Certain Covenants
Subject to certain exceptions, the Indenture:
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prohibits Atlas from, directly or indirectly, selling, assigning, pledging, transferring or otherwise disposing, and Atlas cannot permit any of its subsidiaries to, directly or indirectly, sell, pledge, assign, transfer or otherwise dispose of, shares of voting capital stock, or securities convertible into voting capital stock, or options, warrants or rights to subscribe for or purchase voting capital stock of a Material Subsidiary; and
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prohibits Atlas from permitting a Material Subsidiary to issue, sell or otherwise dispose of any shares of its voting capital stock or securities convertible into its voting capital stock or options, warrants or rights to subscribe for or purchase its voting capital stock, unless Atlas will own, directly or indirectly, at least 90% of the issued and outstanding voting stock of the Material Subsidiary after giving effect to that transaction. The covenant described in the preceding sentence does not apply to any transaction of the type described above under “— Merger, Consolidation, Sale, Lease or Conveyance.”
Furthermore, under the Indenture, except pursuant to the Loan Agreement (which will be terminated following the issuance of the Notes as described above under “Use of “Proceeds”), Atlas may not permit a Material Subsidiary to:
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merge or consolidate with or into any corporation or other person, unless such Material Subsidiary is the surviving corporation or person, or unless Atlas will own, directly or indirectly, at least 90% of the surviving corporation’s issued and outstanding voting stock;
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lease, sell, assign or transfer all or substantially all of its properties and assets to any corporation or other person (other than us), unless Atlas will own, directly or indirectly, at least 90% of the issued and outstanding voting stock of that corporation or other person; or
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pay any dividend in a Material Subsidiary’s voting capital stock or make any other distribution in its voting capital stock, other than to Atlas or its other subsidiaries, unless the Material Subsidiary to which the transaction relates, after obtaining any necessary regulatory approvals, unconditionally guarantees payment of the principal and any premium and interest on the Notes.
A Material Subsidiary means a direct or indirect subsidiary of Atlas that is an insurance company with statutory surplus of at least $15 million for the most recently completed fiscal quarter.
However, Atlas may agree to any such merger or consolidation or sale, lease, assignment, pledge or transfer of securities, properties or assets if: (i) required by law and such lease, sale, assignment or transfer of securities is made to any person for the purpose of the qualification of such person to serve as a director; (ii) such lease, sale, assignment or transfer of securities is made by Atlas or any of its subsidiaries acting in a fiduciary capacity for any person other than Atlas or any of its subsidiaries; (iii) made in connection with the consolidation of Atlas with or the sale, lease or conveyance of all or substantially all of the assets of Atlas to, or merger of Atlas with or into, any other person (as to which the covenant described above under the heading “— Merger, Consolidation, Sale, Lease or Conveyance” shall apply); or (iv) it is required as a condition imposed by any law or any rule, regulation or order of any governmental agency or authority to the acquisition by Atlas of another entity; provided that in the case of (iv) only, after giving effect to such acquisition, (y) at least 90% of the issued and outstanding voting stock of such entity will be owned, directly or indirectly, by Atlas and (z) Atlas’ consolidated assets will be at least equal to 70% of its consolidated assets prior to the acquisition. These covenants will not prohibit Atlas or a Material Subsidiary from pledging any assets to secure borrowings incurred in the ordinary course of business.
Furthermore, for so long as the Notes are outstanding, Atlas may not under the Indenture, nor may it permit any of its subsidiaries to, incur debt for borrowed money, commitments for the extension of debt for borrowed money or other obligations in excess of the greater of (i) $10 million and (ii) 10% of shareholders’ equity as reported in the most recent consolidated financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in each case in the aggregate, which is secured by any shares of voting stock of a Material Subsidiary (or securities convertible into, or options, warrants or rights to subscribe for or purchase shares of that voting stock) without making effective provision for securing the Notes equally and