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8-K - 8-K - WESTERN ALLIANCE BANCORPORATIONd231707d8k.htm

Exhibit 1.1

Western Alliance Bancorporation

12,000,000 Depositary Shares

Each Representing a 1/400th Interest in a Share of

4.250% Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A

Underwriting Agreement

September 15, 2021

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

BofA Securities, Inc.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Piper Sandler & Co.

As Representatives of the several Underwriters

named in Schedule I hereto

c/o Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

1585 Broadway

New York, New York 10036

BofA Securities, Inc.

One Bryant Park

New York, New York 10036

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10179

Piper Sandler & Co.

1251 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10022

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Western Alliance Bancorporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes to issue and sell to the several underwriters named on Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”), for which Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, BofA Securities, Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Piper Sandler & Co. are acting as representatives (the “Representatives”), an aggregate of 12,000,000 depositary shares (the “Depositary Shares”), each representing a 1/400th ownership interest in a share of its 4.250% Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Preferred Stock”), with a liquidation preference of $25.00 per Depositary Share (equivalent to $10,000 per share of Preferred Stock). The Preferred Stock will have terms and provisions set forth in a certificate of designations (the “Certificate of Designations”) to be filed by the Company with the Secretary of State of Delaware, which are summarized in the Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time and the Prospectus dated as of the date hereof (each as defined in Section 1(a) hereof).


Shares of the Preferred Stock will, when issued, be deposited by the Company against delivery of depositary receipts (the “Depositary Receipts”) to be issued by Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (the “Trust Company”) and Computershare Inc. (together with the Trust Company, the “Depositary”) under a deposit agreement (the “Deposit Agreement”), to be dated as of September 22, 2021, among the Company, the Depositary and the holders from time to time of the Depositary Receipts issued thereunder. Each Depositary Receipt will evidence one or more Depositary Shares. The Preferred Stock and the Depositary Shares are herein collectively referred to as the “Securities.”

This agreement (this “Agreement”) is to confirm the agreement concerning the purchase of the Depositary Shares from the Company by the Underwriters.

1.    The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each Underwriter that:

(a)    An “automatic shelf registration statement” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”)) on Form S-3 in respect of the Securities (File No. 333-256120) (i) has been prepared by the Company in conformity in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act, and the rules and regulations (the “Rules and Regulations”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) thereunder, (ii) has been filed with the Commission under the Securities Act not earlier than the date that is three years prior to the Time of Delivery (as defined in Section 3 hereof) and (iii) upon its filing with the Commission, automatically became and is effective under the Securities Act. For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms have the specified meanings:

“Applicable Time” means 4:30 p.m. (New York City time) on the date of this Agreement;

“Disclosure Package” means, as of the Applicable Time, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, together with each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus filed or used by the Company on or before the Applicable Time and identified on Schedule II hereto, other than a road show that is an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus under Rule 433 of the Rules and Regulations;

“Effective Date” means any date as of which any part of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto relating to the Securities became, or is deemed to have become, effective under the Securities Act in accordance with the Rules and Regulations (including pursuant to Rule 430A of the Rules and Regulations);

“Final Term Sheet” means the term sheet prepared pursuant to Section 4(a) of this Agreement and substantially in the form attached in Schedule III hereto;

“Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” means each “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 of the Rules and Regulations) prepared by or on behalf of the Company or used or referred to by the Company in connection with the offering of the Securities, including the Final Term Sheet;

“Preliminary Prospectus” means any preliminary prospectus relating to the Securities included in the Registration Statement or as filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules and Regulations and provided to the Representatives for use by the Underwriters;

“Prospectus” means the final prospectus relating to the Securities as filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules and Regulations and provided to the Representatives for use by the Underwriters; and

 

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“Registration Statement” means, collectively, the various parts of the above-referenced registration statement, each as amended as of the Effective Date for such part, including any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus and all exhibits to such registration statement.

Any reference to the “most recent Preliminary Prospectus” will be deemed to refer to the latest Preliminary Prospectus included in the Registration Statement or filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules and Regulations prior to or on the date hereof (including, for purposes of this Agreement, any documents incorporated by reference therein prior to or on the date of this Agreement). Any reference to any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus will be deemed to refer to and include any documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Form S-3 under the Securities Act as of the date of such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be. Any reference to any amendment or supplement to any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus will be deemed to refer to and include any document filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), after the date of such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be, and incorporated by reference in such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be; and any reference to any amendment to the Registration Statement will be deemed to include any annual report of the Company on Form 10-K filed with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the Effective Date that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement;

(b)    No order preventing or suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus is in effect; and no proceeding for any such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act against the Company or related to the offering has been instituted or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened by the Commission. The Company has not received from the Commission any notice objecting to the Company’s use of the form of the Registration Statement;

(c)    The Company has been, and is, a “well-known seasoned issuer” (as defined in Rule 405 of the Rules and Regulations) and has not been, and is not, an “ineligible issuer” (as defined in Rule 405 of the Rules and Regulations), in each case at all times relevant under the Securities Act in connection with the offering of the Securities;

(d)    The Registration Statement conformed on the Effective Date and conforms, and any amendment to the Registration Statement filed after the date hereof will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations. The most recent Preliminary Prospectus conforms on the date hereof, and the Prospectus, and any amendment or supplement thereto, will conform as of its date and as of the Time of Delivery, in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations. The documents incorporated by reference in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, when they became effective or were filed with the Commission, as the case may be, conformed in all material respects, to the requirements of the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the Rules and Regulations, and any further documents so filed and incorporated by reference in the Prospectus or any further amendment or supplement thereto, when such documents become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be, will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the Rules and Regulations; and no such documents have been filed with the Commission since the close of business of the Commission on the Business Day immediately prior to the date hereof;

(e)    The Registration Statement did not, as of the Effective Date, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein (which information is specified in Section 8(b) hereof);

 

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(f)    The Disclosure Package did not, as of the Applicable Time, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from the Disclosure Package in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein (which information is specified in Section 8(b) hereof);

(g)    The Prospectus, and any amendment or supplement thereto, will not, as of its date and on the Time of Delivery, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that no representation or warranty is made as to information contained in or omitted from the Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company through the Representatives by or on behalf of any Underwriter specifically for inclusion therein (which information is specified in Section 8(b) hereof);

(h)    The documents incorporated by reference in any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus did not, and any further documents incorporated by reference therein will not, when filed with the Commission, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

(i)    The financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries and the related notes thereto included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, as applicable, and present fairly in all material respects of the consolidated financial position of the Company and its subsidiaries as of the dates indicated and the results of their operations and the changes in their cash flows for the periods specified; the financial statements of any other business or entity and its consolidated subsidiaries (if any) and the related notes thereto included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and present fairly in all material respects the consolidated (if applicable) financial position of such entity or business, as the case may be, and its subsidiaries (if any) as of the dates indicated and the results of its or their, as the case may be, operations and the changes in its or their, as the case may be, cash flows for the periods specified; and all such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods covered thereby, and all supporting schedules to such financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement fairly present in all material respects the information required to be stated therein. Any pro forma financial statements and related notes included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, as applicable, present fairly in all material respects the information shown therein, have been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines with respect to pro forma financial statements and have been properly compiled on the bases described therein, and the assumptions used in the preparation thereof are reasonable and the adjustments used therein are appropriate to give effect to the transactions and circumstances referred to therein;

 

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(j)    Since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, except as otherwise stated therein, (i) there has not been any change in the capital stock (other than the issuance of shares of capital stock upon exercise of stock options issued under, and the grant of options and awards under, equity incentive plans described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the issuance of Securities pursuant to this Agreement) or short-term debt or long-term debt (except for borrowings and the repayment of borrowings in the ordinary course of business) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, set aside for payment, paid or made by the Company on any class of capital stock (other than regularly scheduled cash dividends in amounts that are consistent with past practice), or any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the business, properties, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity, results of operations or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; (ii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has entered into any transaction or agreement (whether or not in the ordinary course of business) that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; and (iii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sustained any loss or interference with its business that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole and that is either from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor disturbance or dispute or any action, order or decree of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority;

(k)    The Company and its subsidiaries have been duly organized and are validly existing and in good standing under the laws of their respective jurisdictions of organization, are duly qualified to do business and are in good standing in each jurisdiction in which their respective ownership or lease of property or the conduct of their respective businesses requires such qualification, and have all power and authority necessary to own or hold their respective properties and to conduct the businesses in which they are engaged, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing or have such power or authority would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the business, properties, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity, results of operations or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or on the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement (a “Material Adverse Effect”);

(l)    Western Alliance Bank (the “Bank”) has been duly chartered and holds the requisite authority from its chartering state bank regulatory authority to do business as a state-chartered bank under the laws of its chartering jurisdiction), has corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus and is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not result in a Material Adverse Effect; the activities of the Company’s subsidiaries are permitted of subsidiaries of a bank holding company under applicable law and the rules and regulations of the Federal Reserve Board (the “Federal Reserve”) set forth in Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations; the activities of the Bank are permitted under the laws and regulations of its jurisdiction of organization and the deposit accounts in the Bank are insured up to the applicable limits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”); except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of each such subsidiary has been duly authorized and validly issued, is fully paid and non-assessable and is owned by the Company, directly or through subsidiaries, free and clear of any security interest, mortgage, pledge, lien, encumbrance, claim or equity; none of the outstanding shares of capital stock of any subsidiary was issued in violation of the preemptive or similar rights of any security holder of such subsidiary;

 

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(m)    BW Real Estate, Inc. is organized and carries on its business so as to enable it to qualify as a “real estate investment trust” (a “REIT”) under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), and no transaction or other event has occurred or is expected to occur that would be reasonably likely to cause BW Real Estate, Inc. to not qualify as a REIT for its current taxable year or for future taxable years;

(n)    The Company is a registered bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. Each of the Company and its subsidiaries is in compliance in all material respects with all laws administered by, and all rules and regulations of the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions, as applicable, and any other federal or state bank regulatory authority with jurisdiction over the Company or any subsidiary (collectively, “Bank Regulatory Authorities”), except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus; and, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor the Bank is a party to any written agreement or memorandum of understanding, whether public or confidential, with, or a party to any commitment letter or similar undertaking to, or is subject to any order or directive by, or is a recipient of any extraordinary supervisory letter from, or has adopted any board of director resolutions at the request of, any Bank Regulatory Authority, nor have any of them been advised by any Bank Regulatory Authority that it is contemplating issuing or requesting (or is considering the appropriateness of issuing or requesting) any such order, decree, agreement, memorandum of understanding, extraordinary supervisory letter, commitment letter or similar submission, whether public or confidential, or any such board of director resolutions. Neither the Company nor the Bank has received any written communication during the last twenty four months from any governmental entity asserting that the Company or the Bank is not in compliance with any statute, law, rule, regulation, decision, directive or order except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. No proceeding for the termination or revocation of insurance by the FDIC of the deposits held by the Bank is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened;

(o)    Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company and its subsidiaries conduct their respective businesses in compliance in all material respects with all federal, state, local and foreign statutes, laws, rules, regulations, decisions, directives and orders applicable to them (including, without limitation, all applicable regulations and orders of, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Community Reinvestment Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, all other applicable fair lending laws or other laws relating to discrimination, the Bank Secrecy Act, Title III of the USA Patriot Act, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency);

(p)    Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Bank is not currently prohibited, directly or indirectly, from (i) paying any dividends to the Company without prior approval, which payment would otherwise be payable under federal or state banking laws or regulations, (ii) making any other distribution on the Bank’s capital stock, (iii) repaying to the Company any loans or advances to the Bank from the Company or (iv) transferring any of the Bank’s property or assets to the Company or any other subsidiary of the Company;

(q)    The Company does not own or control, directly or indirectly, any corporation, association or other entity other than the subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 to the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement (other than (i) any corporations, associations or other entities that, in the aggregate, do not constitute a “significant subsidiary” as defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X and (ii) AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC);

 

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(r)    The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus; all the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and were not issued in violation of any preemptive or similar rights; except as described in or expressly contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, there are no outstanding rights (including, without limitation, pre-emptive or similar rights), warrants or options to acquire, or instruments convertible into or exchangeable for, any shares of capital stock or other equity interests of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, nor any contracts, commitments, agreements, understandings or arrangements of any kind relating to the issuance of any capital stock or other equity interest of the Company or any such subsidiary, any such convertible or exchangeable securities or any such rights, warrants or options; and the capital stock of the Company and the Company’s charter and by-laws conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof contained in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus; and all the outstanding shares of capital stock or other equity interests of each subsidiary owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of any lien, charge, encumbrance, security interest, restriction on voting or transfer or any other claim of any third party;

(s)    With respect to the stock options (the “Stock Options”) granted pursuant to the stock-based compensation plans of the Company and its subsidiaries (the “Company Stock Plans”), (i) each Stock Option intended to qualify as an “incentive stock option” under Section 422 of the Code, so qualifies, (ii) each grant of a Stock Option was duly authorized no later than the date on which the grant of such Stock Option was by its terms to be effective (the “Grant Date”) by all necessary corporate action, including, as applicable, approval by the board of directors of the Company (or a duly constituted and authorized committee thereof) and any required stockholder approval by the necessary number of votes or written consents, and the award agreement governing such grant (if any) was duly executed and delivered by each party thereto, (iii) each such grant was made in accordance with the terms of the Company Stock Plans, the Exchange Act and all other applicable laws and regulatory rules or requirements, including the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and any other exchange on which Company securities are traded, and (iv) each such grant was properly accounted for in accordance with GAAP in the financial statements (including the related notes) of the Company and disclosed in the Company’s filings with the Commission in accordance with the Exchange Act and all other applicable laws. The Company has not knowingly granted, and there is no and has been no policy or practice of the Company of granting, Stock Options prior to, or otherwise coordinating the grant of Stock Options with, the release or other public announcement of material information regarding the Company or its subsidiaries or their results of operations or prospects;

(t)    The Certificate of Designations conforms in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus;

(u)    The Preferred Stock has been duly authorized by the Company and, when issued and delivered and paid for as provided herein and in the Deposit Agreement, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and will have the rights set forth in the Certificate of Designations; the Depositary Shares have been duly authorized by the Company and, when issued and delivered and paid for and when the Depositary Receipts have been duly executed and delivered by the Depositary as provided herein and in the Deposit Agreement, will be duly and validly issued and will be entitled to the rights under, and the benefits of, the Deposit Agreement; all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of the Securities has been validly and sufficiently taken; and the Securities conform, or will conform, in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus;

 

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(v)    The Certificate of Designations, the proposed form of which has been furnished to you, will have been duly filed with the Secretary of State of Delaware, on or before the Time of Delivery;

(w)    This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company;

(x)    Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is (i) in violation of its charter or by-laws or other Organizational Documents (as defined below); (ii) in default, and no event has occurred that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such a default, in the due performance or observance of any term, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject; or (iii) in violation of any law or statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above, for any such default or violation that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. As used herein, the term “Organizational Documents” means, (i) with respect to a corporation, its charter and by-laws, (ii) with respect to a limited or general partnership, its partnership agreement and certificate of partnership (or similar document), (iii) with respect to a limited liability company, its limited liability company agreement and certificate of limited liability company (or similar document), and (iv) with respect to any other entity, its similar organizational documents;

(y)    The Deposit Agreement has been duly authorized and, when duly executed and delivered by the Company and the Depositary, will constitute a valid and legally binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, subject to bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equitable principles;

(z)    The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the Deposit Agreement, the issuance and sale of the Securities, the execution and filing of the Certificate of Designations, the compliance by the Company with the terms hereof and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby will not: (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries pursuant to, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or by-laws or other Organizational Documents (including the Certificate of Designations) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or (iii) result in the violation of any law or statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except, in the case of clauses (i) and (iii) above, for any such conflicts, breaches, violations or defaults that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

(aa)    No consent, approval, authorization, order, license, registration or qualification of or with any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority is required for the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement or the Deposit Agreement, the execution and filing of the Certificate of Designations, the issuance and sale of the Securities, compliance by the Company with the terms of this Agreement or the Deposit Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Deposit Agreement, except the filing of the Certificate of Designations, except as have been made or obtained prior to the Time of Delivery, except as

 

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may be required by and made in accordance with or obtained under state securities laws or regulations in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters, and except for any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or any documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein as may be required by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act from time to time, and except for such filings as NYSE may require from time to time;

(bb)    Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, there are no legal, governmental or regulatory investigations, actions, suits or proceedings pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is or may be a party or to which any property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is or may be the subject that, individually or in the aggregate, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; no such investigations, actions, suits or proceedings are , to the knowledge of the Company, threatened or contemplated by any governmental or regulatory authority or threatened by others; and (i) there are no current or pending legal, governmental or regulatory actions, suits or proceedings that are required under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act to be described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or any document incorporated by reference therein that are not so described as required and (ii) there are no statutes, regulations or contracts or other documents that are required under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or any document incorporated by reference therein or described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or any document incorporated by reference therein that are not so filed as exhibits or so described as required;

(cc)    RSM US LLP, whose report on the consolidated financial statements of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries is included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries within the applicable rules and regulations adopted by the Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and as required by the Securities Act. Ernst & Young LLP, which has expressed its opinion with respect to certain of the financial statements of AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC (“AmeriHome”) included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, is an independent auditor with respect to AmeriHome, within the applicable rules and regulations adopted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

(dd)    Except as otherwise set forth in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple (in the case of real property) to, or have valid and marketable rights to lease or otherwise use, all items of real and personal property and assets that are material to the respective businesses of the Company and its subsidiaries, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, claims and defects and imperfections of title except those that (i) do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its subsidiaries and (ii) could not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect;

(ee)    The Company and its subsidiaries own or possess adequate rights to use all material patents, patent applications, trademarks, service marks, trade names, trademark registrations, service mark registrations, copyrights, licenses and know-how (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures) necessary for the conduct of their respective businesses as currently conducted and as proposed to be conducted, and the conduct of their respective businesses will not conflict in any material respect with any such rights of others. The Company and its subsidiaries have not received any notice of any claim of infringement, misappropriation or conflict with any such rights of others in connection with its patents, patent rights, licenses, inventions, trademarks, service marks, trade names, copyrights and know-how, which could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect;

 

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(ff)    No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the one hand, and the directors, officers, stockholders, customers or suppliers of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the other, that is required by the Securities Act to be described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus and that is not so described in such documents;

(gg)    The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the net proceeds thereof as described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, the Company will not be required to register as an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (collectively, the “Investment Company Act”) or an entity “controlled” by an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act;

(hh)    Except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries have paid all federal, state, local and foreign taxes and filed all tax returns required to be paid or filed; and except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, there is no material tax deficiency that has been, or could reasonably be expected to be, asserted against the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties or assets;

(ii)    The Company and its subsidiaries possess all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations issued by, and have made all declarations and filings with, the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory authorities that are necessary for the ownership or lease of their respective properties or the conduct of their respective businesses as described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, except where the failure to possess or make the same would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; and except as described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received notice of any revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, permit or authorization or has any reason to believe that any such license, certificate, permit or authorization will not be renewed in the ordinary course;

(jj)    No labor disturbance by or dispute with employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is contemplated or threatened, and the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by, or dispute with, the employees of any of its or its subsidiaries’ principal suppliers, contractors or customers, except as would not have a Material Adverse Effect;

(kk)    (i) The Company and its subsidiaries (a) are in compliance with any and all applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules, regulations, requirements, decisions, judgments, decrees, orders and the common law relating to pollution or the protection of the environment, natural resources or human health or safety, including those relating to the generation, storage, treatment, use, handling, transportation, Release (as defined below) or threat of Release of Hazardous Materials (as defined below) (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (b) have received and are in compliance with all permits, licenses, certificates or other authorizations or approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses, (c) have not received notice of any actual or potential liability under or relating to, or actual or potential violation of, any Environmental Laws, including for the investigation or remediation of any Release or threat of Release of Hazardous Materials, and have no knowledge of any event or condition that would reasonably be expected to result in any such

 

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notice, (d) are not conducting or paying for, in whole or in part, any investigation, remediation or other corrective action pursuant to any Environmental Law at any location, and (e) are not a party to any order, decree or agreement that imposes any obligation or liability under any Environmental Law, and (ii) there are no costs or liabilities associated with Environmental Laws of or relating to the Company or its subsidiaries, except in the case of each of (i) and (ii) above, for any such matters, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and (iii) except as described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, (a) there are no proceedings that are pending, or that are known to be contemplated, against the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any Environmental Laws in which a governmental entity is also a party, other than such proceedings regarding which it is reasonably believed no monetary sanctions of $100,000 or more will be imposed, (b) the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any facts or issues regarding compliance with Environmental Laws, or liabilities or other obligations under Environmental Laws, including the Release or threat of Release of Hazardous Materials, that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, and (c) none of the Company and its subsidiaries anticipates material capital expenditures relating to any Environmental Laws;

(ll)    There has been no storage, generation, transportation, use, handling, treatment, Release or threat of Release of Hazardous Materials by, relating to or caused by the Company or any of its subsidiaries (or, to the knowledge of the Company and its subsidiaries, any other entity (including any predecessor) for whose acts or omissions the Company or any of its subsidiaries is or could reasonably be expected to be liable) at, on, under or from any property or facility now or previously owned, operated or leased by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or at, on, under or from any other property or facility, in violation of any Environmental Laws or in a manner or amount or to a location that could reasonably be expected to result in any liability under any Environmental Law, except for any violation or liability which would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. “Hazardous Materials” means any material, chemical, substance, waste, pollutant, contaminant, compound, mixture, or constituent thereof, in any form or amount, including petroleum (including crude oil or any fraction thereof) and petroleum products, natural gas liquids, asbestos and asbestos containing materials, naturally occurring radioactive materials, brine, and drilling mud, regulated or which can give rise to liability under any Environmental Law. “Release” means any spilling, leaking, seepage, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, disposing, depositing, dispersing, or migrating in, into or through the environment, or in, into from or through any building or structure;

(mm)    (i) Each employee benefit plan, within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), for which the Company or any member of its “Controlled Group” (defined as any organization which is a member of a controlled group of corporations within the meaning of Section 414 of the Code) would have any liability (each, a “Plan”) has been maintained in compliance with its terms and the requirements of any applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations, including but not limited to ERISA and the Code, except for noncompliance that could not reasonably be expected to result in material liability to the Company or its subsidiaries taken as a whole; (ii) no prohibited transaction, within the meaning of Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, has occurred with respect to any Plan excluding transactions effected pursuant to a statutory or administrative exemption that could reasonably be expected to result in a material liability to the Company or its subsidiaries taken as a whole; (iii) for each Plan that is subject to the funding rules of Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA, the minimum funding standard of Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA, as applicable, has been satisfied (without taking into account any waiver thereof or extension of any amortization period) and is reasonably expected to be satisfied in the future (without taking into account any waiver thereof or extension of any amortization period); (iv) the fair market value of the assets of each Plan exceeds the present value of all benefits accrued under such Plan (determined based on those assumptions used to fund such Plan); (v) no “reportable event” (within the

 

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meaning of Section 4043(c) of ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur that either has resulted, or could reasonably be expected to result, in material liability to the Company or its subsidiaries taken as a whole; (vi) neither the Company nor any member of the Controlled Group has incurred, nor reasonably expects to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA (other than contributions to the Plan or premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”), in the ordinary course and without default) in respect of a Plan (including a “multiemployer plan”, within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA); and (vii) there is no pending audit or investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the PBGC or any other governmental agency or any foreign regulatory agency with respect to any Plan that could reasonably be expected to result in material liability to the Company or its subsidiaries taken as a whole. None of the following events has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur: (x) a material increase in the aggregate amount of contributions required to be made to all Plans by the Company or its subsidiaries in the current fiscal year of the Company and its subsidiaries compared to the amount of such contributions made in the Company and its subsidiaries’ most recently completed fiscal year; or (y) a material increase in the Company and its subsidiaries’ “accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations” (within the meaning of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 106) compared to the amount of such obligations in the Company and its subsidiaries’ most recently completed fiscal year;

(nn)    The Company and its subsidiaries maintain an effective system of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Exchange Act) that complies with the requirements of the Exchange Act and that has been designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The Company and its subsidiaries have carried out evaluations of the effectiveness of their disclosure controls and procedures as required by Rule 13a-15 of the Exchange Act, and as of December 31, 2018 and as of the last day of each of the Company’s fiscal quarters ended thereafter, such disclosure controls and procedures were effective to perform the functions for which they were established;

(oo)    The Company and its subsidiaries maintain systems of “internal control over financial reporting” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act and have been designed by, or under the supervision of, their respective principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, including, but not limited to, internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences and (v) interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (“XBRL Data”) included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and is prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto. Based on the Company’s most recent evaluation of its internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Rule 13a-15(c) of the Exchange Act, there are no material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. The Company’s auditors and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company have been advised of: (i) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which have adversely affected or are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (ii) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting;

 

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(pp)    The Registration Statement and the documents incorporated by reference therein include and incorporate by reference all XBRL Data required to be included therein; and the XBRL Data included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement or the documents incorporated by reference therein fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto;

(qq)    The Company and its subsidiaries have insurance covering their respective properties, operations, personnel and businesses, including business interruption insurance, which insurance is in amounts and insures against such losses and risks as are reasonably adequate to protect the Company and its subsidiaries and their respective businesses; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has (i) received notice from any insurer or agent of such insurer that capital improvements or other expenditures are required or necessary to be made in order to continue such insurance or (ii) any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage at reasonable cost from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business;

(rr)    Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor any director or officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any non-officer employee, agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries has (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity; (ii) made or taken an act in furtherance of an offer, promise or authorization of any direct or indirect unlawful payment or benefit to any foreign or domestic government official or employee, including of any government-owned or controlled entity or of a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, or any political party or party official or candidate for political office; (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or any applicable law or regulation implementing the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, or committed an offence under the Bribery Act 2010 of the United Kingdom or any other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption law; or (iv) made, offered, agreed, requested or taken an act in furtherance of any unlawful bribe or other unlawful benefit, including, without limitation, any rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful or improper payment or benefit. The Company and its subsidiaries have instituted, maintain and enforce, and will continue to maintain and enforce policies and procedures designed to promote and ensure compliance with all applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws;

(ss)    The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the applicable money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions where the Company or any of its subsidiaries conducts business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Anti-Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened;

(tt)    Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, directors or officers, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any non-officer employee, agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is currently the subject or the target of any

 

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sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. government, (including, without limitation, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”) or the U.S. Department of State and including, without limitation, the designation as a “specially designated national” or “blocked person”), the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”), the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury (“HMT”) or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), nor is the Company, any of its subsidiaries located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or target of Sanctions, including, without limitation, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria (each, a “Sanctioned Country”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Securities hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity (i) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business with any person that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject or target of Sanctions, (ii) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business in any Sanctioned Country or (iii) in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction, whether as agent, underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions. For the past five years, the Company and its subsidiaries have not knowingly engaged in and are not now knowingly engaged in any dealings or transactions with any person that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject or the target of Sanctions or with any Sanctioned Country;

(uu)    No subsidiary of the Company is currently prohibited, directly or indirectly, under any agreement or other instrument to which it is a party or is subject, from paying any dividends to the Company, from making any other distribution on such subsidiary’s capital stock, from repaying to the Company any loans or advances to such subsidiary from the Company or from transferring any of such subsidiary’s properties or assets to the Company or any other subsidiary of the Company;

(vv)    Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding with any person (other than this Agreement) that would give rise to a valid claim against the Company or any of its subsidiaries or the Underwriters for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities;

(ww)    No person has the right to require the Company or any of its subsidiaries to register any securities for sale under the Securities Act by reason of the filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission or the offering, issuance or sale of the Securities;

(xx)    Neither the Company nor any subsidiary or affiliate of the Company has taken nor will the Company or any subsidiary or affiliate of the Company take, directly or indirectly, any action which is designed to or which would reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Securities;

(yy)    The application of the proceeds received by the Company from the offering of the Securities as described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus will not violate Regulation T, U or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any other regulation of such Board of Governors;

(zz)    The Company is in compliance, in all material respects, with all applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications;

(aaa)    No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith;

 

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(bbb)    Nothing has come to the attention of the Company that has caused the Company to believe that the statistical and market-related data included in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus is not based on or derived from sources that are reliable and accurate in all material respects;

(ccc)    The Company has filed a preliminary listing application and all required supporting documents available as of the date hereof with the NYSE with respect to the Securities, and the Company has received no information stating that the Securities will not be authorized for trading, subject to official notice of issuance and evidence of satisfactory distribution.

(ddd)    The Company and its subsidiaries’ information technology assets and equipment, computers, systems, networks, hardware, software, websites, applications, and databases (collectively, “IT Systems”) are adequate for, and operate and perform in all material respects as required in connection with the operation of the business of the Company and its subsidiaries as currently conducted, free and clear of all material bugs, errors, defects, Trojan horses, time bombs, malware and other corruptants. The Company and its subsidiaries have implemented and maintained commercially reasonable controls, policies, procedures, and safeguards to maintain and protect their material confidential information and the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of all IT Systems and data (including all personal, personally identifiable, sensitive, confidential or regulated data (“Personal Data”)) used in connection with their businesses, and there have been no breaches, violations, outages or unauthorized uses of or accesses to same, except for those that have been remedied without material cost or liability or the duty to notify any other person, nor any incidents under internal review or investigations relating to the same. The Company and its subsidiaries are presently in material compliance with all applicable laws or statutes and all judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, internal policies and contractual obligations relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Personal Data and to the protection of such IT Systems and Personal Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification; and

(eee)    Any certificate signed by any officer, general partner, managing member or other authorized representative of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company and delivered to the Underwriters or to counsel to the Underwriters pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to the Underwriters as to the matters covered thereby.

2.    Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of $0.3750 per Depositary Share for the 11,460,000 Depositary Shares sold to institutional investors and $0.7875 per Depositary Share for the 540,000 Depositary Shares sold to retail investors, the number of Depositary Shares set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto.

3.    (a) The Company will deliver the Depositary Shares to the Representatives, against payment by the Representatives of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same day) funds to an account designated by the Company, by causing the Depositary to register the Depositary Shares in global book entry form in the name of Cede & Co., or such other nominee as The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) may designate, and shall cause DTC to credit the Depositary Shares to the accounts of the Representatives at DTC. The Company will cause the receipt representing the Depositary Shares to be issued in book-entry form to be made available to the Representatives for checking at least twenty-four hours prior to the Time of Delivery (as defined below) at the office of DTC or its designated custodian (the “Designated Office”). The time and date of such delivery and payment with respect to the Depositary Shares, shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on September 22, 2021 or such other time and date as the Representatives and the Company may agree upon in writing. Such time and date for delivery of the Depositary Shares is herein called the “Time of Delivery”; and

 

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(b)    The documents to be delivered at the Time of Delivery by or on behalf of the parties hereto pursuant to Section 7 hereof, including the cross-receipt for the Depositary Shares and any additional documents requested by the Representatives pursuant to Section 5(a)(vii) hereof, will be delivered, and the Depositary Shares will be delivered, all at the Time of Delivery. An in-person or telephonic meeting will be held on the New York Business Day next preceding the Time of Delivery, at which meeting the final drafts of the documents to be delivered pursuant to the preceding sentence will be available for review by the parties hereto. For the purposes of this Section 3, “New York Business Day” shall mean each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which is not a day on which banking institutions in New York are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.

4.    The Company agrees with the Underwriters that:

(a)    The Company (i) will prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by the Representatives and file the Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules and Regulations within the time period prescribed by such Rule; (ii) will not file any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or file any document under the Exchange Act before the termination of the offering of the Securities by the Underwriters if such document would be deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Prospectus, which filing is not consented to by the Representatives after reasonable notice thereof (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed); (iii) will advise the Representatives, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been filed and will furnish the Representatives with copies thereof; (iv) will prepare the Final Term Sheet, substantially in the form of Schedule III hereto and approved by the Representatives and file the Final Term Sheet pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules and Regulations within the time period prescribed by such Rule; (v) will advise the Representatives promptly after it receives notice of the issuance by the Commission or any state or other regulatory body of any stop order or any order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, suspending or preventing the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or suspending the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act, of receipt by the Company from the Commission of any notice of objection to the use of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or for additional information; and (vi) will use its best efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop order or other such order or any such notice of objection and, if a stop order or other such order is issued or any such notice of objection is received, to obtain as soon as possible the lifting or withdrawal thereof;

(b)    The Company will prepare and file with the Commission, promptly upon the request of the Representatives, any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus which, in the opinion of the Representatives, may be necessary or advisable in connection with the offering of the Securities;

(c)    The Company will furnish to each of the Representatives and to counsel for the Underwriters such number of conformed copies of the Registration Statement, as originally filed and each amendment thereto (excluding exhibits other than this Agreement), any Preliminary Prospectus, the Final Term Sheet and any other Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the Prospectus and all amendments and supplements to any of such documents (including any document filed under the Exchange Act and deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus), in each case as soon as available and in such quantities as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request;

 

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(d)    During the period in which the Prospectus relating to the Securities (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Rules and Regulations) is required to be delivered under the Securities Act, the Company will comply with all requirements imposed upon it by the Securities Act and by the Rules and Regulations, as from time to time in force, so far as is necessary to permit the continuance of sales of or dealings in the Securities as contemplated by the provisions of this Agreement and by the Prospectus. If during such period any event occurs as a result of which the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then existing, not misleading, or if during such period it is necessary to amend the Registration Statement or amend or supplement the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or file any document to comply with the Securities Act, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives and will, subject to Section 4(a) hereof, amend the Registration Statement, amend or supplement the Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, as the case may be, or file any document (in each case, at the expense of the Company) so as to correct such statement or omission or to effect such compliance, and will furnish without charge to each Underwriter as many written and electronic copies of any such amendment or supplement as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request;

(e)    As soon as practicable, but in any event not later than sixteen months after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) under the Securities Act), the Company will make generally available to its security holders and the Underwriters an earnings statement satisfying the requirements of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 of the Rules and Regulations;

(f)    Promptly from time to time to take such action as the Representatives may reasonably request to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives may request and to comply with such laws so as to permit the continuance of sales and dealings therein in such jurisdictions for as long as may be necessary to complete the distribution of the Securities, provided that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction; provided, further, that the Company shall not be obligated to pay any of the fees specified in Section 5(iii) below that are incurred after the date that is nine months after the date of the Prospectus;

(g)    During the period beginning from the date hereof and continuing to and including 30 days after the date of the Prospectus, the Company will not, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of capital or other equity securities of the Company or any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Securities, or submit to, or file with, the Commission any registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any of the foregoing (other than a registration statement on Form S-8 or post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement), or publicly announce the intention to undertake any of the foregoing, or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of capital stock or other equity securities of the Company or any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of shares of capital stock or other securities, in cash or otherwise. The foregoing sentence shall not apply to (A) Securities offered and sold under this Agreement, and (B) securities issued pursuant to any of the Company’s equity incentive plans described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus or upon the exercise of options or vesting or exercise of other awards granted thereunder;

 

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(h)    Until termination of the offering of the Securities, the Company will timely file all reports, documents and amendments to previously filed documents required to be filed by it pursuant to Section 12, 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

(i)    The Company will apply the net proceeds from the issuance, sale and delivery of the Securities as set forth in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus;

(j)    The Company will pay the required Commission filing fees relating to the Securities within the time period required by Rule 456(b)(1) of the Rules and Regulations without regard to the proviso therein and otherwise in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r) of the Rules and Regulations;

(k)    If required by Rule 430B(h) of the Rules and Regulations, the Company will prepare a prospectus in a form approved by the Representatives and file such prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules and Regulations not later than may be required by such Rule; and the Company will make no further amendment or supplement to such prospectus that will be disapproved by the Representatives promptly after reasonable notice thereof; and

(l)    The Company will make an application for and use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that the Depositary Shares are listed and admitted and authorized for trading, subject to official notice of issuance, on the NYSE within 30 days after the date of this Agreement and the Company, will use its commercially reasonable efforts to maintain such listing.

5.    The Company covenants and agrees with the Underwriters that the Company will pay or cause to be paid the following: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company’s counsel and accountants in connection with the issue of the Securities and all other expenses in connection with the preparation, printing, registration, filing and distribution of the Registration Statement (including any exhibits thereto), any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers; (ii) the cost of printing or producing this Agreement, the Securities, any Blue Sky and Legal Investment Memoranda, closing documents (including any compilations thereof) and any other documents in connection with the offering, purchase, sale and delivery of the Securities; (iii) all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Securities for offering and sale under state securities laws, including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky and legal investment surveys in any amount not to exceed $10,000; (iv) any fees charged by securities rating services for rating the Securities and the listing of the Depositary Shares on the NYSE; (v) the cost of preparing the certificates for the Securities; (vi) the cost and charges of any transfer agent or registrar and the fees and disbursements of counsel for each such transfer agent or registrar in connection with the Securities; (vii) any required review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. of the terms of the sale of the Securities (including related fees and expenses of counsel to the Underwriters) in any amount not to exceed $10,000; and (viii) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder which are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Section. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in this Section, and Sections 8 and 11 hereof, the Underwriters will pay all of their own costs and expenses, including the fees of their counsel, transfer taxes on resale of any of the Securities by them, and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.

 

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6.    (a) The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each Underwriter that (i) the Company has not made, and will not, make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus without the prior consent of the Representatives (which consent being deemed to have been given with respect to (A) the Final Term Sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 4(a) hereof and (B) any other Issuer Free Writing Prospectus identified on Schedule II hereto); (ii) each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conformed or will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations on the date of first use, and the Company has complied with any filing requirements applicable to such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus pursuant to Rule 433 of the Rules and Regulations; (iii) each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus will not, as of its issue date and through the time the Securities are delivered pursuant to Section 3 hereof, include any information that conflicts with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus; and (iv) each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, when considered together with the information contained in the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, did not, as of the Applicable Time, does not, as of the date hereof, and will not, as of the Time of Delivery, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

(b)    Each Underwriter represents and warrants to, and agrees with, the Company and each other Underwriter that it has not made, and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 of the Rules and Regulations) required to be filed with the Commission, without the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives (which consent being deemed to have been given with respect to information in the Final Term Sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 4(a) hereof).

(c)    The Company agrees that if at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus any event occurred or occurs as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus would conflict with the information in the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then prevailing, not misleading, the Company will give prompt notice thereof to the Representatives and, if requested by the Representatives, will prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or other document which will correct such conflict, statement or omission.

7.    The obligation of the Underwriters to purchase the Securities shall be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company contained herein as of the Applicable Time, the date hereof and the Time of Delivery, to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any certificates pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by each of the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions:

(a)    The Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission in a timely fashion in accordance with Section 4(a) hereof; all filings (including, without limitation, the Final Term Sheet) required by Rule 424(b) or Rule 433 of the Rules and Regulations shall have been made within the time periods prescribed by such Rules, and no such filings will have been made without the consent of the Representatives; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement thereto, preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or suspending the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction shall have been issued; no proceedings for the issuance of any such order shall have been initiated or threatened pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act; no notice of objection of the Commission to use the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto shall have been received by the Company; and any request of the Commission for additional information (to be included in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or otherwise) shall have been disclosed to the Representatives and complied with to the Representatives’ satisfaction.

 

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(b)    No Underwriter shall have been advised by the Company, or shall have discovered and disclosed to the Company, that the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto contains an untrue statement of fact which, in the opinion of the Representatives or of counsel to the Underwriters, is material, or omits to state any fact which, in the opinion of the Representatives or of counsel to the Underwriters, is material and is required to be stated therein or is necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

(c)    Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives at the Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, their written opinion (including certain negative assurances) addressed to the Underwriters dated as of the Time of Delivery.

(d)    Randall S. Theisen, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Company, shall have furnished to the Representatives at the Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, his written opinion addressed to the Underwriters dated as of the Time of Delivery.

(e)    The Representatives shall have received at the Time of Delivery an opinion and disclosure letter of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, addressed to the Underwriters and dated as of the Time of Delivery, with respect to such matters as the Representatives may reasonably require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they may reasonably request for the purposes of enabling them to pass upon such matters.

(f)    On the date hereof and at the Time of Delivery, the Representatives shall have received comfort letters from RSM US LLP and Ernst & Young LLP, independent public accountants, each addressed to the Underwriters and dated the date hereof and the Time of Delivery, respectively, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives.

(g)    Prior to the Time of Delivery, the Company shall have furnished to the Representatives such further information, certificates and documents as the Representatives may reasonably request.

(h)    Since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, except as otherwise stated therein, (i) there has not been any change in the capital stock (other than the issuance of shares of capital stock upon exercise of stock options issued under, and the grant of options and awards under, equity incentive plans described in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the issuance of Securities pursuant to this Agreement) or short-term debt or long-term debt (except for borrowings and the repayment of borrowings in the ordinary course of business) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, set aside for payment, paid or made by the Company on any class of capital stock (other than regularly scheduled cash dividends in amounts that are consistent with past practice), or any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the business, properties, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity, results of operations or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; (ii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has entered into any transaction or agreement (whether or not in the ordinary course of business) that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and its

 

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subsidiaries taken as a whole; and (iii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sustained any loss or interference with its business that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole and that is either from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor disturbance or dispute or any action, order or decree of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority.

(i)    On or after the date hereof (A) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded any debt securities or preferred equity securities of or guaranteed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization”, as such term is defined by the Commission for purposes of Section 3(a)(62) of the Exchange Act and (B) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, or has changed its outlook with respect to, its rating of any debt securities or preferred equity securities of or guaranteed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries (other than an announcement with positive implications of a possible upgrading) in each case that has not been described in any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus issued prior to the Time of Delivery.

(j)    On or after the date hereof, there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) trading in securities generally on NASDAQ, the New York Stock Exchange or the American Stock Exchange or in the over-the-counter market, or trading in any securities of the Company on any exchange or in the over-the-counter market, shall have been suspended or the settlement of such trading generally shall have been materially disrupted or minimum prices shall have been established on the NYSE or such market by the Commission, by such exchange or by any other regulatory body or governmental authority having jurisdiction, (ii) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities that are listed on the NYSE, (iii) a banking moratorium shall have been declared by Federal or New York State or Delaware authorities or a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States, (iv) the United States shall have become engaged in hostilities, there shall have been an escalation in hostilities involving the United States, there shall have been a declaration of a national emergency or war by the United States, there shall have occurred any other substantial, national or international calamity or crisis, or there shall have occurred such a material adverse change in general domestic or international economic, political or financial conditions, including without limitation as a result of terrorist activities, or the effect of international conditions on the financial markets in the United States shall be such, as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offering or delivery of the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus.

(k)    The Company shall have furnished to the Representatives a certificate of the Company signed by the Chairman of the Board, the President or an Executive Vice President of the Company and by the principal accounting or financial officer of the Company, dated as of the Time of Delivery, as to (i) the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company herein at and as of the Time of Delivery, (ii) the performance by the Company of all of its obligations hereunder to be performed at or prior to the Time of Delivery, (iii) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued, no proceedings for any such purpose have been initiated or, to the knowledge of such officers, threatened; and the Company has not received from the Commission any notice objecting to the Company’s use of the form of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto; (iv) all filings required by Rule 424(b) or Rule 433 of the Rules and Regulations have been made within the time periods prescribed by such Rules; (v) the signers of such certificate have carefully examined the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, and any amendments or supplements thereto (including any documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference into the most recent Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus), and, in their opinion, the Registration Statement as of the Effective Date, the Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time, and the Prospectus, as of its date, did not and, on the Time of

 

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Delivery, do not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; (vi) since the initial Effective Date of the Registration Statement, there has occurred no event required to be set forth in an amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus which has not been so set forth and there has been no document required to be filed under the Securities Act and the Rules and Regulations or the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder that upon such filing would be deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement, the most recent Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus that has not been so filed; and (vii) as to such other matters as the Representatives may reasonably request.

(l)    The Certificate of Designation shall have been duly filed with the Secretary of State of Delaware and with all other offices where such filing is required to be made on or prior to the Time of Delivery.

8.    (a) The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, their affiliates, directors and officers and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities, joint or several (including, without limitation, reasonable out of pocket legal fees and other expenses incurred in connection with any suit, action or proceeding or any claim asserted, as such fees and expenses are incurred), that arise out of, or are based upon, (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto) or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, not misleading or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Preliminary Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act or any road show as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act (a “road show”), or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, in each case except insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to the Underwriters furnished to the Company in writing by the Underwriters expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by the Underwriters consists of the information described as such in subsection (b) below.

(b)    Each Underwriter severally, but not jointly, agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act to the same extent as the indemnity set forth in paragraph (a) above, but only with respect to any losses, claims, damages or liabilities that arise out of, or are based upon, any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to the Underwriters furnished to the Company in writing by the Underwriters expressly for use in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), the Preliminary Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), or any road show, it being understood and agreed upon that such information shall consist solely of the following: the names of the Underwriters appearing on the front and back covers of the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the names of the Underwriters appearing in the first paragraph under the heading “Underwriting” in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, the names set forth in the table following the first paragraph under the heading “Underwriting” in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus and the first two sentences of the fourth paragraph under the heading “Underwriting” in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus.

 

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(c)    If any suit, action, proceeding (including any governmental or regulatory investigation), claim or demand shall be brought or asserted against any person in respect of which indemnification may be sought pursuant to either Section 8(a) or 8(b) above, such person (the “Indemnified Person”) shall promptly notify the person against whom such indemnification may be sought (the “Indemnifying Person”) in writing; provided that the failure to notify the Indemnifying Person shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have under this Section 8 except to the extent that it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided, further, that the failure to notify the Indemnifying Person shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an Indemnified Person otherwise than under this Section 8. If any such proceeding shall be brought or asserted against an Indemnified Person and it shall have notified the Indemnifying Person thereof, the Indemnifying Person shall retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Person (who shall not, without the consent of the Indemnified Person, be counsel to the Indemnifying Person) to represent the Indemnified Person and any others entitled to indemnification pursuant to this Section 8 that the Indemnifying Person may designate in such proceeding and shall pay the fees and expenses of such counsel related to such proceeding, as incurred. In any such proceeding, any Indemnified Person shall have the right to retain its own counsel), but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Indemnified Person unless (i) the Indemnifying Person and the Indemnified Person shall have mutually agreed to the contrary; (ii) the Indemnifying Person has failed within a reasonable time to retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Indemnified Person; (iii) the Indemnified Person shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to it that are different from or in addition to those available to the Indemnifying Person; or (iv) the named parties in any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) included both the Indemnifying Person and the Indemnified Person and representation of both parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them. It is understood and agreed that the Indemnifying Person shall not, in connection with any proceeding or related proceeding in the same jurisdiction, be liable for the reasonable fees and expenses of more than one separate firm (in addition to any local counsel) for (A) the Underwriters and their affiliates, directors and officers and their control persons, if any, or (B) the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and its control persons, if any, as the case may be, and that all such reasonable fees and expenses shall be paid or reimbursed as they are incurred. Any such separate firm for the Underwriters and their affiliates, directors and officers and their control persons, if any, shall be designated in writing by the Underwriters, and any such separate firm for the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and its control persons, if any, shall be designated in writing by the Company. The Indemnifying Person shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent or if there be a final judgment for the plaintiff, the Indemnifying Person agrees to indemnify each Indemnified Person from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement or judgment. No Indemnifying Person shall, without the written consent of the Indemnified Person, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened proceeding in respect of which any Indemnified Person is or could have been a party and indemnification is or could have been sought hereunder by such Indemnified Person, unless such settlement (x) includes an unconditional release of such Indemnified Person, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to such Indemnified Person, from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such proceeding and (y) does not include any statement as to or any admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any Indemnified Person. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an Indemnified Person shall have requested an Indemnifying Person to reimburse the Indemnified Person for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by this Section 8(c), the Indemnifying Person agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 30 days after receipt by such Indemnifying Person of the aforesaid request and (ii) such Indemnifying Person shall not have reimbursed the Indemnified Person in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement.

 

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(d)    If the indemnification provided for in Sections 8(a) and 8(b) above is unavailable to an Indemnified Person or insufficient in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to therein, then each Indemnifying Person under such Sections, in lieu of indemnifying such Indemnified Person thereunder, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such Indemnified Person as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, from the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) but also the relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the net proceeds (before deducting expenses) received by the Company from the sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters in connection therewith bear to the total gross proceeds from the offering of the Securities under this Agreement. The relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company, on the one hand, or by the Underwriters, on the other hand, and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission.

(e)    The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 8 were determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in Section 8(d) above. The amount paid or payable by Indemnified Person as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to in Section 8(d) above shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth above, any legal or other expenses incurred by such Indemnified Person in connection with any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 8, in no event shall the Underwriters be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters with respect to the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations in this Section 8(e) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint.

(f)    The remedies provided for in this Section 8 are not exclusive and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available to any Indemnified Person at law or in equity.

9.    (a) If any Underwriter defaults in its obligation to purchase the number of the Depositary Shares which it has agreed to purchase under this Agreement, the non-defaulting Underwriters will be obligated to purchase (in the respective proportions which the number of the Depositary Shares set forth opposite the name of each non-defaulting Underwriter in Schedule I hereto bears to the total number of the Depositary Shares less the number of the Depositary Shares the defaulting Underwriter agreed to purchase set forth in Schedule I hereto) the number of the Depositary Shares which the defaulting Underwriter agreed but failed to purchase; except that the non-defaulting Underwriters will not be obligated to purchase any of the Depositary Shares if the total number of the Depositary Shares which the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase exceed 9.09% of the total number of the Depositary Shares, and any non-defaulting Underwriters will not be obligated to purchase more than

 

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110% of the number of the Depositary Shares set forth opposite its name in Schedule I hereto. If the foregoing maximums are exceeded, the non-defaulting Underwriters, and any other underwriters satisfactory to the Representatives who so agree, will have the right, but will not be obligated, to purchase (in such proportions as may be agreed upon among them) all of the Depositary Shares. If the non-defaulting Underwriters or the other underwriters satisfactory to the Underwriters do not elect to purchase the Depositary Shares that the defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase within 36 hours after such default, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of 36 hours within which to procure another party or parties satisfactory to the non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase the Depositary Shares on the terms contained herein. If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Depositary Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the non-defaulting Underwriters and the Company, the aggregate principal amount of Depositary Shares which remains unpurchased exceeds 9.09% of the total number of the Depositary Shares, or if the Company shall not exercise the right described above to require non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase Depositary Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters, this Agreement will terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except for the expenses to be borne by the Company and the Underwriters as provided in Section 5 hereof and the indemnity and contribution agreements of the Company and the Underwriters contained in Section 8 of this Agreement. As used in this Agreement, the term “Underwriter” includes any person substituted for an Underwriter pursuant to this Section 9.

(b)    If the non-defaulting Underwriters or the other underwriters satisfactory to the Representatives are obligated or agree to purchase the Depositary Shares of a defaulting Underwriter, the Representatives may postpone the Time of Delivery for up to seven full Business Days in order that the Company may effect any changes that may be necessary in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or in any other document or agreement, and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendments or any supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus which, in the opinion of the Representatives, may thereby be made necessary.

(c)    Nothing contained herein will relieve a defaulting Underwriter of any liability it may have for damages caused by its default.

10.    The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder may be terminated by the Representatives on behalf of the Underwriters by notice given to and received by the Company prior to delivery of and payment for the Securities if, prior to that time, any of the events described under Sections 7(h), 7(i) or 7(j) shall have occurred or if the Underwriters shall decline to purchase the Securities for any reason permitted by this Agreement.

11.    If (a) the Company shall fail to tender the Depositary Shares for delivery to the Underwriters for any reason or (b) the Underwriters shall decline to purchase the Depositary Shares for any reason permitted by this Agreement, the Company shall reimburse the Underwriters for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses (including fees and disbursements of counsel) incurred by the Underwriters in connection with this Agreement and the proposed purchase of the Depositary Shares, and upon demand the Company shall pay the full amount thereof to the Representatives. The Company shall not be obligated to reimburse the Underwriters for such expenses if the Underwriters terminate this Agreement solely under Section 9.

12.    All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and if to the several Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, 1585 Broadway, 29th Floor, New York, New York 10036, Phone: (212) 761-6691, Fax: (212) 507-8999, Attention: Investment Banking Division, with a copy to the Legal Department; BofA Securities, Inc., 1540 Broadway, NY8-540-26-02, New York, New York 10036,

 

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Fax: (646) 855-5958, Attn: High Grade Transaction Management/Legal; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, Attention: Investment Grade Syndicate Desk – 3rd Floor (Fax: (212) 834-6081); and Piper Sandler & Co., 1251 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10022, Attention: General Counsel; and if to the Company shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission to Western Alliance Bancorporation, One East Washington Street, Suite 1400, Phoenix, Arizona 85004, Attn: Chief Financial Officer, with copies to (A) Western Alliance Bancorporation, One East Washington Street, Suite 1400, Phoenix, Arizona 85004, Attn: General Counsel and (B) Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, 401 9th St., NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20004, Attn: Gregory Parisi, Esq. (email: gregory.parisi@troutman.com). Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect upon receipt thereof.

13.    The Company acknowledges that the Underwriters’ research analysts and research departments are required to be independent from their respective investment banking divisions and are subject to certain regulations and internal policies, and that such Underwriters’ research analysts may hold views and make statements or investment recommendations and/or publish research reports with respect to the Company and/or the offering of the Securities that differ from the views of their respective investment banking divisions. The Company acknowledges that each of the Underwriters is a full service securities firm and as such from time to time, subject to applicable securities laws, may effect transactions for its own account or the account of its customers and hold long or short positions in debt or equity securities of the companies that may be the subject of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

14.    The Company acknowledges and agrees that in connection with the offering and the sale of the Securities or any other services the Underwriters may be deemed to be providing hereunder, notwithstanding any preexisting relationship, advisory or otherwise, between the parties or any oral representations or assurances previously or subsequently made by the Underwriters: (i) no fiduciary or agency relationship between the Company and any other person, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, exists; (ii) the Underwriters are not acting as advisors, experts or otherwise, to the Company, including, without limitation, with respect to the determination of the public offering price of the Securities, and such relationship between the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, is entirely and solely a commercial relationship, based on arms-length negotiations; (iii) any duties and obligations that the Underwriters may have to the Company shall be limited to those duties and obligations specifically stated herein; (iv) the Underwriters and their respective affiliates may have interests that differ from those of the Company; and (v) the Company has consulted its own legal and financial advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate. The Company hereby waives any claims that the Company may have against the Underwriters with respect to any breach of fiduciary duty in connection with this offering.

15.    This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Underwriters, the Company and their respective successors. This Agreement and the terms and provisions hereof are for the sole benefit of only those persons, except that (1) the representations, warranties, indemnities and agreements of the Company contained in this Agreement shall also be deemed to be for the benefit of the officers and employees of the Underwriters and the person or persons, if any, who control the Underwriters within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act and broker-dealer affiliates (within the meaning of the Securities Act) of the Underwriters to the extent they are involved in the offer and sale of the Securities and (2) the indemnity agreement of the Underwriters contained in Section 8(b) of this Agreement shall be deemed to be for the benefit of directors, officers and employees of the Company and any person controlling the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act. Nothing in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any person, other than the persons referred to in this Section 15, any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision contained herein. No purchaser of any of the Securities from any Underwriter shall be deemed a successor or assign by reason merely of such purchase.

 

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16.    The respective indemnities, representations, warranties and agreements of the Company and the Underwriters contained in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of them, respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall survive the delivery of and payment for the Depositary Shares and shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any of them or any person controlling any of them.

17.    Time shall be of the essence of this Agreement.

18.    This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company and the Underwriters, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

19.    THIS AGREEMENT AND ANY MATTERS RELATED TO THIS TRANSACTION SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK WITHOUT REGARD TO PRINCIPLES OF CONFLICT OF LAWS THAT WOULD RESULT IN THE APPLICATION OF ANY LAW OTHER THAN THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

20.    The Company agrees that any suit or proceeding arising in respect of this Agreement or our engagement will be tried exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York or, if that court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, in any state court located in The City and County of New York and the Company agrees to submit to the jurisdiction of, and to venue in, such courts.

21.    The Company and each of the Underwriters hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

22.    In accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.

23.    (a) In the event that an Underwriter is a Covered Entity that becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

(b)    In the event that any Underwriter is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.

 

27


For purposes of this Section a “BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k). “Covered Entity” means any of the following: (i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b); (ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or (iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b). “Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable. “U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

24.    This Agreement may be executed by any one or more of the parties hereto in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such respective counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument. The words “execution,” “signed,” “signature,” “delivery,” and words of like import in or relating to this Agreement or any document to be signed in connection with this Agreement shall be deemed to include electronic signatures, deliveries or the keeping of records in electronic form, each of which shall be of the same legal effect, validity or enforceability as a manually executed signature, physical delivery thereof or the use of a paper-based recordkeeping system, as the case may be, and the parties hereto consent to conduct the transactions contemplated hereunder by electronic means.

[Remainder of page intentionally left blank]

 

28


If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please sign and return this letter to us, and upon the acceptance hereof by you this letter and such acceptance hereof shall constitute a binding agreement among the Underwriters and the Company.

 

Very truly yours,
WESTERN ALLIANCE BANCORPORATION
By:  

/s/ Dale Gibbons

  Name:   Dale Gibbons
  Title:   Chief Financial Officer

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]


Confirmed and accepted as of
the date first above mentioned
MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC
By:  

/s/ Yuri Slyz

  Name: Yuri Slyz
  Title:   Executive Director

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]


BOFA SECURITIES, INC.
By:  

/s/ Kalan MacGinley

Name:   Kalan MacGinley
Title:   Managing Director

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]


J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC
By:  

/s/ Stephen L. Sheiner

Name:   Stephen L. Sheiner
Title:   Executive Director

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]


PIPER SANDLER & CO.
By:  

/s/ Jennifer Docherty

  Name: Jennifer Docherty
  Title:   Managing Director
  As Representatives and on behalf of the several Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]


SCHEDULE I

 

Underwriter

   Number of
Depositary Shares to be
Purchased
 

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

     2,550,000  

BofA Securities, Inc.

     2,550,000  

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

     2,550,000  

Piper Sandler & Co.

     2,550,000  

D.A. Davidson & Co.

     600,000  

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

     600,000  

Jefferies LLC

     600,000  

Total

     12,000,000  


SCHEDULE II

ISSUER FREE WRITING PROSPECTUSES

Final Term Sheet, dated September 15, 2021, relating to the Securities, as filed pursuant to Rule 433 under the Securities Act and attached as Schedule III hereto.


SCHEDULE III

FINAL TERM SHEET

[See attached]


Issuer Free Writing Prospectus

Filed Pursuant to Rule 433

Registration No. 333-256120

September 15, 2021

WESTERN ALLIANCE BANCORPORATION

12,000,000 Depositary Shares

Each Representing a 1/400th Interest in a Share of 4.250% Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A

(liquidation preference $25 per Depositary Share (equivalent to $10,000 per share of Preferred Stock))

Pricing Term Sheet

This term sheet supplements the information set forth under “Description of Preferred Stock” and “Description of Depositary Shares” in the preliminary prospectus supplement, dated September 15, 2021, to the prospectus dated May 14, 2021.

 

Issuer:   Western Alliance Bancorporation (the “Issuer”)
Securities Offered:   Depositary shares (the “Depositary Shares”), each representing a 1/400th interest in a share of 4.250% Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A (the “Preferred Stock”)
Number of Depositary Shares:   12,000,000 Depositary Shares
Aggregate Liquidation Preference:   $300,000,000

No Option to Purchase Additional Depositary Shares:

  The underwriters will not have an option to purchase additional Depositary Shares.
First Reset Date:   September 30, 2026
Reset Date:   The First Reset Date and each date falling on the fifth anniversary of the preceding Reset Date.
Reset Period:   The period from, and including, the First Reset Date to, but excluding, the following Reset Date and thereafter each period from, and including, each Reset Date to, but excluding, the next following Reset Date.
Dividend Payment Dates:   If declared, dividends will be payable quarterly, in arrears, on March 30, June 30, September 30 and December 30 of each year, beginning on December 30, 2021.
Dividend Rate (Non-Cumulative):   From and including the original issue date to, but excluding, September 30, 2026 or the date of earlier redemption, 4.250% and from and including September 30, 2026, during each Reset Period, the five-year treasury rate as of the most recent reset dividend determination date (as defined in the preliminary prospectus supplement dated September 15, 2021 (the “Preliminary Prospectus Supplement”)) plus 3.452%.


Day Count:   30/360 to, but excluding, September 30, 2026, and, thereafter, a 360-day year and the number of days actually elapsed.
Term:   Perpetual
Trade Date:   September 15, 2021
Settlement Date*:   September 22, 2021 (T+5)
Optional Redemption:   The Issuer may, at its option and subject to any required regulatory approval, redeem the shares of the Preferred Stock (i) in whole or in part, from time to time, on any dividend payment date on or after the First Reset Date, or (ii) in whole but not in part at any time within 90 days following a “regulatory capital treatment event,” as described in the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, in each case at a cash redemption price equal to $10,000 per share of Preferred Stock (equivalent to $25 per Depositary Share), plus any declared and unpaid dividends, without accumulation of any undeclared dividends to but excluding the redemption date. Holders of Depositary Shares will not have the right to require the redemption or repurchase of the Depositary Shares.
Listing:   The Issuer intends to apply to list the Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “WAL PrA”. If the application is approved, trading of the Depositary Shares on NYSE is expected to commence within the 30-day period following the original issue date of the Depositary Shares.
Public Offer Price:   $25 per Depositary Share
Underwriting Discounts and Commissions:   $0.7875 per Depositary Share for Depositary Shares sold to retail investors and $0.3750 per Depositary Share for Depositary Shares sold to institutional investors.
Net Proceeds to Issuer (before offering expenses):   $295,277,250
Insider Participation:   Certain of our directors have agreed to purchase 240,000 Depositary Shares (representing an aggregate liquidation preference of $6,000,000) in this offering at the public offering price for investment purposes.
CUSIP/ISIN for the Depositary Shares:   957638 406/ US9576384062
Joint Book-Running Managers:  

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

BofA Securities, Inc.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Piper Sandler & Co.


Co-Managers:  

D.A. Davidson & Co.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Jefferies LLC

Depositary:   Jointly, Computershare Trust Company, N.A. and Computershare Inc.

 

*

The Issuer expects that delivery of the Depositary Shares will be made against payment therefor on or about September 22, 2021, which is the fifth business day following the date hereof (such settlement cycle being referred to as “T+5”). Under Rule 15c6-1 under the Exchange Act, trades in the secondary market generally are required to settle in two business days, unless the parties to the trade expressly agree otherwise. Accordingly, purchasers who wish to trade the Depositary Shares before their delivery hereunder will be required, by virtue of the fact that the Depositary Shares initially will settle in T+5, to specify an alternate settlement cycle at the time of any such trade to prevent a failed settlement. Purchasers of the Depositary Shares who wish to trade the Depositary Shares prior to their date of delivery hereunder should consult their own advisors.

The Preferred Stock and Depositary Shares are not savings accounts, deposits or other obligations of, nor are they guaranteed by, a bank and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any other government agency or instrumentality.

The Issuer has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus and preliminary prospectus supplement) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read each of these documents and the other documents the Issuer has filed with the SEC and incorporated by reference in such documents for more complete information about the issuer and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Issuer, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by contacting Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC toll free at 1-866-718-1649, BofA Securities, Inc. toll free at 1-800-294-1322, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, collect at 212-834-4533, or Piper Sandler & Co. toll free at 1-800-805-4128.