Exhibit 4.3
EXECUTION COPY
$275,000,000
PQ Corporation
7½ % Senior Subordinated Notes due
2013
REGISTRATION RIGHTS
AGREEMENT
February 11, 2005
CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON LLC
J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES INC.
UBS SECURITIES LLC
c/o Credit Suisse First Boston LLC
Eleven Madison Avenue
New York, New York
10010-3629
Dear Sirs:
Niagara Acquisition, Inc., a
Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), proposes
to issue and sell to Credit Suisse First Boston LLC (“
CSFB ”), J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. (“
JPMorgan ”) and UBS Securities LLC (collectively,
the “ Initial Purchasers ”), upon the terms set
forth in a purchase agreement of even date herewith (the “
Purchase Agreement ”), $275,000,000 aggregate
principal amount of its 7½% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2013
(the “ Initial Securities ”) to be
unconditionally guaranteed (the “ Guaranties ”)
by each of the guarantors listed in Schedule I hereto
(collectively, the “ Guarantors ”). The
Initial Securities will be issued pursuant to an Indenture, dated
as of February 11, 2005, (the “ Indenture
”) among the Company, the Guarantors and Wells Fargo Bank,
National Association (the “ Trustee ”). As
an inducement to the Initial Purchasers to enter into the Purchase
Agreement, the Company and the Guarantors have agreed to enter into
this Agreement. Immediately following the consummation of the
Merger (as defined in the Purchase Agreement), references in this
Agreement to the Company will mean PQ Corporation, a Pennsylvania
corporation as the surviving company in the Merger.
Accordingly, the Company and the Guarantors agree 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 ”) and the Market Maker (as defined below), as
follows:
1.
Registered Exchange Offer . Unless not permitted
by applicable law (after the Company has complied with the ultimate
paragraph of this Section 1), the Company shall, at its own
cost, prepare and, not later than 120 days (or if the 120
th day is not a business day, the first business day
thereafter) (such 120 th day, or the first business day
thereafter, being a “ Filing Deadline ”) after the date of
original issue of the Initial Securities (the “
Issue Date ”), 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 7
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 7 hereof) that would be
registered under the Securities Act. The Company shall use
its commercially reasonable efforts to (i) cause such Exchange
Offer Registration Statement to become effective under the
Securities Act within 330 days (or if the 330 th
day is not a business day, the first business day thereafter) after
the Issue Date of the Initial Securities (such 330 th
day, or the first business day thereafter, being an “
Effectiveness Deadline
”)
and
(ii) keep the Exchange Offer Registration Statement effective
for not less than 30 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 ”).
If the Company commences the
Registered Exchange Offer, the Company (i) will be required to
consummate the Registered Exchange Offer 30 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 and (ii) will
be required to consummate the Registered Exchange Offer not later
than 40 days (or if the 40 th day is not a business day,
the first business day thereafter)after the date on which the
Exchange Offer Registration Statement is declared effective (such
40 th day, or the first business day thereafter, the
“ Consummation Deadline ”).
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 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 or dealer registered under the Exchange Act (a
“broker-dealer”) electing to exchange Initial
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 Private
Exchange Securities (as defined below) acquired in exchange for
Initial 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. All
references in this Agreement to “prospectus” shall,
except when context otherwise requires, include any prospectus (or
amendment or supplement thereto) filed with the Commission pursuant
to Section 4 of this Agreement.
The Company shall use its
commercially reasonable 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 (or
such shorter period during which such persons are required by law
to deliver such prospectus) 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 or other person with similar prospectus delivery
requirements for use in connection with any resale of any Exchange
Securities for a period of not less than 180 days after the
effective date of the Exchange Offer Registration Statement (or
such shorter period during which such persons are required by law
to deliver such prospectus).
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
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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 7 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 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 Initial 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 Issue
Date.
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 (within the
meaning of the Securities Act) of the Exchange Securities,
(iii) such Holder is not an “ affiliate ,”
as defined
3
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, as contemplated by Section 1
hereof, (ii) for any other reason the Registered Exchange
Offer is not consummated within 370 days of the Issue Date,
(iii) any Initial Purchaser shall notify the Company following
consummation of the Registered Exchange Offer that the Initial
Securities (or the Private Exchange Securities) held by it are not
eligible to be exchanged for Exchange Securities in the Registered
Exchange Offer or (iv) any Holder (other than an Exchanging
Dealer) is prohibited by law or Commission policy from
participating 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 may not resell the
Exchange Securities acquired by it in the Registered Exchange Offer
to the public without delivering a prospectus, the Company shall
take the following actions (the date on which any of the conditions
described in the foregoing clauses
(i) through (iv) occur being a “
Trigger Date ”):
(a) The
Company shall (x) at its cost, as promptly as practicable (but in
no event more than 30 days after the Trigger Date (or if the 30
th day is not a business day, the first business day
thereafter) file with the Commission and thereafter shall use its
commercially reasonable efforts to, in the case of a Shelf
Registration Statement filed pursuant to clause (i) of the
foregoing paragraph, no later than 330 days after the Issue Date
(or if the 330 th day is not a business day, the first
business day thereafter) and (y) at its cost, as promptly as
practicable (but in no event more than 60 days after the Trigger
Date (or if the 60 th day is not a business day, the
first business day thereafter) (such 30 th or 60
th day, or the first business day thereafter, as the
case may be, being a “ Filing Deadline ”) file with the
Commission and thereafter shall use its commercially reasonable
efforts to, in the case of a Shelf Registration Statement filed
pursuant to clause (ii), (iii) or (iv) of the foregoing
paragraph, no later than 90 days after the applicable Filing
Deadline (or if the 90 th day is not a business day, the
first business day thereafter) (such 330 th or 90
th day, or the first business day thereafter, as the
case may be, being an “Effectiveness Deadline”), cause
to be declared effective under the Securities Act a registration
statement (the “Shelf Registration Statement” and,
together with the Exchange Offer Registration Statement and any
Market Making Registration Statement (as defined below), a
“Registration Statement”) on an appropriate form under
the Securities Act relating to the offer and sale of the Transfer
Restricted Securities 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 (other than an Initial Purchaser) shall be
entitled to have the Securities held by it covered by such Shelf
Registration Statement
4
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 commercially reasonable 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) can be sold pursuant to Rule 144 under the
Securities Act without any limitations under clauses (c), (e),
(f) and (h) thereof. The Company shall be deemed
not to have used its commercially reasonable 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 or pursuant to
Section 7(b) hereof.
(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 commercially reasonable 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 Initial Purchasers based upon advice of counsel
(which may be in-house counsel), represent the
5
prevailing views
of the staff of the Commission; and (v) in the case of a Shelf
Registration Statement, include the names of the Holders, who
propose to sell Securities pursuant to the Shelf Registration
Statement, as selling security holders, and who have furnished to
the Company the information required by
Section 3(n).
(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;
(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 use its commercially reasonable efforts 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 thereto, including financial statements and schedules,
and, if the Holder so requests in writing, all exhibits thereto
(including those, if any, incorporated by reference).
(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
6
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 as may
be reasonably requested 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 or as a
dealer in securities 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).
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(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 Exchange
Securities or the Private Exchange Securities, as the case may be,
in a form eligible for deposit with The Depository Trust
Company.
(l) The
Company will comply with all rules and regulations of the
Commission to the extent and so long as they are applicable to the
Registered Exchange Offer or the Shelf Registration and will make
generally available to its security holders (or otherwise provide
in accordance with Section 11(a) of the Securities Act)
an earnings statement satisfying the provisions of
Section 11(a) of the Securities Act, no later than
45 days after the end of a 12-month period (or 90 days,
if such period is a fiscal year) beginning with the first month of
the Company’s first fiscal quarter commencing after the
effective date of the Registration Statement, which statement shall
cover such 12-month period.
(m) The
Company shall cause the Indenture to be qualified under the Trust
Indenture Act of 1939, as amended, in a timely manner and
containing such changes, if any, as shall be necessary for such
qualification. In the event that such qualification would
require the appointment of a new trustee under the Indenture, the
Company shall appoint a new trustee thereunder pursuant to the
applicable provisions of the Indenture.
(n) The
Company may require each Holder of Securities to be sold pursuant
to the Shelf Registration Statement to furnish to the Company such
information regarding the Holder and the distribution of the
Securities as the Company may from time to time reasonably require
for inclusion in the Shelf Registration Statement, and the Company
may exclude from such registration the Securities of any Holder
that unreasonably fails to furnish such information within a
reasonable time after receiving such request.
(o) The
Company shall enter into such customary agreements (including, if
requested, an underwriting agreement in customary form) and take
all such other action, if any, as any Holder of the Securities
shall reasonably request in order to facilitate the disposition of
the Securities pursuant to any Shelf Registration.
(p) In the
case of any Shelf Registration, the Company shall (i) make
reasonably available for inspection during normal business hours of
the Company by the Holders of the Securities, any underwriter
participating in any disposition pursuant to the Shelf Registration
Statement and any attorney, accountant or other agent retained by
the Holders of the Securities or any such underwriter all relevant
financial and other records, pertinent corporate documents and
properties of the Company and (ii) cause the Company’s
officers, directors, employees, accountants and auditors to supply
all relevant information reasonably requested by the Holders of the
Securities or any such underwriter, attorney, accountant or agent
in connection with the Shelf Registration Statement, in each case,
as shall be reasonably necessary to enable such persons, to conduct
a reasonable investigation within the meaning of Section 11 of
the Securities Act; provided, however, that the foregoing
inspection and information gathering shall be coordinated on behalf
of the Initial Purchasers by you and on behalf of the other
parties, by one counsel designated by and on behalf of such other
parties as described in Section 5 hereof; provided ,
however , that any information that is designated in writing
by the Company, in good faith, as confidential at the time of
delivery of such information shall be kept confidential by each
such person, unless such disclosure is made in connection with a
court proceeding, to any governmental or regulatory authority
having jurisdiction over each such person or their respective
affiliates or required by law, or such information becomes
available to the public generally or through a third party without
an accompanying obligation of confidentiality.
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(q) In the
case of any Shelf Registration, the Company, if requested by any
Holder of Securities covered thereby, shall cause (i) its
counsel to deliver opinions and updates thereof relating to the
Securities addressed to such Holders and the Managing Underwriters
(as defined below), if any, thereof and dated, in the case of the
initial opinion, the effective date of such Shelf Registration
Statement substantially in the form of the opinion delivered by
such counsel on the Closing Date pursuant to Sections 6(c),
(d) and (e) of the Purchase Agreement with such changes
as are customary in connection with the preparation of a Shelf
Registration Statement; (ii) its officers to execute and
deliver all customary documents and certificates and updates
thereof reasonably requested by any underwriters of the applicable
Securities and (iii) its independent public accountants and
the independent public accountants with respect to any other entity
for which financial information is provided in the Shelf
Registration Statement to provide to the selling Holders of the
applicable Securities and any underwriter therefor a comfort letter
in customary form and covering matters of the type customarily
covered in comfort letters in connection with primary underwritten
offerings, subject to receipt of appropriate documentation as
contemplated, and only if permitted, by Statement of Auditing
Standards No. 72.
(r) In the
case of the Registered Exchange Offer, if requested by any Initial
Purchaser or any known Participating Broker-Dealer, the Company
shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause (i) its
counsel to deliver to such Initial Purchaser or such Participating
Broker-Dealer signed opinions in the form set forth in
Sections 6(c), (d) and (e) of the Purchase Agreement
with such changes as are customary in connection with the
preparation of a Registration Statement and (ii) its
independent public accountants and the independent public
accountants with respect to any other entity for which financial
information is provided in the Registration Statement to deliver to
such Initial Purchaser or such Participating Broker-Dealer a
comfort letter, in customary form, meeting the requirements as to
the substance thereof as set forth in Sections 6(a) and
(h) of the Purchase Agreement, with appropriate date
changes.
(s) If a
Registered Exchange Offer or a Private Exchange is to be
consummated, upon delivery of the Initial Securities by Holders to
the Company (or to such other Person as directed by the Company) in
exchange for the Exchange Securities or the Private Exchange
Securities, as the case may be, the Company shall mark, or cause to
be marked, on the Initial Securities so exchanged that such Initial
Securities are being canceled in exchange for the Exchange
Securities or the Private Exchange Securities, as the case may be;
in no ev
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