Exhibit 1.1

 

EXECUTION VERSION

 

Protective Life Corporation

 

(a Delaware corporation)

 

$150,000,000

 

Senior Notes due 2018

 

Purchase Agreement

 

December 4, 2007

 

Merrill Lynch & Co.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith
                Incorporated
Lehman Brothers Inc.

 

As representatives of the several Underwriters
                named in Schedule I(a) hereto (the “Representatives”)

 

c/o Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith
                           Incorporated

 

4 World Financial Center
New York, New York 10080

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

Protective Life Corporation, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated herein, to issue and sell to the Underwriters named in Schedule I(a) hereto (the “Underwriters”) an aggregate of $150,000,000 principal amount of the 6.40% senior notes due 2018 specified above (the “Securities”).

 

1.              The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, each of the Underwriters that:

 

(a)            A registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-121791) (the “Initial Registration Statement”) in respect of the Securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”); the Initial Registration Statement and any post effective amendment thereto, each in the form heretofore delivered to you and, excluding exhibits to the Initial Registration Statement, but including all documents incorporated by reference in the prospectus included therein, to you for each of the other Underwriters, have been declared effective by the Commission in such form; other than a registration statement, if any, increasing the size of the offering (a “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement”), filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), which became effective upon filing, no other document with respect to the Initial Registration Statement or document incorporated by reference

 

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therein has heretofore been filed, or transmitted for filing, with the Commission (other than prospectuses filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the rules and regulations of the Commission under the Act, each in the form heretofore delivered to the Representatives); and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Initial Registration Statement, any post-effective amendment thereto or any part thereof or the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, has been issued and no proceeding for that purpose has been initiated or threatened by the Commission (the base prospectus filed as part of the Initial Registration Statement, in the form in which it has most recently been filed with the Commission on or prior to the date of this Agreement relating to the Securities, is hereinafter called the “Basic Prospectus”; any preliminary prospectus (including any preliminary prospectus supplement) relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act is hereinafter called a “Preliminary Prospectus”; the various parts of the Initial Registration Statement and the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, including all exhibits thereto (but excluding Form T-1) and including any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities that is filed with the Commission and deemed by virtue of Rule 430B under the Act to be part of the Initial Registration Statement, each as amended at the time such part of the Initial Registration Statement became effective or such part of the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, if any, became or hereafter becomes effective, are hereinafter collectively called the “Registration Statement”; the Basic Prospectus, as amended and supplemented immediately prior to the Applicable Time (as defined in Section 1(c) hereof), is hereinafter called the “Pricing Prospectus”; the form of the final prospectus relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof is hereinafter called the “Prospectus”; any reference herein to the Basic Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein pursuant to Item 12 of Form S-3, as of the date of such prospectus; any reference to any amendment or supplement to the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, any prospectus supplement relating to the Securities filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act and any documents filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and incorporated therein, in each case after the date of the Basic Prospectus, such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be; any reference to any amendment to the Registration Statement shall be deemed to refer to and include any annual report of the Company filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the effective date of the Registration Statement that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement; and any “issuer free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 433 under the Act relating to the Securities is hereinafter called an “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus”);

 

(b)            No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and each Preliminary Prospectus, at the time of filing thereof, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the “Trust Indenture Act”), and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and did not

 

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contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a 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 this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by the Representatives expressly for use therein;

 

(c)            For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Applicable Time” is 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement; the Pricing Prospectus as supplemented by the final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof, taken together (collectively, the “Pricing Disclosure Package”) as of the Applicable Time, did not 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 under which they were made, not misleading; and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus listed on Schedule II(a) hereto does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus and each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time, did not 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 under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements or omissions made in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein;

 

(d)            The documents incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus and 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 Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and none of such documents contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; 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 Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein; and no such documents were filed with the Commission since the Commission’s close of business on the business day immediately prior to the date of this Agreement and prior to the execution of this Agreement, except as set forth on Schedule II(b) hereto;

 

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(e)            The Company met, at the time of effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and will meet, as of the Applicable Time, the requirements for use of Form S-3 under the Act. The Registration Statement conforms, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Trust Indenture Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and do not and will not, as of the applicable effective date as to each part of the Registration Statement and as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein;

 

(f)             The financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules and notes, present fairly the financial position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries at the dates indicated and the statements of income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries for the periods specified; said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved. The supporting schedules, if any, included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus present fairly in accordance with GAAP the information required to be started therein. The selected financial information and the summary financial information included or incorporated by reference in Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus present fairly the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent with that of the audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement. Since the respective dates as of which information is provided in the Pricing Prospectus, and except as disclosed on Schedule III hereto, there has not been (i) any material change in the capital stock or any increase in the long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries in excess of $25 million (other than the securitization of up to $1 billion of mortgage loans of Protective Life Insurance Company in a commercial mortgage-backed securities transaction), (ii) any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or (iii) any reduction in the statutory capital or surplus of the Company’s subsidiaries engaged in the business of insurance (each an “Insurance Subsidiary,” and collectively, the “Insurance Subsidiaries”), taken as a whole in excess of $30 million, other than any reduction in the statutory capital or surplus resulting from a fluctuation in the value of the assets and liabilities associated with the Company’s Market Value Adjusted Annuities for which there has not been any material reduction in the statutory capital or surplus in excess of $60 million, in each case otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus;

 

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(g)            The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be so qualified or in good standing in any such jurisdiction;

 

(h)            Each of Protective Life Insurance Company (“Protective Life”) and West Coast Life Insurance Company (“West Coast”) (each a “Material Subsidiary” and, collectively, the “Material Subsidiaries”) has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties, or conducts any business, so as to require such qualification, in any case where it could be reasonably expected that such failure to be so qualified would have a material adverse effect on the business, financial position or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as a whole;

 

(i)             Each Material Subsidiary is duly organized and licensed as an insurance company in its state of incorporation and each Material Subsidiary is duly licensed or authorized as an insurer or otherwise in each other jurisdiction where it is required to be so licensed or authorized with corporate power to conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus, except for any such jurisdiction in which the failure to be so licensed or authorized would not have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, considered as a whole; and except as otherwise specifically described in the Pricing Prospectus, neither the Company nor any Material Subsidiary has received any notification from any insurance or other regulatory authority to the effect that any additional authorization, approval, order, consent, license, certificate, permit, registration or qualification from such insurance or other regulatory authority is needed to be obtained by either of the Company or any Material Subsidiary in any case where it could be reasonably expected that the failure to obtain any such additional authorization, approval, order, consent, license, certificate, permit, registration or qualification would have a material adverse effect on the business, financial position or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries, considered as a whole;

 

(j)             The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non assessable, and conform in all material respects to the description thereof contained or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus; and all of the issued shares of capital stock of each of the Material Subsidiaries of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and

 

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issued, are fully paid and non assessable and (except for directors’ qualifying shares) are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of any perfected security interests and, to the Company’s best knowledge, any other security interests, claims, liens or encumbrances;

 

(k)            This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company. The Securities have been duly authorized and, when issued and delivered pursuant to this Agreement, will have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered and will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company entitled to the benefits provided by the senior indenture dated as of June 1, 1994 (the “Base Indenture”) between the Company and The Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A. as senior indenture trustee (the “Trustee”) as supplemented by the Supplemental Indenture No. 11 to be dated as of December 4, 2007 between the Company and the Trustee (collectively with the Base Indenture, the “Indenture”), under which they are to be issued, which is substantially in the form filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement; the Indenture has been duly authorized and duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act and the Base Indenture constitutes, and the Indenture will constitute at the Time of Delivery, a valid and legally binding instrument, enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject, as to enforcement, to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization and other laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equity principles; and the Indenture and Securities will conform to the descriptions thereof in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus;

 

(l)             The issue and sale of the Securities and the compliance by the Company with all of the provisions of the Securities, the Indenture and this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated 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, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any Material Subsidiary is a party or by which the Company or any Material Subsidiary is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any Material Subsidiary is subject, except, in all such cases, for such conflicts, breaches, violations or defaults as would not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or would not affect the validity of or otherwise have a material adverse effect on the issuance or sale of the Securities or (2) result in any violation of the provisions of (A) the Certificate of Incorporation or By-laws of the Company or any Material Subsidiary or (B) any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or insurance regulatory authority or other governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any Material Subsidiary or any of their properties; provided, however that in the case of clause (B) of this paragraph 1(l), this representation and warranty shall not extend to such violations as would not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or would not affect the validity of or otherwise have a material adverse effect on the issuance or sale of the Securities; provided further, that insofar as this representation and warranty relates to the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement or the Indenture relating to the Securities, such performance is subject to

 

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bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equity principles, and provided further that no representation or warranty is made with respect to the enforceability of Section 9 hereof; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or insurance regulatory authority or other governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any Material Subsidiary is required for the issue and sale of the Securities or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture, except such as have been, or will have been prior to the Time of Delivery, obtained under the Act and the Trust Indenture Act and such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws or insurance securities laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters and except those which, if not obtained, will not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or would not affect the validity of or otherwise have a material adverse effect on the issuance or sale of the Securities;

 

(m)           Other than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, there are no actions, suits or proceedings before or by any government, governmental instrumentality or court, domestic or foreign, now pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which any property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is the subject, which, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, would reasonably be expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, stockholders’ equity, total surplus or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole;

 

(n)            The statements set forth in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus under the caption “Description of the Senior Notes,” insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Securities, and under the caption “Underwriting,” insofar as they purport to describe the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are, or as of the date of such document, as applicable, will be, accurate, complete and fair;

 

(o)            The Company is not and, upon the issuance and sale of the Securities and the application of the net proceeds therefrom, will not be an “investment company” or an entity “controlled” by an “investment company,” as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”);

 

(p)            PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP who certified certain financial statements and supporting schedules of the Company and its subsidiaries included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, are independent public accountants as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder;

 

(q)            The Company maintains a system of internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that

 

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complies with the requirements of the Exchange Act and has been designed by the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or under their supervision, 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. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective and the Company is not aware of any material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting;

 

(r)             Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Prospectus, there has been no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;

 

(s)            The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act; such disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company and its subsidiaries is made known to the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer by others within those entities; and such disclosure controls and procedures are effective; and

 

(t)             Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation of its Certificate of Incorporation or By-laws or other charter documents or in default in the performance or observance of any material obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound which would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the financial position or results of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or an adverse effect on the offering, servicing or payment of the obligations evidenced by the Securities.

 

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 the principal amount of Securities set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter on Schedule I(a) hereto at the price set forth in Schedule I(b), plus any additional principal amount of Securities which such Underwriter may become obligated to purchase pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 hereof.

 

3.              Upon the authorization by you of the release of the Securities, the several Underwriters propose to offer the Securities for sale upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Prospectus.

 

4.              (a)            The Securities to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder will be represented by one or more definitive global Securities in book-entry form which will be deposited by or on behalf of the Company with The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its designated custodian. The Company will deliver the Securities to the Representatives, for the

 

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account of each Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified by the Company to Merrill Lynch at least forty-eight hours in advance, by causing DTC to credit the Securities to the account of the Representatives at DTC. The Company will cause the certificates representing the Securities to be made available to Merrill Lynch 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 shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on December 10, 2007 or such other time and date as the Representatives and the Company may agree upon in writing. Such time and date are herein called the “Time of Delivery.”

 

(b)            The documents to be delivered at the Time of Delivery by or on behalf of the parties hereto pursuant to Section 8 hereof, including the cross-receipt for the Securities and any additional documents requested by the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8(k) hereof, will be delivered at the offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, Four Times Square, New York, New York 10036 (the “Closing Location”), and the Securities will be delivered at the Designated Office, all at the Time of Delivery. A meeting will be held at the Closing Location at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, 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 4, “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 City are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.

 

5.              The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters:

 

(a)            To prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by you and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act not later than the Commission’s close of business on the second business day following the date of this Agreement or such earlier time as may be required under the Act; to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus or the Prospectus prior to the Time of Delivery which shall be reasonably disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus has been filed and to furnish you with copies thereof; to prepare a final term sheet, containing solely a description of the Securities, in a form approved by you and to file such term sheet pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act within the time required by such Rule; to file promptly all other material required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act; to file promptly all reports and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date of the Prospectus and for so long as the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the

 

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Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus in respect of the Securities, of the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus or suspending any such qualification, to promptly use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal of such order;

 

(b)            Promptly from time to time to take such action as you may reasonably request to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as you 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; and provided further that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction for a period in excess of nine months after the initial time of issue of the Prospectus;

 

(c)            If by the third anniversary (the “Renewal Deadline”) of the initial effective date of the Registration Statement, any of the Securities remain unsold by the Underwriters, the Company will file, if it has not already done so and is eligible to do so, a new shelf registration statement relating to the Securities, in a form satisfactory to you, and will use its best efforts to cause such registration statement to be declared effective within 180 days after the Renewal Deadline. The Company will take all other action necessary or appropriate to permit the public offering and sale of the Securities to continue as contemplated in the expired registration statement relating to the Securities. References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such new automatic shelf registration statement or such new shelf registration statement, as the case may be;

 

(d)            Prior to 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement to furnish the Underwriters with electronic copies, and from time to time after such New York Business Day with written and electronic copies, of the Prospectus in New York City in such quantities as you may reasonably request, and, if the delivery of a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is required at any time prior to the expiration of nine months after the time of issue of the Prospectus in connection with the offering or sale of the Securities and if at such time any event shall have occurred as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an 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 under which they were made when such Prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary during such same period to amend or supplement the Prospectus or to file under the Exchange Act any

 

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document incorporated by reference in the Prospectus in order to comply with the Act, the Exchange Act or the Trust Indenture Act, to notify you and upon your request to file such document and to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many written and electronic copies as you may from time to time reasonably request of an amended Prospectus or a supplement to the Prospectus which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and in case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Act) in connection with sales of any of the Securities at any time nine months or more after the time of issue of the Prospectus, upon your request but at the expense of such Underwriter, to prepare and deliver to such Underwriter as many written and electronic copies as you may request of an amended or supplemented Prospectus complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;

 

(e)            To make generally available to its security holders 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 Act), an earnings statement of the Company and its subsidiaries (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (including, at the option of the Company, Rule 158);

 

(f)             During the period beginning from the date hereof and continuing to and including the date 30 days after the date of the Prospectus, not to offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise dispose, except as provided hereunder or unless it has obtained the prior written consent of the Representatives, of any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Securities;

 

(g)            If the Company elects to rely upon Rule 462(b), the Company shall file a Rule 462(b) Registration Statement with the Commission in compliance with Rule 462(b) by 10:00 p.m., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement, and the Company shall at the time of filing either pay the Commission the filing fee for the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement or give irrevocable instructions for the payment of such fee pursuant to Rule 111(b) under the Act;

 

(h)            Upon request of any Underwriter, to furnish, or cause to be furnished, to such Underwriter an electronic version of the Company’s trademarks, servicemarks and corporate logo for use on the website, if any, operated by such Underwriter for the purpose of facilitating the on-line offering of the Securities (the “License”); provided, however, that the License shall be used solely for the purpose described above, is granted without any fee and may not be assigned or transferred; and

 

(i)             To use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Securities in the manner specified in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds.”

 

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6.              (a)            The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters that, unless it has obtained or will obtain the prior written consent of the Representatives, and each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, agrees with the Company and the Representatives that, unless it has obtained or will obtain, as the case may be, the prior written consent of the Company, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or that would otherwise constitute a free writing prospectus required to be filed by the Company with the Commission or retained by the Company under Rule 433, other than the information contained in any final term sheet prepared and filed pursuant to Section 5(a) hereof or, with respect to each of the Underwriters, one or more term sheets relating to the Securities containing customary information and conveyed to purchasers of the Securities. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by the Representatives and the Company is hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus.”  The Company agrees that (i) it has treated and will treat, as the case may be, each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and (ii) the Company has complied and will comply, as the case may be, with the requirements of Rules 164 and 433 under the Act applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including in respect of timely filing with the Commission, legending and record keeping.

 

(b)            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 Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or would include an 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 Merrill Lynch 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; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions in an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing to the Company by an Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein.

 

7.              The Company covenants and agrees with the several 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 registration of the Securities under the Act and all other expenses in connection with the preparation, printing, reproduction and filing of the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and amendments and supplements thereto and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers; (ii) the cost of printing or producing any Agreement among Underwriters, this Agreement, the Indenture, any Blue Sky Memorandum, 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 as provided in Section 5(b) hereof, including the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky survey(s); (iv) any fees charged by securities rating services (including, without

 

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limitation, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, A.M. Best Company, Inc. and Fitch Inc.) for rating the Securities; (v) any filing fees incident to, and the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with, any required reviews by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority of the terms of the sale of the Securities; (vi) any filing fees incident to, and the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with, any reviews by any state insurance agency or the National Association of Insurance Commissioners of the terms of the sale of the Securities; (vii) the cost of preparing certificates for the Securities; (viii) the cost and charges of any transfer agent or registrar; (ix) the fees and expenses of the Trustee and any agent of the Trustee and the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Trustee in connection with the Indenture and the Securities; and (x) 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 7, and Sections 9 and 12 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.

 

8.              The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder shall be subject, in their discretion, to the condition that all representations and warranties and other statements of the Company herein are, at and as of the Time of Delivery, true and correct, the condition that the Company shall have performed all of its obligations hereunder theretofore to be performed, and the following additional conditions:

 

(a)            The Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Act within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by the rules and regulations under the Act and in accordance with Section 5(a) hereof; the final term sheet contemplated by Section 5(a) hereof, and any other material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act shall have been filed with the Commission within the applicable time period prescribed for such filings by Rule 433; if the Company has elected to rely upon Rule 462(b) under the Act, the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement shall have become effective by 10:00 p.m., Washington, D.C. time, on the date of this Agreement; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; no stop order suspending or preventing the use of the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to your reasonable satisfaction;

 

(b)            Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to you such written opinion or opinions, dated the Time of Delivery, with respect to the validity, issuance and sale of the Securities, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package as well as such other related matters as the Representatives may reasonably request, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;

 

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(c)            Deborah J. Long, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Company, or any successor having substantially equivalent responsibilities with the Company, shall have furnished to you such counsel’s written opinion, dated the Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, to the effect that:

 

(i)             The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with corporate power and authority to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties, or conducts any business, so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be so qualified in any such jurisdiction;

 

(ii)            The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Prospectus, and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and conform in all material respects to the description thereof in the Prospectus; and all of the issued shares of capital stock of each of the Material Subsidiaries have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and (except for directors’ qualifying shares) are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of any perfected security interests and, to such counsel’s best knowledge, any other security interests, claims, liens or encumbrances;

 

(iii)           The documents incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus or any further amendment or supplement thereto made by the Company prior to the Time of Delivery (other than the financial statements and related notes, the financial statement schedules and other financial data included or incorporated by reference therein as to which such counsel need express no opinion), when they became effective or were filed with the Commission, as the case may be, complied as to form in all material respects with the requirements of the Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder; and such counsel has no reason to believe that any of such documents, when such documents become effective or were so filed, as the case may be, contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading;

 

(iv)           The issue and sale of the Securities and the compliance by the Company with all of the provisions of the Securities, the Indenture and this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein and therein contemplated 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, any contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument known to such counsel to 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

 

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subject, except, in all such cases, for such conflicts, breaches, violations or defaults as would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the financial condition of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole and would not have a material adverse effect on the issuance or sale of the Securities, or (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of (A) the Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or (B) any statute known to such counsel to be applicable to the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties, or any order, rule or regulation known to such counsel of any court or insurance regulatory authority or other governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties, except, with respect to clause (B) of this paragraph (iv), such violations as would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or would not affect the validity of or otherwise have a material adverse effect on the issuance or sale of the Securities; and except that for purposes of this paragraph (iv) such counsel need not express any opinion as to any violation of any federal or state securities laws or Blue Sky or insurance securities laws; provided further, that insofar as performance by the Company of its obligations under the Indenture and this Agreement is concerned, such counsel need not express any opinion as to bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws relating to or affecting creditors’ rights generally and as to general equity principles;

 

(v)            No consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any court or insurance regulatory authority or other governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries is required for the issue and sale of the Securities or the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, the Securities or the Indenture, except such as have been, or will have been obtained under the Act, the Trust Indenture Act and such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, registrations or qualifications as may be required under the state securities or Blue Sky laws or insurance securities laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Securities by the Underwriters, and except those which, if not obtained, would not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; and

 

(vi)           There are no actions, suits or proceedings before or by any government, governmental instrumentality or court, domestic or foreign, now pending or, to the best of such counsel’s knowledge, threatened, to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is the subject of a character required under the Federal securities laws to be disclosed in the Registration Statement or Prospectus which are not adequately disclosed in the Registration Statement or Prospectus.

 

In rendering the opinion required under this Section 8(c), (i) such counsel may state that she is admitted to the Bar of the State of Alabama only, and (ii) such counsel may rely (A) as to

 

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any matter to which you consent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), to the extent specified in such opinion, upon the opinions (copies of which shall have been provided to the Representatives) of other counsel in good standing whom such counsel believes to be reliable, provided that such counsel shall state that she believes that both she and the Representatives are justified in relying on such opinions and (B) as to matters of fact, upon certificates of officers and representatives of the Company and of public officials (copies of which shall have been provided to the Representatives), provided that such counsel shall state that she believes that both she and the Representatives are justified in relying upon such certificates.

 

Such counsel shall also have stated that, while she has not herself checked the accuracy or completeness of or otherwise verified, and is not passing upon and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of, the statements contained in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, in the course of her review and discussion of the contents of the Registration Statement and Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto with certain officers and employees of the Company and its independent accountants, but without independent check or verification, no facts have come to her attention that would cause her to believe that:

 

(i)             the Registration Statement, as of such effective date, or any amendment or supplement thereto made prior to the Time of Delivery contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading;

 

(ii)            the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or

 

(iii)           the Prospectus, as of the date of the Prospectus or as of the Time of Delivery, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

 

(in each case other than as to the financial statements or other financial data derived from accounting records contained in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Pricing Disclosure Package, or as to the report of management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting or the auditors’ attestation report thereon, or as to the statement of the eligibility and qualification of the Trustee under the Indenture).

 

(d)            Nancy Kane, Esq., Senior Associate Counsel of the Company, or other counsel for the Company satisfactory to the Representatives, shall have furnished to you her written opinion, dated the Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you, to the effect that:

 

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(i)             the Indenture has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the parties thereto and duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act; the Securities have been duly authorized, executed, authenticated, issued and delivered, and are entitled to the benefits provided by the Indenture; and the Indenture and the Securities constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company enforceable in accordance with their terms, subject to bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equity principles;

 

(ii)            this Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company;

 

(iii)           the statements set forth under the captions “Description of the Senior Notes” and “Underwriting” in the final prospectus supplement, dated the date of this Agreement, included in the Prospectus, insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Indenture, the Securities and this Agreement, are accurate in all material respects; and

 

(iv)           the Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Prospectus, will not be on the date hereof an “investment company” as defined in the investment Company Act of 1940.

 

In rendering the opinion required under this Section 8(d), such counsel may recite that their opinion is limited to Federal laws of the United States, the laws of the State of New York and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, and such counsel expresses no opinion as to the effect of the laws of any other jurisdiction. Such counsel shall also have stated that, while she has not herself checked the accuracy or completeness of or otherwise verified, and is not passing upon and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of, the statements contained in the Registration Statement and Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, in the course of her review and discussion of the contents of the Registration Statement and Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto with certain officers and employees of the Company and its independent accountants, but without independent check or verification, no facts have come to her attention that would cause her to believe that:

 

(i)             the Registration Statement, as of such effective date, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading;

 

(ii)            the Pricing Disclosure Package as of the Applicable Time contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or

 

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(iii)           the Prospectus, as of the date of the Prospectus or as of the Time of Delivery, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

 

(in each case other than as to the financial statements or other financial data derived from accounting records contained in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Pricing Disclosure Package, or as to the report of management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting or the auditors’ attestation report thereon, or as to the statement of the eligibility and qualification of the Trustee under the Indenture);

 

(e)            On the date of the Prospectus at a time prior to the execution of this Agreement; at 9:30 a.m. New York City time on the effective date of any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement filed subsequent to the date of this Agreement; and also at the Time of Delivery, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP shall have furnished to you a letter or letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof, in form and substance satisfactory to you, to the effect set forth in Annex I hereto (the executed copy of the letter delivered prior to the execution of this Agreement is attached as Annex I(a) hereto and a form of letter to be delivered on the effective date of any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement, and as of the Time of Delivery is attached as Annex I(b) hereto);

 

(f)             (i)  Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries shall have sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Prospectus any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, and (ii) since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Pricing Prospectus there shall not have been any change in the capital stock or long term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its subsidiaries or reduction in the statutory capital or surplus of the Insurance Subsidiaries, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii), is in your judgment so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus;

 

(g)            On or after the Applicable Time (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded the Company’s debt securities or the Company’s, Protective Life’s or West Coast’s financial strength or claims paying ability by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization,” as that term is defined by the Commission for purposes of Rule 436(g)(2) under the Act, and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, with possible negative implications, its rating of any of the Company’s debt securities or the Company’s, Protective Life’s or West Coast’s financial strength or claims paying ability;

 

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(h)            On or after the Applicable Time there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) a suspension or material limitation in trading in securities generally on the New York Stock Exchange; (ii) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities on the New York Stock Exchange; (iii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities declared by either Federal or New York State authorities or a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States; (iv) the outbreak or escalation of hostilities involving the United States or the declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war or (v) the occurrence of any other calamity or crisis or any change in financial, political or economic conditions in the United States or elsewhere; if the effect of any such event specified in clauses (iv) or (v) in your judgment makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus;

 

(i)             The Company shall have complied with the provisions of Section 5(c) hereof with respect to the furnishing of prospectuses on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement; and

 

(j)             The Company shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to you at the Time of Delivery certificates of officers of the Company satisfactory to you as to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company herein at and as of such Time of Delivery, as to the performance by the Company of all of its obligations hereunder to be performed at or prior to such Time of Delivery, as to the matters set forth in subsections (a) and (f) of this Section and as to such other matters as you may reasonably request.

 

9.              (a)            The Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter its affiliates, as such term is defined in Rule 501(b) under the 1933 Act (each, an “Affiliate”), its selling agents and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act against any and all losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, including, subject to subsection (c) below, any amounts paid in settlement of any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, insofar as such losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any “issuer information” filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and will reimburse each Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter in connection with investigating, preparing or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in the Registration Statement, the Basic

 

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Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein.

 

(b)            Each Underwriter will indemnify and hold harmless the Company against any and all losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities to which the Company may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through Merrill Lynch expressly for use therein; and will reimburse the Company for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Company in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred.

 

(c)            Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under such subsection, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have to any indemnified party otherwise than under such subsection. In case any such action shall be brought against any indemnified party and it shall notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it shall wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel satisfactory to such indemnified party (who shall not, except with the consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying party), and, after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party under such subsection for any legal expenses of other counsel or any other expenses, in each case subsequently incurred by such indemnified party, in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation. No indemnifying party shall, without the written consent of the indemnified party, effect the settlement or compromise of, or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to, any pending or threatened action or claim in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified party is an actual or potential party to such action or claim) unless such settlement, compromise or judgment (i) includes an unconditional

 

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release of the indemnified party from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (ii) does not include any statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

 

(d)            If the indemnification provided for in this Section 9 is unavailable for any reason to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above in respect of any losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) 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. If, however, the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is not permitted by applicable law or if the indemnified party failed to give the notice required under subsection (c) above, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to such amount paid or payable by such indemnified party in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits 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 which resulted in such losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof), 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 proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus. The relative fault 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 the Underwriters on the other and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this subsection (d) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this subsection (d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages, expenses or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to above in this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d), no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which 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 Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

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The Underwriters’ obligations in this subsection (d) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint.

 

(e)            The obligations of the Company under this Section 9 shall be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each broker-dealer affiliate of any Underwriter; and the obligations of the Underwriters under this Section 9 shall be in addition to any liability which the respective Underwriters may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each officer and director of the Company (including any person who, with his or her consent, is named in the Registration Statement as about to become a director of the Company) and to each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of the Act.

 

(f)             For purposes of this Section 9, each person, if any, who controls an Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act and each Underwriter’s Affiliates and selling agents shall have the same rights to contribution as such Underwriter, and each director of the Company, each officer of the Company who signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company.

 

10.            (a)            If any Underwriter shall default in its obligation to purchase the Securities which it has agreed to purchase hereunder, you may in your discretion arrange for you or another party or other parties to purchase such Securities on the terms contained herein. If within thirty-six hours after such default by any Underwriter you do not arrange for the purchase of such Securities, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of thirty-six hours within which to procure another party or other parties satisfactory to you to purchase such Securities on such terms. In the event that, within the respective prescribed periods, you notify the Company that you have so arranged for the purchase of such Securities, or the Company notifies you that it has so arranged for the purchase of such Securities, you or the Company shall have the right to postpone the Time of Delivery for a period of not more than seven days, in order to effect whatever changes may thereby be made necessary in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any other documents or arrangements, and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus which in your opinion may thereby be made necessary. The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall include any person substituted under this Section with like effect as if such person had originally been a party to this Agreement with respect to such Securities.

 

(b)            If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate principal amount of such Securities which remains unpurchased does not exceed one eleventh of the aggregate principal amount of all the Securities, then the Company shall have the right to require each non defaulting Underwriter to purchase the principal amount of shares which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder and, in addition, to require each non defaulting Underwriter to

 

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purchase its pro rata share (based on the principal amount of Securities which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder) of the Securities of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

 

(c)            If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate principal amount of such Securities which remains unpurchased exceeds one eleventh of the aggregate principal amount of all the Securities, or if the Company shall not exercise the right described in subsection (b) above to require non defaulting Underwriters to purchase Securities of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters, then this Agreement shall thereupon 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 7 hereof and the indemnity and contribution agreements in Section 9 hereof; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

 

11.            The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company and the several Underwriters, as set forth in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of them, respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation (or any statement as to the results thereof) made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or any controlling person of any Underwriter, or the Company, or any officer or director or controlling person of the Company, and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Securities.

 

12.            If this Agreement shall be terminated pursuant to Section 10 hereof, the Company shall not then be under any liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 7 and 9 hereof; but, if for any other reason, the Securities are not delivered by or on behalf of the Company as provided herein, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters through you for all out of pocket expenses approved in writing by you, including fees and disbursements of counsel, reasonably incurred by the Underwriters in making preparations for the purchase, sale and delivery of the Securities, but the Company shall then be under no further liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 7 and 9 hereof.

 

13.            In all dealings hereunder, you shall act on behalf of each of the Underwriters, and the parties hereto shall be entitled to act and rely upon any statement, request, notice or agreement on behalf of any Underwriter made or given by you.

 

All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to you as the Representative in care of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, 4 World Financial Center, New York, New York 10080, Attention: Legal Department and Lehman Brothers Inc., 745 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019, Attention: Debt Capital Markets, Financial Institutions Group (with a copy to the General Counsel at the same address) and if to the Company shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to the address of the Company set forth in the Registration Statement, Attention: Secretary; provided, however, that

 

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any notice to an Underwriter pursuant to Section 9(c) hereof shall be delivered or sent by mail, telex or facsimile transmission to such Underwriter at its address set forth in its Underwriters’ Questionnaire, or telex constituting such Questionnaire, which address will be supplied to the Company by you upon request. Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect upon receipt thereof.

 

14.            This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure solely to the benefit of, the Underwriters, the Company and, to the extent provided in Sections 9 and 11 hereof, the officers and directors of the Company and each person who controls the Company or any Underwriter, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, and no other person shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement. No purchaser of any of the Securities from any Underwriter shall be deemed a successor or assign by reason merely of such purchase.

 

15.            Time shall be of the essence of this Agreement. As used herein, the term “business day” shall mean any day when the Commission’s office in Washington, D.C. is open for business.

 

16.            The Company acknowledges and agrees that (i) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other, (ii) in connection therewith and with the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is acting solely as a principal and not the agent or fiduciary of the Company, (iii) no Underwriter has assumed an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to the offering contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters) or any other obligation to the Company except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement and (iv) the Company has consulted its own legal and financial advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate. The Company agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters, or any of them, has rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owes a fiduciary or similar duty to the Company, in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto.

 

17.            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.

 

18.            This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to the conflicts of laws provisions thereof.

 

19.            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.

 

20.            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 counterparts shall together constitute one and the same instrument.

 

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21.            Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the parties (and each employee, representative, or other agent of the parties) may disclose to any and all persons, without limitation of any kind, the tax treatment and any facts that may be relevant to the tax structure of the transaction, provided, however, that no party (and no employee, representative, or other agent thereof) shall disclose any other information that is not relevant to understanding the tax treatment and tax structure of the transaction (including the identity of any party and any information that could lead another to determine the identity of any party), or any other information to the extent that such disclosure could reasonably result in a violation of any applicable securities law.

 

25

 

If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please sign and return to us six counterparts hereof, and upon the acceptance hereof by you, on behalf of each of the Underwriters, this letter and such acceptance hereof shall constitute a binding agreement between each of the Underwriters and the Company. It is understood that your acceptance of this letter on behalf of each of the Underwriters is pursuant to the authority set forth in a form of Agreement among Underwriters, the form of which shall be submitted to the Company for examination upon request, but without warranty on your part as to the authority of the signers thereof.

 

 

	Very truly yours,
	Protective Life Corporation
	By:
		Name:
		Title:

 

Accepted as of the date hereof:

 

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith

Incorporated

 

Lehman Brothers Inc.

On behalf of themselves and as representatives of

the several Underwriters named in Schedule I(a) hereto

 

By: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith
Incorporated
By:
By: Lehman Brothers Inc.
By:

 

 

[Signature Page to Underwriting Agreement]

 

 

SCHEDULE I(a)

 

Underwriter		Principal Amount of Securities to be Purchased
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated		$	75,000,000
Lehman Brothers Inc		60,000,000
ProEquities, Inc		15,000,000
Total		$	150,000,000

 

Schedule I(a)-1

 

SCHEDULE I(b)

 

1.              The initial public offering price of the Securities shall be 99.945% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued interest, if any, from the date of issuance.

 

2.              The purchase price to be paid by the Underwriters for the Securities shall be 99.295% of the principal amount thereof.

 

3.              The interest rate on the Securities shall be 6.40% per annum.

 

4.              See Final Term Sheet attached hereto.

 

Schedule I(b)-1

 

SCHEDULE II

 

(a)            Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses not included in the Pricing Disclosure Package:

 

None

 

(b)            Additional Documents Incorporated by Reference:

 

None

 

Schedule II-1

 

SCHEDULE III

 

Schedule III-1

 

ANNEX I(a)

 

FORM OF COMFORT LETTER

 

Annex 1(a)-1

 

ANNEX I(b)

 

FORM OF BRING-DOWN COMFORT LETTER

 

Annex 1(b)-1