Lender Assignments Each Lender may, with the consent of the Agent (not to be unreasonably withheld) and, so long as no Event of Default then exists, the Borrower Agent (not to be unreasonably withheld, and not required in connection with an assignment to a Person that is a Lender or an Affiliate of a Lender), assign to one or more Eligible Assignees (or, if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, to one or more other Persons) all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement, the Notes and the other Loan Documents upon execution and delivery to the Agent, for its acceptance and recording in the Register, of an Assignment and Acceptance, together with surrender of any Note or Notes subject to such assignment and a processing and recordation fee payable to the Agent for its account of $3,500. No such assignment shall be for less than Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) of the Commitments or Loans unless it is to another Lender or an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the assigning Lender’s Commitment or Loans, and each such assignment shall be of a uniform, and not a varying, percentage of all rights and obligations in respect of the Commitments and the Loans. Upon the execution and delivery to the Agent of an Assignment and Acceptance and the payment of the recordation fee to the Agent, from and after the date specified as the effective date in the Assignment and Acceptance (the “Acceptance Date”), (i) the assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto, and, to the extent that rights and obligations hereunder have been assigned to it under such Assignment and Acceptance, such assignee shall have the rights and obligations of a Lender hereunder and (ii) the assignor thereunder shall, to the extent that rights and obligations hereunder have been assigned by it under such Assignment and Acceptance, relinquish its rights (other than any rights it may have under Sections 4.10, 4.11 and 12.4, which shall survive such assignment) and be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and Acceptance covering all or the remaining portion of an assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto).
Lender Assignments and Participations (a) Each Lender may assign to one or more Eligible Assignees all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this Agreement (including, without limitation, all or a portion of its Advances, its Notes, and its Commitments); provided, however, that (i) each such assignment shall be to an Eligible Assignee; (ii) except in the case of an assignment to another Lender or an assignment of all of a Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, any such partial assignment shall be in an amount at least equal to $5,000,000 unless the Administrative Agent and, so long as no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, the Borrower otherwise consents to a lower amount (each such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed); provided that the Borrower shall be deemed to have consented to such lower amount unless it shall have objected thereto by written notice to the Administrative Agent within five (5) Business Days after having received notice thereof; (iii) each assignment of a Lender’s rights and obligations with respect to Advances and its Commitments shall be of a constant, and not varying, percentage of all of its rights and obligations under this Agreement as a Lender and the Notes (other than rights of reimbursement and indemnity arising before the effective date of such assignment); and (iv) the parties to such assignment shall execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent for its acceptance an Assignment and Acceptance, together with any Notes subject to such assignment and the assignor or assignee Lender shall pay a processing fee of $3,500; provided that such processing fee shall not be required for the initial assignments made by Amegy as a Lender in connection with the initial syndication of its Commitments hereunder and such processing fee may be waived at the sole discretion of the Administrative Agent. Upon execution, delivery, and acceptance of such Assignment and Acceptance and payment of the processing fee, the assignee thereunder shall be a party hereto and, to the extent of such assignment, have the obligations, rights, and benefits of a Lender hereunder and the assigning Lender shall, to the extent of such assignment, relinquish its rights and be released from its obligations under this Agreement. Upon the consummation of any assignment pursuant to this Section 9.7, the assignor, the Administrative Agent and the Borrower shall make appropriate arrangements so that, if requested, new Notes are issued to the assignor and the assignee. The assignee shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent any applicable forms or certifications in accordance with Section 2.12(e).
Replacement Lender Borrower Agent may obtain, at Borrowers’ expense, a replacement Lender (“Replacement Lender”) for a Lender seeking payment or compensation under Sections 3.6, 3.7, 3.9 or 5.10 of this Agreement (or that is a Defaulting Lender (any such Lender, an “Affected Lender”)), which Replacement Lender shall be reasonably satisfactory to Agent and the Issuing Bank. In the event Borrower Agent obtains a Replacement Lender that will purchase all outstanding Obligations owed to such Affected Lender and assume its Revolver Commitment hereunder within ninety (90) days following notice to Agent and the Affected Lender of Borrower Agent’s intention to do so (the “Replacement Notice”), the Affected Lender shall sell and assign its Loans, Revolver Commitment and Capital Expenditure Loan Commitment, without recourse, to such Replacement Lender in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.3; provided that, (a) Borrower Agent and Issuing Bank shall have consented thereto in writing, (b) such assignment will in fact result in a reduction in such compensation and payment then payable to the Affected Lender, (c) such assignment does not conflict with Applicable Laws or regulations, (d) (i) Borrowers or the Replacement Lender have reimbursed such Affected Lender for any administrative fee payable by such Affected Lender to Agent pursuant to Section 13.3 and (ii) in any case where such replacement occurs as the result of a demand for payment of certain costs or Taxes pursuant to Sections 3.6, 3.7, 3.9 or 5.10, Borrowers have paid all increased costs for and Taxes to which such Affected Lender is entitled to under such Sections 3.6, 3.7, 3.9 or 5.10 through the date of such sale and assignment; provided, further, that, each Replacement Lender shall be an Eligible Assignee. Such Affected Lender shall be entitled to receive, in cash, concurrently with such assignment, all amounts owed to it under the Loan Documents through the date of assignment. An Affected Lender shall not be required to make any such assignment and delegation if, on or before sixty (60) days after Agent’s and the Affected Lender’s receipt of the Replacement Notice, as a result of a waiver by such Affected Lender or otherwise, the circumstances entitling Borrower Agent to require such assignment and delegation cease to apply. Nothing in this Section 3.11 shall limit or impair (A) any rights that any Borrower or Agent may have against any Lender that is a Defaulting Lender or (B) Agent’s rights to replace a Lender in accordance with Section 13.4.
Resignation as L/C Issuer or Swingline Lender after Assignment Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, if at any time Bank of America assigns all of its Revolving Commitment and Revolving Loans pursuant to subsection (b) above, Bank of America may, (i) upon thirty (30) days’ notice to the Borrower and the Lenders, resign as L/C Issuer and/or (ii) upon thirty (30) days’ notice to the Borrower, resign as Swingline Lender. In the event of any such resignation as L/C Issuer or Swingline Lender, the Borrower shall be entitled to appoint from among the Lenders a successor L/C Issuer or Swingline Lender hereunder; provided, however, that no failure by the Borrower to appoint any such successor shall affect the resignation of Bank of America as L/C Issuer or Swingline Lender, as the case may be. If Bank of America resigns as L/C Issuer, it shall retain all the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the L/C Issuer hereunder with respect to all Letters of Credit outstanding as of the effective date of its resignation as L/C Issuer and all L/C Obligations with respect thereto (including the right to require the Lenders to make Base Rate Loans or fund risk participations in Unreimbursed Amounts pursuant to Section 2.03(c)). If Bank of America resigns as Swingline Lender, it shall retain all the rights of the Swingline Lender provided for hereunder with respect to Swingline Loans made by it and outstanding as of the effective date of such resignation, including the right to require the Lenders to make Base Rate Loans or fund risk participations in outstanding Swingline Loans pursuant to Section 2.04(c). Upon the appointment of a successor L/C Issuer and/or Swingline Lender, (A) such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all of the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring L/C Issuer or Swingline Lender, as the case may be, and (B) the successor L/C Issuer shall issue letters of credit in substitution for the Letters of Credit, if any, outstanding at the time of such succession or make other arrangements satisfactory to Bank of America to effectively assume the obligations of Bank of America with respect to such Letters of Credit.
Replacement Lenders The Parent at its own cost and expense may designate an Eligible Assignee with the prior written consent of the Agent (and acceptable to each Fronting Letter of Credit Lender and the Swingline Lender), such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed (a “Replacement Lender”) to assume all or any part of the Commitments and the obligations of any Defaulting Lender hereunder, and to purchase the Accommodations Outstanding of such Defaulting Lender and such Defaulting Lender’s rights hereunder and with respect thereto, and within ten (10) Business Days of such designation the Defaulting Lender shall (x) sell to such Replacement Lender, without recourse upon, warranty by or expense to such Defaulting Lender, by way of an Assignment and Assumption for a purchase price equal to (unless such Defaulting Lender agrees to a lesser amount in writing) the outstanding principal amount of the Accommodations made by such Defaulting Lender, plus all interest accrued and unpaid thereon and all other amounts owing to such Defaulting Lender hereunder, and (y) assign to such Replacement Lender the Commitments of such Defaulting Lender. In the event any Defaulting Lender fails to execute the Assignment and Assumption in connection with an assignment pursuant to this Section, the Agent may, but only after such Defaulting Lender has been paid in full what it is entitled to be paid under this Section, upon two (2) Business Days’ prior notice to the Defaulting Lender, execute such agreement on behalf of the Defaulting Lender, and each Lender hereby grants to the Agent an irrevocable power of attorney (which shall be coupled with an interest) for such purpose. Upon such assumption and purchase by the Replacement Lender and subject to acceptance and recording of such Assignment and Assumption by the Agent pursuant to Section 18.01(3) hereof, such Replacement Lender shall be deemed to be a “Lender” for purposes of this Agreement and such Defaulting Lender shall cease to be a “Lender” for purposes of this Agreement and shall no longer have any obligations or rights hereunder (other than any obligations or rights which according to this Agreement shall survive the termination of the Commitments). Additionally, in the event a Defaulting Lender has been a Defaulting Lender for more than ninety (90) consecutive days, the Borrowers, at their own cost and expense, may repay in full all outstanding obligations under the Loan Documents (except for the Eligible Hedging Agreements and Other Secured Obligations) owed to such Defaulting Lender and terminate in full all of the Commitment held by such Defaulting Lender, and upon such repayment and termination such Defaulting Lender shall cease to be a “Lender” for purposes of this Agreement and shall no longer have any obligations or rights hereunder (other than any obligations or rights which according to this Agreement shall survive the termination of the Commitments).
Resignation as L/C Issuer or Swing Line Lender after Assignment Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, if at any time Bank of America assigns all of its Commitment and Loans pursuant to subsection (b) above, Bank of America may, (i) upon 30 days’ notice to the Company and the Lenders, resign as L/C Issuer and/or (ii) upon 30 days’ notice to the Company, resign as Swing Line Lender. In the event of any such resignation as L/C Issuer or Swing Line Lender, the Company shall be entitled to appoint from among the Lenders a successor L/C Issuer or Swing Line Lender hereunder; provided, however, that no failure by the Company to appoint any such successor shall affect the resignation of Bank of America as L/C Issuer or Swing Line Lender, as the case may be. If Bank of America resigns as L/C Issuer, it shall retain all the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the L/C Issuer hereunder with respect to all Letters of Credit outstanding as of the effective date of its resignation as L/C Issuer and all L/C Obligations with respect thereto (including the right to require the Lenders to make Base Rate Committed Loans or fund risk participations in Unreimbursed Amounts pursuant to Section 2.03(c)). If Bank of America resigns as Swing Line Lender, it shall retain all the rights of the Swing Line Lender provided for hereunder with respect to Swing Line Loans made by it and outstanding as of the effective date of such resignation, including the right to require the Lenders to make Base Rate Committed Loans or fund risk participations in outstanding Swing Line Loans pursuant to Section 2.04(c). Upon the appointment of a successor L/C Issuer and/or Swing Line Lender, (a) such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all of the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring L/C Issuer or Swing Line Lender, as the case may be, and (b) the successor L/C Issuer shall issue letters of credit in substitution for the Letters of Credit, if any, outstanding at the time of such succession or make other arrangements satisfactory to Bank of America to effectively assume the obligations of Bank of America with respect to such Letters of Credit.
SPV Lender Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, any Lender (a “Granting Lender”) may grant to a special purpose funding vehicle (a “SPV”), identified as such in writing from time to time by the Granting Lender to the Administrative Agent and the Borrower, the option to provide to the Borrower all or any part of any Loan that such Granting Lender would otherwise be obligated to make the Borrower pursuant to this Agreement; provided that (i) nothing herein shall constitute a commitment by any SPV to make any Loan and (ii) if an SPV elects not to exercise such option or otherwise fails to provide all or any part of such Loan, the Granting Lender shall be obligated to make such Loan pursuant to the terms hereof. The making of a Loan by an SPV hereunder shall utilize the Commitment of the Granting Lender to the same extent, and as if, such Loan were made by such Granting Lender. Each party hereto hereby agrees that no SPV shall be liable for any indemnity or similar payment obligation under this Agreement (all liability for which shall remain with the Granting Lender). In furtherance of the foregoing, each party hereto hereby agrees (which agreement shall survive the termination of this Agreement) that, prior to the date that is one year and one day after the payment in full of all outstanding commercial paper or other senior indebtedness of any SPV, it shall not institute against, or join any other person in instituting against, such SPV any bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, insolvency or liquidation proceedings under the laws of the United States or any State thereof. In addition, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section 13.6, any SPV may (i) with notice to, but without the prior written consent of, the Borrower and the Administrative Agent and without paying any processing fee therefor, assign all or a portion of its interests in any Loans to the Granting Lender or to any financial institutions (consented to by the Borrower and Administrative Agent) providing liquidity and/or credit support to or for the account of such SPV to support the funding or maintenance of Loans and (ii) disclose on a confidential basis any non-public information relating to its Loans to any rating agency, commercial paper dealer or provider of any surety, guarantee or credit or liquidity enhancement to such SPV. This Section 13.6(g) may not be amended without the written consent of the SPV. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, (x) no SPV shall be entitled to any greater rights under Sections 2.10, 2.11 and 5.4 than its Granting Lender would have been entitled to absent the use of such SPV and (y) each SPV agrees to be subject to the requirements of Sections 2.10, 2.11 and 5.4 as though it were a Lender and has acquired its interest by assignment pursuant to clause (b) of this Section 13.6.
Assignment and Participation It is understood and agreed that each Bank shall have the right to assign at any time all or any portion of its Commitment and interests in the risk relating to the Loans and outstanding Letters of Credit hereunder in an amount equal to or greater than $2,500,000 (which assignment shall be of an equal percentage of its Commitment, the Loans and outstanding Letters of Credit unless otherwise agreed to by the Administrative Agent) to any Eligible Assignees with the prior written approval of the Administrative Agent and, if no Default or Event of Default exists, the Borrowers, which approvals shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed; provided, however, that the Administrative Agent may assign without the consent of the Borrowers such portion of its Commitment and interests in the risk relating to the Loans and outstanding Letters of Credit necessary to reach its desired hold level. Any Bank may at any time, and from time to time, assign to any Bank Affiliate of such Bank all or any part of its rights and obligations under the Loan Documents by notice to the Administrative Agent and the Borrowers. It is further agreed that each assignee which executes and delivers to the Administrative Agent and the Borrowers hereunder an Assignment and Acceptance substantially in the form of Exhibit F hereto together with an assignment fee in the amount of $3,500 payable by the assigning Bank to the Administrative Agent, shall, on the date specified in such Assignment and Acceptance, become a party to this Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents for all purposes of this Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents, and its portion of the Commitment, the Loans and Letters of Credit shall be as set forth in such Assignment and Acceptance. The Bank assignor thereunder shall, to the extent that rights and obligations hereunder have been assigned by it pursuant to such Assignment and Acceptance, relinquish its rights and be released from its obligations under this Credit Agreement. Upon the execution and delivery of such Assignment and Acceptance, the Borrowers shall issue to the assignee a Note in the amount of such assignee’s Commitment, dated the date of the assignment and otherwise completed in substantially the form of Exhibit B and to the extent any assigning Bank has retained a portion of its obligations hereunder, an appropriate replacement Note to the assigning Bank reflecting its assignment; (b) the Administrative Agent shall distribute to the Borrowers, the Banks and such assignee a schedule reflecting such changes; and (c) this Credit Agreement shall be appropriately amended to reflect (i) the status of the assignee as a party hereto and (ii) the status and rights of the Banks hereunder. Each Bank shall also have the right to grant participations to one or more banks or other financial institutions in its Commitment, the Loans and outstanding Letters of Credit. The documents evidencing any such participation shall limit such participating bank or financial institutions voting rights solely to those matters set forth in §14.8 which require the vote of each Bank directly affected thereby. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no assignment or participation shall operate to increase the Commitment hereunder or otherwise alter the substantive terms of this Credit Agreement, and no Bank which retains a Commitment hereunder shall have a Commitment of less than $2,500,000, as such amount may be reduced upon reductions in the Total Commitment pursuant to §2.2 hereof. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this §18, any Bank (a “Granting Bank”) may grant to a special purpose funding vehicle (an “SPV”) of such Granting Bank, identified as such in writing from time to time delivered by the Granting Bank to the Administrative Agent and the Borrowers, the option to provide to the Borrowers all or any part of any Loan that such Granting Bank would otherwise be obligated to make to the Borrowers pursuant to this Credit Agreement, provided that (a) nothing herein shall constitute a commitment to make any Loan by any SPV, (b) the Granting Bank’s obligations under this Credit Agreement shall remain unchanged, (c) the Granting Bank shall retain the sole right to enforce this Credit Agreement and to approve any amendment, modification or waiver of any provision of this Credit Agreement and (d) if an SPV elects not to exercise such option or otherwise fails to provide all or any part of such Loan, the Granting Bank shall be obligated to make such Loan pursuant to the terms hereof. The making of a Loan by an SPV hereunder shall utilize the Commitment of the Granting Bank to the same extent, and as if, such Loan were made by the Granting Bank. Each party hereto hereby agrees that no SPV shall be liable for any expense reimbursement, indemnity or similar payment obligation under this Credit Agreement (all liability for which shall remain with the Granting Bank). In furtherance of the foregoing, each party hereto hereby agrees (which agreement shall survive the termination of this Credit Agreement) that, prior to the date that is one year and one day after the later of (i) the payment in full of all outstanding senior indebtedness of any SPV and (ii) the Maturity Date, it will not institute against, or join any other person in instituting against, such SPV any bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, insolvency or liquidation proceedings or similar proceedings under the laws of the United States of America or any State thereof. In addition, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this §18, any SPV may (A) with notice to, but (except as specified below) without the prior written consent of, the Borrowers or the Administrative Agent and without paying any processing fee therefor, assign all or a portion of its interests in any Loans to its Granting Bank or to any financial institutions (consented to by the Administrative Agent and, so long as no Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, the Borrowers, which consents shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed) providing liquidity and/or credit facilities to or for the account of such SPV to fund the Loans made by such SPV or to support the securities (if any) issued by such SPV to fund such Loans and (B) disclose on a confidential basis any non-public information relating to its Loans (other than financial statements referred to in §5.4 or §6.4) to any rating agency, commercial paper dealer or provider of a surety, guarantee or credit or liquidity enhancement to such SPV. In no event shall the Borrowers be obligated to pay to an SPV that has made a Loan any greater amount than the Borrowers would have been obligated to pay under this Agreement if the Granting Bank had made such Loan. An amendment to this paragraph without the written consent of an SPV shall be ineffective insofar as it alters the rights and obligations of such SPV. Anything contained in this §18 to the contrary notwithstanding, any Bank may at any time pledge, without the consent of the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, all or any portion of its interest and rights under this Credit Agreement (including all or any portion of its Notes) to any of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks organized under §4 of the Federal Reserve Act, 12 U.S.C. 341. No such pledge or the enforcement thereof shall release the pledgor Bank from its obligations hereunder or under any of the other Loan Documents.
Additional Commitment Lenders The Company shall have the right, but shall not be obligated, on or before the applicable Maturity Date for any Non-Extending Lender to replace such Non-Extending Lender with, and add as “Lenders” under this Agreement in place thereof, one or more financial institutions that are not Ineligible Institutions (each, an “Additional Commitment Lender”) approved by the Administrative Agent in accordance with the procedures provided in Section 2.19(b), each of which Additional Commitment Lenders shall have entered into an Assignment and Assumption (in accordance with and subject to the restrictions contained in Section 9.04, with the Company or replacement Lender obligated to pay any applicable processing or recordation fee) with such Non-Extending Lender, pursuant to which such Additional Commitment Lenders shall, effective on or before the applicable Maturity Date for such Non-Extending Lender, assume a Commitment (and, if any such Additional Commitment Lender is already a Lender, its Commitment shall be in addition to such Lender’s Commitment hereunder on such date). Prior to any Non-Extending Lender being replaced by one or more Additional Commitment Lenders pursuant hereto, such Non-Extending Lender may elect, in its sole discretion, by giving irrevocable notice thereof to the Administrative Agent and the Company (which notice shall set forth such Lender’s new Maturity Date), to become an Extending Lender. The Administrative Agent may effect such amendments to this Agreement as are reasonably necessary to provide for any such extensions with the consent of the Company but without the consent of any other Lenders.
Collateral Assignment The Owner may assign this contract as collateral security. The Company is not responsible for the validity or effect of a collateral assignment. The Company will not be responsible to an assignee for any payment or other action taken by the Company before receipt of the assignment in writing at its Home Office. The interest of any beneficiary will be subject to any collateral assignment made either before or after the beneficiary is named. A collateral assignee is not an Owner. A collateral assignment is not a transfer of ownership. Ownership can be transferred only by complying with Section 8.2.
