EXHIBIT 4.4
SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE
SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE (this "Supplemental Indenture"), dated as of
March 4, 2003, among HammerBlow Acquisition Corp, a Delaware corporation, The
HammerBlow Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation, Hidden Hitch Acquisition
Company, a Delaware company, HammerBlow LLC, a Delaware limited liability
company, Highland Group Corporation, an Ohio corporation and Tekonsha Towing
Systems, Inc., a Michigan corporation (the "Guaranteeing Subsidiaries"), each an
indirect subsidiary of TriMas Corporation (or its permitted successor), a
Delaware corporation (the "Company"), the Company, the other Guarantors (as
defined in the Indenture referred to herein) and The Bank of New York, as
trustee under the Indenture referred to below (the "Trustee").
W I T N E S S E T H
WHEREAS, the Company has heretofore executed and delivered to the
Trustee an Indenture (the "Indenture"), dated as of June 6, 2002, pursuant to
which $437,733,000 aggregate principal amount of 9 7/8% Senior Subordinated
Notes due 2012 (the "Notes") were issued;
WHEREAS, the Indenture provides that under certain circumstances a
Guaranteeing Subsidiary shall execute and deliver to the Trustee a supplemental
indenture pursuant to which the Guaranteeing Subsidiary shall unconditionally
guarantee all of the Company's Obligations under the Notes and the Indenture on
the terms and conditions set forth herein (the "Note Guarantee"); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 9.01 of the Indenture, the Trustee is
authorized to execute and deliver this Supplemental Indenture.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and for other good and
valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, each of the
Guaranteeing Subsidiaries and the Trustee mutually covenant and agree for the
equal and ratable benefit of the Holders of the Notes as follows:
1. CAPITALIZED TERMS. Capitalized terms used herein without definition
shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Indenture.
2. AGREEMENT TO GUARANTEE. Each of the Guaranteeing Subsidiaries hereby
agree as follows:
(a) Along with all Guarantors named in the Indenture, to
jointly and severally Guarantee to each Holder of a Note authenticated
and delivered by the Trustee and to the Trustee and its successors and
assigns, the Notes or the obligations of the Company hereunder or
thereunder, that:
(i) the principal of, and premium and Liquidated Damages, if
any, and interest on the Notes will be promptly paid in
full when due, whether at maturity, by acceleration,
redemption or otherwise, and interest on the overdue
principal of and interest on the Notes, if any, if
lawful, and all other obligations of the Company to the
Holders or the Trustee hereunder or thereunder will be
promptly paid in full or performed, all in accordance
with the terms hereof and thereof; and
(ii) in case of any extension of time of payment or renewal
of any Notes or any of such other obligations, that same
will be promptly paid in full when due or performed in
accordance with the terms of the extension or renewal,
whether at stated maturity, by acceleration or
otherwise. Failing payment when due of any amount so
guaranteed or any performance so guaranteed for whatever
reason, the Guarantors shall be jointly and severally
obligated to pay the same immediately.
(b) The obligations hereunder shall be unconditional,
irrespective of the validity, regularity or enforceability of the Notes
or the Indenture, the absence of any action to enforce the same, any
waiver or consent by any Holder of the Notes with respect to any
provisions hereof or thereof, the recovery of any judgment against the
Company, any action to enforce the same or any other circumstance which
might otherwise constitute a legal or equitable discharge or defense of
a Guarantor.
(c) The following is hereby waived: diligence, presentment,
demand of payment, filing of claims with a court in the event of
insolvency or bankruptcy of the Company, any right to require a
proceeding first against the Company, protest, notice and all demands
whatsoever.
(d) This Note Guarantee shall not be discharged except by
complete performance of the obligations contained in the Notes and the
Indenture, and each of the Guaranteeing Subsidiaries accept all
obligations of a Guarantor under the Indenture.
(e) If any Holder or the Trustee is required by any court or
otherwise to return to the Company, the Guarantors, or any custodian,
trustee, liquidator or other similar official acting in relation to
either the Company or the Guarantors, any amount paid by either to the
Trustee or such Holder, this Note Guarantee, to the extent theretofore
discharged, shall be reinstated in full force and effect.
(f) None of the Guaranteeing Subsidiaries shall be entitled to
any right of subrogation in relation to the Holders in respect of any
obligations guaranteed hereby until payment in full of all obligations
guaranteed hereby.
(g) As between the Guarantors, on the one hand, and the
Holders and the Trustee, on the other hand, (x) the maturity of the
obligations guaranteed hereby may be accelerated as provided in Article
6 of the Indenture for the purposes of this Note Guarantee,
notwithstanding any stay, injunction or other prohibition preventing
such acceleration in respect of the obligations guaranteed hereby, and
(y) in the event of any declaration of acceleration of such obligations
as provided in Article 6 of the Indenture, such obligations (whether or
not due and payable) shall forthwith become due and payable by the
Guarantors for the purpose of this Note Guarantee.
(h) The Guarantors shall have the right to seek contribution
from any non-paying Guarantor so long as the exercise of such right
does not impair the rights of the Holders under the Note Guarantee.
(i) Pursuant to Section 10.02 of the Indenture, after giving
effect to any maximum amount and all other contingent and fixed
liabilities that are relevant under any applicable Bankruptcy or
fraudulent conveyance laws, and after giving effect to any collections
from, rights to receive contribution from or payments made by or on
behalf of any other Guarantor in respect of the obligations of such
other Guarantor under Article 10 of the Indenture, this new Note
Guarantee shall be limited to the maximum amount permissible such that
the obligations of such Guarantor under this Note Guarantee will not
constitute a fraudulent transfer or conveyance.
3. EXECUTION AND DELIVERY. Each Guaranteeing Subsidiary agrees that the
Note Guarantees shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding any
failure to endorse on each Note a notation of such Note Guarantee.
4. GUARANTEEING SUBSIDIARY MAY CONSOLIDATE, ETC. ON CERTAIN TERMS.
(a) No Guaranteeing Subsidiary may sell or otherwise dispose
of all substantially all of its assets to, or consolidate with or merge
with or into (whether or not such Guarantor is the surviving Person)
another Person, other than the Company or another Guarantor unless:
(i) immediately after giving effect to such
transaction, no Default or Event of Default exists; and
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(ii) either (A) subject to Sections 11.04 and 11.05
of the Indenture, the Person acquiring the property in any
such sale or disposition or the Person formed by or surviving
any such consolidation or merger unconditionally assumes all
the obligations of that Guarantor, pursuant to a supplemental
indenture in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the
Trustee, under the Notes, the Indenture and the Note Guarantee
on the terms set forth herein or therein; or (B) the Net
Proceeds of such sale or other disposition are applied in
accordance with the applicable provisions of the Indenture,
including without limitation, Section 4.10 thereof.
(b) In case of any such consolidation, merger, sale or
conveyance and upon the assumption by the successor Person, by
supplemental indenture, executed and delivered to the Trustee and
satisfactory in form to the Trustee, of the Note Guarantee endorsed
upon the Notes and the due and punctual performance of all of the
covenants and conditions of the Indenture to be performed by the
Guarantor, such successor Person shall succeed to and be substituted
for the Guarantor with the same effect as if it had been named herein
as a Guarantor. Such successor Person thereupon may cause to be signed
any or all of the Note Guarantees to be endorsed upon all of the Notes
issuable under the Indenture which theretofore shall not have been
signed by the Company and delivered to the Trustee. All the Note
Guarantees so issued shall in all respects have the same legal rank and
benefit under the Indenture as the Note Guarantees theretofore and
thereafter issued in accordance with the terms of the Indenture as
though all of such Note Guarantees had been issued at the date of the
execution hereof.
(c) Except as set forth in Articles 4 and 5 and Section 11.05
of Article 11 of the Indenture, and notwithstanding clauses (a) and (b)
above, nothing contained in the Indenture or in any of the Notes shall
prevent any consolidation or merger of a Guarantor with or into the
Company or another Guarantor, or shall prevent any sale or conveyance
of the property of a Guarantor as an entirety or substantially as an
entirety to the Company or another Guarantor.
5. RELEASES.
(a) In the event of any sale or other disposition of all or
substantially all of the assets of any Guarantor, by way of merger,
consolidation or otherwise, or a sale or other disposition of all of the capital
stock of any Guarantor, in each case to a Person that is not (either before or
after giving effect to such transaction) a Restricted Subsidiary of the Company,
then such Guarantor (in the event of a sale or other disposition, by way of
merger, consolidation or otherwise, of all of the capital stock of such
Guarantor) or the corporation acquiring the property (in the event of a sale or
other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of such Guarantor)
will be released and relieved of any obligations under its Note Guarantee;
provided that the Net Proceeds of such sale or other disposition are applied in
accordance with the applicable provisions of the Indenture, including without
limitation Section 4.10 of the Indenture. Upon delivery by the Company to the
Trustee of an Officers' Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel to the effect that
such sale or other disposition was made by the Company in accordance with the
provisions of the Indenture, including without limitation Section 4.10 of the
Indenture, the Trustee shall execute any documents reasonably required in order
to evidence the release of any Guarantor from its obligations under its Note
Guarantee.
(b) Any Guarantor not released from its obligations under its Note
Guarantee shall remain liable for the full amount of principal of and interest
on the Notes and for the other obligations of any Guarantor under the Indenture
as provided in Article 11 of the Indenture.
6. NO RECOURSE AGAINST OTHERS. No past, present or future director,
officer, employee, incorporator, stockholder or agent of a Guaranteeing
Subsidiary, as such, shall have any liability for any obligations of the Company
or any Guaranteeing Subsidiary under the Notes, any Note Guarantees, the
Indenture or this Supplemental Indenture or for any claim based on, in respect
of, or by reason of, such obligations or their creation. Each Holder of the
Notes by accepting a Note waives and releases all such liability. The waiver and
release are part of the consideration for issuance of the Notes. Such waiver may
not be effective to waive liabilities under the federal securities laws and it
is the view of the SEC that such a waiver is against public policy.
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7. NEW YORK LAW TO GOVERN. THE INTERNAL LAW OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
SHALL GOVERN AND BE USED TO CONSTRUE THIS SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE BUT WITHOUT
GIVING EFFECT TO APPLICABLE PRINCIPLES OF CONFLICTS OF LAW TO THE EXTENT THAT
THE APPLICATION OF THE LAWS OF ANOTHER JURISDICTION WOULD BE REQUIRED THEREBY.
8. COUNTERPARTS. The parties may sign any number of copies of this
Supplemental Indenture. Each signed copy shall be an original, but all of them
together represent the same agreement.
9. EFFECT OF HEADINGS. The Section headings herein are for convenience
only and shall not affect the construction hereof.
10. THE TRUSTEE. The Trustee shall not be responsible in any manner
whatsoever for or in respect of the validity or sufficiency of this Supplemental
Indenture or for or in respect of the recitals contained herein, all of which
recitals are made solely by each Guaranteeing Subsidiary and the Company.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Supplemental
Indenture to be duly executed and attested, all as of the date first above
written.
Dated: March 4, 2003
HammerBlow Acquisition Corp
The HammerBlow Corporation
Hidden Hitch Acquisition Company
HammerBlow LLC
Highland Group Corporation
Tekonsha Towing Systems,
Inc.
By: /s/ Todd R. Peters
--------------------------------------------
Name: Todd R. Peters
Title: Vice President
TriMas Corporation
By: /s/ Todd R. Peters
--------------------------------------------
Name: Todd R. Peters
Title: Executive Vice President & Chief
Financial Officer
EXISTING GUARANTORS:
Arrow Engine Company
Beaumont Bolt & Gasket, Inc.
Cequent Towing Products, Inc.
Cequent Trailer Products, Inc.
Commonwealth Disposition LLC
Compac Corporation
Consumer Products, Inc
Cuyam Corporation
Di-Rite Company
Entegra Fastener Corporation
Hitch `N Post, Inc.
Industrial Bolt & Gasket, Inc.
K.S. Disposition, Inc.
Keo Cutters, Inc.
Lake Erie Screw Corporation
Lamons Metal Gasket Co.
Louisiana Hose & Rubber Co.
Monogram Aerospace Fasteners, Inc.
Netcong Investments, Inc.
NI Foreign Military Sales Corp.
NI Industries, Inc.
NI West, Inc.
Norris Cylinder Company
Reska Spline Products, Inc.
Richards Micro-Tool, Inc.
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Rieke Corporation
Rieke Leasing Co., Incorporated
Rieke of Indiana, Inc.
Rieke of Mexico, Inc.
TriMas Company LLC
TriMas Fasteners, Inc.
TriMas Services Corp.
By: /s/ Todd R. Peters
--------------------------------------------
Name: Todd R. Peters
Title: Vice President
The Bank of New York,
as Trustee
By: /s/ Cynthia Chaney
--------------------------------------------
Authorized Signatory
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TriMas (TRS)
Filed: 31 Mar 03, 12:00am