Underwriting Agreement

Exhibit 1.1

The Kroger Co.
Debt Securities

Underwriting Agreement

To the Representatives of the March 19, 2008
     several Underwriters named in the
     respective Pricing Agreements
     hereinafter described.

Dear Sirs:

     From time to time The Kroger Co., an Ohio corporation (the “Company”), and the Guarantors on Schedule I and the signature pages hereto propose to enter into one or more Pricing Agreements (each a “Pricing Agreement”) in the form of Annex I hereto, with such additions and deletions as the parties thereto may determine, and, subject to the terms and conditions stated herein and therein, to issue and sell to the firms named in Schedule I to the applicable Pricing Agreement (such firms constituting the “Underwriters” with respect to such Pricing Agreement and the securities specified therein) certain of its debt securities (the “Securities”) specified in Schedule II to such Pricing Agreement (with respect to such Pricing Agreement, the “Designated Securities”).

     The terms and rights of any particular issuance of Designated Securities shall be as specified in the Pricing Agreement relating thereto and in or pursuant to the indenture (the “Indenture”) identified in such Pricing Agreement.

     1. Particular sales of Designated Securities may be made from time to time to the Underwriters of such Securities, for whom the firms designated as representatives of the Underwriters of such Securities in the Pricing Agreement relating thereto will act as representatives (the “Representatives”). The term “Representatives” also refers to a single firm acting as sole representative of the Underwriters and to Underwriters who act without any firm being designated as their representative. This Underwriting Agreement shall not be construed as an obligation of the Company to sell any of the Securities or as an obligation of any of the Underwriters to purchase the Securities. The obligation of the Company to issue and sell any of the Securities and the obligation of any of the Underwriters to purchase any of the Securities shall be evidenced by the Pricing Agreement with respect to the Designated Securities specified therein. Each Pricing Agreement shall specify the aggregate principal amount of such Designated Securities, the initial public offering price of such Designated Securities, the purchase price to the Underwriters of such Designated Securities, the names of the Underwriters of such Designated Securities, the names of the Representatives of such Underwriters and the principal amount of such Designated Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter and shall set forth the date, time and manner of delivery to such Designated Securities and payment therefor. The Pricing Agreement shall also specify (to the extent not set forth in the Indenture and the registration statement and prospectus with respect thereto) the terms of such Designated Securities. A Pricing Agreement shall be in the form of an executed writing (which may be in counterparts), and may be

evidenced by an exchange of telegraphic communications or any other rapid transmission device designed to produce a written record of communications transmitted. The obligations of the Underwriters under this Agreement and each Pricing Agreement shall be several and not joint.

     2. The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each of the Underwriters that:

(a)

A registration statement in respect of the Securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”); such registration statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, each in the form heretofore delivered or to be delivered to the Representatives and, excluding exhibits to such registration statement, but including all documents incorporated by reference in the prospectus contained therein, to the Representatives for each of the other Underwriters, have been declared effective by the Commission in such form; no other document with respect to such registration statement or document incorporated by reference therein has heretofore been filed or transmitted for filing with the Commission; and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of such registration statement has been issued and no proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”) against the Company or related to the offering of the Designated Securities has been initiated or threatened by the Commission (any preliminary prospectus included in such registration statement or filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(a) or 424(b) of the rules and regulations of the Commission under the Act, including the prospectus filed as part of the Registration Statement together with a preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the Designated Securities, being hereinafter called a “Preliminary Prospectus”; the various parts of such registration statement, including all exhibits thereto and the documents incorporated by reference in the prospectus contained in the registration statement at the time such part of the registration statement became effective but excluding Form T-1, each as amended at the time such part of the registration statement became effective, and including the information, if any, deemed pursuant to Rules 430A, 430B or 430C to be part of the Registration Statement at its effective time, being hereinafter called the “Registration Statement”; the prospectus relating to the Securities, together with a final prospectus supplement relating to the Designated Securities, in the form in which it has most recently been filed, or transmitted for filing, with the Commission (or made available upon request of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173 under the Act) in connection with confirmation of sales of the Designated Securities, being hereinafter called the “Prospectus”; any reference herein to any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to the applicable form under the Act, as of the date of such Preliminary Prospectus or Prospectus, as the case may be; any reference to any amendment or supplement to any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include any documents filed after the date of such Preliminary Prospectus or Prospectus, as the case may be, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and incorporated by reference in such Preliminary Prospectus or Prospectus, as the case may be; any reference to any amendment to the Registration

			Statement shall be deemed to refer to and include any annual report of the Company filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the effective date of the Registration Statement that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement; and any reference to the Prospectus as amended or supplemented shall be deemed to refer to the Prospectus as amended or supplemented in relation to the applicable Designated Securities in the form in which it is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof, including any documents incorporated by reference therein as of the date of such filing); for purposes of this Agreement, the term “effective date” means the effective date of the Registration Statement with respect to the offering of the Designated Securities, as determined for the Company pursuant to Section 11 of the Act and Item 512 of Regulation S-K, as applicable; at or prior to the time when sales of the Designated Securities will be first made (the “Time of Sale”), the Company will prepare certain information (collectively, the “Time of Sale Information”) which information will be identified in Schedule III to the Pricing Agreement for such offering of Designated Securities as constituting part of the Time of Sale Information.
	(b)		The documents incorporated by reference in the Prospectus and the Time of Sale Information, when they became effective or were filed with the Commission, as the case may be, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and none of such documents contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; and any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Prospectus or any further amendment or supplement thereto, when such documents become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be, will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and will not 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; provided , however , that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter of Designated Securities through the Representatives expressly for use in the Prospectus as amended or supplemented relating to such Securities;
	(c)		The Registration Statement and the Prospectus conform, and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the “Trust Indenture Act”) and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and do not and will not, as of the applicable effective date as to the Registration Statement and any amendment thereto and as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, 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; provided , however , that this representation and warranty

			shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter of Designated Securities through the Representatives expressly for use in the Prospectus as amended or supplemented relating to such Securities;
	(d)		The Time of Sale Information, at the Time of Sale and at the Time of Delivery for the Designated Securities (as defined in Section 4 herein), did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided , however , that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter of Designated Securities through the Representatives expressly for use in the Time of Sale Information relating to such Securities. No statement of material fact included in the Prospectus has been omitted from the Time of Sale Information and no statement of material fact included in the Time of Sale Information that is required to be included in the Prospectus has been omitted therefrom.
	(e)		The Company (including its agents and representatives, other than the Underwriters in their capacity as such) has not prepared, made, used, authorized, approved or referred to and will not prepare, make, use, authorize, approve or refer to any “written communication” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Act) that constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the Securities (each such communication by the Company or its agents and representatives (other than a communication referred to in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) below) an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”) other than (i) any document not constituting a prospectus pursuant to Section 2(a)(10)(a) of the Act or Rule 134 under the Act, (ii) the Preliminary Prospectus with respect to the Designated Securities, (iii) the Prospectus, (iv) the documents listed on Schedule III to the Pricing Agreement as constituting the Time of Sale Information and (v) any electronic road show or other written communications, in each case approved in writing in advance by the Representatives. Each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus complied in all material respects with the Act, has been or will be (within the time period specified in Rule 433) filed in accordance with the Act (to the extent required thereby) and, when taken together with the Preliminary Prospectus accompanying, or delivered prior to delivery of, or filed prior to the first use of such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, did not, and at the Time of Delivery for the Designated Securities will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided , however , that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter of Designated Securities through the Representatives expressly for use in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus relating to such Securities.

	(f)		The Company and its subsidiaries have not sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus any material loss or interference with their businesses, taken as a whole, from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus; and, since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus, there has not been any material change in the capital stock or long-term debt of the Company and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis or any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus;
	(g)		The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property and good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects except such as are described in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus or such as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its subsidiaries; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company and its subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its subsidiaries;
	(h)		The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Ohio, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties, or conducts any business, so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be qualified in any such jurisdiction; and each subsidiary of the Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be in good standing in any such jurisdiction;
	(i)		The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus, and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable; and all of the issued shares of capital stock of each subsidiary of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and

			(except for directors’ qualifying shares) are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims;
	(j)		The Securities have been duly authorized, and, when Designated Securities are issued and delivered pursuant to this Agreement and the Pricing Agreement with respect to such Designated Securities against payment of the consideration specified in the Pricing Agreement, such Designated Securities will have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered and will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company, enforceable in accordance with their terms, subject, as to enforcement, to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization and other laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equity principles and will be entitled to the benefits provided by the Indenture under which they are to be issued which will be substantially in the form filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement; the Indenture has been duly authorized and duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act and, at the Time of Delivery for such Designated Securities (as defined in Section 4 hereof), the Indenture will constitute a valid and legally binding instrument, enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject, as to enforcement, to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization and other laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equity principles; and the Indenture conforms, and the Designated Securities will conform, in all material respects, to the descriptions thereof contained in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus as amended or supplemented with respect to such Designated Securities;
	(k)		The issue and sale of the Securities and the compliance by the Company with all of the provisions of the Securities, the Indenture, this Agreement and any Pricing Agreement, and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated will not conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation, as amended, or the Regulations of the Company or any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their properties; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the issue and sale of the Securities or the consummation by the Company of the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Pricing Agreement or the Indenture, except such as have been, or will have been prior to the Time of Delivery, obtained under the Act and the Trust Indenture Act and such consents, approvals, authorizations, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters;
	(l)		Other than as set forth or contemplated in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental proceedings

			pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is the subject with respect to which there is a reasonable likelihood of a determination which would individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries; and, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others;
	(m)		None of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, any Pricing Agreement or the Indenture (including, without limitation, the use of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities) will violate or result in a violation of Section 7 of the Exchange Act, or any regulation promulgated thereunder, including, without limitation, Regulations G, T, U and X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;
	(n)		The Company is not subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;
	(o)		The Company will apply the net proceeds from the sale of Securities for the purpose set forth in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds”;
	(p)		PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P., who has audited certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, is an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) thereunder; and
	(q)		The Company is not an “ineligible issuer” as defined under the Act at the times specified in the Act in connection with the offering of the Securities.

     3. Upon the execution of the Pricing Agreement applicable to any Designated Securities and authorization by the Representatives of the release of such Designated Securities, the several Underwriters propose to offer such Designated Securities for sale upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus as amended or supplemented.

     4. The Designated Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter pursuant to the Pricing Agreement relating thereto, in definitive form to the extent practicable, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representatives may request upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice to the Company, shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representatives for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by such Underwriter or on its behalf of the purchase price therefor by certified or official bank check or checks, payable to the order of the Company in the funds specified in such Pricing Agreement, all at the place and time and date specified in such Pricing Agreement or at such other place and time and date as the Representatives and the Company may agree upon in writing, such time and date being herein called the “Time of Delivery” for such Securities.

     5. The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters of any Designated Securities:

	(a)		To prepare the Prospectus as amended and supplemented in relation to the applicable Designated Securities in a form approved by the Representatives and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act not later than the Commission’s close of business on the second business day following the execution and delivery of the Pricing Agreement relating to the applicable Designated Securities or, if applicable, such earlier time as may be required by Rule 424(b); to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus as amended or supplemented after the date of the Pricing Agreement relating to such Securities and prior to the Time of Delivery for such Securities which shall be disapproved by the Representatives for such Securities promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to advise the Representatives promptly of any such amendment or supplement after such Time of Delivery and furnish the Representatives with copies thereof; to furnish the Representatives a copy of any proposed Issuer Free Writing Prospectus relating to such Securities prior to its use; not to use, authorize, approve, refer to or file any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus which shall be disapproved by the Representatives for such Securities promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to file promptly any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus (including the Term Sheet in the form of Schedule IV to the Pricing Agreement) to the extent required by Rule 433 under the Act; to file promptly all reports and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act for so long as the delivery of a prospectus is required in connection with the offering or sale of such Securities, and during such same period to advise the Representatives, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any supplement to the Prospectus or any amended Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus has been filed with the Commission, of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any prospectus relating to the Securities, of the suspension of the qualification of such Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation of or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any such stop order or of any such order preventing or suspending the use of any prospectus relating to the Securities or suspending any such qualification, to use promptly its best efforts to obtain its withdrawal;
	(b)		Promptly from time to time to take such action as the Representatives may reasonably request to qualify such Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions in the United States as the Representatives may request and to comply with such laws so as to permit the continuance of sales and dealings therein in such jurisdictions for as long as may be necessary to complete the distribution of such Securities, provided that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to

			qualify as a foreign corporation or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction;
	(c)		To furnish the Underwriters with copies of the Prospectus as amended or supplemented and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in such quantities as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request, and, if the delivery of a prospectus is required at any time prior to the expiration of nine months after the time of issue of the Prospectus in connection with the offering or sale of any Designated Securities and if at such time any event shall have occurred as a result of which the Prospectus, the Time of Sale Information or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made when such Prospectus, Time of Sale Information or any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary during such same period to amend or supplement the Prospectus, the Time of Sale Information or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or to file under the Exchange Act any document incorporated by reference in the Time of Sale Information or the Prospectus in order to comply with the Act, the Exchange Act or the Trust Indenture Act, to notify the Representatives and upon their request to file such document and to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many copies as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request of an amended Prospectus or a supplement to the Prospectus, Time of Sale Information or Issuer Free Writing Prospectus which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and in case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus in connection with sales of any Designated Securities at any time nine months or more after the time of issue of the Prospectus as amended or supplemented with respect to such Designated Securities, upon the request of the Representatives but at the expense of such Underwriter, to prepare and deliver to such Underwriter as many copies as it may request of a further amended or supplemented Prospectus for such Designated Securities complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;
	(d)		To make generally available to its security holders as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than eighteen months after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c)), an earning statement of the Company and its subsidiaries (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (including at the option of the Company Rule 158);
	(e)		During the period beginning from the date of the Pricing Agreement for such Designated Securities and continuing to and including the earlier of (i) the termination of trading restrictions for such Designated Securities, as notified to the Company by the Representatives, and (ii) the Time of Delivery for such Designated Securities, not to offer, sell, contract to sell or otherwise dispose of any debt securities of the Company which mature more than one year after such Time of Delivery and which are substantially

			similar to such Designated Securities, without the prior written consent of the Representatives; and
	(f)		The Company will, pursuant to reasonable procedures developed in good faith, retain copies of each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not filed with the Commission in accordance with Rule 433 under the Act.

     6. Each Underwriter hereby represents and agrees that:

	(a)		It has not and will not use, authorize use of, refer to, or participate in the planning for use of, any “free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act (which term includes use of any written information furnished to the Commission by the Company and not incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement and any press release issued by the Company) other than (i) a free writing prospectus that, solely as a result of use by such underwriter, would not trigger an obligation to file such free writing prospectus with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433, (ii) any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed on Schedule III to the Pricing Agreement or prepared pursuant to Section 2(e) or Section 5(a) above (including any electronic road show), or (iii) any free writing prospectus prepared by such underwriter and approved by the Company in advance in writing (each such free writing prospectus referred to in clauses (i) or (iii), an “Underwriter Free Writing Prospectus”).
	(b)		Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Underwriters may use a term sheet substantially in the form of Schedule IV to the Pricing Agreement for the Designated Securities without the consent of the Company.
	(c)		It is not subject to any pending proceeding under Section 8A of the Act with respect to the offering of the Designated Securities (and will promptly notify the Company if any such proceeding against it is initiated during any period when a prospectus is required to be delivered in connection with the Designated Securities).

     7. The Company covenants and agrees with the several Underwriters that the Company will pay or cause to be paid the following: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company’s counsel and accountants in connection with the registration of the Securities under the Act and all other expenses in connection with the preparation, printing and filing of the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, any Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus and amendments and supplements thereto and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers; (ii) the cost of printing or producing any Agreement among Underwriters, this Agreement, any Pricing Agreement, any Indenture, any Blue Sky and Legal Investment Memoranda and any other documents in connection with the offering, purchase, sale and delivery of the Securities; (iii) all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Securities for offering and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section 5(b) hereof, including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky and legal investment surveys; (iv) any fees charged by securities rating services for rating the Securities; (v) any filing fees incident to securing any required review by the National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. of the terms of the sale of the Securities; (vi) the cost of preparing the Securities; (vii) the fees and expenses of any Trustee and any agent of any Trustee and the fees and disbursements of counsel for any Trustee in connection with any Indenture and the Securities; (viii) the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters to the extent they exceed such amount as may be specified in the Pricing Agreements; and (ix) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder which are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Section. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in this Section, Section 9 and Section 12 hereof, the Underwriters will pay all of their own costs and expenses, including, but not limited to, the fees and disbursements of their counsel up to such amount as may be specified in the Pricing Agreements, transfer taxes on resale of any of the Securities by them, and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.

     8. The obligations of the Underwriters of any Designated Securities under the Pricing Agreement relating to such Designated Securities shall be subject, in the discretion of the Representatives, to the condition that all representations and warranties and other statements of the Company in or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Agreement relating to such Designated Securities are, at and as of the Time of Delivery for such Designated Securities, true and correct, the condition that the Company shall have performed all of its obligations hereunder theretofore to be performed, and the following additional conditions:

     (a) The Prospectus as amended or supplemented in relation to the applicable Designated Securities shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by the rules and regulations under the Act and in accordance with Section 5 (a) hereof; each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission to the extent required by Rule 433 under the Act; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A under the Act shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to the Representatives’ reasonable satisfaction;

     (b) Counsel for the Underwriters shall have furnished to the Representatives such opinion or opinions, dated the Time of Delivery for such Designated Securities, with respect to the incorporation of the Company, the validity of the Indenture, the Designated Securities, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus as amended or supplemented and other related matters as the Representatives may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;

     (c) Paul Heldman, Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives his written opinion, dated the Time of Delivery for such Designated Securities, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, to the effect that:

     (i) The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of Ohio, with corporate power and authority to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus as amended or supplemented;

     (ii) The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Time of Sale Information and the Prospectus as amended or supplemented, and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable;

     (iii) The Company has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties, or conducts any business, so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be so qualified in any such jurisdiction (such counsel being entitled to rely in respect of the opinion in this clause upon opinions of local counsel and in respect of matters of fact upon certificates of officers of the Company, provided that such counsel shall state that he believes that both the Underwriters and he are justified in relying upon such opinions and certificates);

     (iv) Each subsidiary of the Company, with respect to