to counsel’s knowledge, the General Partner owns its general partner interest free and clear of all Liens (except for restrictions on transferability contained in the Partnership Agreement, as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or under applicable securities laws).
Covenants of the Company and the Guarantors In further consideration of the agreements of the Initial Purchasers contained in this Agreement, the Company and the Guarantors, jointly and severally, covenant with each Initial Purchaser as follows:
(a) To furnish to you in New York City, without charge, prior to 3:00 p.m. New York City time on the business day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and during the period mentioned in Section 6(c), as many copies of the Final Memorandum and any supplements and amendments thereto as you may reasonably request.
(b) Before amending or supplementing either Memorandum, to furnish to you a copy of each such proposed amendment or supplement and not to use any such proposed amendment or supplement to which you reasonably object.
(c) If, during such period after the date hereof and prior to the date on which all of the Securities shall have been sold by the Initial Purchasers, any event shall occur or condition exist as a result of which it is necessary to amend or supplement the Final Memorandum in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances when the Final Memorandum is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading, or if, in the opinion of counsel for the Initial Purchasers, it is necessary to amend or supplement the Final Memorandum to comply with applicable law, forthwith to prepare and furnish, at its own expense, to the Initial Purchasers, either amendments or supplements to the Final Memorandum so that the statements in the Final Memorandum as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances when the Final Memorandum is delivered to a purchaser, be misleading or so that the Final Memorandum, as amended or supplemented, will comply with applicable law.
(d) To endeavor to qualify the Securities for offer and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions as you shall reasonably request.
(e) Whether or not the transactions contemplated in this Agreement are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, to pay or cause to be paid all expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company's and the Guarantors' counsel and the Company's, Storm's and EnCana's accountants in connection with the issuance and sale of the Securities and all other fees or expenses in connection with the preparation of each Memorandum and all amendments and supplements thereto, including all printing costs associated therewith, and the delivering of copies thereof to the Initial Purchasers, in the quantities herein above specified, all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Securities for offer and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section 6(d) hereof, including filing fees and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Initial Purchasers in connection with such qualification and in connection with the preparation of the Blue Sky or legal investment memorandum, (ii) any fees charged by rating agencies for the rating of the Securities, (iii) the fees and expenses, if any, incurred in connection with the admission of the Securities for trading in PORTAL, (iv) the costs and charges of the Trustee and (v) the costs and expenses of the Company and the Guarantors relating to investor presentations on any "road show" undertaken in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Securities, including, without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations with the prior approval of the Company and the Guarantors, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers of the Company and the Guarantors and any such consultants, and the cost of any aircraft chartered in connection with the road show. It is understood, however, that except as provided in this Section, Section 8, and the last paragraph of Section 10, the Initial Purchasers will pay all of their costs and expenses, including fees and disbursements of their counsel, transfer taxes payable on resale of any of the Securities by them and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.
(f) None of the Trust, its Affiliates or any person acting on its or their behalf (other than the Initial Purchasers) will sell, offer for sale or solicit offers to buy or otherwise negotiate in respect of any security (as defined in the Securities Act) which could be integrated with the sale of the Securities in a manner which would require the registration under the Securities Act of the Securities.
(g) Not to solicit any offer to buy or offer or sell the Securities by means of any form of general solicitation or general advertising (as those terms are used in Regulation D under the Securities Act) or in any manner involving a public offering within the meaning of Section 4(2) of the Securities Act.
(h) While any of the Securities remain "restricted securities" within the meaning of the Securities Act, to make available, upon request, to any seller of such Securities the information specified in Rule 144A(d)(4) under the Securities Act, unless the Trust is then subject to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act.
(i) If requested by you, to use their commercially reasonable efforts to permit the Securities to be designated PORTAL securities in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. relating to trading in the PORTAL Market.
(j) None of the Trust, its Affiliates or any person acting on its or their behalf (other than the Initial Purchasers) will engage in any directed selling efforts (as that term is defined in Regulation S) with respect to the Securities, and the Trust, its Affiliates and each person acting on its or their behalf (other than the Initial Purchasers) will comply with the offering restrictions requirement of Regulation S.
(k) During the period of two years after the Closing Date, the Trust will not, and will not permit any of its Affiliates to resell any of the Securities which constitute "restricted securities" under Rule 144 that have been reacquired by any of them.
(l) Not to take any action prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act in connection with the distribution of the Securities contemplated hereby.
Registration Rights of the General Partner and its Affiliates (a) If (i) the General Partner or any Affiliate of the General Partner (including for purposes of this Section 7.12, any Person that is an Affiliate of the General Partner at the date hereof notwithstanding that it may later cease to be an Affiliate of the General Partner) holds Partnership Securities that it desires to sell and (ii) Rule 144 of the Securities Act (or any successor rule or regulation to Rule 144) or another exemption from registration is not available to enable such holder of Partnership Securities (the “Holder”) to dispose of the number of Partnership Securities it desires to sell at the time it desires to do so without registration under the Securities Act, then upon the request of the General Partner or any of its Affiliates, the Partnership shall file with the Commission as promptly as practicable after receiving such request, and use all reasonable efforts to cause to become effective and remain effective for a period of not less than six months following its effective date or such shorter period as shall terminate when all Partnership Securities covered by such registration statement have been sold, a registration statement under the Securities Act registering the offering and sale of the number of Partnership Securities specified by the Holder; provided, however, that the Partnership shall not be required to effect more than three registrations pursuant to this Section 7.12(a); and provided further, however, that if the Conflicts Committee determines in its good faith judgment that a postponement of the requested registration for up to six months would be in the best interests of the Partnership and its Partners due to a pending transaction, investigation or other event, the filing of such registration statement or the effectiveness thereof may be deferred for up to six months, but not thereafter. In connection with any registration pursuant to the immediately preceding sentence, the Partnership shall promptly prepare and file (x) such documents as may be necessary to register or qualify the securities subject to such registration under the securities laws of such states as the Holder shall reasonably request; provided, however, that no such qualification shall be required in any jurisdiction where, as a result thereof, the Partnership would become subject to general service of process or to taxation or qualification to do business as a foreign corporation or partnership doing business in such jurisdiction solely as a result of such registration, and (y) such documents as may be necessary to apply for listing or to list the Partnership Securities subject to such registration on such National Securities Exchange as the Holder shall reasonably request, and do any and all other acts and things that may reasonably be necessary or advisable to enable the Holder to consummate a public sale of such Partnership Securities in such states. Except as set forth in Section 7.12(c), all costs and expenses of any such registration and offering (other than the underwriting discounts and commissions) shall be paid by the Partnership, without reimbursement by the Holder.
(b) If the Partnership shall at any time propose to file a registration statement under the Securities Act for an offering of equity securities of the Partnership for cash (other than an offering relating solely to an employee benefit plan), the Partnership shall use all reasonable efforts to include such number or amount of securities held by the Holder in such registration statement as the Holder shall request. If the proposed offering pursuant to this Section 7.12(b) shall be an underwritten offering, then, in the event that the managing underwriter or managing underwriters of such offering advise the Partnership and the Holder in writing that in their opinion the inclusion of all or some of the Holder’s Partnership Securities would adversely and materially affect the success of the offering, the Partnership shall include in such offering only that number or amount, if any, of securities held by the Holder which, in the opinion of the managing underwriter or managing underwriters, will not so adversely and materially affect the offering. Except as set forth in Section 7.12(c), all costs and expenses of any such registration and offering (other than the underwriting discounts and commissions) shall be paid by the Partnership, without reimbursement by the Holder.
(c) If underwriters are engaged in connection with any registration referred to in this Section 7.12, the Partnership shall provide indemnification, representations, covenants, opinions and other assurance to the underwriters in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to such underwriters. Further, in addition to and not in limitation of the Partnership’s obligation under Section 7.7, the Partnership shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, indemnify and hold harmless the Holder, its officers, directors and each Person who controls the Holder (within the meaning of the Securities Act) and any agent thereof (collectively, “Indemnified Persons”) against any losses, claims, demands, actions, causes of action, assessments, damages, liabilities (joint or several), costs and expenses (including interest, penalties and reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements), resulting to, imposed upon, or incurred by the Indemnified Persons, directly or indirectly, under the Securities Act or otherwise (hereinafter referred to in this Section 7.12(c) as a “claim” and in the plural as “claims”) based upon, arising out of or resulting from any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any registration statement under which any Partnership Securities were registered under the Securities Act or any state securities or Blue Sky laws, in any preliminary prospectus (if used prior to the effective date of such registration statement), or in any summary or final prospectus or in any amendment or supplement thereto (if used during the period the Partnership is required to keep the registration statement current), or arising out of, based upon or resulting from the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading; provided, however, that the Partnership shall not be liable to any Indemnified Person to the extent that any such claim arises out of, is based upon or results from an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in such registration statement, such preliminary, summary or final prospectus or such amendment or supplement, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Partnership by or on behalf of such Indemnified Person specifically for use in the preparation thereof.
(d) The provisions of Section 7.12(a) and 7.12(b) shall continue to be applicable with respect to the General Partner (and any of the General Partner’s Affiliates) after it ceases to be a Partner of the Partnership, during a period of two years subsequent to the effective date of such cessation and for so long thereafter as is required for the Holder to sell all of the Partnership Securities with respect to which it has requested during such two-year period inclusion in a registration statement otherwise filed or that a registration statement be filed; provided, however, that the Partnership shall not be required to file successive registration statements covering the same Partnership Securities for which registration was demanded during such two-year period. The provisions of Section 7.12(c) shall continue in effect thereafter.
(e) Any request to register Partnership Securities pursuant to this Section 7.12 shall (i) specify the Partnership Securities intended to be offered and sold by the Person making the request, (ii) express such Person’s present intent to offer such shares for distribution, (iii) describe the nature or method of the proposed offer and sale of Partnership Securities, and (iv) contain the undertaking of such Person to provide all such information and materials and take all action as may be required in order to permit the Partnership to comply with all applicable requirements in connection with the registration of such Partnership Securities.
Ownership by Limited Partner of Corporate General Partner or Affiliate No Limited Partner shall at any time, either directly or indirectly, own any stock or other interest in the General Partner or in any Affiliate thereof, if such ownership by itself or in conjunction with other stock or other interests owned by other Limited Partners would, in the opinion of counsel for the Partnership, jeopardize the classification of the Partnership as a partnership for federal tax purposes. The General Partner shall be entitled to make such reasonable inquiry of the Limited Partners as is required to establish compliance by the Limited Partners with the provisions of this Section.
