FORM OF EXCHANGE AGENT & DEPOSITARY AGREEMENT
Exhibit 99.5
FORM OF
EXCHANGE AGENT & DEPOSITARY AGREEMENT
This Exchange Agent & Depositary Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into as of this 2 day of February 2007 by and between U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. and U.S. Shipping Finance Corp. (collectively, the “Companies”), and Xxxxx Fargo Bank, National Association, a national banking association having its principal corporate trust offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota (hereinafter referred to as “Xxxxx Fargo”).
WHEREAS, the Companies are offering to exchange all of their outstanding 13% Senior Secured Notes due 2014 (the “Initial Notes”) for its 13% Senior Secured Notes due 2014, which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) (the “Exchange Notes”) upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Prospectus dated February , 2007 (the “Prospectus”), and the related Letter of Transmittal, which together, as they may be supplemented or amended from time to time, constitute the “Offer.” All capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in the Offer.
WHEREAS, the Companies hereby appoint Xxxxx Fargo to act as the exchange agent and depositary (together, the “Exchange Agent”) in connection with the Offer. References hereinafter to “you” shall refer to Xxxxx Fargo.
The Offer is expected to be commenced by the Companies on or about , 2007. The Letter of Transmittal that accompanies the Offer (or in the case of book-entry securities, the Automated Tender Offer Program (“ATOP”) of DTC (as defined below)) is to be used by the holders of the Notes to accept the Offer. The Letter of Transmittal contains instructions with respect to the delivery of certificates for Notes tendered in connection therewith.
The Offer shall expire at 12:00 a.m. midnight, New York City time, on , 2007, or on such subsequent date or time to which the Companies may extend the Offer (the “Expiration Date”). Subject to the terms and conditions of the Offer, the Company expressly reserves the right to extend the Offer from time to time and may extend the Offer by giving oral (promptly confirmed in writing) or written notice to you before 12:00 a.m. midnight, New York City time, on the business day following the scheduled Expiration Date.
The Companies expressly reserve the right, in its sole discretion, to (1) delay accepting any validly tendered Initial Notes or (2) terminate or amend the Offer, in each case, by giving oral or written notice (any such oral notice to be promptly confirmed in writing) of such delay, termination or amendment to the Exchange Agent. Any such delay in acceptance, termination or amendment will be followed as promptly as practicable by a public announcement thereof by the Companies.
In carrying out your duties as Exchange Agent, you are to act in accordance with the following instructions:
1. You will perform such duties and only such duties as are specifically set forth in the section of the Prospectus captioned “The Exchange Offer” or as specifically set forth
herein; provided, however, that in no way will your general duty to act in good faith be discharged by the foregoing.
2. You will establish a book-entry account in respect of the Initial Notes at The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), in connection with the Offer. Any financial institution that is a participant in the DTC system may make book-entry delivery of the Initial Notes by causing DTC to transfer such Initial Notes into the account maintained by you, pursuant to this section, in accordance with DTC’s procedures for such transfer, and you may affect a withdrawal of Initial Notes through such account by book-entry movement. The account shall be maintained until all Initial Notes tendered pursuant to the Offer shall have been either accepted or returned.
3. You are to examine each of the Letters of Transmittal and certificates for Initial Notes (or confirmation of book-entry transfer into your account at DTC) and any other documents delivered or mailed to you by or for holders of the Initial Notes to ascertain whether: (a) the Letters of Transmittal and any such other documents are duly executed and properly completed in accordance with instructions set forth therein; and (b) the Initial Notes have otherwise been properly tendered. In each case where the Letter of Transmittal or any other document has been improperly completed or executed or any of the certificates for Initial Notes are not in proper form for transfer or some other irregularity in connection with the acceptance of the Offer exists, you will endeavor to inform the presenters of the need for fulfillment of all requirements and to take any other action as may be reasonably necessary or advisable to cause such irregularity to be corrected.
4. With the approval of the Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Financial Officer of the Companies (such approval, if given orally, to be promptly confirmed in writing), or any other party designated in writing by such officer of the Companies, you are authorized to waive any irregularities in connection with any tender pursuant to the Offer.
Tenders of Initial Notes may be made only as set forth in the section of the Prospectus captioned “The Exchange Offer — Procedures for Tendering Initial Notes” and Initial Notes shall be considered properly tendered or delivered to you only when tendered in accordance with the procedures set forth therein.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 4 of this Agreement, Initial Notes that the Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Financial Officer of the Companies shall approve as having been properly tendered shall be considered to be properly tendered (such approval, if given orally, shall be promptly confirmed in writing).
6. You shall advise the Companies with respect to any Initial Notes received subsequent to the Expiration Date and accept its instructions with respect to disposition of such Initial Notes.
7. You shall accept tenders:
(a) in cases where the Initial Notes are registered in two or more names only if signed by all named holders;
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(b) in cases where the signing person (as indicated on the Letter of Transmittal) is acting in a fiduciary or a representative capacity only when proper evidence of his or her authority so to act is submitted; and
(c) from persons other than the registered holder of Initial Notes, provided that customary transfer requirements, including payment of any applicable transfer taxes, are fulfilled.
You shall accept partial tenders of Initial Notes (only to the extent that the partial tender is at least $2,000 in aggregate principal amount or in any integral multiple of $1,000 in excess thereof) and deliver certificates for Initial Notes to the registrar for split-up and return any untendered Initial Notes to the holder (or such other person as may be designated in the Letter of Transmittal) as promptly as practicable after expiration or termination of the Offer.
8. Upon satisfaction or waiver of all of the conditions to the Offer, the Companies will notify you (such notice, if given orally, to be promptly confirmed in writing) of its acceptance, promptly after the Expiration Date, of all Initial Notes properly tendered indicating the aggregate principal amount of Initial Notes accepted. You, on behalf of the Companies, will exchange, in accordance with the terms hereof, accepted Initial Notes for Exchange Notes and cause such Initial Notes to be cancelled. Delivery of the Exchange Notes will be made on behalf of the Companies by you at the rate of $1,000 principal amount of Exchange Notes for each $1,000 principal amount of the corresponding series of Notes tendered promptly after notice (such notice if given orally, to be promptly confirmed in writing) of acceptance of such Notes by the Company; provided, however, that in all cases, Notes tendered pursuant to the Offer will be exchanged only after timely receipt by you of certificates for such Notes (or confirmation of book-entry transfer into your account at DTC), a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal (or manually signed facsimile thereof) with any required signature guarantees and any other required documents, or an agent’s message in lieu thereof. You shall issue Exchange Notes only in denominations of $1,000 or any integral multiple thereof.
9. Notes tendered pursuant to the Offer are irrevocable, except that, subject to the terms and upon the conditions set forth in the Prospectus and the Letter of Transmittal, Notes tendered pursuant to the Offer may be withdrawn at anytime prior to the Expiration Date.
10. The Companies shall not be required to exchange any Notes tendered if any of the conditions set forth in the Offer are not met. Notice of any decision by the Companies not to exchange any Notes tendered shall be given (such notice, if given orally, to be promptly confirmed in writing) by the Companies to you.
11. If, pursuant to the Offer, the Companies do not accept for exchange all or part of the Initial Notes tendered, you shall as soon as practicable after the expiration or termination of the Offer return those certificates for unaccepted Initial Notes (or effect appropriate book-entry transfer), together with any related required documents and the
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Letters of Transmittal relating thereto that are in your possession, to the persons who deposited them.
12. All certificates for Exchange Notes and unaccepted Initial Notes shall be forwarded by first-class mail or (in the cases of Notes tendered by book-entry transfer) by book-entry transfer to the DTC account specified by the holder of the Notes in the Letter of Transmittal (or agent’s message in lieu thereof).
13. You are not authorized to pay or offer to pay any concessions, commissions or solicitation fees to any broker, dealer, bank or other persons or to engage or utilize any person to solicit tenders.
14. As Exchange Agent hereunder you:
(a) shall not be liable for any action or omission to act unless the same constitutes your own gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith, and in no event shall you be liable to a securityholder, the Companies or any third party for special, indirect or consequential damages, or lost profits, arising in connection with this Agreement;
(b) shall have no duties or obligations other than those specifically set forth herein or as may be subsequently agreed to in writing between you and the Companies;
(c) will be regarded as making no representations and having no responsibilities as to the validity, sufficiency, value or genuineness of any of the certificates or the Notes represented thereby deposited with you pursuant to the Offer, and will not be required to and will make no representation as to the validity, value or genuineness of the Offer;
(d) shall not be obligated to take any legal action hereunder which might in your judgment involve any expense or liability, unless you shall have been furnished with indemnity satisfactory to you;
(e) may conclusively rely on and shall be protected in acting in reliance upon any certificate, instrument, opinion, notice, letter, telegram or other document or security delivered to you and reasonably believed by you to be genuine and to have been signed or presented by the proper person or persons;
(f) may act upon any tender, statement, request, document, certificate, agreement or other instrument whatsoever not only as to its due execution and validity and effectiveness of its provisions, but also as to the truth and accuracy of any information contained therein, which you shall in good faith reasonably believe to be genuine or to have been signed or presented by the proper person or persons;
(g) may conclusively rely on and shall be protected in acting upon written or oral instructions from any authorized officer of the Companies;
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(h) may consult with counsel of your selection with respect to any questions relating to your duties and responsibilities and the written opinion of such counsel shall be full and complete authorization and protection in respect of any action taken, suffered or omitted to be taken by you hereunder in good faith and in accordance with the advice or opinion of such counsel; and
(i) shall not advise any person tendering Initial Notes pursuant to the Offer as to the wisdom of making such tender or as to the market value or decline or appreciation in market value of any security, including the Initial Notes.
15. You shall take such action as may from time to time be requested by the Companies (and such other action as you may deem appropriate) to furnish copies of the Prospectus, Letter of Transmittal and the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery (as described in the Prospectus), or such other forms as may be approved from time to time by the Companies, to all persons requesting such documents and to accept and comply with telephone requests for information relating to the Offer, provided that such information shall relate only to the procedures for accepting (or withdrawing from) the Offer. All other requests for information relating to the Offer shall be directed to the Companies, Attention: .
16. You are authorized to cooperate with and to furnish information to any organization (and its representatives) designated from time to time by the Companies in the manner directed or authorized by the Companies in connection with the Offer and any tenders thereunder.
17. You shall advise by e-mail or facsimile transmission and , the and , respectively, of the Companies (at the facsimile numbers ( ) and ( ) , respectively, or the e-mail addresses and , respectively), and such other person or persons as Companies may request, daily (and more frequently during the week immediately preceding the Expiration Date, if requested) up to and including the Expiration Date, as to the aggregate principal amount of Initial Notes which have been tendered pursuant to the Offer and the items received by you pursuant to this Agreement, separately reporting and giving cumulative totals as items properly received and items improperly received. In addition, you also will inform, and cooperate in making available to, the Companies or any such other person or persons upon oral request made from time to time prior to the Expiration Date of such other information as they may reasonably request. Such cooperation shall include, without limitation, the granting by you to the Companies and such person as the Companies may request of access to those persons on your staff who are responsible for receiving tenders, in order to ensure that immediately prior to the Expiration Date and each other Expiration Date, if any, the Companies shall have received information in sufficient detail to enable it to decide whether to extend the Offer. You shall then prepare a final list of all persons whose tenders were accepted, the aggregate principal amount of Initial Notes tendered and the amount accepted and deliver such list to the Companies.
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18. Letters of Transmittal and Notices of Guaranteed Delivery shall be stamped by you as to the date, and, after the expiration of the Offer, the time, of receipt thereof and shall be preserved by you for a period of time at least equal to the period of time you preserve other records pertaining to the transfer of securities. You shall dispose of unused Letters of Transmittal and other surplus materials.
19. For services rendered as Exchange Agent hereunder, you shall be entitled to such compensation as set forth on Schedule I attached hereto. The provisions of this section shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
20. You hereby acknowledge receipt of the Prospectus and the Letter of Transmittal. Any inconsistency between this Agreement, on the one hand, and the Prospectus and the Letter of Transmittal (as they may be amended from time to time), on the other hand, shall be resolved in favor of the latter two documents, except with respect to your duties, liabilities and indemnification as Exchange Agent.
21. The Companies covenant and agree to indemnify and hold you harmless in your capacity as Exchange Agent hereunder against any and all loss, liability, cost or expense, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and reasonable expenses, incurred without gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith on your part, arising out of or in connection with any act, omission, delay or refusal made by you in reliance upon any signature, endorsement, assignment, certificate, order, request, notice, instruction or other instrument or document reasonably believed by you to be valid, genuine and sufficient and in accepting any tender or effecting any transfer of Initial Notes reasonably believed by you in good faith to be authorized, and in delaying or refusing in good faith to accept any tenders or effect any transfer of Initial Notes. In each case, the Companies shall be notified by you, by letter or facsimile transmission, of the written assertion of a claim against you or of any other action commenced against you, promptly after you shall have received any such written assertion or shall have been served with a summons in connection therewith. The Companies shall be entitled to participate at its own expense in the defense of any such claim or other action and, if the Companies so elect, the Companies shall assume the defense of any suit brought to enforce any such claim. In the event that the Companies shall assume the defense of any such suit, the Companies shall not be liable for the fees and expenses of any additional counsel thereafter retained by you, so long as the Companies shall retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to you to defend such suit, and so long as you have not determined, in your reasonable judgment, that a conflict of interest exists between you and the Companies. The provisions of this section shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
22. You shall arrange to comply with all applicable withholding and tax reporting requirements under the tax laws of the United States, including those relating to missing Tax Identification Numbers, and shall file any appropriate reports with the Internal Revenue Service (e.g., 1099, 1099B, etc.) as directed in writing by the Companies.
23. You shall deliver or cause to be delivered in a timely manner to each governmental authority to which any transfer taxes are payable in respect of the transfer of Initial Notes to the Companies, the Companies’ payment in the amount of all transfer taxes so
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payable; provided, however, that you shall reimburse the Companies for amounts refunded to you in respect of your payment of any such transfer taxes, at such time as such refund is received by you.
24. This Agreement and your appointment as Exchange Agent hereunder shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements made and to be performed entirely within such state, and without regard to conflicts of laws principles, and shall inure to the benefit of, and the obligations created hereby shall be binding upon, the successors and assigns of each of the parties hereto.
25. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.
26. In case any provision of this Agreement shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby.
27. This Agreement shall not be deemed or construed to be modified, amended, rescinded, cancelled or waived, in whole or in part, except by a written instrument signed by a duly authorized representative of the party to be charged. This Agreement may not be modified orally.
28. Unless otherwise provided herein, all notices, requests and other communications to any party hereunder shall be in writing (including facsimile or similar writing) and shall be given to such party, addressed to it, at its address or telecopy number set forth below:
If to the Companies:
U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. and U.S. Shipping Finance
Corp.
000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, 0xx Xxxxx
Xxxxxx, Xxx Xxxxxx 00000
Attn:
Fax: (732)
If to the Exchange Agent:
Xxxxx Fargo Bank, N.A.
Corporate Trust Services
Sixth and Marquette
MAC X0000-000
Xxxxxxxxxxx, XX 00000
Attn:
Fax: 000-000-0000
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29. Unless terminated earlier by the parties hereto, this Agreement shall terminate 90 days following the Expiration Date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Sections 19 and 21 shall survive the termination of this Agreement. Upon any termination of this Agreement, you shall promptly deliver to the Companies any certificates for Notes, funds or property then held by you as Exchange Agent under this Agreement.
30. This Agreement shall be binding and effective as of the date hereof.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed by their respective officers, hereunto duly authorized, as of the day and year first above written.
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U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. and U.S. Shipping Finance Corp. |
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By: |
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Name: |
Xxxx Xxxxxxx |
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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
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Xxxxx Fargo Bank, N.A., as Exchange Agent and Depositary |
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By: |
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Name: |
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(Signature page for Exchange Agent & Depositary Agreement)
Schedule I
COMPENSATION OF EXCHAGE AGENT:
