SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE
SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE (this "SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE"), dated
as of March 31, 1998, among LICO, Inc., a Missouri corporation, Automatic
Systems, Inc., a Missouri corporation, and LICO Steel, Inc., a Missouri
corporation (each a "GUARANTEEING SUBSIDIARY" and together the " GUARANTEEING
SUBSIDIARIES"), subsidiaries of Columbus McKinnon Corporation (or its permitted
successor), a New York corporation (the "COMPANY"), the Company, the other
Guarantors (as defined in the Indenture referred to herein) and State Street
Bank and Trust Company, N.A., 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 March 31, 1998 providing
for the issuance of an aggregate principal amount of up to $300.0 million of 8
1/2% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2008 (the "NOTES");
WHEREAS, the Indenture provides that under certain
circumstances the Guaranteeing Subsidiaries shall execute and deliver to the
Trustee a supplemental indenture pursuant to which the Guaranteeing Subsidiaries
shall unconditionally guarantee all of the Company's Obligations under the Notes
and the Indenture on the terms and conditions set forth herein (each a
"SUBSIDIARY GUARANTEE" and together the "SUBSIDIARY GUARANTEES"); 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,
the Guaranteeing Subsidiary 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. 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,
irrespective of the validity and enforceability of
the Indenture, the Notes or the obligations of the
Company hereunder or thereunder, that:
(i) the principal of 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) These Subsidiary Guarantees shall not be discharged
except by complete performance of the obligations
contained in the Notes and 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, these
Subsidiary Guarantees, to the extent theretofore
discharged, shall be reinstated in full force and
effect.
(f) The Guaranteeing Subsidiaries shall not 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 these Subsidiary Guarantees,
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 these Subsidiary
Guarantees.
(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 Subsidiary Guarantees.
(i) Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that
these Subsidiary Guarantees would constitute or
result in a violation of any applicable fraudulent
conveyance or similar law of any relevant
jurisdiction, the liability of the Guaranteeing
Subsidiaries under this Supplemental Indenture and
their Subsidiary Guarantees shall be reduced to the
maximum amount permissible under such fraudulent
conveyance or similar law.
3. SUBORDINATION. Payment of principal, premium, if any, and
interest and Liquidated Damages, if any, on the Subsidiary
Guarantees is subordinated to the prior payment in full of
Senior Debt on the terms provided in the Indenture.
4. EXECUTION AND DELIVERY. Each Guaranteeing Subsidiary agrees
that the Subsidiary Guarantees shall remain in full force and
effect notwithstanding any failure to endorse on each Note a
notation of such Subsidiary Guarantee.
5. GUARANTEEING SUBSIDIARIES MAY CONSOLIDATE, ETC. ON CERTAIN
TERMS.
(a) The Guaranteeing Subsidiaries, and each of them, may
not consolidate with or merge with or into (whether
or not such Guarantor is the surviving Person)
another corporation, Person or entity whether or not
affiliated with such Guarantor unless:
(i) subject to Section 11.05 of the Indenture,
the Person formed by or surviving any such
consolidation or merger (if other than a
Guarantor or the Company) unconditionally
assumes all the obligations of such
Guarantor, pursuant to a supplemental
indenture in form and substance reasonably
satisfactory to the Trustee, under the
Notes, the Indenture and the Subsidiary
Guarantee on the terms set forth herein or
therein; and
(ii) immediately after giving effect to such
transaction, no Default or Event of Default
exists.
(b) In case of any such consolidation, merger, sale or
conveyance and upon the assumption by the successor
corporation, by supplemental indenture, executed and
delivered to the Trustee and satisfactory in form to
the Trustee, of the Subsidiary 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 corporation 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 corporation thereupon may cause to be
signed any or all of the Subsidiary Guarantees to be
endorsed upon all of the Notes issuable hereunder
which theretofore shall not have been signed by the
Company and delivered to the Trustee. All the
Subsidiary Guarantees so issued shall in all respects
have the same legal rank and benefit under the
Indenture as the Subsidiary Guarantees theretofore
and thereafter issued in accordance with the terms of
the Indenture as though all of such Subsidiary
Guarantees had been issued at the date of the
execution hereof.
(c) Except as set forth in Articles 4 and 5 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.
6. RELEASES.
(a) In the event of a sale or other disposition of 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, 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 Subsidiary 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 Subsidiary Guarantee.
(b) Any Guarantor not released from its obligations under
its Subsidiary 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.
7. NO RECOURSE AGAINST OTHERS. No past, present or future
director, officer, employee, incorporator, stockholder or
agent of each of the Guaranteeing Subsidiaries, as such, shall
have any liability for any obligations of the Company or any
Guaranteeing Subsidiary under the Notes, any Subsidiary
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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. EFFECT OF HEADINGS. The Section headings herein are for
convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.
11. 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 the Guaranteeing Subsidiaries and
the Company.
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 31, 1998
LICO, INC.
By: /s/Robert L. Montgomery
Name: Robert L. Montgomery
Title: Treasurer
AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS, INC.
By: /s/Robert L. Montgomery
Name: Robert L. Montgomery
Title: Treasurer
LICO STEEL, INC.
By: /s/Robert L. Montgomery
Name: Robert L. Montgomery
Title: Treasurer
COLUMBUS McKINNON CORPORATION
By: /s/Robert L. Montgomery
Name: Robert L. Montgomery
Title: Executive Vice President
YALE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS, INC.
By: /s/Robert L. Montgomery
Name: Robert L. Montgomery
Title: Treasurer
MECHANICAL PRODUCTS, INC.
By: /s/Robert L. Montgomery
Name: Robert L. Montgomery
Title: Treasurer
MINITEC CORPORATION
By: /s/Robert L. Montgomery
Name: Robert L. Montgomery
Title: Treasurer
STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
as Trustee
By: /s/James E. Murphy
Name: James E. Murphy
Title: Vice President