EXHIBIT
1.1
BANKRATE,
INC.
Common
Stock
UNDERWRITING
AGREEMENT
, 2006
Credit Suisse
Securities (USA) LLC,
As
Representative of the Several Underwriters,
1. Introductory. Bankrate, Inc., a
Florida corporation (“ Company ”),
proposes to issue and sell from time to time shares of its common
stock, par value $0.01 per share (“ Common
Stock ”) and some or all of the stockholders listed
in Schedule I hereto (“ Selling Stockholders
”) propose severally (and not jointly and severally) to sell
from time to time shares of Common Stock of the Company, registered
under the registration statement referred to in Section 2(a)
(“ Registered Securities ”).
Particular offerings of the Registered Securities will be sold
pursuant to a Terms Agreement referred to in Section 3, for resale
in accordance with terms of offering determined at the time of
sale.
The Registered Securities involved in any such
offering are hereinafter referred to as the “ Offered
Securities ” and will be specified in a Terms
Agreement referred to in Section 3. The firm or firms which agree
to purchase the Offered Securities are hereinafter referred to as
the “ Underwriters ” of such
securities, and the representative or representatives of the
Underwriters, if any, specified in a Terms Agreement referred to in
Section 3 are hereinafter referred to as the “
Representatives ”; provided, however, that
if the Terms Agreement does not specify any representative of the
Underwriters, the term “Representatives”, as used in
this Agreement (other than in Sections 2(b), 6(c) and 8 and the
second sentence of Section 3), shall mean the
Underwriters.
2. Representations and Warranties of the
Company and/or the Selling Stockholders.
(a) The Company, as of the date of each Terms
Agreement referred to in Section 3, represents and warrants to,
and/or agrees with, as appropriate, each Underwriter
that:
(i) A registration statement (No. 333-132698),
including a prospectus or prospectus supplement, relating to the
Registered Securities has been filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (“ Commission ”)
and has been declared effective by the Commission on
[ ],
2006. “ Registration Statement ” as of
any time means such registration statement in the form then filed
with the Commission, including any amendment thereto, any document
incorporated by reference therein and any information in a
prospectus or prospectus supplement deemed or retroactively deemed
to be a part thereof pursuant to Rule 430B (“ Rule
430B ”) or 430C (“ Rule 430C
”) under the Securities Act of 1933 (“
Act ”) that has not been superseded or
modified. “ Registration Statement ”
without reference to a time means the Registration Statement as of
the time of the first contract of sale for the Offered Securities,
which time shall be considered the “ Effective
Date ” of the Registration Statement relating to the
Offered Securities. For purposes of this definition, information
contained in a form of prospectus or prospectus supplement that is
deemed retroactively to be a part of the Registration Statement
pursuant to Rule 430B shall be considered to be included in the
Registration Statement as of the time specified in Rule
430B.
“
Statutory Prospectus ” as of any time means
the prospectus relating to the Offered Securities that is included
in the Registration Statement immediately prior to that time,
including any document incorporated by reference therein and any
basic prospectus or prospectus supplement deemed to be a part
thereof pursuant to Rule 430B or 430C that has not been superseded
or modified. For purposes of this definition, information contained
in a form of prospectus (including a prospectus supplement) that is
deemed retroactively to be a part of the Registration Statement
pursuant to Rule 430B shall be considered to be included in the
Statutory Prospectus only as of the actual time that form of
prospectus (including a prospectus supplement) is filed with the
Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) (“ Rule
424(b) ”) under the Act. “Prospectus”
means the Statutory Prospectus that discloses the public offering
price and other final terms of the Offered Securities and otherwise
satisfies Section 10(a) of the Act.
“
Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any
“issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule
433 (“ Rule 433 ”) under the Act,
relating to the Offered Securities in the form filed or required to
be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in
the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule
433(g).
“
General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ”
means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is intended for
general distribution to prospective investors, as evidenced by its
being specified in a schedule to the Terms Agreement. “
Limited Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ”
means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not a General Use
Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and includes any roadshow materials
that are an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus under Rule 433. “
Applicable Time ” means the time and date so
stated in the Terms Agreement referred to in Section 3.
(ii) At the time the Registration Statement
initially became effective, at the time of each amendment thereto
for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act
(whether by post effective amendment, incorporated report or form
of prospectus) and on the Effective Date relating to the Offered
Securities, the Registration Statement conformed and will conform
in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the
rules and regulations of the Commission (“ Rules and
Regulations ”) and did not and will not include any
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 not misleading. On the date of each Terms
Agreement referred to in Section 3, the Registration Statement and
the Prospectus will conform in all material respects to the
requirements of the Act and the Rules and Regulations, and neither
of such documents will include any 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 not misleading,
except that the foregoing does not apply to statements in or
omissions from any of such documents made in reliance upon written
information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the
Representatives, if any, specifically for use therein.
(iii) The date of the Terms Agreement is not
more than three years subsequent to the more recent of the initial
effective date of the Registration Statement or December 1, 2005.
If, immediately prior to the third anniversary of the more recent
of the initial effective date of the Registration Statement or
December 1, 2005, any Offered Securities identified on an executed
Terms Agreement remain unsold by the Underwriters, the Company will
prior to that third anniversary file, if it has not already done
so, a new shelf registration statement relating to the Offered
Securities, in a form satisfactory to the Lead Underwriter (as
defined in Section 3), will use its best efforts to cause such
registration statement to be declared effective within 180 days
after that third anniversary, and will take all other action
necessary or appropriate to permit the public offering and sale of
the Offered Securities to continue as contemplated in the expired
registration statement relating to the Offered Securities.
References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such
new shelf registration statement.
(iv) (i) At the earliest time after the filing
of the Registration Statement that the Company or another offering
participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule
164(h)(2) under the Act) of the Offered Securities and (ii) at the
date of the Terms Agreement, the Company was not and is not an
“ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 (“
Rule 405 ”) under the Act, including (x) the
Company or any entity that at the time was a subsidiary of the
Company in the preceding three years not having been convicted of a
felony or misdemeanor described in paragraphs (i) through (iv) of
Section 15(b)(4)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended (the “ Exchange Act ”) or
having been made the subject of a judicial or administrative decree
or order as described in Rule 405 and (y) the Company not having
been the subject in the immediately preceding three years of a
petition under federal bankruptcy laws or any state insolvency law
as described in Rule 405, not having had a registration statement
be the subject of a pending proceeding under Section 8 of the Act
and not being the subject of a pending proceeding under Section 8A
of the Act in connection with the offering of the Offered
Securities, all as described in Rule 405.
(v) As of the Applicable Time, neither (i) the
General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus(es) issued at or prior
to the Applicable Time, the Statutory Prospectus, and any documents
listed or disclosures in a Schedule attached to the Terms
Agreement, all considered together (collectively, the “
General Disclosure Package ”), nor (ii) any
individual Limited Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, when
considered together with the General Disclosure Package, included
any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any
material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in
the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not
misleading. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in
or omissions from any prospectus included in the Registration
Statement or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon
and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company
by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use
therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such
information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the
information described as such in the Terms Agreement.
(vi) Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as of
its issue date and at all subsequent times through the completion
of the public offer and sale of the Offered Securities or until any
earlier date that the Company notified or notifies the Lead
Underwriter as described in the next sentence, did not, does not
and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or
will conflict with the information then contained in the
Registration Statement. If at any time following issuance of an
Issuer Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or
development as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information then
contained in the Registration Statement or included or would
include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would
omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in the light of the circumstances prevailing at
that subsequent time, not misleading, (i) the Company has promptly
notified or will promptly notify the Lead Underwriter and (ii) the
Company has promptly amended or will promptly amend or supplement
such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such
conflict, untrue statement or omission. The foregoing two sentences
do not apply to statements in or omissions from any Issuer Free
Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written
information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the
Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood
and agreed that the only such information furnished by any
Underwriter consists of the information described as such in the
Terms Agreement.
(vii) The Company has been duly incorporated and
is an existing corporation in good standing under the laws of the
State of Florida, with power and authority (corporate and other) to
own its properties and conduct its business as described in the
General Disclosure Package; and the Company is duly qualified to do
business as a foreign corporation in good standing in all other
jurisdictions in which its ownership or lease of property or the
conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where
the failure to be so qualified or in good standing, would not, in
the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse
effect on the condition (financial or other) business, operations,
properties, assets, liabilities or results of operations or
prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole
(“ Material Adverse Effect
”).
(viii) Each subsidiary of the Company has been
duly incorporated or organized and is existing and is in good
standing (if such jurisdiction recognizes such concept) under the
laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization, with
power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and
conduct its business as described in the General Disclosure
Package; and each subsidiary of the Company is duly qualified to do
business as a foreign corporation or limited liability company and
is in good standing (if such jurisdiction recognizes such concept)
in all other jurisdictions in which its ownership or lease of
property or the conduct of its business requires such qualification
except in jurisdictions where the failure to be so qualified or in
good standing would not have a Material Adverse Effect; all of the
issued and outstanding capital stock or other equity interests of
each subsidiary of the Company has been duly authorized and validly
issued and is fully paid and, if capital stock, nonassessable; and
the capital stock or other equity interests of each subsidiary
owned by the Company, directly or through subsidiaries, is owned
free from liens, encumbrances and defects.
(ix) The Offered Securities and all other
outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly
authorized; all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company
are, and, when the Offered Securities have been delivered and paid
for in accordance with the Terms Agreement on the Closing Date (as
defined below), such Offered Securities will have been, validly
issued, fully paid and nonassessable, will be consistent with the
information in the General Disclosure Package and will conform to
the description thereof contained in the Prospectus; and the
stockholders of the Company have no preemptive rights with respect
to its Common Stock.
(x) Except as disclosed in the General
Disclosure Package, there are no contracts, agreements or
understandings between the Company and any person that would give
rise to a valid claim against the Company or any Underwriter for a
brokerage commission, finder’s fee or other like
payment.
(xi) Except as disclosed in the General
Disclosure Package, there are no contracts, agreements or
understandings between the Company and any person granting such
person the right to require the Company to file a registration
statement under the Act with respect to any securities of the
Company owned or to be owned by such person or to require the
Company to include such securities in the securities registered
pursuant to the Registration Statement or in any securities being
registered pursuant to any other registration statement filed by
the Company under the Act.
(xii) The Offered Securities have been approved
for listing on Nasdaq Stock Market’s National Market (“
Nasdaq National Market ”), subject to notice
of issuance.
(xiii) No consent, approval, authorization, or
order of, or filing with, any governmental agency or body or any
court having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its
subsidiaries is required for the consummation of the transactions
contemplated by the Terms Agreement (including the provisions of
this Agreement) in connection with the issuance and sale of the
Offered Securities by the Company, except for the registration of
the Offered Securities and such as have been obtained or may be
required under the Exchange Act, by the National Association of
Securities Dealers, Inc., or applicable state securities
laws.
(xiv) The execution, delivery and performance of
the Terms Agreement (including the provisions of this Agreement) by
the Company and the issuance and sale of the Offered Securities
will not result in a breach or violation of any of the terms and
provisions of, or constitute a default under (A) any statute, any
rule, regulation or order of any governmental agency or body or any
court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or
any subsidiary of the Company or any of their properties, (B) any
agreement or instrument to which the Company or any such subsidiary
is a party or by which the Company or any such subsidiary is bound
or to which any of the properties of the Company or any such
subsidiary is subject, or (C) the charter or by laws of the Company
or any such subsidiary, except in the case of clause (B), such
breach, violation or default as would not reasonably be expected to
have a Material Adverse Effect; and the Company has full power and
authority to authorize, issue and sell the Offered Securities as
contemplated by the Terms Agreement (including the provisions of
this Agreement).
(xv) The Terms Agreement (including the
provisions of this Agreement) has been duly authorized, executed
and delivered by the Company.
(xvi) Except as disclosed in the General
Disclosure Package, the Company and its subsidiaries have good and
marketable title to all real properties and good title to all other
properties and assets owned by them and material to the business of
the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, in each case
free from liens, encumbrances and defects that would materially
affect the value thereof or materially interfere with the use made
or to be made thereof by them; and except as disclosed in the
General Disclosure Package, the Company and its subsidiaries hold
any leased real or personal property material to the business of
the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, under leases
that are in full force and effect with no exceptions that would
materially interfere with the use made or to be made thereof by
them.
(xvii) The Company and its subsidiaries possess
adequate certificates, authorities or permits issued by appropriate
governmental agencies or bodies necessary to conduct the business
now operated by them except where the failure to so possess would
not result in a Material Adverse Effect and have not received any
notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of
any such certificate, authority or permit that, if determined
adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, would
individually or in the aggregate have a Material Adverse
Effect.
(xviii) No labor dispute with the employees of
the Company or any subsidiary exists or, to the knowledge of the
Company, is imminent that might have a Material Adverse
Effect.
(xix) Except as disclosed in the General
Disclosure Package, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries
is in violation of any statute, any rule, regulation, decision or
order of any governmental agency or body or any court, domestic or
foreign, relating to the use, disposal or release of hazardous or
toxic substances or relating to the protection or restoration of
the environment or human exposure to hazardous or toxic substances
(collectively, “ environmental laws
”), owns or operates any real property contaminated with any
substance that is subject to any environmental laws, is liable for
any off site disposal or contamination pursuant to any
environmental laws, or is subject to any claim relating to any
environmental laws, which violation, contamination, liability or
claim would individually or in the aggregate have a Material
Adverse Effect; and the Company is not aware of any pending
investigation which might lead to such a claim.
(xx) Except as disclosed in the General
Disclosure Package, there are no pending actions, suits or
proceedings against or affecting the Company, any of its
subsidiaries or any of their respective properties that, if
determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries,
would individually or in the aggregate have a Material Adverse
Effect, or would materially and adversely affect the ability of the
Company to perform its obligations under the Terms Agreement
(including the provisions of this Agreement) or which are otherwise
material in the context of the sale of the Offered Securities; and
no such actions, suits or proceedings are threatened or, to the
Company’s knowledge, contemplated.
(xxi) The financial statements together with the
related schedules and notes included in the Registration Statement
and General Disclosure Package present fairly the financial
position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries as of the
dates shown and their results of operations and cash flows for the
periods shown, and such financial statements have been prepared in
conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles in the
United States applied on a consistent basis; any schedules included
in the Registration Statement present fairly the information
required to be stated therein; and if pro forma financial
statements are included in the Registration Statement and General
Disclosure Package: the assumptions used in preparing the pro forma
financial statements included in the Registration Statement and the
General Disclosure Package provide a reasonable basis for
presenting the significant effects directly attributable to the
transactions or events described therein, the related pro forma
adjustments give appropriate effect to those assumptions, and the
pro forma columns therein reflect the proper application of those
adjustments to the corresponding historical financial statement
amounts.
(xxii) Except as disclosed in the General
Disclosure Package, since the date of the latest audited financial
statements included in the General Disclosure Package there has
been no material adverse change, nor any development or event
involving a prospective material adverse change, in the condition
(financial or other), business, properties or results of operations
of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, and, except
as disclosed in or contemplated by the General Disclosure Package,
there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared,
paid or made by the Company on any class of its capital
stock.
(xxiii) The Company is subject to the reporting
requirements of either Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and files reports with the
Commission on the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and
Retrieval (EDGAR) system.
(xxiv) The Company is not and, after giving
effect to the offering and sale of the Offered Securities and the
application of the proceeds thereof as described in the General
Disclosure Package, will not be an “investment company”
as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940.
(xxv) Neither the Company nor any of its
affiliates does business with the government of Cuba or with any
person or affiliate located in Cuba within the meaning of Section
517.075, Florida Statutes and the Company agrees to comply with
such Section if prior to the completion of the distribution of the
Offered Securities it commences doing such business.
(xxvi) The Company and its subsidiaries own,
possess or can acquire on reasonable terms sufficient trademarks,
trade names, patent rights, copyrights, domain names, licenses,
approvals, trade secrets, inventions, technology, know-how and
other intellectual property and similar rights, including
registrations and applications for registration thereof
(collectively, “ Intellectual Property
Rights ”) necessary or material to the conduct of
the business now conducted or proposed in the General Disclosure
Package to be conducted by them, and the expected expiration of any
such Intellectual Property Rights would not, individually or in the
aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. Except as disclosed in
the General Disclosure Package (i) to the Company’s
knowledge, there are no rights of third parties to any of the
Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company or its
subsidiaries; (ii) there is no material infringement,
misappropriation breach, default or other violation, or the
occurrence of any event that with notice or the passage of time
would constitute any of the foregoing, by the Company, its
subsidiaries or, to the Company’s knowledge, third parties of
any of the Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or its
subsidiaries; (iii) there is no pending or, to the Company’s
knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others
challenging the Company’s or any subsidiary’s rights in
or to, or the violation of any of the terms of, any of their
Intellectual Property Rights, and the Company is unaware of any
facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim; (iv)
there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge,
threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging
the validity, enforceability or scope of any such Intellectual
Properly Rights, and the Company is unaware of any facts which
would form a reasonable basis for any such claim; (v) there is no
pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action,
suit, proceeding or claim by others that the Company or any
subsidiary infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates or
conflicts with any Intellectual Property Rights or other
proprietary rights of others and the Company is unaware of any
other fact which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim;
and (vi) none of the Intellectual Property Rights used by the
Company or its subsidiaries in their businesses has been obtained
or is being used by the Company or its subsidiaries in violation of
any contractual obligation binding on the Company, any of its
subsidiaries in violation of the rights of any persons, except in
each case covered by clauses (i) - (vi) such as would not, if
determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries,
individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse
Effect.
(xxvii) Neither the Company, any of its
subsidiaries, any person who controls the Company within the
meaning of Section 15 of the Act and, nor, to the Company’s
knowledge, any of their respective officers, directors,
supervisors, managers, agents, or employees, have violated, and the
Company’s participation in the offering will not violate the
following laws: (a) anti-bribery laws, including but not limited
to, any applicable law, rule, or regulation of any locality,
including but not limited to any law, rule, or regulation
promulgated to implement the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery
of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions,
signed December 17, 1997, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act of 1977 or any other law, rule or regulation of
similar purpose and scope, (b) anti-money laundering laws,
including but not limited to, applicable federal, state,
international, foreign or other laws, regulations or government
guidance regarding anti-money laundering, including, without
limitation, Title 18 U.S. Code section 1956 and 1957, the Patriot
Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, and international anti-money laundering
principals or procedures by an intergovernmental group or
organization, such as the Financial Action Task Force on Money
Laundering, of which the United States is a member and with which
designation the United States representative to the group or
organization continues to concur, all as amended, and any Executive
order, directive, or regulation pursuant to the authority of any of
the foregoing, or any orders or licenses issued thereunder or (c)
laws and regulations imposing U.S. economic sanctions measures,
including, but not limited to, the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act, the Trading with the Enemy Act, the United Nations
Participation Act, and the Syria Accountability and Lebanese
Sovereignty Act, all as amended, and any Executive Order,
directive, or regulation pursuant to the authority of any of the
foregoing, including the regulations of the United States Treasury
Department set forth under 31 CFR, Subtitle B, Chapter V, as
amended, or any orders or licenses issued thereunder.
(b) Each Selling Stockholder severally (and not
jointly and severally) represents and warrants to, and/or agrees
with, as appropriate, the several Underwriters that:
(i) Such Selling Stockholder has full right and
capacity to enter into this Agreement, and has and on the Closing
Date (as defined below) will have valid and unencumbered ownership
rights to the Offered Securities to be delivered by such Selling
Stockholder on such Closing Date (except for such encumbrances
created or arising by, through or under any Underwriter) and full
right and capacity to sell, assign, transfer and deliver the
Offered Securities to be delivered by such Selling Stockholder on
such Closing Date hereunder; and upon the delivery of and payment
for the Offered Securities on the Closing Date hereunder the
Underwriters will acquire valid and unencumbered ownership rights
to the Offered Securities to be delivered by such Selling
Stockholder on such Closing Date (except for such encumbrances
created or arising by, through or under any
Underwriter).
(ii) At the time the Registration Statement
initially became effective, at the time of each amendment thereto
for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act
(whether by post effective amendment, incorporated report or form
of prospectus) and on the Effective Date relating to the Offered
Securities, the Registration Statement conformed and will conform
in all respects to the requirements of the Act and the Rules and
Regulations and
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