By submitting a Letter of Transmittal, and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Offer, a tendering shareholder shall be deemed to represent and warrant that: (a) the tendering shareholder has full power and authority to tender, sell, assign and transfer the tendered Shares (and any and all dividends, distributions, other Shares or other securities or rights declared, paid or distributed in respect of such Shares that are declared, paid or distributed in respect of a record date occurring on or after the date on which the Trust accepts the Shares for repurchase (collectively, “Distributions”)); (b) when and to the extent the Trust accepts the Shares for purchase, the Trust will acquire good, marketable and unencumbered title thereto and to all Distributions, free and clear of all liens, restrictions, charges, proxies, encumbrances or other obligations relating to their sale or transfer, and not subject to any adverse claim; (c) on request, the tendering shareholder will execute and deliver any additional documents deemed by the Transfer Agent or the Trust to be necessary or desirable to complete the sale, assignment and transfer of the tendered Shares (and all Distributions); and (d) the tendering shareholder has read and agreed to all of the terms of the Offer, including this Offer to Purchase and the Letter of Transmittal.
B. Signature Guarantees and Method of Delivery. If any of the Shares tendered for purchase thereby are owned of record by two or more joint owners, all such owners must sign the Letter of Transmittal.
If any of the Shares tendered for purchase are registered in different names, it is necessary to complete, sign and submit as many separate Letters of Transmittal as there are different registrations.
If the Letter of Transmittal is signed by trustees, executors, administrators, guardians, attorneys-in-fact, officers of corporations or others acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity, such persons should so indicate when signing, and proper evidence satisfactory to the Trust of their authority so to act must be submitted together with the Letter of Transmittal.
THE METHOD OF DELIVERY OF ANY DOCUMENTS IS AT THE ELECTION AND RISK OF THE PARTY TENDERING SHARES. IF DOCUMENTS ARE SENT BY MAIL, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THEY BE SENT BY REGISTERED MAIL, PROPERLY INSURED, WITH RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED.
C. Determinations of Validity. All questions as to the validity, form, eligibility (including time of receipt) and acceptance of tenders will be determined by the Trust, in its sole discretion, which determination shall be final and binding. The Trust reserves the absolute right to reject any or all tenders determined not to be in appropriate form or to refuse to accept for payment or purchase, or pay for, any Shares if, in the opinion of the Trust’s counsel, accepting, purchasing or paying for such Shares would be unlawful. The Trust also reserves the absolute right to the extent permitted by law to waive any of the conditions of the Offer or any defect in any tender, whether generally or with respect to any particular Share(s) or shareholder(s). The Trust’s interpretations of the terms and conditions of the Offer (including the Letter of Transmittal and the instructions thereto) shall be final and binding.
None of the Trust, the Board of Trustees, the Investment Advisor, the Transfer Agent nor any other person is or will be obligated to give any notice of any defect or irregularity in any tender, and none of the foregoing persons will incur any liability for failure to give any such notice.
D. U.S. Federal Income Tax Withholding. Under the U.S. federal income tax backup withholding rules, the Transfer Agent would generally be required to withhold 24% of the gross payments made pursuant to the Offer to any U.S. Shareholder (as defined below) unless such U.S. Shareholder has completed and submitted to the Transfer Agent an IRS Form W-9. In order to avoid the possibility of backup withholding, all participating U.S. Shareholders are required to provide the Transfer Agent with a properly completed and signed IRS Form W-9. A “U.S. Shareholder” is a shareholder that is a “U.S. person” within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). In general, a U.S. Shareholder is a shareholder that is (a) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; (b) a corporation or partnership, or other entity taxed as a corporation or partnership, created or organized in the United States or under the law of the United States or of any State thereof; (c) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of the source of such income; or (d) a trust if a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust.
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