Rule 424(b) under the Act is hereinafter called a “Preliminary Prospectus”; the various parts of such registration statement, including all exhibits thereto (but excluding the Statement of Eligibility and Qualification (Form T-1) under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the “Trust Indenture Act”)) and including any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that is filed with the Commission and deemed by virtue of Rule 430B to be part of such registration statement, each as amended at the time such part of the registration statement became effective, are hereinafter collectively called the “Registration Statement”; the Basic Prospectus, as amended and supplemented immediately prior to the Applicable Time (as defined in Section 1(c) hereof), is hereinafter called the “Pricing Prospectus”; the form of the final prospectus relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof is hereinafter called the “Prospectus”; any reference herein to the Basic Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3 under the Act, as of the date of such prospectus; any reference to any amendment or supplement to the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act and any documents filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and incorporated therein, in each case after the date of the Basic Prospectus, such Preliminary Prospectus, or the 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 “issuer free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 433 under the Act relating to the Securities is hereinafter called an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”);

 

(b)                                  No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and each Preliminary Prospectus, at the time of filing thereof, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Trust Indenture Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and did 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, 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 through the Representatives expressly for use therein;

 

(c)                                   For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Applicable Time” is 3:00 p.m. (New York City time) on the date of this Agreement; the Pricing Prospectus as supplemented by the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof taken together (collectively, the “Pricing Disclosure Package”)

 

2

 

as of the Applicable Time, did not include any 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, not misleading; and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed on Schedule II(a) hereto does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus and each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time, did not include any 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, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements or omissions made in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein;

 

(d)                                  The documents incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, 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, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; 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, 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 through the Representatives expressly for use therein; and no such documents were filed with the Commission since the Commission’s close of business on the business day immediately prior to the date of this Agreement and prior to the execution of this Agreement, except as set forth on Schedule II(b) hereto;

 

(e)                                   The Registration Statement conforms, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and 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 each part of the Registration Statement 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,

 

3

 

however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to (i) any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein or (ii) that part of the Registration Statement that constitutes the Statement of Eligibility and Qualification (Form T-1) under the Trust Indenture Act, of the Trustee;

 

(f)                                     Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus any material loss or interference with its business 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 Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus; and, since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, there has not been any change in the capital stock (other than issuances of common stock pursuant to existing employment agreements, stock options and other employee benefit plans and repurchases of common stock pursuant to the Company’s stock repurchase program) or long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries 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 Pricing Prospectus 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 Pricing Prospectus 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, equipment 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 real property, equipment 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 Nevada, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus 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, except where the failure to be so qualified would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition, prospects or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole (a “Material Adverse Effect”); and each subsidiary of the Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the

 

4

 

laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation, 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, except where the failure to be so qualified would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(i)                                      The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus 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 (except that with respect to foreign subsidiaries, this representation is limited to the extent the concepts of fully paid and non-assessable are not recognized under the laws of their respective jurisdiction of incorporation) and (except for directors’ qualifying shares and that with respect to the Company’s subsidiaries in Argentina and Iceland, a nominal number of shares are held by citizens of such jurisdictions as required by the laws of such jurisdictions) 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 issued and delivered pursuant to this Agreement, will have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered and will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company entitled to the benefits provided by the indenture dated as of June 15, 2009, as supplemented by the first supplemental indenture dated as of June 15, 2009 (together, the “Indenture”), in each case between the Company and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association as trustee (the “Trustee”), under which they are to be issued, which is substantially in the form filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement; the Securities will rank equal in right of payment with all of the Company’s other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness; the Indenture has been duly authorized and duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act and , when executed and delivered by the Company and the Trustee, 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 Securities and the Indenture will conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof contained in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus;

 

(k)                                   This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company;

 

(l)                                      None of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement (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 T, U and X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;

 

5

 

(m)                                Except as described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, each of the Company and its subsidiaries possesses such licenses, certificates, authorizations, approvals, franchises, permits or other rights and all authorizations from all Federal, state or other governmental entities or agencies (including, without limitation, any agency established by a federally recognized Indian tribe to regulate gaming on such tribe’s reservation) which have, or may at any time have, jurisdiction over the activities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any successor to such authority, including without limitation, any such governmental entities or agencies, which has, or may at any time have, jurisdiction over the gaming activities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries (the “Gaming Authorities”), as are currently necessary (i) to own its property and conduct in all material respects the business now operated by it, (ii) for the Company to execute, deliver and perform this Agreement and the Indenture and (iii) to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby; except as described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice of proceedings or has knowledge that any proceedings are pending or threatened, relating to the revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, authorization, approval, franchise, permit or other right which, individually or in the aggregate, would be reasonably expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; except as described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, to the best knowledge of the Company, no Gaming Authority is investigating the Company, its subsidiaries or its affiliates, officers, directors, stockholders or other related parties, other than in ordinary course administrative reviews; all of the officers and directors of the Company have complied with all necessary suitability and qualification requirements of all Gaming Authorities and the Company has not received any notice of any pending revocation of, or investigation with respect to, any such qualification or suitability finding;

 

(n)                                  Prior to the date hereof, neither the Company nor any of its affiliates has taken any action which is designed to or which has constituted or which might have been expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company in connection with the offering of the Securities;

 

(o)                                  The issue and sale of the Securities and the compliance by the Company with all of the provisions of the Securities, the Indenture and this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated will not conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, (i) 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, (ii) the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation, as amended (the “Articles of Incorporation”) or Fourth Restated Code of Bylaws (the “By-laws”) of the Company or (iii) 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 (including, without limitation, any laws, rules or regulations of any Gaming Authority), except, with respect to clauses (i) and (iii), to the extent such breach, conflict, violation or default would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

6

 

(p)                                  No consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body, including Gaming Authorities, is required for the issue and sale of the Securities or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture except such as have been 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, and such other approvals as have been duly obtained and are in full force and effect;

 

(q)                                  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation of (i) its Articles of Incorporation or By-laws or (ii) in default in the performance or observance of any obligation, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound, except with respect to clause (ii) to the extent such default would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

 

(r)                                     The statements set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus (i) under the captions “Description of Notes” and “Underwriting”, insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Securities and this Agreement, respectively, and (ii) under the caption “United States Federal Income Taxation”, insofar as they purport to describe the provisions of the tax laws referred to therein, are accurate and complete in all material respects;

 

(s)                                   Other than as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus 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 which would individually or in the aggregate reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; to the Company’s knowledge, no Gaming Authority or any other governmental agencies are investigating the Company or any related party, other than in ordinary course administrative reviews or in any ordinary course review of the transactions contemplated hereby; and, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, no such legal or governmental or Gaming Authority proceedings are threatened;

 

(t)                                     The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as contemplated by the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, will not be an “investment company”, as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”);

 

(u) (A) (i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement, (ii) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act (whether such amendment was by post-effective amendment,

 

7

 

incorporated report filed pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act or form of prospectus), and (iii) at the time the Company or any person acting on its behalf (within the meaning, for this clause only, of Rule 163(c) under the Act) made any offer relating to the Securities in reliance on the exemption of Rule 163 under the Act, the Company was a “well-known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act; and (B) 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 Securities, the Company was not an “ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act;

 

(v)                                  Deloitte & Touche LLP, which has audited certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries and has audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, is an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder;

 

(w)                                Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, and except as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries own, or have valid, binding and enforceable licenses or other rights to use, free and clear of all liens, charges, claims, encumbrances, pledges, security interests, defects and other like restrictions, all Intellectual Property (as defined below) necessary to conduct the business of the Company and its subsidiaries in the manner presently conducted, without any conflict with the rights of others; “Intellectual Property” means all patents, patent applications, trademarks, trademark applications, trade names, service marks, service names, copyrights, trade secrets, know how (including all unpatented or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures), technology, inventions, designs, processes, methods, technical data and information or other intangible asset, other proprietary intellectual property right or any license or other right to use any of the foregoing;

 

(x)                                    Each of the Company and its subsidiaries maintains (i) effective internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) as described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2008 and (ii) a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (A) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations, (B) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain asset accountability, (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, and (D) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences;

 

(y)                                  Since the end of the Company’s most recent audited fiscal year, there has been (i) no material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated) and (ii) no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;

 

8

 

(z)                                    The Company and its subsidiaries maintain an effective system of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act) that is effective at the reasonable assurance level as described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2008 and that is designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.  The Company and its subsidiaries have carried out evaluations of the effectiveness of their disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the Company’s last completed fiscal quarter;

 

(aa)                             There is and has been no material failure on the part of the Company and any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith;

 

(bb)                           Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, nor any director, officer, or employee, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any agent or representative of the Company or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, has taken or will take any action in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization or approval of the payment or giving of money, property, gifts or anything else of value, directly or indirectly, to any “government official” (including any officer or employee of a government or government-owned or controlled entity or of a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, or any political party or party official or candidate for political office) to influence official action or secure an improper advantage; and the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with applicable anti-corruption laws and have instituted and maintain and will continue to maintain policies and procedures designed to promote and achieve compliance with such laws and with the representation and warranty contained herein;

 

(cc)                             The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in material compliance with all applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (“USA PATRIOT Act”), and the applicable anti-money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company and its subsidiaries conduct business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Anti-Money Laundering Laws”), and no action, suit or

 

9

 

proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened; and

 

(dd)                           (i) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Entity”) is an individual or entity (“Person”) that is, or is owned or controlled by a Person that is (A) the subject of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”), the European Union (“EU”) or Her Majesty’s Treasury (“HMT”) (collectively, “Sanctions”), nor (B) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions (including, without limitation, Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria); (ii) the Entity represents and covenants that it will not, directly or indirectly, use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other Person:  (A) to fund or facilitate any activities or business of or with any Person or in any country or territory that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject of Sanctions; or (B) in any other manner that will result in a violation of Sanctions by any Person (including any Person participating in the offering, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise); and (iii) the Entity represents and covenants that it has not knowingly engaged in, is not now knowingly engaged in, and will not knowingly engage prior to the completion of the offering in, any dealings or transactions with any Person, or in any country or territory, in violation of Sanctions.

 

2.                                        Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of 98.803% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued interest, if any, from June 15, 2009 to the Time of Delivery (as defined below) hereunder, the principal amount of Securities set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto.

 

3.                                        Upon the authorization by you of the release of the Securities, the several Underwriters propose to offer the Securities for sale upon the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

4.                                        (a)  The Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder will be represented by one or more definitive global Securities in book-entry form, which will be deposited by or on behalf of the Company with The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its designated custodian.  The Company will deliver the Securities to Goldman, Sachs & Co., for the account of each Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified by the Company to Goldman, Sachs & Co. at least forty-eight hours in advance, by causing DTC to credit the Securities to the account of Goldman, Sachs & Co. at DTC.  The Company will cause the certificates representing the Securities to be made available to the Representatives for checking at least twenty-four hours prior to the Time of Delivery (as defined below) at the office of DTC or its designated custodian (the “Designated Office”).  The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on June 15, 2009 or such other time and date as the Representatives and the Company may agree upon in writing.  Such time and date are herein called the “Time of Delivery”.

 

10

 

(b)                                  The documents to be delivered at the Time of Delivery by or on behalf of the parties hereto pursuant to Section 8 hereof, including the cross-receipt for the Securities and any additional documents requested by the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8(j) hereof, will be delivered at the offices of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006 (the “Closing Location”), and the Securities will be delivered at the Designated Office, all at the Time of Delivery.  A meeting will be held at the Closing Location at 2:00 p.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next preceding the Time of Delivery, at which meeting the final drafts of the documents to be delivered pursuant to the preceding sentence will be available for review by the parties hereto.  For the purposes of this Section 4, “New York Business Day” shall mean each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which is not a day on which banking institutions in New York City are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.

 

5.                                        The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters:

 

(a)                                   To prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by you 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 date of this Agreement; to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus or the Prospectus prior to the Time of Delivery which shall be disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus has been filed and to furnish you with copies thereof; to prepare a final term sheet, containing solely a description of the Securities, in a form approved by you and to file such term sheet pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act within the time required by such Rule; to file promptly all other material required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) 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 subsequent to the date of the Prospectus and for so long as the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus in respect of the Securities, of any notice of objection of the Commission to the use of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) under the Act, of the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus or suspending any such qualification, to promptly use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal of such order; and in the event of any such issuance of a notice of

 

11

 

objection, promptly to take such steps including, without limitation, amending the Registration Statement or filing a new registration statement, at its own expense, as may be necessary to permit offers and sales of the Securities by the Underwriters (references herein to the Registration Statement shall include any such amendment or new registration statement);

 

(b)                                  If required by Rule 430B(h) under the Act, to prepare a form of prospectus in a form approved by you and to file such form of prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act not later than may be required by Rule 424(b) under the Act; and to make no further amendment or supplement to such form of prospectus which shall be disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice therereof;

 

(c)                                   If by the third anniversary (the “Renewal Deadline”) of the initial effective date of the Registration Statement, any of the Securities remain unsold by the Underwriters, the Company will file, if it has not already done so and is eligible to do so, a new automatic shelf registration statement relating to the Securities, in a form satisfactory to you.  If at the Renewal Deadline the Company is no longer eligible to file an automatic shelf registration statement, the Company will, if it has not already done so, file a new shelf registration statement relating to the Securities, in a form satisfactory to you and will use its best efforts to cause such registration statement to be declared effective within 180 days after the Renewal Deadline.  The Company will take all other action necessary or appropriate to permit the public offering and sale of the Securities to continue as contemplated in the expired registration statement relating to the Securities.  References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such new automatic shelf registration statement or such new shelf registration statement, as the case may be;

 

(d)                                  Promptly from time to time to take such action as you may reasonably request to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as you 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 the 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;

 

(e)                                   Prior to 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and from time to time, to furnish the Underwriters with written and electronic copies of the Prospectus in New York City in such quantities as you may reasonably request, and, if the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) 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 the Securities and if at such time any event shall have occurred as a result of which the 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 (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary during such same period to amend or supplement the Prospectus or to file under the Exchange Act any document incorporated by reference in the Prospectus in order to comply with the Act, the Exchange Act or the Trust Indenture

 

12

 

Act, to notify you and upon your request to file such document and to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many written and electronic copies as you may from time to time reasonably request of an amended Prospectus or a supplement to the Prospectus which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and in case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) in connection with sales of any of the Securities at any time nine months or more after the time of issue of the Prospectus, upon your request but at the expense of such Underwriter, to prepare and deliver to such Underwriter as many written and electronic copies as you may request of an amended or supplemented Prospectus complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;

 

(f)                                     To make generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than sixteen months after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) under the Act), an earnings 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);

 

(g)                                  During the period beginning from the date hereof and continuing to and including the later of the Time of Delivery and such earlier time as you may notify the Company, not to offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, or otherwise dispose of, except as provided hereunder, any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Securities;

 

(h)                                  To pay the required Commission filing fees relating to the Securities within the time required by Rule 456(b)(1) under the Act without regard to the proviso therein and otherwise in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r) under the Act;

 

(i)                                      Not to be or become, at any time prior to the expiration of one year after the Time of Delivery, an open-end investment company, unit investment trust, closed-end investment company or face-amount certificate company that is or is required to be registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act;

 

(j)                                      (i) During a period of three years from the date of the Prospectus, to furnish to you copies of all reports or other communications (financial or other) furnished to stockholders of the Company, and to deliver to you as soon as they are available, copies of any reports and financial statements furnished or filed with the Commission or any securities exchange on which the Securities or any class of securities of the Company is listed, provided that any document filed on the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system or any successor system shall be deemed delivered; and (ii) prior to the completion of the distribution of the Securities to the Underwriters, to furnish to you from time to time as you may reasonably request, any additional information to update or confirm the information previously provided to you concerning the business and financial condition of the Company; and

 

(k)                                   To use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement in the manner specified in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds.”

 

13

 

6.

 

(a)                                   (i)                                      The Company represents and agrees that, other than the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof, without the prior consent of the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act;

 

(ii)                                   each Underwriter represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives, other than one or more term sheets relating to the Securities containing customary information and conveyed to purchasers of Securities, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or a free writing prospectus required to be filed with the Commission; and

 

(iii)                                any such free writing prospectus the use of which has been consented to by the Company and the Representatives (including the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof) is listed on Schedule II(a) hereto;

 

(b)                                  The Company has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 under the Act applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission or retention where required and legending; and

 

(c)                                   The Company agrees that if at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus any event occurred or occurs as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus would conflict with the information in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or 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 then prevailing, not misleading, the Company will give prompt notice thereof to the Representatives and, if requested by the Representatives, will prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or other document which will correct such conflict, statement or omission; 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 th