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Exhibit 10.48
GUARANTOR SECURITY
AGREEMENT
THIS GUARANTOR SECURITY AGREEMENT (this "
Agreement "),
dated as of January 18, 2008, is made by WHITEHALL JEWELERS HOLDINGS, INC. , a Delaware corporation
(together with its successors and assigns, the
" Guarantor ") in favor of LASALLE BANK
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (“Lasalle”), in its capacity as the Collateral
Agent for the Agents and the Lenders party to the Credit Agreement
(defined below) (in such capacity, the " Collateral Agent ").
W I T
N E S
S E T
H :
WHEREAS, pursuant to that certain Third Amended
and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of January 20, 2007 (as
amended or otherwise modified or restated from time to time, the
" Credit Agreement
") among Whitehall Jewelers, Inc., a Delaware
corporation (the " Borrower
"), various lending institutions party thereto
(such lending institutions, together with their respective
successors and assigns, are collectively referred to as the
" Lenders " and individually as a " Lender "), the Collateral
Agent, and LaSalle, in its capacity as administrative agent for the
Lenders, the Agents and the Lenders have agreed to make loans to,
and provide other financial accommodations for the account of, the
Borrower from time to time; and
WHEREAS, the Borrower is a wholly-owned
Subsidiary of the Guarantor and, as such, the Guarantor will
benefit by virtue of the financial accommodations extended to the
Borrower by the Agents and the Lenders;
WHEREAS, the Guarantor has executed and
delivered that certain Guaranty of even date herewith (as amended
or otherwise modified from time to time, the "
Guaranty ")
with respect to all of the obligations of the Borrower to the
Agents and the Lenders under the Credit Agreement;
WHEREAS, as a condition to the Agents and the
Lenders maintaining or further extending the loans and other
financial accommodations to the Borrower pursuant to the Credit
Agreement, and in consideration thereof, and in consideration of
any loans or other financial accommodations heretofore or hereafter
extended by the Agents and the Lenders to the Borrower pursuant to
the Loan Documents, the Guarantor has agreed to enter into this
Agreement in which the Guarantor grants a valid, enforceable
security interest in substantially all of the Guarantor 's assets
to secure its obligations under the Guaranty.
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of any
loan, advance or other financial accommodation heretofore or
hereafter made to the Borrower under or in connection with the
Credit Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration,
the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the
parties hereto agree as follows:
1.
Definitions; Other Interpretive
Provisions . When used herein, (a)
the terms Account , Account Debtor , Certificated
Security , Chattel Paper , Commercial Tort Claim
, Deposit Account , Document , Electronic Chattel
Paper , Equipment , Financial Asset, Fixtures ,
Goods , Health-Care-Insurance Receivable ,
Inventory , Instrument , Investment Property ,
Letter-of-Credit Rights , Money , Payment
Intangibles , Proceeds , Security , Security
Entitlement ,
Supporting
Obligations and
Uncertificated Security
have the respective meanings assigned thereto in
the UCC (as defined below); (b) capitalized terms which are not
otherwise defined have the respective meanings assigned thereto in
the Credit Agreement and (c) the following terms have the following
meanings (such definitions to be applicable to both the singular
and plural forms of such terms):
Assignee Deposit Account
shall have the meaning ascribed to such term
in Section 4 hereof.
Collateral means all property and rights of the Guarantor in which a
security interest is granted to the Collateral Agent
hereunder.
Computer Hardware and Software
means all of the Guarantor's rights (including
rights as licensee and lessee) with respect to (i) computer and
other electronic data processing hardware, including all integrated
computer systems, central processing units, memory units, display
terminals, printers, computer elements, card readers, tape drives,
hard and soft disk drives, cables, electrical supply hardware,
generators, power equalizers, accessories, peripheral devices and
other related computer hardware; (ii) all software and all software
programs designed for use on the computers and electronic data
processing hardware described in clause (i)
above, including all operating system software,
utilities and application programs in whatsoever form (source code
and object code in magnetic tape, disk or hard copy format or any
other listings whatsoever); (iii) any firmware associated with any
of the foregoing; and (iv) any documentation for hardware, software
and firmware described in clauses
(i) , (ii) and
(iii) above,
including flow charts, logic diagrams, manuals, specifications,
training materials, charts and pseudo codes.
Contract Right means any right of the Guarantor to payment under a
contract for the sale or lease of goods or the rendering of
services, which right is at the time not yet earned by
performance.
Default means
the occurrence of any Event of Default (as defined in the Credit
Agreement).
General Intangibles means all of the Guarantor's "general intangibles" as
defined in the UCC and, in any event, includes (without limitation)
all of the Guarantor's trademarks, trade names, patents,
copyrights, trade secrets, customer lists, inventions, designs,
software, software programs, mask works, goodwill, registrations,
licenses, franchises, tax refund claims, guarantee claims, Payment
Intangibles, security interests and rights to
indemnification.
Intellectual Property means all past, present and future: trade secrets and other
proprietary information; trademarks, service marks, business names,
Internet domain names, designs, logos, trade dress, slogans,
indicia and other source and/or business identifiers, and the
goodwill of the business relating thereto and all registrations or
applications for registrations which have heretofore been or may
hereafter be issued thereon throughout the world; copyrights
(including copyrights for computer programs and software) and
copyright registrations or applications for registrations which
have heretofore been or may hereafter be issued throughout the
world and all tangible property embodying the copyrights;
unpatented inventions (whether or
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not patentable); patent
applications and patents; industrial designs, industrial design
applications and registered industrial designs; license agreements
related to any of the foregoing and income therefrom; books,
records, writings, computer tapes or disks, flow diagrams,
specification sheets, source codes, object codes and other physical
manifestations, embodiments or incorporations of any of the
foregoing; the right to sue for all past, present and future
infringements of any of the foregoing; and all common law and other
rights throughout the world in and to all of the
foregoing.
Liabilities means all of the "Guaranteed Obligations" (as defined in
the Guaranty).
Non-Tangible Collateral
means, collectively, the Guarantor's Accounts,
Contract Rights and General Intangibles.
Organization I.D. Number
means, with respect to the Guarantor, the number
assigned to the Guarantor by the applicable governmental unit or
agency with which certificate of formation or other organizational
document in respect of the Guarantor was filed.
Supplemental Documentation
means all agreements, instruments, documents,
financing statements, warehouse receipts, bills of lading, notices
of assignment of accounts, schedules of accounts assigned,
mortgages and other written matter necessary or reasonably
requested by the Collateral Agent to perfect and maintain perfected
the Collateral Agent's and the Agents’ and Lenders' security
interest in the Collateral.
Type of Organization means, with respect to the Guarantor, the kind or type of
entity of the Guarantor, such as a corporation or limited liability
company.
UCC means the
Uniform Commercial Code as in effect in the State of New York from
time to time.
Unless otherwise expressly provided herein,
references to agreements (including this Agreement) and other
contractual instruments shall be deemed to include all subsequent
amendments and other modifications thereto, but only to the extent
such amendments and other modifications are not prohibited by the
terms of any Loan Document. The term "including" is not limiting
and means "including, without limitation".
2.
Grant of Security Interest
. As security for the payment of all
Liabilities, the Guarantor hereby assigns to the Collateral Agent
for the benefit of the Agents and the Lenders and grants to the
Collateral Agent for the benefit of the Agents and the Lenders, a
continuing security interest in all of the following whether now or
hereafter existing or acquired, regardless of where located,
including, without limitation:
All of the Guarantor's:
| (i) |
Accounts, including Health Care
Insurance Receivables;
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| (ii) |
Certificated
Securities;
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| (iii) |
Chattel Paper, including
Electronic Chattel Paper; |
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| (iv) |
Computer Hardware and Software
and all rights with respect thereto, including, any and all
licenses, options, warranties, service contracts, program services,
test rights, maintenance rights, support rights, improvement
rights, renewal rights and indemnifications, and any substitutions,
replacements, additions or model conversions of any of the
foregoing;
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| (v) |
Contract Rights;
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| (vi) |
Commercial Tort
Claims;
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| (vii) |
Deposit Accounts;
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| (viii) |
Documents;
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| (ix) |
Financial Assets;
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| (x) |
General Intangibles, including
Payment Intangibles and Software;
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| (xi) |
Goods (including all of its
Equipment, Fixtures and Inventory) and all embedded software,
accessions, additions, attachments, improvements, substitutions and
replacements thereto and therefor;
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| (xii) |
Instruments;
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| (xiii) |
Intellectual
Property;
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| (xiv) |
Investment Property;
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| (xv) |
Money (in every jurisdiction
whatsoever);
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| (xvi) |
Letter of Credit
Rights;
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| (xvii) |
Security
Entitlements;
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| (xviii) |
Supporting
Obligations;
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| (xix) |
Uncertificated Securities;
and
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| (xx) |
to the extent not included in
the foregoing, other personal property of any kind or
description;
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together with all books,
records, writings, data bases, information and other property
relating to, used or useful in connection with, or evidencing,
embodying, incorporating or referring to any of the foregoing, and
all Proceeds, products, offspring, rents, issues, profits and
returns of and from any of the foregoing; provided that to the extent
that the provisions of any lease or license of Computer Hardware
and Software or Intellectual Property expressly prohibit (which
prohibition is enforceable
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under applicable law) the
assignment thereof, and the grant of a security interest therein,
the Guarantor's rights in such lease or license shall be excluded
from the foregoing assignment and grant for so long as such
prohibition continues, it being
understood that upon request of the
Collateral Agent, the Guarantor will in good faith use reasonable
efforts to obtain consent from the applicable lessor or licensor
for the creation of a security interest in favor of the Collateral
Agent in the Guarantor's rights under such lease or
license.
3.
Warranties .
The Guarantor represents and warrants that: (i) no financing
statement (other than any which names the Collateral Agent as
secured party and may have been filed under this Agreement or in
connection with any Permitted Encumbrances covering any of the
Collateral is on file in any public office; (ii) the Guarantor is
and will be the lawful owner of all Collateral, free of all liens,
claims, security interests and encumbrances whatsoever, other than
the security interest granted hereunder and Permitted Encumbrances,
with full power and authority to execute this Agreement and perform
the Guarantor's obligations hereunder, and to subject the
Collateral to the security interest granted hereunder; (iii) all
information with respect to Collateral and Account Debtors set
forth in any schedule, certificate or other writing at any time
heretofore or hereafter furnished by the Guarantor to the
Collateral Agent is and will be true and correct in all material
respects as of the date furnished; (iv) the Guarantor's state of
organization, Type of Organization, Organization I.D. Number, the
Guarantor's chief executive office and principal place of business
are as set forth on Schedule
I hereto (and the Guarantor has not
changed its state of incorporation or organization, nor maintained
its chief executive office and principal place of business at any
other location at any time after (5) five years prior to the date
of this Agreement); (v) each other location where the Guarantor
maintains a place of business or stores or maintains any Collateral
or any books and records, including, but not limited to, computer
programs, printouts and the materials and records concerning the
Collateral is set forth on Schedule
II hereto; (vi) the Guarantor's exact
legal name is as set forth on the signature pages of this
Agreement, and except as set forth on Schedule III hereto, the
Guarantor is not now known and during the five years preceding the
date hereof has not previously been known by any trade name; (vii)
except as set forth on Schedule
III hereto, during the five years
preceding the date hereof the Guarantor has not been known by any
legal name different from those set forth on the signature pages of
this Agreement nor has the Guarantor been the subject of any merger
or other corporate or organizational reorganization; (viii)
Schedule IV hereto contains a complete listing of the Guarantor's
Intellectual Property which is subject to registration statutes and
is material to the Guarantor's business; (ix) the Guarantor is a
corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing
under the laws of the state of its organization; (x) the execution
and delivery of this Agreement and the performance by the Guarantor
of its obligations hereunder are within the Guarantor's corporate
powers, have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate
action, have received all necessary governmental approval (if any
shall be required), and do not and will not contravene or conflict
with any provision of law or of the Certificate of Incorporation or
bylaws of the Guarantor or of any material agreement indenture,
instrument or other document, or any material judgment, order or
decree, which is binding upon the Guarantor; (xi) this Agreement is
a legal, valid and binding obligation of the Guarantor, enforceable
in accordance with its terms, except that the enforceability of
this Agreement may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent
conveyance, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium or
other similar laws now or
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hereafter in effect relating to
creditors' rights generally and by general principles of equity
(regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in
equity or at law); and (xii) the Guarantor is in compliance with
the requirements of all applicable laws (including the provisions
of the Fair Labor Standards Act), rules, regulations and orders of
every governmental authority, the non-compliance with which would
reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse effect on
the business, assets or financial condition or the Guarantor;
(xiii) Schedule V
hereto contains a complete listing of all of the
Guarantor's Instruments, Investment Property, Letter of Credit
Rights, Chattel Paper, Documents and Commercial Tort Claims; (xiv)
except as set forth on Schedule
VI hereto, the Guarantor has no
tangible Collateral located outside of the United States;
(xv) Schedule VII
hereto contains a complete listing of the
Guarantor's tangible Collateral located with any bailee,
warehousemen or other third parties; (xvi) Schedule VIII hereto contains
a complete listing of all of the Guarantor's Collateral which is
subject to certificate of title statutes; and (xvii)
Schedule IX hereto contains a complete listing of all of the
Guarantor's Deposit Accounts and other bank accounts, including
locations and applicable account numbers.
4.
Collections, Etc . Until such time as the Collateral Agent shall notify the
Guarantor of the revocation of such power and authority, the
Guarantor (a) may, in the ordinary course of its business, at its
own expense, sell, lease or furnish under contracts of service any
of the Inventory normally held by the Guarantor for such purpose,
use and consume, in the ordinary course of its business, any raw
materials, work in process or materials normally held by the
Guarantor for such purpose, and use, in the ordinary course of its
business, the cash proceeds of Collateral and other money which
constitutes Collateral (b) will, at its own expense, endeavor to
collect, as and when due, all amounts due under any of the
Non-Tangible Collateral, including the taking of such action with
respect to such collection as the Collateral Agent may reasonably
request or, in the absence of such request, as the Guarantor may
deem advisable, and (c) may grant, in the ordinary course of
business, to any party obligated on any of the Non-Tangible
Collateral, any rebate, refund or allowance to which such party may
be lawfully entitled, and may accept, in connection therewith, the
return of Goods, the sale or lease of which shall have given rise
to such Non-Tangible Collateral. The Collateral Agent, however,
may, at any time that a Default exists and is continuing, whether
before or after any revocation of such power and authority or the
maturity of any of the Liabilities, notify an Account Debtor or any
other Person obligated on Collateral to make payment or otherwise
render performance to or for the benefit of the Collateral Agent
and enforce by suit or otherwise the obligations of an Account
Debtor or any other Pers
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