Document:

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                                                                 EXHIBIT 10.21.4

                                 THIRD AMENDMENT

                                       to

                                 LOAN AGREEMENT

         THIS THIRD AMENDMENT TO LOAN AGREEMENT ("Third Amendment"), dated as of
December 1, 1999 among FELCOR LODGING TRUST INCORPORATED, a Maryland corporation
("FelCor") and FELCOR LODGING LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, a Delaware limited
partnership ("FelCor LP" and collectively with FelCor, the "Borrower"), the
financial institutions listed on the signature pages hereof (each individually a
"Lender" and collectively the "Lenders"), and THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, as
administrative agent for the Lenders (in such capacity, the "Administrative
Agent").

                              W I T N E S S E T H :

         WHEREAS, that certain Loan Agreement, dated as of April 1, 1999, among
Borrower, the financial institutions party thereto, and the Administrative Agent
provides for the making of a loan to Borrower in the aggregate principal amount
of $375,000,000 (as amended, the "Loan Agreement");

         WHEREAS, pursuant to that certain Second Amendment to Loan Agreement
("Second Amendment"), dated as of August 20, 1999 among the parties thereto, the
parties modified, among other things, the provisions in the Loan Agreement
governing Restricted Payments to allow the Borrower to repurchase an amount of
its own Stock in excess of the limitations contained therein (the "Additional
Stock Repurchase Amount") in an amount of up to $50,000,000.00; and

         WHEREAS, the parties hereto desire to further amend the Loan Agreement
to increase the Additional Stock Repurchase Amount to $275,000,000.00 and to
make certain modifications to the financial covenants in connection therewith.

         NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of Ten Dollars ($10.00) and other good
and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby
acknowledged, the parties hereto hereby agree that the Loan Agreement is amended
as follows:

1.   Under Section 1.1 of the Loan Agreement, the definition of "Applicable
     Margin" is hereby deleted in its entirety and the following is hereby
     substituted in place thereof:

                           "`Applicable Margin' means, with respect to each
                  Loan, the applicable percentage per annum set forth below
                  based upon the Status in effect on the most recent Applicable
                  Margin Reset Date, it being understood that the Applicable
                  Margin for (i) Base Rate Loans shall be the

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                  percentage set forth under the column "Base Rate Loans", and
                  (ii) Eurodollar Rate Loans shall be the percentage set forth
                  under the column "Eurodollar Rate Loans":

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                           Base Rate        Eurodollar Rate
                                             Loans               Loans
                                             -----               -----
<S>                                        <C>              <C>
                Level I Status               1.00%               2.5%
                Level II Status              1.25%               2.75%
</TABLE>

2.   Under Section 1.1 of the Loan Agreement, there is hereby added thereto (in
     alphabetical order) a new defined term which shall read as follows:

                           "Applicable Margin Reset Date' shall mean the 45th
                  day following the end of the most recent Fiscal Quarter."

3.   Under Section 1.1 of the Loan Agreement, there is hereby added thereto (in
     alphabetical order) a new defined term which shall read as follows:

                           "Status' means the existence of Level I Status or
                  Level II Status, as the case may be.

                           As used in this definition:

                                    "Level I Status" exists on any date if, on
                           such date, each Borrower has a long-term senior
                           unsecured actual debt rating of better than BB by S&P
                           and better than Ba2 by Moody's;

                                    "Level II Status" exists on any date if, on
                           such date, either Borrower has a long-term senior
                           unsecured actual debt rating of BB or lower by S&P or
                           Ba2 or lower by Moody's;

                           provided that (i) if S&P and/or Moody's shall cease
                           to issue ratings of debt securities of real estate
                           investment trusts generally, then the Administrative
                           Agent and the Borrower shall negotiate in good faith
                           to agree upon a substitute rating agency or agencies
                           (and to correlate the system of ratings of each
                           substitute rating agency with that of the rating
                           agency for which it is substituting) and (a) until
                           such substitute rating agency or agencies are agreed
                           upon, Status shall be determined on the basis of the
                           rating assigned by the other rating agency (or, if
                           both S&P and Moody's shall have so ceased to issue
                           such ratings, on the basis of the Status in effect
                           immediately prior thereto) and (b) after such
                           substitute rating agency or agencies are agreed upon,
                           Status shall be determined on

                                        2
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                           the basis of the rating assigned by the other rating
                           agency and such substitute rating agency or the two
                           substitute rating agencies, as the case may be; and
                           (ii) if the long-term senior unsecured actual debt
                           ratings of either Borrower by S&P and Moody's are not
                           equivalent, the lower rating will apply for the
                           purposes of determining Status."

4.   Under Section 2.8(a) of the Loan Agreement, subsection (i) is hereby
     deleted in its entirety and the following is hereby substituted in place
     thereof:

                           "(i) For Base Rate Loans, at a rate per annum equal
                  at all times to the Base Rate in effect from time to time plus
                  the Applicable Margin, payable monthly on the first day of
                  each month, on the Maturity Date and on the date any Base Rate
                  Loan is converted or paid in full."

5.   Under Section 5.1 of the Loan Agreement, entitled Unsecured Interest
     Expense Coverage, the ratio of "2.5:1.0" is hereby deleted and the ratio of
     "2.25:1.0" is hereby substituted in place thereof.

6.   Under Section 5.2 of the Loan Agreement, entitled Fixed Charge Coverage
     Ratio, the ratio of "2.0:1.0" is hereby deleted and the ratio of "1.75:1.0"
     is hereby substituted in place thereof.

7.   Under Section 5.4 of the Loan Agreement, entitled Limitations on Total
     Indebtedness, the percentage of "50%" is hereby deleted and the percentage
     of "55%" is hereby substituted in place thereof.

8.   Under Section 7.4 of the Loan Agreement (as amended), in the proviso to the
     last sentence of said section the words "in an amount of up to
     $50,000,000.00" are hereby deleted and the following is hereby substituted
     in place thereof:

                  "for an aggregate purchase price not to exceed $275,000,000.00
                  from and after August 20, 1999 through the end of the term of
                  the Loans (including any extension thereof)"

9.   The Loan Agreement and the other Loan Documents are in full force and
     effect without default thereunder by Borrower and all of the
     representations and warranties contained in the Loan Agreement and the
     other Loan Documents are hereby restated as if the same were made as of the
     date hereof (it being understood and agreed that any representation or
     warranty which by its terms is made on a specified date shall be required
     to be true and correct only as of such specified date).

10.  If there shall be any inconsistencies between the terms, covenants,
     conditions and provisions set forth in the Loan Agreement, and the terms,
     covenants, conditions and provisions set forth in this Third Amendment,
     then, the terms, covenants, conditions and provisions of this Third
     Amendment shall prevail. Whenever possible, the provisions of this Third
     Amendment shall be deemed supplemental to and not in derogation of the
     terms of the Loan Agreement and any documents relating thereto.

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<PAGE>   4

11.  Any capitalized term used but not defined herein shall have the meaning set
     forth in the Loan Agreement.

12.  Each party hereto hereby confirms and ratifies all of the terms and
     provisions of the Loan Agreement as amended by this Third Amendment. Except
     as expressly amended hereby, all of the terms of the Loan Agreement shall
     remain in full force and effect.

13.  Each party hereto represents, warrants and covenants that such party (and
     the undersigned representative of such party) has full power, authority and
     legal right to execute this Third Amendment and to keep and observe all of
     the terms of this Third Amendment and the Loan Agreement on such party's
     part to be observed and performed.

14.  If any term, covenant or condition of this Third Amendment shall be held to
     be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, this Third Amendment
     shall be construed without such provision.

15.  This Third Amendment shall be binding upon the successors and assigns of
     the Borrower and shall inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the
     Administrative Agent under the Loan Agreement and its successors and
     assigns; provided that no Borrower may assign any of its rights or
     obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the
     Administrative Agent. THIS THIRD AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSTRUED AND ENFORCED
     IN ACCORDANCE WITH AND GOVERNED BY THE LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
     (WITHOUT REGARD TO PRINCIPLES OF CONFLICT OF LAWS).

16.  This Third Amendment may be executed in any number of separate
     counterparts, each of which shall, collectively and separately, constitute
     one agreement.

                    [SIGNATURES BEGIN ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE]

                                       4
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         IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this instrument has been duly executed by the
undersigned as of the day and year first above written.

                                          FELCOR LODGING TRUST INCORPORATED,
                                          a Maryland corporation

                                          By: /s/ LAWRENCE D. ROBINSON
                                              ----------------------------------
                                              Name:  Lawrence D. Robinson
                                              Title: Senior Vice President

                     [SIGNATURES CONTINUE ON FOLLOWING PAGE]

<PAGE>   6

                            FELCOR LODGING LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, a
                            Delaware limited partnership

                            By: FELCOR LODGING TRUST INCORPORATED, a
                                Maryland corporation, its sole general partner

                            By: /s/ LAWRENCE D. ROBINSON
                                ----------------------------------
                                Name:  Lawrence D. Robinson
                                Title: Senior Vice President

                     [SIGNATURES CONTINUE ON FOLLOWING PAGE]

<PAGE>   7

                          SIGNATURE FOR LOAN AGREEMENT

                          THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK,
                          as Administrative Agent

                          By: /s/ ALAN BREINDEL
                              ------------------------
                              Name:  Alan Breindel
                              Title: Managing Director

                     [SIGNATURES CONTINUE ON FOLLOWING PAGE]

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              [REMAINDER OF SIGNATURE PAGES INTENTIONALLY OMITTED]<PAGE>   1
                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.1

                                 March 15, 2000

PennCorp Financial Group, Inc.
717 North Harwood Street
Dallas, Texas 75201
Attention: The Board of Directors

Gentleman:

                  Inverness/Phoenix Capital, LLC ("Inverness") and Vicuna
Advisors, L.L.C., in its capacity as investment manager to certain Delaware
entities ("Vicuna"), on behalf of the members of the Ad Hoc Committee of the
Preferred Shareholders (the "Ad Hoc Committee") of PennCorp Financial Group,
Inc. (the "Company") holding 74.6% of the Company's $3.375 Convertible Preferred
Stock and $3.50 Series II Convertible Preferred Stock (collectively, the
"Preferred Stock"), Bernard Rapoport ("Rapoport") and John Sharpe ("Sharpe" and
together with Inverness, Vicuna and Rapoport, the "Offerors"), are pleased to
submit this proposal to recapitalize the Company (the "Recapitalization") as
outlined in the Summary of Terms and Conditions attached hereto as Exhibit A
(the "Terms Summary"). Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this letter
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Terms Summary. This letter and
the Terms Summary are intended to be a competing offer for an "Alternative
Transaction" as such term is defined in the Order of the United States
Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, dated February 28, 2000, with respect to
the Bankruptcy (the "Sales Procedures Order").

                  In furtherance of the Recapitalization proposal, attached
hereto is (i) a letter agree ment of Rapoport agreeing to purchase $20,000,000
of New Common, (ii) a letter agreement of Sharpe agreeing to purchase $3,000,000
of New Common, (iii) a standby underwriting commitment from Inverness and Vicuna
with respect to the Rights Offering, (iv) definitive agreements from ING Barings
with respect to the New Senior Facility, (v) a definitive reinsurance agreement
from the Reinsurance Group of America Incorporated with respect to the financing
of the reinsurance of SW Life's and SLT's deferred annuity blocks of business,
(vi) a Lock-up Agreement executed by each member of the Ad Hoc Committee
memorializing its agreement to vote in favor of the Recapitalization, (vii) the
Escrow Agreement (as defined below) executed by each Offeror, and (viii) the
Form A of Inverness and Rapoport and the Form C of Vicuna submitted to the Texas
Department of Insurance (the "Texas Filings"). The Texas Filings represent the
only insurance regulatory approvals necessary to effect the Recapitalization,
and the Texas Department of Insurance has indicated to the Offerors and the
Company that it will approve the Texas Filings.

                  In connection with the foregoing, and in compliance with the
Sales Procedures Order, on the date hereof, Inverness has paid $5,000,000 to
Citibank, N.A. (the "Escrow Agent") to be held in escrow by the Escrow Agent
after the date hereof pursuant to the terms of an escrow agreement in the form
attached hereto as Exhibit B (the "Escrow Agreement"). Upon the Company's
acceptance of this offer as the Final Accepted Offer (as defined in the Sales
Procedure Order), the Offerors shall pay an additional $42,500,000 to the Escrow
Agent to be held in the escrow by the Escrow Agent pursuant to the terms of the
Escrow Agreement.

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                  This offer shall remain open through 11:59 p.m. Eastern time
on March 24, 2000. Selection of this offer by the Company as the Final Accepted
Offer shall constitute acceptance of this offer. Upon acceptance of this offer
and payment by the Offerors of the additional $42,500,000 to the Escrow Agent,
(i) the Company and the Ad Hoc Committee shall co-propose a chapter 11 plan of
reorganization for the Company incorporating the terms of the Recapitalization
in the form of Annex I attached to the Terms Summary, (ii) the Company, the
Offerors and the Ad Hoc Committee shall use their mutual commercially reasonable
efforts to obtain confirmation of and to consummate such plan as soon as
practicable and (iii) the Company shall withdraw its motion for, and cease its
efforts to obtain, approval of the sale of SW Life and SLT. If you are in
agreement with the foregoing, please execute this letter in the space provided
below.

                                              Very truly yours,

                                              Inverness/Phoenix Capital, LLC

                                              By: /s/ JAMES C. COMIS
                                                 ---------------------
                                              Its: Managing Director
                                                  --------------------

                                              Vicuna Advisors, LLC, as
                                              investment advisor

                                              By: /s/ JOSH WELCH
                                                 ---------------------
                                              Its: Managing Member
                                                  --------------------

                                              /s/ BERNARD RAPOPORT
                                              ------------------------
                                              Bernard Rapoport

                                              /s/ JOHN SHARPE
                                              ------------------------
                                              John Sharpe

Agreed and Accepted:
-------------------

PENNCORP FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.

By: /s/ KEITH A. MAIB
   ------------------------
Its: President and Chief
     Executive Officer
    -----------------------

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