Exhibit 10.44

 

[EXECUTION COPY]

 

LETTER AMENDMENT AND WAIVER

 

Dated as of March 19, 2003

 

To the banks, financial institutions

and other institutional lenders

(collectively, the “Lenders”) parties

to the Credit Agreement referred to

below and to Bank of America, N.A.

(“Bank of America”), as Administrative

Agent (in such capacity, the

“Administrative Agent”) for the Lenders

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We refer to (i) the Credit Agreement dated as of December 20, 2002 (the “Credit
Agreement”) among Del Monte Corporation (the “Company”), Bank of America, as
Collateral Agent, Swingline Lender and Issuing Lender, JPMorgan Chase Bank, as
Syndication Agent, Harris Trust and Savings Bank, Morgan Stanley & Co.
Incorporated and UBS Warburg LLC, as Co-Documentation Agents, Banc of America
Securities LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., as Joint Book Managers, CoBank,
ACB, Greenstone Capital, Fleet National Bank, Fortis Capital Corp, SunTrust Bank
and United Overseas Bank Ltd., New York Agency, as Managing Agents, The Bank of
New York, Capital Funding, Unit of General Electric Capital Corporation and
Union Bank of California, as Co-Agents, Banc of America Securities LLC, J.P.
Morgan Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and UBS Warburg LLC,
as Arrangers, and you and (ii) the Security Agreement dated as of December 20,
2002 (the “Security Agreement”) from each of the undersigned, as Grantor, to
Bank of America, as Collateral Agent. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in
this Letter Amendment and Waiver have the same meanings as specified in the
Credit Agreement.

 

It is hereby agreed by you and us as follows:

 

(a) The Credit Agreement is, effective as of the date of this Letter Amendment
and Waiver, hereby amended by deleting Schedule 6.18 to the Credit Agreement in
full and replacing such schedule with Schedule 6.18 hereto.

 

(b) Any Default under Section 9.1(b) of the Credit Agreement arising solely out
of the failure of the representations and warranties set forth in Section 6.18
of the Credit Agreement to have been true and correct prior to the date hereof
is hereby permanently waived.

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(c) Section 22(b) of the Security Agreement is, effective as of the date of this
Letter Amendment and Waiver, hereby amended by substituting for the phrase
“Agreement Value” where it appears therein the phrase “Swap Termination Value”.

 

The Company hereby represents and warrants to each Agent and each Lender that

 

(a) set forth on part (a) of Schedule 6.18 to this Letter Amendment and Waiver
is a complete and accurate list, as of the date of the Credit Agreement, of any
real property owned by the Company or any Material Domestic Subsidiary thereof.
Except as set forth on Schedule 6.18, each of the Company or such Material
Domestic Subsidiary has good, marketable and insurable fee simple title to such
real property, free and clear of all Liens, other than Permitted Liens; and

 

(b) set forth on part (b) of Schedule 6.18 to this Letter Amendment and Waiver
is a complete and accurate list, as of the of the Credit Agreement, of all
leases of the real property under which the Company or any Material Subsidiary
thereof is the lessee, showing as of such date the material terms thereof to the
reasonable satisfaction of the Collateral Agent.

 

This Letter Amendment and Waiver shall become effective as of the date first
above written when, and only when, the Administrative Agent shall have received
counterparts of this Letter Amendment and Waiver executed by the undersigned and
the Required Lenders or, as to any of the Lenders, advice satisfactory to the
Administrative Agent that such Lender has executed this Letter Amendment and
Waiver, and the consent attached hereto executed by each Guarantor. The
effectiveness of this Letter Amendment and Waiver is conditioned upon the
accuracy of the factual matters described herein. This Letter Amendment and
Waiver is subject to the provisions of Section 11.3 of the Credit Agreement.

 

On and after the effectiveness of this Letter Amendment and Waiver, (i) each
reference in the Credit Agreement to “this Agreement”, “hereunder”, “hereof” or
words of like import referring to the Credit Agreement, and each reference in
the Notes and each of the other Loan Documents to “the Credit Agreement”,
“thereunder”, “thereof” or words of like import referring to the Credit
Agreement, shall mean and be a reference to the Credit Agreement, as amended by
this Letter Amendment and Waiver and (ii) each reference in the Security
Agreement to “this Agreement”, “hereunder”, “hereof” or words of like import
referring to the Security Agreement, and each reference in the Credit Agreement
and each of the other Loan Documents to “the Security Agreement”, “thereunder”,
“thereof” or words of like import referring to the Security Agreement, shall
mean and be a reference to the Security Agreement, as amended by this Letter
Amendment and Waiver.

 

The Credit Agreement, the Notes and each of the other Loan Documents, as
specifically amended by this Letter Amendment and Waiver, are and shall continue
to be in full force and effect and are hereby in all respects ratified and
confirmed. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Collateral
Documents and all of the Collateral described therein do and shall continue to
secure the payment of all Obligations of the Loan Parties under the Loan
Documents, in each case as amended by this Letter Amendment and Waiver. The
execution, delivery and effectiveness of this Letter Amendment and Waiver shall
not, except as expressly

 

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provided herein, operate as a waiver of any right, power or remedy of any Lender
or any Agent under any of the Loan Documents, nor constitute a waiver of any
provision of any of the Loan Documents.

 

If you agree to the terms and provisions hereof, please evidence such agreement
by executing and returning a counterpart of this Letter Amendment and Waiver to
Shearman & Sterling, 599 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10022, Attention:
Sunita Daswani, Telecopier No. (212) 848-7179.

 

This Letter Amendment and Waiver may be executed in any number of counterparts
and by different parties hereto in separate counterparts, each of which when so
executed shall be deemed to be an original and all of which taken together shall
constitute one and the same agreement. Delivery of an executed counterpart of a
signature page to this Letter Amendment and Waiver by telecopier shall be
effective as delivery of a manually executed counterpart of this Letter
Amendment and Waiver.

 

This Letter Amendment and Waiver shall be governed by, and construed in
accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.

 

Very truly yours,

DEL MONTE CORPORATION

By

 

 

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Name: Jon W. Graves

   

Title: Assistant Treasurer

DEL MONTE FOODS COMPANY

By

 

 

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Name: Jon W. Graves

   

Title: Assistant Treasurer

MIKE MAC IHC, INC.

By

 

 

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Name: Jon W. Graves

   

Title: Assistant Treasurer

STAR-KIST SAMOA, INC.

 

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By

 

 

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Name: Jon W. Graves

   

Title: Assistant Treasurer

MARINE TRADING PACIFIC, INC.

By

 

 

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Name: Jon W. Graves

   

Title: Assistant Treasurer

STAR-KIST MAURITIUS, INC.

By

 

 

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Name: Jon W. Graves

   

Title: Assistant Treasurer

 

Agreed as of the date first above written:

 

BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.,
as Administrative Agent, Collateral
Agent, Swingline Lender and Issuing
Lender, and as a Lender

By

 

 

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Name: Douglas M. Ingram

   

Title:

 

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                          , as a Lender

[Insert Name of Financial Institution]

 

By

 

 

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Title:

 

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CONSENT

 

Dated as of March     , 2003

 

Each of the undersigned, as Guarantor under (x) in the case of each of the
undersigned other than DMFC, the Subsidiary Guaranty dated December 20, 2002
(the “Subsidiary Guaranty”) and (y) in the case of DMFC, the Guaranty dated
December 20, 2002 (the “DMFC Guaranty”), in each case, in favor of the Secured
Parties referred to in the Credit Agreement referred to in the foregoing Letter
Amendment and Waiver (the “Credit Agreement”) hereby consents to such Letter
Amendment and Waiver and hereby confirms and agrees that (a) notwithstanding the
effectiveness of such Letter Amendment and Waiver, each of (x) in the case of
each of the undersigned other than DMFC, the Subsidiary Guaranty and (y) in the
case of DMFC, the DMFC Guaranty is, and shall continue to be, in full force and
effect and is hereby ratified and confirmed in all respects, except that, on and
after the effectiveness of such Letter Amendment and Waiver, (i) each reference
in the Subsidiary Guaranty or the DMFC Guaranty to the “Credit Agreement”,
“thereunder”, “thereof” or words of like import shall mean and be a reference to
the Credit Agreement, as amended by such Letter Amendment and Waiver and (ii)
each reference in the Subsidiary Guaranty or the DMFC Guaranty to the “Security
Agreement”, “thereunder”, “thereof” or words of like import shall mean and be a
reference to the Security Agreement, as amended by such Letter Amendment and
Waiver, and (b) the Collateral Documents to which each of the undersigned is a
party and all of the Collateral described therein do, and shall continue to,
secure the payment of all of the Secured Obligations. Capitalized terms used
herein and not otherwise defined shall have the meanings assigned to such terms
in the Credit Agreement.

 

 

DEL MONTE FOODS COMPANY

MIKE MAC IHC, INC.

STAR-KIST SAMOA, INC.

MARINE TRADING PACIFIC, INC.

STAR-KIST MAURITIUS, INC.

By

 

 

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Name: Jon W. Graves

   

Title: Assistant Treasurer