EXHIBIT 10.15
Commercial Paper Dealer Agreement
4(2) Program
Between:
The Kroger Co., as Issuer
and
Banc of America Securities LLC, as
Dealer
Concerning Notes to be issued pursuant to an
Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement dated as of December 3, 2003
between the Issuer and Citibank, N.A., as Issuing and Paying
Agent
Dated as of
December 3, 2003
Commercial Paper Dealer Agreement
4(2) Program
This agreement
(“Agreement”) sets forth the understandings between the
Issuer and the Dealer, each named on the cover page hereof, in
connection with the issuance and sale by the Issuer of its
short-term promissory notes (the “Notes”) through the
Dealer.
Certain terms used in this Agreement are defined
in Section 6 hereof.
The Addendum to this Agreement, and any Annexes
or Exhibits described in this Agreement or such Addendum, are
hereby incorporated into this Agreement and made fully a part
hereof.
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1.
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Offers,
Sales and Resales of Notes.
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1.1
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While (i) the
Issuer has and shall have no obligation to sell the Notes to the
Dealer or to permit the Dealer to arrange any sale of the Notes for
the account of the Issuer, and (ii) the Dealer has and shall have
no obligation to purchase the Notes from the Issuer or to arrange
any sale of the Notes for the account of the Issuer, the parties
hereto agree that in any case where the Dealer purchases Notes from
the Issuer, or arranges for the sale of Notes by the Issuer, such
Notes will be purchased or sold by the Dealer in reliance on the
representations, warranties, covenants and agreements of the Issuer
contained herein or made pursuant hereto and on the terms and
conditions and in the manner provided herein.
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1.2
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So long as this
Agreement shall remain in effect, and in addition to the
limitations contained in Section 1.7 hereof, the Issuer shall not,
without the consent of the Dealer, offer, solicit or accept offers
to purchase, or sell, any Notes except (a) in transactions with one
or more dealers which may from time to time after the date hereof
become dealers with respect to the Notes by executing with the
Issuer one or more agreements which contain provisions
substantially identical to those contained in Section 1 of this
Agreement, of which the Issuer hereby undertakes to provide the
Dealer prompt notice or (b) in transactions with the other dealers
listed on the Addendum hereto, which are executing agreements with
the Issuer which contain provisions substantially identical to
Section 1 of this Agreement contemporaneously herewith. In no event
shall the Issuer offer, solicit or accept offers to purchase, or
sell, any Notes directly on its own behalf in transactions with
persons other than broker-dealers as specifically permitted in this
Section 1.2.
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1.3
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The Notes shall
be in a minimum denomination of $250,000 or integral multiples of
$1,000 in excess thereof, will bear such interest rates, if
interest bearing, or will be sold at such discount from their face
amounts, as shall be agreed upon by the Dealer and the Issuer,
shall have a maturity not exceeding 270 days from the date of
issuance (exclusive of days of grace) and shall not contain any
provision for extension, renewal or automatic
“rollover.”
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1.4
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The
authentication and issuance of, and payment for, the Notes shall be
effected in accordance with the Issuing and Paying Agency
Agreement, and the Notes shall be either individual physical
certificates or book-entry notes evidenced by a Master Note
registered in the name of DTC or its nominee, in the form or forms
annexed to the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement.
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1.5
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If the Issuer
and the Dealer shall agree on the terms of the purchase of any Note
by the Dealer or the sale of any Note arranged by the Dealer
(including, but not limited to, agreement with respect to the date
of issue, purchase price, principal amount, maturity and interest
rate (in the case of interest-bearing Notes) or discount thereof
(in the case of Notes issued on a discount basis), and appropriate
compensation for the Dealer’s services hereunder) pursuant to
this Agreement, the Issuer shall cause such Note to be issued and
delivered in accordance with the terms of the Issuing and Paying
Agency Agreement and payment for such Note shall be made by the
purchaser thereof, either directly or through the Dealer, to the
Issuing and Paying Agent, for the account of the Issuer. Except as
otherwise agreed, in the event that the Dealer is acting as an
agent and a purchaser shall either fail to accept delivery of or
make payment for a Note on the date fixed for settlement, the
Dealer shall promptly notify the Issuer, and if the Dealer has
theretofore paid the Issuer for the Note, the Issuer will promptly
return such funds to the Dealer against its return of the Note to
the Issuer, in the case of a certificated Note, and upon notice of
such failure in the case of a book-entry Note.
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1.6
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The Dealer and
the Issuer hereby establish and agree to observe the following
procedures in connection with offers, sales and subsequent resales
or other transfers of the Notes:
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(a)
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Offers and
sales of the Notes by or through the Dealer shall be made only to:
(i) investors reasonably believed by the Dealer to be Qualified
Institutional Buyers, Institutional Accredited Investors or
Sophisticated Individual Accredited Investors and (ii) non-bank
fiduciaries or agents that will be purchasing Notes for one or more
accounts, each of which is reasonably believed by the Dealer to be
an Institutional Accredited Investor or Sophisticated Individual
Accredited Investor.
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(b)
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Resales and
other transfers of the Notes by the holders thereof shall be made
only in accordance with the restrictions in the legend described in
clause (e) below.
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(c)
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No general
solicitation or general advertising shall be used in connection
with the offering of the Notes. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, without the prior written approval of the other
party, neither party shall issue any press release or place or
publish any “tombstone” or other advertisement relating
to the Notes.
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(d)
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No sale of
Notes to any one purchaser shall be for less than $250,000
principal or face amount, and no Note shall be issued in a smaller
principal or face amount. If the purchaser is a non-bank fiduciary
acting on behalf of others, each person for whom such purchaser is
acting must purchase at least $250,000 principal or face amount of
Notes.
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(e)
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Offers and
sales of the Notes by the Issuer through the Dealer acting as agent
for the Issuer will be made in accordance with Section 4(2) of the
Securities Act or Rule 506 under the Securities Act, and shall be
subject to the restrictions described in the legend appearing on
Exhibit A hereto. A legend substantially to the effect of such
Exhibit A shall appear as part of the Private Placement Memorandum
used in connection with offers and sales of Notes hereunder, as
well as on each individual certificate representing a Note and each
Master Note representing book-entry Notes offered and sold pursuant
to this Agreement.
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(f)
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The Dealer
shall furnish or shall have furnished to each purchaser of Notes
for which it has acted as the Dealer a copy of the then-current
Private Placement Memorandum unless such purchaser has previously
received a copy of the Private Placement Memorandum as then in
effect. The Private Placement Memorandum shall expressly state that
any person to whom Notes are offered shall have an opportunity to
ask questions of, and receive information from, the Issuer and the
Dealer and shall provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers
of the persons from whom information regarding the Issuer may be
obtained.
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(g)
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The Issuer
agrees, for the benefit of the Dealer and each of the holders and
prospective purchasers from time to time of the Notes that, if at
any time the Issuer shall not be subject to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Exchange Act, the Issuer will furnish, upon request and at its
expense, to the Dealer and to holders and prospective purchasers of
Notes information required by Rule 144A(d)(4)(i) in compliance with
Rule 144A(d).
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(h)
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In the event
that any Note offered or to be offered by the Dealer would be
ineligible for resale under Rule 144A, the Issuer shall immediately
notify the Dealer (by telephone, confirmed in writing) of such fact
and shall promptly prepare and deliver to the Dealer an amendment
or supplement to the Private Placement Memorandum describing the
Notes that are ineligible, the reason for such ineligibility and
any other relevant information relating thereto.
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(i)
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The Issuer
represents that it is currently issuing, and may continue to issue,
commercial paper in the United States market in reliance upon, and
in compliance with, the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(3) of
the Securities Act. In that connection, the Issuer agrees that (a)
the proceeds from the sale of the Notes will be segregated from the
proceeds of the sale of any such commercial paper by being placed
in a separate account; (b) the Issuer will institute appropriate
corporate procedures to ensure that the offers and sales of notes
issued by the Issuer pursuant to the Section 3(a)(3) exemption are
not integrated with offerings and sales of Notes hereunder; and (c)
the Issuer will comply with each of the requirements of Section
3(a)(3) of the Act in selling commercial paper or other short-term
debt securities other than the Notes in the United
States.
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1.7
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The Issuer
hereby represents and warrants to the Dealer, in connection with
offers, sales and resales of Notes, as follows:
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(a)
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Issuer hereby
confirms to the Dealer that (except as permitted by Section 1.6(i))
within the preceding six months neither the Issuer nor any person
other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in Section
1.2 hereof acting on behalf of the Issuer has offered or sold any
Notes, or any substantially similar security of the Issuer
(including, without limitation, medium-term notes issued by the
Issuer), to, or solicited offers to buy any such security from, any
person other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in
Section 1.2 hereof. The Issuer also agrees that (except as
permitted by Section 1.6(i)), as long as the Notes are being
offered for sale by the Dealer and the other dealers referred to in
Section 1.2 hereof as contemplated hereby and until at least six
months after the offer of Notes hereunder has been terminated,
neither the Issuer nor any person other than the Dealer or the
other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof (except as
contemplated by Section 1.2 hereof) will offer the Notes or any
substantially similar security of the Issuer for sale to, or
solicit offers to buy any such security from, any person other than
the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof,
it being understood that such agreement is made with a view to
bringing the offer and sale of the Notes within the exemption
provided by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act and/or Rule 506
thereunder and shall survive any termination of this Agreement. The
Issuer hereby represents and warrants that it has not taken or
omitted to take, and will not take or omit to take, any action that
would cause the offering and sale of Notes hereunder to be
integrated with any other offering of securities, whether such
offering is made by the Issuer or some other party or
parties.
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(b)
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The Issuer represents and agrees
that the proceeds of the sale of the Notes are not currently
contemplated to be used for the purpose of buying, carrying or
trading securities within the meaning of Regulation T and the
interpretations thereunder by the Board of Governors of
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the Federal Reserve System. In
the event that the Issuer determines to use such proceeds for the
purpose of buying, carrying or trading securities, whether in
connection with an acquisition of another company or otherwise, the
Issuer shall give the Dealer at least five business days’
prior written notice to that effect. The Issuer shall also give the
Dealer prompt notice of the actual date that it commences to
purchase securities with the proceeds of the Notes. Thereafter, in
the event that the Dealer purchases Notes as principal and does not
resell such Notes on the day of such purchase, to the extent
necessary to comply with Regulation T and the interpretations
thereunder, the Dealer will sell such Notes either (i) only to
offerees it reasonably believes to be QIBs or to QIBs it reasonably
believes are acting for other QIBs, in each case in accordance with
Rule 144A or (ii) in a manner which would not cause a violation of
Regulation T and the interpretations thereunder.
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2.
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Representations and Warranties.
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(A)
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The Issuer
represents and warrants that:
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2.1
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The Issuer is a
corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing
under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation and has all
the requisite power and authority to execute, deliver and perform
its obligations under the Notes, this Agreement and the Issuing and
Paying Agency Agreement.
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2.2
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This Agreement
and the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement have been duly
authorized, executed and delivered by the Issuer and constitute
legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer enforceable
against the Issuer in accordance with their terms, subject to
applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting
creditors’ rights generally, and subject, as to
enforceability, to general principles of equity (regardless of
whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at
law).
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2.3
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The Notes have
been duly authorized, and when issued as provided in the Issuing
and Paying Agency Agreement, will be duly and validly issued and
will constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer
enforceable against the Issuer in accordance with their terms,
subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws
affecting creditors’ rights generally, and subject, as to
enforceability, to general principles of equity (regardless of
whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at
law).
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2.4
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The offer and
sale of Notes in the manner contemplated hereby do not require
registration of the Notes under the Securities Act, pursuant to the
exemption from registration contained in Section 4(2) thereof, and
no indenture in respect of the Notes is required to be qualified
under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended.
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2.5
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The Notes will
rank at least pari passu with all other unsecured and
unsubordinated indebtedness of the Issuer.
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2.6
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No consent or
action of, or filing or registration with, any governmental or
public regulatory body or authority, including the SEC (other than
Form D), is required to authorize, or is otherwise required in
connection with the execution, delivery or performance of, this
Agreement, the Notes or the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement,
except as may be required by the securities or Blue Sky laws of the
various states in connection with the offer and sale of the
Notes.
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2.7
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Neither the execution and
delivery of this Agreement and the Issuing and Paying Agency
Agreement, nor the issuance of the Notes in accordance with the
Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, nor the fulfillment of or
compliance with the terms and provisions hereof or thereof by the
Issuer, will (i) result in the creation or imposition of any
mortgage, lien, charge or encumbrance of any nature whatsoever upon
any of the properties or assets of the Issuer, or (ii) violate or
result in a breach or a default under any of the terms of the
Issuer’s charter documents or by-laws, any contract or
instrument to which the Issuer is a party or by which it or its
property is bound, or any law or regulation, or any order, writ,
injunction or decree of any court or government instrumentality, to
which the Issuer is subject or by which it or its property is
bound, which breach or default might have a material adverse effect
on the condition (financial or
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otherwise), operations or business
prospects of the Issuer or the ability of the Issuer to perform its
obligations under this Agreement, the Notes or the Issuing and
Paying Agency Agreement.
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2.8
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There is no
litigation or governmental proceeding pending, or to the knowledge
of the Issuer threatened, against or affecting the Issuer or any of
its subsidiaries which would reasonably be expected to result in a
material adverse change in the condition, operations or business
prospects of the Issuer or the ability of the Issuer to perform its
obligations under this Agreement, the Notes or the Issuing and
Paying Agency Agreement.
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2.9
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The Issuer is
not an “investment company” or an entity
“controlled” by an “investment company”
within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as
amended.
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2.10
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Except for the
Dealer Information neither the Private Placement Memorandum nor the
Company Information contains any untrue statement of a material
fact or omits to state a material fact required to be stated
therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of
the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading.
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2.11
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Each (a)
issuance of Notes by the Issuer hereunder and (b) amendment or
supplement of the Private Placement Memorandum shall be deemed a
representation and warranty by the Issuer to the Dealer, as of the
date thereof, that, both before and after giving effect to such
issuance and after giving effect to such amendment or supplement,
(i) the representations and warranties given by the Issuer set
forth above in this Section 2 remain true and correct in all
material respects on and as of such date as if made on and as of
such date, (ii) in the case of an issuance of Notes, the Notes
being issued on such date have been duly and validly issued and
constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer,
enforceable against the Issuer in accordance with their terms,
subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws
affecting creditors’ rights generally and subject, as to
enforceability, to general principles of equity (regardless of
whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law)
and (iii) in the case of an issuance of Notes, since the date of
the most recent Private Placement Memorandum, there has been no
material adverse change in the condition, operations or business
prospects of the Issuer which has not been disclosed to the Dealer
in writing or included in the Company Information.
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(B)
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The Dealer
represents and warrants that: the Dealer is a corporation duly
organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of
the jurisdiction of its incorporation and has all the requisite
power and authority to execute, deliver and perform its obligations
under this Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized,
executed and delivered by the Dealer and constitutes the legal,
valid and binding obligation of the Dealer enforceable against the
Dealer in accordance with its
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