Exhibit 4.3
$100,000,000
COMPASS MINERALS INTERNATIONAL,
INC.
8% Senior Notes Due 2019
REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT
June 5, 2009
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC
J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
As Representatives of the Initial
Purchasers
c/o Credit Suisse Securities (USA)
LLC
Eleven Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10010-3629
Dear Sirs:
Compass Minerals International, Inc., a Delaware
corporation (the “Issuer”), proposes to issue and sell
to the financial institutions set forth on Schedule I hereto
(collectively, the “Initial Purchasers”), upon the
terms set forth in a purchase agreement of even date herewith (the
“Purchase Agreement”), $100,000,000 aggregate principal
amount of its 8% Senior Notes due 2019 (the “Initial
Securities”) to be unconditionally guaranteed (the
“Guaranties”) by the Guarantors party to this Agreement
(collectively, the “Guarantors” and, together with the
Issuer, the “Company”). The Initial
Securities will be issued pursuant to an Indenture, dated as of
June 5, 2009 (the “Indenture”), among the Issuer, the
Guarantors and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (the
“Trustee”). Credit Suisse Securities (USA)
LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Goldman, Sachs & Co.
(collectively, the “Representatives”) have agreed to
act as representatives for the Initial Purchasers. As an
inducement to the Initial Purchasers, the Company agrees with the
Initial Purchasers, for the benefit of the holders of the Initial
Securities (including, without limitation, the Initial Purchasers),
the Exchange Securities (as defined below) and the Private Exchange
Securities (as defined below) (collectively the
“Holders”), as follows:
1.
Registered Exchange
Offer . If any
of the Initial Securities are not Freely Tradable on the
Registration Trigger Date, the Company and the Guarantors shall use
their reasonable best efforts to file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration
statement (the “Exchange Offer Registration Statement”)
on an appropriate form under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended
(the “Securities Act”), with respect to a proposed
offer (the “Registered Exchange Offer”) to the Holders
of Transfer Restricted Securities (as defined in Section 6
hereof), who are not prohibited by any law or policy of the
Commission from participating in the Registered Exchange Offer, to
issue and deliver to such Holders, in exchange for the Initial
Securities, a like aggregate principal amount of debt securities
(the “Exchange Securities”) of the Company issued under
the Indenture and identical in all material respects to the Initial
Securities (except for the transfer restrictions relating to the
Initial Securities and the provisions relating to the matters
described in Section 6 hereof) that would be registered under the
Securities Act. The Company shall keep the Exchange
Offer Registration Statement effective for not less than
30 business days (or longer, if required by applicable law)
after the date notice of the Registered Exchange Offer is mailed to
the Holders (such period being called the “Exchange Offer
Registration Period”).
For the purposes of this
Agreement:
Registration Trigger Date
: Means the fifth
Business Day following the one-year anniversary of the date
hereof.
Freely Tradable : Means any Initial Security that at
any time of determination, if it were not held by an affiliate (as
defined in Rule 405) of the Company, (i) may be resold to the
public in accordance with Rule 144 or any successor provision
thereof without volume limitations, (ii) does not bear any
restrictive legends relating to the Securities Act and (iii) does
not bear a restricted CUSIP number.
If the Company effects the
Registered Exchange Offer, the Company will be entitled to close
the Registered Exchange Offer 30 business days after the
commencement thereof provided that the Company has accepted all the
Initial Securities theretofore validly tendered in accordance with
the terms of the Registered Exchange Offer.
Following the declaration of the
effectiveness of the Exchange Offer Registration Statement, the
Company shall promptly commence the Registered Exchange Offer, it
being the objective of such Registered Exchange Offer to enable
each Holder of Transfer Restricted Securities (as defined in
Section 6 hereof) electing to exchange the Initial Securities
for Exchange Securities (assuming that such Holder is not an
affiliate of the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act,
acquires the Exchange Securities in the ordinary course of such
Holder’s business and has no arrangements with any person to
participate in the distribution of the Exchange Securities and is
not prohibited by any law or policy of the Commission from
participating in the Registered Exchange Offer) to trade such
Exchange Securities from and after their receipt without any
limitations or restrictions under the Securities Act and without
material restrictions under the securities laws of the several
states of the United States.
The Company acknowledges that,
pursuant to current interpretations by the Commission’s staff
of Section 5 of the Securities Act, in the absence of an applicable
exemption therefrom, (i) each Holder which is a broker-dealer
electing to exchange Securities, acquired for its own account as a
result of market making activities or other trading activities, for
Exchange Securities (an “Exchanging Dealer”), is
required to deliver a prospectus containing the information set
forth in (a) Annex A hereto on the cover, (b) Annex B hereto in the
“Exchange Offer Procedures” section and the
“Purpose of the Exchange Offer” section, and (c) Annex
C hereto in the “Plan of Distribution” section of such
prospectus in connection with a sale of any such Exchange
Securities received by such Exchanging Dealer pursuant to the
Registered Exchange Offer and (ii) an Initial Purchaser that elects
to sell Exchange Securities acquired in exchange for Securities
constituting any portion of an unsold allotment is required to
deliver a prospectus containing the information required by Items
507 or 508 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act, as
applicable, in connection with such sale.
The Company shall use its best
efforts to keep the Exchange Offer Registration Statement effective
and to amend and supplement the prospectus contained therein, in
order to permit such prospectus to be lawfully delivered by all
persons subject to the prospectus delivery requirements of the
Securities Act for such period of time as such persons must comply
with such requirements in order to resell the Exchange
Securities; provided, however , that (i) in the
case where such prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto
must be delivered by an Exchanging Dealer or an Initial Purchaser,
such period shall be the lesser of 180 days and the date on which
all Exchanging Dealers and the Initial Purchasers have sold all
Exchange Securities held by them (unless such period is extended
pursuant to Section 3(j) below) and (ii) the Company shall make
such prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, available
to any broker-dealer for use in connection with any resale of any
Exchange Securities for a period of not less than 90 days after the
consummation of the Registered Exchange Offer.
If, upon consummation of the
Registered Exchange Offer, any Initial Purchaser holds Initial
Securities acquired by it as part of its initial distribution, the
Company, simultaneously with the delivery of the Exchange
Securities pursuant to the Registered Exchange Offer, shall issue
and deliver to such Initial Purchaser upon the written request of
such Initial Purchaser, in exchange (the “Private
Exchange”) for the Initial Securities held by such Initial
Purchaser, a like principal amount of debt securities of the
Company issued under the Indenture and identical in all material
respects (including the existence of restrictions on transfer under
the Securities Act and the securities laws of the several states of
the United States, but excluding provisions relating to the matters
described in Section 6 hereof) to the Initial Securities (the
“Private Exchange Securities”). The Initial
Securities, the Exchange Securities and the Private Exchange
Securities are herein collectively called the
“Securities”.
In connection with the Registered
Exchange Offer, the Company shall:
(a) mail
to each Holder a copy of the prospectus forming part of the
Exchange Offer Registration Statement, together with an appropriate
letter of transmittal and related documents;
(b) keep
the Registered Exchange Offer open for not less than 30 business
days (or longer, if required by applicable law) after the date
notice thereof is mailed to the Holders;
(c) utilize
the services of a depositary for the Registered Exchange Offer with
an address in the Borough of Manhattan, The City of New York, which
may be the Trustee or an affiliate of the Trustee;
(d) permit
Holders to withdraw tendered Securities at any time prior to the
close of business, New York time, on the last business day on which
the Registered Exchange Offer shall remain open; and
(e) otherwise
comply with all applicable laws.
As soon as practicable after the
close of the Registered Exchange Offer or the Private Exchange, as
the case may be, the Company shall:
(x) accept
for exchange all the Securities validly tendered and not withdrawn
pursuant to the Registered Exchange Offer and the Private
Exchange;
(y) deliver
to the Trustee for cancellation all the Initial Securities so
accepted for exchange; and
(z) cause
the Trustee to authenticate and deliver promptly to each Holder of
the Initial Securities, Exchange Securities or Private Exchange
Securities, as the case may be, equal in principal amount to the
Initial Securities of such Holder so accepted for
exchange.
The Indenture will provide that the
Exchange Securities will not be subject to the transfer
restrictions set forth in the Indenture and that all the Securities
will vote and consent together on all matters as one class and that
none of the Securities will have the right to vote or consent as a
class separate from one another on any matter.
Interest on each Exchange Security
and Private Exchange Security issued pursuant to the Registered
Exchange Offer and in the Private Exchange will accrue from the
last interest payment date on which interest was paid on the
Initial Securities surrendered in exchange therefor or, if no
interest has been paid on the Initial Securities, from the date of
original issue of the Initial Securities.
Each Holder participating in the
Registered Exchange Offer shall be required to represent to the
Company that at the time of the consummation of the Registered
Exchange Offer (i) any Exchange Securities received by such
Holder will be acquired in the ordinary course of business,
(ii) such Holder will have no arrangements or understanding
with any person to participate in the distribution of the
Securities or the Exchange Securities within the meaning of the
Securities Act, (iii) such Holder is not an
“affiliate,” as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities
Act, of the Company or if it is an affiliate, such Holder will
comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements
of the Securities Act to the extent applicable, (iv) if such
Holder is not a broker-dealer, that it is not engaged in, and does
not intend to engage in, the distribution of the Exchange
Securities and (v) if such Holder is a broker-dealer, that it will
receive Exchange Securities for its own account in exchange for
Initial Securities that were acquired as a result of market-making
activities or other trading activities and that it will be required
to acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus in connection with
any resale of such Exchange Securities.
Notwithstanding any other provisions
hereof, the Company will ensure that (i) any Exchange Offer
Registration Statement and any amendment thereto and any prospectus
forming part thereof and any supplement thereto complies in all
material respects with the Securities Act and the rules and
regulations thereunder, (ii) any Exchange Offer Registration
Statement and any amendment thereto does not, when it becomes
effective, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit
to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary
to make the statements therein not misleading and (iii) any
prospectus forming part of any Exchange Offer Registration
Statement, and any supplement to such prospectus, does not include
an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state a material fact required to be stated
therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in
the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading.
2.
Shelf Registration
. If (i) because of any
change in law or in applicable interpretations thereof by the staff
of the Commission, the Company is not permitted to effect a
Registered Exchange Offer and would otherwise be required to effect
a Registered Exchange Offer pursuant to Section 1 hereof, (ii) the
Registered Exchange Offer is not completed by the 45th day
following the Registration Trigger Date and would otherwise be
required pursuant to Section 1 hereof, (iii) any Initial Purchaser
so requests in writing with respect to the Initial Securities (or
the Private Exchange Securities) not eligible to be exchanged for
Exchange Securities in the Registered Exchange Offer and held by it
following consummation of the Registered Exchange Offer (and such
Initial Securities are not otherwise Freely Tradable), (iv) any
Holder (other than an Exchanging Dealer) is not eligible to
participate in the Registered Exchange Offer or, in the case of any
Holder (other than an Exchanging Dealer) that participates in the
Registered Exchange Offer, such Holder does not receive freely
tradable Exchange Securities on the date of the exchange (and such
Initial Securities are not otherwise Freely Tradable) or (v) any
Initial Purchaser so requests with respect to Initial Securities
that constitute any portion of such Initial Purchaser’s
unsold allotment that cannot be sold by the Initial Purchasers in
reliance on Rule 144 of the Securities Act, the Company shall take
the following actions:
(a) The Company shall,
at its cost, as promptly as practicable (but in no event more than
45 days after so required or requested pursuant to this
Section 2) file with the Commission and thereafter shall use
its reasonable best efforts to cause to be declared effective
(unless it becomes effective automatically upon filing) a
registration statement (the “Shelf Registration
Statement” and, together with the Exchange Offer Registration
Statement, a “Registration Statement”) on an
appropriate form under the Securities Act relating to the offer and
sale of the Transfer Restricted Securities (as defined in Section 6
hereof) by the Holders thereof from time to time in accordance with
the methods of distribution set forth in the Shelf Registration
Statement and Rule 415 under the Securities Act (hereinafter, the
“Shelf Registration”); provided, however, that no
Holder shall be entitled to have the Securities held by it covered
by such Shelf Registration Statement unless such Holder agrees in
writing to be bound by all the provisions of this Agreement
applicable to such Holder.
(b) The Company shall
use its reasonable best efforts to keep the Shelf Registration
Statement continuously effective in order to permit the prospectus
included therein to be lawfully delivered by the Holders of the
relevant Securities, for a period of two years (or for such longer
period if extended pursuant to Section 3(j) below) from the Issue
Date or such shorter period that will terminate when all the
Securities covered by the Shelf Registration Statement (i) have
been sold pursuant thereto or (ii) are Freely Tradable in the case
of clauses (i) through (iv) above or can be sold in reliance on
Rule 144 by the Initial Purchasers in the case of clause (v)
above. The Company shall be deemed not to have used its
best efforts to keep the Shelf Registration Statement effective
during the requisite period if it voluntarily takes any action that
would result in Holders of Securities covered thereby not being
able to offer and sell such Securities during that period, unless
such action is required by applicable law.
(c) Notwithstanding
any other provisions of this Agreement to the contrary, the Company
shall cause the Shelf Registration Statement and the related
prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, as of the
effective date of the Shelf Registration Statement, amendment or
supplement, (i) to comply in all material respects with the
applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and
regulations of the Commission and (ii) not to contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they
were made, not misleading.
3.
Registration
Procedures . In connection with any Shelf
Registration contemplated by Section 2 hereof and, to the extent
applicable, any Registered Exchange Offer contemplated by Section 1
hereof, the following provisions shall apply:
(a) The Company shall
(i) furnish to each Initial Purchaser, prior to the filing
thereof with the Commission, a copy of the Registration Statement
and each amendment thereof and each supplement, if
any, to the
prospectus included therein and, in the event that an Initial
Purchaser (with respect to any portion of an unsold allotment from
the original offering) is participating in the Registered Exchange
Offer or the Shelf Registration Statement, the Company shall use
its best efforts to reflect in each such document, when so filed
with the Commission, such comments as such Initial Purchaser
reasonably may propose; (ii) include the information set forth in
Annex A hereto on the cover, in Annex B hereto in the
“Exchange Offer Procedures” section and the
“Purpose of the Exchange Offer” section and in Annex C
hereto in the “Plan of Distribution” section of the
prospectus forming a part of the Exchange Offer Registration
Statement and include the information set forth in Annex D hereto
in the Letter of Transmittal delivered pursuant to the Registered
Exchange Offer; (iii) if requested by an Initial Purchaser, include
the information required by Items 507 or 508 of Regulation S-K
under the Securities Act, as applicable, in the prospectus forming
a part of the Exchange Offer Registration Statement;
(iv) include within the prospectus contained in the Exchange
Offer Registration Statement a section entitled “Plan of
Distribution,” reasonably acceptable to the Initial
Purchasers, which shall contain a summary statement of the
positions taken or policies made by the staff of the Commission
with respect to the potential “underwriter” status of
any broker-dealer that is the beneficial owner (as defined in Rule
13d-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
“Exchange Act”)) of Exchange Securities received by
such broker-dealer in the Registered Exchange Offer (a
“Participating Broker-Dealer”), whether such positions
or policies have been publicly disseminated by the staff of the
Commission or such positions or policies, in the reasonable
judgment of the Representatives based upon advice of counsel (which
may be in-house counsel), represent the prevailing views of the
staff of the Commission; and (v) in the case of a Shelf
Registration Statement, include in the prospectus included in the
Shelf Registration Statement (or, if permitted by Commission
Rule 430B(b), in a prospectus supplement that becomes a part
thereof pursuant to Commission Rule 430B(f)) that is delivered
to any Holder pursuant to Section 3(d) and (f), the names
of the Holders, who propose to sell Securities pursuant to the
Shelf Registration Statement, as selling
securityholders.
(b) The Company shall
give written notice to the Initial Purchasers, the Holders of the
Securities and any Participating Broker-Dealer from whom the
Company has received prior written notice that it will be a
Participating Broker-Dealer in the Registered Exchange Offer (which
notice pursuant to clauses (ii)-(v) hereof shall be accompanied by
an instruction to suspend the use of the prospectus until the
requisite changes have been made):
(i) when the
Registration Statement or any amendment thereto has been filed with
the Commission and when the Registration Statement or any
post-effective amendment thereto has become effective;
(ii) of any request by
the Commission for amendments or supplements to the Registration
Statement or the prospectus included therein or for additional
information;
(iii) of the issuance by
the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of
the Registration Statement or the initiation of any proceedings for
that purpose, of the issuance by the Commission of a notification
of objection to the use of the form on which the Registration
Statement has been filed, and of the happening of any event that
causes the Company to become an “ineligible issuer,” as
defined in Commission Rule 405.
(iv) of the receipt by
the Company or its legal counsel of any notification with respect
to the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for sale
in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of any
proceeding for such purpose; and
(v) of the happening
of any event that requires the Company to make changes in the
Registration Statement or the prospectus in order that the
Registration Statement or the prospectus do not contain an untrue
statement of a material fact nor omit to state a material fact
required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements
therein (in the case of the prospectus, in light of the
circumstances under which they were made) not
misleading.
(c) The Company shall
make every reasonable effort to obtain the withdrawal at the
earliest possible time, of any order suspending the effectiveness
of the Registration Statement.
(d) The Company shall
furnish to each Holder of Securities included within the coverage
of the Shelf Registration, without charge, at least one copy of the
Shelf Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment or
supplement thereto, including financial statements and schedules,
and, if the Holder so requests in writing, all exhibits thereto
(including those, if any, incorporated by
reference). The Company shall not, without the prior
consent of the Initial Purchasers, make any offer relating to the
Securities that would constitute a “free writing
prospectus,” as defined in Commission
Rule 405.
(e) The Company shall
deliver to each Exchanging Dealer and each Initial Purchaser, and
to any other Holder who so requests, without charge, at least one
copy of the Exchange Offer Registration Statement and any
post-effective amendment thereto, including financial statements
and schedules, and, if any Initial Purchaser or any such Holder
requests, all exhibits thereto (including those incorporated by
reference).
(f) The Company shall,
during the Shelf Registration Period, deliver to each Holder of
Securities included within the coverage of the Shelf Registration,
without charge, as many copies of the prospectus (including each
preliminary prospectus) included in the Shelf Registration
Statement and any amendment or supplement thereto as such person
may reasonably request. The Company consents, subject to the
provisions of this Agreement, to the use of the prospectus or any
amendment or supplement thereto by each of the selling Holders of
the Securities in connection with the offering and sale of the
Securities covered by the prospectus, or any amendment or
supplement thereto, included in the Shelf Registration
Statement.
(g) The Company shall
deliver to each Initial Purchaser, any Exchanging Dealer, any
Participating Broker-Dealer and such other persons required to
deliver a prospectus following the Registered Exchange Offer,
without charge, as many copies of the final prospectus included in
the Exchange Offer Registration Statement and any amendment or
supplement thereto as such persons may reasonably
request. The Company consents, subject to the provisions
of this Agreement, to the use of the prospectus or any amendment or
supplement thereto by any Initial Purchaser, if necessary, any
Participating Broker-Dealer and such other persons required to
deliver a prospectus following the Registered Exchange Offer in
connection with the offering and sale of the Exchange Securities
covered by the prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto,
included in such Exchange Offer Registration Statement.
(h) Prior to any
public offering of the Securities, pursuant to any Registration
Statement, the Company shall register or qualify or cooperate with
the Holders of the Securities included therein and their respective
counsel in connection with the registration or qualification of the
Securities for offer and sale under the securities or “blue
sky” laws of such states of the United States as any Holder
of the Securities reasonably requests in writing and do any and all
other acts or things necessary or advisable to enable the offer and
sale in such jurisdictions of the Securities covered by such
Registration Statement; provided, however, that the Company shall
not be required to (i) qualify generally to do business in any
jurisdiction where it is not then so qualified or (ii) take any
action which would subject it to general service of process or to
taxation in any jurisdiction where it is not then so
subject.
(i) The Company shall
cooperate with the Holders of the Securities to facilitate the
timely preparation and delivery of certificates representing the
Securities to be sold pursuant to any Registration Statement free
of any restrictive legends and in such denominations and registered
in such names as the Holders may request a reasonable period of
time prior to sales of the Securities pursuant to such Registration
Statement.
(j) Upon the
occurrence of any event contemplated by paragraphs
(ii) through (v) of Section 3(b) above during the period for
which the Company is required to maintain an effective Registration
Statement, the Company shall promptly prepare and file a
post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement or a
supplement to the related prospectus and any other required
document so that, as thereafter delivered to Holders of the
Securities or purchasers of Securities, the prospectus will not
contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any
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. If
the Company
notifies the Initial Purchasers, the Holders of the Securities and
any known Participating Broker-Dealer in accordance with paragraphs
(ii) through (v) of Section 3(b) above to suspend the use of the
prospectus until the requisite changes to the prospectus have been
made, then the Initial Purchasers, the Holders of the Securities
and any such Participating Broker-Dealers shall suspend use of such
prospectus, and the period of effectiveness of the Shelf
Registration Statement provided for in Section 2(b) above and the
Exchange Offer Registration Statement provided for in Section 1
above shall each be extended by the number of days from and
including the date of the giving of such notice to and including
the date when the Initial Purchasers, the Holders of the Securities
and any known Participating Broker-Dealer shall have received such
amended or supplemented prospectus pursuant to this Section
3(j). During the period during which the Company is
required to maintain an effective Shelf Registration Statement
pursuant to this Agreement, the Company will prior to the
three-year expiration of that Shelf Registration Statement file,
and use its best efforts to cause to be declared effective (unless
it becomes effective automatically upon filing) within a period
that avoids any interruption in the ability of Holders of
Securities covered by the expiring Shelf Registration Statement to
make registered dispositions, a new registration statement relating
to the Securities, which shall be deemed the “Shelf
Registration Statement” for purposes of this
Agreement.
(k) Not later than the
effective date of the applicable Registration Statement, the
Company will provide a CUSIP number for the Initial Securities, the
Exchange Securities or the Private Exchange Securities, as the case
may be, and provide the applicable trustee with printed
certificates for the Initial Securities, the Exc