DESCRIPTION OF THE NOTES
This description of the particular terms of the Notes offered hereby supplements and, to the extent inconsistent therewith, replaces the description of the general terms and provisions of the Notes set forth in the accompanying prospectus.
The Notes are to be issued under an Indenture dated February 11, 2003, as amended by the First Supplemental Indenture dated May 4, 2007, the Second Supplemental Indenture dated June 3, 2011 and the Third Supplemental Indenture dated October 4, 2018 (the form of which has been filed on a Current Report on Form 8-K as an exhibit to the registration statement of which the accompanying prospectus forms a part), which we have entered into with U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as successor to SunTrust Bank, and which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and is available for inspection at the corporate trust office of U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association at Two James Center, 1021 E. Cary Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219-4000. As used in this prospectus supplement, the term “Indenture” refers to the Indenture, as amended by the First Supplemental Indenture, the Second Supplemental Indenture and the Third Supplemental Indenture, and as further amended or supplemented from time to time. The Indenture is subject to, and governed by, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended.
The following summarizes selected provisions of the Indenture and the Notes (the form of which has been filed on Form 8-K as an exhibit to the registration statement of which the accompanying prospectus forms a part). It does not restate the Indenture or the terms of the Notes in their entirety. We urge you to read the Indenture and the form of the Notes because they, and not this description, define your rights as holders of the Notes.
General
The Notes will be initially limited to an aggregate principal amount of $400,000,000 and will mature on January 15, 2034, unless previously redeemed. The Notes will be our senior unsecured obligations and will rank equally with all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness from time to time outstanding. The Notes will be effectively subordinated to our mortgages and other secured indebtedness to the extent of the assets securing such debt and to our subsidiaries’ indebtedness to the extent of the assets of those subsidiaries. The Notes will be issued only in fully registered form without coupons in denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof.
As of September 30, 2023, on a pro forma basis after giving effect to the issuance of the Notes offered hereby and the application of the net proceeds from this offering, our and our subsidiaries’ total outstanding indebtedness would be approximately $3,797,765,000, of which approximately 91.3% would be unsecured.
Except as described under “Description of Debt Securities—Limitations on Incurrence of Indebtedness,” “Description of Debt Securities—Merger, Consolidation and Sale” and “Description of Debt Securities—Covenants” in the accompanying prospectus, the Indenture does not contain any other provisions that would limit our ability to incur indebtedness or that would afford holders of the Notes protection if we were to engage in transactions such as a highly leveraged or similar transaction, a change of control or a reorganization, restructuring, merger or similar transaction. In addition, subject to the limitations set forth under “Description of Debt Securities—Limitations on Incurrence of Indebtedness,” “Description of Debt Securities—Merger, Consolidation and Sale” and “Description of Debt Securities—Covenants” in the accompanying prospectus, we may, in the future, enter into transactions, such as the sale of all or substantially all of our assets or a merger or consolidation that would increase the amount of our indebtedness or substantially reduce or eliminate our assets, which may have an adverse effect on our ability to service indebtedness, including the Notes. We have no present intention of engaging in a highly leveraged or similar transaction.
We may from time to time, without the consent of existing Note holders, create and issue further notes having the same terms and conditions as the Notes offered hereby in all respects, except for the issue date, the issue price and, if applicable, the first payment of interest thereon; provided that if any such additional notes are not fungible with the Notes initially offered hereby for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such additional notes issued in this manner will have one or more separate CUSIP numbers.
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