Exhibit 99.4
GUARANTEE AND COLLATERAL
AGREEMENT
made by
SONIC INDUSTRIES LLC,
as Guarantor,
in favor of
CITIBANK, N.A.,
as Trustee
Dated as of December 20,
2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Page
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SECTION 1
DEFINED TERMS
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1
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1.1
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Definitions
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1
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SECTION 2
GUARANTEE
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2
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2.1
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Guarantee
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2
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2.2
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No
Subrogation
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3
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2.3
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Amendments,
etc. with respect to the Co-Issuer Obligations
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3
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2.4
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Guarantee
Absolute and Unconditional
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3
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2.5
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Reinstatement
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4
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2.6
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Payments
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5
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2.7
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Information
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5
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SECTION 3
SECURITY
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5
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3.1
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Grant of
Security Interest
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5
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3.2
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Certain Rights
and Obligations of the Guarantor Unaffected
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7
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3.3
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Performance of
Collateral Documents
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7
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3.4
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Stamp, Other
Similar Taxes and Filing Fees
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8
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3.5
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Authorization
to File Financing Statements
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8
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SECTION 4
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
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9
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4.1
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Existence and
Power
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9
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4.2
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Limited
Liability Company and Governmental Authorization
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9
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4.3
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No
Consent
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9
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4.4
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Binding
Effect
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10
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4.5
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Ownership of
Equity Interests; Subsidiaries
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10
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4.6
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Security
Interests
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10
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4.7
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Other
Representations
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11
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SECTION 5
COVENANTS
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11
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5.1
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Maintenance of
Office or Agency
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11
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5.2
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Covenants in
Base Indenture and Other Related Documents
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11
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5.3
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Further
Assurances
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11
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5.4
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Legal Name,
Location Under Section 9-301 or 9-307
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12
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SECTION 6
REMEDIAL PROVISIONS
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13
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6.1
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Rights of the
Control Party and Trustee upon Event of Default
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13
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6.2
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Waiver of
Appraisal, Valuation, Stay and Right to Marshaling
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15
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6.3
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Limited
Recourse
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15
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6.4
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Optional
Preservation of the Collateral
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16
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6.5
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Control by the
Control Party
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16
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6.6
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The Trustee May
File Proofs of Claim
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16
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6.7
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Undertaking for
Costs
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17
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6.8
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Restoration of
Rights and Remedies
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17
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Continued)
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Page
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6.9
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Rights and
Remedies Cumulative
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17
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6.10
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Delay or
Omission Not Waiver
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18
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6.11
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Waiver of Stay
or Extension Laws
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18
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SECTION 7 THE
TRUSTEE’S AUTHORITY
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18
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SECTION 8
MISCELLANEOUS
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19
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8.1
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Amendments
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19
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8.2
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Notices
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19
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8.3
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Governing
Law
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21
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8.4
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Successors
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21
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8.5
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Third-Party
Beneficiary
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21
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8.6
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Severability
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21
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8.7
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Counterpart
Originals
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21
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8.8
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Table of
Contents, Headings, etc.
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21
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8.9
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Recording of
Agreement
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21
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8.10
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Waiver of Jury
Trial
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22
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8.11
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Submission to
Jurisdiction; Waivers
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22
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8.12
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Termination;
Partial Release
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22
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8.13
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Entire
Agreement
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23
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Continued)
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SCHEDULES
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Schedule 4.5
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–
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Guarantor
Ownership
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iii
GUARANTEE AND COLLATERAL
AGREEMENT
GUARANTEE AND COLLATERAL AGREEMENT
(as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time,
this “ Agreement ”), dated as of
December 20, 2006, made by SONIC INDUSTRIES LLC, a Delaware
limited liability company (the “ Guarantor ”),
in favor of CITIBANK, N.A., a national banking association, as
trustee under the Indenture referred to below (in such capacity,
together with its successors, the “ Trustee ”)
for the benefit of the Secured Parties.
WITNESSETH
:
WHEREAS, Sonic Capital LLC, a
Delaware limited liability company (the “ Master
Issuer ”), SRI Real Estate Holding LLC, a Delaware
limited liability company (“ SRI Real Estate Holdco
”), the other Co-Issuers and the Trustee have entered into
the Base Indenture, dated as of the date of this Agreement (as
amended, modified or supplemented from time to time, exclusive of
any Series Supplements, the “ Base Indenture ”
and, together with all Series Supplements, the “
Indenture ”), providing for the issuance from time to
time of one or more Series of Notes thereunder; and
WHEREAS, the Indenture and the other
Related Documents require that the parties hereto execute and
deliver this Agreement;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the premises and for other good and valuable consideration the
receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the
Guarantor hereby agrees with the Trustee, for the benefit of the
Secured Parties, as follows:
SECTION 1
DEFINED
TERMS
1.1 Definitions .
(a) Unless otherwise defined herein,
terms defined in the Base Indenture Definitions List attached to
the Base Indenture as Annex A thereto and used herein shall have
the meanings given to them in such Base Indenture Definitions
List.
(b) The following terms shall have
the following meanings:
“ Co-Issuer Obligations
” means all Obligations owed by the Co-Issuers to the Secured
Parties under the Indenture and the other Related
Documents.
“ Collateral ”
has the meaning assigned to such term in Section 3.1(a)
.
“ Termination Date
” has the meaning assigned to such term in
Section 2.1(d) .
1
SECTION 2
GUARANTEE
2.1 Guarantee .
(a) The Guarantor hereby,
unconditionally and irrevocably, guarantees to the Trustee, for the
benefit of the Secured Parties, the prompt and complete payment and
performance by the Co-Issuers when due (whether at the stated
maturity, by acceleration or otherwise) of the Co-Issuer
Obligations. In furtherance of the foregoing and not in limitation
of any other right that the Trustee or any other Secured Party has
at law or in equity against the Guarantor by virtue hereof, upon
the failure of any Co-Issuer to pay any Co-Issuer Obligation when
and as the same shall become due, whether at maturity, by
acceleration, after notice of prepayment or otherwise, the
Guarantor hereby promises to and will forthwith pay, or cause to be
paid, to the Trustee, for distribution to the applicable Secured
Parties in accordance with the Indenture, in cash the amount of
such unpaid Obligation. This is a guarantee of payment and not
merely of collection.
(b) Anything herein or in any other
Related Document to the contrary notwithstanding, the maximum
liability of the Guarantor hereunder and under the other Related
Documents shall in no event exceed the amount which can be
guaranteed by the Guarantor without constituting a fraudulent
transfer or fraudulent conveyance under applicable federal and
state laws relating to the insolvency of debtors.
(c) The Guarantor agrees that the
Co-Issuer Obligations may at any time and from time to time exceed
the amount of the liability of the Guarantor hereunder without
impairing the guarantee contained in this Section 2 or
affecting the rights and remedies of the Trustee or any other
Secured Party hereunder.
(d) The guarantee contained in this
Section 2 shall remain in full force and effect until
the date (the “ Termination Date ”) on which
this Agreement ceases to be of further effect in accordance with
Article XI of the Base Indenture, notwithstanding that from
time to time prior thereto the Co-Issuers may be free from any
Co-Issuer Obligations.
(e) No payment made by any of the
Co-Issuers, the Guarantor, any other guarantor or any other Person
or received or collected by the Trustee or any other Secured Party
from any of the Co-Issuers, the Guarantor, any other guarantor or
any other Person by virtue of any action or proceeding or any
set-off or appropriation or application at any time or from time to
time in reduction of or in payment of the Co-Issuer Obligations
shall be deemed to modify, reduce, release or otherwise affect the
liability of the Guarantor hereunder which shall, notwithstanding
any such payment (other than any payment made by the Guarantor in
respect of the Co-Issuer Obligations or any payment received or
collected from the Guarantor in respect of the Co-Issuer
Obligations), remain liable for the Co-Issuer Obligations up to the
maximum liability of the Guarantor hereunder until the Termination
Date.
2
2.2 No Subrogation
.
Notwithstanding any payment made by
the Guarantor hereunder or any set-off or application of funds of
the Guarantor by the Trustee or any other Secured Party, the
Guarantor shall not be entitled to be subrogated to any of the
rights of the Trustee or any other Secured Party against the
Co-Issuers or any collateral security or guarantee or right of
offset held by the Trustee or any other Secured Party for the
payment of the Co-Issuer Obligations, nor shall the Guarantor seek
or be entitled to seek any contribution or reimbursement from the
Co-Issuers in respect of payments made by the Guarantor hereunder,
until the Termination Date. If any amount shall be paid to the
Guarantor on account of such subrogation, contribution or
reimbursement rights at any time when all of the Co-Issuer
Obligations shall not have been paid in full, such amount, up to
the amount of any such Co-Issuer Obligations, shall be held by the
Guarantor in trust for the Trustee and the other Secured Parties,
segregated from other funds of the Guarantor, and shall, forthwith
upon receipt by the Guarantor, be turned over to the Trustee in the
exact form received by the Guarantor (duly endorsed by the
Guarantor to the Trustee, if required), to be applied against the
Co-Issuer Obligations, whether matured or unmatured, in such order
as the Trustee may determine in accordance with the
Indenture.
2.3 Amendments, etc. with respect
to the Co-Issuer Obligations .
The Guarantor shall remain obligated
hereunder notwithstanding that, without any reservation of rights
against the Guarantor and without notice to or further assent by
the Guarantor, any demand for payment of any of the Co-Issuer
Obligations made by the Trustee or, to the extent permitted under
any other Related Document, any other Secured Party may be
rescinded by the Trustee or such other Secured Party and any of the
Co-Issuer Obligations continued, and the Co-Issuer Obligations, or
the liability of any other Person upon or for any part thereof, or
any collateral security or guarantee therefor or right of offset
with respect thereto, may, from time to time, in whole or in part,
be renewed, extended, amended, modified, accelerated, compromised,
waived, surrendered or released by the Trustee or, to the extent
permitted under any other Related Document, any other Secured
Party, and the Base Indenture and any other documents executed and
delivered in connection therewith may be amended, modified,
supplemented or terminated, in whole or in part, from time to time,
and any collateral security, guarantee or right of offset at any
time held by the Trustee or, to the extent permitted under any
other Related Document, any other Secured Party for the payment of
the Co-Issuer Obligations may be sold, exchanged, waived,
surrendered or released. Neither the Trustee nor any other Secured
Party shall have any obligation to protect, secure, perfect or
insure any Lien at any time held by it as security for the
Co-Issuer Obligations or for the guarantee contained in this
Section 2 or any property subject thereto.
2.4 Guarantee Absolute and
Unconditional .
The Guarantor waives to the extent
permitted by law any and all notice of the creation, renewal,
extension or accrual of any of the Co-Issuer Obligations and notice
of or proof of reliance by the Trustee or any other Secured Party
upon the guarantee
3
contained in this Section 2 or
acceptance of the guarantee contained in this Section 2
; the Co-Issuer Obligations, and any of them, shall conclusively be
deemed to have been created, contracted or incurred, or renewed,
extended, amended or waived, in reliance upon the guarantee
contained in this Section 2 and the grant of the
security interests pursuant to Section 3 ; and all
dealings between the Co-Issuers and the Guarantor, on the one hand,
and the Trustee and the other Secured Parties, on the other hand,
likewise shall be conclusively presumed to have been had or
consummated in reliance upon the guarantee contained in this
Section 2 and the grant of the security interests
pursuant to Section 3 . The Guarantor waives diligence,
presentment, protest, demand for payment and notice of default or
nonpayment to or upon any of the Co-Issuers with respect to the
Co-Issuer Obligations. The Guarantor understands and agrees that
the guarantee contained in this Section 2 and the grant
of the security interests pursuant to Section 3 shall
be construed as a continuing, absolute and unconditional guarantee
of payment without regard to (a) the validity or
enforceability of the Indenture or any other Related Document, any
of the Co-Issuer Obligations or any other collateral security
therefor or guarantee or right of offset with respect thereto at
any time or from time to time held by the Trustee or any other
Secured Party, (b) any defense, set-off or counterclaim (other
than a defense of full payment or performance) which may at any
time be available to or be asserted by any Co-Issuer or any other
Person against the Trustee or any other Secured Party or
(c) any other circumstance whatsoever (with or without notice
to or knowledge of the Co-Issuers or the Guarantor) which
constitutes, or might be construed to constitute, an equitable or
legal discharge of the Co-Issuers for the Co-Issuer Obligations, or
of the Guarantor under the guarantee contained in this
Section 2 and the grant of the security interests
pursuant to Section 3 , in bankruptcy or in any other
instance. When making any demand hereunder or otherwise pursuing
its rights and remedies hereunder against the Guarantor, the
Trustee or any other Secured Party may, but shall be under no
obligation to, make a similar demand on or otherwise pursue such
rights and remedies as it may have against any Co-Issuer or any
other Person or against any collateral security or guarantee for
the Co-Issuer Obligations or any right of offset with respect
thereto, and any failure by the Trustee or any other Secured Party
to make any such demand, to pursue such other rights or remedies or
to collect any payments from any Co-Issuer or any other Person or
to realize upon any such collateral security or guarantee or to
exercise any such right of offset, or any release of any Co-Issuer
or any other Person or any such collateral security, guarantee or
right of offset, shall not relieve the Guarantor of any obligation
or liability hereunder, and shall not impair or affect the rights
and remedies, whether express, implied or available as a matter of
law, of the Trustee or any other Secured Party against the
Guarantor. For the purposes of the preceding sentence
“demand” shall include the commencement and continuance
of any legal proceedings.
2.5 Reinstatement
.
The guarantee contained in this
Section 2 shall continue to be effective, or be
reinstated, as the case may be, if at any time payment, or any part
thereof, of any of the Co-Issuer Obligations is rescinded or must
otherwise be restored or returned by the Trustee or any other
Secured Party upon the insolvency, bankruptcy, dissolution,
liquidation or reorganization of any of the Co-Issuers or the
Guarantor, or upon or as a
4
result of the appointment of a receiver,
intervenor or conservator of, or trustee or similar officer for,
any of the Co-Issuers or the Guarantor or any substantial part of
its property, or otherwise, all as though such payments had not
been made.
2.6 Payments .
The Guarantor hereby guarantees that
payments hereunder will be paid to the Trustee without set-off or
deduction or counterclaim in immediately available funds in Dollars
at the office of the Trustee.
2.7 Information .
The Guarantor assumes all
responsibility for being and keeping itself informed of the
Co-Issuers’ financial condition and assets, and of all other
circumstances bearing upon the risk of nonpayment of the Co-Issuer
Obligations and the nature, scope and extent of the risks that the
Guarantor assumes and incurs hereunder, and agrees that neither the
Trustee nor any other Secured Party will have any duty to advise
the Guarantor of information known to it or any of them regarding
such circumstances or risks.
SECTION 3
SECURITY
3.1 Grant of Security
Interest .
(a) To secure the Obligations, the
Guarantor hereby pledges, assigns, conveys, delivers, transfers and
sets over to the Trustee, for the benefit of the Secured Parties,
and hereby grants to the Trustee, for the benefit of the Secured
Parties, a security interest in the Guarantor’s right, title
and interest in all of the following property to the extent now
owned or at any time hereafter acquired by the Guarantor
(collectively, the “ Collateral ”):
(i) (A) the Collateral Franchise
Documents including, without limitation, all monies due and to
become due to the Guarantor under or in connection with the
Collateral Franchise Documents, whether payable as fees, rent,
expenses, costs, indemnities, dividends, distributions, insurance
recoveries, damages for the breach of any of the Collateral
Franchise Documents or otherwise, but excluding any and all
Excluded Amounts, and all security and supporting obligations for
such amounts payable thereunder and (B) all rights, remedies,
powers, privileges and claims of the Guarantor against any other
party under or with respect to the Collateral Franchise Documents
(whether arising pursuant to the terms of the Collateral Franchise
Documents or otherwise available to the Guarantor at law or in
equity), the right to enforce any of the Collateral Franchise
Documents and to give or withhold any and all consents, requests,
notices, directions, approvals, extensions or waivers under or
with
5
respect to the Collateral Franchise
Documents or the obligations of any party thereunder;
(ii) the Collateral Transaction
Documents, including, without limitation, all monies due and to
become due to the Guarantor under or in connection with the
Collateral Transaction Documents, whether payable as fees, rent,
expenses, costs, indemnities, insurance recoveries, damages for the
breach of any of the Collateral Transaction Documents or otherwise,
all security and supporting obligations for amounts payable
hereunder and thereunder and performance of all obligations
hereunder and thereunder, including, without limitation,
(A) all rights of the Guarantor to the Franchise IP under the
Franchisor IP License Agreement and (B) all rights of the
Guarantor under the Servicing Agreement and in and to all records,
reports and documents in which the Guarantor has any interest
thereunder, and all rights, remedies, powers, privileges and claims
of the Guarantor against any other party under or with respect to
the Collateral Transaction Documents (whether arising pursuant to
the terms of the Collateral Transaction Documents or otherwise
available to the Guarantor at law or in equity), the right to
enforce any of the Collateral Transaction Documents and to give or
withhold any and all consents, requests, notices, directions,
approvals, extensions or waivers under or with respect to the
Collateral Transaction Documents or the obligations of any party
thereunder;
(iii) any Securitization Entity
Operating Account owned by the Guarantor, each Account Agreement
related thereto and all monies and other property (including
Investment Property and Financial Assets) on deposit or credited
from time to time in each such account and all Proceeds
thereof;
(iv) all other assets of the
Guarantor now owned or at any time hereafter acquired by the
Guarantor, including, without limitation, all of the following
(each as defined in the New York UCC): all accounts, chattel paper,
deposit accounts, documents, general intangibles, goods,
instruments (including, without limitation, any Non-Cash Proceeds
Notes), securities accounts and other investment property,
commercial tort claims, letter-of-credit rights, letters of credit
and money;
(v) all additional property that may
from time to time hereafter (pursuant to the terms of any Series
Supplement or otherwise) be subjected to the grant and pledge
hereof by the Guarantor; and
(vi) to the extent not otherwise
included, all Proceeds and products of any and all of the foregoing
and all collateral security and guarantees or other supporting
obligations given by any Person with respect to any of the
foregoing;
provided that the Collateral shall not include any
Excluded Amounts, any Securitization Entity Excluded Amounts
Lock-Box Account or any Securitization Entity Excluded Amounts
Concentration Account.
6
(b) The foregoing grant is made in
trust to secure the Obligations and to secure compliance with the
provisions of this Agreement, all as provided in this Agreement.
The Trustee, on behalf of the Secured Parties, acknowledges such
grant, accepts the trusts under this Agreement in accordance with
the provisions of this Agreement and agrees to perform its duties
required in this Agreement. The Collateral shall secure the
Obligations equally and ratably without prejudice, priority or
distinction (except, with respect to any Series of Notes, as
otherwise stated in the applicable Series Supplement or the
applicable provisions of the Base Indenture).
3.2 Certain Rights and
Obligations of the Guarantor Unaffected .
(a) Notwithstanding the grant of the
security interest in the Collateral hereunder to the Trustee, on
behalf of the Secured Parties, the Guarantor acknowledges that the
Servicer, on behalf of the Securitization Entities shall, subject
to the terms and conditions of the Servicing Agreement,
nevertheless have the right, subject to the Trustee’s right
to revoke such right in the event of the occurrence of an Event of
Default, (i) to give, in accordance with the Servicing
Standard, all consents, requests, notices, directions, approvals,
extensions or waivers, if any, which are required or permitted to
be given by the Guarantor in the ordinary course of business under
the Collateral Documents, and to enforce all rights, remedies,
powers, privileges and claims of the Guarantor under the Collateral
Documents and (ii) to give, in accordance with the Servicing
Standard, all consents, requests, notices, directions and
approvals, if any, which are required or permitted to be given by
the Guarantor under the Franchisor IP License Agreement.
(b) The grant of the security
interest by the Guarantor in the Collateral to the Trustee on
behalf of the Secured Parties shall not (i) relieve the
Guarantor from the performance of any term, covenant, condition or
agreement on the Guarantor’s part to be performed or observed
under or in connection with any of the Collateral Documents or
(ii) impose any obligation on the Trustee or any of the
Secured Parties to perform or observe any such term, covenant,
condition or agreement on the Guarantor’s part to be so
performed or observed or impose any liability on the Trustee or any
of the Secured Parties for any act or omission on the part of the
Guarantor or from any breach of any representation or warranty on
the part of the Guarantor.
3.3 Performance of Collateral
Documents .
Upon the occurrence of a default or
breach (a) by any Sonic Entity (other than the Guarantor)
party to a Collateral Transaction Document or (b) by any
Person (other than any Sonic Entity) party to a Collateral
Franchise Document (only if a Servicer Termination Event or an
Event of Default has occurred and is continuing) promptly following
a request from the Trustee to do so and at the Guarantor’s
expense, the Guarantor agrees to take all such lawful action as
permitted under this Agreement as the Trustee (acting at the
direction of the Control Party) may reasonably request to compel or
secure the performance and observance by such Person of its
obligations to the Guarantor, and to exercise any and all rights,
remedies, powers and privileges lawfully
7
available to the Guarantor to the extent and in
the manner directed by the Trustee (acting at the direction of the
Control Party), including, without limitation, the transmission of
notices of default and the institution of legal or administrative
actions or proceedings to compel or secure performance by such
Person of its obligations thereunder. If (i) the Guarantor
shall have failed, within fifteen (15) days of receiving the
direction of the Trustee, to take action to accomplish such
directions of the Trustee, (ii) the Guarantor refuses to take
any such action, as reasonably determined by the Trustee in good
faith, or (iii) the Control Party reasonably determines that
such action must be taken immediately, in any such case the Control
Party may, but shall not be obligated to, take, and the Trustee
shall take (if so directed by the Control Party), at the expense of
the Guarantor, such previously directed action and any related
action permitted under this Agreement which the Control Party
thereafter determines is appropriate (without the need under this
provision or any other provision under this Agreement to direct the
Guarantor to take such action), on behalf of the Guarantor and the
Secured Parties.
3.4 Stamp, Other Similar Taxes
and Filing Fees .
The Guarantor shall indemnify and
hold harmless the Trustee and each Secured Party from any present
or future claim for liability for any stamp, documentary or other
similar tax, and any penalties or interest and expenses with
respect thereto, that may be assessed, levied or collected by any
jurisdiction in connection with this Agreement, any other Related
Document or any Collateral. The Guarantor shall pay, indemnify and
hold harmless each Secured Party against any and all amounts in
respect of all search, filing, recording and registration fees,
excise taxes and other similar imposts that may be payable or
determined to be payable in respect of the execution, delivery,
performance and/or enforcement of this Agreement or any other
Related Document.
3.5 Authorization to File
Financing Statements .
The Guarantor hereby irrevocably
authorizes the Secured Parties at any time and from time to time to
file or record in any filing office in the United States, any state
thereof and any Designated Foreign Country financing statements and
other filing or recording documents or instruments with respect to
the Collateral to p