Exhibit 10.1
 
EXECUTION COPY
 
FOURTH AMENDMENT dated as of May 9, 2007 (this “Agreement”), to the Credit
Agreement, dated as of May 9, 2005 (as amended by the First Amendment to Credit
Agreement, dated as of October 21, 2005, the Second Amendment to Credit
Agreement, dated as of December 28, 2005, and the Third Amendment to the Credit
Agreement, dated as of April 3, 2006, and as the same may be further amended,
supplemented or modified from time to time, the “Credit Agreement”), among
KADANT INC. (the “Borrower”), the Foreign Subsidiary Borrowers from time to time
parties thereto, the several Lenders from time to time parties thereto and
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., as Administrative Agent (the “Administrative Agent”).
 
W I T N E S S E T H :
 
WHEREAS, the Borrower, certain Subsidiaries, the Lenders and the Administrative
Agent are parties to the Credit Agreement;
 
WHEREAS, the Borrower has requested that the Credit Agreement be amended in the
manner provided for in this Agreement;
 
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants herein
contained, the parties hereto hereby agree as follows:
 
1.  Defined Terms. Unless otherwise defined herein, terms which are defined in
the Credit Agreement and used herein (and in the recitals and preamble hereto)
as defined terms are so used as so defined.
 
2.  Amendment to Section 7.6(c). The Credit Agreement is hereby amended by
deleting Section 7.6(c) and substituting the following in lieu thereof:
 
(c) so long as no Default or Event of Default shall have occurred and be
continuing, the Borrower may pay dividends and repurchase its Capital Stock;
provided that at the time of the payment of such dividends or the making of such
repurchase, and after giving effect thereto, the Borrower’s ratio of
Consolidated Total Debt on the date of such payment of dividends or making of
such repurchase to Consolidated EBITDA for the most recent Reference Period
ended prior to the date of such payment of dividends or the making of such
repurchase and calculated as if such payment of dividends or making of such
repurchase had occurred on the first day of such Reference Period, shall be less
than 2.50 to 1.00; and
 
3.  Amendment to Section 1.1. The Credit Agreement is hereby amended by deleting
the definition of “Foreign Subsidiary Borrowers” in Section 1.1 and substituting
the following in lieu thereof:
 
“Foreign Subsidiary Borrowers”: Each Foreign Subsidiary of the Borrower that
becomes a party hereto pursuant to Section 5.3; provided, that the only Foreign
Subsidiaries of the Borrower permitted to become parties hereto shall be Kadant
U.K. Limited, Kadant Lamort SAS and Kadant Johnson Europe B.V.

1

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

4.  Continuing Effect; No Other Amendments or Waivers. Except as expressly
amended hereunder, all terms, conditions and provisions of the Loan Documents
are and shall remain in full force and effect. The amendment provided for herein
is limited to the amendment as specified in Sections 2 and 3 herein and shall
not (a) constitute a consent, waiver, release or amendment of, or an indication
of the Administrative Agent’s or the Lenders’ willingness to consent to any
action requiring consent or release under any other provisions of the Loan
Documents, (b) be construed as a consent, waiver, release or amendment of any
subsequent breach of failure of the same term or condition and (c) be deemed to
entitle the Borrower to a consent to, or a waiver, amendment, modification or
other change of, any of the terms, conditions, obligations, covenants or
agreements contained in the Credit Agreement or any Loan Document in similar or
different circumstances.
 
5.  Representations and Warranties. The Borrower hereby represents and warrants
to the Administrative Agent and the Lenders that, as of the date hereof and
after giving effect to giving effect to this Agreement:
 
(a)  each of the representations and warranties made by any Loan Party in or
pursuant to the Loan Documents shall be true and correct in all material
respects on and as of the date hereof, except where such representations and
warranties expressly relate to an earlier date, in which case such
representations and warranties shall have been true and correct in all material
respects as of such date;
 
(b)  no Default or Event of Default has occurred and is continuing; and
 
(c)  the execution, delivery and performance by the Borrower of this Agreement
have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate and other action and does
not and will not require any registration with, consent or approval of, notice
to or action by, any person (including any Governmental Authority) in order to
be effective and enforceable.
 
6.  Conditions Precedent to Effectiveness. This Agreement shall become effective
on the date on which the Administrative Agent shall have received counterparts
hereof duly executed and delivered by the Borrower and the Required Lenders.
 
7.  Expenses. The Borrower agrees to promptly pay and/or reimburse the
Administrative Agent for its invoiced out-of-pocket expenses in connection with
this Agreement (including the reasonable fees, charges and disbursements of
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, counsel for the Administrative Agent).
 
8.  Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts
by the parties hereto (including by facsimile transmission or other electronic
transmission (i.e. a “pdf” or “tif”), each of which counterparts when so
executed shall be an original, but all the counterparts shall together
constitute one and the same instrument.
 
9.  GOVERNING LAW. THIS CONSENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY, AND CONSTRUED AND
INTERPRETED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
 
[remainder of page intentionally left blank]

 

2

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

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

 
KADANT INC.,
As Borrower
           
                                                                                                                                By     
/s/ Thomas M. O’Brien
 
Name: Thomas M. O’Brien
Title: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
                     
JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.,
as Administrative Agent and as a Lender
           
                                                                                                                                            By      
/s/ Peter M. Killea
 
Name: Peter M. Killea
Title: Vice President
       

 

 

 

 
 [Signature Page to Fourth Amendment]
 

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

 
 

 
BANK OF CHINA, NEW YORK BRANCH,
as a Lender
       
                                                                                                    By         
/s/ William Smith
 
Name: William Smith
Title: Chief Lending Officer
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 [Signature Page to Fourth Amendment]

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

 

 
BARCLAYS BANK PLC,
as a Lender
       
                                                                                                                                        By     
/s/ Vincent Muldoon
 
Name: Vincent Muldoon
Title: Director, North America, MCT
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
    [Signature Page to Fourth Amendment]

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

 

 
CITIZENS BANK OF MASSACHUSETTS,
as a Lender
       
                                                                                                                               By      
/s/ Peter Kirkiris
 
Name: Peter Kirkiris
Title: Vice President
   

 

 

 

 

 
[Signature Page to Fourth Amendment]

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

 

 
LCL - LE CRÉDIT LYONNAIS,
as a Lender
       
                                                                                                                                    By          
/s/ Arnaud de Bantel
 
Name: Arnaud de Bantel
Title: Directeur
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 [Signature Page to Fourth Amendment]

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

 

 
NATIONAL CITY BANK,
as a Lender
       
                                                                                                                                 By        
/s/ Heather McIntyre
 
Name: Heather McIntyre
Title: Vice President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
[Signature Page to Fourth Amendment]

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

 

 
U.S. BANK, N.A.,
as a Lender
       
By
/s/ Eric Cosgrove
 
Name: Eric Cosgrove
Title: Assistant Vice President
   

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
[Signature Page to Fourth Amendment]

 

 
 

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