Base Rate The greater of (a) the fluctuating annual rate of interest announced from time to time by the Agent at the Agent’s Head Office as its “prime rate” or (b) one half of one percent (0.5%) above the Federal Funds Effective Rate. The Base Rate is a reference rate and does not necessarily represent the lowest or best rate being charged to any customer. Any change in the rate of interest payable hereunder resulting from a change in the Base Rate shall become effective as of the opening of business on the day on which such change in the Base Rate becomes effective, without notice or demand of any kind.
Applicable Margin On the Third Amendment Effective Date and thereafter, the Applicable Margin with respect to the Term Loan D Loans shall be for Base Rate Advances, 1.50%, and for LIBOR Advances, 2.50%. The Applicable Margin with respect to the Term Loan D Loans shall be subject to reduction or increase, as applicable, and as set forth in the tables below, based upon the Borrower Leverage Ratio and the Senior Leverage Ratio set forth on a pro forma basis in any Request for Advance and as reflected in the financial statements required to be delivered for the fiscal quarter most recently ended pursuant to Section 6.1 or Section 6.2 hereof; provided that the Applicable Margins set forth in the tables below shall be increased by 25 bps at any time when the Senior Leverage Ratio is greater than 2.5 to 1.0. The adjustment provided for in this Section 2.3(f)(ii) shall be effective (A) with respect to an increase of the Applicable Margin, as of the second (2nd) Business Day after the earliest of (1) with respect to Base Rate Advances, the day on which any Request for Advance is delivered, (2) with respect to LIBOR Advances, the day on which the requested Advance is made or (3) the day on which financial statements are required to be delivered to the Administrative Agent pursuant to Sections 6.1 and 6.2 hereof, as the case may be, and (B) with respect to a decrease in the Applicable Margin, as of the second (2nd) Business Day after the earliest of (1) with respect to Base Rate Advances, the day on which any Request for Advance is delivered, (2) with respect to LIBOR Advances, the day on which the requested Advance is made or (3) except with respect to Interest Periods ending (or other payments of interest occurring) before the date that such financial statements are actually delivered to the Administrative Agent, the day on which such financial statements are required to be delivered to the Administrative Agent pursuant to Section 6.1 or 6.2 hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Borrower shall fail to deliver financial statements within forty-five (45) days after the end of any of the first three fiscal quarters of the Borrower’s fiscal year (or within ninety (90) days after the end of the last fiscal quarter of the Borrower’s fiscal year), as required by Sections 6.1 or 6.2 hereof, it shall be conclusively presumed that the Applicable Margin is based upon a Borrower Leverage Ratio equal to the highest level set forth in the table below and a Senior Leverage Ratio greater than 2.5 to 1.0 for the period from and including the forty-sixth (46th) day (or ninety-first (91st) day, in the case of the last quarter) after the end of such fiscal quarter, as the case may be, to the Business Day following the delivery by the Borrower to the Administrative Agent of such financial statements: Greater than 4.00 to 1.00 1.50% 2.50% Less than or equal to 4.00 to 1.00 1.25% 2.25%
LIBOR Rate (A) Except as provided in subsection (C) below, Revolving Loans shall accrue interest at the LIBOR Rate plus the Applicable Margin.
(B) The LIBOR Rate may be adjusted by Agent with respect to any Lender on a prospective basis to take into account any additional or increased costs to such Lender of maintaining or obtaining any eurodollar deposits or increased costs, in each case, due to changes in applicable Law occurring subsequent to the commencement of the then applicable Interest Period, including changes in tax laws (except changes of general applicability in corporate income tax laws) and changes in the reserve requirements imposed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (or any successor), which additional or increased costs would increase the cost of funding loans bearing interest based upon the LIBOR Rate; provided, however, that notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, (i) the ▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and all requests, rules, guidelines or directives thereunder or issued in connection therewith and (ii) all requests, rules, guidelines or directives promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (or any successor or similar authority) or the United States or foreign regulatory authorities, in each case pursuant to Basel III, shall in each case be deemed to be a “change in applicable Law”, regardless of the date enacted, adopted or issued. In any such event, the affected Lender shall give Borrowers and Agent notice of such a determination and adjustment and Agent promptly shall transmit the notice to each other Lender and, upon its receipt of the notice from the affected Lender, Borrowers may, by notice to such affected Lender (I) require such Lender to furnish to Borrowers a statement setting forth the basis for adjusting such LIBOR Rate and the method for determining the amount of such adjustment, or (II) repay the Loans bearing interest based upon the LIBOR Rate with respect to which such adjustment is made.
(C) In the event that any change in market conditions or any law, regulation, treaty, or directive, or any change therein or in the interpretation of application thereof, shall at any time after the date hereof, in the reasonable opinion of any Lender, make it unlawful or impractical for such Lender to fund or maintain Loans bearing interest based upon the LIBOR Rate or to continue such funding or maintaining, or to determine or charge interest rates at the LIBOR Rate, such Lender shall give notice of such changed circumstances to Agent and Borrowers and Agent promptly shall transmit the notice to each other Lender and (I) in the case of any outstanding Loans of such Lender bearing interest based upon the LIBOR Rate, the date specified in such Lender’s notice shall be deemed to be the last day of the Interest Period of such Loans, and interest upon such Lender’s Loans thereafter shall accrue interest at Base Rate plus the Applicable Margin, and (II) such Loans shall continue to accrue interest at Base Rate plus the Applicable Margin until such Lender determines that it would no longer be unlawful or impractical to maintain such Loans at the LIBOR Rate.
(D) Anything to the contrary contained herein notwithstanding, neither Agent nor any Lender is required actually to acquire eurodollar deposits to fund or otherwise match fund any Obligation as to which interest accrues based on the LIBOR Rate.
Highest Lawful Rate It is the intention of the parties hereto that each Agent and each Lender shall conform strictly to usury laws applicable to it. Accordingly, if the transactions contemplated hereby or by any other Loan Document would be usurious as to any Agent or any Lender under laws applicable to it (including the laws of the United States of America and the State of New York or any other jurisdiction whose laws may be mandatorily applicable to such Agent or such Lender notwithstanding the other provisions of this Agreement), then, in that event, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement or any other Loan Document or any agreement entered into in connection with or as security for the Obligations, it is agreed as follows: (i) the aggregate of all consideration which constitutes interest under law applicable to any Agent or any Lender that is contracted for, taken, reserved, charged or received by such Agent or such Lender under this Agreement or any other Loan Document or agreements or otherwise in connection with the Obligations shall under no circumstances exceed the maximum amount allowed by such applicable law, any excess shall be canceled automatically and if theretofore paid shall be credited by such Agent or such Lender on the principal amount of the Obligations (or, to the extent that the principal amount of the Obligations shall have been or would thereby be paid in full, refunded by such Agent or such Lender, as applicable, to the Borrowers); and (ii) in the event that the maturity of the Obligations is accelerated by reason of any Event of Default under this Agreement or otherwise, or in the event of any required or permitted prepayment, then such consideration that constitutes interest under law applicable to any Agent or any Lender may never include more than the maximum amount allowed by such applicable law, and excess interest, if any, provided for in this Agreement or otherwise shall, subject to the last sentence of this Section 12.18, be canceled automatically by such Agent or such Lender, as applicable, as of the date of such acceleration or prepayment and, if theretofore paid, shall be credited by such Agent or such Lender, as applicable, on the principal amount of the Obligations (or, to the extent that the principal amount of the Obligations shall have been or would thereby be paid in full, refunded by such Agent or such Lender to the Borrowers). All sums paid or agreed to be paid to any Agent or any Lender for the use, forbearance or detention of sums due hereunder shall, to the extent permitted by law applicable to such Agent or such Lender, be amortized, prorated, allocated and spread throughout the full term of the Loans until payment in full so that the rate or amount of interest on account of any Loans hereunder does not exceed the maximum amount allowed by such applicable law. If at any time and from time to time (x) the amount of interest payable to any Agent or any Lender on any date shall be computed at the Highest Lawful Rate applicable to such Agent or such Lender pursuant to this Section 12.18 and (y) in respect of any subsequent interest computation period the amount of interest otherwise payable to such Agent or such Lender would be less than the amount of interest payable to such Agent or such Lender computed at the Highest Lawful Rate applicable to such Agent or such Lender, then the amount of interest payable to such Agent or such Lender in respect of such subsequent interest computation period shall continue to be computed at the Highest Lawful Rate applicable to such Agent or such Lender until the total amount of interest payable to such Agent or such Lender shall equal the total amount of interest which would have been payable to such Agent or such Lender if the total amount of interest had been computed without giving effect to this Section 12.18. For purposes of this Section 12.18, the term “applicable law” shall mean that law in effect from time to time and applicable to the loan transaction between the Borrowers, on the one hand, and the Agents and the Lenders, on the other, that lawfully permits the charging and collection of the highest permissible, lawful non-usurious rate of interest on such loan transaction and this Agreement, including laws of the State of New York and, to the extent controlling, laws of the United States of America. The right to accelerate the maturity of the Obligations does not include the right to accelerate any interest that has not accrued as of the date of acceleration.
Interest and Applicable Margins (a) Borrower shall pay interest to Agent, for the ratable benefit of Lenders with respect to the various Loans made by each Lender, in arrears on each applicable Interest Payment Date, at the following rates: (i) with respect to the Revolving Loans which are designated as Index Rate Loans (and for all other Obligations not otherwise set forth below), the Index Rate plus the Applicable Revolver Index Margin per annum or, with respect to Revolving Loans which are designated as LIBOR Loans, at the election of Borrower, the applicable LIBOR Rate plus the Applicable Revolver LIBOR Margin per annum; and (ii) with respect to such portion of the Term Loans designated as an Index Rate Loan, the Index Rate plus the Applicable Term Loan Index Margin per annum or, with respect to such portion of the Term Loans designated as a LIBOR Loan, the applicable LIBOR Rate plus the Applicable Term Loan LIBOR Margin per annum. The Applicable Margins shall be as follows: Applicable Revolver Index Margin 2.75 % Applicable Revolver LIBOR Margin 3.75 % Applicable Term Loan Index Margin 2.75 % Applicable Term Loan LIBOR Margin 3.75 % 1 Borrower to supply account information. provided; however, the Applicable Margins, with respect to the Term Loan, shall be adjusted (up or down) prospectively on a quarterly basis as determined by Holdings’ and its Subsidiaries’ consolidated financial performance. Adjustments in Applicable Margins will be determined by reference to the following grids: Level I ³ 4.00 to 1.00 3.25 % 4.25 % Level II ³ 2.50 to 1.00, and < 4.00 to 1.00 2.75 % 3.75 % Level III < 2.50 to 1.00 2.25 % 3.25 % All adjustments in the Applicable Margins shall be implemented quarterly on a prospective basis, five (5) Business Days after the date of delivery to Lenders of the quarterly unaudited Financial Statements evidencing the need for an adjustment. Concurrently with the delivery of those Financial Statements, Borrower shall deliver to Agent and Lenders a certificate, signed by its chief financial officer, setting forth in reasonable detail the basis for the continuance of, or any change in, the Applicable Margins. If any Default or an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing at the time any reduction in the Applicable Margins is to be implemented, that reduction shall be deferred until the first day of the first calendar month following the date on which all Defaults or Events of Default are waived or cured.
(b) If any payment on any Loan becomes due and payable on a day other than a Business Day, the maturity thereof will be extended to the next succeeding Business Day (except as set forth in the definition of LIBOR Period) and, with respect to payments of principal, interest thereon shall be payable at the then applicable rate during such extension.
(c) All computations of Fees calculated on a per annum basis and interest shall be made by Agent on the basis of a 360-day year, in each case for the actual number of days occurring in the period for which such Fees and interest are payable. The Index Rate is a floating rate determined for each day. Each determination by Agent of an interest rate and Fees hereunder shall be presumptive evidence of the correctness of such rates and Fees.
(d) So long as an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing under Section 8.1(a), (f) or (g) and without notice of any kind, or so long as any other Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and at the election of Agent (or upon the written request of Requisite Lenders) confirmed by written notice from Agent to Borrower, the interest rates applicable to the Loans and the Letter of Credit Fee shall be increased by two percentage points (2%) per annum above the rates of interest or the rate of such Fee otherwise applicable hereunder (“Default Rate”), and the outstanding principal balance of the Loans shall bear interest at the Default Rate applicable to such Obligations. Interest and Letter of Credit Fees at the Default Rate shall accrue from the initial date of such Event of Default until that Event of Default is cured or waived and shall be payable upon demand, but in any event, shall be payable on the next regularly scheduled payment date set forth herein for such Obligation.
(e) After the earlier of sixty days following the Closing Date and the completion of the primary syndication of the credit facility, Borrower shall have the option to (i) request that any Revolving Credit Advance be made as a LIBOR Loan, (ii) convert at any time all or any part of outstanding Loans from Index Rate Loans to LIBOR Loans, (iii) convert any LIBOR Loan to an Index Rate Loan, subject to payment of the LIBOR Breakage Costs in accordance with Section 2.3(d) if such conversion is made prior to the expiration of the LIBOR Period applicable thereto, or (iv) continue all or any portion of any Loan as a LIBOR Loan upon the expiration of the applicable LIBOR Period and the succeeding LIBOR Period of that continued Loan shall commence on the first day after the last day of the LIBOR Period of the Loan to be continued. Any Loan or group of Loans having the same proposed LIBOR Period to be made or continued as, or converted into, a LIBOR Loan must be in a minimum amount of $1,000,000 and integral multiples of $500,000 in excess of such amount. Any such election must be made by noon (Chicago time) on the 3rd Business Day prior to (1) the date of any proposed Revolving Credit Advance which is to bear interest at the LIBOR Rate, (2) the end of each LIBOR Period with respect to any LIBOR Loans to be continued as such, or (3) the date on which Borrower wishes to convert any Index Rate Loan to a LIBOR Loan for a LIBOR Period designated by Borrower in such election. If no election is received with respect to a LIBOR Loan by noon (Chicago time) on the 3rd Business Day prior to the end of the LIBOR Period with respect thereto, that LIBOR Loan shall be converted to an Index Rate Loan at the end of its LIBOR Period. Borrower must make such election by notice to Agent in writing, by fax or overnight courier (or by telephone, to be promptly confirmed in writing). In the case of any conversion or continuation, such election must be made pursuant to a written notice (a “Notice of Conversion/Continuation”) in the form of Exhibit 2.2(e). No Loan shall be made, converted into or continued as a LIBOR Loan, if an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and Agent or Requisite Lenders have determined not to make or continue any Loan as a LIBOR Loan as a result thereof.
(f) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Section 2.2, if a court of competent jurisdiction determines in a final order that the rate of interest payable hereunder exceeds the highest rate of interest permissible under law (the “Maximum Lawful Rate”), then so long as the Maximum Lawful Rate would be so exceeded, the rate of interest payable hereunder shall be equal to the Maximum Lawful Rate; provided, however, that if at any time thereafter the rate of interest payable hereunder is less than the Maximum Lawful Rate, Borrower shall continue to pay interest hereunder at the Maximum Lawful Rate until such time as the total interest received by Agent, on behalf of Lenders, is equal to the total interest that would have been received had the interest rate payable hereunder been (but for the operation of this paragraph) the interest rate payable since the Closing Date as otherwise provided in this Agreement. Thereafter, interest hereunder shall be paid at the rate(s) of interest and in the manner provided in Sections 2.2(a) through (e), unless and until the rate of interest again exceeds the Maximum Lawful Rate, and at that time this paragraph shall again apply. In no event shall the total interest received by any Lender pursuant to the terms hereof exceed the amount that such Lender could lawfully have received had the interest due hereunder been calculated for the full term hereof at the Maximum Lawful Rate. If the Maximum Lawful Rate is calculated pursuant to this paragraph, such interest shall be calculated at a daily rate equal to the Maximum Lawful Rate divided by the number of days in the year in which such calculation is made. If, notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 2.2(f), a court of competent jurisdiction shall determine by a final, non-appealable order that a Lender has received interest hereunder in excess of the Maximum Lawful Rate, Agent shall, to the extent permitted by applicable law, promptly apply such excess as specified in Section 2.5(e) and thereafter shall refund any excess to Borrower or as such court of competent jurisdiction may otherwise order.
