Exhibit 4.3
REGISTRATION RIGHTS
AGREEMENT
by and among
Ingles Markets,
Incorporated
and
Banc of America Securities
LLC
Wachovia Capital Markets,
LLC
BB&T Capital Markets, a
division of Scott & Stringfellow, LLC
Dated as of May 12, 2009
REGISTRATION RIGHTS
AGREEMENT
This Registration Rights Agreement (this
“Agreement”) is made and entered into as of May 12,
2009, by and among Ingles Markets, Incorporated, a North Carolina
corporation (the “Company”), and Banc of America
Securities LLC, Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC and BB&T Capital
Markets, a division of Scott & Stringfellow, LLC (collectively,
the “Initial Purchasers”), each of whom has agreed to
purchase the Company’s 8-7/8% Senior Notes due 2017 (the
“Initial Securities”) pursuant to the Purchase
Agreement (as defined below).
This Agreement is made pursuant to the Purchase
Agreement, dated April 30, 2009 (the “Purchase
Agreement”), between the Company, and the Initial Purchasers
(i) for the benefit of the Initial Purchasers and (ii) for the
benefit of the holders from time to time of the Initial Securities,
including the Initial Purchasers. In order to induce the
Initial Purchasers to purchase the Initial Securities, the Company
has agreed to provide the registration rights set forth in this
Agreement. The execution and delivery of this Agreement
is a condition to the obligations of the Initial Purchasers set
forth in Section 5(f) of the Purchase Agreement.
The parties hereby agree as follows:
SECTION 1.
Definitions
. As used in this
Agreement, the following capitalized terms shall have the following
meanings:
Additional Interest: As defined in Section 5
hereof.
Additional Interest Payment
Date: With
respect to the Initial Securities, each Interest Payment
Date.
Advice: As defined in Section 6(c) hereof.
Agreement: As defined in the preamble
hereto.
Broker-Dealer:
Any broker or dealer registered under
the Exchange Act.
Business Day: Any day other than a Saturday, Sunday
or U.S. federal holiday or a day on which banking institutions or
trust companies located in New York, New York are authorized or
obligated to be closed.
Closing Date: The date of this Agreement.
Commission: The Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Company: As defined in the preamble
hereto.
Consummate: An Exchange Offer shall be deemed
“Consummated” for purposes of this Agreement upon the
occurrence of (i) the filing and effectiveness under the Securities
Act of the Exchange Offer Registration Statement relating to the
Exchange Securities to be issued in the Exchange Offer, (ii) the
maintenance of such Registration Statement continuously effective
and the keeping of the Exchange Offer open for a period not less
than the minimum period required pursuant to Section 3(b) hereof,
and (iii) the delivery by the Company to the Registrar under the
Indenture of Exchange Securities in the same aggregate principal
amount as the aggregate principal amount of Transfer Restricted
Securities that were validly tendered by Holders thereof and
accepted by the Company pursuant to the Exchange Offer.
Effectiveness Target Date:
As defined in Section 5
hereof.
Exchange Act: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended.
Exchange Offer:
The registration by the Company under
the Securities Act of the Exchange Securities pursuant to a
Registration Statement pursuant to which the Company offers the
Holders of all outstanding Transfer Restricted Securities, so
permitted under applicable law and Commission policy to participate
in such an offer, the opportunity to exchange all such outstanding
Transfer Restricted Securities held by such Holders for Exchange
Securities in an aggregate principal amount equal to the aggregate
principal amount of the Transfer Restricted Securities validly
tendered by such Holders and accepted by the Company in such
exchange offer.
Exchange Offer Registration
Statement: The Registration Statement relating to the
Exchange Offer, including the related Prospectus.
Exchange Securities:
The 8-7/8% Senior Notes due 2017, of
the same series under the Indenture as the Initial Securities, to
be issued to Holders in exchange for Transfer Restricted Securities
in the Exchange Offer.
FINRA: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority,
Inc.
Holders: As defined in Section 2(b) hereof.
Indemnified Holder:
As defined in Section 8(a)
hereof.
Indenture: The Indenture, dated as of May 12, 2009, by and
between the Company and U.S. Bank, N.A., as trustee (the
“Trustee”), pursuant to which the Securities are to be
issued, as such Indenture is amended or supplemented from time to
time in accordance with the terms thereof.
Initial Purchaser:
As defined in the preamble
hereto.
Initial Placement:
The issuance and sale by the Company
of the Initial Securities to the Initial Purchasers pursuant to the
Purchase Agreement.
Initial Securities:
As defined in the preamble
hereto.
Interest Payment Date:
As defined in the Indenture and the
Securities.
Person: An individual, partnership, corporation, trust or
unincorporated organization, or a government or agency or political
subdivision thereof.
Prospectus: The prospectus included in a Registration
Statement (including, without limitation, any “issuer free
writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 433 under the
Securities Act), as amended or supplemented by any prospectus
supplement and by all other amendments thereto, including
post-effective amendments, and all material incorporated by
reference into such Prospectus.
Purchase Agreement: As defined in the preamble
hereto.
Registration Default:
As defined in Section 5
hereof.
Registration Statement:
Any registration statement of the
Company relating to (a) an offering of Exchange Securities pursuant
to an Exchange Offer or (b) the registration for resale of Transfer
Restricted Securities pursuant to the Shelf Registration Statement,
in each case (i) which is filed pursuant to the provisions of this
Agreement, (ii) including the Prospectus included therein, all
amendments and supplements thereto (including post-effective
amendments) and (iii) including all exhibits and material
incorporated by reference therein.
Securities: The Initial Securities and the Exchange
Securities.
Securities Act:
The Securities Act of 1933, as
amended.
Selling Holder: Any Holder named as a selling
security holder in any Registration Statement.
Shelf Filing Deadline:
As defined in Section 4(a)
hereof.
Shelf Registration
Statement: As
defined in Section 4(a) hereof.
Trust Indenture Act:
The Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as
amended.
Transfer Restricted
Securities: Each Initial Security, until the earliest to
occur of (a) the date on which such Initial Security is exchanged
in the Exchange Offer for an Exchange Security entitled to be
resold to the public by the Holder thereof without complying with
the prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act, (b) the
date on which such Initial Security has been effectively registered
under the Securities Act and disposed of in accordance with a Shelf
Registration Statement and (c) the date on which such Initial
Security is distributed by a Broker-Dealer pursuant to the
“Plan of Distribution” contemplated by the Exchange
Offer Registration Statement (including delivery of the Prospectus
contained therein).
Underwritten Registration or Underwritten
Offering: A
registration in which securities of the Company are sold to an
underwriter for reoffering to the public.
SECTION 2.
Securities Subject to this
Agreement .
(a)
Transfer Restricted
Securities. The securities entitled to the benefits of this
Agreement are the Transfer Restricted Securities.
(b)
Holders of Transfer Restricted
Securities. A
Person is deemed to be a holder of Transfer Restricted Securities
(each, a “Holder”) whenever such Person owns Transfer
Restricted Securities.
SECTION 3.
Registered Exchange
Offer .
(a)
Unless the Exchange Offer shall not
be permissible under applicable law or Commission policy (after the
procedures set forth in Section 6(a) hereof have been complied
with), the Company shall (i) file with the Commission as soon as
practicable after the Closing Date, but in no event later than 120
days after the Closing Date (or if such 120th day is not a Business
Day, the next succeeding Business Day), a Registration Statement
under the Securities Act relating to the Exchange Securities and
the Exchange Offer, (ii) use its reasonable best efforts to cause
such Registration Statement to be declared effective at the
earliest possible time, but in no event later than 210 days after
the Closing Date (or if such 210th day is not a Business Day, the
next succeeding Business Day), (iii) in connection with the
foregoing, file (A) all pre-effective amendments to such
Registration Statement as may be necessary in order to cause such
Registration Statement to become effective, (B) if applicable, a
post-effective amendment to such Registration Statement pursuant to
Rule 430A under the Securities Act and (C) cause all necessary
filings in connection with the registration and qualification of
the Exchange Securities to be made under the state securities or
blue sky laws of such jurisdictions as are necessary to permit
Consummation of the Exchange Offer, and (iv) upon the effectiveness
of such Registration Statement, commence the Exchange
Offer. The Exchange Offer shall be on the appropriate
form permitting registration of the Exchange Securities to be
offered in exchange for the Transfer Restricted Securities and to
permit resales of Initial Securities held by Broker-Dealers as
contemplated by Section 3(c) hereof.
(b)
The Company shall cause the Exchange
Offer Registration Statement to be effective continuously and shall
keep the Exchange Offer open for a period of not less than the
minimum period required under applicable federal and state
securities laws to Consummate the Exchange Offer; provided,
however , that in no event shall such period be less than 30
days after the date notice of the Exchange Offer is mailed to the
Holders. The Company shall cause the Exchange Offer to
comply with all applicable federal and state securities
laws. No securities other than the Exchange Securities
shall be included in the Exchange Offer Registration
Statement. The Company shall use its reasonable best
efforts to cause the Exchange Offer to be Consummated on the
earliest practicable date after the Exchange Offer Registration
Statement has become effective, but in no event later than 250 days
after the Closing Date (or if such 250th day is not a Business Day,
the next succeeding Business Day).
(c)
The Company shall indicate in a
“Plan of Distribution” section contained in the
Prospectus forming a part of the Exchange Offer Registration
Statement that any Broker-Dealer who holds Initial Securities that
are Transfer Restricted Securities and that were acquired for its
own account as a result of market-making activities or other
trading activities (other than Transfer Restricted Securities
acquired directly from the Company or an affiliate of the Company),
may exchange such Initial Securities pursuant to the Exchange
Offer; however, such Broker-Dealer may be deemed to be an
“underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act
and must, therefore, deliver a prospectus meeting the requirements
of the Securities Act in connection with any resales of the
Exchange Securities received by such Broker-Dealer in the Exchange
Offer, which prospectus delivery requirement may be satisfied by
the delivery by such Broker-Dealer of the Prospectus contained in
the Exchange Offer Registration Statement. Such
“Plan of Distribution” section shall also contain all
other information with respect to such resales by Broker-Dealers
that the Commission may require in order to permit such resales
pursuant thereto, but such “Plan of Distribution” shall
not name any such Broker-Dealer or disclose the amount of Initial
Securities held by any such Broker-Dealer except to the extent
required by the Commission as a result of a change in policy after
the date of this Agreement.
The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts
to keep the Exchange Offer Registration Statement continuously
effective, supplemented and amended as required by the provisions
of Section 6(c) hereof to the extent necessary to ensure that it is
available for resales of Initial Securities acquired by
Broker-Dealers for their own accounts as a result of market-making
activities or other trading activities, and to ensure that it
conforms with the requirements of this Agreement, the Securities
Act and the policies, rules and regulations of the Commission as
announced from time to time, for a period ending on the earlier of
(i) 180 days from the date on which the Exchange Offer Registration
Statement is declared effective and (ii) the date on which a
Broker-Dealer is no longer required to deliver a prospectus in
connection with market-making or other trading
activities.
The Company shall provide sufficient copies of
the latest version of such Prospectus to Broker-Dealers promptly
upon request at any time during such 180-day (or shorter as
provided in the foregoing sentence) period in order to facilitate
such resales.
SECTION 4.
Shelf Registration
.
(a)
Shelf
Registration. If (i) as a result of any changes in law or
applicable interpretations of the staff of the Commission (after
the procedures set forth in Section 6(a) hereof have been complied
with) the Company is not permitted to file an Exchange Offer
Registration Statement or to consummate the Exchange Offer, (ii)
for any reason the Exchange Offer is not Consummated within 250
days after the Closing Date (or if such 250th day is not a Business
Day, the next succeeding Business Day), (iii) prior to the
Consummation of the Exchange Offer the Initial Purchasers request
from the Company with respect to Transfer Restricted Securities not
eligible to be exchanged for Exchange Securities in the Exchange
Offer or (iv) with respect to any Holder of Transfer Restricted
Securities (A) such Holder is prohibited by applicable law or
Commission policy from participating in the Exchange Offer, or (B)
such Holder may not resell the Exchange Securities acquired by it
in the Exchange Offer to the public without delivering a prospectus
and that the Prospectus contained in the Exchange Offer
Registration Statement is not appropriate or available for such
resales by such Holder, or (C) such Holder is a Broker-Dealer and
holds Initial Securities acquired directly from the Company or one
of its affiliates, then, upon such Holder’s request, the
Company shall
(x) file
with the Commission a shelf registration statement pursuant to Rule
415 under the Securities Act, which may be an amendment to the
Exchange Offer Registration Statement (in either event, the
“Shelf Registration Statement”) as promptly as
practicable (such date being the “Shelf Filing
Deadline”), which Shelf Registration Statement shall provide
for resales of all Transfer Restricted Securities the Holders of
which shall have provided the information required pursuant to
Section 4(b) hereof; and
(y) use
its reasonable best efforts to cause such Shelf Registration
Statement to be declared effective by the Commission as promptly as
practicable, but no later than (A) 90 days (or if such 90th day is
not a Business Day, the next succeeding Business Day) or (B) 30
days if the Shelf Registration Statement is not reviewed by the
Commission (or if such 30th day is not a Business Day, the next
succeeding Business Day), after the time such obligation to file
first arises.
The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts
to keep such Shelf Registration Statement continuously effective,
supplemented and amended as required by the provisions of Sections
6(b) and (c) hereof to the extent necessary to ensure that it is
available for resales of Initial Securities by the Holders of
Transfer Restricted Securities entitled to the benefit of this
Section 4(a), and to ensure that it conforms with the requirements
of this Agreement, the Securities Act and the policies, rules and
regulations of the Commission as announced from time to time, for a
period of at least two years following the Closing Date (or shorter
period that will terminate when all the Initial Securities covered
by such Shelf Registration Statement have been sold pursuant to
such Shelf Registration Statement).
(b)
Provision by Holders of Certain
Information in Connection with the Shelf Registration
Statement. No
Holder of Transfer Restricted Securities may include any of its
Transfer Restricted Securities in any Shelf Registration Statement
pursuant to this Agreement unless and until such Holder furnishes
to the Company in writing, within 20 days after receipt of a
request therefor, such information as the Company may reasonably
request for use in connection with any Shelf Registration Statement
or Prospectus or preliminary Prospectus included
therein. Each Holder as to which any Shelf Registration
Statement is being effected agrees to furnish promptly to the
Company all information required to be disclosed in order to make
the information previously furnished to the Company by such Holder
not materially misleading.
SECTION 5.
Additional
Interest. If
(i) any of the Registration Statements required by this Agreement
is not filed with the Commission on or prior to the date specified
for such filing in this Agreement, (ii) any of such Registration
Statements has not been declared effective by the Commission on or
prior to the date specified for such effectiveness in this
Agreement (the “Effectiveness Target Date”), (iii) the
Exchange Offer has not been Consummated within 30 Business Days
after the Effectiveness Target Date with respect to the Exchange
Offer Registration Statement or (iv) any Registration Statement
required by this Agreement is filed and declared effective but
shall thereafter cease to be effective or fail to be usable for its
intended purpose for more than 30 days in the aggregate of any 12
consecutive month period (each such event referred to in clauses
(i) through (iv), a “Registration Default”), the
Company hereby agrees that the interest rate borne by the Transfer
Restricted Securities shall be increased by 0.25% per annum during
the 90-day period immediately following the occurrence of any
Registration Default and shall increase by 0.25% per annum at the
end of each subsequent 90-day period, but in no event shall such
increase exceed 1.00% per annum (any such increase in the interest
rate borne by the Transfer Restricted Securities being referred to
herein as “Additional Interest”). Following
the cure of all Registration Defaults relating to any particular
Transfer Restricted Securities, the interest rate borne by the
relevant Transfer Restricted Securities will be reduced to the
original interest rate borne by such Transfer Restricted
Securities; provided, however, that, if after any such
reduction in interest rate, a different Registration Default
occurs, the interest rate borne by the relevant Transfer Restricted
Securities shall again be increased pursuant to the foregoing
provisions to give effect to any such Additional
Interest.
All obligations of the Company set forth in the
preceding paragraph that are outstanding with respect to any
Transfer Restricted Security at the time such security ceases to be
a Transfer Restricted Security shall survive until such time as all
such obligations with respect to such security shall have been
satisfied in full.
SECTION 6.
Registration Procedures
.
(a)
Exchange Offer Registration
Statement. In
connection with the Exchange Offer, the Company shall comply with
all of the provisions of Section 6(c) hereof, shall use its
reasonable best efforts to effect such exchange to permit the sale
of Transfer Restricted Securities being sold in accordance with the
intended method or methods of distribution thereof, and shall
comply with all of the following provisions:
(i)
If in the reasonable opinion of
counsel to the Company there is a question as to whether the
Exchange Offer is permitted by applicable law, the Company hereby
agrees to seek a no-action letter or other favorable decision from
the Commission allowing the Company to Consummate an Exchange Offer
for such Initial Securities. The Company hereby agrees
to pursue the issuance of such a decision to the Commission staff
level but shall not be required to take commercially unreasonable
action to effect a change of Commission policy. The
Company hereby agrees, however, to (A) participate in telephonic
conferences with the Commission, (B) deliver to the Commission
staff an analysis prepared by counsel to the Company setting forth
the legal bases, if any, upon which such counsel has concluded that
such an Exchange Offer should be permitted and (C) diligently
pursue a favorable resolution by the Commission staff of such
submission.
(ii)
As a condition to its participation
in the Exchange Offer pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, each
Holder of Transfer Restricted Securities shall furnish, upon the
request of the Company, prior to the Consummation thereof, a
written representation to the Company (which may be contained in
the letter of transmittal contemplated by the Exchange Offer
Registration Statement) to the effect that (A) it is not an
affiliate of the Company, (B) it is not engaged in, and does not
intend to engage in, and has no arrangement or understanding with
any Person to participate in, a distribution of the Exchange
Securities to be issued in the Exchange Offer and (C) it is
acquiring the Exchange Securities in its ordinary course of
business. In addition, all such Holders of Transfer
Restricted Securities shall otherwise cooperate in the
Company’s preparations for the Exchange
Offer. Each Holder hereby acknowledges and agrees that
any Broker-Dealer and any such Holder using the Exchange Offer to
participate in a distribution of the securities to be acquired in
the Exchange Offer (1) could not under Commission policy as in
effect on the date of this Agreement rely on the position of the
Commission enunciated in Morgan Stanley and Co., Inc.
(available June 5, 1991) and Exxon Capital Holdings
Corporation (available May 13, 1988), as interpreted in the
Commission’s letter to Shearman & Sterling dated July 2,
1993, and similar no-action letters (which may include any
no-action letter obtained pursuant to clause (i) above), and (2)
must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery
requirements of the Securities Act in connection with a secondary
resale transaction and that such a secondary resale transaction
should be covered by an effective registration statement containing
the selling security holder information required by Item 507 or
508, as applicable, of Regulation S-K if the resales are of
Exchange Securities obtained by such Holder in exchange for Initial
Securities acquired by such Holder directly from the
Company.
(b)
Shelf Registration
Statement. In
connection with the Shelf Registration Statement, the Company shall
comply with all the provisions of Section 6(c) hereof and shall use
its reasonable best efforts to effect such registration to permit
the sale of the Transfer Restricted Securities being sold in
accordance with the intended method or methods of distribution
thereof, and pursuant thereto the Company will as expeditiously as
possible prepare and file with the Commission a Registration
Statement relating to the registration on any appropriate form
under the Securities Act, which form shall be available for the
sale of the Transfer Restricted Securities in accordance with the
intended method or methods of distribution thereof.
(c)
General
Provisions. In
connection with any Registration Statement and any Prospectus
required by this Agreement to permit the sale or resale of Transfer
Restricted Securities (including, without limitation, any
Registration Statement and the related Prospectus required to
permit resales of Initial Securities by Broker-Dealers), the
Company shall:
(i)
use its reasonable best efforts to
keep such Registration Statement continuously effective and provide
all requisite financial statements for the period specified in
Section 3 or 4 hereof, as applicable; upon the occurrence of any
event that would cause any such Registration Statement or the
Prospectus contained therein (A) to contain a material misstatement
or omission or (B) not to be effective and usable for resale of
Transfer Restricted Securities during the period required by this
Agreement, the Company shall file promptly an appropriate amendment
to such Registration Statement, in the case of clause (A),
correcting any such misstatement or omission, and, in the case of
either clause (A) or (B), use its reasonable best efforts to cause
such amendment to be declared effective and such Registration
Statement and the related Prospectus to become usable for their
intended purpose(s) as soon as practicable thereafter;
(ii)
prepare and file with the Commission
such amendments and post-effective amendments to the applicable
Registration Statement as may be necessary to keep the Registration
Statement effective for the applicable period set forth in Section
3 or 4 hereof, as applicable, or such shorter period as will
terminate when all Transfer Restricted Securities covered by such
Registration Statement have been sold; cause the Prospectus to be
supplemented by any required Prospectus supplement, and as so
supplemented to be filed pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities
Act, and to comply fully with the applicable provisions of Rules
424 and 430A under the Securities Act in a timely manner; and
comply with the provisions of the Securities Act with respect to
the disposition of all securities covered by such Registration
Statement during the applicable period in accordance with the
intended method or methods of distribution by the sellers thereof
set forth in such Registration Statement or supplement to the
Prospectus;
(iii)
advise the underwriter(s), if
a