Exhibit 10.1

Execution Copy

Published CUSIP Number: 09251QAA7

Revolving Credit CUSIP Number: 09251QAB5

 

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$600,000,000

FIVE-YEAR REVOLVING CREDIT AGREEMENT

dated as of December 19, 2006,

by and among

BLACKROCK, INC.,

as Borrower,

the Lenders referred to herein,

and

WACHOVIA BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

as Administrative Agent,

Swingline Lender and Issuing Lender

WACHOVIA CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC,

as Sole Lead Arranger and Sole Book Manager,

and

ABN AMRO BANK, N.V.,

HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK

and

UBS LOAN FINANCE LLC,

as Documentation Agents

 

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Table of Contents

 

           Page ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS    1 SECTION 1.1   

Definitions

   1 SECTION 1.2   

Other Definitions and Provisions

   17 SECTION 1.3   

Accounting Terms

   18 SECTION 1.4   

Rounding

   18 SECTION 1.5   

References to Agreement and Laws

   18 SECTION 1.6   

Times of Day

   18 SECTION 1.7   

Letter of Credit Amounts

   18 ARTICLE II REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY    19 SECTION 2.1   

Revolving Credit Loans

   19 SECTION 2.2   

Swingline Loans

   19 SECTION 2.3   

Procedure for Advances of Revolving Credit Loans and Swingline Loans

   20 SECTION 2.4   

Repayment and Prepayment of Revolving Credit and Swingline Loans

   21 SECTION 2.5   

Permanent Reduction of the Commitments

   22 SECTION 2.6   

Optional Increase of the Commitments

   23 SECTION 2.7   

Termination of Revolving Credit Facility

   24 ARTICLE III LETTER OF CREDIT FACILITY    24 SECTION 3.1   

L/C Commitment

   24 SECTION 3.2   

Procedure for Issuance of Letters of Credit

   24 SECTION 3.3   

Commissions and Other Charges

   25 SECTION 3.4   

L/C Participations

   26 SECTION 3.5   

Reimbursement Obligation of the Borrower

   26 SECTION 3.6   

Obligations Absolute

   27 SECTION 3.7   

Effect of Letter of Credit Application

   28 ARTICLE IV GENERAL LOAN PROVISIONS    28 SECTION 4.1   

Interest

   28 SECTION 4.2   

Notice and Manner of Conversion or Continuation of Loans

   29 SECTION 4.3   

Fees

   30 SECTION 4.4   

Manner of Payment

   30 SECTION 4.5   

Evidence of Indebtedness

   31 SECTION 4.6   

Adjustments

   31 SECTION 4.7   

Nature of Obligations of Lenders Regarding Extensions of Credit; Assumption by
the Administrative Agent

   32 SECTION 4.8   

Changed Circumstances

   33 SECTION 4.9   

Indemnity

   34 SECTION 4.10   

Increased Costs

   34

 

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SECTION 4.11   

Taxes

   35 SECTION 4.12   

Mitigation Obligations; Replacement of Lenders

   37 ARTICLE V CLOSING; CONDITIONS OF CLOSING AND BORROWING    38 SECTION 5.1
  

Closing

   38 SECTION 5.2   

Conditions to Closing and Initial Extensions of Credit

   38 SECTION 5.3   

Conditions to All Extensions of Credit

   41 ARTICLE VI REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE BORROWER    41 SECTION
6.1   

Representations and Warranties

   41 SECTION 6.2   

Survival of Representations and Warranties, Etc

   44 ARTICLE VII FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND NOTICES    45 SECTION 7.1   

Financial Statements

   45 SECTION 7.2   

Officer’s Compliance Certificate

   46 SECTION 7.3   

Other Reports

   46 SECTION 7.4   

Notice of Litigation and Other Matters

   46 SECTION 7.5   

Accuracy of Information

   46 ARTICLE VIII AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS    46 SECTION 8.1   

Preservation of Corporate Existence and Related Matters

   46 SECTION 8.2   

Maintenance of Property

   47 SECTION 8.3   

Insurance

   47 SECTION 8.4   

Accounting Methods and Financial Records

   47 SECTION 8.5   

Payment of Taxes

   47 SECTION 8.6   

Compliance With Laws and Approvals

   47 SECTION 8.7   

Visits and Inspections

   47 SECTION 8.8   

Use of Proceeds

   48 ARTICLE IX FINANCIAL COVENANTS    48 SECTION 9.1   

Leverage Ratio

   48 SECTION 9.2   

Interest Coverage Ratio

   48 ARTICLE X NEGATIVE COVENANTS    48 SECTION 10.1   

Limitations on Indebtedness

   48 SECTION 10.2   

Limitations on Liens

   49 SECTION 10.3   

Limitations on Mergers and Liquidation

   50 SECTION 10.4   

Sale of All or Substantially All Assets

   51 SECTION 10.5   

Restrictive Agreements

   51 SECTION 10.6   

Nature of Business

   51 ARTICLE XI DEFAULT AND REMEDIES    52 SECTION 11.1   

Events of Default

   52 SECTION 11.2   

Remedies

   54

 

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SECTION 11.3   

Rights and Remedies Cumulative; Non-Waiver; etc

   54 SECTION 11.4   

Crediting of Payments and Proceeds

   55 SECTION 11.5   

Administrative Agent May File Proofs of Claim

   55 ARTICLE XII THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT    56 SECTION 12.1   

Appointment and Authority

   56 SECTION 12.2   

Rights as a Lender

   56 SECTION 12.3   

Exculpatory Provisions

   57 SECTION 12.4   

Reliance by the Administrative Agent

   57 SECTION 12.5   

Delegation of Duties

   58 SECTION 12.6   

Resignation of Administrative Agent

   58 SECTION 12.7   

Non-Reliance on Administrative Agent and Other Lenders

   59 SECTION 12.8   

No Other Duties, etc

   59 ARTICLE XIII MISCELLANEOUS    59 SECTION 13.1   

Notices

   59 SECTION 13.2   

Amendments, Waivers and Consents

   61 SECTION 13.3   

Expenses; Indemnity

   62 SECTION 13.4   

Right of Setoff

   63 SECTION 13.5   

Governing Law

   64 SECTION 13.6   

Waiver of Jury Trial

   65 SECTION 13.7   

Reversal of Payments

   65 SECTION 13.8   

Injunctive Relief; Punitive Damages

   65 SECTION 13.9   

Accounting Matters

   65 SECTION 13.10   

Successors and Assigns; Participations

   66 SECTION 13.11   

Confidentiality

   68 SECTION 13.12   

Performance of Duties

   69 SECTION 13.13   

All Powers Coupled with Interest

   69 SECTION 13.14   

Survival of Indemnities

   69 SECTION 13.15   

Titles and Captions

   69 SECTION 13.16   

Severability of Provisions

   69 SECTION 13.17   

Counterparts

   69 SECTION 13.18   

Integration

   70 SECTION 13.19   

Term of Agreement

   70 SECTION 13.20   

Advice of Counsel, No Strict Construction

   70 SECTION 13.21   

USA Patriot Act

   70 SECTION 13.22   

Inconsistencies with Other Documents; Independent Effect of Covenants

   70

 

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EXHIBITS         Exhibit A-1    -     

Form of Revolving Credit Note

Exhibit A-2    -     

Form of Swingline Note

Exhibit B    -     

Form of Notice of Borrowing

Exhibit C    -     

Form of Notice of Account Designation

Exhibit D    -     

Form of Notice of Prepayment

Exhibit E    -     

Form of Notice of Conversion/Continuation

Exhibit F    -     

Form of Officer’s Compliance Certificate

Exhibit G    -     

Form of Assignment and Assumption

SCHEDULES         Schedule 1.1    -     

Lenders’ Commitments

Schedule 6.1(f)    -     

ERISA Plans

Schedule 6.1(k)    -     

Litigation

Schedule 10.2    -     

Existing Liens

Schedule 10.5    -     

Restrictive Agreements

 

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CREDIT AGREEMENT, dated as of December 19, 2006, by and among BlackRock, Inc., a
Delaware corporation (the “Borrower”), the lenders who are or may become a party
to this Agreement (collectively, the “Lenders”) and WACHOVIA BANK, NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION, a national banking association, as Administrative Agent for the
Lenders.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Borrower has requested, and the Lenders have agreed, to extend certain
credit facilities to the Borrower on the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency
of which are hereby acknowledged by the parties hereto, such parties hereby
agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

SECTION 1.1 Definitions. The following terms when used in this Agreement shall
have the meanings assigned to them below:

“Act” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 13.21.

“Administrative Agent” means Wachovia, in its capacity as Administrative Agent
hereunder, and any successor thereto appointed pursuant to Section 12.6.

“Administrative Agent’s Office” means the office of the Administrative Agent
specified in or determined in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.1(c).

“Administrative Questionnaire” means an administrative questionnaire in a form
supplied by the Administrative Agent.

“Affiliate” means, with respect to any Person, any other Person (other than,
with respect to the Borrower, a Subsidiary or Excluded Subsidiary of the
Borrower) which directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries,
controls, or is controlled by, or is under common control with, such first
Person or any of its Subsidiaries. As used in this definition, the term
“control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct
or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether
through ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise. For the
avoidance of doubt neither of the Existing Shareholders shall be treated as an
Affiliate of the Borrower on the basis of its beneficial ownership of Capital
Stock of the Borrower so long as such Existing Shareholder is subject to a
stockholders agreement with the Borrower on substantially the same terms as the
stockholders agreement to which it is a party as of the date of this Agreement.

“Agreement” means this Five-Year Revolving Credit Agreement, as amended,
restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time.

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“Alternative Ratings Source” means either Moody’s or a comparable rating agency
in either case that publishes a rating of the Borrower’s counterparty risk or
similar rating and which is mutually acceptable to the Borrower and the
Administrative Agent.

“Applicable Law” means all applicable provisions of constitutions, laws,
statutes, ordinances, rules, treaties, regulations, permits, licenses,
approvals, interpretations and orders of courts or Governmental Authorities and
all orders and decrees of all courts and arbitrators.

“Applicable Percentage” means, for purposes of calculating (a) the applicable
margin for each of Base Rate and LIBOR Rate for purposes of Section 4.1(a),
(b) the commitment fee for purposes of Section 4.3(a) and (c) the utilization
fee for purposes of Section 4.3(b), the corresponding rate set forth below for
the applicable Debt Rating, as follows:

 

Level

 

Debt

Rating

  Applicable Percentage Per Annum       LIBOR Rate     Base Rate    

Commitment

Fee

   

Utilization

Fee

  I   ³ AA-   0.150 %   0.000 %   0.040 %   0.050 % II   ³ A+   0.200 %   0.000
%   0.040 %   0.050 % III   ³ A   0.250 %   0.000 %   0.060 %   0.050 % IV   ³
A-   0.300 %   0.000 %   0.080 %   0.050 % V   £  BBB+   0.400 %   0.000 %  
0.100 %   0.100 %

provided, that if S&P or any Alternative Ratings Source, as applicable, shall
not have in effect a Debt Rating (other than by reason of the circumstances
referred to in the last sentence of this definition), then such Debt Rating
shall be deemed to be Level V. In the event that the Debt Ratings publicly
announced by S&P listed above and any corresponding Debt Rating of any
Alternative Ratings Source previously agreed to by the Borrower and the
Administrative Agent, if any, differ by (a) one Level, the Applicable Percentage
shall be that Level which corresponds to the Debt Rating which is the higher of
such announced Debt Ratings, and (b) two or more Levels, the Applicable
Percentage shall be that Level which corresponds to the Debt Rating which is one
rating immediately above the lowest of such announced Debt Ratings. Any change
in the Applicable Percentage shall be effective (a) as to any increase in the
Debt Rating, as of the Business Day on which the increase in the applicable Debt
Rating is announced or is made publicly available, and (b) as to any decrease in
the applicable Debt Rating, as of the Business Day on which the decrease in the
applicable Debt Rating is announced or is made publicly available. If the rating
systems of S&P or any other such Alternative Ratings Source shall change, or if
all of such rating agencies shall cease to be in the business of rating
corporate debt obligations, the Borrower and the Lenders shall negotiate in good
faith to amend this definition to reflect such changed rating system or the
unavailability of ratings from such rating agencies and, pending the
effectiveness of any such amendment, the Applicable Percentage shall be
determined by reference to the Debt Rating most recently in effect prior to such
change or cessation.

“Assignment and Assumption” means an assignment and assumption entered into by a
Lender and an Eligible Assignee (with the consent of any party whose consent is
required by Section 13.10), and accepted by the Administrative Agent, in
substantially the form of Exhibit G or any other form approved by the
Administrative Agent.

 

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“Attributable Indebtedness” means, on any date, (a) in respect of any Capital
Lease of any Person, the capitalized amount thereof that would appear on a
balance sheet of such Person prepared as of such date in accordance with GAAP,
and (b) in respect of any Synthetic Lease, the capitalized amount or principal
amount of the remaining lease payments under the relevant lease that would
appear on a balance sheet of such Person prepared as of such date in accordance
with GAAP if such lease were accounted for as a Capital Lease.

“Base Rate” means, at any time, the higher of (a) the Prime Rate and (b) the
Federal Funds Rate plus 1/2 of 1%; each change in the Base Rate shall take
effect simultaneously with the corresponding change or changes in the Prime Rate
or the Federal Funds Rate.

“Base Rate Loan” means any Loan bearing interest at a rate based upon the Base
Rate as provided in Section 4.1(a).

“Borrower” has the meaning assigned thereto in the introductory paragraph
hereto.

“Business Day” means (a) for all purposes other than as set forth in clause
(b) below, any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday on which banks
in Charlotte, North Carolina, and New York, New York, are open for the conduct
of their commercial banking business, and (b) with respect to all notices and
determinations in connection with, and payments of principal of and interest on,
any LIBOR Rate Loan, any day that is a Business Day described in clause (a) and
that is also a day for trading by and between banks in Dollar deposits in the
London interbank market.

“Capital Lease” means any lease of any property by the Borrower or any of its
Subsidiaries, as lessee, that should, in accordance with GAAP, be classified and
accounted for as a capital lease on a Consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower
and its Subsidiaries.

“Capital Stock” means (a) in the case of a corporation, capital stock, (b) in
the case of an association or business entity, any and all shares, interests,
participations, rights or other equivalents (however designated) of capital
stock, (c) in the case of a partnership, partnership interests (whether general
or limited), (d) in the case of a limited liability company, membership
interests, (e) in the case of any other Person, any similar ownership interests
and (f) with respect to the foregoing items (a) through (e), any and all
warrants or options to purchase any of the foregoing.

“Change in Control” means (a) an event or series of events by which (i) any
Person or group of Persons (within the meaning of Section 13(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) other than the Existing
Shareholders shall obtain ownership or control in one or more series of
transactions involving the Capital Stock of the Borrower representing more than
fifty percent (50%) of Capital Stock of the Borrower ordinarily entitled to vote
in the election of members of the board of directors of the Borrower or
(ii) there shall have occurred under any indenture or other instrument
evidencing any Indebtedness in excess of $100,000,000 any “change in control” or
a similar triggering event under a provision (as set forth in the indenture,
agreement or other evidence of such Indebtedness) obligating the Borrower to
repurchase, redeem or repay all or any part of the Indebtedness or Capital Stock
provided for therein for cash or (b) during any period of 25 consecutive
calendar months, commencing on the date of this

 

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Agreement, the ceasing of those individuals (the “Continuing Directors”) who
(i) were directors of the Borrower on the first day of each such period or
(ii) subsequently became directors of the Borrower and whose initial election or
initial nomination for election subsequent to that date was approved by a
majority of the Continuing Directors then on the board of directors of the
Borrower, to constitute a majority of the board of Directors of the Borrower.

“Change in Law” means the occurrence, after the date of this Agreement, of any
of the following: (a) the adoption or taking effect of any law, rule, regulation
or treaty, (b) any change in any law, rule, regulation or treaty or in the
administration, interpretation or application thereof by any Governmental
Authority or (c) the making or issuance of any request, guideline or directive
(whether or not having the force of law) by any Governmental Authority.

“Closing Date” means the date of this Agreement or such later Business Day upon
which each condition described in Section 5.2 shall be satisfied or waived in
all respects in a manner acceptable to each of the Lenders in their sole
discretion.

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and the rules and regulations
thereunder, each as amended or modified from time to time.

“Commitment” means (a) as to any Lender, the obligation of such Lender to make
Revolving Credit Loans to the account of the Borrower hereunder in an aggregate
principal amount at any time outstanding not to exceed the amount set forth
opposite such Lender’s name on the Register, as such amount may be reduced,
increased or otherwise modified at any time or from time to time pursuant to the
terms hereof and (b) as to all Lenders, the aggregate commitment of all Lenders
to make Revolving Credit Loans, as such amount may be reduced, increased or
otherwise modified at any time or from time to time pursuant to the terms
hereof. The Commitment of all Lenders on the Closing Date shall be $600,000,000.

“Commitment Percentage” means, as to any Lender at any time, the ratio of
(a) the amount of the Commitment of such Lender to (b) the Commitments of all
Lenders.

“Consolidated” means, when used with reference to financial statements or
financial statement items of any Person, such statements or items on a
consolidated basis in accordance with, except as otherwise set forth herein,
applicable principles of consolidation under GAAP.

“Consolidated EBITDA” means, for any period, the sum of the following determined
on a Consolidated basis, without duplication, for the Borrower and its
Subsidiaries (other than Excluded Subsidiaries) in accordance with GAAP:
(a) Consolidated Net Income for such period plus (b) the sum of the following to
the extent deducted in determining Consolidated Net Income for such period:
(i) income and franchise taxes, (ii) Consolidated Interest Expense,
(iii) amortization, depreciation and other non-cash charges (except to the
extent that such non-cash charges are reserved for cash charges to be taken in
the future), (iv) extraordinary, unusual or otherwise non-recurring charges and
losses (including from discontinued operations), (v) expenses under the
Borrower’s and its Subsidiaries’ retention and incentive plans or otherwise that
are actually, directly or indirectly, funded by any of the Existing
Shareholders, (vi) compensation and professional fees incurred in connection
with the SSR Acquisition and (vii) professional fees incurred in such period
relating to the Merrill Lynch Investment Managers

 

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Transactions, less (c) extraordinary, unusual or otherwise non-recurring gains
(including from discontinued operations) ; provided, that Consolidated EBITDA
attributable to the Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Transactions shall be
deemed to be equal to (x) $222,000,000 for the fiscal quarter ended March 31,
2006, (y) $240,000,000 for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2006 and
(z) $284,000,000 for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2006. For purposes
of this Agreement, Consolidated EBITDA shall be adjusted on a pro forma basis,
in a manner reasonably acceptable to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent,
to include, as of the first day of any applicable period, any acquisition closed
during such period, including, without limitation, adjustments reflecting any
non-recurring costs and any extraordinary expenses of any acquisition closed
during such period calculated on a basis consistent with GAAP and Regulation S-X
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or as approved by the
Administrative Agent.

“Consolidated Interest Expense” means, with respect to the Borrower and its
Subsidiaries for any period, the gross interest expense (including, without
limitation, interest expense attributable to Capital Leases and all net payment
obligations pursuant to Interest Rate Contracts) of the Borrower and its
Subsidiaries (other than Excluded Subsidiaries), all determined for such period
on a Consolidated basis, without duplication, in accordance with GAAP.

“Consolidated Net Income” means, with respect to the Borrower and its
Subsidiaries, for any period of determination, the net income (or loss) of the
Borrower and its Subsidiaries (other than Excluded Subsidiaries) for such
period, determined on a Consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP; provided
that there shall be excluded from Consolidated Net Income (a) the net income (or
loss) of any Person (other than a Subsidiary which shall be subject to clause
(c) below), in which the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries has a joint
interest with a third party, except to the extent such net income is actually
paid in cash to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries by dividend or other
distribution during such period, (b) the net income (or loss) of any Person
accrued prior to the date it becomes a Subsidiary of such Person or is merged
into or consolidated with such Person or any of its Subsidiaries or that
Person’s assets are acquired by such Person or any of its Subsidiaries except to
the extent included pursuant to the foregoing clause (a), and (c) the net income
(if positive) of any Material Subsidiary that is a Domestic Subsidiary to the
extent that the declaration or payment of dividends or similar distributions by
such Subsidiary to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries of such net income is
not during the entirety of any such period of determination permitted by
operation of the terms of its charter or any agreement, instrument, judgment,
decree, order, statute rule or governmental regulation applicable to such
Subsidiary.

“Consolidated Leverage Ratio” means, as of any date of determination, the ratio
of (a) Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness on such date to (b) Consolidated
EBITDA for the period of four (4) consecutive fiscal quarters ending on or
immediately prior to such date.

“Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness” means, as of any date of determination
with respect to the Borrower and its Subsidiaries (other than Excluded
Subsidiaries) on a Consolidated basis without duplication, the sum of the
following calculated, and only to the extent set forth on their consolidated
balance sheet as a liability, in accordance with GAAP:

(a) all indebtedness for borrowed money including, but not limited to,
obligations evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or other similar instruments
of any such Person;

 

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(b) all obligations to pay the deferred purchase price of property or services
of any such Person (including, without limitation, all obligations under
non-competition, earn-out or similar agreements to the extent the foregoing are
characterized as indebtedness in accordance with GAAP), except trade payables
arising in the ordinary course of business;

(c) the Attributable Indebtedness of such Person with respect to such Person’s
obligations in respect of Capital Leases and Synthetic Leases (regardless of
whether accounted for as indebtedness under GAAP);

(d) all Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness of any other Person secured by a
Lien on any asset owned or being purchased by the Borrower or any of its
Subsidiaries (including indebtedness arising under conditional sales or other
title retention agreements), whether or not such indebtedness shall have been
assumed by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or is limited in recourse;

(e) all obligations of any such Person to redeem, repurchase, exchange or
defease, with cash, any Capital Stock of such Person; and

(f) all Guaranty Obligations of any such Person;

less, the aggregate amount of “Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness” described
in clauses (a) through (f) above of any Material Subsidiary that is a Domestic
Subsidiary whose net income is excluded from the calculation of “Consolidated
Net Income” of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries during any applicable period of
determination pursuant to clause (c) of the definition of “Consolidated Net
Income”.

For all purposes hereof, the Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness of any
Person shall include the Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness of any
partnership or joint venture (other than a joint venture that is itself a
corporation or limited liability company) in which such Person is a general
partner or a joint venturer, unless such Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness
is expressly made non-recourse to such Person or such Person’s sole material
asset is its interest in such partnership or joint venture. For the avoidance of
doubt, Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness shall not include any obligations
or liabilities arising under or in connection with any annuities, insurance
policies, insurance contracts or any other similar agreements.

“Credit Facility” means, collectively, the Revolving Credit Facility, the
Swingline Facility and the L/C Facility.

“Debt Rating” means, as of any date of determination, either the Borrower’s
counterparty credit rating as determined by S&P or any comparable rating as
determined by any Alternative Ratings Source.

“Default” means any of the events specified in Section 11.1 which with the
passage of time, the giving of notice or any other condition required by
Section 11.1, would constitute an Event of Default.

 

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“Defaulting Lender” means any Lender that (a) has failed to fund any portion of
the Revolving Credit Loans, participations in L/C Obligations or participations
in Swingline Loans required to be funded by it hereunder within one Business Day
of the date required to be funded by it hereunder, (b) has otherwise failed to
pay over to the Administrative Agent or any other Lender any other amount
required to be paid by it hereunder within one (1) Business Day of the date when
due, unless such amount is the subject of a good faith dispute, or (c) has been
deemed insolvent or become the subject of a bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding.

“Dollars” or “$” means, unless otherwise qualified, dollars in lawful currency
of the United States.

“Domestic Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary organized under the laws of any
political subdivision of the United States.

“Eligible Assignee” means (a) a Lender, (b) an Affiliate of a Lender and (c) any
other Person (other than a natural person) approved by (i) the Administrative
Agent, the Swingline Lender and the Issuing Lender, and (ii) unless an Event of
Default has occurred and is continuing, the Borrower (each such approval not to
be unreasonably withheld or delayed); provided that notwithstanding the
foregoing, “Eligible Assignee” shall not include the Borrower or any of the
Borrower’s Affiliates or Subsidiaries.

“Employee Benefit Plan” means any employee benefit plan within the meaning of
Section 3(3) of ERISA which (a) is established or maintained by the Borrower or
any Subsidiary or (b) with respect to any such plan that is subject to
Section 412 of the Code or Title IV of ERISA, has at any time within the
preceding six (6) years been established or maintained by the Borrower, any
Subsidiary or any current or former ERISA Affiliate.

“Environmental Claims” means any and all administrative, regulatory or judicial
actions, suits, demands, demand letters, claims, liens, accusations,
allegations, notices of noncompliance or violation, investigations (other than
internal reports prepared by any Person in the ordinary course of business and
not in response to any third party action or request of any kind) or proceedings
relating in any way to any actual or alleged violation of or liability under any
Environmental Law or relating to any permit issued, or any approval given, under
any such Environmental Law, including, without limitation, any and all claims by
Governmental Authorities for enforcement, cleanup, removal, response, remedial
or other actions or damages, contribution, indemnification cost recovery,
compensation or injunctive relief resulting from Hazardous Materials or arising
from alleged injury or threat of injury to human health or the environment.

“Environmental Laws” means any and all federal, foreign, state, provincial and
local laws, statutes, ordinances, codes, rules, standards and regulations,
permits, licenses, approvals, interpretations and orders of courts or
Governmental Authorities, relating to the protection of human health or the
environment, including, but not limited to, requirements pertaining to the
manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal,
transportation, handling, reporting, licensing, permitting, investigation or
remediation of Hazardous Materials.

 

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“ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the rules
and regulations thereunder, each as amended or modified from time to time.

“ERISA Affiliate” means any Person who together with the Borrower is treated as
a single employer within the meaning of Section 414(b), (c), (m) or (o) of the
Code or Section 4001(b) of ERISA.

“Eurodollar Reserve Percentage” means, for any day, the percentage (expressed as
a decimal and rounded upwards, if necessary, to the next higher 1/100th of 1%)
which is in effect for such day as prescribed by the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (or any successor) for determining the maximum reserve
requirement (including, without limitation, any basic, supplemental or emergency
reserves) in respect of eurocurrency liabilities or any similar category of
liabilities for a member bank of the Federal Reserve System in New York City.

“Event of Default” means any of the events specified in Section 11.1; provided
that any requirement for passage of time, giving of notice, or any other
condition required by Section 11.1, has been satisfied.

“Excluded Subsidiary” shall mean (i) any investment fund or other investment
vehicle which the Borrower or any of its Affiliates participates in as an
investor (including for warehousing, seeding or other purposes), or acts for as
a managing member, adviser, manager, co-manager or any comparable position, or
any entity intended to be or becoming any of the foregoing (any such entity, an
“Investment Fund”), (ii) any entity in which the Borrower or any of its
Affiliates invests excess cash and which is not intended to be or become an
operating subsidiary (any such entity, an “Investment Entity”), (iii) any
Subsidiary of such Investment Fund or Investment Entity and (iv) any entity
whose primary purpose is to acquire investments of any nature whatsoever pending
their transfer to an Investment Fund. For the avoidance of doubt, each Excluded
Subsidiary shall not be subject to any of the covenants contained in Article X
hereof.

“Excluded Taxes” means, with respect to the Administrative Agent, any Lender,
the Issuing Lender or any other recipient of any payment to be made by or on
account of any obligation of the Borrower hereunder, (a) taxes imposed on or
measured by its overall net income or net profits (however denominated), and
franchise taxes imposed on it (in lieu of income taxes), by the jurisdiction (or
any political subdivision thereof) under the laws of which such recipient is
organized or in which its principal office is located or, in the case of any
Lender, in which its applicable Lending Office is located, (b) any branch
profits taxes imposed by the United States or any similar tax imposed by any
other jurisdiction in which the Borrower is located and (c) in the case of a
Foreign Lender (other than an assignee pursuant to a request by the Borrower
under Section 4.12(b)), any withholding tax that is imposed on amounts payable
to such Foreign Lender at the time such Foreign Lender becomes a party hereto
(or designates a new Lending Office) or is attributable to such Foreign Lender’s
failure or inability (other than as a result of a Change in Law) to comply with
Section 4.11(e) other than due to a change in law as provided in
Section 4.11(e).

“Existing Shareholders” means The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., Merrill
Lynch & Co., Inc. and their respective Affiliates.

 

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“Extensions of Credit” means, as to any Lender at any time, (a) an amount equal
to the sum of (i) the aggregate principal amount of all Revolving Credit Loans
made by such Lender then outstanding, (ii) such Lender’s Commitment Percentage
of the L/C Obligations then outstanding, and (iii) such Lender’s Commitment
Percentage of the Swingline Loans then outstanding, or (b) the making of any
Loan or participation in any Letter of Credit by such Lender, as the context
requires.

“FDIC” means the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or any successor
thereto.

“Federal Funds Rate” means, for any day, the rate per annum equal to the
weighted average of the rates on overnight Federal funds transactions with
members of the Federal Reserve System arranged by federal funds brokers on such
day (or, if such day is not a Business Day, for the immediately preceding
Business Day), as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the
Business Day next succeeding such day, provided that if such rate is not so
published for any day which is a Business Day, the average of the quotation for
such day on such transactions received by the Administrative Agent from three
Federal Funds brokers of recognized standing selected by the Administrative
Agent.

“Fee Letter” means the separate fee letter agreement executed by the Borrower
and the Administrative Agent and/or certain of its affiliates dated November 20,
2006.

“Fiscal Year” means the fiscal year of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries ending
on December 31.

“Foreign Lender” means any Lender that is organized under the laws of a
jurisdiction other than that in which the Borrower is resident for tax purposes.
For purposes of this definition, the United States, each State thereof and the
District of Columbia shall be deemed to constitute a single jurisdiction.

“GAAP” means generally accepted accounting principles, as recognized by the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Financial Accounting
Standards Board, as in effect from time to time.

“Governmental Approvals” means all authorizations, consents, approvals, permits,
licenses and exemptions of, registrations and filings with, and reports to, all
Governmental Authorities.

“Governmental Authority” means the government of the United States or any other
nation, or of any political subdivision thereof, whether state or local, and any
agency, authority, instrumentality, regulatory body, court, central bank or
other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial, taxing, regulatory or
administrative powers or functions of or pertaining to government (including any
supra-national bodies such as the European Union or the European Central Bank).

“Guaranty Obligation” means, with respect to the Borrower and its Subsidiaries,
without duplication, any obligation, contingent or otherwise, of any such Person
pursuant to which such Person has directly or indirectly guaranteed any
Indebtedness of any other Person and, without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, any obligation, direct or indirect, contingent or otherwise

 

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of any such Person entered into for the purpose of assuring in any other manner
the obligee of such Indebtedness of the payment thereof or to protect such
obligee against loss in respect thereof (in whole or in part); provided, that
the term Guaranty Obligation shall not include endorsements for collection or
deposit in the ordinary course of business.

“Hazardous Materials” means any substances or materials (a) which are or become
defined as hazardous wastes, hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants,
chemical substances or mixtures or toxic substances under any Environmental Law,
(b) which are toxic, explosive, corrosive, flammable, infectious, radioactive,
carcinogenic, mutagenic or otherwise harmful to human health or the environment
and are or become regulated by any Governmental Authority, (c) the presence of
which require investigation or remediation under any Environmental Law or common
law, (d) the discharge or emission or release of which requires a permit or
license under any Environmental Law or other Governmental Approval, (e) which
are deemed to constitute a nuisance or a trespass which pose a health or safety
hazard to Persons or neighboring properties, (f) which consist of underground or
aboveground storage tanks, whether empty, filled or partially filled with any
substance, or (g) which contain, without limitation, asbestos, polychlorinated
biphenyls, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, petroleum hydrocarbons, petroleum
derived substances or waste, crude oil, nuclear fuel, natural gas or synthetic
gas.

“Hedging Agreement” means any agreement with respect to any Interest Rate
Contract, forward rate agreement, commodity swap, forward foreign exchange
agreement, currency swap agreement, cross-currency rate swap agreement, currency
option agreement or other agreement or arrangement designed to alter the risks
of any Person arising from fluctuations in interest rates, currency values or
commodity prices, all as amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified
from time to time.

“Indebtedness” means, with respect to the Borrower and its Subsidiaries at any
date and without duplication, the sum of the following calculated in accordance
with GAAP:

(a) all liabilities, obligations and indebtedness for borrowed money including
obligations evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or other similar instruments
of any such Person;

(b) all obligations to pay the deferred purchase price of property or services
of any such Person (including, without limitation, all obligations under
non-competition, earn-out or similar agreements to the extent the foregoing are
characterized as indebtedness in accordance with GAAP), except trade payables
arising in the ordinary course of business;

(c) the Attributable Indebtedness of such Person with respect to such Person’s
obligations in respect of Capital Leases and Synthetic Leases (regardless of
whether accounted for as indebtedness under GAAP);

(d) all Indebtedness of any other Person secured by a Lien on any asset owned or
being purchased by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries (including
indebtedness arising under conditional sales or other title retention
agreements), whether or not such indebtedness shall have been assumed by the
Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or is limited in recourse;

 

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(e) all Guaranty Obligations of any such Person;

(f) all obligations, contingent or otherwise, of any such Person relative to the
face amount of letters of credit including, without limitation, any
Reimbursement Obligation, and banker’s acceptances issued for the account of any
such Person, other than such letters of credit, acceptances or similar
extensions of credit that (i) do not support obligations for borrowed money and
(ii) are not drawn upon (or, if drawn upon, are reimbursed within five Business
Days following payment thereof);

(g) all obligations of any such Person to redeem, repurchase, exchange or
defease, with cash, any Capital Stock of such Person; and

(h) all Net Hedging Obligations.

For all purposes hereof, the Indebtedness of any Person shall include the
Indebtedness of any partnership or joint venture (other than a joint venture
that is itself a corporation or limited liability company) in which such Person
is a general partner or a joint venturer, unless such Indebtedness is expressly
made non-recourse to such Person or such Person’s sole material asset is its
interest in such partnership or joint venture. For the avoidance of doubt,
Indebtedness shall not include any obligations or liabilities arising under or
in connection with any annuities, insurance policies, insurance contracts or any
other similar agreements.

“Indemnified Taxes” means Taxes and Other Taxes other than Excluded Taxes.

“Indemnitee” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 13.3(b).

“Interest Period” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 4.1(b).

“Interest Rate Contract” means any interest rate swap agreement, interest rate
cap agreement, interest rate floor agreement, interest rate collar agreement,
interest rate option or any other agreement regarding the hedging of interest
rate risk exposure executed in connection with hedging the interest rate
exposure of any Person and any confirming letter executed pursuant to such
agreement, all as amended, restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from
time to time.

“ISP98” means the International Standby Practices (1998 Revision, effective
January 1, 1999), International Chamber of Commerce Publication No. 590.

“Issuing Lender” means Wachovia, in its capacity as issuer of any Letter of
Credit, or any successor thereto.

“L/C Commitment” means the lesser of (a) $100,000,000 and (b) an amount equal to
the Commitments.

“L/C Facility” means the letter of credit facility established pursuant to
Article III.

“L/C Obligations” means at any time, an amount equal to the sum of (a) the
aggregate undrawn and unexpired amount of the then outstanding Letters of Credit
and (b) the aggregate amount of drawings under Letters of Credit which have not
then been reimbursed pursuant to Section 3.5.

 

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“L/C Participants” means the collective reference to all the Lenders other than
the Issuing Lender.

“Lender” means each Person executing this Agreement as a Lender (including,
without limitation, the Issuing Lender and the Swingline Lender unless the
context otherwise requires) set forth on the signature pages hereto and each
Person that hereafter becomes a party to this Agreement as a Lender pursuant to
Section 13.10.

“Lending Office” means, with respect to any Lender, the office of such Lender
maintaining such Lender’s Extensions of Credit.

“Letter of Credit Application” means an application, in the form specified by
the Issuing Lender from time to time, requesting the Issuing Lender to issue a
Letter of Credit.

“Letters of Credit” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 3.1.

“LIBOR” means the rate of interest per annum determined on the basis of the rate
for deposits in Dollars in minimum amounts of at least $5,000,000 for a period
equal to the applicable Interest Period which appears on the Telerate Page 3750
at approximately 11:00 a.m. (London time) two (2) Business Days prior to the
first day of the applicable Interest Period (rounded upward, if necessary, to
the nearest 1/100th of 1%). If, for any reason, such rate does not appear on
Telerate Page 3750, then “LIBOR” shall be determined by the Administrative Agent
to be the arithmetic average of the rate per annum at which deposits in Dollars
in minimum amounts of at least $5,000,000 would be offered by first class banks
in the London interbank market to the Administrative Agent at approximately
11:00 a.m. (London time) two (2) Business Days prior to the first day of the
applicable Interest Period for a period equal to such Interest Period. Each
calculation by the Administrative Agent of LIBOR shall be conclusive and binding
for all purposes, absent manifest error.

“LIBOR Rate” means a rate per annum (rounded upwards, if necessary, to the next
higher 1/100th of 1%) determined by the Administrative Agent pursuant to the
following formula:

 

LIBOR Rate =                                   LIBOR     
                                      1.00-Eurodollar Reserve Percentage    

“LIBOR Rate Loan” means any Loan bearing interest at a rate based upon the LIBOR
Rate as provided in Section 4.1(a).

“Lien” means, with respect to any asset, any mortgage, leasehold mortgage, lien,
pledge, charge, security interest, hypothecation or encumbrance in the nature of
security of any kind in respect of such asset. For the purposes of this
Agreement, a Person shall be deemed to own subject to a Lien any asset which it
has acquired or holds subject to the interest of a vendor or lessor under any
conditional sale agreement, Capital Lease or other title retention agreement
relating to such asset.

 

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“Loan Documents” means, collectively, this Agreement, each Note and, subject to
Section 13.22, the Letter of Credit Applications, all as may be amended,
restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time.

“Loans” means the collective reference to the Revolving Credit Loans and the
Swingline Loans and “Loan” means any of such Loans.

“Material Adverse Effect” means a material adverse effect on (a) the business,
operations or financial condition of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries taken as
a whole or (b) the ability of the Borrower to perform its obligations under the
Loan Documents.

“Material Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary of the Borrower that, as of any date
of determination, either (a) accounts for ten percent (10%) or more of the
revenue of the Borrower on a Consolidated basis or (b) owns assets with a fair
market value in excess of ten percent (10%) of the total assets of the Borrower
on a Consolidated basis, in each case as determined by reference to the
Borrower’s most recently completed annual audited financial statements and on a
consistent basis with GAAP and Regulation S-X of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended.

“Maturity Date” means the earliest to occur of (a) December 19, 2011, (b) the
date of termination by the Borrower pursuant to Section 2.7, or (c) the date of
termination pursuant to Section 11.2(a).

“Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Transactions” means (i) the transactions
contemplated by the Merrill Lynch Merger Agreement and (ii) the related
restructuring of the capitalization and alignment of the direct and indirect
Subsidiaries of the Borrower.

“Merrill Lynch Merger Agreement” means the Transaction Agreement and Plan of
Merger, dated as of February 15, 2006, by and among BlackRock, Inc. (formerly
known as New Boise, Inc.), BlackRock Merger Sub., Inc. (formerly known as Boise
Merger Sub, Inc), BlackRock Holdco 2, Inc. (formerly known as BlackRock,
Inc.) and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

“Moody’s” means Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. and any successor thereto.

“Multiemployer Plan” means a “multiemployer plan” as defined in
Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA to which the Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate is
making, or is accruing an obligation to make, or has accrued an obligation to
make contributions within the preceding six (6) years.

“Net Hedging Obligations” means, as of any date, in respect of any Hedging
Agreement, the Termination Value of any such Hedging Agreement on such date.

“Notes” means the collective reference to the Revolving Credit Notes and the
Swingline Note.

“Notice of Account Designation” has the meaning assigned thereto in
Section 2.3(b).

“Notice of Borrowing” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 2.3(a).

 

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“Notice of Conversion/Continuation” has the meaning assigned thereto in
Section 4.2.

“Notice of Prepayment” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 2.4(c).

“Obligations” means, in each case, whether now in existence or hereafter
arising: (a) the principal of and interest on (including interest accruing after
the filing of any bankruptcy or similar petition) the Loans, (b) the L/C
Obligations and (c) all other fees and commissions (including attorneys’ fees),
charges, indebtedness, loans, liabilities, financial accommodations,
obligations, covenants and duties owing by the Borrower to the Lenders or the
Administrative Agent, in each case under any Loan Document, with respect to any
Loan or Letter of Credit of every kind, nature and description, direct or
indirect, absolute or contingent, due or to become due, contractual or tortious,
liquidated or unliquidated, and whether or not evidenced by any note.

“OFAC” means the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control.

“Officer’s Compliance Certificate” means a certificate of the chief financial
officer or the treasurer of the Borrower substantially in the form of Exhibit F.

“Operating Lease” means, as to any Person as determined in accordance with GAAP,
any lease of property (whether real, personal or mixed) by such Person as lessee
which is not a Capital Lease.

“Other Taxes” means all present or future stamp or documentary taxes or any
other excise or property taxes, charges or similar levies arising from any
payment made hereunder or under any other Loan Document or from the execution,
delivery or enforcement of, or otherwise with respect to, this Agreement or any
other Loan Document.

“Participant” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 13.10(d).

“PBGC” means the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or any successor agency.

“Pension Plan” means any Employee Benefit Plan, other than a Multiemployer Plan,
which is subject to the provisions of Title IV of ERISA or Section 412 of the
Code and which (a) is maintained for the employees of Borrower or any ERISA
Affiliates or (b) has at any time within the preceding six (6) years been
maintained for the employees of Borrower or any of its current or former ERISA
Affiliates.

“Permitted Liens” means the Liens permitted pursuant to Section 10.2.

“Person” means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company,
trust, joint venture, association, company, partnership, governmental authority
or other entity.

“Prime Rate” means, at any time, the rate of interest per annum publicly
announced from time to time by Wachovia as its prime rate. Each change in the
Prime Rate shall be effective as of the opening of business on the day such
change in such prime rate occurs. The parties hereto acknowledge that the rate
announced publicly by Wachovia as its prime rate is an index or base rate and
shall not necessarily be its lowest or best rate charged to its customers or
other banks.

 

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“Register” has the meaning assigned thereto in Section 13.10(c).

“Reimbursement Obligation” means the obligation of the Borrower to reimburse the
Issuing Lender pursuant to Section 3.5 for amounts drawn under Letters of
Credit.

“Related Parties” means, with respect to any Person, such Person’s Affiliates
and the directors, officers, employees, agents and advisors of such Person and
of such Person’s Affiliates.

“Required Lenders” means, at any date, any combination of Lenders who hold in
aggregate more than fifty percent (50%) of the Commitments or, if the Credit
Facility has been terminated pursuant to Section 11.2, any combination of
Lenders holding more than fifty percent (50%) of the aggregate Extensions of
Credit; provided that the Commitment of, and the portion of the Extensions of
Credit, as applicable, held or deemed held by, any Defaulting Lender shall be
excluded for purposes of making a determination of Required Lenders.

“Responsible Officer” means the chief executive officer, president, chief
financial officer, chief accounting officer or treasurer of the Borrower or any
other officer of the Borrower proposed by the Borrower and reasonably acceptable
to the Administrative Agent. Any document delivered hereunder that is signed by
a Responsible Officer of the Borrower shall be conclusively presumed to have
been authorized by all necessary corporate, partnership and/or other action on
the part of the Borrower and such Responsible Officer shall be conclusively
presumed to have acted on behalf of the Borrower.

“Revolving Credit Facility” means the revolving credit facility established
pursuant to Article II.

“Revolving Credit Loans” means any revolving loan made to the Borrower pursuant
to Section 2.1, and all such revolving loans collectively as the context
requires.

“Revolving Credit Note” means a promissory note made by the Borrower in favor of
a Lender evidencing the Revolving Credit Loans made by such Lender,
substantially in the form of Exhibit A-1, and any amendments, supplements and
modifications thereto, any substitutes therefor, and any replacements,
restatements, renewals or extension thereof, in whole or in part.

“S&P” means Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a division of The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. and any successor thereto.

“Sanctioned Entity” means (i) an agency of the government of, (ii) an
organization directly or indirectly controlled by, or (iii) a person resident
in, a country that is subject to a sanctions program identified on the list
maintained by OFAC and available at
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/index.html, or as
otherwise published from time to time as such program may be applicable to such
agency, organization or person.

“Sanctioned Person” means a person named on the list of Specially Designated
Nationals or Blocked Persons maintained by OFAC available at
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sdn/index.html, or as otherwise
published from time to time.

 

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“SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission, or any Governmental
Authority succeeding to any of its principal functions.

“SSR Acquisition” means the transactions contemplated by the Stock Purchase
Agreement, dated as of August 25, 2004, among MetLife, Inc., Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company, SSRM Holdings, Inc., BlackRock, Inc. and BlackRock Financial
Management, Inc.

“Subsidiary” means as to any Person, any corporation, partnership, limited
liability company or other entity of which more than fifty percent (50%) of the
outstanding Capital Stock having ordinary voting power to elect a majority of
the board of directors or other managers of such corporation, partnership,
limited liability company or other entity is at the time owned by or the
management is otherwise controlled, directly or indirectly, by such Person
(irrespective of whether, at the time, Capital Stock of any other class or
classes of such corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other
entity shall have or might have voting power by reason of the happening of any
contingency); provided, however, that a Subsidiary shall not include any
Excluded Subsidiary. Unless otherwise qualified, references to “Subsidiary” or
“Subsidiaries” herein shall refer to those of the Borrower.

“Swingline Commitment” means the lesser of (a) $50,000,000 and (b) an amount
equal to the Commitments.

“Swingline Facility” means the swingline facility established pursuant to
Section 2.2.

“Swingline Lender” means Wachovia in its capacity as swingline lender hereunder
or any successor thereto.

“Swingline Loan” means any swingline loan made by the Swingline Lender to the
Borrower pursuant to Section 2.2, and all such swingline loans collectively as
the context requires.

“Swingline Note” means a promissory note made by the Borrower in favor of the
Swingline Lender evidencing the Swingline Loans made by the Swingline Lender,
substantially in the form of Exhibit A-2, and any amendments, supplements and
modifications thereto, any substitutes therefor, and any replacements,
restatements, renewals or extension thereof, in whole or in part.

“Swingline Termination Date” means the first to occur of (a) the resignation of
Wachovia as Administrative Agent in accordance with Section 12.6 (solely to the
extent any successor Administrative Agent does not agree to assume the duties
and responsibilities of the Swingline Lender herein) and (b) the Maturity Date.

“Synthetic Lease” means any synthetic lease, tax retention operating lease,
off-balance sheet loan or similar off-balance sheet financing product where such
transaction is considered borrowed money indebtedness for tax purposes but is
classified as an Operating Lease in accordance with GAAP.

 

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“Taxes” means all present or future taxes, levies, imposts, duties, deductions,
withholdings, assessments, fees or other charges imposed by any Governmental
Authority, including any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable
thereto.

“Termination Event” means except for any such event or condition that could not
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect: (a) a “Reportable
Event” described in Section 4043 of ERISA for which the notice requirement has
not been waived by the PBGC, or (b) the withdrawal of Borrower or any ERISA
Affiliate from a Pension Plan during a plan year in which it was a “substantial
employer” as defined in Section 4001(a)(2) of ERISA, or (c) the termination of a
Pension Plan, the filing of a notice of intent to terminate a Pension Plan or
the treatment of a Pension Plan amendment as a termination, under Section 4041
of ERISA, if the plan assets are not sufficient to pay all plan liabilities, or
(d) the institution of proceedings to terminate, or the appointment of a trustee
with respect to, any Pension Plan by the PBGC, or (e) any other event or
condition which would constitute grounds under Section 4042(a) of ERISA for the
termination of, or the appointment of a trustee to administer, any Pension Plan,
or (f) the imposition of a Lien pursuant to Section 412 of the Code or
Section 302 of ERISA, or (g) the partial or complete withdrawal of Borrower or
any ERISA Affiliate from a Multiemployer Plan if withdrawal liability is
asserted by such plan, or (h) any event or condition which results in the
reorganization or insolvency of a Multiemployer Plan under Sections 4241 or 4245
of ERISA, or (i) any event or condition which results in the termination of a
Multiemployer Plan under Section 4041A of ERISA or the institution by PBGC of
proceedings to terminate a Multiemployer Plan under Section 4042 of ERISA.

“Termination Value” means, in respect of any one or more Hedging Agreements,
after taking into account the effect of any legally enforceable netting
agreement relating to such Hedging Agreements, (a) for any date on or after the
date such Hedging Agreements have been closed out and termination value(s)
determined in accordance therewith, such termination value(s), and (b) for any
date prior to the date referenced in clause (a), the amount(s) determined as the
mark-to-market value(s) for such Hedging Agreements, as determined based upon
one or more mid-market or other readily available quotations provided by any
recognized dealer in such Hedging Agreements (which may include a Lender or any
Affiliate of a Lender).

“United States” means the United States of America.

“Wachovia” means Wachovia Bank, National Association, a national banking
association, and its successors.

SECTION 1.2 Other Definitions and Provisions. With reference to this Agreement
and each other Loan Document, unless otherwise specified herein or in such other
Loan Document: (a) the definitions of terms herein shall apply equally to the
singular and plural forms of the terms defined, (b) whenever the context may
require, any pronoun shall include the corresponding masculine, feminine and
neuter forms, (c) the words “include”, “includes” and “including” shall be
deemed to be followed by the phrase “without limitation”, (d) the word “will”
shall be construed to have the same meaning and effect as the word “shall”,
(e) any definition of or reference to any agreement, instrument or other
document herein shall be construed as referring to such agreement, instrument or
other document as from time to time amended, supplemented or otherwise modified
(subject to any restrictions on such amendments,

 

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supplements or modifications set forth herein), (f) any reference herein to any
Person shall be construed to include such Person’s permitted successors and
assigns, (g) the words “herein”, “hereof” and “hereunder”, and words of similar
import, shall be construed to refer to this Agreement in its entirety and not to
any particular provision hereof, (h) all references herein to Articles,
Sections, Exhibits and Schedules shall be construed to refer to Articles and
Sections of, and Exhibits and Schedules to, this Agreement, (i) the words
“asset” and “property” shall be construed to have the same meaning and effect
and to refer to any and all tangible and intangible assets and properties,
including cash, securities, accounts and contract rights, (j) the term
“documents” includes any and all instruments, documents, agreements,
certificates, notices, reports, financial statements and other writings, however
evidenced, whether in physical or electronic form, (k) in the computation of
periods of time from a specified date to a later specified date, the word “from”
means “from and including;” the words “to” and “until” each mean “to but
excluding;” and the word “through” means “to and including”, and (l) section
headings herein and in the other Loan Documents are included for convenience of
reference only and shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement or any
other Loan Document.

SECTION 1.3 Accounting Terms. All accounting terms not specifically or
completely defined herein shall be construed in conformity with, and all
financial data (including financial ratios and other financial calculations)
required to be submitted pursuant to this Agreement shall be prepared in
conformity with, GAAP, except as otherwise specifically prescribed herein.

SECTION 1.4 Rounding. Any financial ratios required to be maintained by the
Borrower pursuant to this Agreement shall be calculated by dividing the
appropriate component by the other component, carrying the result to one place
more than the number of places by which such ratio is expressed herein and
rounding the result up or down to the nearest number (with a rounding-up if
there is no nearest number).

SECTION 1.5 References to Agreement and Laws. Unless otherwise expressly
provided herein, (a) references to formation documents, governing documents,
agreements (including the Loan Documents) and other contractual instruments
shall be deemed to include all subsequent amendments, restatements, extensions,
supplements and other modifications thereto, but only to the extent that such
amendments, restatements, extensions, supplements and other modifications are
not prohibited by any Loan Document; and (b) references to any Applicable Law
shall include all statutory and regulatory provisions consolidating, amending,
replacing, supplementing or interpreting such Applicable Law.

SECTION 1.6 Times of Day. Unless otherwise specified, all references herein to
times of day shall be references to Eastern time (daylight or standard, as
applicable).

SECTION 1.7 Letter of Credit Amounts. Unless otherwise specified, all references
herein to the amount of a Letter of Credit at any time shall be deemed to mean
the maximum stated amount of such Letter of Credit after giving effect to all
increases thereof contemplated by such Letter of Credit or the Letter of Credit
Application therefor, whether or not such maximum face amount is in effect at
such time.

 

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ARTICLE II

REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY

SECTION 2.1 Revolving Credit Loans. Subject to the terms and conditions of this
Agreement, each Lender severally agrees to make Revolving Credit Loans to the
Borrower from time to time from the Closing Date through, but not including, the
Maturity Date as requested by the Borrower in accordance with the terms of
Section 2.3; provided, that (a) the aggregate principal amount of all
outstanding Revolving Credit Loans (after giving effect to any amount requested
and the use thereof) shall not exceed an amount equal to the Commitments less
the sum of all outstanding Swingline Loans and L/C Obligations and (b) the
principal amount of outstanding Revolving Credit Loans from any Lender to the
Borrower shall not at any time exceed such Lender’s Commitment less such
Lender’s Commitment Percentage of outstanding L/C Obligations and outstanding
Swingline Loans. Each Revolving Credit Loan by a Lender shall be in a principal
amount equal to such Lender’s Commitment Percentage of the aggregate principal
amount of Revolving Credit Loans requested on such occasion. Subject to the
terms and conditions hereof, the Borrower may borrow, repay and reborrow
Revolving Credit Loans hereunder until the Maturity Date.

SECTION 2.2 Swingline Loans.

(a) Availability. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the
Swingline Lender agrees to make Swingline Loans to the Borrower from time to
time from the Closing Date through, but not including, the Swingline Termination
Date; provided, that the aggregate principal amount of all outstanding Swingline
Loans (after giving effect to any amount requested and the use thereof), shall
not exceed the lesser of (i) an amount equal to the Commitments less the sum of
all outstanding Revolving Credit Loans and the L/C Obligations and (ii) the
Swingline Commitment.

(b) Refunding.

(i) Swingline Loans shall be refunded by the Lenders on demand by the Swingline
Lender. Such refundings shall be made by the Lenders in accordance with their
respective Commitment Percentages and shall upon such refunding be immediately
treated as Revolving Credit Loans hereunder and promptly thereafter be reflected
as Revolving Credit Loans of the Lenders on the Register. Each Lender shall fund
its respective Commitment Percentage of Revolving Credit Loans as required to
repay Swingline Loans outstanding to the Swingline Lender upon demand by the
Swingline Lender but in no event later than 1:00 p.m. on the next succeeding
Business Day after such demand is made. All such Revolving Credit Loans shall be
made as Base Rate Loans. No Lender’s obligation to fund its respective
Commitment Percentage of a Swingline Loan shall be affected by any other
Lender’s failure to fund its Commitment Percentage of a Swingline Loan, nor
shall any Lender’s Commitment Percentage be increased as a result of any such
failure of any other Lender to fund its Commitment Percentage of a Swingline
Loan.

(ii) The Borrower shall pay to the Swingline Lender on demand the amount of such
Swingline Loans to the extent amounts received from the Lenders are not
sufficient to repay

 

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in full the outstanding Swingline Loans requested or required to be refunded. In
addition, the Borrower hereby authorizes the Administrative Agent to charge any
account maintained by the Borrower with the Swingline Lender (up to the amount
available therein) upon one (1) Business Days notice to Borrower in order to
immediately pay the Swingline Lender the amount of such Swingline Loans to the
extent amounts received from the Lenders are not sufficient to repay in full the
outstanding Swingline Loans requested or required to be refunded. If any portion
of any such amount paid to the Swingline Lender shall be recovered by or on
behalf of the Borrower from the Swingline Lender in bankruptcy or otherwise, the
loss of the amount so recovered shall be ratably shared among all the Lenders in
accordance with their respective Commitment Percentages (unless the amounts so
recovered by or on behalf of the Borrower pertain to a Swingline Loan extended
after the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default of which
the Administrative Agent has received notice in the manner required pursuant to
Section 12.3 and which such Event of Default has not been waived in accordance
with Section 13.2).

(iii) Each Lender acknowledges and agrees that its obligation to refund
Swingline Loans in accordance with the terms of this Section is absolute and
unconditional and shall not be affected by any circumstance whatsoever,
including, without limitation, non-satisfaction of the conditions set forth in
Article V. Further, each Lender agrees and acknowledges that if prior to the
refunding of any outstanding Swingline Loans pursuant to this Section, one of
the events described in Section 11.1(j) or (k) shall have occurred, each Lender
will, on the date the applicable Revolving Credit Loan would have been made,
purchase an undivided participating interest in the Swingline Loan to be
refunded in an amount equal to its Commitment Percentage of the aggregate amount
of such Swingline Loan. Each Lender will immediately transfer to the Swingline
Lender, in immediately available funds, the amount of its participation and upon
receipt thereof the Swingline Lender will deliver to such Lender a certificate
evidencing such participation dated the date of receipt of such funds and for
such amount. Whenever, at any time after the Swingline Lender has received from
any Lender such Lender’s participating interest in a Swingline Loan, the
Swingline Lender receives any payment on account thereof, the Swingline Lender
will distribute to such Lender its participating interest in such amount
(appropriately adjusted, in the case of interest payments, to reflect the period
of time during which such Lender’s participating interest was outstanding and
funded).

SECTION 2.3 Procedure for Advances of Revolving Credit Loans and Swingline
Loans.

(a) Requests for Borrowing. The Borrower shall give the Administrative Agent
irrevocable prior written notice substantially in the form of Exhibit B (a
“Notice of Borrowing”) or telephonic notice (followed by prompt delivery of such
Notice of Borrowing) not later than 11:00 a.m. (i) on the same Business Day as
each Base Rate Loan and each Swingline Loan and (ii) on or prior to the third
(3rd) Business Day before each LIBOR Rate Loan, of its intention to borrow,
specifying (A) the date of such borrowing, which shall be a Business Day,
(B) the amount of such borrowing, which shall be, (x) with respect to Base Rate
Loans (other than Swingline Loans) in an aggregate principal amount of
$5,000,000 or a whole multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof, (y) with respect
to LIBOR Rate Loans in an aggregate principal amount of $5,000,000 or a whole
multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof and (z) with respect to Swingline Loans
in an aggregate principal amount of $500,000 or a whole multiple of $100,000

 

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in excess thereof, (C) whether such Loan is to be a Revolving Credit Loan or
Swingline Loan, (D) in the case of a Revolving Credit Loan whether the Loans are
to be LIBOR Rate Loans or Base Rate Loans, and (E) in the case of a LIBOR Rate
Loan, the duration of the Interest Period applicable thereto. A Notice of
Borrowing received after 11:00 a.m. shall be deemed received on the next
Business Day. The Administrative Agent shall promptly notify the Lenders of each
Notice of Borrowing.

(b) Disbursement of Revolving Credit and Swingline Loans. Not later than 1:00
p.m. on the proposed borrowing date, (i) each Lender will make available to the
Administrative Agent, for the account of the Borrower, at the Administrative
Agent’s Office in funds immediately available to the Administrative Agent, such
Lender’s Commitment Percentage of the Revolving Credit Loans to be made on such
borrowing date and (ii) the Swingline Lender will make available to the
Administrative Agent, for the account of the Borrower, at the Administrative
Agent’s Office in funds immediately available to the Administrative Agent, the
Swingline Loans to be made on such borrowing date. The Borrower hereby
irrevocably authorizes the Administrative Agent to disburse the proceeds of each
borrowing requested pursuant to this Section in immediately available funds by
crediting or wiring such proceeds to the deposit account of the Borrower
identified in the most recent notice substantially in the form of Exhibit C (a
“Notice of Account Designation”) delivered by the Borrower to the Administrative
Agent or as may be otherwise agreed upon by the Borrower and the Administrative
Agent from time to time. Subject to Section 4.7 hereof, the Administrative Agent
shall not be obligated to disburse the portion of the proceeds of any Revolving
Credit Loan requested pursuant to this Section to the extent that any Lender has
not made available to the Administrative Agent its Commitment Percentage of such
Loan. Revolving Credit Loans to be made for the purpose of refunding Swingline
Loans shall be made by the Lenders as provided in Section 2.2(b).

SECTION 2.4 Repayment and Prepayment of Revolving Credit and Swingline Loans.

(a) Repayment on Maturity Date. The Borrower hereby agrees to repay the
outstanding principal amount of (i) all Revolving Credit Loans in full on the
Maturity Date, and (ii) all Swingline Loans in accordance with Section 2.2(b),
together, in each case, with all accrued but unpaid interest thereon.

(b) Mandatory Prepayments. If at any time the outstanding principal amount of
all Revolving Credit Loans plus the sum of all outstanding Swingline Loans and
L/C Obligations exceeds an amount equal to the Commitments, the Borrower agrees
to repay immediately upon notice from the Administrative Agent, by payment to
the Administrative Agent for the account of the Lenders, Extensions of Credit in
an amount equal to such excess with each such repayment applied first to the
principal amount of outstanding Swingline Loans, second to the principal amount
of outstanding Revolving Credit Loans and to the principal amount of outstanding
Reimbursement Obligations and third, with respect to any Letters of Credit then
outstanding, undrawn and unexpired, a payment of cash collateral into a cash
collateral account opened by the Administrative Agent, for the benefit of the
Lenders in an amount equal to the aggregate then undrawn and unexpired amount of
such Letters of Credit (such cash collateral to be applied in accordance with
Section 11.2(b)).

 

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(c) Optional Prepayments. The Borrower may at any time and from time to time
prepay Revolving Credit Loans and Swingline Loans, in whole or in part, with
irrevocable prior written notice to the Administrative Agent substantially in
the form of Exhibit D (a “Notice of Prepayment”) or telephonic notice (followed
by prompt delivery of such Notice of Prepayment) given not later than 11:00 a.m.
(i) on the same Business Day as each Base Rate Loan and each Swingline Loan and
(ii) on or prior to the third (3rd) Business Day before each LIBOR Rate Loan,
specifying the date and amount of prepayment and whether the prepayment is of
LIBOR Rate Loans, Base Rate Loans, Swingline Loans or a combination thereof,
and, if of a combination thereof, the amount allocable to each. Upon receipt of
such notice, the Administrative Agent shall promptly notify each Lender. If any
such notice is given, the amount specified in such notice shall be due and
payable on the date set forth in such notice. Partial prepayments shall be in an
aggregate amount of $5,000,000 or a whole multiple of $1,000,000 in excess
thereof with respect to Base Rate Loans (other than Swingline Loans), $5,000,000
or a whole multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof with respect to LIBOR Rate
Loans and $100,000 or a whole multiple of $100,000 in excess thereof with
respect to Swingline Loans. A Notice of Prepayment received after 11:00 a.m.
shall be deemed received on the next Business Day. Each such repayment shall be
accompanied by any amount required to be paid pursuant to Section 4.9 hereof.

(d) Limitation on Prepayment of LIBOR Rate Loans. The Borrower may not prepay
any LIBOR Rate Loan on any day other than on the last day of the Interest Period
applicable thereto unless such prepayment is accompanied by any amount required
to be paid pursuant to Section 4.9 hereof.

SECTION 2.5 Permanent Reduction of the Commitments.

(a) Voluntary Reduction. The Borrower shall have the right at any time and from
time to time, upon at least three (3) Business Days prior written notice to the
Administrative Agent, to, without premium or penalty, permanently (i) terminate
the entire Commitments at any time or (ii) reduce portions of the Commitments,
from time to time, in an aggregate principal amount not less than $5,000,000 or
any whole multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof. Any reduction of the
Commitments shall be applied to the Commitment of each Lender according to its
Commitment Percentage. All commitment fees accrued until the effective date of
any termination of the Commitments shall be paid on the effective date of such
termination.

(b) Corresponding Payment. Each permanent reduction permitted pursuant to this
Section shall be accompanied by a payment of principal sufficient to reduce the
aggregate outstanding Revolving Credit Loans, Swingline Loans and L/C
Obligations, as applicable, after such reduction to the Commitments as so
reduced and if the Commitments as so reduced are less than the aggregate amount
of all outstanding, undrawn and unexpired Letters of Credit, the Borrower shall
be required to deposit cash collateral in a cash collateral account opened by
the Administrative Agent in an amount equal to the aggregate then undrawn and
unexpired amount of such Letters of Credit. Such cash collateral shall be
applied in accordance with Section 11.2(b). Any reduction of the Commitments to
zero shall be accompanied by payment of all outstanding Revolving Credit Loans,
Swingline Loans and Reimbursement Obligations (and furnishing of cash collateral
satisfactory to the Administrative Agent for all L/C Obligations) and shall
result in the termination of the Commitments, the Swingline Facility, the L/C
Facility and

 

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the Revolving Credit Facility. Such cash collateral shall be applied in
accordance with Section 11.2(b). If the reduction of the Commitments requires
the repayment of any LIBOR Rate Loan, such repayment shall be accompanied by any
amount required to be paid pursuant to Section 4.9(c) hereof.

SECTION 2.6 Optional Increase of the Commitments. At any time following the
Closing Date, the Borrower shall have the right, in consultation with the
Administrative Agent, from time to time and upon not less than thirty (30) days
prior written notice to the Administrative Agent, to request an increase in the
Commitments; provided, that:

(a) no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing or
would result from any such requested increase or Extension of Credit made on the
date of such increase;

(b) the Borrower shall provide the Administrative Agent with an Officer’s
Compliance Certificate dated as of the date of such increase in form and
substance substantially similar to the certificate delivered under Section 7.2
demonstrating pro forma compliance (solely, for purposes of the numerator of the
Consolidated Leverage Ratio, after giving effect to any increase or decrease in
outstanding Consolidated Total Funded Indebtedness) with each of the covenants
contained in Article IX in respect of the most recently ended fiscal quarter for
which financial statements have been delivered pursuant to Section 7.1 and after
giving effect to any Extensions of Credit made on the date of such increase;

(c) each increase in Commitments shall be in an aggregate principal amount of at
least $50,000,000 or an integral of $5,000,000 in excess thereof, or in each
case if less, the remaining principal amount of increases to Commitments that
are available under this Section 2.6 (after giving effect to all prior increases
pursuant to this Section 2.6);

(d) the aggregate amount of all Commitment increases made pursuant to this
Section 2.6 shall not exceed $400,000,000;

(e) increases in Commitments pursuant to this Section 2.6 shall not increase or
otherwise affect the L/C Commitment or the Swingline Commitment;

(f) the Commitment of any Lender shall not be increased without the approval of
such Lender as determined in the sole and absolute discretion of such Lender;

(g) in connection with each proposed increase, the Borrower may but is not
required to solicit commitments from (i) any Lender (provided that no Lender
shall have an obligation to commit to all or a portion of the proposed increase)
or (ii) any third party financial institutions that are Eligible Assignees that
are reasonably acceptable to both the Administrative Agent and the Borrower;

(h) the Loans made or Letters of Credit issued in respect of any increase in
Commitments pursuant to this Section 2.6 (i) will rank pari passu in right of
payment and security with the other Loans made and Letters of Credit issued
hereunder and shall constitute and be part of the “Obligations” arising under
this Agreement, and (ii) shall have the same pricing and tenor as the other
Loans and Letters of Credit hereunder; and

 

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(i) in the event that any existing Lender or any new lender commits to such
requested increase, (i) any new lender will execute an accession agreement to
this Agreement, (ii) the Commitment of any existing Lender which has committed
to provide any of the requested increase shall be increased, (iii) the
Commitment Percentages of the Lenders shall be adjusted, (and the Lenders agree
to make all payments and adjustments necessary to effect such reallocation and
the Borrower shall pay any and all costs required pursuant to Section 4.9 in
connection with such reallocation as if such reallocation were a repayment) and
(iv) other changes shall be made to the Loan Documents as may be necessary to
reflect the aggregate amount, if any, by which the Lenders have agreed to
increase their respective Commitments or new lenders have agreed to or make new
commitments in response to the Borrower’s request for an increase pursuant to
this Section 2.6, and which other changes do not adversely affect the rights of
those Lenders not participating in any such increase.

SECTION 2.7 Termination of Revolving Credit Facility. The Revolving Credit
Facility shall terminate on the Maturity Date.

ARTICLE III

LETTER OF CREDIT FACILITY

SECTION 3.1 L/C Commitment. Subject to the terms and conditions hereof, the
Issuing Lender, in reliance on the agreements of the other Lenders set forth in
Section 3.4(a), agrees to issue standby letters of credit (“Letters of Credit”)
for the account of the Borrower on any Business Day from and after the Closing
Date in such form as may be approved from time to time by the Issuing Lender;
provided, that the Issuing Lender shall have no obligation to issue any Letter
of Credit if, after giving effect to such issuance, (a) the L/C Obligations
would exceed the L/C Commitment or (b) the aggregate principal amount of
outstanding Revolving Credit Loans, plus the aggregate principal amount of
outstanding Swingline Loans, plus the aggregate amount of L/C Obligations would
exceed an amount equal to the Commitments. Each Letter of Credit shall (i) be
denominated in Dollars in a minimum amount acceptable to the Issuing Lender,
(ii) be a standby letter of credit issued to support obligations of the Borrower
or any of its Subsidiaries, contingent or otherwise, incurred in the ordinary
course of business, (iii) expire on a date agreed upon by the Borrower and the
Issuing Lender, which date shall be no later than the fifth (5th) Business Day
prior to the Maturity Date and (iv) be subject to ISP98, as set forth in the
Letter of Credit Application or as determined by the Issuing Lender and, to the
extent not inconsistent therewith, the laws of the State of New York. The
Issuing Lender shall not at any time be obligated to issue any Letter of Credit
hereunder if such issuance would conflict with, or cause the Issuing Lender or
any L/C Participant to exceed any limits imposed by, any Applicable Law.
References herein to “issue” and derivations thereof with respect to Letters of
Credit shall also include extensions or modifications of any outstanding Letters
of Credit, unless the context otherwise requires.

SECTION 3.2 Procedure for Issuance of Letters of Credit. The Borrower may from
time to time request that the Issuing Lender issue a Letter of Credit by
delivering to the Issuing Lender at the Administrative Agent’s Office a Letter
of Credit Application therefor, completed to the satisfaction of the Issuing
Lender, and such other certificates, documents and other papers and information
as the Issuing Lender may reasonably request. Upon receipt of any Letter of

 

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Credit Application, the Issuing Lender shall process such Letter of Credit
Application and the certificates, documents and other papers and information
delivered to it in connection therewith in accordance with its customary
procedures and shall, subject to Section 3.1 and Article V, promptly issue the
Letter of Credit requested thereby (but in no event shall the Issuing Lender be
required to issue any Letter of Credit earlier than three (3) Business Days
after its receipt of the Letter of Credit Application therefor and all such
other certificates, documents and other papers and information relating thereto)
by issuing the original of such Letter of Credit to the beneficiary thereof or
as otherwise may be agreed by the Issuing Lender and the Borrower. The Issuing
Lender shall promptly furnish to the Borrower a copy of such Letter of Credit
and promptly notify each L/C Participant of the issuance and upon request by any
L/C Participant, furnish to such L/C Participant a copy of such Letter of Credit
and the amount of such L/C Participant’s participation therein.

SECTION 3.3 Commissions and Other Charges.

(a) Letter of Credit Commissions. The Borrower shall pay to the Administrative
Agent, for the account of the Issuing Lender and the L/C Participants, a letter
of credit commission with respect to the undrawn amount of each Letter of Credit
at a rate per annum equal to the Applicable Percentage with respect to Loans
that are LIBOR Rate Loans (determined on a per annum basis). For the purposes of
computing the amount to be drawn under any Letter of Credit, the amount of such
Letter of Credit shall be determined in accordance with Section 1.7. Such
commission shall be payable quarterly in arrears on the last Business Day of
each calendar quarter, on the Maturity Date and thereafter on demand of the
Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent shall, promptly following its
receipt thereof, distribute to the Issuing Lender and the L/C Participants all
commissions received pursuant to this Section in accordance with their
respective Commitment Percentages.

(b) Issuance Fee. In addition to the foregoing commission, the Borrower shall
pay to the Administrative Agent, for the account of the Issuing Lender, an
issuance fee with respect to the undrawn face amount of each Letter of Credit at
a rate of one-eighth of one percent (.125%) per annum. Such issuance fee shall
be payable quarterly in arrears on the last Business Day of each calendar
quarter commencing with the first such date to occur after the issuance of such
Letter of Credit, on the Maturity Date and thereafter on demand of the
Administrative Agent.

(c) Other Costs. In addition to the foregoing fees and commissions, the Borrower
shall pay or reimburse the Issuing Lender for such normal and customary costs
and expenses as are reasonably incurred or charged by the Issuing Lender in
issuing, effecting payment under, amending or otherwise administering any Letter
of Credit.

 

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SECTION 3.4 L/C Participations.

(a) The Issuing Lender irrevocably agrees to grant and hereby grants to each L/C
Participant, and, to induce the Issuing Lender to issue Letters of Credit
hereunder, each L/C Participant irrevocably agrees to accept and purchase and
hereby accepts and purchases from the Issuing Lender, on the terms and
conditions hereinafter stated, for such L/C Participant’s own account and risk
an undivided interest equal to such L/C Participant’s Commitment Percentage in
the Issuing Lender’s obligations and rights under and in respect of each Letter
of Credit issued hereunder and the amount of each draft paid by the Issuing
Lender thereunder. Each L/C Participant unconditionally and irrevocably agrees
with the Issuing Lender that, if a draft is paid under any Letter of Credit for
which the Issuing Lender is not reimbursed in full by the Borrower through a
Revolving Credit Loan or otherwise in accordance with the terms of this
Agreement, such L/C Participant shall pay to the Issuing Lender upon demand at
the Issuing Lender’s address for notices specified herein an amount equal to
such L/C Participant’s Commitment Percentage of the amount of such draft, or any
part thereof, which is not so reimbursed.

(b) Upon becoming aware of any amount required to be paid by any L/C Participant
to the Issuing Lender pursuant to Section 3.4(a) in respect of any unreimbursed
portion of any payment made by the Issuing Lender under any Letter of Credit,
the Issuing Lender shall notify each L/C Participant of the amount and due date
of such required payment and such L/C Participant shall pay to the Issuing
Lender the amount specified on the applicable due date. If any such amount is
paid to the Issuing Lender after the date such payment is due, such L/C
Participant shall pay to the Issuing Lender on demand, in addition to such
amount, the product of (i) such amount, times (ii) the daily average Federal
Funds Rate as determined by the Administrative Agent during the period from and
including the date such payment is due to the date on which such payment is
immediately available to the Issuing Lender, times (iii) a fraction the
numerator of which is the number of days that elapse during such period and the
denominator of which is 360. A certificate of the Issuing Lender with respect to
any amounts owing under this Section shall be conclusive in the absence of
manifest error. With respect to payment to the Issuing Lender of the
unreimbursed amounts described in this Section, if the L/C Participants receive
notice that any such payment is due (A) prior to 1:00 p.m. on any Business Day,
such payment shall be due that Business Day, and (B) after 1:00 p.m. on any
Business Day, such payment shall be due on the following Business Day.

(c) Whenever, at any time after the Issuing Lender has made payment under any
Letter of Credit and has received from any L/C Participant its Commitment
Percentage of such payment in accordance with this Section, the Issuing Lender
receives any payment related to such Letter of Credit (whether directly from the
Borrower or otherwise), or any payment of interest on account thereof, the
Issuing Lender will distribute to such L/C Participant its pro rata share
thereof; provided, that in the event that any such payment received by the
Issuing Lender shall be required to be returned by the Issuing Lender, such L/C
Participant shall return to the Issuing Lender the portion thereof previously
distributed by the Issuing Lender to it.

SECTION 3.5 Reimbursement Obligation of the Borrower. In the event of any
drawing under any Letter of Credit, the Borrower agrees to reimburse (either
with the proceeds of a Revolving Credit Loan as provided for in this Section or
with funds from other sources), in same day funds, the Issuing Lender on each
date on which the Issuing Lender notifies the

 

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Borrower of the date and amount of a draft paid under any Letter of Credit for
the amount of the sum of (a) such draft so paid and (b) any amounts referred to
in Section 3.3(c) incurred by the Issuing Lender in connection with such
payment. Unless the Borrower shall immediately notify the Issuing Lender (and in
any event within one (1) Business Day of the date the Borrower received notice
from the Issuing Lender) that the Borrower intends to reimburse the Issuing
Lender for such drawing from other sources or funds, the Borrower shall be
deemed to have timely given a Notice of Borrowing to the Administrative Agent
requesting that the Lenders make a Revolving Credit Loan bearing interest at the
Base Rate on such date in the amount of (a) such draft so paid and (b) any
amounts referred to in Section 3.3(c) incurred by the Issuing Lender in
connection with such payment, and the Lenders shall make a Revolving Credit Loan
bearing interest at the Base Rate in such amount, the proceeds of which shall be
applied to reimburse the Issuing Lender for the amount of the related drawing
and costs and expenses. Each Lender acknowledges and agrees that its obligation
to fund a Revolving Credit Loan in accordance with this Section to reimburse the
Issuing Lender for any draft paid under a Letter of Credit is absolute and
unconditional and shall not be affected by any circumstance whatsoever,
including, without limitation, non-satisfaction of the conditions set forth in
Section 2.3(a) or Article V. If the Borrower has elected to pay the amount of
such drawing with funds from other sources and shall fail to reimburse the
Issuing Lender as provided above, the unreimbursed amount of such drawing shall
bear interest at the rate which would be payable on any outstanding Revolving
Credit Loans which are Base Rate Loans which were then overdue from the date
such amounts become payable (whether at stated maturity, by acceleration or
otherwise) until payment in full.

SECTION 3.6 Obligations Absolute. The Borrower’s obligations under this Article
III (including, without limitation, the Reimbursement Obligation) shall be
absolute and unconditional under any and all circumstances and irrespective of
any set-off, counterclaim or defense to payment which the Borrower may have or
have had against the Issuing Lender or any beneficiary of a Letter of Credit or
any other Person. The Borrower also agrees that the Issuing Lender and the L/C
Participants shall not be responsible for, and the Borrower’s Reimbursement
Obligation under Section 3.5 shall not be affected by, among other things, the
validity or genuineness of documents or of any endorsements thereon, even though
such documents shall in fact prove to be invalid, fraudulent or forged, or any
dispute between or among the Borrower and any beneficiary of any Letter of
Credit or any other party to which such Letter of Credit may be transferred or
any claims whatsoever of the Borrower against any beneficiary of such Letter of
Credit or any such transferee. The Issuing Lender shall not be liable for any
error, omission, interruption or delay in transmission, dispatch or delivery of
any message or advice, however transmitted, in connection with any Letter of
Credit, except for errors or omissions caused by the Issuing Lender’s gross
negligence or willful misconduct, as determined by a court of competent
jurisdiction by final nonappealable judgment. The Borrower agrees that any
action taken or omitted by the Issuing Lender under or in connection with any
Letter of Credit or the related drafts or documents, if done in the absence of
gross negligence or willful misconduct shall be binding on the Borrower and
shall not result in any liability of the Issuing Lender or any L/C Participant
to the Borrower. The responsibility of the Issuing Lender to the Borrower in
connection with any draft presented for payment under any Letter of Credit
shall, in addition to any payment obligation expressly provided for in such
Letter of Credit, be limited to determining that the documents (including each
draft) delivered under such Letter of Credit in connection with such presentment
are in conformity with such Letter of Credit.

 

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SECTION 3.7 Effect of Letter of Credit Application. To the extent that any
provision of any Letter of Credit Application related to any Letter of Credit is
inconsistent with the provisions of this Article III, the provisions of this
Article III shall apply.

ARTICLE IV

GENERAL LOAN PROVISIONS

SECTION 4.1 Interest.

(a) Interest Rate Options. Subject to the provisions of this Section, at the
election of the Borrower, (i) Revolving Credit Loans shall bear interest at
(A) the Base Rate plus the Applicable Percentage or (B) the LIBOR Rate plus the
Applicable Percentage (provided that the LIBOR Rate shall not be available until
three (3) Business Days after the Closing Date) and (ii) any Swingline Loan
shall bear interest at the Base Rate plus the Applicable Percentage. The
Borrower shall select the rate of interest and Interest Period, if any,
applicable to any Loan at the time a Notice of Borrowing is given or at the time
a Notice of Conversion/Continuation is given pursuant to Section 4.2. Any Loan
or any portion thereof as to which the Borrower has not duly specified an
interest rate as provided herein shall be deemed a Base Rate Loan.

(b) Interest Periods. In connection with each LIBOR Rate Loan, the Borrower, by
giving notice at the times described in Section 2.3 or 4.2, as applicable, shall
elect an interest period (each, an “Interest Period”) to be applicable to such
Loan, which Interest Period shall be a period of one (1), two (2), three (3) or
six (6) months, or, if agreed to by all Lenders, nine (9) or twelve (12) months;
provided that:

(i) the Interest Period shall commence on the date of advance of or conversion
to any LIBOR Rate Loan and, in the case of immediately successive Interest
Periods, each successive Interest Period shall commence on the date on which the
immediately preceding Interest Period expires;

(ii) if any Interest Period would otherwise expire on a day that is not a
Business Day, such Interest Period shall expire on the next succeeding Business
Day; provided, that if any Interest Period with respect to a LIBOR Rate Loan
would otherwise expire on a day that is not a Business Day but is a day of the
month after which no further Business Day occurs in such month, such Interest
Period shall expire on the immediately preceding Business Day;

(iii) any Interest Period with respect to a LIBOR Rate Loan that begins on the
last Business Day of a calendar month (or on a day for which there is no
numerically corresponding day in the calendar month at the end of such Interest
Period) shall end on the last Business Day of the relevant calendar month at the
end of such Interest Period; and

(iv) there shall be no more than ten (10) Interest Periods in effect at any
time.

(c) Default Rate. Subject to Section 11.3, immediately upon the occurrence and
during the continuance of an Event of Default under Section 11.1(a) or (b),
(i) the Borrower shall no longer have the option to request LIBOR Rate Loans,
Swingline Loans or Letters of Credit, and (ii) the principal amount of all past
due Loans and other Obligations arising hereunder or

 

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under any other Loan Document shall bear interest at a rate per annum equal to
two percent (2%) in excess of the rate then applicable to such past due Loan or
such other Obligations arising hereunder or under any other Loan Document.
Interest shall continue to accrue on the Obligations after the filing by or
against the Borrower of any petition seeking any relief in bankruptcy or under
any act or law pertaining to insolvency or debtor relief, whether state, federal
or foreign.

(d) Interest Payment and Computation. Interest on each Base Rate Loan shall be
due and payable in arrears on the last Business Day of each calendar quarter
commencing December 31, 2006; and interest on each LIBOR Rate Loan shall be due
and payable on the last day of each Interest Period applicable thereto, and if
such Interest Period extends over three (3) months, at the end of each three
(3) month interval during such Interest Period. Interest on LIBOR Rate Loans,
Base Rate Loans based on the Federal Funds Rate and all fees payable hereunder
shall be computed on the basis of a 360-day year and assessed for the actual
number of days elapsed and interest on Base Rate Loans based on the Prime Rate
shall be computed on the basis of a 365/366-day year and assessed for the actual
number of days elapsed.

(e) Maximum Rate. In no contingency or event whatsoever shall the aggregate of
all amounts deemed interest under this Agreement charged or collected pursuant
to the terms of this Agreement exceed the highest rate permissible under any
Applicable Law which a court of competent jurisdiction shall, in a final
determination, deem applicable hereto. In the event that such a court determines
that the Lenders have charged or received interest hereunder in excess of the
highest applicable rate, the rate in effect hereunder shall automatically be
reduced to the maximum rate permitted by Applicable Law and the Lenders shall at
the Administrative Agent’s option (i) promptly refund to the Borrower any
interest received by the Lenders in excess of the maximum lawful rate or
(ii) apply such excess to the principal balance of the Obligations on a pro rata
basis. It is the intent hereof that the Borrower not pay or contract to pay, and
that neither the Administrative Agent nor any Lender receive or contract to
receive, directly or indirectly in any manner whatsoever, interest in excess of
that which may be paid by the Borrower under Applicable Law.

SECTION 4.2 Notice and Manner of Conversion or Continuation of Loans. Provided
that no Event of Default has occurred and is then continuing, the Borrower shall
have the option to (a) convert at any time following the third Business Day
after the Closing Date all or any portion of any outstanding Base Rate Loans
(other than Swingline Loans) in a principal amount equal to $5,000,000 or any
whole multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof into one or more LIBOR Rate Loans
and (b) upon the expiration of any Interest Period, (i) convert all or any part
of its outstanding LIBOR Rate Loans in a principal amount equal to $3,000,000 or
a whole multiple of $1,000,000 in excess thereof into Base Rate Loans (other
than Swingline Loans) or (ii) continue such LIBOR Rate Loans as LIBOR Rate
Loans. Whenever the Borrower desires to convert or continue Loans as provided
above, the Borrower shall give the Administrative Agent irrevocable prior
written notice in the form attached as Exhibit E (a “Notice of
Conversion/Continuation”) or telephonic notice (followed by prompt delivery of
such Notice of Conversion/Continuation) not later than 11:00 a.m. three
(3) Business Days before the day on which a proposed conversion or continuation
of such Loan is to be effective specifying (A) the Loans to be converted or
continued, and, in the case of any LIBOR Rate Loan to be converted or continued,
the last day of the Interest Period therefor, (B) the effective date of such
conversion or

 

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continuation (which shall be a Business Day), (C) the principal amount of such
Loans to be converted or continued, and (D) the Interest Period to be applicable
to such converted or continued LIBOR Rate Loan. The Administrative Agent shall
promptly notify the Lenders of such Notice of Conversion/Continuation.

SECTION 4.3 Fees.

(a) Commitment Fee. Commencing on the Closing Date, the Borrower shall pay to
the Administrative Agent, for the account of the Lenders, a non-refundable
commitment fee at a rate per annum equal to the Applicable Percentage on the
average daily unused portion of the Commitments; provided, that the amount of
outstanding Swingline Loans shall not be considered usage of the Commitments for
the purpose of calculating such commitment fee. The commitment fee shall be
payable in arrears on the last Business Day of each calendar quarter during the
term of this Agreement commencing December 31, 2006 and on the Maturity Date.
Such commitment fee shall be distributed by the Administrative Agent to the
Lenders pro rata in accordance with the Lenders’ respective Commitment
Percentages.

(b) Utilization Fee. Commencing on the Closing Date, the Borrower shall pay to
the Administrative Agent, for the account of the Lenders, a non-refundable
utilization fee at a rate per annum equal to the Applicable Percentage on the
total amount outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility (including, without
limitation, the amount of all L/C Obligations) on each day that the total amount
outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility exceeds fifty percent (50%) of
the total Commitments (whether or not available due to a Default or Event of
Default) of all of the Lenders. The utilization fee shall be payable in arrears
on the last Business Day of each calendar quarter during the term of this
Agreement commencing December 31, 2006 and on the Maturity Date. Such
utilization fee shall be distributed by the Administrative Agent to the Lenders
pro rata in accordance with the Lenders’ respective Commitment Percentages.

(c) Administrative Agent’s and Other Fees. The Borrower agrees to pay any fees
set forth in the Fee Letter.

SECTION 4.4 Manner of Payment. Each payment by the Borrower on account of the
principal of or interest on the Loans or of any fee, commission or other amounts
(including the Reimbursement Obligation) payable to the Lenders under this
Agreement shall be made not later than 1:00 p.m. on the date specified for
payment under this Agreement to the Administrative Agent at the Administrative
Agent’s Office for the account of the Lenders (other than as set forth below)
pro rata in accordance with their respective Commitment Percentages, (except as
specified below), in Dollars, in immediately available funds and shall be made
without any setoff, counterclaim or deduction whatsoever. Any payment received
after such time but before 2:00 p.m. on such day shall be deemed a payment on
such date for the purposes of Section 11.1, but for all other purposes shall be
deemed to have been made on the next succeeding Business Day. Any payment
received after 2:00 p.m. shall be deemed to have been made on the next
succeeding Business Day for all purposes. Upon receipt by the Administrative
Agent of each such payment, the Administrative Agent shall distribute to each
Lender at its address for notices set forth herein its pro rata share of such
payment in accordance with such Lender’s Commitment Percentage, (except as
specified below) and shall wire advice of the amount of such credit to each
Lender. Each payment to the Administrative Agent of the Issuing Lender’s

 

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fees or L/C Participants’ commissions shall be made in like manner, but for the
account of the Issuing Lender or the L/C Participants, as the case may be. Each
payment to the Administrative Agent of Administrative Agent’s fees or expenses
shall be made for the account of the Administrative Agent and any amount payable
to any Lender under Section 4.9, 4.10, 4.11 or 13.3 shall be paid to the
Administrative Agent for the account of the applicable Lender. Subject to
Section 4.1(b)(ii) if any payment under this Agreement shall be specified to be
made upon a day which is not a Business Day, it shall be made on the next
succeeding day which is a Business Day and such extension of time shall in such
case be included in computing any interest if payable along with such payment.

SECTION 4.5 Evidence of Indebtedness.

(a) Extensions of Credit. The Extensions of Credit made by each Lender shall be
evidenced by one or more accounts or records maintained by such Lender and by
the Administrative Agent in the ordinary course of business. The accounts or
records maintained by the Administrative Agent and each Lender shall be
conclusive absent manifest error of the amount of the Extensions of Credit made
by the Lenders to the Borrower and the interest and payments thereon. Any
failure to so record or any error in doing so shall not, however, limit or
otherwise affect the obligation of the Borrower hereunder to pay any amount
owing with respect to the Obligations. In the event of any conflict between the
accounts and records maintained by any Lender and the accounts and records of
the Administrative Agent in respect of such matters, the accounts and records of
the Administrative Agent shall control in the absence of manifest error. Upon
the request of any Lender made through the Administrative Agent, the Borrower
shall execute and deliver to such Lender (through the Administrative Agent) a
Revolving Credit Note and/or Swingline Note, as applicable, which shall evidence
such Lender’s Revolving Credit Loans and/or Swingline Loan, as applicable, in
addition to such accounts or records. Each Lender may attach schedules to its
Notes and endorse thereon the date, amount and maturity of its Loans and
payments with respect thereto.

(b) Participations. In addition to the accounts and records referred to in
subsection (a), each Revolving Credit Lender and the Administrative Agent shall
maintain in accordance with its usual practice accounts or records evidencing
the purchases and sales by such Revolving Credit Lender of participations in
Letters of Credit and Swingline Loans. In the event of any conflict between the
accounts and records maintained by the Administrative Agent and the accounts and
records of any Revolving Credit Lender in respect of such matters, the accounts
and records of the Administrative Agent shall control in the absence of manifest
error.

SECTION 4.6 Adjustments. If any Lender shall, by exercising any right of setoff
or counterclaim or otherwise, obtain payment in respect of any principal of or
interest on any of its Loans or other obligations hereunder resulting in such
Lender’s receiving payment of a proportion of the aggregate amount of its Loans
and accrued interest thereon or other such obligations (other than pursuant to
Section 4.9, 4.10, 4.11 or 13.3 hereof) greater than its pro rata share thereof
as provided herein, then the Lender receiving such greater proportion shall
(a) notify the Administrative Agent of such fact, and (b) purchase (for cash at
face value) participations in the Loans and such other obligations of the other
Lenders, or make such other adjustments as shall be equitable, so that the
benefit of all such payments shall be shared by the Lenders ratably in
accordance with the aggregate amount of principal of and accrued interest on
their respective Loans and other amounts owing them; provided that

 

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(a) if any such participations are purchased and all or any portion of the
payment giving rise thereto is recovered, such participations shall be rescinded
and the purchase price restored to the extent of such recovery, without
interest, and

(b) the provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to apply to (x) any
payment made by the Borrower pursuant to and in accordance with the express
terms of this Agreement or (y) any payment obtained by a Lender as consideration
for the assignment of or sale of a participation in any of its Loans or
participations in Swingline Loans and Letters of Credit to any assignee or
participant, other than to the Borrower or any Subsidiary thereof (as to which
the provisions of this paragraph shall apply).

The Borrower consents to the foregoing and agrees, to the extent it may
effectively do so under Applicable Law, that any Lender acquiring a
participation pursuant to the foregoing arrangements may exercise against the
Borrower rights of setoff and counterclaim with respect to such participation as
fully as if such Lender were a direct creditor of the Borrower in the amount of
such participation.

SECTION 4.7 Nature of Obligations of Lenders Regarding Extensions of Credit;
Assumption by the Administrative Agent. The obligations of the Lenders under
this Agreement to make the Loans and issue or participate in Letters of Credit
are several and are not joint or joint and several. Unless the Administrative
Agent shall have received notice from a Lender prior to a proposed borrowing
date or as of a proposed borrowing time, as applicable, that such Lender will
not make available to the Administrative Agent such Lender’s ratable portion of
the amount to be borrowed on such date or time (which notice shall not release
such Lender of its obligations hereunder), the Administrative Agent may assume
that such Lender has made such portion available to the Administrative Agent on
such proposed borrowing date or as of such proposed borrowing time in accordance
with Section 2.3(b), and the Administrative Agent may, in reliance upon such
assumption, make available to the Borrower on such date or time a corresponding
amount. If such amount is made available to the Administrative Agent on a date
or time after such borrowing date or time, as applicable, such Lender shall pay
to the Administrative Agent on demand an amount, until paid, equal to the
product of (a) the amount not made available by such Lender in accordance with
the terms hereof, times (b) the daily average Federal Funds Rate during such
period as determined by the Administrative Agent, times (c) a fraction the
numerator of which is the number of days that elapse from and including such
borrowing date or time to the date on which such amount not made available by
such Lender in accordance with the terms hereof shall have become immediately
available to the Administrative Agent and the denominator of which is 360. A
certificate of the Administrative Agent with respect to any amounts owing under
this Section shall be conclusive, absent manifest error. If such Lender’s
Commitment Percentage of such borrowing is not made available to the
Administrative Agent by such Lender within three (3) Business Days after such
borrowing date or time, the Administrative Agent shall be entitled to recover
such amount made available by the Administrative Agent with interest thereon at
the rate per annum applicable to Base Rate Loans hereunder, on demand, from the
Borrower. The failure of any Lender to make available its Commitment Percentage
of any Loan requested by the Borrower shall not relieve it or any other

 

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Lender of its obligation, if any, hereunder to make its Commitment Percentage of
such Loan available on the borrowing date or as of such borrowing time, as
applicable, but no Lender shall be responsible for the failure of any other
Lender to make its Commitment Percentage of such Loan available on the borrowing
date or as of such borrowing time, as applicable. Notwithstanding anything set
forth herein to the contrary, any Lender that is a Defaulting Lender shall not
(a) have any voting or consent rights under or with respect to any Loan
Document, except that the Commitment of such Defaulting Lender may not be
increased or decreased without the consent of such Defaulting Lender, or
(b) constitute a “Lender” (or be included in the calculation of Required Lenders
hereunder) for any voting or consent rights under or with respect to any Loan
Document.

SECTION 4.8 Changed Circumstances.

(a) Circumstances Affecting LIBOR Rate Availability. If with respect to any
Interest Period the Administrative Agent or any Lender (after consultation with
the Administrative Agent) shall determine that, by reason of circumstances
affecting the foreign exchange and interbank markets generally, deposits in
eurodollars, in the applicable amounts are not being quoted via the Telerate
Page 3750 or offered to the Administrative Agent or such Lender for such
Interest Period, then the Administrative Agent shall forthwith give notice
thereof to the Borrower. Thereafter, until the Administrative Agent notifies the
Borrower that such circumstances no longer exist, the obligation of the Lenders
to make LIBOR Rate Loans and the right of the Borrower to convert any Loan to or
continue any Loan as a LIBOR Rate Loan shall be suspended, and the Borrower
shall repay in full (or cause to be repaid in full) the then outstanding
principal amount of each such LIBOR Rate Loan together with accrued interest
thereon, on the last day of the then current Interest Period applicable to such
LIBOR Rate Loan or convert the then outstanding principal amount of each such
LIBOR Rate Loan to a Base Rate Loan as of the last day of such Interest Period.

(b) Laws Affecting LIBOR Rate Availability. If, after the date hereof, the
introduction of, or any change in, any Applicable Law or any change in the
interpretation or administration thereof by any Governmental Authority, central
bank or comparable agency charged with the interpretation or administration
thereof, or compliance by any of the Lenders (or any of their respective Lending
Offices) with any request or directive (whether or not having the force of law)
of any such Governmental Authority, central bank or comparable agency, shall
make it unlawful or impossible for any of the Lenders (or any of their
respective Lending Offices) to honor its obligations hereunder to make or
maintain any LIBOR Rate Loan, such Lender shall promptly give notice thereof to
the Administrative Agent and the Administrative Agent shall promptly give notice
to the Borrower and the other Lenders. Thereafter, until the Administrative
Agent notifies the Borrower that such circumstances no longer exist, (i) the
obligations of the Lenders to make LIBOR Rate Loans and the right of the
Borrower to convert any Loan or continue any Loan as a LIBOR Rate Loan shall be
suspended and thereafter the Borrower may select only Base Rate Loans hereunder,
and (ii) if any of the Lenders may not lawfully continue to maintain a LIBOR
Rate Loan to the end of the then current Interest Period applicable thereto as a
LIBOR Rate Loan, the applicable LIBOR Rate Loan shall immediately be converted
to a Base Rate Loan for the remainder of such Interest Period.

 

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SECTION 4.9 Indemnity. The Borrower hereby indemnifies each of the Lenders
against any loss or expense (excluding loss of profits or anticipated profits)
which may arise or be attributable to each Lender’s obtaining, liquidating or
employing deposits or other funds acquired to effect, fund or maintain any Loan
(a) as a consequence of any failure by the Borrower to make any payment when due
of any amount due hereunder in connection with a LIBOR Rate Loan, (b) due to any
failure of the Borrower to borrow, continue or convert on a date specified
therefor in a Notice of Borrowing or Notice of Conversion/Continuation or
(c) due to any payment, prepayment or conversion of any LIBOR Rate Loan on a
date other than the last day of the Interest Period therefor. The amount of such
loss or expense shall be determined, in the applicable Lender’s sole discretion,
based upon the assumption that such Lender funded its Commitment Percentage of
the LIBOR Rate Loans in the London interbank market and using any reasonable
attribution or averaging methods which such Lender deems appropriate and
practical. A certificate of such Lender setting forth the basis for determining
such amount or amounts necessary to compensate such Lender shall be forwarded to
the Borrower through the Administrative Agent and shall be conclusively presumed
to be correct save for manifest error.

SECTION 4.10 Increased Costs.

(a) Increased Costs Generally. If any Change in Law shall:

(i) impose, modify or deem applicable any reserve, special deposit, compulsory
loan, insurance charge or similar requirement against assets of, deposits with
or for the account of, or advances, loans or other credit extended or
participated in by, any Lender (except any reserve requirement reflected in the
LIBOR Rate) or the Issuing Lender;

(ii) subject any Lender or the Issuing Lender to any tax of any kind whatsoever
with respect to this Agreement, any Letter of Credit, any participation in a
Letter of Credit or any LIBOR Rate Loan made by it, or change the basis of
taxation of payments to such Lender or the Issuing Lender in respect thereof
(except for Indemnified Taxes governed by Section 4.11 and any Excluded Tax
payable by such Lender or the Issuing Lender); or

(iii) impose on any Lender or the Issuing Lender or the London interbank market
any other condition, cost or expense affecting this Agreement or LIBOR Rate
Loans made by such Lender or any Letter of Credit or participation therein;

and the result of any of the foregoing shall be to increase the cost to such
Lender of making, converting into or maintaining any LIBOR Rate Loan (or of
maintaining its obligation to make any such Loan), or to increase the cost to
such Lender or the Issuing Lender of participating in, issuing or maintaining
any Letter of Credit (or of maintaining its obligation to participate in or to
issue any Letter of Credit), or to reduce the amount of any sum received or
receivable by such Lender or the Issuing Lender hereunder (whether of principal,
interest or any other amount) then, upon written request of such Lender or the
Issuing Lender, the Borrower shall promptly pay to any such Lender or the
Issuing Lender, as the case may be, such additional amount or amounts as will
compensate such Lender or the Issuing Lender, as the case may be, for such
additional costs incurred or reduction suffered.

 

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(b) Capital Requirements. If any Lender or the Issuing Lender determines that
any Change in Law affecting such Lender or the Issuing Lender or any lending
office of such Lender or such Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s holding company,
if any, regarding capital requirements has or would have the effect of reducing
the rate of return on such Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s capital or on the
capital of such Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s holding company, if any, as a
consequence of this Agreement, the Commitments of such Lender or the Loans made
by, or participations in Letters of Credit held by, such Lender, or the Letters
of Credit issued by the Issuing Lender, to a level below that which such Lender
or the Issuing Lender or such Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s holding company
could have achieved but for such Change in Law (taking into consideration such
Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s policies and the policies of such Lender’s or
the Issuing Lender’s holding company with respect to capital adequacy), then
from time to time upon written request of such Lender or such Issuing Lender the
Borrower shall promptly pay to such Lender or the Issuing Lender, as the case
may be, such additional amount or amounts as will compensate such Lender or the
Issuing Lender or such Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s holding company for any
such reduction suffered.

(c) Certificates for Reimbursement. A certificate of a Lender or the Issuing
Lender setting forth the amount or amounts necessary to compensate such Lender
or the Issuing Lender or its holding company, as the case may be, as specified
in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section and delivered to the Borrower shall be
conclusive absent manifest error. The Borrower shall pay such Lender or the
Issuing Lender, as the case may be, the amount shown as due on any such
certificate within thirty (30) days after receipt thereof.

(d) Delay in Requests. Failure or delay on the part of any Lender or the Issuing
Lender to demand compensation pursuant to this Section shall not constitute a
waiver of such Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s right to demand such
compensation; provided that the Borrower shall not be required to compensate a
Lender or the Issuing Lender pursuant to this Section for any increased costs
incurred or reductions suffered more than nine (9) months prior to the date that
such Lender or the Issuing Lender, as the case may be, notifies the Borrower of
the Change in Law giving rise to such increased costs or reductions and of such
Lender’s or the Issuing Lender’s intention to claim compensation therefor
(except that, if the Change in Law giving rise to such increased costs or
reductions is retroactive, then the nine-month period referred to above shall be
extended to include the period of retroactive effect thereof).

SECTION 4.11 Taxes.

(a) Payments Free of Taxes. Any and all payments by or on account of any
obligation of the Borrower hereunder or under any other Loan Document shall be
made free and clear of and without reduction or withholding for any Indemnified
Taxes; provided that if the Borrower shall be required by Applicable Law to
deduct any Indemnified Taxes from such payments, then (i) the sum payable shall
be increased as necessary so that after making all required deductions
(including deductions applicable to additional sums payable under this Section)
the Administrative Agent, Lender or Issuing Lender, as the case may be, receives
an amount equal to the sum it would have received had no such deductions been
made, (ii) the Borrower shall make such deductions and (iii) the Borrower shall
timely pay the full amount deducted to the relevant Governmental Authority in
accordance with Applicable Law.

 

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(b) Payment of Other Taxes by the Borrower. Without limiting the provisions of
paragraph (a) above, the Borrower shall timely pay any Other Taxes to the
relevant Governmental Authority in accordance with Applicable Law.

(c) Indemnification by the Borrower. The Borrower shall indemnify the
Administrative Agent, each Lender and the Issuing Lender, within ten (10) days
after demand therefor, for the full amount of any Indemnified Taxes (including
Indemnified Taxes imposed or asserted on or attributable to amounts payable
under this Section) paid by the Administrative Agent, such Lender or the Issuing
Lender, as the case may be, and any penalties, interest and reasonable expenses
arising therefrom or with respect thereto, whether or not such Indemnified Taxes
were correctly or legally imposed or asserted by the relevant Governmental
Authority; provided that if the Borrower reasonably believes that such
Indemnified Taxes were not correctly or legally asserted, the Administrative
Agent, Issuing Lender or such Lender, as the case may be, will use reasonable
efforts to cooperate with the Borrower (at the Borrower’s expense) to obtain a
refund of such Indemnified Taxes (in cash or as a credit against another
existing tax liability), the benefit of which refund shall be returned to the
Borrower to the extent provided in Section 4.1l(f). A certificate as to the
amount of such payment or liability (along with a copy of any applicable
documents from the Internal Revenue Service or other Governmental Authority that
asserts such claim as to Indemnified Taxes) delivered to the Borrower by a
Lender or the Issuing Lender (with a copy to the Administrative Agent), or by
the Administrative Agent on its own behalf or on behalf of a Lender or the
Issuing Lender, shall be conclusive absent manifest error.

(d) Evidence of Payments. As soon as practicable after any payment of
Indemnified Taxes by the Borrower to a Governmental Authority, the Borrower
shall deliver to the Administrative Agent the original or a certified copy of a
receipt issued by such Governmental Authority evidencing such payment, a copy of
the return reporting such payment or other evidence of such payment reasonably
satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.

(e) Status of Lenders. Each Foreign Lender that is entitled to an exemption from
or reduction of withholding tax under the law of the jurisdiction in which the
Borrower is resident for tax purposes, or any treaty to which such jurisdiction
is a party, with respect to payments hereunder or under any other Loan Document
shall deliver to the Borrower (with a copy to the Administrative Agent), at the
time or times prescribed by Applicable Law or reasonably requested by the
Borrower or the Administrative Agent, such properly completed and executed
documentation prescribed by Applicable Law as will permit such payments under
this Agreement to be made without withholding or at a reduced rate of
withholding. In addition, any Lender, if requested by the Borrower or the
Administrative Agent, shall deliver such other documentation prescribed by
Applicable Law or reasonably requested by the Borrower or the Administrative
Agent as will enable the Borrower or the Administrative Agent to determine
whether or not such Lender is subject to backup withholding or information
reporting requirements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each
Foreign Lender shall deliver to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent (in
such number of copies as shall be requested by the recipient) on or prior to the
date on which such Foreign Lender becomes a Lender under this Agreement (and
from time to time thereafter upon the request of the Borrower or the
Administrative Agent, but only if such Foreign Lender is legally entitled to do
so):

(i) duly completed copies of Internal Revenue Service Form W-8BEN claiming
eligibility for benefits of an income tax treaty to which the United States is a
party, or

 

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(ii) duly completed copies of Internal Revenue Service Form W-8ECI, or

(iii) in the case of a Foreign Lender claiming the benefits of the exemption for
portfolio interest under section 881(c) of the Code, (x) a certificate to the
effect that such Foreign Lender is not (A) a “bank” within the meaning of
section 881(c)(3)(A) of the Code, (B) a “10 percent shareholder” of the Borrower
within the meaning of section 881(c)(3)(B) of the Code, or (C) a “controlled
foreign corporation” described in section 881(c)(3)(C) of the Code and (y) duly
completed copies of Internal Revenue Service Form W-8BEN, and

(iv) any other form prescribed by Applicable Law as a basis for claiming
exemption from or a reduction in United States Federal withholding tax duly
completed together with such supplementary documentation as may be prescribed by
Applicable Law to permit the Borrower to determine the withholding or deduction
required to be made.

(f) Treatment of Certain Refunds. If the Administrative Agent, a Lender or the
Issuing Lender reasonably determines, in its sole discretion, that it has
received a refund of, or a credit with respect to, any Taxes as to which it has
been indemnified by the Borrower or with respect to which the Borrower has paid
additional amounts pursuant to this Section, it shall pay to the Borrower an
amount equal to such refund or credit (only to the extent such credit is
realized) (but only to the extent of indemnity payments made, or additional
amounts paid, by the Borrower under this Section with respect to the Taxes
giving rise to such refund), net of all out-of-pocket expenses of the
Administrative Agent, such Lender or the Issuing Lender, as the case may be, and
without interest (other than any interest paid by the relevant Governmental
Authority with respect to such refund or credit); provided that the Borrower,
upon the request of the Administrative Agent, such Lender or the Issuing Lender,
agrees to repay the amount paid over to the Borrower (plus any penalties,
interest or other charges imposed by the relevant Governmental Authority) to the
Administrative Agent, such Lender or the Issuing Lender in the event the
Administrative Agent, such Lender or the Issuing Lender is required to repay
such refund to such Governmental Authority. This paragraph shall not be
construed to require the Administrative Agent, any Lender or the Issuing Lender
to make available its tax returns (or any other information relating to its
taxes which it deems confidential) to the Borrower or any other Person.

(g) Survival. Without prejudice to the survival of any other agreement of the
Borrower hereunder, the agreements and obligations of the Borrower contained in
this Section shall survive the payment in full of the Obligations and the
termination of the Commitments.

SECTION 4.12 Mitigation Obligations; Replacement of Lenders.

(a) Designation of a Different Lending Office. If any Lender requests
compensation under Section 4.10, or requires the Borrower to pay any additional
amount to any Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender
pursuant to Section 4.11, then such Lender shall use reasonable efforts to
designate a different lending office for funding or booking its Loans hereunder
or to assign its rights and obligations hereunder to another of its offices,

 

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branches or affiliates, if, in the judgment of such Lender, such designation or
assignment (i) would eliminate or reduce amounts payable pursuant to
Section 4.10 or Section 4.11, as the case may be, in the future and (ii) would
not subject such Lender to any unreimbursed cost or expense and would not
otherwise be disadvantageous to such Lender. The Borrower hereby agrees to pay
all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by any Lender in connection with any
such designation or assignment.

(b) Replacement of Lenders. If any Lender requests compensation under
Section 4.10, or if the Borrower is required to pay any additional amount to any
Lender or any Governmental Authority for the account of any Lender pursuant to
Section 4.11, or if any Lender defaults in its obligation to fund Loans
hereunder, then the Borrower may, at its sole expense and effort, upon notice to
such Lender and the Administrative Agent, require such Lender to assign and
delegate, without recourse (in accordance with and subject to the restrictions
contained in, and consents required by, Section 13.10), all of its interests,
rights and obligations under this Agreement and the related Loan Documents to an
assignee that shall assume such obligations (which assignee may be another
Lender, if a Lender accepts such assignment); provided that

(i) the Borrower shall have paid to the Administrative Agent the assignment fee
specified in Section 13.10,

(ii) such Lender shall have received payment of an amount equal to the
outstanding principal of its Loans and participations in Letters of Credit,
accrued interest thereon, accrued fees and all other amounts payable to it
hereunder and under the other Loan Documents (including any amounts under
Section 4.9) from the assignee (to the extent of such outstanding principal and
accrued interest and fees) or the Borrower (in the case of all other amounts),

(iii) in the case of any such assignment resulting from a claim for compensation
under Section 4.10 or payments required to be made pursuant to Section 4.11,
such assignment will result in a reduction in such compensation or payments
thereafter, and

(iv) such assignment does not conflict with Applicable Law.

A Lender shall not be required to make any such assignment or delegation if,
prior thereto, as a result of a waiver by such Lender or otherwise, the
circumstances entitling the Borrower to require such assignment and delegation
cease to apply.

ARTICLE V

CLOSING; CONDITIONS OF CLOSING AND BORROWING

SECTION 5.1 Closing. The closing shall take place at the offices of Kennedy
Covington Lobdell & Hickman, L.L.P. in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 10:00 a.m.
on December 19, 2006 or on such other place, date and time as the parties hereto
shall mutually agree.

SECTION 5.2 Conditions to Closing and Initial Extensions of Credit. The
obligation of the Lenders to close this Agreement and to make the initial Loan
or issue or participate in the initial Letter of Credit, if any, is subject to
the satisfaction of each of the following conditions:

 

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(a) Executed Loan Documents. This Agreement, a Revolving Credit Note in favor of
each Lender requesting a Revolving Credit Note and a Swingline Note in favor of
the Swingline Lender (if requested thereby) shall have been duly authorized,
executed and delivered to the Administrative Agent by the parties thereto, shall
be in full force and effect and no Default or Event of Default shall exist
hereunder or thereunder.

(b) Closing Certificates; Etc. The Administrative Agent shall have received each
of the following in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the
Administrative Agent:

(i) Officer’s Certificate of the Borrower. A certificate from a Responsible
Officer of the Borrower to the effect that all representations and warranties of
the Borrower contained in this Agreement and the other Loan Documents are true,
correct and complete in all material respects as if made on such date, except to
the extent that any such representation or warranty relates to an earlier
specific date in which case such representation and warranty shall be true and
correct as of such earlier date; that the Borrower is not in violation of any of
the covenants contained in this Agreement and the other Loan Documents; that,
after giving effect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, no
Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing; and that the
Borrower has satisfied each of the conditions set forth in Section 5.2 and
Section 5.3.

(ii) Certificate of Secretary of the Borrower. A certificate of a Responsible
Officer of the Borrower certifying as to the incumbency and genuineness of the
signature of each officer of the Borrower executing Loan Documents to which it
is a party and certifying that attached thereto is a true, correct and complete
copy of (A) the articles of incorporation of the Borrower and all amendments
thereto, certified as of a recent date by the Secretary of State of the State of
Delaware, (B) the bylaws of the Borrower as in effect on the Closing Date,
(C) resolutions duly adopted by the board of directors of the Borrower
authorizing the transactions contemplated hereunder and the execution, delivery
and performance of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents to which it is a
party, and (D) each certificate required to be delivered pursuant to
Section 5.2(b)(iii).

(iii) Certificates of Good Standing. Certificates as of a recent date of the
good standing of the Borrower under the laws of the State of Delaware and, to
the extent requested by the Administrative Agent, each other jurisdiction where
the Borrower is qualified to do business and, to the extent available, a
certificate of the relevant taxing authorities of such jurisdictions certifying
that the Borrower has filed required tax returns and owes no delinquent taxes
except for those being contested in good faith pursuant to Section 6.1(e).

(iv) Opinions of Counsel. Favorable opinions of counsel to the Borrower
addressed to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders with respect to the
Borrower, the Loan Documents and such other matters as the Lenders shall
reasonably request.

(v) Tax Forms. Copies of the United States Internal Revenue Service forms
required by Section 4.11(e).

 

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(c) Consents; Defaults.

(i) Governmental and Third Party Approvals. The Borrower shall have received all
material governmental, shareholder and third party consents and approvals
necessary (or any other material consents as determined in the reasonable
discretion of the Administrative Agent) in connection with the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement and the other Loan Documents and the other
transactions contemplated hereby and all applicable waiting periods shall have
expired without any action being taken by any Person that could reasonably be
expected to restrain, prevent or impose any material adverse conditions on the
Borrower or the transactions contemplated by the Loan Documents or that could
seek or threaten any of the foregoing, and no law or regulation shall be
applicable which in the reasonable judgment of the Administrative Agent could
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(ii) No Injunction, Etc. Except for the Disclosed Litigation Matters (as defined
in Section 6.1), no action, proceeding, investigation, regulation or legislation
shall have been instituted, threatened or proposed before any Governmental
Authority to enjoin, restrain, or prohibit, or to obtain substantial damages in
respect of, or which is related to or arises out of this Agreement or the other
Loan Documents or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby or
thereby, which could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(d) Financial Matters.

(i) Financial Statements. The Lenders shall have received the most recent
audited Consolidated financial statements, and the unaudited Consolidated
financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2006, in each case of
the Borrower and its Subsidiaries prepared in accordance with GAAP.

(ii) Payment at Closing; Fee Letters. The Borrower shall have paid to the
Administrative Agent and the Lenders the accrued and unpaid fees due and set
forth or referenced in Section 4.3 and any other accrued and unpaid fees or
commissions due hereunder (including, without limitation, legal fees and
expenses) and to any other Person such amount as may be due thereto in
connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, including all taxes, fees
and other charges in connection with the execution, delivery, recording, filing
and registration of any of the Loan Documents.

(e) Miscellaneous.

(i) Notice of Borrowing. The Administrative Agent shall have received a Notice
of Borrowing from the Borrower in accordance with Section 2.3(a) with respect to
any amounts to be borrowed on the Closing Date, and a Notice of Account
Designation specifying the account or accounts to which the proceeds of any
Loans made after the Closing Date are to be disbursed.

(ii) Other Documents. All opinions, certificates and other instruments and all
proceedings in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement
shall be reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Administrative
Agent. The Administrative Agent shall have received copies of all other
documents, certificates and instruments reasonably requested thereby, with
respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

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SECTION 5.3 Conditions to All Extensions of Credit. The obligations of the
Lenders to make any Extensions of Credit (including the initial Extension of
Credit) and/or the Issuing Lender to issue or extend any Letter of Credit are
subject to the satisfaction of the following conditions precedent on the
relevant borrowing, issuance or extension date:

(a) Continuation of Representations and Warranties. The representations and
warranties contained in Article VI shall be true and correct in all material
respects on and as of such borrowing, issuance or extension date with the same
effect as if made on and as of such date, except for any representation and
warranty made as of an earlier date, which representation and warranty shall
remain true and correct in all material respects as of such earlier date, and
except for the representations and warranties contained in Section 6.1(e),
6.1(f), 6.1(j) and 6.1(k).

(b) No Existing Default. No Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and
be continuing (i) on the borrowing date with respect to such Loan or after
giving effect to the Loans to be made on such date or (ii) on the issuance or
extension date with respect to such Letter of Credit or after giving effect to
the issuance or extension of such Letter of Credit on such date.

(c) Notices. The Administrative Agent shall have received a Notice of Borrowing
from the Borrower in accordance with Section 2.3(a).

ARTICLE VI

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE BORROWER

SECTION 6.1 Representations and Warranties. To induce the Administrative Agent
and Lenders to enter into this Agreement and to induce the Lenders to make
Extensions of Credit, the Borrower hereby represents and warrants to the
Administrative Agent and Lenders that:

(a) Organization; Power; Qualification. Each of the Borrower and its
Subsidiaries is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the
laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or formation, has the power and
authority to own its properties and to carry on its business as now being and
hereafter proposed to be conducted and is duly qualified and authorized to do
business in each jurisdiction in which the character of its properties or the
nature of its business requires such qualification and authorization, except
where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing or the failure of any
such Subsidiary to be so organized or existing could not reasonably be expected
to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(b) Authorization of Agreement, Loan Documents and Borrowing. The Borrower has
the right, power and authority and has taken all necessary corporate and other
action to authorize the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement
and each of the other Loan Documents in accordance with their respective terms.
This Agreement and each of the other Loan Documents have been duly executed and
delivered by the duly authorized officers of the Borrower, and each such
document constitutes the legal, valid and binding obligation of the Borrower,
enforceable in accordance with its terms, except as such enforceability may be
limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar state
or federal debtor relief laws from time to time in effect which affect the
enforcement of creditors’ rights in general and the availability of equitable
remedies.

 

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(c) Compliance of Agreement, Loan Documents and Borrowing with Laws, Etc. The
execution, delivery and performance by the Borrower of the Loan Documents, in
accordance with their respective terms, the Extensions of Credit hereunder and
the transactions contemplated hereby do not and will not, by the passage of
time, the giving of notice or otherwise, (i) require any Governmental Approval
relating to the Borrower where the failure to obtain such Governmental Approval
could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (ii) violate any
Applicable Law relating to the Borrower except where such violation could not
reasonably be expected to have a Material Averse Effect, (iii) conflict with,
result in a breach of or constitute a default under the articles of
incorporation or bylaws of the Borrower, (iv) conflict with, result in a breach
of or constitute a default under any indenture, agreement or other instrument to
which the Borrower is a party or by which any of its properties may be bound or
any Governmental Approval relating to the Borrower, which could reasonably be
expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (v) result in or require the
creation or imposition of any Lien upon or with respect to any property now
owned or hereafter acquired by the Borrower or (vi) require any consent or
authorization of, filing with, or other act in respect of, an arbitrator or
Governmental Authority and no consent of any other Person is required in
connection with the execution, delivery, performance, validity or enforceability
of this Agreement other than consents, authorizations, filings or other acts or
consents which have been obtained or made and are in full force and effect or
for which the failure to obtain or make could not reasonably be expected to have
a Material Adverse Effect.

(d) Compliance with Law; Governmental Approvals. Each of the Borrower and its
Subsidiaries (i) has all Governmental Approvals required by any Applicable Law
for it to conduct its business, each of which is in full force and effect, is
final and not subject to review on appeal and is not the subject of any pending
or, to the best of its knowledge, threatened attack by direct or collateral
proceeding, (ii) is in compliance with each Governmental Approval applicable to
it and in compliance with all other Applicable Laws (including, without
limitation, all Environmental Laws and the Act) relating to it or any of its
respective properties and (iii) has timely filed all material reports, documents
and other materials required to be filed by it under all Applicable Laws with
any Governmental Authority and has retained all material records and documents
required to be retained by it under Applicable Law except in each case under
this subsection (d) where the failure to have, comply, file or retain could not
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(e) Tax Returns and Payments. Each of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries has duly
filed or caused to be filed all federal, state, local and other tax returns
required by Applicable Law to be filed, and has paid, or made adequate provision
for the payment of, all federal, state, local and other taxes, assessments and
governmental charges or levies upon it and its property, income, profits and
assets which are due and payable except for (i) those that are being diligently
contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings and for which the Borrower or
the relevant Subsidiary shall have set aside on its books adequate reserves in
accordance with GAAP and (ii) filings, taxes and charges as to which the failure
to make or pay could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse
Effect.

 

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(f) ERISA.

(i) Except as set forth on Schedule 6.1(f) or as could not reasonably be
expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, each Employee Benefit Plan is
in material compliance with all applicable provisions of ERISA and the
regulations and published interpretations thereunder except for any required
amendments for which the remedial amendment period as defined in Section 401(b)
or other applicable provision of the Code has not yet expired and except where a
failure to so comply could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse
Effect;

(ii) As of the Closing Date, no Pension Plan has been terminated, nor has any
accumulated funding deficiency (as defined in Section 412 of the Code) been
incurred (without regard to any waiver granted under Section 412 of the Code),
nor has any funding waiver from the Internal Revenue Service been received or
requested with respect to any Pension Plan, nor has there been any event
requiring any disclosure under Section 4041(c)(3)(C) or 4063(a) of ERISA with
respect to any Pension Plan; and

(iii) Except where the failure of any of the following representations to be
correct in all material respects could not reasonably be expected to have a
Material Adverse Effect, neither the Borrower nor any ERISA Affiliate has:
(A) engaged in a nonexempt prohibited transaction described in Section 406 of
the ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, (B) incurred any liability to the PBGC
which remains outstanding other than the payment of premiums and there are no
premium payments which are due and unpaid, (C) failed to make a required
contribution or payment to a Multiemployer Plan, or (D) failed to make a
required installment or other required payment under Section 412 of the Code.

(g) Margin Stock. The Borrower is not engaged principally or as one of its
activities in the business of extending credit for the purpose of “purchasing”
or “carrying” any “margin stock” (as each such term is defined or used, directly
or indirectly, in Regulation U of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System). No part of the proceeds of any of the Loans or Letters of Credit will
be used in a manner which violates the provisions of Regulation T, U or X of
such Board of Governors.

(h) Government Regulation. The Borrower is not an “investment company” or a
company “controlled” by an “investment company” (as each such term is defined or
used in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended) and the Borrower is not,
nor after giving effect to any Extension of Credit will be, subject to
regulation under the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended, or any other
Applicable Law which limits its ability to incur the indebtedness or consummate
the transactions contemplated hereby.

(i) Financial Statements. The (i) audited financial statements delivered
pursuant to Section 5.2(d) and (ii) unaudited financial statements delivered
pursuant to Section 5.2(d), are complete and correct in all material respects
and fairly present in all material respects on a Consolidated basis the assets,
liabilities and financial position of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as at
such dates, and the results of the operations and changes of financial position
for the periods then ended (other than customary year-end adjustments for
unaudited financial statements). All such financial statements, including the
related schedules and notes thereto,

 

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have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. Such financial statements show all
material indebtedness and other material liabilities, direct or contingent, of
the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of the date thereof, including material
liabilities for taxes and material commitments, in each case, to the extent
required to be disclosed under GAAP.

(j) No Material Adverse Change. Since December 31, 2005, there has been no event
or circumstance, either individually or in the aggregate, that has had or could
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as disclosed in
any filings made with the SEC or as otherwise disclosed to the Administrative
Agent or its Affiliates or any Lender, in each case prior to the date hereof.

(k) Litigation. Except for matters existing on the Closing Date and set forth on
Schedule 6.1(k) or disclosed in any filings made with the SEC prior to the
Closing Date (collectively with Schedule 6.1(k), the “Disclosed Litigation
Matters”), there are no actions, suits or proceedings pending nor, to the
knowledge of the Borrower, threatened against or in any other way relating
adversely to or affecting the Borrower or any Subsidiary thereof or any of their
respective properties in any court or before any arbitrator of any kind or
before or by any Governmental Authority that has had or could reasonably be
expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(l) Absence of Defaults. No event has occurred or is continuing which
constitutes a Default or an Event of Default.

(m) OFAC. None of the Borrower, any Subsidiary of the Borrower or any Affiliate
of the Borrower: (i) is a Sanctioned Person, (ii) has more than 10% of its
assets in Sanctioned Entities, or (iii) derives more than 10% of its operating
income from investments in, or transactions with Sanctioned Persons or
Sanctioned Entities. The proceeds of any Loan will not be used and have not been
used to fund any operations in, finance any investments or activities in, or
make any payments to, a Sanctioned Person or a Sanctioned Entity.

(n) Disclosure. No financial statement, material report, material certificate or
other material information furnished (whether in writing or orally), taken
together as a whole with all SEC filings made from time to time by the Borrower,
by or on behalf of any of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries to the
Administrative Agent in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby and
the negotiation of this Agreement or delivered hereunder (as modified or
supplemented by other information so furnished) contains any material
misstatement of fact or omits to state any material fact necessary to make the
statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading; provided that, with respect to projected financial
information, pro forma financial information, estimated financial information
and other projected or estimated information, the Borrower only represents that
such information was prepared in good faith based upon assumptions believed to
be reasonable at the time.

SECTION 6.2 Survival of Representations and Warranties, Etc. All representations
and warranties set forth in this Article VI and all representations and
warranties contained in any certificate delivered by the Borrower pursuant
hereto, or any of the Loan Documents (including, but not limited to, any such
representation or warranty made in or in connection with any amendment thereto)
shall constitute representations and warranties made under this Agreement.

 

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All representations and warranties made under this Agreement shall be made or
deemed to be made at and as of the Closing Date (except those that are expressly
made as of a specific date), shall survive the Closing Date and shall not be
waived by the execution and delivery of this Agreement, any investigation made
by or on behalf of the Lenders or any borrowing hereunder.

ARTICLE VII

FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND NOTICES

Until all the Loans and accrued Obligations have been paid and satisfied in full
and the Commitments terminated, unless consent has been obtained in the manner
set forth in Section 13.2, the Borrower will furnish or cause to be furnished to
the Administrative Agent (and the Administrative Agent shall promptly furnish or
cause to be furnished to the Lenders) at the Administrative Agent’s Office at
the address set forth in Section 13.1, or such other office as may be designated
by the Administrative Agent from time to time:

SECTION 7.1 Financial Statements.

(a) Quarterly Financial Statements. As soon as practicable and in any event
within fifty (50) days after the end of each fiscal quarter of each Fiscal Year,
an unaudited Consolidated balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as
of the close of such fiscal quarter and unaudited Consolidated statements of
income, retained earnings and cash flows and a report containing management’s
discussion and analysis of such financial statements for the fiscal quarter then
ended and that portion of the Fiscal Year then ended, including the notes
thereto, all in reasonable detail setting forth in comparative form the
corresponding figures as of the end of and for the corresponding period in the
preceding Fiscal Year and prepared by the Borrower in accordance with GAAP and,
if applicable, containing disclosure of the effect on the financial position or
results of operations of any change in the application of accounting principles
and practices during the period, and certified by the chief financial officer of
the Borrower to present fairly in all material respects the financial condition
of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on a Consolidated basis as of their
respective dates and the results of operations of the Borrower and its
Subsidiaries for the respective periods then ended, subject to normal year end
adjustments. Delivery by the Borrower to the Administrative Agent and the
Lenders of the Borrower’s quarterly report to the SEC on Form 10-Q with respect
to any fiscal quarter, or the availability of such report on EDGAR Online,
within the period specified above shall be deemed to be compliance by the
Borrower with this Section 7.1(a).

(b) Annual Financial Statements. As soon as practicable and in any event within
ninety (90) days after the end of each Fiscal Year, an audited Consolidated
balance sheet of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries as of the close of such
Fiscal Year and audited Consolidated statements of income, retained earnings and
cash flows and a report containing management’s discussion and analysis of such
financial statements for the Fiscal Year then ended, including the notes
thereto, all in reasonable detail setting forth in comparative form the
corresponding figures as of the end of and for the preceding Fiscal Year and
prepared in accordance with GAAP and, if applicable, containing disclosure of
the effect on the financial position or results of operations of any change in
the application of accounting principles and practices during the year. Such
annual financial statements shall be audited by an independent certified public
accounting firm

 

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acceptable to the Administrative Agent, and accompanied by a report thereon by
such certified public accountants that is not qualified with respect to scope
limitations imposed by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or with respect
to accounting principles followed by the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries not
in accordance with GAAP. Delivery by the Borrower to the Administrative Agent
and the Lenders of the Borrower’s annual report to the SEC on Form 10-K with
respect to any fiscal year, or the availability of such report on EDGAR Online,
within the period specified above shall be deemed to be compliance by the
Borrower with this Section 7.1(b).

SECTION 7.2 Officer’s Compliance Certificate. At each time financial statements
are delivered pursuant to Section 7.1(a) or (b), an Officer’s Compliance
Certificate.

SECTION 7.3 Other Reports. Promptly upon request, such other information
regarding the operations, business affairs and financial condition of the
Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries as the Administrative Agent or any Lender
(through the Administrative Agent) may reasonably request.

SECTION 7.4 Notice of Litigation and Other Matters. Promptly after a Responsible
Officer of the Borrower obtains knowledge thereof, written notice of:

(a) The occurrence of any Default;

(b) the commencement of all proceedings and investigations by or before any
Governmental Authority and all actions and proceedings in any court or before
any arbitrator against or involving the Borrower or any Subsidiary thereof or
any of their respective properties, assets or businesses that could reasonably
be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and

(c) any announcement by S&P or any Alternative Ratings Source of any change in a
Debt Rating.

SECTION 7.5 Accuracy of Information. All written information, reports,
statements and other papers and data furnished by or on behalf of the Borrower
to the Administrative Agent or any Lender whether pursuant to this Article VII
or any other provision of this Agreement, shall, at the time the same is so
furnished and when taken together as a whole with all SEC filings made from time
to time by the Borrower, comply with the representations and warranties set
forth in Section 6.1(n).

ARTICLE VIII

AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS

Until all of the Loans and accrued Obligations have been paid and satisfied in
full and the Commitments terminated, unless consent has been obtained in the
manner provided for in Section 13.2, the Borrower will, and will cause each of
its Subsidiaries to:

SECTION 8.1 Preservation of Corporate Existence and Related Matters. Except as
permitted by Section 10.3, preserve and maintain its separate existence and all
rights, franchises, licenses and privileges necessary to the conduct of its
business, and qualify and remain

 

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authorized to do business in each jurisdiction in which it is required to do so,
except, in each case (other than the existence of the Borrower), where the
failure to comply with the foregoing could not reasonably be expected to have a
Material Adverse Effect.

SECTION 8.2 Maintenance of Property. Protect and preserve all properties
necessary in and material to its business, including copyrights, patents, trade
names, service marks and trademarks; maintain in good working order and
condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted, all buildings, equipment and other
tangible real and personal property; and from time to time make or cause to be
made all repairs, renewals and replacements thereof and additions to such
property necessary for the conduct of its business, so that the business carried
on in connection therewith may be conducted in a commercially reasonable manner,
except, in each case, for such failures that could not reasonably be expected to
have a Material Adverse Effect.

SECTION 8.3 Insurance. Maintain insurance with financially sound and reputable
insurance companies or, if the Borrower deems it consistent with prudent
business practices, maintain self-insurance, in either case, against such risks
and in such amounts as are customarily maintained by similar businesses and as
may be required by Applicable Law (including, without limitation, hazard and
business interruption insurance), and from time to time deliver to the
Administrative Agent upon its request information in reasonable detail as to the
insurance then in effect, stating the names of the insurance provider, the
amounts and rates of the insurance, the dates of the expiration thereof and the
properties and risks covered thereby.

SECTION 8.4 Accounting Methods and Financial Records. Maintain a system of
accounting, and keep proper books, records and accounts (which shall be true and
complete in all material respects) as may be required or as may be necessary to
permit the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and in
compliance with the regulations of any Governmental Authority having
jurisdiction over it or any of its properties.

SECTION 8.5 Payment of Taxes. Pay and perform all Taxes, assessments and other
governmental charges that may be levied or assessed upon it or any of its
property to the extent the failure to pay any such item (either individually or
together with all other such unpaid items) could reasonably be expected to have
a Material Adverse Effect; provided, that the Borrower or such Subsidiary may
contest any such item in good faith so long as adequate reserves are maintained
with respect thereto in accordance with GAAP.

SECTION 8.6 Compliance With Laws and Approvals. Observe and remain in compliance
in all material respects with all Applicable Laws (including without limitation,
all Environmental Laws, ERISA and the Act) and maintain in full force and effect
all Governmental Approvals, in each case applicable to the conduct of its
business except where the failure to do so could not reasonably be expected to
have a Material Adverse Effect.

SECTION 8.7 Visits and Inspections. Permit representatives of the Administrative
Agent or, upon the occurrence and during the continuation of an Event of
Default, any Lender, from time to time upon prior reasonable notice and at such
times during normal business hours, to visit and inspect its properties; and
inspect, audit and make extracts from its books, records and files, including,
but not limited to, management letters prepared by independent accountants;
provided, that, unless an Event of Default shall have occurred and be
continuing, (a) any inspection shall be at the Administrative Agent’s own
expense and (b) such inspections, visitations and/or examinations shall be
limited to once during any calendar year.

 

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SECTION 8.8 Use of Proceeds. The Borrower shall use the proceeds of the
Extensions of Credit for working capital and general corporate purposes of the
Borrower and its Subsidiaries, including the payment of certain fees and
expenses incurred in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby or by
the Loan Documents.

ARTICLE IX

FINANCIAL COVENANTS

Until all of the Loans and accrued Obligations have been paid and satisfied in
full and the Commitments terminated, unless consent has been obtained in the
manner set forth in Section 13.2, the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on a
Consolidated basis will not:

SECTION 9.1 Leverage Ratio. As of any fiscal quarter end, permit the
Consolidated Leverage Ratio to be greater than 3.00 to 1.00.

SECTION 9.2 Interest Coverage Ratio. As of any fiscal quarter end, permit the
ratio of (a) Consolidated EBITDA for the period of four (4) consecutive fiscal
quarters ending on such date to (b) Consolidated Interest Expense for the period
of four (4) consecutive fiscal quarters ending on such date to be less than 4.00
to 1.00.

ARTICLE X

NEGATIVE COVENANTS

Until all of the Loans and accrued Obligations have been paid and satisfied in
full and the Commitments terminated, unless consent has been obtained in the
manner set forth in Section 13.2, the Borrower has not and will not:

SECTION 10.1 Limitations on Indebtedness. Permit any Material Subsidiary to
create, incur, assume or suffer to exist any Indebtedness except:

(a) Indebtedness of any Material Subsidiary owed to the Borrower, any Subsidiary
or any Excluded Subsidiary;

(b) contingent pay-out and similar obligations relating to acquisitions by any
Material Subsidiary;

(c) obligations in respect of Hedging Agreements incurred in the ordinary course
of business;

(d) Indebtedness incurred or assumed to finance the acquisition, construction or
improvement of any asset;

 

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(e) Indebtedness of any Person that becomes a Material Subsidiary after the date
hereof; provided, that such Indebtedness exists at the time such Person becomes
a Material Subsidiary and is not created in contemplation of or in connection
with such Person becoming a Material Subsidiary;

(f) Indebtedness of any Material Subsidiary that is not a Domestic Subsidiary;

(g) Indebtedness arising from the honoring by a bank or other financial
institution of a check, draft or similar instrument or wire transfer against
insufficient funds in the ordinary course of business, provided that such
Indebtedness is extinguished within five Business Days of incurrence;

(h) Indebtedness in existence on the date hereof;

(i) Guaranty Obligations in respect of Indebtedness of the Borrower or any of
its Subsidiaries or Excluded Subsidiaries permitted hereunder;

(j) any extension, renewal or replacement of any Indebtedness permitted by
clause (b), (c), (d), (e) or (h) above that does not increase the outstanding
principal amount thereof; and

(k) other Indebtedness not otherwise permitted by this Section 10.1 in an
aggregate outstanding principal amount for all Material Subsidiaries not
exceeding $150,000,000 in the aggregate at any time.

SECTION 10.2 Limitations on Liens. Permit the Borrower or any Material
Subsidiary to create, incur, assume or suffer to exist, any Lien on or with
respect to any of its assets or properties (including, without limitation,
shares of Capital Stock of any other Person), real or personal, whether now
owned or hereafter acquired, as security for Indebtedness, except:

(a) Liens existing on any asset of any Person at the time such Person becomes a
Material Subsidiary or is merged or consolidated with or into a Material
Subsidiary which (i) were not created in contemplation of or in connection with
such event and (ii) do not extend to or cover any other property or assets of
Borrower or any Subsidiary;

(b)(x) Liens not otherwise permitted by this Section and in existence on the
Closing Date and described on Schedule 10.2 and (y) other Liens existing on the
Closing Date that secure Indebtedness existing on the date hereof the aggregate
outstanding principal amount of which does not exceed $50,000,000;

(c) Liens securing Indebtedness permitted by Section 10.1(a) or (d), including,
without limitation, purchase money Liens and Liens evidencing equipment
financings and equipment leases;

(d) cash deposits and securities securing obligations in respect of Hedging
Agreements;

(e) any extension, renewal or replacement of any Lien permitted by clauses
(a) through (d); provided that (i) the Liens permitted under this clause shall
not (A) secure any

 

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Indebtedness other than the Indebtedness that was secured by the Lien being
extended, renewed or replaced (or Indebtedness extending, renewing or replacing
such Indebtedness as permitted hereunder) and (B) be extended to cover any
property that was not encumbered by the Lien being extended, renewed or
replaced; and (ii) the principal amount of Indebtedness secured by the Lien
permitted by this clause shall not be increased over the principal amount of
such Indebtedness immediately prior to such extension, renewal or replacement;

(f) Liens securing judgments for the payment of money not constituting an Event
of Default under Section 11.1(m) or securing appeal or other surety bonds
related to such judgments;

(g) Liens on assets of any Material Subsidiary that is not a Domestic Subsidiary
securing Indebtedness of such Subsidiary permitted hereunder;

(h) Liens or rights of set-off in favor of a bank or financial institution in
respect of a bank account maintained with such bank or financial institution;
and

(i) Liens not otherwise permitted hereunder securing outstanding Indebtedness
not at any time exceeding in the aggregate $150,000,000.

SECTION 10.3 Limitations on Mergers and Liquidation. Merge, consolidate or enter
into any similar combination with any other Person or liquidate, wind-up or
dissolve itself (or suffer any liquidation or dissolution) except:

(a) any Subsidiary of the Borrower may be merged or consolidated or enter into
any similar combination with or into the Borrower or any Subsidiary of the
Borrower (provided that the Borrower shall be the continuing or surviving Person
of any such merger, consolidation or similar combination to which it is a
party);

(b) any Subsidiary may sell, lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of any or all
of its assets in respect of a liquidation to the Borrower or any Subsidiary;

(c) the Borrower or any Subsidiary of the Borrower may merge, consolidate or
enter into any similar combination with or into another Person (other than the
Borrower) in connection with an acquisition so long as the survivor of such
merger, consolidation or similar combination is the Borrower or any such
Subsidiary thereof;

(d) any Subsidiary of the Borrower may wind-up into the Borrower or any
Subsidiary of the Borrower;

(e) mergers, consolidations or similar combinations of a Subsidiary of the
Borrower with a third-party as part of a sale or other disposition of all or any
part of such Subsidiary not prohibited by Section 10. 4 hereof;

(f) the Borrower or any Subsidiary may effect an acquisition of all or
substantially all of the capital stock or assets (tangible or intangible) of
another Person or Persons that is not or are not a Subsidiary or Excluded
Subsidiary or Subsidiaries or Excluded Subsidiaries of the Borrower, so long as
for any such acquisition consummated by the Borrower or any of its

 

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Subsidiaries (other than an Excluded Subsidiary) involving cash consideration in
excess of $500,000,000, (i) after giving effect to such acquisition, no Default
or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing and (ii) promptly after the
consummation of such acquisition, the Borrower shall have provided to the
Administrative Agent and the Lenders Consolidated pro forma financial statements
for the Borrower and its Subsidiaries, after giving effect to such acquisition,
demonstrating compliance with Article IX in respect of the most recently ended
fiscal quarter for which financial statements have been delivered pursuant to
Section 7.1; provided, that it is understood that the provisions of subclauses
(i) and (ii) of this clause (f) shall in no way apply to an acquisition by the
Borrower or any Subsidiary of any capital stock or assets of a Subsidiary or
Excluded Subsidiary of the Borrower.

SECTION 10.4 Sale of All or Substantially All Assets. Sell, lease, transfer or
otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets, in each case for
the Borrower and its Subsidiaries taken as a whole, unless any such sale, lease,
transfer or other disposition is made on an arms-length basis for fair
consideration (as reasonably determined by the Borrower).

SECTION 10.5 Restrictive Agreements.

(a) Permit any Material Subsidiary that is a Domestic Subsidiary to incur any
Indebtedness to any Person other than the Borrower and its Subsidiaries which
contains any negative pledge on assets more restrictive than the provisions of
Section 10.2 hereof (other than in respect of the assets or properties securing
such Indebtedness).

(b) Permit any Material Subsidiary that is a Domestic Subsidiary to enter into
or permit to exist any agreement which directly or indirectly prohibits or
restrains, or has the effect of prohibiting or restraining, or imposes
materially adverse conditions upon the ability of any such Subsidiary to (i) pay
dividends or make other distributions on its Capital Stock, (ii) make loans or
advances to the Borrower or (iii) repay loans or advances from the Borrower;
provided that the foregoing shall not apply to any prohibition or restraint
contained in (A) this Agreement, (B) any document governing Indebtedness of a
Person that is acquired by, but not merged with or into, the Borrower or any
Subsidiary of the Borrower or that otherwise becomes a Material Subsidiary after
the date hereof so long as such prohibition or restraint applies only to such
Person and its assets, (C) any agreements or other documents which contain
restrictions (or replacements thereof) to the extent listed on Schedule 10.5,
(D) any agreements or other documents which contain restrictions (or
replacements thereof) in respect of assets subject to Liens permitted hereby and
(E) any other agreement or document containing any such similar restrictions (or
replacements thereof) to the extent that any such restrictions could not
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

SECTION 10.6 Nature of Business. Engage, together with its Subsidiaries, in any
business as their principal lines of business, taken as a whole, other than the
principal lines of business engaged in by the Borrower and its Subsidiaries,
taken as a whole, on the date hereof and similar or related businesses.

 

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ARTICLE XI

DEFAULT AND REMEDIES

SECTION 11.1 Events of Default. Each of the following shall constitute an Event
of Default, whatever the reason for such event and whether it shall be voluntary
or involuntary or be effected by operation of law or pursuant to any judgment or
order of any court or any order, rule or regulation of any Governmental
Authority or otherwise:

(a) Default in Payment of Principal of Loans. The Borrower shall default in any
payment of principal of any Loan when and as due (whether at maturity, by reason
of acceleration or otherwise).

(b) Other Payment Default. The Borrower shall default in the payment when and as
due (whether at maturity, by reason of acceleration or otherwise) of any
Reimbursement Obligation or interest on any Loan or Reimbursement Obligation or
the payment of any other Obligation, and such default shall continue for a
period of three (3) Business Days.

(c) Misrepresentation. Any representation, warranty, certification or statement
of fact made or deemed made by or on behalf of the Borrower herein, in any other
Loan Document, or in any document delivered in connection herewith or therewith
shall be incorrect or misleading in any material respect when made or deemed
made.

(d) Default in Performance of Certain Covenants. The Borrower shall default in
the performance or observance of any covenant or agreement contained in
Section 7.1, 7.2, 7.4(a) or Article IX or X.

(e) Default in Performance of Other Covenants and Conditions. The Borrower shall
default in the performance or observance of any term, covenant, condition or
agreement contained in this Agreement (other than as specifically provided for
otherwise in this Section) or any other Loan Document and such default shall
continue for a period of thirty (30) days after written notice thereof has been
given to the Borrower by the Administrative Agent.

(f) Hedging Agreement. The Borrower shall default in the performance or
observance of any terms, covenant, condition or agreement (after giving effect
to any applicable grace or cure period) under any Hedging Agreement and such
default causes the termination of such Hedging Agreement and the Termination
Value owed by the Borrower as a result thereof exceeds $50,000,000.

(g) Indebtedness Cross-Default; Indebtedness Cross-Acceleration. The Borrower
shall (i) fail to pay any principal or interest, regardless of amount, due in
respect of any Indebtedness (other than the Loans or any Reimbursement
Obligations) the aggregate outstanding amount of which is in excess of
$50,000,000 and such failure to pay shall continue for a period beyond the
greater of (x) any period of grace provided with respect thereto and (y) a
period of three (3) Business Days or (ii) default in the observance or
performance of any agreement or condition relating to any Indebtedness (other
than the Loans or any Reimbursement Obligation) the aggregate outstanding amount
of which Indebtedness is in excess of $50,000,000

 

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or contained in any instrument or agreement evidencing, securing or relating
thereto or any other event shall occur or condition exist, the effect of which
default or other event or condition is to cause such Indebtedness to become due
prior to its stated maturity (any applicable grace period having expired).

(h) Change in Control. Any Change in Control shall occur.

(i) Voluntary Bankruptcy Proceeding. The Borrower or any Material Subsidiary
thereof shall (i) commence a voluntary case under the federal bankruptcy laws
(as now or hereafter in effect), (ii) file a petition seeking to take advantage
of any other laws, domestic or foreign, relating to bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, winding up or composition for adjustment of debts, (iii) consent
to or fail to contest in a timely and appropriate manner any petition filed
against it in an involuntary case under such bankruptcy laws or other laws,
(iv) apply for or consent to, or fail to contest in a timely and appropriate
manner, the appointment of, or the taking of possession by, a receiver,
custodian, trustee, or liquidator of itself or of a substantial part of its
property, domestic or foreign, (v) admit in writing its inability to pay its
debts as they become due, (vi) make a general assignment for the benefit of
creditors, or (vii) take any corporate action for the purpose of authorizing any
of the foregoing.

(j) Involuntary Bankruptcy Proceeding. A case or other proceeding shall be
commenced against the Borrower or any Material Subsidiary thereof in any court
of competent jurisdiction seeking (i) relief under the federal bankruptcy laws
(as now or hereafter in effect) or under any other laws, domestic or foreign,
relating to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, winding up or adjustment of
debts, or (ii) the appointment of a trustee, receiver, custodian, liquidator or
the like for the Borrower or any Material Subsidiary thereof or for all or any
substantial part of their respective assets, domestic or foreign, and such case
or proceeding shall continue without dismissal or stay for a period of sixty
(60) consecutive days, or an order granting the relief requested in such case or
proceeding (including, but not limited to, an order for relief under such
federal bankruptcy laws) shall be entered.

(k) Failure of Agreements. Any provision of this Agreement or any provision of
any other Loan Document shall for any reason cease to be valid and binding on
the Borrower party thereto or any such Person shall so state in writing.

(l) Termination Event. The occurrence of any of the following events: (i) an
accumulated funding deficiency in excess of $50,000,000 occurs or exists,
whether or not waived, with respect to any Pension Plan, (ii) a Termination
Event or (iii) Borrower or any ERISA Affiliate as employers under one or more
Multiemployer Plans makes a complete or partial withdrawal from any such
Multiemployer Plan and the plan sponsor of such Multiemployer Plans notifies
such withdrawing employer that such employer has incurred a withdrawal liability
requiring payments in an amount exceeding $50,000,000.

(m) Judgment. A judgment or order for the payment of money which causes the
aggregate amount, not covered by any indemnifications under the Merrill Lynch
Merger Agreement or insurance (which such coverage has not been denied in
writing), of all such judgments to exceed $50,000,000 in any Fiscal Year shall
be entered against the Borrower by any court and such judgment or order shall
continue without having been discharged, vacated or stayed for a period of
forty-five (45) consecutive days after the entry thereof.

 

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SECTION 11.2 Remedies. Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default, with the
consent of the Required Lenders, the Administrative Agent may, or upon the
request of the Required Lenders, the Administrative Agent shall, by notice to
the Borrower:

(a) Acceleration; Termination of Facilities. Terminate the Commitments and
declare the principal of and interest on the Loans and the Reimbursement
Obligations at the time outstanding, and all other amounts owed to the Lenders
and to the Administrative Agent under this Agreement or any of the other Loan
Documents (including, without limitation, all L/C Obligations, whether or not
the beneficiaries of the then outstanding Letters of Credit shall have presented
or shall be entitled to present the documents required thereunder) and all other
Obligations, to be forthwith due and payable, whereupon the same shall
immediately become due and payable without presentment, demand, protest or other
notice of any kind, all of which are expressly waived by the Borrower, anything
in this Agreement or the other Loan Documents to the contrary notwithstanding,
and terminate the Credit Facility and any right of the Borrower to request
borrowings or Letters of Credit thereunder; provided, that upon the occurrence
of an Event of Default specified in Section 11.1(i) or (j), the Credit Facility
shall be automatically terminated and all Obligations shall automatically become
due and payable without presentment, demand, protest or other notice of any
kind, all of which are expressly waived by Borrower, anything in this Agreement
or in any other Loan Document to the contrary notwithstanding.

(b) Letters of Credit. With respect to all Letters of Credit with respect to
which all or a portion of the face amount remains undrawn and outstanding at the
time of an acceleration pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the Borrower shall
at such time deposit in a cash collateral account opened by the Administrative
Agent an amount equal to the aggregate then undrawn and unexpired amount of such
Letters of Credit. Amounts held in such cash collateral account shall be applied
by the Administrative Agent to the payment of drafts drawn under such Letters of
Credit, and the unused portion thereof after all such Letters of Credit shall
have expired or been fully drawn upon, if any, shall be applied to repay the
other Obligations on a pro rata basis. After all such Letters of Credit shall
have expired or been fully drawn upon, the Reimbursement Obligation shall have
been satisfied and all other Obligations shall have been paid in full, the
balance, if any, in such cash collateral account shall be returned to the
Borrower.

(c) Rights of Collection. Exercise on behalf of the Lenders all of its other
rights and remedies under this Agreement, the other Loan Documents and
Applicable Law, in order to satisfy all of the Borrower’s Obligations.

SECTION 11.3 Rights and Remedies Cumulative; Non-Waiver; etc. The enumeration of
the rights and remedies of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders set forth in
this Agreement is not intended to be exhaustive and the exercise by the
Administrative Agent and the Lenders of any right or remedy shall not preclude
the exercise of any other rights or remedies, all of which shall be cumulative,
and shall be in addition to any other right or remedy given hereunder or under
the other Loan Documents or that may now or hereafter exist at law or in equity
or by suit or otherwise. No delay or failure to take action on the part of the
Administrative Agent or any Lender in exercising any right, power or privilege
shall operate as a

 

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waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right,
power or privilege preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the
exercise of any other right, power or privilege or shall be construed to be a
waiver of any Event of Default. No course of dealing between the Borrower, the
Administrative Agent and the Lenders or their respective agents or employees
shall be effective to change, modify or discharge any provision of this
Agreement or any of the other Loan Documents or to constitute a waiver of any
Event of Default.

SECTION 11.4 Crediting of Payments and Proceeds. In the event that the Borrower
shall fail to pay any of the Obligations when due and the Obligations have been
accelerated pursuant to Section 11.2, all payments received by the Lenders upon
the Obligations and all net proceeds from the enforcement of the Obligations
shall be applied:

First, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting fees,
indemnities, expenses and other amounts, including attorney fees, payable to the
Administrative Agent in its capacity as such and the Issuing Lender in its
capacity as such (ratably among the Administrative Agent and the Issuing Lender
in proportion to the respective amounts described in this clause First payable
to them);

Second, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting fees,
indemnities and other amounts (other than principal, interest and letter of
credit commissions payable under Section 3.3(a)) payable to the Lenders,
including attorney fees (ratably among the Lenders in proportion to the
respective amounts described in this clause Second payable to them);

Third, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting accrued and
unpaid interest on the Loans, letter of credit commissions payable under
Section 3.3(a) and Reimbursement Obligations (ratably among the Lenders in
proportion to the respective amounts described in this clause Third payable to
them);

Fourth, to payment of that portion of the Obligations constituting unpaid
principal of the Loans and Reimbursement Obligations (ratably among the Lenders
in proportion to the respective amounts described in this clause Fourth held by
them);

Fifth, to the Administrative Agent for the account of the Issuing Lender, to
cash collateralize any L/C Obligations then outstanding; and

Last, the balance, if any, after all of the Obligations have been indefeasibly
paid in full, to the Borrower or as otherwise required by Applicable Law.

SECTION 11.5 Administrative Agent May File Proofs of Claim. In case of the
pendency of any receivership, insolvency, liquidation, bankruptcy,
reorganization, arrangement, adjustment, composition or other judicial
proceeding relative to the Borrower, the Administrative Agent (irrespective of
whether the principal of any Loan or L/C Obligation shall then be due and
payable as herein expressed or by declaration or otherwise and irrespective of
whether the Administrative Agent shall have made any demand on the Borrower)
shall be entitled and empowered, by intervention in such proceeding or
otherwise:

(a) to file and prove a claim for the whole amount of the principal and interest
owing and unpaid in respect of the Loans, L/C Obligations and all other
Obligations that are owing and

 

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unpaid and to file such other documents as may be necessary or advisable in
order to have the claims of the Lenders and the Administrative Agent (including
any claim for the reasonable compensation, expenses, disbursements and advances
of the Lenders and the Administrative Agent and their respective agents and
counsel and all other amounts due the Lenders and the Administrative Agent under
Sections 3.3, 4.3 and 13.3) allowed in such judicial proceeding; and

(b) to collect and receive any monies or other property payable or deliverable
on any such claims and to distribute the same;

and any custodian, receiver, assignee, trustee, liquidator, sequestrator or
other similar official in any such judicial proceeding is hereby authorized by
each Lender to make such payments to the Administrative Agent and, in the event
that the Administrative Agent shall consent to the making of such payments
directly to the Lenders, to pay to the Administrative Agent any amount due for
the reasonable compensation, expenses, disbursements and advances of the
Administrative Agent and its agents and counsel, and any other amounts due the
Administrative Agent under Sections 4.3 and 13.3.

Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to authorize the Administrative Agent
to authorize or consent to or accept or adopt on behalf of any Lender any plan
of reorganization, arrangement, adjustment or composition affecting the
Obligations or the rights of any Lender or to authorize the Administrative Agent
to vote in respect of the claim of any Lender in any such proceeding.

ARTICLE XII

THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT

SECTION 12.1 Appointment and Authority. Each of the Lenders and the Issuing
Lender hereby irrevocably appoints Wachovia to act on its behalf as the
Administrative Agent hereunder and under the other Loan Documents and authorizes
the Administrative Agent to take such actions on its behalf and to exercise such
powers as are delegated to the Administrative Agent by the terms hereof or
thereof, together with such actions and powers as are reasonably incidental
thereto. The provisions of this Article are solely for the benefit of the
Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Issuing Lender, and neither the
Borrower nor any Subsidiary thereof shall have rights as a third party
beneficiary of any of such provisions.

SECTION 12.2 Rights as a Lender. The Person serving as the Administrative Agent
hereunder shall have the same rights and powers in its capacity as a Lender as
any other Lender and may exercise the same as though it were not the
Administrative Agent and the term “Lender” or “Lenders” shall, unless otherwise
expressly indicated or unless the context otherwise requires, include the Person
serving as the Administrative Agent hereunder in its individual capacity. Such
Person and its Affiliates may accept deposits from, lend money to, act as the
financial advisor or in any other advisory capacity for and generally engage in
any kind of business with the Borrower or any Subsidiary or other Affiliate
thereof as if such Person were not the Administrative Agent hereunder and
without any duty to account therefor to the Lenders.

 

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SECTION 12.3 Exculpatory Provisions. The Administrative Agent shall not have any
duties or obligations except those expressly set forth herein and in the other
Loan Documents. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the
Administrative Agent:

(a) shall not be subject to any fiduciary or other implied duties, regardless of
whether a Default has occurred and is continuing;

(b) shall not have any duty to take any discretionary action or exercise any
discretionary powers, except discretionary rights and powers expressly
contemplated hereby or by the other Loan Documents that the Administrative Agent
is required to exercise as directed in writing by the Required Lenders (or such
other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be expressly provided for
herein or in the other Loan Documents), provided that the Administrative Agent
shall not be required to take any action that, in its opinion or the opinion of
its counsel, may expose the Administrative Agent to liability or that is
contrary to any Loan Document or Applicable Law; and

(c) shall not, except as expressly set forth herein and in the other Loan
Documents, have any duty to disclose, and shall not be liable for the failure to
disclose, any information relating to the Borrower or any of its Affiliates that
is communicated to or obtained by the Person serving as the Administrative Agent
or any of its Affiliates in any capacity.

The Administrative Agent shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken
by it (i) with the consent or at the request of the Required Lenders (or such
other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary, or as the
Administrative Agent shall believe in good faith shall be necessary, under the
circumstances as provided in Section 11.2 and Section 13.2) or (ii) in the
absence of its own gross negligence or willful misconduct as determined by a
court of competent jurisdiction by final nonappealable judgment. The
Administrative Agent shall be deemed not to have knowledge of any Default unless
and until notice describing such Default is given to the Administrative Agent by
the Borrower, a Lender or the Issuing Lender.

The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to
ascertain or inquire into (i) any statement, warranty or representation made in
or in connection with this Agreement or any other Loan Document, (ii) the
contents of any certificate, report or other document delivered hereunder or
thereunder or in connection herewith or therewith, (iii) the performance or
observance of any of the covenants, agreements or other terms or conditions set
forth herein or therein or the occurrence of any Default, (iv) the validity,
enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of this Agreement, any other Loan
Document or any other agreement, instrument or document or (v) the satisfaction
of any condition set forth in Article V or elsewhere herein, other than to
confirm receipt of items expressly required to be delivered to the
Administrative Agent.

SECTION 12.4 Reliance by the Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent
shall be entitled to rely upon, and shall not incur any liability for relying
upon, any notice, request, certificate, consent, statement, instrument, document
or other writing (including any electronic message, Internet or intranet website
posting or other distribution) believed by it to be genuine and to have been
signed, sent or otherwise authenticated by the proper Person. The Administrative
Agent also may rely upon any statement made to it orally or by telephone and
believed by it to have been made by the proper Person, and shall not incur any
liability for

 

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relying thereon. In determining compliance with any condition hereunder to the
making of a Loan, or the issuance of a Letter of Credit, that by its terms must
be fulfilled to the satisfaction of a Lender or the Issuing Lender, the
Administrative Agent may presume that such condition is satisfactory to such
Lender or the Issuing Lender unless the Administrative Agent shall have received
notice to the contrary from such Lender or the Issuing Lender prior to the
making of such Loan or the issuance of such Letter of Credit. The Administrative
Agent may consult with legal counsel (who may be counsel for the Borrower),
independent accountants and other experts selected by it, and shall not be
liable for any action taken or not taken by it in accordance with the advice of
any such counsel, accountants or experts.

SECTION 12.5 Delegation of Duties. The Administrative Agent may perform any and
all of its duties and exercise its rights and powers hereunder or under any
other Loan Document by or through any one or more sub-agents appointed by the
Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent may
perform any and all of its duties and exercise its rights and powers by or
through their respective Related Parties. The exculpatory provisions of this
Article shall apply to any such sub-agent and to the Related Parties of the
Administrative Agent and any such sub-agent, and shall apply to their respective
activities in connection with the syndication of the credit facilities provided
for herein as well as activities as Administrative Agent.

SECTION 12.6 Resignation of Administrative Agent.

(a) The Administrative Agent may at any time give notice of its resignation to
the Lenders, the Issuing Lender and the Borrower. Upon receipt of any such
notice of resignation, the Required Lenders shall have the right, in
consultation with the Borrower, to appoint a successor, which shall be a bank
with an office in the United States, or an Affiliate of any such bank with an
office in the United States, that, in any such case (except when an Event of
Default has occurred and is continuing) is reasonably satisfactory to the
Borrower. If no such successor shall have been so appointed by the Required
Lenders and shall have accepted such appointment within thirty (30) days after
the retiring Administrative Agent gives notice of its resignation, then the
retiring Administrative Agent may, on behalf of the Lenders and the Issuing
Lender, appoint a successor Administrative Agent meeting the qualifications
(including the Borrower’s reasonable satisfaction, except when an Event of
Default has occurred and is continuing) set forth above; provided that if the
Administrative Agent shall notify the Borrower and the Lenders that no
qualifying Person has accepted such appointment, then such resignation shall
nonetheless become effective in accordance with such notice and (i) the retiring
Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations
hereunder and under the other Loan Documents and (ii) all payments,
communications and determinations provided to be made by, to or through the
Administrative Agent shall instead be made by or to each Lender and the Issuing
Lender directly, until such time as the Required Lenders appoint a successor
Administrative Agent as provided for above in this paragraph. Upon the
acceptance of a successor’s appointment as Administrative Agent hereunder, such
successor shall succeed to and become vested with all of the rights, powers,
privileges and duties of the retiring (or retired) Administrative Agent, and the
retiring (or retired) Administrative Agent shall be discharged from all of its
duties and obligations hereunder or under the other Loan Documents (if not
already discharged therefrom as provided above in this paragraph). The fees
payable by the Borrower to a successor Administrative Agent shall be the same as
those payable to its predecessor unless otherwise

 

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agreed between the Borrower and such successor. After the retiring
Administrative Agent’s resignation hereunder and under the other Loan Documents,
the provisions of this Article and Section 13.3 shall continue in effect for the
benefit of such retiring Administrative Agent, its sub-agents and their
respective Related Parties in respect of any actions taken or omitted to be
taken by any of them while the retiring Administrative Agent was acting as
Administrative Agent.

(b) Any resignation by Wachovia as Administrative Agent pursuant to this Section
shall also constitute its resignation as Issuing Lender and Swingline Lender.
Upon the acceptance of a successor’s appointment as Administrative Agent
hereunder, (a) such successor shall succeed to and become vested with all of the
rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring Issuing Lender and
Swingline Lender, (b) the retiring Issuing Lender and Swingline Lender shall be
discharged from all of their respective duties and obligations hereunder or
under the other Loan Documents and (c) the successor Issuing Lender shall issue
letters of credit in substitution for the Letters of Credit, if any, outstanding
at the time of such succession or make other arrangement satisfactory to the
retiring Issuing Lender to effectively assume the obligations of the retiring
Issuing Lender with respect to such Letters of Credit.

SECTION 12.7 Non-Reliance on Administrative Agent and Other Lenders. Each Lender
and the Issuing Lender acknowledges that it has, independently and without
reliance upon the Administrative Agent or any other Lender or any of their
Related Parties and based on such documents and information as it has deemed
appropriate, made its own credit analysis and decision to enter into this
Agreement. Each Lender and the Issuing Lender also acknowledges that it will,
independently and without reliance upon the Administrative Agent or any other
Lender or any of their Related Parties and based on such documents and
information as it shall from time to time deem appropriate, continue to make its
own decisions in taking or not taking action under or based upon this Agreement,
any other Loan Document or any related agreement or any document furnished
hereunder or thereunder.

SECTION 12.8 No Other Duties, etc. Anything herein to the contrary
notwithstanding, none of the syndication agents, documentation agents,
co-agents, book manager, lead manager, arranger, lead arranger or co-arranger
listed on the cover page or signature pages hereof shall have any powers, duties
or responsibilities under this Agreement or any of the other Loan Documents,
except in its capacity, as applicable, as the Administrative Agent, a Lender or
the Issuing Lender hereunder.

ARTICLE XIII

MISCELLANEOUS

SECTION 13.1 Notices.

(a) Method of Communication. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, all
notices and communications hereunder shall be in writing (for purposes hereof,
the term “writing” shall include information in electronic format such as
electronic mail and internet web pages). Any notice shall be effective if
delivered by hand delivery or sent via electronic mail, posting on an internet
web page, telecopy, recognized overnight courier service or certified mail,

 

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return receipt requested, and shall be presumed to be received by a party hereto
(i) on the date of delivery if delivered by hand or sent by electronic mail,
posting on an internet web page, telecopy, (ii) on the next Business Day if sent
by recognized overnight courier service and (iii) on the third Business Day
following the date sent by certified mail, return receipt requested; provided,
that any notice given pursuant to Article XI shall be effective only if
delivered by hand or sent via telecopy, recognized overnight courier service or
certified mail, return receipt requested. A telephonic notice to the
Administrative Agent as understood by the Administrative Agent will be deemed to
be the controlling and proper notice in the event of a discrepancy with or
failure to receive a confirming written notice.

(b) Addresses for Notices. Notices to any party shall be sent to it at the
following addresses, or any other address as to which all the other parties are
notified in writing.

 

If to the Borrower:    BlackRock, Inc.    40 East 52nd Street    New York, NY
10022    Attention: Steven E. Buller, Chief Financial Officer    Telephone No.:
(212) 810-3501    Telecopy No.: (212) 810-5125 With copies to:    BlackRock,
Inc.    40 East 52nd Street    New York, NY 10022    Attention: Robert P.
Connolly, Esquire, General Counsel    Telephone No.: (212) 810-3743    Telecopy
No.: (212) 810-3744 If to Wachovia as    Wachovia Bank, National Association
Administrative Agent:    Charlotte Plaza, CP-8    201 South College Street   
Charlotte, North Carolina 28288-0680    Attention: Syndication Agency Services
   Telephone No.: (704) 374-2698    Telecopy No.: (704) 383-0288 With copies to:
   Wachovia Bank, National Association    301 South College Street    Charlotte,
North Carolina 28202-6000    Attention: Will Goley    Telephone No.: (704)
383-8180    Telecopy No.: (704) 383-7611 If to any Lender:    To the address set
forth on the Register

(c) Administrative Agent’s Office. The Administrative Agent hereby designates
its office located at the address set forth above, or any subsequent office
which shall have been

 

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specified for such purpose by written notice to the Borrower and Lenders, as the
Administrative Agent’s Office referred to herein, to which payments due are to
be made and at which Loans will be disbursed and Letters of Credit requested.

SECTION 13.2 Amendments, Waivers and Consents. Except as set forth below or as
specifically provided in any Loan Document, any term, covenant, agreement or
condition of this Agreement or any of the other Loan Documents may be amended or
waived by the Lenders, and any consent given by the Lenders, if, but only if,
such amendment, waiver or consent is in writing signed by the Required Lenders
(or by the Administrative Agent with the consent of the Required Lenders) and
delivered to the Administrative Agent and, in the case of an amendment, signed
by the Borrower; provided, that no amendment, waiver or consent shall:

(a) waive any condition set forth in Section 5.3 without the written consent of
each Lender;

(b) extend or increase the Commitment of any Lender (or reinstate any Commitment
terminated pursuant to Section 11.2) or the amount of Loans of any Lender
without the written consent of such Lender;

(c) postpone any date fixed by this Agreement or any other Loan Document for any
payment of principal, interest, fees or other amounts due to the Lenders (or any
of them) hereunder or under any other Loan Document without the written consent
of each Lender directly affected thereby;

(d) reduce the principal of, or the rate of interest specified herein on, any
Loan or Reimbursement Obligation, or (subject to clause (iv) of the second
proviso to this Section) any fees or other amounts payable hereunder or under
any other Loan Document without the written consent of each Lender directly
affected thereby; provided that only the consent of the Required Lenders shall
be necessary to waive any obligation of the Borrower to pay interest at the rate
set forth in Section 4.1(c) during the continuance of an Event of Default;

(e) permit the Issuing Lender to issue any Letter of Credit that expires on a
date later than the fifth (5th) Business Day prior to the Maturity Date without
the written consent of each Lender;

(f) change Section 4.4, 4.6 or 11.4 in a manner that would alter the pro rata
sharing of payments required thereby without the written consent of each Lender;
or

(g) change any provision of this Section or the definition of “Required Lenders”
or any other provision hereof specifying the number or percentage of Lenders
required to amend, waive or otherwise modify any rights hereunder or make any
determination or grant any consent hereunder, without the written consent of
each Lender;

provided further, that (i) no amendment, waiver or consent shall, unless in
writing and signed by the Issuing Lender in addition to the Lenders required
above, affect the rights or duties of the Issuing Lender under this Agreement or
any Letter of Credit Application relating to any Letter of Credit issued or to
be issued by it; (ii) no amendment, waiver or consent shall, unless in writing
and signed by the Swingline Lender in addition to the Lenders required above,
affect the rights

 

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or duties of the Swingline Lender under this Agreement; (iii) no amendment,
waiver or consent shall, unless in writing and signed by the Administrative
Agent in addition to the Lenders required above, affect the rights or duties of
the Administrative Agent under this Agreement or any other Loan Document; and
(iv) the Fee Letter may be amended, or rights or privileges thereunder waived,
in a writing executed only by the parties thereto. Notwithstanding anything to
the contrary herein, no Defaulting Lender shall have any right to approve or
disapprove any amendment, waiver or consent hereunder, except that the
Commitment of such Lender may not be increased or extended without the consent
of such Lender.

SECTION 13.3 Expenses; Indemnity.

(a) Costs and Expenses. The Borrower shall pay (i) all reasonable out-of-pocket
expenses incurred by the Administrative Agent and its Affiliates (including the
reasonable fees, charges and disbursements of counsel for the Administrative
Agent) in connection with the syndication of the credit facilities provided for
herein, the preparation, negotiation, execution, delivery and administration of
this Agreement and the other Loan Documents or any amendments, modifications or
waivers of the provisions hereof or thereof (whether or not the transactions
contemplated hereby or thereby shall be consummated), (ii) all reasonable
out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Issuing Lender in connection with the
issuance, amendment, renewal or extension of any Letter of Credit or any demand
for payment thereunder and (iii) all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred
by the Administrative Agent or the Issuing Lender (including the fees, charges
and disbursements of any counsel for the Administrative Agent or the Issuing
Lender) in connection with the enforcement or protection of the rights of the
Administrative Agent, the Issuing Lender and/or the other Lenders (A) in
connection with this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, including their
respective rights under this Section, or (B) in connection with the Loans made
or Letters of Credit issued hereunder, including all such reasonable
out-of-pocket expenses incurred during any workout, restructuring or
negotiations in respect of such Loans or Letters of Credit.

(b) Indemnification by the Borrower. The Borrower shall indemnify the
Administrative Agent (and any sub-agent thereof), each Lender and the Issuing
Lender, and each Related Party of any of the foregoing Persons (each such Person
being called an “Indemnitee”) against, and hold each Indemnitee harmless from,
any and all losses, claims (including, without limitation, any Environmental
Claims or civil penalties or fines assessed by OFAC), damages, liabilities and
related reasonable out-of-pocket expenses (including the reasonable fees,
charges and disbursements of any counsel for any Indemnitee) incurred by any
Indemnitee or asserted against any Indemnitee by any third party or by the
Borrower arising out of, in connection with, or as a result of (i) the execution
or delivery of this Agreement, any other Loan Document or any agreement or
instrument contemplated hereby or thereby, the performance by the parties hereto
of their respective obligations hereunder or thereunder or the consummation of
the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, (ii) any Loan or Letter of
Credit or the use or proposed use of the proceeds therefrom (including any
refusal by the Issuing Lender to honor a demand for payment under a Letter of
Credit if the documents presented in connection with such demand do not strictly
comply with the terms of such Letter of Credit), (iii) any actual or prospective
claim, litigation, investigation or proceeding relating to any of the foregoing,
whether based on contract, tort or any other theory, whether brought by a third
party or by the Borrower, and regardless of whether any Indemnitee is a party
thereto, or (iv) any claim (including, without limitation, any

 

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Environmental Claims or civil penalties or fines assessed by OFAC),
investigation, litigation or other proceeding (whether or not the Administrative
Agent or any Lender is a party thereto) and the prosecution and defense thereof,
arising out of or in any way connected with the Loans, this Agreement, any other
Loan Document, or any documents contemplated by or referred to herein or therein
or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, including without
limitation, reasonable attorneys’ and consultants’ fees, provided that such
indemnity shall not, as to any Indemnitee, be available to the extent that such
losses, claims, damages, liabilities or related expenses (x) are determined by a
court of competent jurisdiction by final and nonappealable judgment to have
resulted from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of such Indemnitee or
(y) result from a claim brought by the Borrower against an Indemnitee for breach
of such Indemnitee’s obligations hereunder or under any other Loan Document, if
the Borrower has obtained a final and nonappealable judgment in its favor on
such claim as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) Reimbursement by Lenders. To the extent that the Borrower for any reason
fails to indefeasibly pay any amount required under clause (a) or (b) of this
Section to be paid by it to the Administrative Agent (or any sub-agent thereof),
the Issuing Lender or any Related Party of any of the foregoing, each Lender
severally agrees to pay to the Administrative Agent (or any such sub-agent), the
Issuing Lender or such Related Party, as the case may be, such Lender’s
Commitment Percentage (determined as of the time that the applicable
unreimbursed expense or indemnity payment is sought) of such unpaid amount,
provided that the unreimbursed expense or indemnified loss, claim, damage,
liability or related expense, as the case may be, was incurred by or asserted
against the Administrative Agent (or any such sub-agent) or the Issuing Lender
in its capacity as such, or against any Related Party of any of the foregoing
acting for the Administrative Agent (or any such sub-agent) or Issuing Lender in
connection with such capacity. The obligations of the Lenders under this clause
(c) are subject to the provisions of Section 4.7.

(d) Waiver of Consequential Damages, Etc. To the fullest extent permitted by
Applicable Law, the Borrower shall not assert, and hereby waives, any claim
against any Indemnitee, on any theory of liability, for special, indirect,
consequential or punitive damages (as opposed to direct or actual damages)
arising out of, in connection with, or as a result of, this Agreement, any other
Loan Document or any agreement or instrument contemplated hereby, the
transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, any Loan or Letter of Credit or the
use of the proceeds thereof. No Indemnitee referred to in clause (b) above shall
be liable for any damages arising from the use by unintended recipients of any
information or other materials distributed by it through telecommunications,
electronic or other information transmission systems in connection with this
Agreement or the other Loan Documents or the transactions contemplated hereby or
thereby.

(e) Payments. All amounts due under this Section shall be payable promptly after
demand therefor.

SECTION 13.4 Right of Setoff. If an Event of Default under Section 11.1(a), (b),
(i) or (j) shall have occurred and be continuing, each Lender, the Issuing
Lender, the Swingline Lender and each of their respective Affiliates is hereby
authorized at any time and from time to time, to the fullest extent permitted by
Applicable Law, to set off and apply any and all deposits (general

 

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or special, time or demand, provisional or final, in whatever currency) at any
time held and other obligations (in whatever currency) at any time owing by such
Lender, the Issuing Lender, the Swingline Lender or any such Affiliate to or for
the credit or the account of the Borrower against any and all of the obligations
of the Borrower now or hereafter existing under this Agreement or any other Loan
Document to such Lender, the Issuing Lender or the Swingline Lender,
irrespective of whether or not such Lender, the Issuing Lender or the Swingline
Lender shall have made any demand under this Agreement or any other Loan
Document and although such obligations of the Borrower may be contingent or
unmatured or are owed to a branch or office of such Lender, the Issuing Lender
or the Swingline Lender different from the branch or office holding such deposit
or obligated on such indebtedness. The rights of each Lender, the Issuing
Lender, the Swingline Lender and their respective Affiliates under this Section
are in addition to other rights and remedies (including other rights of setoff)
that such Lender, the Issuing Lender, the Swingline Lender or their respective
Affiliates may have. Each Lender, the Issuing Lender and the Swingline Lender
agrees to notify the Borrower and the Administrative Agent promptly after any
such setoff and application; provided that the failure to give such notice shall
not affect the validity of such setoff and application.

SECTION 13.5 Governing Law.

(a) Governing Law. This Agreement and the other Loan Documents, unless expressly
set forth therein, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the
law of the State of New York, including Section 5-1401 and 5-1402 of the General
Obligation Law of the State of New York, without reference to any other
conflicts or choice of law principles thereof.

(b) Submission to Jurisdiction. The Borrower irrevocably and unconditionally
submits, for itself and its property, to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of the
courts of the State of New York sitting in New York, New York and of the United
States District Court sitting in New York, and any appellate court from any
thereof, in any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this
Agreement or any other Loan Document, or for recognition or enforcement of any
judgment, and each of the parties hereto irrevocably and unconditionally agrees
that all claims in respect of any such action or proceeding may be heard and
determined in such New York State court or, to the fullest extent permitted by
Applicable Law, in such Federal court. Each of the parties hereto agrees that a
final judgment in any such action or proceeding shall be conclusive and may be
enforced in other jurisdictions by suit on the judgment or in any other manner
provided by law. Nothing in this Agreement or in any other Loan Document shall
affect any right that the Administrative Agent, any Lender or the Issuing Lender
may otherwise have to bring any action or proceeding relating to this Agreement
or any other Loan Document against the Borrower or its properties in the courts
of any jurisdiction.

(c) Waiver of Venue. The Borrower irrevocably and unconditionally waives, to the
fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, any objection that it may now or
hereafter have to the laying of venue of any action or proceeding arising out of
or relating to this Agreement or any other Loan Document in any court referred
to in paragraph (b) of this Section. Each of the parties hereto hereby
irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, the
defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of such action or proceeding
in any such court.

 

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(d) Service of Process. Each party hereto irrevocably consents to service of
process in the manner provided for notices in Section 13.1. Nothing in this
Agreement will affect the right of any party hereto to serve process in any
other manner permitted by Applicable Law.

SECTION 13.6 Waiver of Jury Trial. EACH PARTY HERETO HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES,
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO A
TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISING OUT OF OR
RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER LOAN DOCUMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS
CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY (WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER
THEORY). EACH PARTY HERETO (A) CERTIFIES THAT NO REPRESENTATIVE, AGENT OR
ATTORNEY OF ANY OTHER PERSON HAS REPRESENTED, EXPRESSLY OR OTHERWISE, THAT SUCH
OTHER PERSON WOULD NOT, IN THE EVENT OF LITIGATION, SEEK TO ENFORCE THE
FOREGOING WAIVER AND (B) ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT AND THE OTHER PARTIES HERETO HAVE
BEEN INDUCED TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT AND THE OTHER LOAN DOCUMENTS BY, AMONG
OTHER THINGS, THE MUTUAL WAIVERS AND CERTIFICATIONS IN THIS SECTION.

SECTION 13.7 Reversal of Payments. To the extent the Borrower makes any payment
to the Administrative Agent for the ratable benefit of the Lenders or the
Administrative Agent receives any payment which payment or any part thereof is
subsequently invalidated, declared to be fraudulent or preferential, set aside
and/or required to be repaid to a trustee, receiver or any other party under any
bankruptcy law, state or federal law, common law or equitable cause, then, to
the extent of such payment repaid, the Obligations or part thereof intended to
be satisfied shall be revived and continued in full force and effect as if such
payment had not been received by the Administrative Agent.

SECTION 13.8 Injunctive Relief; Punitive Damages.

(a) The Borrower recognizes that, in the event the Borrower fails to perform,
observe or discharge any of its obligations or liabilities under this Agreement,
any remedy of law may prove to be inadequate relief to the Lenders. Therefore,
the Borrower agrees that the Lenders, at the Lenders’ option, shall be entitled
to temporary and permanent injunctive relief in any such case without the
necessity of proving actual damages.

(b) The Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Borrower hereby agree that no
such Person shall have a remedy of punitive or exemplary damages against any
other party to a Loan Document and each such Person hereby waives any right or
claim to punitive or exemplary damages that they may now have or may arise in
the future in connection with any Dispute, whether such Dispute is resolved
through arbitration or judicially.

SECTION 13.9 Accounting Matters. If at any time any change in GAAP would affect
the computation of any financial ratio or requirement set forth in any Loan
Document, and either the Borrower or the Required Lenders shall so request, the
Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Borrower shall negotiate in good faith
to amend such ratio or requirement to preserve the original intent thereof in
light of such change in GAAP (subject to the approval of the Required

 

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Lenders); provided that, until so amended, (i) such ratio or requirement shall
continue to be computed in accordance with GAAP prior to such change therein and
(ii) the Borrower shall provide to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders
financial statements and other documents required under this Agreement or as
reasonably requested hereunder setting forth a reconciliation between
calculations of such ratio or requirement made before and after giving effect to
such change in GAAP.

SECTION 13.10 Successors and Assigns; Participations.

(a) Successors and Assigns Generally. The provisions of this Agreement shall be
binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective
successors and assigns permitted hereby, except that the Borrower may not assign
or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder without the
prior written consent of the Administrative Agent and each Lender and no Lender
may assign or otherwise transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder
except (i) to an Eligible Assignee in accordance with the provisions of
paragraph (b) of this Section, (ii) by way of participation in accordance with
the provisions of paragraph (d) of this Section or (iii) by way of pledge or
assignment of a security interest subject to the restrictions of paragraph
(f) of this Section (and any other attempted assignment or transfer by any party
hereto shall be null and void). Nothing in this Agreement, expressed or implied,
shall be construed to confer upon any Person (other than the parties hereto,
their respective successors and assigns permitted hereby, Participants to the
extent provided in paragraph (d) of this Section and, to the extent expressly
contemplated hereby, the Related Parties of each of the Administrative Agent and
the Lenders) any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or by reason of
this Agreement.

(b) Assignments by Lenders. Any Lender may at any time assign to one or more
Eligible Assignees all or a portion of its rights and obligations under this
Agreement (including all or a portion of its Commitment and the Loans at the
time owing to it); provided that

(i) except in the case of an assignment of the entire remaining amount of the
assigning Lender’s Commitment and the Loans at the time owing to it or in the
case of an assignment to a Lender or an Affiliate of a Lender, the aggregate
amount of the Commitment (which for this purpose includes Loans outstanding
thereunder) or, if the Commitment is not then in effect, the principal
outstanding balance of the Loans of the assigning Lender subject to each such
assignment (determined as of the date the Assignment and Assumption with respect
to such assignment is delivered to the Administrative Agent or, if “Trade Date”
is specified in the Assignment and Assumption, as of the Trade Date) shall not
be less than $5,000,000, unless each of the Administrative Agent and, so long as
no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, the Borrower otherwise
consent (each such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed);

(ii) each partial assignment shall be made as an assignment of a proportionate
part of all the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement
with respect to the Loans or the Commitment assigned;

(iii) any assignment must be approved (such approval not to be unreasonably
withheld) by the Administrative Agent, the Swingline Lender and the Issuing
Lender unless the Person that is the proposed assignee is itself a Lender with a
Commitment (whether or not the proposed assignee would otherwise qualify as an
Eligible Assignee); and

 

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(iv) the parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver to the
Administrative Agent an Assignment and Assumption, together with a processing
and recordation fee of $3,500 for each assignment, and the Eligible Assignee, if
it shall not be a Lender, shall deliver to the Administrative Agent an
Administrative Questionnaire.

Subject to acceptance and recording thereof by the Administrative Agent pursuant
to paragraph (c) of this Section, from and after the effective date specified in
each Assignment and Assumption, the Eligible Assignee thereunder shall be a
party to this Agreement and, to the extent of the interest assigned by such
Assignment and Assumption, have the rights and obligations of a Lender under
this Agreement, and the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent of the
interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption, be released from its
obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and
Assumption covering all of the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under
this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto) but shall continue
to be entitled to the benefits of Sections 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11 and 13.3 with
respect to facts and circumstances occurring prior to the effective date of such
assignment. Any assignment or transfer by a Lender of rights or obligations
under this Agreement that does not comply with this paragraph shall be treated
for purposes of this Agreement as a sale by such Lender of a participation in
such rights and obligations in accordance with paragraph (d) of this Section.

(c) Register. The Administrative Agent, acting solely for this purpose as an
agent of the Borrower, shall maintain at one of its offices in Charlotte, North
Carolina (or such other office notified to the Lenders and the Borrower), a copy
of each Assignment and Assumption delivered to it and a register for the
recordation of the names and addresses of the Lenders, and the Commitments of,
and principal amounts of the Loans owing to, each Lender pursuant to the terms
hereof from time to time (the “Register”). The entries in the Register shall be
conclusive, and the Borrower, the Administrative Agent and the Lenders shall
treat each Person whose name is recorded in the Register pursuant to the terms
hereof as a Lender hereunder for all purposes of this Agreement, notwithstanding
notice to the contrary. The Register shall be available for inspection by the
Borrower and any Lender at any reasonable time and from time to time upon
reasonable prior notice.

(d) Participations. Any Lender may at any time, without the consent of, or
notice to, the Borrower or the Administrative Agent, sell participations to any
Person (other than a natural person or the Borrower or any of the Borrower’s
Affiliates or Subsidiaries) (each, a “Participant”) in all or a portion of such
Lender’s rights and/or obligations under this Agreement (including all or a
portion of its Commitment and/or the Loans owing to it); provided that (i) such
Lender’s obligations under this Agreement shall remain unchanged, (ii) such
Lender shall remain solely responsible to the other parties hereto for the
performance of such obligations and (iii) the Borrower, the Administrative Agent
and the other Lenders shall continue to deal solely and directly with such
Lender in connection with such Lender’s rights and obligations under this
Agreement.

 

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Any agreement or instrument pursuant to which a Lender sells such a
participation shall provide that such Lender shall retain the sole right to
enforce this Agreement and to approve any amendment, modification or waiver of
any provision of this Agreement; provided that such agreement or instrument may
provide that such Lender will not, without the consent of the Participant, agree
to any amendment, modification or waiver or modification described in the first
proviso to Section 13.2 that directly affects such Participant. Subject to
paragraph (e) of this Section, the Borrower agrees that each Participant shall
be entitled to the benefits of Sections 4.8, 4.9, 4.10 and 4.11 to the same
extent as if it were a Lender and had acquired its interest by assignment
pursuant to paragraph (b) of this Section. To the extent permitted by law, each
Participant also shall be entitled to the benefits of Section 13.4 as though it
were a Lender, provided such Participant agrees to be subject to Section 4.6 as
though it were a Lender.

(e) Limitations upon Participant Rights. A Participant shall not be entitled to
receive any greater payment under Sections 4.10 and 4.11 than the applicable
Lender would have been entitled to receive with respect to the participation
sold to such Participant, unless the sale of the participation to such
Participant is made with the Borrower’s prior written consent. A Participant
that would be a Foreign Lender if it were a Lender shall not be entitled to the
benefits of Section 5.11 unless the Borrower is notified of the participation
sold to such Participant and such Participant agrees, for the benefit of the
Borrower, to comply with Section 4.11(e) as though it were a Lender.

(f) Certain Pledges. Any Lender may at any time pledge or assign a security
interest in all or any portion of its rights under this Agreement to secure
obligations of such Lender, including without limitation any pledge or
assignment to secure obligations to a Federal Reserve Bank; provided that no
such pledge or assignment shall release such Lender from any of its obligations
hereunder or substitute any such pledgee or assignee for such Lender as a party
hereto.

SECTION 13.11 Confidentiality. Each of the Administrative Agent and the Lenders
agrees to maintain the confidentiality of the Information (as defined below),
except that Information may be disclosed (a) to its Affiliates and to its and
its Affiliates’ respective directors, officers, employees and agents, including
accountants, legal counsel and other advisors (it being understood that the
Persons to whom such disclosure is made will be informed of the confidential
nature of such Information and instructed to keep such Information
confidential), (b) to the extent requested by, or required to be disclosed to,
any rating agency, or regulatory or similar authority (including any
self-regulatory authority, such as the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners), (c) to the extent required by Applicable Laws or regulations or
by any subpoena or similar legal process, (d) to any other party hereto, (e) in
connection with the exercise of any remedies under this Agreement or under any
other Loan Document (or any Hedging Agreement with a Lender or the
Administrative Agent) or any action or proceeding relating to this Agreement or
any other Loan Document (or any Hedging Agreement with a Lender or the
Administrative Agent) or the enforcement of rights hereunder or thereunder,
(f) subject to an agreement containing provisions substantially the same as
those of this Section, to any purchasing Lender, proposed purchasing Lender,
Participant or proposed Participant, (g) with the consent of the Borrower,
(h) to Gold Sheets and other similar bank trade publications, such information
to consist of deal terms and other information customarily found in such
publications, or (i) to the extent such Information (x) becomes publicly
available other than as a

 

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result of a breach of this Section or (y) becomes available to the
Administrative Agent or any Lender on a nonconfidential basis from a source
other than the Borrower or (j) to governmental regulatory authorities in
connection with any regulatory examination of the Administrative Agent or any
Lender or in accordance with the Administrative Agent’s or any Lender’s
regulatory compliance policy if the Administrative Agent or such Lender deems
necessary for the mitigation of claims by those authorities against the
Administrative Agent or such Lender or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates.
For purposes of this Section, “Information” means all information received from
the Borrower relating to the Borrower, its Subsidiaries, the Excluded
Subsidiaries, the Existing Shareholders or any of their respective Affiliates or
any of their respective businesses, other than any such information that is
available to the Administrative Agent or any Lender on a nonconfidential basis
prior to disclosure by the Borrower. Any Person required to maintain the
confidentiality of Information as provided in this Section shall be considered
to have complied with its obligation to do so if such Person has exercised the
same degree of care to maintain the confidentiality of such Information as such
Person would accord to its own confidential information.

SECTION 13.12 Performance of Duties. The Borrower’s obligations under this
Agreement and each of the other Loan Documents shall be performed by the
Borrower at its sole cost and expense.

SECTION 13.13 All Powers Coupled with Interest. All powers of attorney and other
authorizations granted to the Lenders, the Administrative Agent and any Persons
designated by the Administrative Agent or any Lender pursuant to any provisions
of this Agreement or any of the other Loan Documents shall be deemed coupled
with an interest and shall be irrevocable so long as any of the Obligations
remain unpaid or unsatisfied, any of the Commitments remain in effect or the
Credit Facility has not been terminated.

SECTION 13.14 Survival of Indemnities. Notwithstanding any termination of this
Agreement, the indemnities to which the Administrative Agent and the Lenders are
entitled under the provisions of this Article XIII and any other provision of
this Agreement and the other Loan Documents shall continue in full force and
effect and shall protect the Administrative Agent and the Lenders against events
arising after such termination as well as before.

SECTION 13.15 Titles and Captions. Titles and captions of Articles, Sections and
subsections in, and the table of contents of, this Agreement are for convenience
only, and neither limit nor amplify the provisions of this Agreement.

SECTION 13.16 Severability of Provisions. Any provision of this Agreement or any
other Loan Document which is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction
shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective only to the extent of such
prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remainder of such
provision or the remaining provisions hereof or thereof or affecting the
validity or enforceability of such provision in any other jurisdiction.

SECTION 13.17 Counterparts. This Agreement 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 shall be binding
upon all parties, their successors and assigns, and all of which taken together
shall constitute one and the same agreement.

 

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SECTION 13.18 Integration. This Agreement, together with the other Loan
Documents, comprises the complete and integrated agreement of the parties on the
subject matter hereof and thereof and supersedes all prior agreements, written
or oral, on such subject matter. In the event of any conflict between the
provisions of this Agreement and those of any other Loan Document, the
provisions of this Agreement shall control; provided that the inclusion of
supplemental rights or remedies in favor of the Administrative Agent or the
Lenders in any other Loan Document shall not be deemed a conflict with this
Agreement. Each Loan Document was drafted with the joint participation of the
respective parties thereto and shall be construed neither against nor in favor
of any party, but rather in accordance with the fair meaning thereof.

SECTION 13.19 Term of Agreement. This Agreement shall remain in effect from the
Closing Date through and including the date upon which all Obligations arising
hereunder or under any other Loan Document shall have been indefeasibly and
irrevocably paid and satisfied in full and all Commitments have been terminated.
No termination of this Agreement shall affect the rights and obligations of the
parties hereto arising prior to such termination or in respect of any provision
of this Agreement which survives such termination.

SECTION 13.20 Advice of Counsel, No Strict Construction. Each of the parties
represents to each other party hereto that it has discussed this Agreement with
its counsel. The parties hereto have participated jointly in the negotiation and
drafting of this Agreement. In the event an ambiguity or question of intent or
interpretation arises, this Agreement shall be construed as if drafted jointly
by the parties hereto and no presumption or burden of proof shall arise favoring
or disfavoring any party by virtue of the authorship of any provisions of this
Agreement.

SECTION 13.21 USA Patriot Act. The Administrative Agent and each Lender hereby
notifies the Borrower that pursuant to the requirements of the USA Patriot Act
(Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)) (the “Act”), it
is required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies the
Borrower, which information includes the name and address of each Borrower and
other information that will allow such Lender to identify such Borrower in
accordance with the Act.

SECTION 13.22 Inconsistencies with Other Documents; Independent Effect of
Covenants.

(a) In the event there is a conflict or inconsistency between this Agreement and
any other Loan Document, the terms of this Agreement shall control; provided
that, other than for purposes of Article XI, any provision of the other Loan
Documents which imposes additional burdens on the Borrower or its Subsidiaries
or further restricts the rights of the Borrower or its Subsidiaries or gives the
Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank or the Lenders additional rights shall
not be deemed to be in conflict or inconsistent with this Agreement and shall be
given full force and effect.

(b) The Borrower expressly acknowledges and agrees that each covenant contained
in Article VIII, IX, or X hereof shall be given independent effect. Accordingly,
the Borrower shall not engage in any transaction or other act otherwise
permitted under any covenant contained in

Article VIII, IX, or X if, before or after giving effect to such transaction or
act, the Borrower shall or would be in breach of any other covenant contained in
Article VIII, IX, or X.

[Signature pages to follow]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed
under seal by their duly authorized officers, all as of the day and year first
written above.

 

BLACKROCK, INC., as Borrower By:  

/s/ Steven E. Buller

Name:   Steven E. Buller Title:   Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer

 

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AGENTS AND LENDERS:

WACHOVIA BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

as Administrative Agent, Swingline Lender, Issuing Lender and Lender

By:  

/s/ William R. Goley

Name:   William R. Goley Title:   Director

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ABN AMRO BANK, N.V., as

Documentation Agent and Lender

By:  

/s/ Michael DeMarco

Name:   Michael DeMarco Title:   Vice President By:  

/s/ Neil R. Stein

Name:   Neil R. Stein Title:   Director

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HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

as Documentation Agent and Lender

By:  

/s/ Scott H. Buitekant

Name:   Scott H. Buitekant Title:   Senior Vice President

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JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, as

Documentation Agent and Lender

By:  

/s/ Jeanne O’Connell Horn

Name:   Jeanne O’Connell Horn Title:   Vice President

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UBS LOAN FINANCE LLC, as Lender By:  

/s/ Richard L. Tavrow

Name:   Richard L. Tavrow Title:   Director Banking Products Services, US By:  

/s/ Irja R. Otsa

Name:   Irja R. Otsa Title:   Associate Director Banking Products Services, US

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., as Lender By:  

/s/ Jorge Gil

Name:   Jorge Gil Title:   Vice President

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CITIBANK, N.A., as Lender By:  

/s/ Alex Duka

Name:   Alex Duka Title:   Managing Director

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GREENWICH CAPITAL MARKETS, INC.,

as agent for THE ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND plc,

as Lender

By:  

/s/ Diane Ferguson

Name:   Diane Ferguson Title:   Managing Director

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CREDIT SUISSE, Cayman Islands Branch, as Lender By:  

/s/ Jay Chall

Name:   Jay Chall Title:   Director By:  

/s/ Bernhard Schmid

Name:   Bernhard Schmid Title:   Assistant Vice President

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DEUTSCHE BANK AG NEW YORK BRANCH, as Lender By:  

/s/ Ruth Leung

Name:   Ruth Leung Title:   Director By:  

/s/ Kathleen Bowers

Name:   Kathleen Bowers Title:   Director