of Control, or (2) public announcement of the occurrence of a Change of Control or the Issuer’s intention to effect a Change of Control, the notes are rated below Investment Grade by at least two of the three Rating Agencies. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Below Investment Grade Ratings Event otherwise arising by virtue of a particular reduction in rating shall not be deemed to have occurred in respect of a particular Change of Control (and thus shall not be deemed a Below Investment Grade Ratings Event for purposes of the definition of Change of Control Repurchase Event hereunder) if the Rating Agencies making the reduction in rating to which this definition would otherwise apply do not publicly announce or publicly confirm or inform us in writing that the reduction was the result, in whole or in part, of any event or circumstance comprised of or arising as a result of, or in respect of, the applicable Change of Control (whether or not the applicable Change of Control shall have occurred at the time of the Below Investment Grade Ratings Event).
“Change of Control” means the occurrence of any of the following: (a) the consummation of any transaction (including, without limitation, any merger or consolidation) the result of which is that any “person” or “group” (as those terms are used in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), other than (1) the Guarantor or any of its subsidiaries, (2) any employee benefit plan (or a trust forming a part thereof) maintained by the Guarantor or any of its subsidiaries, or (3) any underwriter temporarily holding Voting Stock of the Guarantor pursuant to an offering of such Voting Stock, becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rules 13d-3 and 13d-5 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of more than 50% of the combined voting power of the Guarantor’s Voting Stock or other Voting Stock into which the Guarantor’s Voting Stock is reclassified, consolidated, exchanged or changed measured by voting power rather than number of shares; (b) the direct or indirect sale, lease, transfer, conveyance or other disposition (other than by way of merger or consolidation), in one or a series of related transactions, of all or substantially all of the assets of the Guarantor and its subsidiaries taken as a whole to any “person” or “group” (as those terms are used in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) other than to the Guarantor or one of its subsidiaries; or (c) the Guarantor consolidates with, or merges with or into, any person, or any person consolidates with, or merges with or into, the Guarantor, in any such event pursuant to a transaction in which any of the outstanding Voting Stock of the Guarantor or such other person is converted into or exchanged for cash, securities or other property, other than any such transaction where the shares of the Voting Stock of the Guarantor outstanding immediately prior to such transaction constitute, or are converted into or exchanged for, a majority of the Voting Stock of the surviving person immediately after giving effect to such transaction.
“Change of Control Repurchase Event” means the occurrence of both a Change of Control and a Below Investment Grade Ratings Event with respect to the notes.
“Fitch” means Fitch Ratings Inc., and its successors.
“Investment Grade” means, with respect to Fitch, a rating of BBB– or better (or its equivalent under any successor rating categories of Fitch), with respect to Moody’s, a rating of Baa3 or better (or its equivalent under any successor rating categories of Moody’s), and with respect to S&P, a rating of BBB– or better (or its equivalent under any successor rating categories of S&P), or if the applicable securities are not then rated by Fitch, Moody’s or S&P an equivalent investment grade credit rating by any additional Rating Agency or Rating Agencies selected by the Issuer.
“Moody’s” means Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., a subsidiary of Moody’s Corporation, and its successors.
“Rating Agency” means (1) each of Fitch, Moody’s and S&P, and (2) if any of Fitch, Moody’s or S&P ceases to rate the notes or fails to make a rating of the notes publicly available for reasons outside of the Issuer’s control, a different nationally recognized statistical rating organization selected by the Issuer as a replacement agency for Fitch, Moody’s or S&P, or each of them, as applicable.
“S&P” means Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a division of S&P Global Inc., and its successors.
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