FORM OF DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT] Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation Medium-Term Notes, Series G DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
EXHIBIT
1
[FORM OF DISTRIBUTION
AGREEMENT]
Central
Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation
$250,000,000
Medium-Term
Notes, Series G
_____________,
20__
[Name of
Agent]
[Name of
Agent]
[Name of
Agent]
Dear
Sirs:
Central
Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation, a New York corporation (the “Company”), confirms
its agreement with each of you with respect to the issue and sale by the Company
of up to $250,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its Medium-Term Notes,
Series G (the “Notes”).
The
Company proposes to issue the Notes under its Indenture (the “Indenture”) dated as
of April 1, 1992 to U.S. Bank Trust National Association (formerly known as
First Trust of New York, National Association) (“U.S. Bank Trust”) as
successor to Xxxxxx Guaranty Trust Company of New York, as trustee (the “Trustee”).
The Notes
will be issued in minimum denominations of $1,000 and integral multiples thereof
(unless otherwise specified by the Company), will be issued only in fully
registered form and will have the annual interest rates, maturities and, if
appropriate, other terms set forth in a supplement or supplements to the
Prospectus referred to below. The Notes will be issued, and the terms
thereof established, in accordance with the Indenture and, in the case of Notes
sold pursuant to Section 2(a), the Administrative Procedures attached as Exhibit A hereto (the
“Procedures”). The
Procedures may only be amended by written agreement of the Company and you after
notice to, and with the approval of, the Trustee. For the purposes of
this Agreement, the term “Agent” shall refer to
any of you, the term “Purchaser” shall
refer to any of you acting solely as principal for resale to investors pursuant
to Section 2(b) and not as agent, and the term “you” shall refer to
you together at any time any of you is acting in both such capacities or in
either such capacity; provided that any additional person appointed as an Agent
pursuant to Section 2(a) shall be included in the terms “Agent” and “you”.
1. Representations and
Warranties.
The
Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, you as set forth below in
this Section 1. Certain terms used in this Section 1 are defined in
paragraph (b) hereof.
(a) The
Company meets the requirements for use of Form S-3 under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the “Act”). The
Company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a
registration statement on such Form (File No. 333-_______), including a base
prospectus, which is effective, for the registration under the Act and the
offering thereof from time to time pursuant to Rule 415 of, among other things,
up to $250,000,000 aggregate principal amount of debt securities. The
Company has filed or will file with the Commission pursuant to the applicable
paragraph of Rule 424 under the Act, any supplement or supplements to such base
prospectus relating to the Notes and the plan of distribution thereof (such
supplement being hereinafter called a “Prospectus
Supplement”). Such registration statement, as amended at the
date of this Agreement, meets the requirements set forth in Rule 415(a)(1)(ix)
or (x) under the Act and complies in all other material respects with said
Rule. In connection with the sale of any Notes, the Company proposes
to file with the Commission pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b)
under the Act one or more further supplements to any Prospectus Supplement
providing for the specification of or a change in the interest rates, if any,
maturity dates, issuance prices, redemption terms and prices, if any, and, if
appropriate, other terms of such Notes or the offering thereof which, unless the
Company and the Agents otherwise agree, shall be substantially in the form of
Exhibit B
attached hereto (any such supplement being hereinafter called a “Pricing
Supplement”).
(b) The
terms which follow, when used in this Agreement, shall have the meanings
indicated. The term “Effective Date” shall
mean the latest of (i) the date that the Registration Statement or the most
recent post-effective amendment thereto, if any, was declared
effective by the Commission, (ii) the time and date of the filing of the
Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and (iii) the date as of which
any part of the Registration Statement is deemed to have become effective under
the Act in accordance with Rule 430B under the Act. “Execution Time” shall
mean the date and time that this Agreement is executed and delivered by the
parties hereto. “Base Prospectus”
shall mean the base prospectus relating to the debt securities contained in the
Registration Statement at the Effective Date (unless such base prospectus has
been amended by the Company subsequent to the Effective Date, in which case
“Base
Prospectus” shall mean the base prospectus as so
amended). “Prospectus” shall
mean the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by any Prospectus Supplement and as it
may be further amended or supplemented at the particular time referred
to. “Free
Writing Prospectus” shall mean a “free writing prospectus,” as defined in
Rule 405 under the Act (which term includes use of any written information
furnished to the Commission by the Company and not incorporated by reference
into the Registration Statement and any press release issued by the
Company). “Registration
Statement” shall mean the registration statement referred to in paragraph
(a) above, including incorporated documents, exhibits and financial statements,
as they may be amended at the particular time referred to, and shall include any
Prospectus Supplement and any Pricing Supplement that are deemed pursuant to
Rule 430B under the Act to be part of the Registration
Statement. “Rule 415” and “Rule 424” refer to
such rules under the Act. Any reference herein to the Registration
Statement, the Base Prospectus, any Prospectus Supplement or the Prospectus
shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference
therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 which were filed under the Exchange Act
on or before the Effective Date of the Registration Statement or the issue date
of the Base Prospectus, any Prospectus Supplement or the Prospectus, as the case
may be; and any reference herein to the terms “amend”, “amended”, “amendment” or
“supplement” with respect to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus,
any Prospectus Supplement or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and
include the filing of any document under the Exchange Act after the Effective
Date of the Registration Statement or the issue date of the Base Prospectus, any
Prospectus Supplement or the Prospectus, as the case may be, deemed to be
incorporated therein by reference. “Time of Sale” shall
mean, with respect to any Notes, the time when sales of such Notes were first
made. “Time
of Sale Information” shall mean the Prospectus, including the documents
deemed to be incorporated by reference therein, as of the Time of Sale for any
Notes, together with any Free Writing Prospectuses used in conformity with this
Agreement for such Notes at or prior to such Time of Sale.
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(c) At
each of the following times: (i) as of the Execution Time, (ii) on the Effective
Date, (iii) when any supplement to the Prospectus is filed with the Commission,
(iv) as of the date of any Terms Agreement (as defined by Section 2(b)), and (v)
at the date of delivery by the Company of any Notes sold hereunder (each such
delivery date, a “Closing Date”), (1)
the Registration Statement, as amended as of any such time, the Prospectus, as
supplemented as of any such time, the Indenture, as amended or supplemented as
of any such time, complied or will comply in all material respects with the
applicable requirements of the Act, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended
(the “Trust Indenture
Act”), and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and
the respective rules thereunder; (2) the Registration Statement, as amended as
of any such time, did not or will not contain an untrue statement of a material
fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary
in order to make the statements therein not misleading; and (3) the Prospectus,
as supplemented as of any such time, will not include an untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading; provided, however, that the
Company makes no representations or warranties as to (A) that part of the
Registration Statement which shall constitute the Statements of Eligibility
(Form T-1) under the Trust Indenture Act of the Trustee or (B) the information
contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement or the Prospectus in
reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the
Company by any of you specifically for use in connection with the preparation of
the Registration Statement or the Prospectus (or any supplement
thereto).
(d) The
Company has not sustained since the date of the latest audited financial
statements included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement
and the Prospectus, any loss or interference with its business from fire,
explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from
any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, which has
had or is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the financial
position, shareholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company,
otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Registration Statement, the
Prospectus and any Time of Sale Information; and, since the respective dates as
of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and
any Time of Sale Information, there has not been any change in the capital stock
(other than pursuant to any stock purchase, dividend reinvestment, savings,
bonus, incentive, or similar plan or conversions of convertible securities into
common stock) or long-term debt (other than normal amortization of debt premium
and discount, bank or finance company borrowings and repayments in the ordinary
course, or additional issuances or repurchases of commercial paper) of the
Company or any material adverse change, or any development involving a
prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs,
management, financial position, shareholders’ equity or results of operations of
the Company, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Registration
Statement, the Prospectus and any Time of Sale Information.
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(e) The
Company, which has no subsidiaries, has been duly incorporated and is validly
existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of New
York, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and
conduct its business as described in the Prospectus and any Time of Sale
Information and is duly qualified to do business in each jurisdiction in which
it owns or leases real property or in which the conduct of its business requires
such qualification except where the failure to be so qualified, considering all
such cases in the aggregate, does not involve a material risk to the business,
properties, financial position or results of operations of the
Company.
(f) The
issuance and sale of the Notes have been duly and validly authorized by the
Company and, when issued within the limitations set forth in the order or orders
of the Public Service Commission of the State of New York referred to in
subsection (g) below and executed and authenticated in accordance with the
provisions of the Indenture and delivered and paid for by the purchasers
thereof, the Notes will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the
Company entitled to the benefits provided by the Indenture equally and ratably
with the securities outstanding thereunder; the Indenture has been duly
authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and constitutes a valid and
legally binding instrument, enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject,
as to enforcement, to bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance,
reorganization, moratorium and other similar laws relating to or affecting the
enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, to general equitable principles
(regardless of whether such enforceability is considered in a proceeding in
equity or at law) and to an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; and
the Notes and the Indenture conform to the descriptions thereof in the
Registration Statement, the Prospectus and any Time of Sale
Information.
(g) The
issue and sale of the Notes and the compliance by the Company with all of the
provisions of the Notes, the Indenture, this Agreement and any Terms Agreement,
and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated will
not conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms or provisions of, or
constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan
agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by
which the Company is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the
Company is subject (except that, for purposes of this representation and
warranty, compliance with any financial covenant requiring an arithmetic
computation (not determinable at the Execution Time) in respect of any Notes
shall be measured at the time of the establishment of the terms of such Notes),
nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the Company’s
Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, or the Bylaws of the Company or any
statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or
body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its property or assets; and
no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or
with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the issue and
sale of the Notes or the consummation by the Company of the other transactions
contemplated by this Agreement or any Terms Agreement or the Indenture except
such as have been obtained prior to the Execution Time under the Act and the
Trust Indenture Act and such consents, approvals, authorizations, registrations
or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws in
connection with the public offering of the Notes, and except for filings with
and the orders from the Public Service Commission of the State of New York
authorizing the issuance and sale by the Company of the Notes subject to certain
conditions set forth therein, which orders have been obtained and are in full
effect.
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(h) Other
than as set forth or contemplated in the Prospectus and any Time of Sale
Information, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the
Company is a party or of which any property of the Company is the subject which,
if determined adversely to the Company, would individually or in the aggregate
have a material adverse effect on the financial position, shareholders’ equity
or results of operations of the Company; and, to the best of the Company’s
knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental
authorities or threatened by others.
(i) There
are no contracts or documents of the Company that are required to be described
in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any Time of Sale Information or
to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement by the Act or by the rules
and regulations thereunder that have not been so described or
filed.
(j) The
Time of Sale Information for any Notes: (i) will not, at the Time of
Sale and at the Closing Date for such Notes, contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation and
warranty with respect to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and
in conformity with information relating to any Agent furnished to the Company in
writing by such Agent expressly for use in such Time of Sale Information, and
(ii) will comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of
the Act, the Trust Indenture Act and the Exchange and the respective rules
thereunder.. No statement of material fact included in the Time of
Sale Information that is required to be included in the Prospectus has been
omitted therefrom.
(k) The
Company (including its agents and representatives, other than the Agents in
their capacity as such) has not prepared, made, used, authorized, approved or
referred to, and will not prepare, make, use, authorize, approve or refer to,
any “written communication” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Act) that
constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy Notes (each such
communication by the Company or its agents and representatives (other than a
communication referred to in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) below), an “Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus”) other than (i) any document not constituting a prospectus
pursuant to Section 2(a)(10)(a) of the Act or Rule 134 under the Act, (ii) the
Base Prospectus, (iii) any Prospectus Supplement, (iv) a Pricing Supplement and
(v) any electronic road show or other written communications, in each case
approved in writing in advance by the Agents. Each such Issuer Free
Writing Prospectus complied in all material respects with the Act, has been or
will be (within the time period specified in Rule 433 under the Act) filed in
accordance with the Act (to the extent required thereby) and, when taken
together with the Prospectus accompanying, or delivered prior to delivery of, or
filed prior to the first use of, such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, did not,
and at the Closing Date will not, contain any untrue statement of a material
fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements
therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading; provided that the Company makes no representation and warranty with
respect to any statements or omissions made in each such Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to any
Agent furnished to the Company in writing by such Agent expressly for use in any
Issuer Free Writing Prospectus.
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(l) The
Company will not be an ineligible issuer as defined under the Act at the times
specified in the Act in connection with an offering of Notes.
(m) Each
Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including any Term Sheet (as defined in Section
4(q)), will not include any information that conflicts with the information
contained in the Registration Statement, including any document incorporated
therein by reference and any Prospectus Supplement deemed to be a part thereof
that has not been superseded or modified. The foregoing sentence does
not apply to statements in or omissions from any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus
based upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company
by any Agent specifically for use therein.
(n) The
Company maintains an effective system of “disclosure controls and procedures”
(as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that is designed to ensure
that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it
files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and
reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms,
including controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information is
accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management as appropriate to allow
timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The Company has
carried out evaluations of the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and
procedures as required by Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act.
(o) The
Company maintains a system of “internal control over financial reporting” (as
defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that comply with the
requirements of the Exchange Act and have been designed by, or under the
supervision of, its principal executive and principal financial officers, or
persons performing similar functions, to provide reasonable assurance regarding
the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, including, but not limited to internal accounting
controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are
executed in accordance with management's general or specific authorizations;
(ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial
statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to
maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in
accordance with management's general or specific authorization; and (iv) the
recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at
reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any
differences. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, any
Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus, there are no material weaknesses in
the Company’s internal controls.
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2. Appointment of Agents;
Solicitation by the Agents of Offers to Purchase; Sales of Notes to a
Purchaser. (a) Subject
to the terms and conditions set forth herein, the Company hereby authorizes each
of the Agents to act as its agent to solicit offers for the purchase of all or
part of the Notes from the Company. On the basis of the
representations and warranties, and subject to the terms and conditions set
forth herein, each of the Agents agrees, as agent of the Company, to use its
reasonable best efforts to solicit offers to purchase the Notes from the Company
upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Prospectus (and any supplement
thereto) and in the Procedures.
The
Company reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject any offer to
purchase Notes, in whole or in part. In addition, the Company
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to instruct the Agents to suspend at
any time, for any period of time or permanently, the solicitation of offers to
purchase the Notes. Upon receipt of instructions from the Company,
the Agents will forthwith suspend solicitations of offers to purchase Notes from
the Company until such time as the Company has advised them that such
solicitation may be resumed.
The
Company agrees to pay each Agent a commission on the Closing Date with respect
to each sale of Notes by the Company as a result of a solicitation made by such
Agent pursuant to this subsection, in an amount equal to that percentage
specified in Schedule
I hereto of the aggregate principal amount of the Notes sold by the
Company or in such other amount as may be agreed to in writing between the
Company and an Agent; provided that such amount shall not exceed the amounts set
forth on Schedule
I hereto. Such commission shall be payable as specified in the
Procedures.
Subject
to the provisions of this Section 2 and to the Procedures, offers for the
purchase of Notes may be solicited by an Agent as agent for the Company at such
times and in such amounts as such Agent deems advisable. The Company
may, upon five (5) days’ prior written notice to the Agents, appoint additional
persons to serve as Agents hereunder, but only if each such additional person
agrees to be bound by all the terms of this Agreement as an Agent. The Company
reserves the right to sell, and may solicit and accept offers to purchase, Notes
directly on its own behalf, and, in case of any such sale not resulting from a
solicitation made by any Agent, no commission shall be payable by the Company
with respect to such sale. To the extent a potential investor
contacts the Company directly with an offer or inquiry to purchase Notes, the
Company, in lieu of accepting such offer to purchase and selling Notes directly
on its own behalf, may refer such potential investor to any Agent to complete
such sale (each a “Reverse
Offer”). Any commission payable to such Agent on the Closing
Date with respect to a Reverse Offer shall be in an amount as may be agreed to
by the Company and such Agent at such time. The Company agrees, so
long as any Agent is serving in such capacity hereunder, that it will not
contact or solicit potential investors introduced to it by such Agent to
purchase Notes.
(b) Subject
to the terms and conditions stated herein, whenever the Company and any of you
determine that the Company shall sell Notes directly to any of you as Purchaser,
each such sale of Notes shall be made in accordance with the terms of this
Agreement and, unless otherwise agreed by the Company and the Purchaser, any
supplemental agreement relating thereto between the Company and the
Purchaser. Each such supplemental agreement (which shall be
substantially in the form of Exhibit C attached
hereto) is herein referred to as a “Terms
Agreement.” The Purchaser’s commitment to purchase Notes
pursuant to any Terms Agreement shall be deemed to have been made on the basis
of the representations and warranties of the Company herein contained and shall
be subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth. Each Terms
Agreement shall describe the Notes to be purchased by the Purchaser pursuant
thereto, specify the principal amount of such Notes, the price to be paid to the
Company for such Notes, the rate at which interest will be paid on the Notes,
the Closing Date for such Notes, the place of delivery of the Notes and payment
therefor, the method of payment and any modification of the requirements for the
delivery of the opinions of counsel, the certificates from the Company or its
officers, and the letter from the Company’s independent public accounting firm,
pursuant to Section 6(b). Such Terms Agreement shall also specify the
period of time referred to in Section 4(m). Except as set forth in
any Terms Agreement, no commission shall be payable by the Company with respect
to any sale of Notes pursuant to a Terms Agreement.
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Delivery
of the Notes sold to the Purchaser pursuant to any Terms Agreement shall be made
as agreed to between the Company and the Purchaser as set forth in the
respective Terms Agreement, not later than the Closing Date set forth in such
Terms Agreement, against payment of funds to the Company in the net amount due
to the Company for such Notes by the method and in the form set forth in the
respective Terms Agreement.
Each of
the Agents represent that it has not and will not use, authorize use of, refer
to, or participate in the planning for use of, any Free Writing Prospectus,
other than (i) a Free Writing Prospectus that, solely as a result of use by such
Agent, would not trigger an obligation to file such Free Writing Prospectus with
the Commission pursuant to Rule 433 under the Act, (ii) any Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus prepared pursuant to Section 1(j) or Section 4(o) (including any
electronic road show) or (iii) any Free Writing Prospectus prepared by such
Agent and approved by the Company in advance in writing.
The
Company acknowledges and agrees that (i) the offer and sale of any Notes,
including the determination of the public offering price thereof, will be
arm’s-length commercial transactions between the Company, on the one hand, and
the Agents, on the other hand, (ii) in connection with the offer and sale of any
Notes and the process leading to such transaction, each Agent is not the
fiduciary of the Company or its stockholders, creditors, employees or any other
party, (iii) no Agent has assumed or will assume an advisory or fiduciary
responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to the offer or sale of any
Notes or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Agent has
advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters), and no Agent has
any obligation to the Company with respect thereto, except the obligations
expressly set forth in this Agreement, (iv) the Agents and their respective
affiliates may be engaged in a broad range of transactions not in violation of
law that involve interests that differ from those of the Company and (v) no
Agent has provided any legal, accounting, regulatory or tax advice with respect
to the offer and sale of any Notes and the Company has consulted its own legal,
accounting, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent it deemed
appropriate.
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3. Offering and Sale of
Notes. Each Agent and the Company agree to perform the
respective duties and obligations specifically provided to be performed by them
in the Procedures.
4. Agreements. The
Company agrees with you that:
(a) Prior
to the termination of the offering of the Notes, the Company will not file any
amendment of the Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus (except
for (i) periodic or current reports filed under the Exchange Act, (ii) a Pricing
Supplement or (iii) a supplement relating to an offering of debt securities
other than the Notes) unless the Company has furnished each of you a copy for
your review prior to filing and given each of you a reasonable opportunity to
comment on any such proposed amendment or supplement. Subject to the
foregoing sentence, the Company will cause each supplement to the Prospectus to
be filed with the Commission pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424
within the time period prescribed. The Company will promptly advise
each of you (i) when the Prospectus, and any supplement thereto, and any Issuer
Free Writing Prospectus, shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to
Rule 424, (ii) when, prior to the termination of the offering of the Notes, any
amendment of the Registration Statement shall have been filed or become
effective, (iii) of any request by the Commission for any amendment of the
Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus or for any additional
information, (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending
the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the institution or
threatening of any proceeding for that purpose and (v) of the receipt by the
Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification
of the Notes for sale in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of
any proceeding for such purpose. The Company will use its reasonable
best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order and, if issued, to
obtain as soon as reasonably possible the withdrawal thereof.
(b) If,
at any time prior to a Closing Date for any of the Notes, any event occurs as a
result of which the Time of Sale Information for such Notes as then supplemented
would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material
fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances
under which they were made, not misleading, or if, at any time when a prospectus
relating to the Notes is required to be delivered under the Act, any event
occurs as a result of which the Prospectus as then supplemented would include an
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which
they were made, not misleading, or if, at any time prior to a Closing Date for
any of the Notes, it shall be necessary to amend the Registration Statement or
to supplement the Time of Sale Information for such Notes to comply with the Act
or the Exchange Act or the respective rules thereunder, or if, at any time when
a prospectus relating to the Notes is required to be delivered under the Act, it
shall be necessary to amend the Registration Statement or to supplement the
Prospectus to comply with the Act or the Exchange Act or the respective rules
thereunder, the Company promptly will (i) notify each of you to suspend
solicitation of offers to purchase Notes (and, if so notified by the Company,
each of you shall forthwith suspend such solicitation and cease using the
Prospectus as then supplemented), (ii) prepare and file with the Commission,
subject to the first sentence of paragraph (a) of this Section 4, an amendment
or supplement which will correct such statement or omission or effect such
compliance and (iii) supply any supplemented Time of Sale Information or
Prospectus, as the case may be, to each of you in such quantities as you may
reasonably request; provided, however, that should
any such event relate solely to activities of you, then you shall assume the
expense of preparing and furnishing any such amendment or
supplement. If such amendment or supplement, and any documents,
certificates and opinions furnished to each of you pursuant to paragraphs (g),
(j), (k) and (l) of this Section 4 in connection with the preparation of filing
of such amendment or supplement are satisfactory in all respects to you, you
will, upon the filing of such amendment or supplement with the Commission and
upon the effectiveness of an amendment to the Registration Statement, if such an
amendment is required, resume your obligation to solicit offers to purchase
Notes hereunder.
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(c) During
the term of this Agreement, the Company will timely file all documents required
to be filed with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of
the Exchange Act. In addition, on the date on which the Company (or
as soon as practicable thereafter) makes any announcement to the general public
concerning earnings or concerning any other event which is required to be
described, or which the Company proposes to describe, in a document filed
pursuant to the Exchange Act, the Company will furnish to each of you the
information contained in such announcement. The Company will notify
each of you of any downgrading in the rating of the Notes or any other debt
securities of the Company, or any public announcement of placement of the Notes
or any other debt securities of the Company on what is commonly termed a “watch
list” for possible downgrading, by any “nationally recognized statistical rating
organization” (as defined for purposes of Rule 436(g) under the Act), promptly
after the Company learns of any such downgrading or public
announcement.
(d) As
soon as practicable, the Company will make generally available to its security
holders and to each of you an earnings statement or statements of the Company
which will satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Act and Rule 158 under
the Act.
(e) The
Company will furnish to each of you and your counsel, without charge (except as
otherwise provided herein), a reasonable number of copies of the Registration
Statement (including exhibits thereto) and, so long as delivery of a prospectus
may be required by the Act, as many copies of the Prospectus and any supplement
thereto as you may reasonably request.
(f) The
Company will arrange for the qualification of the Notes for sale under the laws
of such jurisdictions as any of you may designate, will maintain such
qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Notes,
and upon your request will arrange for the determination of the legality of the
Notes for purchase by institutional investors; provided, however, that the
Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to file a
general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction, to pay filing fees
and other expenses in connection therewith in the aggregate exceeding $4,000, or
to comply with any other requirement reasonably deemed by the Company to be
unduly burdensome.
(g) During
the term of this Agreement, the Company shall furnish to each of you (i) copies
of all annual, quarterly and other reports furnished to stockholders, (ii)
copies of all annual, quarterly and current reports (without exhibits but
including documents incorporated by reference therein) of the Company filed with
the Commission under the Exchange Act and (iii) such other information
concerning the Company as you may reasonably request from time to
time.
10
(h) The
Company shall, whether or not any sale of the Notes is consummated, (i) pay all
expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement,
including the fees and disbursements of its accountants and counsel, the cost of
printing or other production and delivery of the Registration Statement, the
Prospectus, all amendments thereof and supplements thereto, the Indenture, this
Agreement and all other documents relating to the offering, the cost of
preparing, printing, packaging and delivering the Notes, the fees and
disbursements, including reasonable fees of counsel, incurred pursuant to
Section 4(f), the fees and disbursements of the Trustee and the fees of any
ratings agency that rates the Notes, (ii) reimburse each of you on a monthly
basis for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by you in connection
with this Agreement (including, but not limited to, advertising expenses), in
the aggregate not to exceed $2,500 per Agent for the term of this
Agreement, and (iii) pay the reasonable fees and expenses of your
counsel incurred in connection with this Agreement.
(i) Each
acceptance by the Company of an offer to purchase Notes will be deemed to be a
new making to you of the representations and warranties of the Company in
Section 1 (except that such representations and warranties shall be deemed to
relate solely to the Registration Statement as then amended and to the
Prospectus as then amended and supplemented to relate to such
Notes).
(j) Except
as otherwise provided in subsection (n) of this Section 4, each time that the
Registration Statement or the Prospectus is amended or supplemented (other than
by (i) an amendment or supplement relating to any offering of debt securities
other than the Notes or (ii) a Pricing Supplement) the Company will deliver or
cause to be delivered promptly to each of you a certificate of the Company,
signed by any of the Chairman of the Board, the President and Chief Executive
Officer, any Vice President having responsibilities for financial matters or the
Controller or the Treasurer of the Company, dated the date of the effectiveness
of such amendment or the date of the filing of such supplement, in form
reasonably satisfactory to you, of the same tenor as the certificate referred to
in Section 5(d) but modified to relate to the last day of the fiscal quarter for
which financial statements of the Company were last filed with the Commission
and to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as amended and supplemented
to the time of the effectiveness of such amendment or the filing of such
supplement.
(k) Except
as otherwise provided in subsection (n) of this Section 4, each time that the
Registration Statement or the Prospectus is amended or supplemented (other than
by (i) an amendment or supplement relating to any offering of debt securities
other than the Notes or (ii) a Pricing Supplement), the Company shall furnish or
cause to be furnished promptly to each of you a written opinion, satisfactory to
you, by counsel for the Company, dated the date of the effectiveness of such
amendment or the date of the filing of such supplement, in form satisfactory to
each of you, of the same tenor as the opinion referred to in Section 5(b), but
modified to relate to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as amended
and supplemented to the time of the effectiveness of such amendment or the
filing of such supplement or, in lieu of such opinion, such counsel may furnish
each of you with a letter to the effect that you may rely on such counsel’s last
opinion to the same extent as though it were dated the date of such letter
authorizing reliance (except that statements in such last opinion will be deemed
to relate to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as amended and
supplemented to the time of the effectiveness of such amendment or the filing of
such supplement).
11
(l) Except
as otherwise provided in subsection (n) of this Section 4, each time that the
Registration Statement or the Prospectus is amended or supplemented (other than
by (i) an amendment or supplement relating to any offering of debt securities
other than the Notes or (ii) a Pricing Supplement) to set forth amended or
supplemental financial information (derived from the accounting records of the
Company subject to the internal controls of the Company’s accounting system or
derived directly from such records by computation), the Company shall cause its
registered independent public accounting firm promptly to furnish each of you a
letter, dated the date of the effectiveness of such amendment or the date of the
filing of such supplement, in form satisfactory to each of you, of the same
tenor as the letter referred to in Section 5(e) with such changes as may be
necessary to reflect the amended and supplemental financial information included
or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus,
as amended or supplemented to the date of such letter.
(m) During
the period, if any, specified in any Terms Agreement, the Company shall not,
without the prior consent of the Purchaser thereunder, issue or announce the
proposed issuance of any of its debt securities, including the Notes, with
maturities or other terms substantially similar to the Notes being purchased
pursuant to such Terms Agreement.
(n) The
Company shall not be required to comply with the provisions of subsections (j),
(k) and (l) of this Section 4 during any period (which may occur from time to
time during the term of this Agreement) for which the Company has instructed the
Agents to suspend the solicitation of offers to purchase Notes with respect to
any Agent who is not a Purchaser holding Notes during any such period pursuant
to any Terms Agreement. Whenever the Company has instructed the
Agents to suspend the solicitation of offers to purchase Notes for any such
period, however, prior to instructing the Agents to resume the solicitation of
offers to purchase Notes or prior to entering into any Terms Agreement, the
Company shall be required to comply with the provisions of subsections (j), (k)
and (l) of this Section 4, but only to the extent of delivering or causing to be
delivered the most recent certificate, opinion or letter, as the case may be,
which would have otherwise been required under each such subsection unless the
Agents otherwise reasonably request that such documents in respect of prior
periods be delivered.
(o) Before
making, preparing, using, authorizing, approving, referring to or filing any
Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, and before filing any amendment or supplement to
the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, the Company will furnish to each
of the Agents and their counsel a copy of the proposed Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus, amendment or supplement for review and will not make, prepare, use,
authorize, approve, refer to or file any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or
file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which the Agents reasonably
object.
(p) If
at any time after the Time of Sale for any Notes and prior to the Closing Date
for such Notes (i) any event shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of
which the Time of Sale Information for such Notes as then amended or
supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in
the light of the circumstances, not misleading or (ii) it is necessary to amend
or supplement such Time of Sale Information to comply with law, the Company will
immediately notify the Agents thereof and forthwith prepare and, subject to
Section 4(o), file with the Commission (to the extent required) and furnish to
the Agents and to such dealers as the Agents may designate, such amendments or
supplements to such Time of Sale Information as may be necessary so that the
statements in such Time of Sale Information as so amended or supplemented will
not, in the light of the circumstances, be misleading or so that such Time of
Sale Information will comply with law.
12
(q) The
Company shall prepare a Term Sheet with respect to each offering of Notes,
containing solely a description of the final terms of the Notes and the offering
thereof, which shall be substantially in the form of Exhibit D attached
hereto (a “Term Sheet”), and shall file such Term Sheet with the Commission
pursuant to Rule 433 under the Act within the time required by such
Rule.
5. Conditions to the
Obligations of the Agents.
The
obligations of each Agent to solicit offers to purchase the Notes shall be
subject to (i) the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of
the Company contained herein as of the Execution Time, on the Effective Date and
when any supplement to the Prospectus is filed with the Commission, (ii) the
accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to
the provisions hereof, (iii) the performance by the Company of its obligations
hereunder and (iv) the following additional conditions:
(a) If
filing of the Prospectus, or any supplement thereto, is required pursuant to
Rule 424, the Prospectus, and any such supplement, shall have been filed in the
manner and within the time period required by Rule 424; and no stop order
suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have been
issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or
threatened.
(b) The
Company shall have furnished to each Agent the opinion of counsel for the
Company, dated the Execution Time, to the effect that:
(i) The
Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in
good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation, with
power and authority (corporate and governmental) to own its properties and
conduct its business as described in the Prospectus, as amended or supplemented,
and is duly qualified to do business in each jurisdiction in which it owns or
leases real property or in which the conduct of its business requires such
qualification except where the failure to be so qualified, considering all such
cases in the aggregate, does not involve a material risk to the business,
properties, financial position or results of operations of the
Company.
(ii) To
the best of such counsel’s knowledge and other than as set forth or contemplated
in the Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to
which the Company is a party or of which any property of the Company is the
subject which, if determined adversely to the Company, would individually or in
the aggregate have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial
position, shareholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company; and, to
the best of such counsel’s knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or
contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others.
13
(iii) This
Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the
Company.
(iv) The
Indenture has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and
constitutes a valid and legally binding instrument, enforceable in accordance
with its terms, subject, as to enforcement, to bankruptcy, insolvency,
fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium and other similar laws
relating to or affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, to
general equitable principles (regardless of whether such enforceability is
considered in a proceeding in equity or at law) and to an implied covenant of
good faith and fair dealing; and the Indenture has been duly qualified under the
Trust Indenture Act.
(v) The
issuance and sale of the Notes have been duly and validly authorized by the
Company and, when issued within the limitations set forth in the applicable
order or orders from the Public Service Commission of the State of New York
referred to in paragraph (x) below and executed and authenticated in accordance
with the provisions of the Indenture and delivered to and paid for by the
purchasers thereof in accordance with this Agreement, the Notes will constitute
valid and legally binding obligations of the Company enforceable in accordance
with their terms, subject, as to enforcement, to bankruptcy, insolvency,
fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium and other similar laws
relating to or affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, to
general equitable principles (regardless of whether such enforceability is
considered in a proceeding in equity or at law) and to an implied covenant of
good faith and fair dealing, and will be entitled to the benefit provided by the
Indenture equally and ratably with the securities outstanding thereunder (except
insofar as a sinking fund established in accordance with the provisions of the
Indenture may afford additional benefit for the securities of any particular
series); and the Notes and the Indenture conform as to legal matters to the
descriptions thereof contained in the Registration Statement and the
Prospectus.
(vi) The
issue and sale of the Notes and the compliance by the Company with all of the
provisions of the Notes, the Indenture and this Agreement and the consummation
of the transactions therein and herein contemplated (except as to compliance
with any financial covenant requiring an arithmetic computation not determinable
at the Execution Time as to which such counsel need express no opinion) will not
conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms or provisions of, or
constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan
agreement or material other agreement or instrument known, as of the date of
such opinion, to such counsel to which the Company is a party or by which the
Company is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company is
subject, nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the
Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, or the Bylaws of the Company
or any statute or any order, rule or regulation known, as of the date of such
opinion, to such counsel of any court or governmental agency or body having
jurisdiction over the Company or any of its properties.
(vii) No
consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or
with any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the
Company or any of its properties is required for the issue and sale of the Notes
or the consummation by the Company of the other transactions contemplated by
this Agreement or the Indenture, except such as have been obtained under the Act
and the Trust Indenture Act and such consents, approvals, authorizations,
registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or
Blue Sky laws in connection with the public offering of the Notes, and except
for filings with and the order or orders from the Public Service Commission of
the State of New York authorizing the issuance and sale by the Company of the
Notes subject to certain conditions set forth therein, which order or orders
have been obtained and, to the best knowledge of such counsel, are in full force
and effect.
14
(viii) The
Registration Statement, at the Effective Date, and the Prospectus, as of the
date of such opinion (except as to the financial statements and other financial
or statistical data contained or incorporated by reference therein and except
for that part of the Registration Statement which shall constitute the
Statements of Eligibility and Qualification (Form T-1) under the Trust Indenture
Act of the Trustee, as to which such counsel need express no opinion) comply as
to form in all material respects with all applicable requirements of the Act,
and, with respect to the documents or portions thereof filed with the Commission
pursuant to the Exchange Act and incorporated by reference in the Prospectus
pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3, the Exchange Act and the applicable
instructions, rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder; on the basis
of information received from the Commission, at the date of such opinion, the
Registration Statement has become effective under the Act, and, to the best
knowledge of such counsel, no proceedings for a stop order with respect thereto
have been instituted or are pending or threatened under Section 8 of the Act;
and based on such counsel’s participation in the preparation of the Registration
Statement and Prospectus and its services as counsel to the Company (but such
opinion may state that such counsel did not independently check or verify the
correctness of the statements made by the Company or factual information
included in the Registration Statement and Prospectus, and thereby may assume
the correctness thereof, except insofar as such statements or information relate
to such counsel or are stated in the Registration Statement or Prospectus as
having been made on their authority as experts), no facts have come to the
attention of such counsel to cause them to believe, and such counsel have no
reason to believe, that the Registration Statement, at the Effective Date,
contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material
fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein
not misleading (except as to the financial statements or other financial or
statistical data contained in or incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement and the Prospectus and except for that part of the Registration
Statement which shall constitute the Statements of Eligibility and Qualification
(Form T-1) under the Trust Indenture Act of the Trustee), or that the
Prospectus, as of the date of such opinion, includes an untrue statement of a
material fact or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading (except as to the financial statements or other financial
or statistical data contained in or incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement and the Prospectus).
(ix) The
Company’s gas distribution activities are exempt from the Natural Gas
Act.
15
(x) The
Public Service Commission of the State of New York has issued an appropriate
order or orders with respect to the issuance and sale of the Notes in accordance
with this Agreement; to the best knowledge of such counsel, such order or orders
are still in full force and effect; the issuance and sale of the Notes in
accordance with this Agreement and subject to the limitations set forth in such
orders will conform with the terms of such order or orders.
As to
factual matters (including relating to the Company’s financial condition)
included in said opinion, such counsel may rely upon certificates of public
officials as of a recent date, the warranties and representations of the Company
set forth in this Agreement, and certificates of the Company made pursuant to
the provisions of this Agreement.
(c) Each
Agent shall have received from counsel for the Agents an opinion, dated the
Execution Time, with respect to the issuance and sale of the Notes, the
Indenture, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus (together with any
supplement thereto) and other related matters as the Agents may reasonably
require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as
they reasonably request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such
matters.
(d) The
Company shall have furnished to each Agent a certificate of the Company, signed
by any of the Chairman of the Board, the President, the Chief Financial Officer
or any Vice President having responsibilities for financial matters, the
Controller or the Treasurer of the Company, dated the Execution Time, to the
effect that the signer of such certificate has carefully examined the
Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any supplement to the Prospectus and
this Agreement and that:
(i) The
representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and
correct in all material respects and the Company has complied with all the
agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or
satisfied as a condition to the obligation of the Agents to solicit offers to
purchase the Notes.
(ii) No
stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been
issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the
Company’s knowledge, threatened.
(iii) (A) The
Company has not sustained since the date of the latest audited financial
statements included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement
and the Prospectus, any loss or interference with its business from fire,
explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from
any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, which has
had or is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the financial
position, shareholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company,
otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Registration Statement and
the Prospectus and (B) since the respective dates as of which information is
given in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there has not been any
change in the capital stock (other than pursuant to any stock purchase, dividend
reinvestment, savings, bonus, incentive, or similar plan, conversions of
convertible securities into common stock), or long-term debt (other than normal
amortization of debt premium and discount, bank or finance company borrowings
and repayments in the ordinary course, or additional issuances or repurchases of
commercial paper) of the Company or any material adverse change, or any
development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the
general affairs, management, financial position, shareholders’ equity or results
of operations of the Company, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the
Registration Statement and the Prospectus.
16
(e) At
the Execution Time, the Company's independent registered public accounting firm
shall have furnished to each Agent a letter, dated as of the Execution Time, in
form and substance satisfactory to the Agents, stating in effect
that:
(i) They
are an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company
within the meaning of the Act and the applicable rules and regulations
thereunder adopted by the Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States) ("PCAOB").
(ii) In
their opinion, the consolidated financial statements of the Company audited by
them and included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, [2008], which are incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement and the Prospectus comply as to form in all material respects with the
applicable accounting requirements of the Act and the Exchange Act and the
related rules and regulations adopted by the Commission.
(iii) On
the basis of procedures (but not an audit in accordance with the standards of
the PCAOB) consisting of:
(A) reading
the minutes of meetings of the stockholders and the Board of Directors of the
Company since December 31, [2008], as set forth in the minute books (or, if
minutes have not been prepared, agendas for such meetings, if available) through
a specified date not more than three business days prior to the date of delivery
of such letter;
(B) performing
the procedures specified by the PCAOB for a review of interim financial
information as described in SAS 100, Interim Financial
Information, on the unaudited condensed interim financial statements of
the Company incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the
Prospectus (the "Unaudited Statements") and reading the unaudited interim
financial data for the period from the date of the latest balance sheet included
in the Unaudited Statements to the date of the latest available interim
financial data; and
(C) making
inquiries of certain officials of the Company who have responsibility for
financial and accounting matters regarding the specific items for which
representations are requested in Sections 5(e)(iii)(1) through 5(e)(iii)(3)
below,
nothing
has come to their attention as a result of the foregoing procedures that caused
them to believe that:
17
(1) the
Unaudited Statements do not comply in form in all material respects with the
applicable accounting requirements of the Act and the Exchange Act and with the
related rules and regulations adopted by the Commission;
(2) any
material modifications should be made to the Unaudited Statements for them to be
in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles; and
(3) (i) at
the date of the latest available interim financial data, there was any change in
the common stock or increase in long-term debt or any decreases in consolidated
net current assets (working capital) or shareholders' equity of the Company as
compared with amounts shown in the latest balance sheet incorporated by
reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and at a specified
date not more than three business days prior to the date of delivery of such
letter, there was any change in the common stock or increase in long-term debt
of the Company as compared with amounts shown in the latest balance sheet
incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, or
(ii) for the period from the date of the latest income statement incorporated by
reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus to the date of the
latest available financial data, there were any decreases, as compared with the
corresponding period in the preceding year, in operating revenues or net income,
except in all instances for changes, increases or decreases which the
Registration Statement and the Prospectus disclose have occurred or may occur,
or they shall state any specific changes, increases or decreases.
(iv) They
have read the dollar amounts (or percentages derived from such dollar amounts)
and other financial information specified by the Agents (A) which appear in the
Prospectus under the caption “Ratios of Earnings to Fixed Charges”, (B) which
appear or are incorporated by reference in the Company’s Annual Report on Form
10-K incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus
under the captions “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations” and "Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges" and in the
table captioned "Five Year Summary of Consolidated Operations and Selected
Financial Information", or (C) which appear in any of the Company’s Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and
the Prospectus under the captions “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and "Ratio of Earnings to Fixed
Charges" and agreed such dollar amounts, percentages and other financial
information respectively to appropriate accounts in the Company's accounting
records subject to controls over financial reporting and to schedules prepared
by the Company therefor, except that they make no comment as to the methodology
used to compute the ratio of earnings to fixed charges and preferred dividends
or as to the amounts representing the estimated interest portion of
rents.
References
to the Prospectus in this paragraph (e) include any supplement thereto at the
date of the letter.
(f) Each
Agent shall have received copies of the Letter of Representations between the
Company, U.S. Bank Trust and The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), satisfactory
to each of you, summarizing DTC’s agreement to hold, safekeep and effect
book-entry transfers of the Notes.
18
(g) Prior
to the Execution Time, the Company shall have furnished to each Agent such
further information, documents, certificates and opinions of counsel as the
Agents may reasonably request.
If any of
the conditions specified in this Section 5 shall not have been fulfilled in all
material respects when and as provided in this Agreement, or if any of the
opinions and certificates mentioned above or elsewhere in this Agreement shall
not be in all material respects reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to
such Agents and counsel for the Agents, this Agreement and all obligations of
any Agent hereunder may be canceled at any time by the Agents. Notice
of such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or by telephone
confirmed in writing.
The
documents required to be delivered by this Section 5 at the Execution Time shall
be delivered at the office designated by the Company in New York, New
York.
6. Conditions to the
Obligations of the Purchaser.
The
obligations of the Purchaser to purchase any Notes will be subject to the
accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company herein
as of the date of any related Terms Agreement and as of the Closing Date for
such Notes, to the performance and observance by the Company of all covenants
and agreements herein contained on its part to be performed and observed and to
the following additional conditions precedent:
(a) No
stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have
been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall have been instituted or
threatened.
(b) If
specified by any related Terms Agreement and except to the extent modified by
such Terms Agreement, the Purchaser shall have received, appropriately updated,
(i) a certificate of the Company, dated as of the Closing Date, to the effect
set forth in Section 5(d), (ii) the opinion of counsel for the Company, dated as
of the Closing Date, substantially to the effect set forth in Section 5(b),
(iii) the opinion of counsel for the Purchaser, dated as of the Closing Date,
substantially to the effect set forth in Section 5(c) and (iv) the letter of the
Company's independent registered public accounting firm, dated as of the Closing
Date, substantially to the effect set forth in Section 5(e); provided, however, that
references to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus in such certificate,
opinions and letter shall be to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as
then amended and supplemented.
(c) Prior
to the Closing Date, the Company shall have furnished to the Purchaser such
further information, certificates and documents as the Purchaser may reasonably
request.
If any of
the conditions specified in this Section 6 shall not have been fulfilled in all
material respects when and as provided in this Agreement and any Terms
Agreement, or if any of the opinions and certificates mentioned above or
elsewhere in this Agreement or such Terms Agreement shall not be in all material
respects reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Purchaser and its
counsel, such Terms Agreement and all obligations of the Purchaser thereunder
and with respect to the Notes subject thereto may be canceled at, or any time
prior to, the respective Closing Date by the Purchaser. Notice of
such cancellation shall be given to the Company in writing or by telephone
confirmed in writing.
19
7. Right of Person Who Agreed
to Purchase to Refuse to Purchase. The
Company agrees that any person who has agreed to purchase and pay for any Note,
including a Purchaser and any person who purchases pursuant to a solicitation by
any of the Agents, shall have the right to refuse to purchase such Note if, at
the Closing Date therefor, either (a) any condition set forth in Section 5 or
Section 6, as applicable, shall not be satisfied or (b) subsequent to the
agreement to purchase such Note, there shall have occurred (i) any change in or
affecting the business or properties of the Company, the effect of which, in the
reasonable judgment of such person, has a material adverse effect on the
investment quality of such Note or (ii) any event described in paragraphs (ii),
(iii), (iv) or (v) of Section 9(b).
8. Indemnification and
Contribution. (a) The
Company will indemnify and hold harmless each of you against all losses, claims,
damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which you may become subject, under
the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or
actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement
or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration
Statement, the Prospectus, any Prospectus Supplement and any other prospectus
relating to the Notes (including, without limitation, any Time of Sale
Information, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any “issuer information”
filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act), or any
amendment or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon the omission
or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated
therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and will
reimburse each of you for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by
each of you in connection with investigating or defending any such action or
claim; provided, however, that the
Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss,
claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or
alleged untrue statement in or omission or alleged omission from the
Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Prospectus Supplement and any other
prospectus relating to the Notes (including, without limitation, any Time of
Sale Information, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any “issuer
information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the
Act) or any such amendment or supplement thereto in reliance upon and in
conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any of you
expressly for use in any such documents.
(b) Each
of you, severally, will indemnify and hold harmless the Company against any
losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which the Company may become subject,
under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or
liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an
untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the
Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Prospectus Supplement and any other
prospectus relating to the Notes (including, without limitation, any Time of
Sale Information, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any “issuer
information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the
Act), or any amendment or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon
the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be
stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in
each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or
alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the
Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any Prospectus Supplement and any other
prospectus relating to the Notes (including, without limitation, any Time of
Sale Information, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any “issuer
information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the
Act), or any amendment or supplement thereto, in reliance upon and in conformity
with written information furnished to the Company by each of you, respectively,
expressly for use therein; and will reimburse the Company for any legal or other
expenses reasonably incurred by the Company in connection with investigating or
defending any such action or claim.
20
(c) Promptly
after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above of
notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party shall, if a
claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under such
subsection, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement
thereof; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve
it from any liability which it (except and only to the extent that it has been
prejudiced in any material respect by such failure to notify) may have to any
indemnified party otherwise than under such subsection. In case any
such action shall be brought against any indemnified party and it shall notify
the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party shall
be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it may wish, jointly
with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense
thereof, with counsel satisfactory to such indemnified party (who shall not,
except with the consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying
party), and, after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party
of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall
not be liable to such indemnified party under such subsection for any legal
expenses of other counsel or any other expenses, in each case subsequently
incurred by such indemnified party, in connection with the defense thereof other
than reasonable costs of investigation. Any losses, claims, damages
or liabilities for which an indemnified party is entitled to indemnification or
contribution under this Section 8 shall be paid by the indemnifying party to the
indemnified party as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities are
incurred. In no event shall the indemnifying party be liable for fees
and expenses for more than one counsel separate from their own counsel for all
indemnified parties in connection with any one action or related actions in the
same jurisdiction arising out of the same allegations or circumstances unless
any such indemnified party shall have been advised by such counsel that there
may be one or more legal defenses available to it which are different from or
additional to or in conflict with those available to the other indemnified
parties and in the judgment of such counsel it is advisable for such indemnified
party to employ separate counsel. An indemnifying party will not,
without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, settle or compromise
or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any pending or
threatened claim, action, suit or proceeding in respect of which indemnification
or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified parties
are actual or potential parties to such claim, action, suit or proceeding)
unless such settlement, compromise or consent (i) includes an unconditional
release of such indemnified party from all liability arising out of such claim,
action, suit or proceeding and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an
admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any
indemnified party.
(d) If
the indemnification provided for in this Section 8 is unavailable to or
insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b)
above in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in
respect thereof) referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall
contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result
of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof)
in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received
by the Company on the one hand and you on the other from the offering of the
Notes, as well as other equitable considerations, including relative fault in
connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses,
claims damages or liabilities. The relative benefits received by the
Company on the one hand and the Agents on the other shall be deemed to be in the
same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering of the Notes
received by the Company bear to the total discounts and commissions received by
you. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among
other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact
or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to
information supplied by the Company on the one hand or you on the other and the
parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to
correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and you
agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this
subsection (d) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if you were treated
as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does
not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this
subsection (d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as
a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect
thereof) referred to above in this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any
legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in
connection with investigating or defending any such action or
claim. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the
meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any
person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. In
connection with an offering of Notes purchased from the Company by two or more
Agents as principal, the respective obligations of such Agents to contribute
pursuant to this Section 8(d) are several, and not joint, in proportion to the
aggregate principal amount of Notes that each Agent has agreed to purchase from
the Company.
21
(e) The
obligations of the Company under this Section 8 shall be in addition to any
liability which the Company may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same
terms and conditions, to each person, if any who controls any of you within the
meaning of the Act or the Exchange Act; and the obligations of you under this
Section 8 shall be in addition to any liability which you may otherwise have and
shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each officer and director
of the Company and to each person, if any, who controls the Company within the
meaning of the Act or the Exchange Act.
9. Termination. (a) This
Agreement will continue in effect until terminated as provided in this Section
9. This Agreement may be terminated by either the Company as to any
of you or all of you insofar as this Agreement relates to such of you, giving
written notice of such termination to such of you or the Company, as the case
may be. This Agreement shall so terminate at the close of business on
the first business day following the receipt of such notice by the party to whom
such notice is given. In the event of such termination, no party
shall have any liability to the other party hereto, except as provided in the
third paragraph of Section 2(a), Section 4(h), Section 8 and Section 10 and, so
long as any Purchaser continues to own Notes, subsections (a), (b) and (c) of
Section 4.
(b) Each
Terms Agreement shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of
the Purchaser, by notice given to the Company prior to delivery of any payment
for Notes to be purchased thereunder, if prior to such time (i) the Purchaser
shall exercise its right to refuse to purchase the Notes which are the subject
of such Terms Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Section 7, or (ii)
there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities or other
national or international calamity or crisis, the effect of which shall be such
as to make it, in the reasonable judgment of the Purchaser, impractical to
market the Notes or enforce contracts for the sale of the Notes, or (iii)
trading in any securities of the Company shall have been suspended by the
Commission or a national securities exchange, or if trading generally on either
the American Stock Exchange or the New York Stock Exchange shall have been
suspended, or minimum or maximum prices for trading shall have been fixed, or
maximum ranges for prices for securities shall have been required, by either of
said exchanges or by order of the Commission or any other governmental
authority, or if a banking moratorium shall have been declared by either Federal
or New York authorities, or (iv) if the rating assigned by any “nationally
recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined for purposes of Rule
436(g) under the Act) to the Notes or any other debt securities of the Company
as of the date of the applicable Terms Agreement shall have been lowered since
that date or if any such rating agency shall have publicly announced that it has
placed the Notes or any other debt securities of the Company on what is commonly
termed a “watch list” for possible downgrading, or (v) the subject matter of any
amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any
Time of Sale Information prepared and issued by the Company, or the exceptions
set forth in any letter of the Company's independent registered public
accounting firm furnished pursuant to Section 5(e), shall have made it, in the
judgment of the Purchaser, impracticable or inadvisable to market the Notes or
enforce contracts for the sale of the Notes.
22
10.
Representations and
Indemnities to Survive. The
respective agreements, representations, warranties, indemnities and other
statements of the Company or its officers and of you set forth in or made
pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of
any investigation made by or on behalf of you or the Company or any of the
officers, directors or controlling persons referred to in Section 8, and will
survive delivery of and payment for the Notes. The provisions of the
third paragraph of Section 2(a) and Sections 4(d), 4(h) and 8 shall survive the
termination or cancellation of this Agreement; provided, however, that if at
the time of such termination or cancellation any Purchaser continues to own
Notes, the provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (c) of Section 4 shall also
survive such termination or cancellation of this Agreement.
11. Notices.
All
communications hereunder will be in writing and effective only on receipt, and,
if sent to any of you, will be mailed or delivered to such of you, at the
address specified in Schedule I hereto; or, if sent to the Company, will be
mailed or delivered to it at 000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxx, Xxx Xxxx
00000-0000, Attention: Treasurer.
12. Successors.
This
Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto
and their respective successors and the officers and directors and controlling
persons referred to in Section 8, and no other person will have any right or
obligation hereunder.
13. Applicable Law.
This
Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the
State of New York applicable to contracts made and to be performed within the
State of New York.
23
14. Counterparts.
This
Agreement may be executed in counterparts, which together shall constitute one
and the same instrument. If signed in counterparts, this Agreement
shall not become effective unless at least one counterpart hereof shall have
been executed and delivered on behalf of each party hereto.
24
If the
foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign
and return to us the enclosed duplicate hereof, whereupon this letter and your
acceptance shall represent a binding agreement among the Company and you in
accordance with its terms.
Very
truly yours,
|
||
CENTRAL
XXXXXX GAS & ELECTRIC CORPORATION
|
||
By:
|
||
Name:
|
||
Title:
|
The
foregoing Agreement is
hereby
confirmed and accepted
as of the
date first written above.
[AGENT]
By:
|
||
Title:
|
||
[AGENT]
|
||
By:
|
||
Title:
|
||
[AGENT]
|
||
By:
|
||
Title:
|
25
SCHEDULE
I
Commissions:
The
Company agrees to pay each Agent a commission equal to the following percentage
of the principal amount of each Note sold by such Agent:
Term
|
Commission Rate
|
|
From
1 year to less than 18 months
|
.___%
|
|
From
18 months to less than 2 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
2 years to less than 3 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
3 years to less than 4 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
4 years to less than 5 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
5 years to less than 6 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
6 years to less than 7 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
7 years to less than 10 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
10 years to less than 15 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
15 years to less than 20 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
20 years up to and including 30 years
|
.___%
|
|
From
30 years up to and including 50 years
|
By
agreement with the Agents
|
Address for Notice to
You:
Notices
to [Agent] shall be directed to it at ______________________.
Notices
to [Agent] shall be directed to it at ____________________.
Notices
to [Agent] shall be directed to it at ____________________.
EXHIBIT
A
Central
Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation
Medium-Term
Notes, Series G
Administrative
Procedures
Medium-Term
Notes, Series G (the “Notes”), are to be
offered on a continuing basis by Central Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation
(the “Company”)
in an aggregate principal amount of up to $250,000,000. [Agent],
[Agent] and [Agent], as agents (each an “Agent” and
collectively the “Agents”), have agreed to use their reasonable best efforts to
solicit offers to purchase the Notes. The Notes are being sold
pursuant to a Distribution Agreement between the Company and the Agents dated
______________, 20__ (the “Distribution
Agreement”), to which these administrative procedures are attached as an
exhibit.
The Notes
will be issued under the Company’s Indenture, dated as of April 1, 1992 (the
“Indenture”),
to U.S. Bank Trust National Association (formerly known as First Trust of New
York, National Association) (“U.S. Bank Trust”), as
successor to Xxxxxx Guaranty Trust Company of New York, as trustee (the “Trustee”). U.S.
Bank Trust will act as the paying agent (the “Paying Agent”) for
the payment of principal and premium, if any, and interest on the Notes and will
perform, as the Paying Agent, unless otherwise specified, the other duties
specified herein.
The Notes
will rank equally and ratably with all other unsecured and unsubordinated
indebtedness of the Company. The Notes have been registered with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and may
bear interest at fixed rates or, if issued at a discount, may not bear
interest.
Each Note
will be represented by either a Global Security (as defined hereinafter)
delivered to U.S. Bank Trust, as agent for The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), and recorded
in the book-entry system maintained by DTC (a “Book-Entry Note”) or
a certificate delivered to the holder thereof or a person designated by such
holder (a “Certificated
Note”). Except as set forth in the Prospectus (as defined in
Section 1(c) of the Distribution Agreement), (i) each Note will be initially
issued as a Book-Entry Note and (ii) an owner of a Book-Entry Note will not be
entitled to receive a certificate representing such Note.
The
procedures to be followed during, and the specific terms of, the solicitation of
offers by the Agents and the sale as a result thereof by the Company are
explained below. Book-Entry Notes will be issued in accordance with
the administrative procedures set forth in Part I hereof and Certificated Notes
will be issued in accordance with the administrative procedures set forth in
Part II hereof. Administrative procedures applicable to both
Book-Entry Notes and Certificated Notes are set forth in Part III
hereof. Administrative responsibilities, document control and
record-keeping functions will be handled for the Company by its Controller or
Treasurer. The Company will promptly advise the Agents and the
Trustee in writing of those persons handling administrative responsibilities
with whom the Agents and the Trustee are to communicate regarding offers to
purchase Notes and the details of their delivery.
A-1
To the
extent the procedures set forth below conflict with the provisions of the Notes,
the Indenture or the Distribution Agreement, the relevant provisions of the
Notes, the Indenture and the Distribution Agreement shall
control. Unless otherwise defined herein, terms defined in the
Indenture shall be used herein as therein defined.
PART
I: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR BOOK-ENTRY NOTES
In
connection with the qualification of the Book-Entry Notes for eligibility in the
book-entry system maintained by DTC, U.S. Bank Trust will perform the custodial,
document control and administrative functions described below, in accordance
with its respective obligations under a Letter of Representations to be
delivered from the Company and U.S. Bank Trust to DTC and a Medium-Term Note
Certificate Agreement between U.S. Bank Trust National Association (under its
then name First Trust, National Association) and DTC, dated as of January 31,
1991 (the “MTN
Certificate Agreement”), and its obligations as a participant in DTC,
including DTC’s Same-Day Funds Settlement System (“SDFS”).
Issuance:
|
On
any date of settlement (as defined under “Settlement”
below) for one or more Book-Entry Notes, the Company will issue a single
global security in fully registered form without coupons (a “Global
Security”) representing up to $250,000,000 aggregate principal
amount of all such Notes that have the same date of maturity (“Maturity
Date”), redemption provisions, if any, provisions for the repayment
or purchase by the Company at the option of the Holder, if any, Interest
Payment Dates, Original Issue Date, and interest rate (in each case, and
for all purposes of these administrative procedures, as defined in the
Prospectus) (as defined in Section 1(c) of the Distribution Agreement)
(collectively, the “Terms”). Each
Global Security will be dated and issued as of the date of its
authentication by the Trustee. No Global Security will
represent any Certificated Note.
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Identification
Numbers:
|
The
Company has arranged with the CUSIP Service Bureau of Standard &
Poor’s Rating Services, a division of The XxXxxx-Xxxx Companies, Inc. (the
“CUSIP Service
Bureau”) for the reservation of one series of CUSIP numbers
(including tranche numbers), which series consists of approximately 900
CUSIP numbers and relates to Global Securities representing the Book-Entry
Notes and previously issued Medium-Term Notes of the
Company. The Company has obtained from the CUSIP Service Bureau
a written list of such series of reserved CUSIP numbers and has delivered
to DTC and the Trustee a written list of 900 CUSIP numbers of such
series. The Company will assign CUSIP numbers to Global
Securities as described below under Settlement Procedure
“B”. It is expected that DTC will notify the CUSIP Service
Bureau periodically of the CUSIP numbers that the Company has assigned to
Global Securities. At any time when fewer than 100 of the
reserved CUSIP numbers of the series remain unassigned to Global
Securities, the Trustee shall so advise the Company and, if it deems
necessary, the Company will reserve additional CUSIP numbers for
assignment to Global Securities representing Book-Entry
Notes. Upon obtaining such additional CUSIP numbers, the
Company shall deliver a list of such additional CUSIP numbers to the
Trustee and DTC.
|
A-2
Registration:
|
Each
Global Security will be registered in the name of Cede & Co., as
nominee for DTC, on the Security Register maintained under the
Indenture. It is expected that the beneficial owner of a
Book-Entry Note (or one or more indirect participants in DTC designated by
such owner) will designate one or more participants in DTC (with respect
to such Note, the “Participants”)
to act as agent or agents for such owner in connection with the book-entry
system maintained by DTC, and it is expected that DTC will record in
book-entry form, in accordance with instructions provided by such
Participants, a credit balance with respect to such beneficial owner in
such Note in the account of such Participants. The ownership
interest of such beneficial owner in such Note will be recorded through
the records of such Participants or through the separate records of such
Participants and one or more indirect participants in
DTC.
|
Transfers:
|
Transfers
of a Book-Entry Note will be accomplished by book entries made by DTC and,
in turn, by Participants (and in certain cases, one or more indirect
participants in DTC) acting on behalf of beneficial transferees and
transferors of such Note.
|
Consolidations:
|
Upon
receipt of written instructions from the Company, U.S. Bank Trust may
deliver to DTC and the CUSIP Service Bureau at any time a written notice
of consolidation (a copy of which shall be attached to the resulting
Global Security) specifying (i) the CUSIP numbers of two or more
Outstanding Global Securities that represent Book-Entry Notes having the
same Terms and for which interest has been paid to the same date, (ii) a
date, occurring at least thirty days after such written notice is
delivered and at least thirty days before the next Interest Payment Date
for such Book-Entry Notes, on which such Global Securities shall be
exchanged for a single replacement Global Security and (iii) a new CUSIP
number to be assigned to such replacement Global Security. Upon
receipt of such a notice, it is expected that DTC will send to its
participants (including U.S. Bank Trust) a written reorganization notice
to the effect that such exchange will occur on such date. Prior
to the specified exchange date, U.S. Bank Trust will deliver to the CUSIP
Service Bureau a written notice setting forth such exchange date and the
new CUSIP number and stating that, as of such exchange date, the CUSIP
numbers of the Global Securities to be exchanged will no longer be
valid. On the specified exchange date, U.S. Bank Trust will
exchange such Global Securities for a single Global Security bearing the
new CUSIP number, and the CUSIP numbers of the exchanged Global Securities
will, in accordance with CUSIP Service Bureau procedures, be canceled and
not reassigned until the Book-Entry Notes represented by such exchanged
Global Securities have matured or been
redeemed.
|
A-3
Maturities:
|
Each
Book-Entry Note will mature on a date not less than one year nor more than
50 years after the date of settlement for such
Note.
|
Denominations:
|
Book-Entry
Notes will be issued in principal amounts of $1,000 or any amount in
excess thereof that is an integral multiple of $1,000. Global
Securities will be denominated in principal amounts not in excess of
$250,000,000.
|
Interest:
|
General. Interest
on each Book-Entry Note will accrue from and including the original issue
date of, or the last date to which interest has been paid on, the Global
Security representing such Note. Each payment of interest on a
Book-Entry Note will include interest accrued to but excluding the
Interest Payment Date or the Maturity Date or, upon earlier redemption or
repayment, the date of such redemption or repayment (the “Redemption
Date”), as the case may be. Interest payable on the
Maturity Date or the Redemption Date of a Book-Entry Note will be payable
to the person to whom the principal of such Note is
payable. Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, a division of
The XxXxxx-Xxxx Companies, Inc. will use the information received in the
pending deposit message described under Settlement Procedure “C” below in
order to include the amount of any interest payable and certain other
information regarding the related Global Security in the appropriate
weekly bond report published by Standard & Poor’s
Corporation.
|
Record
Dates. The record date with respect to any Interest Payment
Date shall be the April 15 or October 15, as the case may be (whether or not a
Business Day) immediately preceding such Interest Payment Date (each a “Regular Record
Date”).
A-4
Interest Payment
Dates. Interest payments on Book-Entry Notes will be made
semi-annually on May 1 and November 1 of each year and on the Maturity Date or
the Redemption Date; provided, however, that in the
case of a Book-Entry Note issued between a Regular Record Date and an Interest
Payment Date, the first interest payment will be made on the Interest Payment
Date following the next succeeding Regular Record Date.
Payments
of Principal
and
Interest:
|
Payment of Interest
Only. Promptly after each Regular Record Date, the
Paying Agent will deliver to the Company and DTC a written notice
specifying by CUSIP number the amount of interest to be paid on each
Global Security on the following Interest Payment Date (other than an
Interest Payment Date coinciding with the Maturity Date) and the total of
such amounts. It is expected that DTC will confirm the amount
payable on each Global Security on such Interest Payment Date by reference
to the appropriate (daily or weekly) bond reports published by Standard
& Poor’s Corporation. The Company will pay to the Paying
Agent the total amount of interest due on such Interest Payment Date
(other than on the Maturity Date), and the Paying Agent will pay such
amount to DTC at the times and in the manner set forth under “Manner of
Payment” below. If any Interest Payment Date for a Book-Entry
Note is not a Business Day, the payment due on such day shall be made on
the next succeeding Business Day, and no interest shall accrue on such
payment for the period from and after such Interest Payment
Date.
|
Payments on Maturity Date,
Etc. On or about the first Business Day of each month, the
Paying Agent will deliver to the Company and DTC a written list of principal
and, to the extent known at such time, interest to be paid on each Global
Security maturing either on the Maturity Date or the Redemption Date in the
following month. The Company and DTC will confirm with the Paying
Agent the amounts of such principal and interest payments with respect to each
such Global Security on or about the fifth Business Day preceding the Maturity
Date or the Redemption Date, as the case may be, of such Global
Security. The Company will pay to the Paying Agent the principal
amount of such Global Security, together with interest due on such Maturity Date
or Redemption Date in the manner set forth below under “Manner of
Payment”. The Paying Agent will pay such amounts to DTC at the times
and in the manner set forth below under “Manner of Payment”. If the
Maturity Date or the Redemption Date of a Global Security representing
Book-Entry Notes is not a Business Day, the payment due on such day shall be
made on the next succeeding Business Day, and no interest shall accrue on such
payment for the period from and after such Maturity Date or the Redemption
Date. Promptly after payment to DTC of the principal and interest due
at the Maturity Date or the Redemption Date of such Global Security, the Paying
Agent will cancel such Global Security in accordance with the terms of the
Indenture.
A-5
Manner of
Payment. The total amount of any principal and interest due on
Global Securities on any Interest Payment Date or on the Maturity Date or the
Redemption Date shall be paid by the Company to the Paying Agent in immediately
available funds for use by the Paying Agent no later than 9:30 A.M. (New York
City time) on such date. The Company will make such payment on such
Global Securities by wire transfer to the Paying Agent or by the Paying Agent’s
debiting the account of the Company maintained with the Paying
Agent. The Company will confirm such instructions in writing to the
Paying Agent. Prior to 10:00 A.M. (New York City time) on each
Maturity Date or Redemption Date or as soon as reasonably possible thereafter,
the Paying Agent will pay by separate wire transfer (using Fedwire message entry
instructions in a form previously agreed to with DTC) to an account at the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York previously agreed to with DTC, in funds
available for immediate use by DTC, each payment of principal (together with
interest thereon) due on Global Securities on any Maturity Date or Redemption
Date. On each Interest Payment Date, interest payments shall be made
to DTC in same day funds in accordance with existing arrangements between the
Paying Agent and DTC. Thereafter, on each such date, it is expected
that DTC will pay, in accordance with its SDFS operating procedures then in
effect, such amounts in funds available for immediate use to the respective
Participants in whose names the Book-Entry Notes represented by such Global
Securities are recorded in the book-entry system maintained by
DTC. Neither the Company nor the Paying Agent shall have any
responsibility or liability for the payment by DTC to such Participants of the
principal of and interest on the Book-Entry Notes.
Withholding
Taxes. The amount of any taxes required under applicable law
to be withheld from any interest payment on a Book-Entry Note will be determined
and withheld by the Participant, indirect participant in DTC or other person
responsible for forwarding payments and materials directly to the beneficial
owner of such Note.
Settlement:
|
The
receipt by the Company of immediately available funds in payment for a
Book-Entry Note and the authentication and issuance of the Global Security
representing such Note shall constitute “settlement” with respect to such
Note. All orders accepted by the Company will be settled on the
third Business Day following the date of sale of a Book-Entry Note unless
the Company, the Trustee and the purchaser agree to settlement on another
day that shall be no earlier than the next Business
Day.
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A-6
Settlement
Procedures:
|
Settlement
Procedures with regard to each Book-Entry Note sold by the Company through
an Agent, as agent, shall be as
follows:
|
|
A.
|
Such
Agent will advise the Company by telephone, followed by facsimile
transmission, of the following settlement
information:
|
|
1.
|
Principal
amount.
|
|
2.
|
Maturity
Date.
|
|
3.
|
The
interest rate.
|
|
4.
|
Interest
Payment Dates.
|
|
5.
|
Redemption
provisions, if any, or provisions for the repayment or purchase by the
Company at the option of the Holder, if
any.
|
|
6.
|
Settlement
date.
|
|
7.
|
Issue
price.
|
|
8.
|
Agent’s
commission, determined as provided in Section 2(a) of the Distribution
Agreement.
|
|
B.
|
The
Company will assign a CUSIP number to such Book-Entry Note and will advise
U.S. Bank Trust by facsimile transmission or other mutually acceptable
means of the information set forth in Settlement Procedure “A” above, the
name of such Agent and the CUSIP number assigned to such Book-Entry
Note. The Company will notify the Agent of such CUSIP number by
telephone as soon as practicable. Each such communication by
the Company shall constitute a representation and warranty by the Company
to U.S. Bank Trust and each Agent that (i) such Note is then, and at the
time of issuance and sale thereof will be, duly authorized for issuance
and sale by the Company, (ii) the Global Security representing such Note
will conform with the terms of the Indenture pursuant to which such Note
and Global Security are issued and (iii) upon authentication and delivery
of such Global Security, the aggregate principal amount of all Notes
initially offered issued under the Indenture will not exceed $250,000,000
(except for Global Securities or Notes represented by and authenticated
and delivered in exchange for or in lieu of Notes in accordance with the
Indenture).
|
A-7
|
C.
|
U.S.
Bank Trust will enter a pending deposit message through DTC’s Participant
Terminal System, providing the following settlement information to DTC,
which shall route such information to such Agent and Standard & Poor’s
Rating Services, a division of The XxXxxx-Xxxx Companies,
Inc.:
|
|
1.
|
The
information set forth in Settlement Procedure
“A”.
|
|
2.
|
Identification
of such Note as a fixed rate Book-Entry
Note.
|
|
3.
|
Initial
Interest Payment Date for such Note, number of days by which such date
succeeds the related Regular Record Date (which shall be the Regular
Record Date as defined in the Note) and amount of interest payable on such
Interest Payment Date.
|
|
4.
|
CUSIP
number of the Global Security representing such
Note.
|
|
5.
|
Whether
such Global Security will represent any other Book-Entry Note (to the
extent known at such time).
|
|
D.
|
The
Trustee will complete and authenticate the Global Security representing
such Note.
|
|
E.
|
It
is expected that DTC will credit such Note to U.S. Bank Trust’s
participant account at DTC.
|
|
F.
|
U.S.
Bank Trust will enter an SDFS deliver order through DTC’s Participant
Terminal System instructing DTC to (i) debit such Note to U.S. Bank
Trust’s participant account and credit such Note to such Agent’s
participant account and (ii) debit such Agent’s settlement account and
credit U.S. Bank Trust’s settlement account for an amount equal to the
price of such Note less such Agent’s commission. The entry of
such a deliver order shall constitute a representation and warranty by
U.S. Bank Trust to DTC that (a) the Global Security representing such
Book-Entry Note has been issued and authenticated and (b) U.S. Bank Trust
is holding such Global Security pursuant to the MTN Certificate
Agreement.
|
A-8
|
G.
|
Such
Agent will enter an SDFS deliver order through DTC’s Participant Terminal
System instructing DTC (i) to debit such Note to such Agent’s participant
account and credit such Note to the participant accounts of the
Participants with respect to such Note and (ii) to debit the settlement
accounts of such Participants and credit the settlement account of such
Agent for an amount equal to the price of such
Note.
|
|
H.
|
Transfers
of funds in accordance with SDFS deliver orders described in Settlement
Procedures “F” and “G” will be settled in accordance with SDFS operating
procedures in effect on the settlement
date.
|
|
I.
|
U.S.
Bank Trust will, upon confirming receipt of such funds from the Agent,
wire transfer to the account of the Company maintained at
_________________________, Account No. ___________, in immediately
available funds in the amount transferred to U.S. Bank Trust in accordance
with Settlement Procedure “F”. Promptly upon completion of such
wire transfer, U.S. Bank Trust shall notify the Company thereof by
telephone (at ______________________________, or such other person or
telephone number, as the Company shall request of U.S. Bank
Trust).
|
|
J.
|
Such
Agent will confirm the purchase of such Note to the purchaser either by
transmitting to the Participants with respect to such Note a confirmation
order or orders through DTC’s institutional delivery system or by mailing
a written confirmation to such
purchaser.
|
Settlement
Procedures
Timetable:
|
For
orders of Book-Entry Notes solicited by an Agent, as agent, and accepted
by the Company for settlement on the first Business Day after the sale
date, Settlement Procedures “A” through “J” set forth above shall be
completed as soon as possible but not later than the respective times (New
York City time) set forth below:
|
A-9
|
Settlement
Procedure
|
Time
|
|
A
|
11:00
A.M. on the sale date
|
|
B
|
12:00
Noon on the sale date
|
|
C
|
5:00
P.M. on the sale date
|
|
D
|
3:00
P.M. on the sale date
|
|
E
|
8:05
A.M. on the settlement date
|
|
F-G
|
3:00
P.M. on the settlement date
|
|
H
|
4:45
P.M. on the settlement date
|
|
I-J
|
5:00
P.M. on the settlement date
|
If a sale
is to be settled more than one Business Day after the sale date, Settlement
Procedures “A”, “B” and “C” shall be completed as soon as practicable but no
later than 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 Noon on the first Business Day after the sale
date with respect to Settlement Procedures “A” and “B”, respectively, and no
later than 5:00 P.M. on the first Business Day after the sale date, with respect
to Settlement Procedure “C”. Settlement Procedure “D” shall occur no
later than 3:00 P.M. on the last Business Day prior to the settlement
date. Settlement Procedures “H” and “I” are subject to extension in
accordance with any extension of Fedwire closing deadlines and in the other
events specified in the SDFS operating procedures in effect on the settlement
date.
If
settlement of a Book-Entry Note is rescheduled or canceled, the Company will
instruct U.S. Bank Trust by no later than 12:00 Noon on the Business Day
immediately preceding the scheduled settlement date to deliver to DTC through
DTC’s Participant Terminal System a cancellation message to such effect and U.S.
Bank Trust will enter such message, by no later than 2:00 P.M. on such Business
Day, through DTC’s Participation Terminal System.
Monthly
Reports:
|
Monthly,
the Trustee will send to the Company a statement setting forth the
principal amount of Notes outstanding as of that date under the Indenture
and setting forth a brief description of any sales of which the Company
has advised the Trustee but which have not yet been
settled.
|
Failure to
Settle:
|
If
U.S. Bank Trust or the Agent fails to enter an SDFS deliver order with
respect to a Book-Entry Note pursuant to Settlement Procedure “F” or “G,”
U.S. Bank Trust may upon the approval of the Company deliver to DTC,
through DTC’s Participant Terminal System, as soon as practicable, a
withdrawal message instructing DTC to debit such Note to U.S. Bank Trust’s
participant account, provided that U.S. Bank Trust’s participant account
contains a principal amount of the Global Security representing such Note
that is at least equal to the principal amount to be
debited. If a withdrawal message is processed with respect to
all the Book-Entry Notes represented by a Global Security, U.S. Bank Trust
will xxxx such Global Security “canceled”, make appropriate entries in
U.S. Bank Trust’s records and send such canceled Global Security to the
Company. The CUSIP number assigned to such Global Security
shall, in accordance with CUSIP Service Bureau procedures, be canceled and
not reassigned until the Book-Entry Notes represented by such Global
Security have matured or been redeemed. If a withdrawal message
is processed with respect to one or more, but not all, of the Book-Entry
Notes represented by a Global Security, U.S. Bank Trust will exchange such
Global Security for another Global Security, which shall represent the
Book-Entry Notes previously represented by the surrendered Global Security
with respect to which a withdrawal message has not been processed and
shall bear the CUSIP number of the surrendered Global
Security.
|
A-10
If the
purchase price for any Book-Entry Note is not timely paid to the Participants
with respect to such Note by the beneficial purchaser thereof (or a person,
including an indirect participant in DTC, acting on behalf of such purchaser),
such Participants and, in turn, the Agent for such Note may enter SDFS deliver
orders through DTC’s Participant Terminal System reversing the orders entered
pursuant to Settlement Procedures “G” and “F”,
respectively. Thereafter, U.S. Bank Trust will deliver the withdrawal
message and take the related actions described in the preceding
paragraph. If such failure shall have occurred for any reason other
than a default by the Agent in the performance of its obligations hereunder or
under the Distribution Agreement, then the Company will reimburse such Agent or
U.S. Bank Trust, for the account of such Agent, as applicable, on an equitable
basis for the loss of the use of funds during the period when they were credited
to the account of the Company.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, upon any failure to settle with respect to a Book-Entry Note, DTC
may take any actions in accordance with its SDFS operating procedures then in
effect. In the event of a failure to settle with respect to one or
more, but not all, of the Book-Entry Notes to have been represented by a Global
Security, the Trustee will provide, in accordance with Settlement Procedure “D,”
for the authentication and issuance of a Global Security representing the other
Book-Entry Notes to have been represented by such Global Security and will make
appropriate entries in its records.
A-11
PART
II: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR CERTIFICATED NOTES
U.S. Bank
Trust will serve as registrar in connection with the Certificated
Notes.
Maturities:
|
Each
Certificated Note will mature on a date not less than one year and not
more than 50 years after the date of delivery by the Company of such
Note.
|
Price to
Public:
|
Each
Certificated Note will be issued at the percentage of principal amount
specified in the Prospectus relating to the
Notes.
|
Denominations:
|
The
denomination of any Certificated Note will be a minimum of $1,000 or any
amount in excess thereof which is an integral multiple of
$1,000.
|
Registration:
|
Certificated
Notes will be issued only in fully registered
form.
|
Interest:
|
General. Interest
on each Certificated Note will accrue from and including the original
issue date of, or the last date to which interest has been paid on, such
Note. Each payment of interest on a Certificated Note will
include interest accrued to but excluding the Interest Payment Date or the
Maturity Date or, upon earlier redemption, the Redemption Date, as the
case may be. Interest payable on the Maturity Date or the
Redemption Date of a Certificated Note will be payable to the person to
whom the principal of such Note is
payable.
|
Record
Dates. Unless otherwise set forth in the applicable Pricing
Supplement, the record dates with respect to the Interest Payment Dates shall be
the Regular Record Dates.
Interest Payment
Date. Unless otherwise specified pursuant to “Settlement
Procedures” below, interest payments on Certificated Notes will be made
semi-annually on May 1 and November 1 and on the Maturity Date or the Redemption
Date; provided,
however, that
in the case of a Certificated Note issued between a Regular Record Date and an
Interest Payment Date, the first interest payment will be made on the Interest
Payment Date following the next succeeding Regular Record Date.
Payments
of Principal
and
Interest:
|
Interest
will be payable to the person in whose name a Certificated Note is
registered at the close of business on the Regular Record Date next
preceding an Interest Payment Date; provided, however, that,
in the case of a Certificated Note originally issued between a Regular
Record Date and an Interest Payment Date, the first payment of interest
will be made on the Interest Payment Date following the next succeeding
Regular Record Date to the person in whose name such Note was registered
at the close of business on such next Regular Record
Date. Unless other arrangements are made acceptable to the
Company, all interest payments (excluding interest payments made on the
Maturity Date or the Redemption Date) on a Certificated Note will be made
by check mailed to the person entitled thereto as provided
above.
|
A-12
U.S. Bank
Trust will pay the principal amount of each Certificated Note on the Maturity
Date upon presentation of such Certificated Note to U.S. Bank Trust at the
principal corporate trust office of U.S. Bank Trust in New York, New
York. Such payment, together with payment of interest due on the
Maturity Date, will be made from funds deposited with U.S. Bank Trust by the
Company.
U.S. Bank
Trust will be responsible for compliance with withholding taxes on interest paid
on Certificated Notes by it as required by applicable federal law.
Within 10
days following each Regular Record Date, the Trustee will inform the Company of
the total amount of the interest payments to be made by the Company on the next
succeeding Interest Payment Date. The Trustee will provide monthly to
the Company a list of the principal and interest to be paid on Certificated
Notes maturing in the next succeeding month.
Settlement:
|
The
settlement date with respect to any offer to purchase Certificated Notes
accepted by the Company will be a date on or before the third Business Day
next succeeding the date of acceptance unless otherwise agreed by the
purchaser, the Trustee and the Company and shall be specified upon
acceptance of such offer. The Company will instruct the Trustee
to effect delivery of each Certificated Note no later than 1:00 P.M. (New
York City time) on the settlement date to the Presenting Agent (as defined
under “Preparation of Pricing Supplement” in Part III below) for delivery
to the purchaser.
|
Settlement
Procedures:
|
For
each offer to purchase a Certificated Note that is accepted by the
Company, the Presenting Agent will provide (unless provided by the
purchaser directly to the Company) by telephone and facsimile transmission
or other mutually acceptable means the following information to the
Company:
|
|
1.
|
Name
in which such Note is to be registered (the “Registered
Owner”).
|
A-13
|
2.
|
Address
of the Registered Owner and, if different, address for payment of
principal and interest.
|
|
3.
|
Taxpayer
identification number of the Registered
Owner.
|
|
4.
|
Principal
amount.
|
|
5.
|
Maturity
Date.
|
|
6.
|
The
interest rate.
|
|
7.
|
Interest
Payment Dates.
|
|
8.
|
Redemption
provisions, if any, or provisions for the repayment or repurchase by the
Company at the option of the Holder, if
any.
|
|
9.
|
Settlement
date.
|
|
10.
|
Issue
price.
|
|
11.
|
Agent’s
commission, determined as provided in Section 2(a) of the Distribution
Agreement.
|
The
Presenting Agent will advise the Company of the foregoing information (unless
provided by the purchaser directly to the Company) for each offer to purchase a
Certificated Note solicited by such Agent and accepted by the Company in time
for the Trustee to prepare and authenticate the required Certificated
Note. Before accepting any offer to purchase a Certificated Note to
be settled in less than three Business Days, the Company shall verify that the
Trustee will have adequate time to prepare and authenticate such
Note. After receiving from the Presenting Agent the details for each
offer to purchase a Certificated Note that has been accepted by the Company, the
Company will, after recording the details and any necessary calculations,
provide appropriate documentation to the Trustee, including the information
provided by the Presenting Agent necessary for the preparation and
authentication of such Note.
Note
Deliveries
and Cash
Payment:
|
Upon
receipt of appropriate documentation and instructions, the Company will
cause the Trustee to prepare and authenticate the pre-printed 4-ply
Certificated Note packet containing the following documents in forms
approved by the Company, the Presenting Agent and the
Trustee:
|
|
1.
|
Note
with customer receipt.
|
A-14
|
2.
|
Stub
1 - For the Presenting Agent.
|
|
3.
|
Stub
2 - For the Company.
|
|
4.
|
Stub
3 - For the Trustee.
|
Each
Certificated Note shall be authenticated on the settlement date
therefor. The Trustee will authenticate each Certificated Note and
deliver it (with the confirmation) to the Presenting Agent (and deliver the
stubs as indicated above), all in accordance with written or electronic
instructions (or oral instructions confirmed in writing (which may be given by
facsimile transmission) on the next Business Day) from the
Company. Delivery by the Trustee of each Certificated Note will be
made in accordance with said instructions against receipts therefor and in
connection with contemporaneous receipt by the Company from the Presenting Agent
on the settlement date in immediately available funds of an amount equal to the
issue price of such Note less the Presenting Agent’s commission.
Upon
verification (“Verification”) by the
Presenting Agent that a Certificated Note has been prepared and properly
authenticated by the Trustee and registered in the name of the purchaser in the
proper principal amount and other terms in accordance with the aforementioned
confirmation, payment will be made to the Company by the Presenting Agent the
same day as the Presenting Agent’s receipt of the Certificated Note in
immediately available funds. Such payment shall be made by the
Presenting Agent only upon prior receipt by the Presenting Agent of immediately
available funds from or on behalf of the purchaser unless the Presenting Agent
decides, at its option, to advance its own funds for such payment against
subsequent receipt of funds from the purchaser.
Upon
delivery of a Certificated Note to the Presenting Agent, Verification by the
Presenting Agent and the giving of instructions for payment, the Presenting
Agent shall promptly deliver such Note to the purchaser.
In the
event any Certificated Note is incorrectly prepared, the Trustee shall promptly
issue a replacement Certificated Note in exchange for such incorrectly prepared
Note.
A-15
Failure to
Settle:
|
If
the Presenting Agent, at its own option, has advanced its own funds for
payment against subsequent receipt of funds from the purchaser, and if the
purchaser shall fail to make payment for the Certificated Note on the
settlement date therefor, the Presenting Agent will promptly notify the
Trustee and the Company by telephone, promptly confirmed in writing (but
no later than the next Business Day). In such event, the Company shall
promptly provide the Trustee with appropriate documentation and
instructions consistent with these procedures for the return of the
Certificated Note to the Trustee and the Presenting Agent will promptly
return the Certificated Note to the Trustee. Upon (i)
confirmation from the Trustee in writing (which may be given by facsimile
transmission) that the Trustee has received the Certificated Note and upon
(ii) confirmation from the Presenting Agent in writing (which may be given
by facsimile transmission) that the Presenting Agent has not received
payment from the purchaser (the matters referred to in clauses (i) and
(ii) are referred to hereinafter as the “Confirmations”),
the Company will promptly pay to the Presenting Agent an amount in
immediately available funds equal to the amount previously paid by the
Presenting Agent in respect of such Note. Assuming receipt of
the Certificated Note by the Trustee and of the Confirmations by the
Company, such payment will be made on the settlement date, if reasonably
practical, and in any event not later than the Business Day following the
date of receipt of the Certificated Note and Confirmations. If
a purchaser shall fail to make payment for the Certificated Note for any
reason other than the failure of the Presenting Agent to provide the
necessary information to the Company as described above for settlement or
to provide a confirmation to the purchaser within a reasonable period of
time as described above or otherwise to satisfy its obligation hereunder
or in the Distribution Agreement, and if the Presenting Agent shall have
otherwise complied with its obligations hereunder and in the Distribution
Agreement, the Company will reimburse the Presenting Agent on an equitable
basis for its loss of the use of funds during the period when they were
credited to the account of the
Company.
|
Immediately
upon receipt of the Certificated Note in respect of which the failure occurred,
the Trustee will void such Note, make appropriate entries in its records and
send such cancelled Note to the Company; and upon such action, the Certificated
Note will be deemed not to have been issued, authenticated and
delivered.
A-16
PART
III:
|
ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO BOTH BOOK-ENTRY NOTES AND CERTIFICATED
NOTES
|
Calculation of
Interest:
|
Interest
on Notes (including interest for partial periods) will be calculated on
the basis of a 360-day year of twelve thirty-day
months. (Examples of interest calculations are as
follows: The period from August 15, 2008 to February 15, 2009
equals 6 months and 0 days, or 180 days; the interest payable equals
180/360 times the annual rate of interest times the principal amount of
the Note. The period from September 17, 2008 to February 15,
2009 equals 4 months and 28 days, or 148 days; the interest payable equals
148/360 times the annual rate of interest times the principal amount of
the Note.)
|
Procedure
for Rate
Setting and
Posting:
|
The
Company and the Agents will discuss from time to time the aggregate amount
of, the issuance price of, and the interest rates to be borne by, Notes
that may be sold as a result of the solicitation of offers by the
Agents. If the Company decides to set prices of, and rates
borne by, any Notes in respect of which the Agents are to solicit offers
(the setting of such prices and rates to be referred to herein as “posting”) or if
the Company decides to change prices or rates previously posted by it, it
will promptly advise the Agents of the prices and rates to be
posted.
|
Acceptance of
Offers:
|
If
the Company posts prices and rates as provided above, each Agent as agent
for and on behalf of the Company, shall promptly accept offers received by
such Agent to purchase Notes at the prices and rates so posted, subject to
(i) any instructions from the Company received by such Agent concerning
the aggregate principal amount of such Notes to be sold at the prices and
rates so posted or the period during which such posted prices and rates
are to be in effect, (ii) any instructions from the Company received by
such Agent changing or revoking any posted prices and rates, (iii)
compliance with the securities laws of the United States and all other
jurisdictions and (iv) such Agent’s right to reject any such offer as
provided below.
|
If the
Company does not post prices and rates and an Agent receives an offer to
purchase Notes or, if while posted prices and rates are in effect, an Agent
receives an offer to purchase Notes on terms other than those posted by the
Company, such Agent will promptly advise the Company of each such offer other
than offers rejected by such Agent as provided below. The Company
will have the sole right to accept any such offer to purchase
Notes. The Company may reject any such offer in whole or in
part.
A-17
Each
Agent may, in its discretion reasonably exercised, reject any offer to purchase
Notes received by it in whole or in part.
Preparation
of
Pricing
Supplement:
|
If
any offer to purchase a Note is accepted by the Company, the Company, with
the approval of the Agent that presented such offer (the “Presenting
Agent”), will prepare a pricing supplement (a “Pricing
Supplement”) reflecting the terms of such Note and will arrange to
have a copy electronically filed with the Commission in accordance with
the applicable paragraph of Rule 424 under the Act and the provisions of
Regulation S-T thereunder and will supply at least 10 copies thereof (or
additional copies if requested) to the Presenting Agent. The
Presenting Agent will cause a Prospectus and Pricing Supplement to be
delivered to the purchaser of such
Note.
|
In each
instance that a Pricing Supplement is prepared, the Agents will affix the
Pricing Supplement to Prospectuses prior to their use. Outdated
Pricing Supplements (other than those retained for files) will be
destroyed.
Procedures
for
Rate
Changes:
|
When
the Company has determined to change the interest rates of Notes being
offered, it will promptly advise the Agents and the Agents will forthwith
suspend solicitation of offers. The Agents will telephone the
Company with recommendations as to the changed interest
rates. At such time as the Company has advised the Agents of
the new interest rates, the Agents may resume solicitation of
offers. Until such time only “indications of interest” may be
recorded.
|
Suspension
of Solicitation;
Amendment
or Supplement
of
Prospectus:
|
The
Company may instruct the Agents to suspend at any time, for any period of
time or permanently, the solicitation of offers to purchase Notes. Upon
receipt of such instructions from the Company, the Agents will forthwith
suspend solicitation of offers to purchase Notes from the Company until
such time as the Company has advised them that such solicitation may be
resumed.
|
If the
Company decides to amend or supplement the Registration Statement (as defined in
Section 1(c) of the Distribution Agreement) or the Prospectus (except for a
supplement relating to an offering of securities other than the Notes), it will
promptly advise the Agents and the Trustee and will furnish the Agents and the
Trustee with the proposed amendment or supplement in accordance with the terms
of, and its obligations under, the Distribution Agreement. The
Company will, consistent with such obligations, promptly advise each Agent and
the Trustee whether orders outstanding at the time each Agent suspends
solicitation may be settled and whether copies of such Prospectus and Prospectus
Supplement as in effect at the time of the suspension, together with the
appropriate Pricing Supplement, may be delivered in connection with the
settlement of such orders. The Company will have the sole
responsibility for such decision and for any arrangements that may be made in
the event that the Company determines that such orders may not be settled or
that copies of such Prospectus, Prospectus Supplement and Pricing Supplement may
not be so delivered.
A-18
The
Company will file with the Commission for filing therewith any supplement to the
Prospectus relating to the Notes, provide the Agents with copies of any such
supplement, and confirm to the Agents that such supplement has been filed with
the Commission pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424.
Confirmation:
|
For
each offer to purchase a Note solicited by an Agent and accepted by or on
behalf of the Company, the Presenting Agent will issue a confirmation to
the purchaser, with a copy to the Company, setting forth the details set
forth above and delivery and payment
instructions.
|
Trustee/Paying
Agent
Not to Risk
Funds:
|
Nothing
herein shall be deemed to require the Trustee or Paying Agent to risk or
expend its own funds in connection with any payment to the Company, DTC,
the Agents or the purchaser or a holder, it being understood by all
parties that payments made by the Trustee/Paying Agent to the Company,
DTC, the Agents or a purchaser or holder shall be made only to the extent
that funds are provided to the Trustee/Paying Agent for such
purpose.
|
Authenticity
of
Signatures:
|
The
Company will cause the Trustee to furnish the Agents from time to time
with the specimen signatures of each of the Trustee’s officers, employees
or agents who has been authorized by the Trustee to authenticate Notes,
but the Agents will have no obligation or liability to the Company or the
Trustee in respect of the authenticity of the signature of any officer,
employee or agent of the Company or the Trustee on any such
Note.
|
Payment of
Expenses:
|
Each
Agent shall forward to the Company, on a monthly basis, a statement of the
reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such Agent during that month
which are reimbursable to it pursuant to the terms of the Distribution
Agreement. The Company will remit payment to the Agents
currently on a monthly basis.
|
A-19
Delivery of
Prospectus:
|
A
copy of the Prospectus, Prospectus Supplement and Pricing Supplement
relating to a Note must accompany or precede the earliest of any written
offer of such Note, confirmation of the purchase of such Note or payment
for such Note by its purchaser. If notice of a change in the
terms of the Notes is received by an Agent between the time an order for a
Note is placed and the time written confirmation thereof is sent by such
Agent to a customer or his agent, such confirmation shall be accompanied
by a Prospectus, Prospectus Supplement and Pricing Supplement setting
forth the terms in effect when the order was placed. Subject to
“Suspension of Solicitation; Amendment or Supplement of Prospectus” above,
each Agent will deliver a Prospectus, Prospectus Supplement and Pricing
Supplement as herein described with respect to each Note sold by
it.
|
A-20
EXHIBIT
B
Filed
Pursuant to [_] Rule 424(b)(2) [_] Rule 424(b)(5)
Registration
No. 333-______
[Date]
Pricing
Supplement No. [_], Dated [_____]
(to
Prospectus dated ____________, 20__, as supplemented by Prospectus Supplement
dated _____________, 20__)
Central
Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation
$250,000,000
Medium-Term
Notes, Series G
Principal
Amount: $ [__________]
Issue
Price:
Settlement
Date (Original Issue Date):
Maturity
Date (Stated Maturity):
Type of
Note:
¨ Fixed Rate
Note
¨ Zero Coupon
Note
Form:
¨ Book-Entry
¨ Definitive
Certificates
Authorized
denominations: $1,000 and integral multiples thereof
CUSIP No:
___________
Interest
Rate: [ ]% per annum
Interest
Payment Dates:
Record
Dates:
Initial
Interest Payment Date:
Redemption
Terms (at option of the issuer):
¨ Not redeemable prior to
Stated Maturity
B-1
¨ Redeemable in
accordance with the following terms:
Repayment
Terms (at option of the holder):
¨ Not repayable prior to
Stated Maturity
¨ Repayable in accordance
with the following terms:
Sinking
Fund Provisions:
¨ None
¨ Applicable in
accordance with the following terms:
Agents
and Principal Amounts placed:
Agent
acting in capacity indicated below:
¨ As Agents
¨ As
Principals
The notes
are being offered at the Issue Price set forth above.
Agents'
Commissions (based on Principal Amounts placed) as follows:
Net
proceeds to issuer (before expenses): $
[__________]
Additional
Terms:
THE NOTES
HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
OR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION NOR HAVE ANY OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS
DETERMINED THAT THIS PRICING SUPPLEMENT OR THE APPLICABLE PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT
OR PROSPECTUS IS ACCURATE OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE
CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
B-2
EXHIBIT
C
TERMS
AGREEMENT
Central
Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation
000 Xxxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxxxxxxx,
Xxx Xxxx 00000-0000
Attention:
Subject
in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Distribution Agreement (the
“Distribution
Agreement”), dated ____________, 20__ among [Agent], [Agent] and [Agent]
and Central Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation (the “Company”), the
undersigned agrees to purchase the following principal amount of the Company’s
$250,000,000 Medium-Term Notes, Series G (the “Notes”):
Aggregate
Principal Amount: $
Interest
Rate:
Date of
Maturity:
Interest
Payment Dates:
Regular
Record Dates:
Purchase
Price:
|
%
of Principal Amount [plus accrued interest
from
|
|
,
200_]
|
Purchase
Date and Time:
Place for
Delivery of Notes
and
Payment Therefor:
Method of
Payment:
Modification,
if any, in the requirements
to
deliver the documents specified in
Section
6(b) of the Distribution Agreement:
Period
during which additional Notes
may not
be sold pursuant to Section 4(m)
of the
Distribution Agreement:
C-1
Book-Entry
Notes or Certificated Notes:
This
Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New
York.
[Insert
name of Purchaser[s]]
|
|||
By
|
|||
Title:
|
Accepted: ,
____
CENTRAL
XXXXXX GAS & ELECTRIC
CORPORATION
By
|
||
Title: |
C-2
EXHIBIT
D
Filed
Pursuant to Rule 433
Registration
No. 333-_______
[Date]
Central
Xxxxxx Gas & Electric Corporation
Medium-Term
Notes, Series G
[$_________________]
[__%] due [__________]
Term
Sheet
Issuer:
|
Central
Xxxxxx Gas & Electric
Corporation
|
Market
Type:
|
Senior
Unsecured MTN
|
Ratings:
|
[_____________]
|
Principal
Amount:
|
$[____________]
|
Trade
Date:
|
[_____________]
|
Settlement
Date:
|
[_____________]
|
Final
Maturity:
|
[_____________]
|
Interest
Payment Dates:
|
May
1 and November 1, and at maturity
|
1st
Coupon Payment Date:
|
[_____________]
|
Coupon:
|
[_____________]
|
US
Treasury Benchmark:
|
[_____________]
|
US
Treasury Yield:
|
[_____________]
|
Business
day convention:
|
30/360
|
Re-offer
Price:
|
[_____________]
|
Redemption:
|
[_____________]
|
Denomination:
|
$1,000
x $$1,000
|
D-1
Joint
Bookrunners:
|
[Agent]
|
$[_____________]
|
||
[Agent]
|
$[_____________]
|
|||
[Agent]
|
$[_____________]
|
CUSIP:
[_____________]
The
security ratings above are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the
securities hereby. The ratings may be subject to revision or withdrawal at any
time by [Xxxxx'x Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Ratings
Services]. Each of the security ratings above should be evaluated
independently of any other security rating.
The
issuer has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC
for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you
invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other
documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about
the issuer and this offering. You may get these documents for free by
visiting XXXXX on the SEC Web site at xxx.xxx.xxx. Alternatively, the
issuer, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange
to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll-free
________________ at [Agent], [Agent] and [Agent].
D-2