UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
20549
Form
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
DATE
OF REPORT (DATE OF EARLIEST EVENT REPORTED): March 30, 2010
Lincoln Educational Services
Corporation
(Exact
Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
New
Jersey
(State
or other jurisdiction
of
incorporation)
|
000-51371
(Commission
File Number)
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57-1150621
(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
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200
Executive Drive, Suite 340
West
Orange, New Jersey 07052
(Address
of principal executive offices)
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07052
(Zip
Code)
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Registrant’s telephone number,
including area code: (973) 736-9340
Not
Applicable
(Former name or former address, if
changed since last report)
Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions:
o
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Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425) |
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o
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Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12) |
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o
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Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b)) |
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o
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Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c)) |
On March 30, 2010, Lincoln Educational
Services Corporation (the “Company”) and Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. (the
“Selling Shareholder”) entered into a purchase agreement (the “Purchase
Agreement”) with Barclays Capital Inc. (the “Underwriter”), relating to the sale
by the Selling Shareholder to the Underwriter of 3,000,000 shares (the
“Shares”) of the Company’s common stock at a purchase price of $25.15 per share
(the public offering price of $25.50 per share minus the Underwriter’s
discount). The closing of the sale of the Shares occurred on April 6,
2010.
The foregoing description of the
Purchase Agreement is only a summary and is qualified in its entirety by
reference to a copy of the Purchase Agreement, which is attached hereto as
Exhibit 1.1
Item
9.01
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Financial Statements
and Exhibits
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1.1
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Purchase
Agreement, dated March 30, 2010, among the Company, Back to School
Acquisition, L.L.C. and Barclays Capital
Inc.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto
duly authorized.
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LINCOLN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
CORPORATION |
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Date: April
6, 2010 |
By: |
/s/
Cesar Ribeiro |
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Name: |
Cesar Ribeiro |
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Title: |
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial
Officer
and Treasurer
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EXHIBIT
INDEX
Exhibit
No.
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Description
of Document
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1.1
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Purchase
Agreement, dated March 30, 2010, among the Company, Back to School
Acquisition, L.L.C. and Barclays Capital
Inc.
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Exhibit
1.1
EXECUTION
VERSION
LINCOLN
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES CORPORATION
(a New
Jersey corporation)
3,000,000
Shares of Common Stock
PURCHASE
AGREEMENT
Dated: March
30, 2010
LINCOLN
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES CORPORATION
(a New
Jersey corporation)
3,000,000
Shares of Common Stock
(No Par
Value Per Share)
PURCHASE
AGREEMENT
March 30,
2010
BARCLAYS
CAPITAL INC.
745
Seventh Avenue
New York,
NY 10019
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation, a New Jersey corporation (the “Company”) and
Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. (the “Selling Shareholder”), confirm their
respective agreements with Barclays Capital Inc. (the “Underwriter”) with
respect to the sale by the Selling Shareholder and the purchase by the
Underwriter of the number of shares of common stock, no par value per share, of
the Company (the “Common Stock”) set forth in Schedules A and B
hereto. The aforesaid 3,000,000 shares of Common Stock to be
purchased by the Underwriter are hereinafter called the
“Securities.”
The
Company and the Selling Shareholder understand that the Underwriter proposes to
make a public offering of the Securities as soon as the Underwriter deems
advisable after this Agreement has been executed and delivered.
The
Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”)
a registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-152854), including a prospectus,
covering the registration of the Securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the “1933 Act”). Such registration statement, in the form in
which it became effective, as amended through the Applicable Time (as defined
below), including all documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by
reference therein through the Applicable Time, and including the information, if
any, deemed pursuant to Rule 430A, 430B or 430C under the 1933 Act to be part of
the registration statement at the time of its effectiveness (“Rule 430
Information”), is herein referred to as the “Registration
Statement”. Any registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b)
of the 1933 Act Regulations is herein referred to as the “Rule 462(b)
Registration Statement,” and after such filing the term “Registration Statement”
shall include the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement.
The
Company has prepared and filed with the Commission a preliminary prospectus
supplement dated March 30, 2010 relating to the Securities. The term
“Preliminary Prospectus” means such preliminary prospectus supplement together
with the prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the time it became
effective, and all documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated therein
by reference. Promptly after execution and delivery of this
Agreement, the Company will prepare and file a final prospectus supplement
relating to the Securities in accordance with the provisions of Rule 424(b)
(“Rule 424(b)”) of the rules and regulations of the Commission under the 1933
Act (the “1933 Act Regulations”). Such final prospectus supplement in
the form first furnished to the Underwriter for use in connection with the
offering of the Securities, together with the prospectus included in the
Registration
Statement
at the time it became effective and all documents incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated by reference therein, is herein referred to as the
“Prospectus.” For purposes of this Agreement, all references to the
Registration Statement, Preliminary Prospectus, Prospectus or any amendment or
supplement to any of the foregoing shall be deemed to include the copy filed
with the Commission pursuant to its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and
Retrieval system (“EDGAR”).
All
references in this Agreement to financial statements and schedules and other
information which is “contained,” “included” or “stated” in the Registration
Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus (or other references of
like import) shall be deemed to mean and include all such financial statements
and schedules and other information which is incorporated by reference in or
otherwise deemed by the 1933 Act Regulations to be a part of or included in the
Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the
case may be; and all references in this Agreement to amendments or supplements
to the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus
shall be deemed to mean and include the filing after the date hereof and prior
to the completion of the offering of the Securities of any document under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), which is
incorporated by reference in or otherwise deemed by the 1933 Act Regulations to
be a part of or included in the Registration Statement, Preliminary Prospectus
or Prospectus, as the case may be.
SECTION
1. Representations and
Warranties.
(a) Representations and Warranties by the
Company. The Company represents and warrants to the
Underwriter as of the date hereof, the Applicable Time referred to in Section
1(a)(ii) hereof and as of the Closing Time referred to in Section 2(c) hereof,
and agrees with the Underwriter, as follows:
(i) Registration
Requirements. At the time of filing the Registration Statement and at the
date hereof, the Company met and meets the requirements for use of Form S-3
under the 1933 Act to register the sale of the Securities by the Selling
Shareholder as contemplated hereby.
(ii) Registration Statement,
Prospectus and Disclosure at Time of Sale. The Registration
Statement became effective under the 1933 Act on September 12, 2008, and any
post-effective amendment thereto also became effective under the 1933
Act. No stop order or notice suspending the effectiveness or use of
the Registration Statement, any post-effective amendment thereto, the
Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued under the 1933 Act, and
no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the
knowledge of the Company, are contemplated by the Commission, and any request on
the part of the Commission for additional information has been complied
with.
At the
respective times the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment
thereto became effective and at the Closing Time, the Registration Statement and
any amendments and supplements thereto complied and will comply in all material
respects with the applicable requirements of the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act
Regulations and did not 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. Neither the Prospectus
nor any amendments or supplements thereto (including any prospectus wrapper), at
the time the Prospectus or any such amendment or supplement was issued and at
the Closing Time, included or will include an untrue statement of a material
fact or omitted or will omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make
the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading.
As of the
Applicable Time (as defined below), neither (x) the Issuer General Use Free
Writing Prospectus(es) (as defined below), if any, issued at or prior to the
Applicable Time and the Preliminary Prospectus, all considered together with the
final pricing and distribution terms of the Securities as reflected in the
Prospectus (collectively, the “General Disclosure Package”), nor (y) any
individual Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus (as defined below), if
any, when considered together with the General Disclosure Package, included 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.
As used in this subsection and
elsewhere in this Agreement:
“Applicable
Time” means 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on March 30, 2010 or such other time as
agreed by the Company and the Underwriter.
“Issuer
Free Writing Prospectus” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined
in Rule 433 of the 1933 Act Regulations (“Rule 433”), relating to the Securities
that (i) is required to be filed with the Commission by the Company, (ii) is a
“road show that is a written communication” within the meaning of Rule
433(d)(8)(i), whether or not required to be filed with the Commission or (iii)
is exempt from filing pursuant to Rule 433(d)(5)(i) because it contains a
description of the Securities or of the offering that does not reflect the final
terms, in each case in the form filed or required to be filed with the
Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) or, if not required to be filed, in the form
retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g).
“Issuer
General Use Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus
that is intended for general distribution to prospective investors, as evidenced
by its being specified in Schedule E hereto.
“Issuer
Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus
that is not an Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus.
Each
Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as of its issue date and at all subsequent times
through the completion of the public offer and sale of the Securities or until
any earlier date that the Company notified or notifies the Underwriter as
described in Section 3(e), did not, does not and will not include any
information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information
contained in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package or
Prospectus, including any document incorporated by reference therein and the
Preliminary Prospectus deemed to be a part thereof that has not been superseded
or modified.
The
representations and warranties in this subsection shall not apply to statements
in or omissions from the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package,
the Prospectus, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and
in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the
Underwriter expressly for use therein.
The
Preliminary Prospectus and the prospectus filed as part of the Registration
Statement as originally filed or as part of any amendment thereto complied or
will comply when so filed in all material respects with the 1933 Act Regulations
and the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus delivered to the Underwriter
for use in connection with this offering was or will be identical to the
electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to
EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.
At the
time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendments
thereto, at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or another offering
participant made a bona fide offer
(within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) of the 1933 Act Regulations) of the
Securities and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible
issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 of the 1933 Act Regulations.
(iii) Incorporated
Documents. The documents incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure
Package and the Prospectus, at the time they were or hereafter are filed with
the Commission, complied and will comply in all material respects with the
requirements of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission
thereunder (the “1934 Act Regulations”), and, when read together with the other
information in the General Disclosure Package, (a) at the time the Registration
Statement became effective, (b) at the earlier of the time the General
Disclosure Package was first used and the Applicable Time and (c) at the Closing
Time, did not 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.
(iv) Independent
Accountants. Deloitte & Touche LLP, who certified the
financial statements and supporting schedule included or incorporated by
reference in the Registration Statement, is an independent registered public
accounting firm with respect to the Company in accordance with the provisions of
the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations.
(v) Financial
Statements. The financial statements included or incorporated
by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package 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 statement of operations, 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 included or
incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure
Package and the Prospectus, if any, present fairly in accordance with GAAP the
information required to be stated therein. The summary financial
information included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure
Package 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 by reference in the Registration Statement. All
disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure
Package or the Prospectus regarding “non-GAAP financial measures” (as such term
is defined by the rules and regulations of the Commission) comply in all
material respects with Regulation G under the 1934 Act and Item 10 of Regulation
S-K of the 1933 Act Regulations, to the extent applicable.
(vi) No Material Adverse Change
in Business. Since the respective dates as of which
information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure
Package and the Prospectus, except as otherwise stated therein, (A) there has
been no material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in
the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company and its
subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, whether or not arising in the
ordinary course of business (a “Material Adverse Effect”), (B) there have been
no transactions entered into by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, other
than those in the ordinary course of business, which are material with respect
to the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, and (C) there
has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the
Company on any class of its capital stock.
(vii) Good Standing of the
Company. The Company has been duly organized and is validly
existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of New
Jersey and has the 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 to enter into and
perform its obligations under this Agreement; and the Company is duly qualified
as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each
other 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, singly or in the
aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse
Effect.
(viii) Good Standing of
Subsidiaries. Each “significant subsidiary” of the Company (as
such term is defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X, each a “Subsidiary” and,
collectively, the “Subsidiaries”) has been duly organized and is validly
existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of
its incorporation, has the corporate power and authority to own, lease and
operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in 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, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result
in a Material Adverse Effect; except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration
Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, all of the issued and
outstanding capital stock of each such Subsidiary has been duly authorized and
validly issued, is fully paid and nonassessable 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 securityholder of such
Subsidiary. The only subsidiaries of the Company are the subsidiaries
listed on Schedule F hereto.
(ix) Capitalization. The
authorized, issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company is as set forth
in the consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of December 31, 2009
included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2009 (except for subsequent issuances, if any, pursuant to this
Agreement, pursuant to reservations, agreements or employee benefit plans
referred to or incorporated by reference in the Preliminary Prospectus or
pursuant to the exercise of convertible securities or options referred to or
incorporated by reference in the Preliminary Prospectus). The shares
of issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company, including the Securities
to be purchased by the Underwriter from the Selling Shareholder, are validly
issued and are fully paid and nonassessable; none of the outstanding shares of
capital stock of the Company, including the Securities to be purchased by the
Underwriter from the Selling Shareholder, was issued in violation of the
preemptive or other similar rights of any securityholder of the
Company.
(x) Authorization of
Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed
and delivered by the Company.
(xi) Description of the
Securities. The Securities conform to all statements relating
thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package
and the Prospectus; the description of the Common Stock contained in the
Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus
conforms to the rights set forth in the governing instruments defining the
rights of holders of the Common Stock; no holder of the Securities will be
subject to personal liability by reason of being such a holder.
(xii) Absence of Defaults and
Conflicts. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is
(a) in violation of its charter or by-laws or (b) in default in the performance
or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in
any contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement,
note, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its
subsidiaries is a party or by which it or any of them may be bound, or to which
any of the property or assets of the Company or any subsidiary is subject
(collectively, “Agreements and Instruments”) except for such defaults that would
not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in
a Material Adverse Effect; and the execution, delivery and performance of this
Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and in
the Registration Statement and the Prospectus (including the sale of the
Securities by the Selling Shareholder) and compliance by the Company with its
obligations hereunder have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate
action and do not and will not, whether with or without the giving of notice or
passage of time or both, conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default or
Repayment Event (as defined below) under, or result in the creation or
imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the
Company or any subsidiary pursuant to, the Agreements and Instruments (except
for such conflicts, breaches, defaults or Repayment Events or liens, charges or
encumbrances (i) that may occur under the Company’s Credit Agreement, dated as
of December 1, 2009, as a result of a notification from the Department of
Education (“DOE”) to the Company or any of its subsidiaries or schools of any
suspension or termination of Title IV Program (as defined below) funding in
connection with such sale of the Securities by the Selling Shareholder, (ii) or
that would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to
result in a Material Adverse Effect), nor will such action result in any
violation of (A) the provisions of the charter or by-laws of the Company or any
subsidiary or (B) except as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form
10-K filed for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 under the headings
“Business—Regulatory Environment” and “Risk Factors—Issuance or sales of a
substantial amount of our common stock could result in a change in control of
our schools, which could require any affected schools to reaffirm their DOE
approvals, state authorizations and accreditations and their ability to
participate in Title IV Programs” and in the General Disclosure Package and the
Prospectus under the heading “Risks Related to the Offering— The sale of shares
in this offering by the selling stockholder will constitute a change in control
of each of our schools under the DOE standards and standards of certain
institutional accrediting agencies requiring each of our schools to apply for
recertification for continued ability to participate in Title IV Programs and
reaffirm certain accreditations. The failure to obtain the required
recertifications and reaffirmations could have a material adverse effect on our
results of operations” and except for any such violation that would not
reasonably be expected to result, singly or in the aggregate, in a Material
Adverse Effect, any applicable law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order,
writ or decree of any government, government instrumentality or court, domestic
or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any subsidiary or any of
their assets, properties or operations, including, without limitation, the
Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, and the regulations promulgated
thereunder (the “HEA”). As used herein, a “Repayment Event” means any
event or condition which gives the holder of any note, debenture or other
evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the
right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of
such indebtedness by the Company or any subsidiary.
(xiii) Absence of Labor
Dispute. No labor dispute with the employees of the Company or
any subsidiary exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent, and the
Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by the
employees of any of its or any subsidiary’s principal suppliers, manufacturers,
customers or contractors, which, in either case, would, singly or in the
aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse
Effect.
(xiv) Compliance with Laws;
Absence of Proceedings. There is no action, suit, proceeding,
inquiry or investigation before or brought by any court or governmental agency
or body, domestic or foreign, now pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company,
threatened, against or affecting the Company or any subsidiary, which is
required to be disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary
Prospectus and the Prospectus (other than as disclosed therein), or which might
reasonably be expected, singly or in the aggregate, to result in a
Material Adverse Effect, or which might reasonably be expected to materially and
adversely affect the properties or assets thereof or the consummation of the
transactions contemplated in this Agreement or the performance by the Company of
its obligations hereunder; the aggregate of all pending legal or governmental
proceedings to which the Company or any subsidiary is a party or of which any of
their respective property or assets is the subject which are not described in
the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the
Prospectus, including ordinary routine litigation incidental to the business,
could not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to
result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(xv) Accuracy of
Exhibits. There are no contracts or documents which are
required by the 1933 Act, 1933 Act Regulations, 1934 Act, 1934 Act Regulations
or the applicable forms thereunder, to be described in the Registration
Statement, the General Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or the documents
incorporated by reference therein or to be filed as exhibits thereto which have
not been so described and filed as required.
(xvi) Regulatory
Environment. The statements included or incorporated by
reference in the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the
Prospectus under the headings “Regulatory Environment,” “Prospectus Supplement
Summary—Recent Regulatory Developments” and “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our
Business and Industry—The sale of shares in this offering by the selling
stockholder will constitute a change in control of each of our schools under the
DOE standards and standards of certain institutional accrediting agencies
requiring each of our schools to apply for recertification for continued ability
to participate in Title IV Programs and reaffirm certain
accreditations. The failure to obtain the required recertifications
and reaffirmations could have a material adverse effect on our results of
operations” fairly summarize in all material respects the matters therein
described.
(xvii) Possession of Intellectual
Property. The Company and its subsidiaries own or possess, or
believe they can acquire on reasonable terms, adequate patents, patent rights,
licenses, inventions, copyrights, know-how (including trade secrets and other
unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems
or procedures), trademarks, service marks, trade names or other intellectual
property (collectively, “Intellectual Property”) necessary to carry on the
business now operated by them, and neither the Company nor any of its
subsidiaries has received any notice or is otherwise aware of any infringement
of or conflict with asserted rights of others with respect to any Intellectual
Property or of any facts or circumstances which would render any Intellectual
Property invalid or inadequate to protect the interest of the Company or any of
its subsidiaries therein, and which infringement or conflict (if the subject of
any unfavorable decision, ruling or finding) or invalidity or inadequacy, singly
or in the aggregate, would, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected
to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(xviii) Absence of Further
Requirements. Except as disclosed in the Company’s Annual
Report on Form 10-K filed for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 under the
headings “Business—Regulatory Environment” and “Risk Factors—Issuance or sales
of a substantial amount of our common stock could result in a change in control
of our schools, which could require any affected schools to reaffirm their DOE
approvals, state authorizations and
accreditations
and their ability to participate in Title IV Programs” and in the General
Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the heading “Risks Related to the
Offering— The sale of shares in this offering by the selling stockholder will
constitute a change in control of each of our schools under the DOE standards
and standards of certain institutional accrediting agencies requiring each of
our schools to apply for recertification for continued ability to participate in
Title IV Programs and reaffirm certain accreditations. The failure to
obtain the required recertifications and reaffirmations could have a material
adverse effect on our results of operations” no filing with, or authorization,
approval, consent, license, order, registration, qualification or decree of, any
court or governmental authority or agency is necessary or required for the
performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder, in connection with the
offering or sale of the Securities hereunder or the consummation by it of the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except such as have been already
obtained or as may be required under the 1933 Act or the 1933 Act Regulations or
state securities or blue sky laws or in connection with any law, rule or
regulation that is part of the regulatory regime applicable to the Company and
its subsidiaries by reason of the business of providing education services,
including without limitation, Title IV of the HEA and state and accreditation
change of control provisions relating to the sale of Securities by the Selling
Shareholder.
(xix) Absence of
Manipulation. Neither the Company nor any affiliate of the
Company has taken, nor will the Company or any affiliate take, directly or
indirectly, any action which is designed to or which has constituted or which
would be expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the
price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the
Securities.
(xx) Possession of Licenses and
Permits. Except as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 under the headings
“Business—Regulatory Environment” and “Risk Factors—Issuance or sales of a
substantial amount of our common stock could result in a change in control of
our schools, which could require any affected schools to reaffirm their DOE
approvals, state authorizations and accreditations and their ability to
participate in Title IV Programs” and in the General Disclosure Package and the
Prospectus under the heading “Risks Related to the Offering— The sale of shares
in this offering by the selling stockholder will constitute a change in control
of each of our schools under the DOE standards and standards of certain
institutional accrediting agencies requiring each of our schools to apply for
recertification for continued ability to participate in Title IV Programs and
reaffirm certain accreditations. The failure to obtain the required
recertifications and reaffirmations could have a material adverse effect on our
results of operations”: (A) the Company and its subsidiaries possess such
permits, licenses, approvals, consents and other authorizations (collectively,
“Governmental Licenses”) issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or
foreign regulatory agencies or bodies, including, without limitation, all
authorizations required for participation in federal financial aid programs
under Title IV (each a “Title IV Program”) of the HEA, necessary to conduct the
business now operated by them, except where the failure so to possess would not,
singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect; (B) the Company
and its subsidiaries are in compliance with the terms and conditions of all such
Governmental Licenses, except where the failure so to comply would not, singly
or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect; (C) all of the
Governmental Licenses are valid and in full force and effect, except when the
invalidity of such Governmental Licenses or the failure of such Governmental
Licenses to be in full force and effect would not, singly or in the aggregate,
result in a Material Adverse Effect; and (D) neither the Company nor any of its
subsidiaries has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation
or modification of any such Governmental Licenses which, if the subject of an
unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would, singly or in the aggregate,
result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(xxi) Title to
Property. The Company and its subsidiaries have good and
marketable title to all real property owned by the Company and its subsidiaries
and good title to all other properties owned by them, in each case, free and
clear of all mortgages, pledges, liens, security interests, claims, restrictions
or encumbrances of any kind except such as (a) are described in the Registration
Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or (b) do not,
singly or in the aggregate, materially affect the value of such property and do
not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the
Company or any of its subsidiaries; and all of the leases and subleases material
to the business of the Company and its subsidiaries, considered as one
enterprise, and under which the Company or any of its subsidiaries holds
properties described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure
Package and the Prospectus, are in full force and effect, and neither the
Company nor any subsidiary has any notice of any material claim of any sort that
has been asserted by anyone adverse to the rights of the Company or any
subsidiary under any of the leases or subleases mentioned above, or affecting or
questioning the rights of the Company or such subsidiary to the continued
possession of the leased or subleased premises under any such lease or
sublease.
(xxii) Investment Company
Act. The Company is not required to register as an “investment
company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940
Act”).
(xxiii) ERISA. Except
as would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a
Material Adverse Effect, each “plan” (as defined in Section 3(3) of the United
States Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, including
the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (“ERISA”)) in which
employees of the Company and/or its subsidiaries are eligible to participate is
in compliance in all material respects with the presently applicable provisions
of ERISA; no “reportable event” (within the meaning of Section 4043 of ERISA)
has occurred with respect to any “pension plan” (as defined in Section 3(2) of
ERISA) for which the Company or such subsidiary would have any material
liability; none of the Company or any of its subsidiaries has incurred, and does
not expect to incur, material liability under (1) Title IV of ERISA with respect
to the termination of, or withdrawal from, any pension plan or (2) Section 412
or 4971 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
including the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (the “Code”),
or Section 302 of ERISA, and no “accumulated funding deficiency,” as defined in
Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA, has occurred with respect to
any pension plan for which the Company or any of its subsidiaries would have any
liability; and each pension plan maintained by the Company or any of its
subsidiaries that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code
is so qualified and nothing has occurred, whether by action or failure to act,
that would cause the loss of such qualification.
(xxiv) Environmental
Laws. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the
Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus and except as would not, singly or in
the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect,
(A) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation of any
federal, state, local or foreign statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance,
code, policy or rule of common law or any judicial or administrative
interpretation thereof, including any judicial or administrative order, consent,
decree or judgment, relating to pollution or protection of human health, the
environment (including, without limitation, ambient air, surface water,
groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata) or wildlife, including, without
limitation, laws and regulations relating to the release or threatened release
of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, wastes, toxic substances, hazardous
substances, petroleum or petroleum products, asbestos-containing materials or
mold (collectively, “Hazardous Materials”) or to the manufacture, processing,
distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of
Hazardous
Materials (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (B) the Company and its
subsidiaries have all permits, authorizations and approvals required under any
applicable Environmental Laws and are each in compliance with their
requirements, (C) there are no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company,
threatened administrative, regulatory or judicial actions, suits, demands,
demand letters, claims, liens, notices of noncompliance or violation,
investigation or proceedings relating to any Environmental Law against the
Company or any of its subsidiaries and (D) there are no events or circumstances
known to the Company that would reasonably be expected to form the basis of an
order for clean-up or remediation, or an action, suit or proceeding by any
private party or governmental body or agency, against or affecting the Company
or any of its subsidiaries relating to Hazardous Materials or any Environmental
Laws.
(xxv) Registration
Rights. Other than the Selling Shareholder, there are no
persons with registration rights or other similar rights to have any securities
registered pursuant to the Registration Statement, except for such registration
rights or other similar rights as have been validly waived.
(xxvi)
Payment of
Taxes. The Company and each of its subsidiaries has filed all
federal, state and local income tax returns required to be filed through the
date hereof, except for such non-filings as would not, singly or in the
aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect, and has paid all taxes due thereon,
except such as are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings, and
no tax deficiency has been determined adversely to the Company or any of its
subsidiaries which has had, nor does the Company have any knowledge of any tax
deficiency which, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its
subsidiaries, would, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have,
a Material Adverse Effect.
(xxvii) Accounting Controls and
Disclosure Controls. The Company and each of its subsidiaries
maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide
reasonable assurances that (1) transactions are executed in accordance with
management’s general or specific authorization; (2) transactions are recorded as
necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP
and to maintain accountability for assets; (3) access to assets is permitted
only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (4)
the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at
reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any
differences. Since the end of the Company’s most recent audited
fiscal year, (1) the Company has not determined that there are, and its auditors
have not notified the Company of, any material weaknesses in the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated) and (2)
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.
The
Company and its consolidated subsidiaries employ disclosure controls and
procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed
by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the 1934 Act is
recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified
in the Commission’s rules and forms, and is accumulated and communicated to the
Company’s management, including its principal executive officer or officers and
principal financial officer or officers, as appropriate, to allow timely
decisions regarding disclosure.
(xxviii) Compliance with the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There is and has been no failure on the
part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their
capacities as such, to comply in all material respects with any applicable
provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002 and
the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith (the
“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302
and 906 related to certifications.
(b) Representations
and Warranties by the Selling Shareholder. The
Selling Shareholder represents and warrants to the Underwriter as of the date
hereof, the Applicable Time and the Closing Time and agrees with the
Underwriter, as follows:
(i) Accuracy. The
Selling Shareholder has reviewed and is familiar with the Registration
Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and none of the
Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or any
amendments or supplements thereto contains any untrue statement of a material
fact or omits to state a material fact required to be stated therein necessary
in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under
which they were made, not misleading (provided that, the foregoing
representation is limited to statements or omissions made in reliance
upon and in conformity with information relating to the Selling Shareholder
furnished to the Company in writing by or on behalf of the Selling Shareholder
expressly for use in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package or
Prospectus, or any amendments or supplements thereto up to the Applicable
Time).
It is
understood and agreed by the parties hereto that the only written information
furnished by the Selling Shareholder to the Company expressly for use in the
Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, are
contained, as applicable to the Selling Shareholder, under the caption
“Principal Stockholders” in the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, under
the caption “Selling Stockholder” in the Preliminary Prospectus and the
Prospectus (the “Selling Shareholder Furnished Information”).
The
Selling Shareholder is not prompted to sell the Securities to be sold by the
Selling Shareholder hereunder by any material non-public information concerning
the Company or any subsidiary of the Company which is not set forth in the
Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the
Prospectus.
(ii) Authorization of this
Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized and duly
executed and delivered by or on behalf of the Selling Shareholder.
(iii) Authorization of Lock-up
Letter. This Agreement and the Lock-up Letter in the form of Exhibit H hereto (the
“Lock-up Letter”), furnished to the Underwriter, have been duly authorized,
executed and delivered by the Selling Shareholder and are each the valid and
binding agreement of the Selling Shareholder except as rights to indemnity and
contribution hereunder may be limited by federal or state securities laws or
public policy underlying such laws, and except as enforceability may be limited
by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other laws
affecting the enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and by equitable
principles (whether enforcement is sought by proceedings in equity or at
law).
(iv) Noncontravention. The
execution and delivery of this Agreement and the Lock-up Letter, the sale and
delivery of the Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder, the
consummation of the transactions contemplated herein and therein and the
compliance by the Selling Shareholder with its obligations hereunder and
thereunder do not and will not, whether with or without the giving of notice or
passage of time or both, conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default
under, or result in the creation or imposition of any tax, lien, charge or
encumbrance upon the Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder or any
property or assets of the Selling Shareholder, pursuant to any contract,
indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or
credit
agreement, note, license, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the
Selling Shareholder is a party or by which the Selling Shareholder may be bound,
or to which any of the property or assets of the Selling Shareholder is subject,
except for those that would not adversely affect the Selling Shareholder’s
ability to perform its obligations hereunder or thereunder or otherwise have a
material adverse effect on the Selling Shareholder or its business or assets,
nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or
by-laws or other organizational instrument of the Selling Shareholder, if
applicable, or any applicable treaty, law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment,
order, writ or decree of any government, government instrumentality or court,
domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Selling Shareholder or any of
its properties.
(v) Securities Suitable for
Transfer. The Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder pursuant
to this Agreement are certificated securities in registered form within the
meaning of Section 8-102 of the Uniform Commercial Code as in effect in the
State of New York (the “UCC”). Certificates for the certificated
Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder pursuant to this Agreement, in
suitable form for transfer by delivery or accompanied by duly executed
instruments of transfer or assignment in blank have been or will be prior to the
Closing Time delivered to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as
transfer agent, with irrevocable conditional instructions to deliver such
Securities to the Underwriter pursuant to this Agreement.
(vi) Valid
Title. The Selling Shareholder has, and at the Closing Time
will have, valid title to the Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder
hereunder, free and clear of all security interests, claims, liens, equities or
other encumbrances and the legal right and power, and all authorizations and
approvals required by law, to enter into this Agreement and the Lock-up Letter
and to sell, transfer and deliver the Securities to be sold by the Selling
Shareholder.
(vii) Delivery of
Securities. (1) Upon payment of the purchase price by or on behalf of the
Underwriter for the Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder pursuant to
this Agreement, delivery of such Securities, as directed by the Underwriter, to
Cede & Co. (“Cede”), as nominee for or such other nominee as may be
designated by The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), registration of such
Securities in the name of Cede or such other nominee, and the crediting of such
Securities on the books of DTC to securities accounts of the Underwriter
(assuming that neither DTC nor the Underwriter has notice of any adverse claim,
within the meaning of Section 8-105 of the UCC to such Securities), (A) DTC
shall be a “protected purchaser,” within the meaning of Section 8-303 of the
UCC, of such Securities and will acquire its interest in the Securities
(including, without limitation, all rights that the Selling Shareholder had or
has the power to transfer in such Securities) free and clear of any “adverse
claim” within the meaning of Section 8-102 of the UCC, (B) under Section 8-501
of the UCC, the Underwriter will acquire a valid security entitlement in respect
of such Securities and (C) no action (whether framed in conversion, replevin,
constructive trust, equitable lien, or other theory) based on any “adverse
claim,” within the meaning of Section 8-102 of the UCC, to such Securities may
be asserted against the Underwriter with respect to such security entitlement;
for purposes of this representation, the Selling Shareholder may assume that
when such payment, delivery (if necessary) and crediting occur, (x) such
Securities will have been registered in the name of Cede or another nominee
designated by DTC, in each case on the Company's share registry in accordance
with its certificate of incorporation, bylaws and applicable law, (y) DTC will
be registered as a “clearing corporation,” within the meaning of Section 8-102
of the UCC, and (z) appropriate entries to the accounts of the Underwriter on
the records of DTC will have been made pursuant to the UCC; and (2) in the case
of Securities to be sold by the Selling Shareholder pursuant to this Agreement
via the delivery to the Underwriter of certificated securities in
registered
form, upon the Underwriter obtaining possession of such Securities in
certificated form, accompanied by duly executed instruments of transfer or
assignment in blank, and upon paying the purchase price therefore pursuant to
this Agreement, the Underwriter (assuming that the Underwriter has no notice of
any adverse claim within the meaning of Section 8-105 of the UCC to such
Securities) will acquire its interests in such Securities, (including, without
limitation, all rights that the Selling Shareholders had or has the power to
transfer in such Securities) free and clear of any adverse claim within the
meaning of Section 8-105 of the UCC.
(viii) Absence of
Manipulation. The Selling Shareholder has not taken, and will not take,
directly or indirectly, any action which is designed to or which has constituted
or would be expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the
price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the
Securities in violation of any federal or state law.
(ix) Absence of Further
Requirements. Except as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form
10-K filed for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 under the headings
“Business—Regulatory Environment” and “Risk Factors—Issuance or sales of a
substantial amount of our common stock could result in a change in control of
our schools, which could require any affected schools to reaffirm their DOE
approvals, state authorizations and accreditations and their ability to
participate in Title IV Programs” and in the General Disclosure Package and the
Prospectus under the heading “Risks Related to the Offering— The sale of shares
in this offering by the selling stockholder will constitute a change in control
of each of our schools under the DOE standards and standards of certain
institutional accrediting agencies requiring each of our schools to apply for
recertification for continued ability to participate in Title IV Programs and
reaffirm certain accreditations. The failure to obtain the required
recertifications and reaffirmations could have a material adverse effect on our
results of operations” no filing with, or consent, approval, authorization,
order, registration, qualification or decree of, any court or governmental
authority or agency, domestic or foreign, is necessary or required for the
performance by the Selling Shareholder of its obligations hereunder or in the
Lock-up Letter, or in connection with the sale and delivery of the Securities
hereunder by the Selling Shareholder or the consummation of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement by the Selling Shareholder, except such as may
have previously been made or obtained or as may be required under the 1933 Act
or the 1933 Act Regulations or state securities or blue sky laws or in
connection with any law, rule or regulation that is part of the regulatory
regime applicable to the Company and its subsidiaries by reason of the business
of providing education services, including without limitation, Title IV of the
HEA and state and accreditation change of control provisions relating to the
sale of Securities by the Selling Shareholder.
(x) No Association with
FINRA. Neither the Selling Shareholder nor any of its affiliates
directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, or is
controlled by, or is under common control with, or is a person associated with
(within the meaning of Article I (rr) of the By-laws of the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”)), any member firm of FINRA.
(c) Officers’
Certificates. Any certificate signed by any officer of the
Company or any of its subsidiaries delivered to the Underwriter or to counsel
for the Underwriter shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company
to the Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby; and any certificate signed
by or on behalf of the Selling Shareholder as such and delivered to the
Underwriter or to counsel for the Underwriter pursuant to the terms of this
Agreement shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Selling
Shareholder to the Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby.
SECTION
2. Sale and Delivery to
Underwriter; Closing.
(a) Securities. On the basis of the
representations and warranties herein contained and subject to the terms and
conditions herein set forth, the Selling Shareholder agrees to sell to the
Underwriter and the Underwriter agrees to purchase from the Selling Shareholder,
at the price per share set forth in Schedule C, the number of Securities set
forth in Schedule A opposite the name of the Underwriter.
(b) Payment. Payment of the purchase
price for, and delivery of certificates for, the Securities shall be made at the
offices of Latham & Watkins LLP, 355 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles,
California, 90071, or at such other place as shall be agreed upon by the
Underwriter, the Company and the Selling Shareholder, at 9:00 A.M. (Eastern
time) on the third (fourth, if the pricing occurs after 4:30 P.M. (Eastern time)
on any given day) business day after the date hereof, or such other time not
later than ten business days after such date as shall be agreed upon by the
Underwriter, the Company and the Selling Shareholder (such time and date of
payment and delivery being herein called the “Closing Time”).
Payment
shall be made to the Selling Shareholder by wire transfer of immediately
available funds to bank account(s) designated by the Selling Sharehohlder,
against satisfactory delivery to the Underwriter for the respective accounts of
the Underwriter of the Securities to be purchased by them.
(c) Denominations;
Registration. Certificates for the Securities shall be in such
denominations and registered in such names as the Underwriter may request in
writing at least one full business day before the Closing Time. The
certificates for the Securities will be made available for examination and
packaging by the Underwriter in The City of New York not later than 10:00 A.M.
(Eastern time) on the business day prior to the Closing Time.
SECTION
3. Covenants. The
Company covenants with the Underwriter as set forth in subsections (a) through
(k) below, and the Selling Shareholder covenants with the Underwriter as set
forth in subsection (l) and (m) below and the Underwriter covenants with the
Company and Selling Shareholder as set forth in subsection (l)
below:
(a) Compliance with Securities Regulations and Commission
Requests; Payment of Filing Fees. The Company, subject to
Section 3(b), will comply with the requirements of Rule 430A and will notify the
Underwriter immediately, and confirm the notice in writing, (i) when any
post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement or Rule 462(b)
Registration Statement relating to the Securities shall become effective, or any
supplement or amendment to any Preliminary Prospectus or the
Prospectus shall have been filed, (ii) of the receipt of any comments
from the Commission, (iii) of any request by the Commission for any amendment to
the Registration Statement or the filing of a new registration statement
relating to the Securities or any amendment or supplement to a Preliminary
Prospectus or the Prospectus or any document incorporated by reference therein
or otherwise deemed to be a part thereof or for additional information, (iv) of
the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of
the Registration Statement or such new registration statement relating to the
Securities or of any order preventing or suspending the use of a Preliminary
Prospectus or the Prospectus, or of the suspension of the qualification of the
Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or
threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes or of any examination
pursuant to Section 8(e) of the 1933 Act concerning the Registration Statement
and (v) if the Company becomes the subject of a proceeding under Section 8A of
the 1933 Act in connection with the offering of the Securities. The
Company will effect the filings required under Rule 424(b), in the manner and
within the time period required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance on Rule
424(b)(8)), and will take such steps as it deems necessary to ascertain promptly
whether the form of prospectus transmitted for filing under Rule 424(b)
was
received for filing by the Commission and, in the event that it was not, it will
promptly file such prospectus. The Company will make every reasonable
effort to prevent the issuance of any stop order and, if any stop order is
issued, to obtain the lifting thereof at the earliest possible
moment.
(b) Filing of Amendments and Exchange Act
Documents. At any time when a Prospectus is (or but for the
exemption in Rule 172 under the 1933 Act would be) required to be delivered
under the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the 1934 Act or the 1934 Act
Regulations in connection with sales of the Securities, the Company will give
the Underwriter notice of its intention to file or prepare any amendment to the
Registration Statement (including any new registration statement relating to the
Securities) or any amendment, supplement or revision to either the General
Disclosure Package or to the Prospectus, whether pursuant to the 1933 Act, the
1934 Act or otherwise, and the Company will furnish the Underwriter with copies
of any such documents a reasonable amount of time prior to such proposed filing
or use, as the case may be, and will not file or use any such document to which
the Underwriter or counsel for the Underwriter shall reasonably
object.
(c) Delivery of Registration
Statements. The Company has furnished or will deliver to the
Underwriter and counsel for the Underwriter, without charge, signed copies of
the Registration Statement and of each amendment thereto (including exhibits
filed therewith or incorporated by reference therein and, upon request,
documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein or
otherwise deemed to be a part thereof) and signed copies of all consents and
certificates of experts, and will also deliver to the Underwriter, without
charge, a conformed copy of the Registration Statement and of each amendment
thereto (without exhibits) for the Underwriter. The copies of the
Registration Statement and each amendment thereto furnished to the Underwriter
will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with
the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by
Regulation S-T.
(d) Delivery of Prospectuses. The
Company has delivered to the Underwriter, without charge, as many copies of the
Preliminary Prospectus as the Underwriter reasonably requested, and the Company
hereby consents to the use of such copies for purposes permitted by the 1933
Act. The Company will furnish to the Underwriter, without charge,
during the period when the Prospectus is required to be delivered under the 1933
Act, such number of copies of the Prospectus (as amended or supplemented) as the
Underwriter may reasonably request. The Prospectus and any amendments
or supplements thereto furnished to the Underwriter will be identical to the
electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to
EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.
(e) Continued Compliance with Securities
Laws. The Company will comply with the 1933 Act and the 1933
Act Regulations so as to permit the completion of the distribution of the
Securities as contemplated in this Agreement and in the
Prospectus. If at any time when a prospectus is required by the 1933
Act to be delivered in connection with sales of the Securities, any event shall
occur or condition shall exist as a result of which it is necessary, in the
opinion of counsel for the Underwriter or for the Company, to amend the
Registration Statement or amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package or
the Prospectus in order that the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus
will not include any untrue statements of a material fact or omit to state a
material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading
in the light of the circumstances existing at the time it is delivered to a
purchaser, or if it shall be necessary, in the opinion of such counsel, at any
such time to amend the Registration Statement or to file a new registration
statement or amend or supplement the General Disclosure Package or the
Prospectus in order to comply with the requirements of the 1933 Act or the 1933
Act Regulations, the Company will, upon becoming aware of such event, condition
or circumstance, promptly prepare and file with the Commission, subject to
Section 3(b), such amendment, supplement or new registration statement relating
to the Securities as may be necessary to correct such statement or omission or
to comply with such requirements, and the Company will furnish to the
Underwriter such
number of
copies of such amendment, supplement or new registration statement as the
Underwriter may reasonably request. If at any time following issuance
of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or
development as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted
or would conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement
relating to the Securities or included or would include an untrue statement of a
material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in
order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances
prevailing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly
notify the Underwriter and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own
expense, such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such
conflict, untrue statement or omission.
(f) Blue Sky Qualifications. The
Company will use its reasonable best efforts, in cooperation with the
Underwriter, to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the
applicable securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions (domestic or
foreign) as the Underwriter may designate and to maintain such qualifications in
effect for a period of not less than one year from the date hereof; provided,
however, that the Company shall not be obligated to file any general consent to
service of process or to qualify as a foreign corporation or as a dealer in
securities in any jurisdiction in which it is not so qualified or to subject
itself to taxation in respect of doing business in any jurisdiction in which it
is not otherwise so subject. The Company will also supply the Underwriter with
such information as is necessary for the determination of the legality of the
Securities for investment under the laws of such jurisdictions as the
Underwriter may reasonably request.
(g) Rule 158. The Company will timely
file such reports pursuant to the 1934 Act as are necessary in order to make
generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable an earnings
statement for the purposes of, and to provide to the Underwriter the benefits
contemplated by, the last paragraph of Section 11(a) of the 1933
Act.
(h) Listing. The Company will use its
best efforts to effect and maintain the quotation of the Common Stock (including
the Securities) on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
(i) Restriction on Sale of
Securities. During a period of 40 days from the date of the
Prospectus, the Company will not, without the prior written consent of the
Underwriter, (i) directly or indirectly, 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 or otherwise transfer or
dispose of, directly or indirectly, any share of Common Stock or any securities
convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or file any
registration statement under the 1933 Act with respect to any of the foregoing
or (ii) enter into any swap or any other agreement or any transaction that
transfers, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the economic consequence
of ownership of the Common Stock, whether any such swap or transaction described
in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or such
other securities, in cash or otherwise. The foregoing sentence shall not apply
to (A) any shares of Common Stock issued by the Company upon the exercise of an
option or warrant or the conversion of a security outstanding on the date
hereof, (B) any shares of Common Stock issued or options to purchase Common
Stock granted pursuant to existing employee benefit plans of the Company
referred to or incorporated by reference in the Prospectus or (C) shares issued
in connection with acquisitions (so long as the aggregate dollar amount of such
shares does not exceed $20 million and so long as any recipients of such shares
agree to be bound by the terms of this Section 3(i)).
(j) Reporting Requirements. The
Company, during the period when the Prospectus is required to be delivered under
the 1933 Act, will file all documents required to be filed with the Commission
pursuant to the 1934 Act within the time periods required by the 1934 Act and
the 1934 Act Regulations.
(k) Issuer Free Writing
Prospectuses. Each of the Company and the Selling Shareholder
represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the
Underwriter and the Underwriter represents and agrees that, unless it obtains
the prior 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,” as defined in Rule 433, or that would otherwise constitute a “free
writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405, required to be filed with the
Commission or retained by the Company pursuant to Rule 433, other than any
Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus identified on Schedule E and any
electronic roadshow. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by
the Company and the Underwriter are hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free
Writing Prospectus.” The Company and the Selling Shareholder
represents that it has treated or agrees that it will treat each Permitted Free
Writing Prospectus as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule
433, and has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433
applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing
with the Commission where required, legending and record keeping.
(l) Updating. The Company and the
Selling Shareholder will advise the Underwriter promptly, and if requested by
the Underwriter will confirm such advice in writing, for so long as delivery of
a prospectus relating to the Securities by the Underwriter or dealer may be
required under the 1933 Act, of any change in the information contained in the
Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus
relating to the Company or the Selling Shareholder, respectively, which
information would be required to be disclosed in the Registration Statement, the
General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or would be necessary so that
neither Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package nor the
Prospectus would 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 light of the circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading.
SECTION
4. Payment of
Expenses.
(a) Expenses of the Company. The
Company will pay or cause to be paid all expenses incident to the performance of
its obligations under this Agreement, including (i) the preparation, printing
and filing of the Registration Statement (including financial statements and
exhibits) as originally filed and of each amendment thereto, (ii) the
preparation, printing and delivery to the Underwriter of this Agreement and such
other documents as may be required in connection with the offering, purchase,
sale or delivery of the Securities, (iii) the preparation, issuance and delivery
of the certificates for the Securities to the Underwriter, including any stock
or other transfer taxes and any stamp or other duties payable upon the sale or
delivery of the Securities to the Underwriter, (iv) the fees and disbursements
of the Company’s counsel, accountants and other advisors and the fees and
disbursements of counsel for the Selling Shareholder, (v) the qualification of
the Securities under securities laws in accordance with the provisions of
Section 3(f) hereof, including filing fees and the reasonable fees and
disbursements of counsel for the Underwriter in connection therewith and in
connection with the preparation of the Blue Sky Survey and any supplement
thereto, (vi) the printing and delivery to the Underwriter of copies of each
Preliminary Prospectus, any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, the Prospectus
and one or more versions of the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus for
distribution in Canada often in the form of a Canadian “wrapper”, and any
amendments or supplements thereto and any costs associated with electronic
delivery of any of the foregoing by the Underwriter to investors, (vii) the
preparation, printing and delivery to the Underwriter of copies of the Blue Sky
Survey and any supplement thereto, (viii) the fees and expenses of any transfer
agent or registrar for the Securities, (ix) the costs and expenses of the
Company relating to investor presentations on any “road show” undertaken in
connection with the marketing of the Securities, including without limitation,
expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees
and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show
presentations, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers
of the Company and any such consultants (provided, however, that the Company and
the Underwriter shall share equally in the
cost of
aircraft and other transportation chartered in connection with the road show),
(x) the filing fees incident to, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of
counsel to the Underwriter in connection with, the review by FINRA of the terms
of the sale of the Securities (in an amount not to exceed $10,000), and (xii)
the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the inclusion of the
Securities in the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
(b) Expenses of the Selling
Shareholder. Except for those expenses to be paid by the
Company under the terms of (i) the Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of
June 27, 2005, by and between the Company and Back to School Acquisition,
L.L.C.; (ii) the Stockholders’ Agreement, dated as of June 22, 2005, among the
Company, Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C., Steven W. Hart and Steven W. Hart
2003 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust; (iii) the Stockholders’ Agreement, dated as
of September 15, 1999, among Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc., Back to School
Acquisition, L.L.C. and Five Mile River Capital Partners LLC; and (iv) the
Management Stockholders Agreement, dated as of January 1, 2002, by and among
Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc. the Management Investors (as defined therein)
and Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C., as amended, which the Company will pay
or cause to be paid, the Selling Shareholder will pay all of its expenses
incident to the performance of its obligations under, and the consummation of
the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including (i) any stamp duties,
capital duties and stock transfer taxes, if any, payable upon the sale of the
Securities by the Selling Shareholder to the Underwriter, and (ii) except as
provided in subsection (iv) of Section 4(a), the fees and disbursements of the
Selling Shareholder’s counsel and other advisors.
(c) Termination of Agreement. If this
Agreement is terminated by the Underwriter in accordance with the provisions of
Section 5, Section 9(a)(i) or Section 10 hereof, the Company shall reimburse the
Underwriter for all of its out-of-pocket expenses, including the reasonable fees
and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriter.
(d) Allocation of Expenses. The
provisions of this Section shall not affect any agreement that the Company and
the Selling Shareholder may make for the sharing of such costs and
expenses.
SECTION
5. Conditions of Underwriter’s
Obligations. The obligations of the Underwriter hereunder are
subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company and
the Selling Shareholder contained in Section 1 hereof or in certificates of any
officer of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company or on behalf of the
Selling Shareholder delivered pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the
performance by the Company of its covenants and other obligations hereunder, and
to the following further conditions:
(a) Effectiveness of Registration Statement; Filing of
Prospectus. The Registration Statement has become effective
and at the Closing Time no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the
Registration Statement shall have been issued under the 1933 Act or proceedings
therefor initiated or threatened by the Commission, and any request on the part
of the Commission for additional information shall have been complied with to
the reasonable satisfaction of counsel to the Underwriter. A
prospectus containing the Rule 430A Information shall have been filed with the
Commission in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b)
without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8) (or a post-effective amendment providing such
information shall have been filed and become effective in accordance with the
requirements of Rule 430A). Any Issuer General Use Free Writing
Prospectus listed on Schedule E, and any other material required to be filed by
the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the 1933 Act, shall have been filed
with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433 and within the time period required by
Rule 164(b).
(b) Opinion of General Counsel for the
Company. At the Closing Time, the Underwriter shall have
received the favorable opinion, dated as of the Closing Time, of Kenneth M.
Swisstack,
General
Counsel for the Company, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the
Underwriter to the effect set forth in Exhibit A hereto and to such further
effect as counsel to the Underwriter may reasonably request.
(c) Opinion of Outside Counsel for the
Company. At the Closing Time, the Underwriter shall have
received the favorable opinion, dated as of the Closing Time, of Shearman &
Sterling LLP, outside counsel for the Company, in form and substance
satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriter, to the effect set forth in Exhibits
B-1 and B-2 hereto and to such further effect as counsel to the Underwriter may
reasonably request.
(d) Opinion of New Jersey Counsel for the
Company. At the Closing Time, the Underwriter shall have
received the favorable opinion, dated as of the Closing Time, of McCarter &
English, LLP, New
Jersey counsel for the Company, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel
for the Underwriter, to the effect set forth in Exhibit C hereto and to such
further effect as counsel to the Underwriter may reasonably
request.
(e) Opinion of Regulatory Counsel for the
Company. At the Closing Time, the Underwriter shall have
received the favorable opinion, dated as of the Closing Time, of Powers Pyles
Sutter & Verville, P.C., outside regulatory counsel for the Company, in form
and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriter, to the effect set
forth in Exhibit D hereto and to such further effect as counsel to the
Underwriter may reasonably request.
(f) Opinions of Counsel for Back to School Acquisition,
L.L.C. At the Closing Time, the Underwriter shall have
received the favorable opinions, dated as of the Closing Time, of Shearman &
Sterling LLP, counsel for Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C., to the effect set
forth in Exhibit E-1 hereto and of Richards, Layton & Finger P.A. as to
certain matters of Delaware law in respect of Back to School Acquisition,
L.L.C., to the effect set forth in Exhibit E-2 hereto, in form and substance
satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriter and to such further effect as
counsel to the Underwriter may reasonably request.
(g) Opinion of Counsel for
Underwriter. At the Closing Time, the Underwriter shall have
received the favorable opinion, dated as of the Closing Time, of Latham &
Watkins LLP, counsel for the Underwriter, in a form satisfactory to the
Underwriter. In giving such opinion such counsel may rely, as to all
matters governed by the laws of jurisdictions other than the law of the State of
New York and the federal law of the United States, upon the opinions of counsel
satisfactory to the Underwriter. Such counsel may also state that,
insofar as such opinion involves factual matters, they have relied, to the
extent they deem proper, upon certificates of officers of the Company and its
subsidiaries and certificates of public officials.
(h) Officers’ Certificates. At the
Closing Time, there shall not have been, since the date hereof or since the
respective dates as of which information is given in the Prospectus or the
General Disclosure Package, any material adverse change in the condition,
financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business
prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise,
whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, and the Underwriter
shall have received a certificate of the President or a Vice President of the
Company and of the chief financial or chief accounting officer of the Company,
dated as of the Closing Time, to the effect that, to their best knowledge, (i)
there has been no such material adverse change, (ii) the representations and
warranties in Section 1(a) hereof are true and correct with the same force and
effect as though expressly made at and as of the Closing Time, (iii) the Company
has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be
performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Time, and (iv) no stop order
suspending the
effectiveness
of the Registration Statement has been issued and no proceedings for that
purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to their knowledge, contemplated
by the Commission.
(i) Certificates of the Selling
Shareholder. At the Closing Time, the Underwriter shall have
received a certificate of the Selling Shareholder, dated as of the Closing Time,
to the effect that (i) the representations and warranties of the Selling
Shareholder contained in Section 1(b) hereof are true and correct in all
respects with the same force and effect as though expressly made at and as of
the Closing Time and (ii) the Selling Shareholder has complied in all material
respects with all agreements and all conditions on its part to be performed
under this Agreement at or prior to the Closing Time.
(j) Accountant’s Comfort Letter. At the
time of the execution of this Agreement, the Underwriter shall have received
from Deloitte & Touche LLP a letter dated such date, in form and substance
satisfactory to the Underwriter, containing statements and information of the
type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to Underwriter with
respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained
in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.
(k) Approval of Listing. At the Closing
Time, the Securities shall be approved for inclusion in the Nasdaq Global Select
Market.
(l) No Objection. FINRA has not raised
any objection with respect to the fairness and reasonableness of the
underwriting terms and arrangements.
(m) Lock-up Agreements. At the date of
this Agreement, the Underwriter shall have received an agreement substantially
in the form of Exhibit F hereto signed by the persons listed on Schedule D
hereto.
(n) Additional Documents. At the
Closing Time, counsel for the Underwriter shall have been furnished with such
documents and opinions as they may require for the purpose of enabling them to
pass upon the sale of the Securities as herein contemplated, or in order to
evidence the accuracy of any of the representations or warranties, or the
fulfillment of any of the conditions, herein contained; and all proceedings
taken by the Company and the Selling Shareholder in connection with the sale of
the Securities as herein contemplated shall be satisfactory in form and
substance to the Underwriter and counsel for the Underwriter.
(o) Termination of Agreement. If any
condition specified in this Section shall not have been fulfilled when and as
required to be fulfilled, this Agreement may be terminated by the Underwriter by
notice to the Company and the Selling Shareholder at any time at or prior to the
Closing Time and such termination shall be without liability of any
party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 and except that
Sections 1, 6, 7 and 8 shall survive any such termination and remain in full
force and effect.
SECTION
6. Indemnification.
(a) Indemnification of Underwriter by the
Company. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the
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 the Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act
or Section 20 of the 1934 Act as follows:
(i) against
any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred,
arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material
fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto),
including the Rule 430A Information, or the omission or alleged omission
therefrom of a material fact required to be stated
therein
or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading or arising out of any
untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the
General Disclosure Package, any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto), or the
omission or alleged omission therefrom of a material fact necessary in order to
make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they
were made, not misleading;
(ii) against
any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred,
to the extent of the aggregate amount paid in settlement of any litigation, or
any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or
threatened, or of any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or
omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission; provided that
(subject to Section 6(e) below) any such settlement is effected with the written
consent of the Company;
(iii) against
any and all expense whatsoever, as incurred (including the fees and
disbursements of counsel chosen by the Underwriter), reasonably incurred in
investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, or any
investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or
threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or
omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission, to the extent that
any such expense is not paid under (i) or (ii) above;
provided, however, that this
indemnity agreement shall not apply to any loss, liability, claim, damage or
expense to the extent arising out of any untrue statement or omission or alleged
untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with
written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter expressly for
use in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the Rule
430 Information or any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement
thereto).
(b) Indemnification of the Company and the Underwriter by
the Selling Shareholder. The Selling Shareholder
agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors and
officers who signs the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), the
Underwriter, its Affiliates and selling agents and each person, if any, who
controls the Underwriter or the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the
1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act to the extent and in the manner set forth
in subsection (a) above, but only with respect to the Selling Shareholder’s
Selling Shareholder Furnished Information. The liability of the
Selling Shareholder under this indemnification provision shall be limited to an
amount equal to the gross proceeds received by the Selling Shareholder from the
sale of the Securities (net of underwriting commissions paid to the
Underwriter). The foregoing indemnity agreement is in addition to any liability
that the Selling Shareholder may otherwise have to the Underwriter, its
Affiliates and selling agents.
(c) Indemnification of Company, Directors and Officers
and Selling Shareholder. The Underwriter agrees to indemnify
and hold harmless the Company, its directors, each of its officers who signed
the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company
within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act,
and the Selling Shareholder and each person, if any, who controls the Selling
Shareholder within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of
the 1934 Act, against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense
described in the indemnity contained in subsection (a) of this Section, as
incurred, but only with respect to untrue statements or omissions, or alleged
untrue statements or omissions, made in the Registration Statement (or any
amendment thereto), including the Rule 430 Information or any Preliminary
Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus (or any
amendment or supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with written
information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter expressly
for use
therein. It is understood and agreed by the parties hereto that the
only written information furnished to the Company by the Underwriter expressly
for use in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the
Rule 430 Information or any Preliminary Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing
Prospectus or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) are
contained in the first paragraph under “Commissions and Discounts”, under “Other
Relationships” and in the first two paragraphs under “Price Stabilization and
Short Positions” in the section entitled “Underwriting” in the Preliminary
Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(d) Actions against Parties;
Notification. Each indemnified party shall give notice as
promptly as reasonably practicable to each indemnifying party of any action
commenced against it in respect of which indemnity may be sought hereunder, but
failure to so notify an indemnifying party shall not relieve such indemnifying
party from any liability hereunder to the extent it is not materially prejudiced
as a result thereof and in any event shall not relieve it from any liability
which it may have otherwise than on account of this indemnity
agreement. In the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section
6(a) or 6(b) above, counsel to the indemnified parties shall be selected by the
Underwriter, and, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 6(c)
above, counsel to the indemnified parties shall be selected by the
Company. An indemnifying party may participate at its own expense in
the defense of any such action; provided, however, that counsel
to the indemnifying party shall not (except with the consent of the indemnified
party) also be counsel to the indemnified party. In no event shall
the indemnifying parties be liable for fees and expenses of more than one
counsel (in addition to any local counsel) separate from their own counsel for
all indemnified parties in connection with any one action or separate but
similar or related actions in the same jurisdiction arising out of the same
general allegations or circumstances. No indemnifying party shall,
without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties (which consent
shall not be unreasonably withheld), settle or compromise or consent to the
entry of any judgment with respect to any litigation, or any investigation or
proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any
claim whatsoever in respect of which indemnification or contribution could be
sought under this Section 6 or Section 7 hereof (whether or not the indemnified
parties are actual or potential parties thereto), unless such settlement,
compromise or consent (i) includes an unconditional release of each indemnified
party from all liability arising out of such litigation, investigation,
proceeding or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission
of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified
party.
(e) Settlement without Consent if Failure to
Reimburse. If at any time an indemnified party shall have
requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and
expenses of counsel, such indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for
any settlement of the nature contemplated by Section 6(a)(1)(ii) effected
without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 45
days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii)
such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such
settlement at least 30 days prior to such settlement being entered into and
(iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed such indemnified party
in accordance with such request prior to the date of such
settlement.
(f) Other Agreements with Respect to
Indemnification. The provisions of this Section shall not
affect any agreement among the Company and the Selling Shareholder with respect
to indemnification.
SECTION
7. Contribution. If
the indemnification provided for in Section 6 hereof is for any reason
unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect
of any losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses referred to therein,
then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the aggregate amount of such
losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by such indemnified
party, as incurred, (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the
relative benefits received by the Selling Shareholder on the one hand and the
Underwriter on the other hand 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)
above but also the relative fault of the Company and the Selling Shareholder on
the one hand and of the Underwriter on the other hand in connection with the
statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, liabilities, claims,
damages or expenses, as well as any other relevant equitable
considerations.
The
relative benefits received by the Selling Shareholder on the one hand and the
Underwriter on the other hand in connection with the offering of the Securities
pursuant to this Agreement shall be deemed to be in the same respective
proportions as the total net proceeds from the offering of the Securities
pursuant to this Agreement (before deducting expenses) received by the Selling
Shareholder and the total underwriting discount received by the Underwriter, in
each case as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus bear to the aggregate
initial public offering price of the Securities as set forth on the cover of the
Prospectus.
The
relative fault of the Company and the Selling Shareholder on the one hand and
the Underwriter on the other hand shall be determined by reference to, among
other things, whether any such untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material
fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to
information supplied by the Company, the Selling Shareholder or by the
Underwriter and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information
and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission.
The
Company, the Selling Shareholder and the Underwriter agree that it would not be
just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 7 were determined by
pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation that does not take
account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this Section
7. The aggregate amount of losses, liabilities, claims, damages and
expenses incurred by an indemnified party and referred to above in this Section
7 shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by
such indemnified party in investigating, preparing or defending against any
litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or
body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such
untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission.
Notwithstanding
the provisions of this Section 7, the Underwriter shall not 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 the Underwriter has otherwise
been required to pay by reason of any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or
omission or alleged omission.
Notwithstanding
the provisions of this Section 7, the Selling Shareholder shall not be required
to contribute any amount in excess of the aggregate gross proceeds, net of
underwriting discounts, received by the Selling Shareholder from the sale of the
Securities to the Underwriter.
No person
guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of
the 1933 Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not
guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.
For
purposes of this Section 7, each person, if any, who controls the Underwriter
within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act
and the Underwriter’s Affiliates and selling agents shall have the same rights
to contribution as the 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 or the Selling Shareholder within the meaning
of Section 15 of the 1933 Act
or
Section 20 of the 1934 Act shall have the same rights to contribution as the
Company or the Selling Shareholder, s the case may be. The
Underwriter’ respective obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 7 are
several in proportion to the number of Securities set forth opposite their
respective names in Schedule A hereto and not joint.
The
provisions of this Section shall not affect any agreement among the Company and
the Selling Shareholder with respect to contribution.
SECTION
8. Representations, Warranties
and Agreements to Survive. All representations, warranties and
agreements contained in this Agreement or in certificates of officers of the
Company or any of its subsidiaries or the Selling Shareholder submitted pursuant
hereto, shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of (i)
any investigation made by or on behalf of the Underwriter or its Affiliates or
selling agents, any person controlling the Underwriter, its officers or
directors, any person controlling the Company or any person controlling the
Selling Shareholder, and (ii) delivery of and payment for the
Securities.
SECTION
9.
Termination of
Agreement.
(a) Termination; General. The
Underwriter may terminate this Agreement, by notice to the Company and the
Selling Shareholder, at any time at or prior to the Closing Time (i) if there
has been, since the time of execution of this Agreement or since the respective
dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the
General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus any material adverse change in the
condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or
business prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one
enterprise, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, or (ii)
if there has occurred any material adverse change in the financial markets in
the United States or the international financial markets, any outbreak of
hostilities or escalation thereof, or other calamity or crisis or any change or
development involving a prospective change in national or international
political, financial or economic conditions, in each case the effect of which is
such as to make it, in the judgment of the Underwriter, impracticable or
inadvisable to market the Securities or to enforce contracts for the sale of the
Securities, or (iii) if trading in any securities of the Company has been
suspended or materially limited by the Commission or the Nasdaq Global Select
Market, or (iv) if trading generally on the American Stock Exchange or the New
York Stock Exchange or in the Nasdaq Global Select Market has been suspended or
materially limited, or minimum or maximum prices for trading have been fixed, or
maximum ranges for prices have been required, by any of said exchanges or by
such system or by order of the Commission, FINRA or any other governmental
authority or (v) a material disruption has occurred in commercial banking or
securities settlement or clearance services in the United States, or (vi) if a
banking moratorium has been declared by either Federal or New York
authorities.
(b) Liabilities. If this Agreement is
terminated pursuant to this Section, such termination shall be without liability
of any party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 hereof, and
provided further that Sections 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8 shall survive such termination
and remain in full force and effect.
SECTION
10. Default by the Selling
Shareholder. If the Selling Shareholder shall fail at the Closing Time to
sell and deliver the number of Securities which the Selling Shareholder is
obligated to sell hereunder then the Underwriter may, at its option, by notice
to the Company and the Selling Shareholder, terminate this Agreement without any
liability on the fault of any non-defaulting party except that the provisions of
Sections 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8 shall remain in full force and effect. No
action taken pursuant to this Section 10 shall relieve the Selling Shareholder
so defaulting from liability, if any, in respect of such default.
SECTION
11. No Advisory or Fiduciary
Relationship. Each of the Company and the Selling Shareholder
acknowledges and agrees that (a) the purchase and sale of the Securities
pursuant to this Agreement, including the determination of the public offering
price of the Securities and any related discounts and commissions, is an
arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Selling Shareholder, on the one
hand, and the Underwriter, on the other hand, (b) in connection with the
offering contemplated hereby and the process leading to such transaction the
Underwriter is and has been acting solely as a principal and is not the agent or
fiduciary of the Company or the Selling Shareholder, or its respective
stockholders, creditors, employees or any other party, (c) the Underwriter has
not assumed and will not assume an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor
of the Company or the Selling Shareholder with respect to the offering
contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether the
Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company or the Selling
Shareholder on other matters) and the Underwriter has no obligation to the
Company or the Selling Shareholder with respect to the offering contemplated
hereby except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement, (d) the
Underwriter and its respective affiliates may be engaged in a broad range of
transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Company or the
Selling Shareholder, and (e) the Underwriter has not provided any legal,
accounting, regulatory or tax advice with respect to the offering contemplated
hereby and the Company and each of the Selling Shareholder has consulted its own
legal, accounting, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent it deemed
appropriate.
SECTION
12. Integration. This
Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or
oral) among the Company, the Selling Shareholder and the Underwriter, or any of
them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.
SECTION
13. Parties. This
Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon each of the
Underwriter, the Company and the Selling Shareholder and their respective
successors. Nothing expressed or mentioned in this Agreement is
intended or shall be construed to give any person, firm or corporation, other
than the Underwriter, the Company and the Selling Shareholder and their
respective successors and the controlling persons and officers and directors
referred to in Sections 6 and 7 and their heirs and legal representatives, any
legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement
or any provision herein contained. This Agreement and all conditions
and provisions hereof are intended to be for the sole and exclusive benefit of
the Underwriter, the Company and the Selling Shareholder and their respective
successors, and said controlling persons and officers and directors and their
heirs and legal representatives, and for the benefit of no other person, firm or
corporation. No purchaser of Securities from the Underwriter shall be
deemed to be a successor by reason merely of such purchase.
SECTION
14. GOVERNING
LAW. THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
SECTION
15. TIME. TIME
SHALL BE OF THE ESSENCE OF THIS AGREEMENT. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE SET
FORTH HEREIN, SPECIFIED TIMES OF DAY REFER TO NEW YORK CITY TIME.
SECTION
16. Counterparts. This
Agreement may be executed 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 Agreement.
SECTION
17. Notices. All
notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be
deemed to have been duly given if mailed or transmitted by any standard form of
telecommunication.
Notices
to the Underwriter shall be delivered or sent by mail or facsimile transmission
to:
Barclays Capital Inc.
1271 Avenue of the
Americas
42nd Floor
New York, New
York 10020
Attention: Syndicate
Registration
Fax: 646-834-8133
with a copy, in the case of any notice
pursuant to Section 6 to:
Director of Litigation
Office of the General
Counsel
Barclays Capital Inc.
1271 Avenue of the
Americas
44th
Floor
New York, New
York 10020
Fax: 212-520-0421
Notices
to the Company shall be directed to:
Lincoln Educational Services
Corporation
200 Executive Drive
Suite 340
West Orange, New Jersey
07052
Attention: Cesar
Ribeiro
with a copy to:
Shearman & Sterling
LLP
599 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Attention: Rohan S.
Weerasinghe
Fax: (212) 848-7179
Notices
to Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. shall be directed to:
Stonington Partners, Inc.
540
Madison Avenue - 25th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Attn: James J. Burke,
Jr.
Fax: 212 339-8585
with a copy to:
Shearman & Sterling
LLP
599 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Attention: Rohan S.
Weerasinghe
Fax: (212) 848-7179
SECTION
18. Effect of
Headings. The Section headings herein are for convenience only
and shall not affect the construction hereof.
If the
foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign
and return to the Company and the Selling Shareholder a counterpart hereof,
whereupon this instrument, along with all counterparts, will become a binding
agreement among the Underwriter, the Company and the Selling Shareholder in
accordance with its terms.
|
Very
truly yours, |
|
|
|
|
|
LINCOLN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
CORPORATION |
|
|
|
|
|
|
By:
|
/s/
Cesar Ribeiro |
|
|
|
Name:
Cesar Ribeiro |
|
|
|
Title:
Senior Vice President, Chief
Financial Officer and Treasurer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BACK TO SCHOOL ACQUISITION,
L.L.C. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
By:
|
/s/
James J. Burke, Jr. |
|
|
|
Name:
James J. Burke, Jr. |
|
|
|
Title:
President |
|
|
|
|
|
CONFIRMED
AND ACCEPTED,
as of the date first above
written:
By: |
/s/ Mark B.
Schwartz |
|
|
Authorized
Signatory |
|
SCHEDULE
A
Name of Underwriter
|
Number
of Securities
|
|
|
Barclays
Capital Inc.
|
3,000,000
|
SCHEDULE
B
|
Number of Securities to be
Sold
|
|
|
Back
to School Acquisition, L.L.C.
|
3,000,000
|
|
|
Total
|
3,000,000
|
SCHEDULE
C
LINCOLN
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES CORPORATION
Shares of
Common Stock
(No Par
Value Per Share)
The
purchase price per share for the Securities to be paid by the Underwriter shall
be $25.15.
SCHEDULE
D
Persons
Subject to Lock-Up
Back to
School Acquisition, L.L.C.
David F.
Carney
Shaun E.
McAlmont
Scott M.
Shaw
Cesar
Ribeiro
Alexis P.
Michas
James J.
Burke, Jr.
Jerry G.
Rubenstein
Paul E.
Glaske
Peter S.
Burgess
J. Barry
Morrow
Celia
Currin
Charles
F. Kalmbach
Alvin O.
Austin
SCHEDULE
E
Issuer
General Use Free Writing Prospectus
None.
SCHEDULE
F
Subsidiaries
The
following is a list of Lincoln Educational Services Corporation’s
subsidiaries:
Name
|
Jurisdiction
|
|
|
Lincoln
Technical Institute, Inc. (wholly owned)
|
New
Jersey
|
|
|
New
England Acquisition LLC (wholly owned through Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.)
|
Delaware
|
|
|
Southwestern
Acquisition LLC (wholly owned through Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.)
|
Delaware
|
|
|
Nashville
Acquisition, LLC (wholly owned through Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.)
|
Delaware
|
|
|
Euphoria
Acquisition, LLC (wholly owned through Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.)
|
Delaware
|
|
|
New
England Institute of Technology at Palm Beach, Inc. (wholly owned through
Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc.)
|
Florida
|
|
|
LTI
Holdings, LLC (wholly owned through Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.)
|
Colorado
|
|
|
ComTech
Services Group Inc. (wholly owned through Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.)
|
New
Jersey
|
|
|
LCT
Acquisition, LLC (wholly owned through Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.)
|
Delaware
|
Exhibit
A
FORM OF OPINION OF THE
COMPANY’S GENERAL COUNSEL
to be delivered pursuant to
Section 5(b)
[·],
2010
To the
Persons listed in Schedule A
Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation
Public Offering of 3,000,000
shares of common stock
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
I am the
general counsel of Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, a New Jersey
corporation (the “Company”). This
opinion is furnished to you in connection with the purchase and sale of
3,000,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the
Company’s common stock, no par value, pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, dated
as of March 30, 2010 (the “Purchase Agreement”),
among the Company, the selling shareholder named therein (the “Selling Shareholder”)
and each of you. This opinion is furnished to you pursuant to Section
5(b) of the Purchase Agreement.
In that connection, I have reviewed the
following:
(a) The
Purchase Agreement.
(b) The
registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-152854) filed by the
Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”),
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on
August 7, 2008 (such registration statement, at the time it became effective,
including the documents incorporated by reference therein and the information
deemed to be a part thereof at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B
under the Securities Act, being hereinafter referred to as the “Registration
Statement”).
(c) The
prospectus dated September 12, 2008 relating to the offering from time to time
of the Company’s common stock, which is included as part of the Registration
Statement (the “Base
Prospectus”).
(d) The
preliminary prospectus supplement dated March 30, 2010 relating to the Shares
(including the Base Prospectus and all documents incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated therein by reference, the “Preliminary
Prospectus”).
(e) The
final prospectus supplement dated March 31, 2010, relating to the Shares, in the
form in which it was filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the
Securities Act (including the Base Prospectus and the documents incorporated
therein by reference, the “Final
Prospectus”).
(f) The
amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws of the Company, as
amended through the June 7, 2005.
(g) The
originals or copies of agreements and documents listed in Schedule
C.
(h) Originals
or copies of such other corporate records of the Company, certificates of public
officials and of officers of the Company and agreements and other documents as I
have deemed necessary as a basis for the opinions expressed below.
In my review of the Purchase Agreement
and other documents, I have assumed:
(a) The
genuineness of all signatures (other than signatures on behalf of the
Company).
(b) The
authenticity of the originals of the documents submitted to me.
(c) The
conformity to authentic originals of any documents submitted to me as
copies.
(d) As
to matters of fact, the truthfulness of the representations made in the Purchase
Agreement and in certificates of public officials and officers of the
Company.
(e) That
the Purchase Agreement is the legal, valid and binding obligation of each party
thereto, other than the Company, enforceable against each such party in
accordance with its terms.
I have not independently established
the validity of the foregoing assumptions.
As used
herein, “Applicable
Time” shall mean 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, on March 30, 2010,
being the time identified to us by you as the time of first sale of the Shares
to the public, and the “General Disclosure
Package” means the Preliminary Prospectus, when considered together with
the information included in Schedule B hereto.
For
purposes of the opinions expressed below, “Generally Applicable
Law” means the federal law of the United States of America, and the law
of the State of New Jersey (including the rules or regulations promulgated
thereunder or pursuant thereto), that a New Jersey lawyer exercising customary
professional diligence would reasonably be expected to recognize as being
applicable to the Company, the Purchase Agreement or the transactions governed
by the Purchase Agreement. Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing definition of Generally Applicable Law, the term “Generally Applicable
Law” does not include any law, rule or regulation that is applicable to the
Company, the Purchase Agreement or such transactions (including any law, rule or
regulation applicable to individuals, companies or businesses because such
entities provide educational services) solely because such law, rule or
regulation is part of a regulatory regime applicable to any party to the
Purchase Agreement or any of its affiliates due to the specific assets or
business of such party or such affiliate. To the extent that all or
any part of the opinions expressed below will be governed by or relate to the
laws of any jurisdiction other than Generally Applicable Law, I have assumed for
all purposes that the laws of such other jurisdictions are identical to
the laws
of the State of New Jersey with respect to all the transactions, Purchase
Agreement and other matters upon which I express any opinion.
To my
knowledge, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration
Statement has been issued and no proceedings for such purpose have been
initiated or, to my knowledge, threatened by the Commission, and any required
filing of the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus pursuant to Rule
424 under the Securities Act has been made in the manner and within the time
period required by Rule 424. Based upon the foregoing and upon such
other investigation as I have deemed necessary, I am of the opinion
that:
1. The
Company is a corporation duly incorporated, validly existing and in good
standing under the law of the State of New Jersey with corporate power and
authority under such law to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct
its business as described in the General Disclosure Package and the Final
Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under the Purchase
Agreement.
2. The
Company (a) has the corporate power to execute, deliver and perform the
Purchase Agreement and (b) has taken all corporate action necessary to
authorize the execution, delivery and performance of the Purchase
Agreement.
3. In
each jurisdiction in which the Company is required to be duly qualified as a
foreign corporation to transact business, whether by reason of the ownership or
leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure to so
qualify or to be in good standing would not, individually or in the aggregate,
result in a material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or
in the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company and its
subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, whether or not arising in the
ordinary course of business (a “Material Adverse
Effect”), based solely on the certificates of public officials, the
Company is so qualified and in good standing.
4. The
execution and delivery by the Company of the Purchase Agreement, and the
performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder and the consummation of
the transactions contemplated thereby does not and will not, (a) result in
a violation of the Company’s certificate of incorporation or by-laws,
(b) result in a violation of Generally Applicable Law or a violation of any
order, writ, judgment, injunction, decree, determination or award known to me,
of any government, government instrumentality or court, domestic or foreign,
having jurisdiction over the Company or any subsidiary or any of their
respective properties, assets or operations, or (c) result in a breach of,
a default under or the acceleration of (or entitle any party to accelerate) the
maturity of any obligation of the Company or any subsidiary under, or result in
or require the creation of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon or security
interest in any property of the Company or any subsidiary pursuant to the terms
of, any agreement or document, known to me, to which the Company or any
subsidiary is a party or by which it or any of them may be bound, or to which
any of the property or assets of the Company or any subsidiary is subject,
except for such breaches, defaults or liens that would not, individually or in
the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.
5. No
authorization, approval or other action by, and no notice to or filing with, any
United States federal or New Jersey governmental authority or regulatory body,
or any third party that is a party to any of the documents, known to me, to
which the Company or any subsidiary is a party, is required for the due
authorization, execution, delivery or performance by the Company of the Purchase
Agreement or for the offering, issuance, sale or delivery of the Shares, except
as have been obtained and are in full force and effect under the Securities Act
or as may be required
under the
securities or blue sky laws of New Jersey in connection with the offer and sale
of the Shares, and except for the authorizations, approvals, actions, notices
and filings specified in the Purchase Agreement, each of which has been duly
obtained, taken, given or made and, to my knowledge, has not been
withdrawn.
6. The
Purchase Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the
Company.
7. The
authorized, issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company is as set forth
in the consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of December 31, 2009
included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2009 (except for subsequent issuances, if any, pursuant to the
Purchase Agreement or pursuant to reservations, agreements or employee benefit
plans referred to in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus or
pursuant to the exercise of convertible securities or options referred to in the
General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus); the shares of issued and
outstanding capital stock of the Company, including the Shares to be purchased
by the Underwriter from the Selling Shareholder, are validly issued, fully paid
and non-assessable; and none of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the
Company were issued in violation of the preemptive or other similar rights of
any security holder of the Company.
8. Each
subsidiary (excluding ComTech Services Group Inc., which has no assets or
operations) has been duly incorporated or formed and is validly existing as a
corporation or limited liability company in good standing under the laws of the
jurisdiction of its formation, has corporate or other power and authority to
own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described
in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus. In each
jurisdiction in which each subsidiary is required to be duly qualified as a
foreign corporation to transact business, as set forth opposite its name on
Schedule D of this opinion, based solely on the certificates of public
officials, each subsidiary is so qualified and in good
standing. Except as otherwise disclosed in the General Disclosure
Package and the Final Prospectus, all of the issued and outstanding capital
stock of each significant subsidiary has been duly authorized and validly
issued, is fully paid and non-assessable and is owned by the Company, directly
or through subsidiaries, and is, to the best of my knowledge, 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 securityholder of such
subsidiary.
9. To
the best of my knowledge, there is not pending or threatened any action, suit,
proceeding, inquiry or investigation, to which the Company or any subsidiary is
a party, or to which the property of the Company or any subsidiary is subject,
before or brought by any federal or state court or governmental agency or body
which would reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to result
in a Material Adverse Effect, or which would reasonably be expected to
materially and adversely affect the properties or assets thereof or the
consummation of the transactions contemplated in the Purchase Agreement or the
performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder.
10. The
form of certificate used to evidence the Shares complies in all material
respects with all applicable statutory requirements, with any applicable
requirements of the certificate of incorporation and by-laws of the Company and
the requirements of The Nasdaq Global Select Market.
11. All
descriptions in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus of
contracts and other documents to which the Company or its subsidiaries are a
party are accurate in all material respects. To the best of my
knowledge, there are no franchises, contracts, indentures, mortgages, loan
agreements, notes, leases or other instruments required to be described or
referred to in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus or to be
filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement other than those described or
referred to therein or filed as exhibits thereto.
12. To
the best of my knowledge, there are no persons (other than the Selling
Shareholder as described in the General Disclosure Package and the Final
Prospectus) with registration rights or other similar rights to have any
securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or otherwise
registered by the Company under the Securities Act, which have not been
waived.
I have
reviewed and participated in the preparation of the Registration Statement, the
General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus with other officers or
employees of the Company, with its counsel and its auditors, and with your
representatives, and I advise you that, on the basis of the information I gained
in the course of performing the services referred to above, no facts came to my
attention which caused me to believe that (i) the Registration Statement
(other than the financial statements and other financial data contained therein
or omitted therefrom, as to which I have not been requested to comment), as of
the date of the Applicable Time, 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, or (ii) the
General Disclosure Package (other than the financial statements and other
financial data contained therein or omitted therefrom, as to which I have not
been requested to comment), as of the Applicable Time, contained an untrue
statement of a material fact or omitted to state a 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 Final Prospectus (other
than the financial statements and other financial data contained therein or
omitted therefrom, as to which I have not been requested to comment), as of its
date or the date hereof, contained or contains an untrue statement of a material
fact or omitted or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the
statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading.
With
respect to any matters indicated herein to be limited to my knowledge and
information (or words to like effect), the opinions set forth herein with
respect to such matters are specifically limited to the actual knowledge that I
have obtained solely in connection with the performance of my duties as general
counsel of the Company.
This
opinion letter is rendered to you in connection with the transactions
contemplated by the Purchase Agreement. This opinion letter may not
be relied upon by you for any other purpose without my prior written
consent.
This
opinion letter speaks only as of the date hereof. I expressly
disclaim any responsibility to advise you of any development or circumstance of
any kind, including any change of law or fact, that may occur after the date of
this opinion letter that might affect the opinions expressed
herein.
Very
truly yours,
SCHEDULE
A
Barclays
Capital Inc.
745
Seventh Avenue
New York,
NY 10019
SCHEDULE
B
[Public
offering price: $[·] per
share]
[OR]
[Description
of variable price offering terms included in the Prospectus]
SCHEDULE
C
1. Stockholders’
Agreement, dated as of September 15, 1999, among Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and Five Mile River Capital Partners
LLC.*
2. Letter
agreement, dated August 9, 2000, by Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C., amending
the Stockholders’ Agreement.*
3. Letter
agreement, dated August 9, 2000, by Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc., amending
the Stockholders’ Agreement.*
4. Management
Stockholders Agreement, dated as of January 1, 2002, by and among Lincoln
Technical Institute, Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and the
Stockholders and other holders of options under the Management Stock Option Plan
listed therein.*
5. Assumption
Agreement and First Amendment to Management Stockholders Agreement, dated as of
December 20, 2007, by and among Lincoln Educational Services Corporation,
Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and the
Management Investors parties therein.*
6. Registration
Rights Agreement between the Company and Back to School Acquisition,
L.L.C.*
7. Specimen
Stock Certificate evidencing shares of common stock.*
8. Credit
Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2009, among the Company, the Guarantors from
time to time parties thereto, the Lenders from time to time parties thereto and
Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent.*
9. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and David F. Carney.*
10. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and David F. Carney.*
11. Separation
and Release Agreement, dated as of October 15, 2007, between the Company and
Lawrence E. Brown.*
12. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and Scott M. Shaw.*
13. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and Scott M. Shaw.*
14. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and Cesar Ribeiro.*
15. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and Cesar Ribeiro.*
16. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and Shaun E. McAlmont.*
17. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and Shaun E. McAlmont.*
18. Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation 2005 Long Term Incentive Plan.*
19. Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation 2005 Non Employee Directors Restricted Stock
Plan.*
20. Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation 2005 Deferred Compensation Plan.*
21. Lincoln
Technical Institute Management Stock Option Plan, effective January 1,
2002.*
22. Form
of Stock Option Agreement, dated January 1, 2002, between Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc. and certain participants.*
23. Form
of Stock Option Agreement under the Company’s 2005 Long Term Incentive
Plan.*
24. Form
of Restricted Stock Agreement under the Company’s 2005 Long Term Incentive
Plan.*
25. Management
Stock Subscription Agreement, dated January 1, 2002, among Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc. and certain management investors.*
26. Stockholder’s
Agreement among the Company, Back to School Acquisition L.L.C., Steven W. Hart
and Steven W. Hart 2003 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust.*
27. Stock
Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 20, 2009, among Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc., NN Acquisition, LLC, Brad Baran, Barbara Baran, UGP Education
Partners, LLC, UGPE Partners Inc. and Merion Investment Partners,
L.P.*
28. Stock
Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 20, 2009, among Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc., NN Acquisition, LLC, Brad Baran, UGP Education Partners, LLC,
Merion Investment Partners, L.P, and, for certain limited purposes only, UGPE
Partners Inc.*
29. Stock
Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 5, 2009, among Lincoln Educations
Services Corporation and Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C.*
___________________
*
Listed as an exhibit to the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2009. The documents marked with one asterisk (*)
in the aggregate constitute all documents listed as an exhibit to such Form 10-K
pursuant to Items 601(b)(4) or 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K under the Securities
Act.
SCHEDULE
D
Foreign Qualification of
Certain Subsidiaries
Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc.
Alabama
Arizona
Colorado
Connecticut
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Nevada
New
York
Pennsylvania
Rhode
Island
Texas
New England Acquisition,
LLC
Connecticut
Southwestern Acquisition,
LLC
Ohio
Kentucky
Indiana
Nashville Acquisition,
LLC
Tennessee
Euphoria Acquisition,
LLC
Nevada
New England Institute of
Technology at Palm Beach, Inc.
Not
applicable
LCT Acquisition,
LLC
Connecticut
NN Acquisition,
LLC
Connecticut
New
Jersey
Exhibit
B-1
FORM OF OPINION OF THE
COMPANY’S OUTSIDE COUNSEL
To be delivered pursuant to
Section 5(c)
[·],
2010
To the
Persons listed in Schedule A
|
Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation
|
|
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We have
acted as counsel to Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, a New Jersey
corporation (the “Company”), in
connection with the purchase and sale of 3,000,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the
Company’s common stock, no par value, pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, dated
as of March 30, 2010 (the “Purchase Agreement”),
among the Company, the Selling Shareholder named therein and each of
you. This opinion is furnished to you pursuant to Section 5(c) of the
Purchase Agreement.
In that connection, we have reviewed
the following:
(a) The
Purchase Agreement.
(b) A
specimen copy of the certificates used to evidence the Shares.
The
documents described in the foregoing clauses (a) through (b) are collectively
referred to herein as the “Opinion
Documents.”
We have also reviewed the
following:
(a) The
registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-152854) filed by the
Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”),
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on
August 7, 2008 (such registration statement, at the time it became effective,
including the documents incorporated by reference therein and the information
deemed to be a part thereof at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B
under the Securities Act, being hereinafter referred to as the “Registration
Statement”).
(b) The
prospectus, dated September 12, 2008, forming a part of the Registration
Statement, with respect to the offering from time to time of shares of the
Company’s common stock (the “Base
Prospectus”).
(c) The
preliminary prospectus supplement, dated March 30, 2010, relating to the Shares
(the “Preliminary
Prospectus Supplement”) (the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the
Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, in the form filed with the Commission
pursuant to
Rule 424(b)
under the Securities Act, including the documents incorporated by reference
therein, being hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Preliminary
Prospectus”).
(d) The
final prospectus supplement, dated March 31, 2010, relating to the Shares (the
“Final Prospectus
Supplement”) (the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the Final
Prospectus Supplement, in the form filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule
424(b) under the Securities Act, including the documents incorporated by
reference therein, being hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Final
Prospectus”).
(e) The
documents incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.
(f) The
originals or copies of the agreements and documents listed in Schedule
C.
(g) Originals
or copies of such other corporate records of the Company, certificates of public
officials and of officers of the Company and agreements and other documents as
we have deemed necessary as a basis for the opinions expressed
below.
As used
herein, the term “General Disclosure
Package” means the Preliminary Prospectus, when considered together with
the information attached hereto as Schedule B.
In our review of the Opinion Documents
and other documents, we have assumed:
(a) The
genuineness of all signatures.
(b) The
authenticity of the originals of the documents submitted to us.
(c) The
conformity to authentic originals of any documents submitted to us as
copies.
(d) As
to matters of fact, the truthfulness of the representations made in the Purchase
Agreement and in certificates of public officials and officers of the
Company.
(e) That
the Purchase Agreement is the legal, valid and binding obligation of each party
thereto, enforceable against each such party in accordance with its
terms.
(f) That:
(i) The
Company is an entity duly organized and validly existing under the laws of the
jurisdiction of its organization.
(ii) The
Company has power and authority (corporate or otherwise) to execute, deliver and
perform, and has duly authorized, executed and delivered (except to the extent
Generally Applicable Law is applicable to such execution and delivery), the
Purchase Agreement.
(iii) The
execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Purchase Agreement has
been duly authorized by all necessary action (corporate or otherwise) and do
not:
(A) contravene
its certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational
documents;
(B) except
with respect to Generally Applicable Law, violate any law, rule or regulation
applicable to it; or
(C) result
in any conflict with or breach of any agreement or document binding on it (other
than the documents and agreements listed on Schedule C hereto) of which any
addressee hereof has knowledge, has received notice or has reason to
know.
(iv) Except
with respect to Generally Applicable Law, no authorization, approval or other
action by, and no notice to or filing with, any governmental authority or
regulatory body or (to the extent the same is required under any agreement or
document binding on it of which an addressee has knowledge, has received notice
or has reason to know) any other third party is required for the due execution,
delivery or performance by the Company of the Purchase Agreement or, if any such
authorization, approval, consent, action, notice or filing is required, it has
been duly obtained, taken, given or made and is in full force and
effect.
We have
not independently established the validity of the foregoing
assumptions.
“Generally Applicable
Law” means the federal law of the United States of America, and the law
of the State of New York (including the rules or regulations promulgated
thereunder or pursuant thereto), that a New York lawyer exercising customary
professional diligence would reasonably be expected to recognize as being
applicable to the Company, the Purchase Agreement or the transactions governed
by the Purchase Agreement. Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing definition of Generally Applicable Law, the term “Generally Applicable
Law” does not include any law, rule or regulation that is applicable to the
Company, the Purchase Agreement or such transactions (including any law, rule or
regulation applicable to individuals, companies or businesses because such
entities provide educational services) solely because such law, rule or
regulation is part of a regulatory regime applicable to any party to the
Purchase Agreement or any of its affiliates due to the specific assets or
business of such party or such affiliate.
To our
knowledge, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration
Statement has been issued under the Securities Act, and no proceedings for that
purpose have been initiated or are pending or threatened by the
Commission.
Based
upon the foregoing and upon such other investigation as we have deemed necessary
and subject to the qualifications set forth below, we are of the opinion
that:
1. Insofar
as New York law governs the execution and delivery of the Purchase Agreement,
the Purchase Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the
Company.
2. The
execution and delivery by the Company of the Purchase Agreement do not, and the
performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder and the consummation of
the transactions contemplated thereby will not, (a) result in a violation
of Generally Applicable Law or (b) result in a breach of, a default under
or the acceleration of (or entitle any party to accelerate) the maturity of any
obligation of the Company under, or result in or require the creation of any
lien upon or security interest in any property of the Company pursuant to the
terms of, any agreement or document listed on Schedule C hereto.
3. No
authorization, approval or other action by, and no notice to or filing with, any
United States federal or New York governmental authority or regulatory body, or
any third party
that is a
party to any of the documents listed in Schedule C hereto, is required for the
due execution, delivery or performance by the Company of the Purchase Agreement,
except as have been obtained and are in full force and effect under the
Securities Act or as may be required under the securities or blue sky laws of
any jurisdiction in the United States in connection with the offer and sale of
the Shares by the Company.
4. The
Company is not required to register as an investment company under the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
5. The
statements in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus under the
caption “Material United States Federal Tax Considerations for Non-United States
Holders,” insofar as such statements constitute summaries of legal matters
referred to therein, fairly summarize in all material respects the legal matters
referred to therein.
Our
opinions expressed above are limited to (i) Generally Applicable Law and
(ii) in the case of our opinion in paragraph 4 above, the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended, and we do not express any opinion herein
concerning any other law.
This
opinion letter is rendered to you in connection with the transactions
contemplated by the Purchase Agreement. This opinion letter may not
be relied upon by you for any other purpose without our prior written
consent.
This
opinion letter speaks only as of the date hereof. We expressly
disclaim any responsibility to advise you of any development or circumstance of
any kind, including any change of law or fact, that may occur after the date of
this opinion letter that might affect the opinions expressed
herein.
Very
truly yours,
SCHEDULE
A
Barclays
Capital Inc.
745
Seventh Avenue
New York,
NY 10019
SCHEDULE
B
[Public
offering price: $[·] per
share]
[OR]
[Description
of variable price offering terms included in the Prospectus]
SCHEDULE
C
1. Stockholders’
Agreement, dated as of September 15, 1999, among Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and Five Mile River Capital Partners
LLC.*
2. Letter
agreement, dated August 9, 2000, by Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C., amending
the Stockholders’ Agreement.*
3. Letter
agreement, dated August 9, 2000, by Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc., amending
the Stockholders’ Agreement.*
4. Management
Stockholders Agreement, dated as of January 1, 2002, by and among Lincoln
Technical Institute, Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and the
Stockholders and other holders of options under the Management Stock Option Plan
listed therein.*
5. Assumption
Agreement and First Amendment to Management Stockholders Agreement, dated as of
December 20, 2007, by and among Lincoln Educational Services Corporation,
Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and the
Management Investors parties therein.*
6. Registration
Rights Agreement between the Company and Back to School Acquisition,
L.L.C.*
7. Specimen
Stock Certificate evidencing shares of common stock.*
8. Credit
Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2009, among the Company, the Guarantors from
time to time parties thereto, the Lenders from time to time parties thereto and
Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent.*
9. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and David F. Carney.*
10. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and David F. Carney.*
11. Separation
and Release Agreement, dated as of October 15, 2007, between the Company and
Lawrence E. Brown.*
12. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and Scott M. Shaw.*
13. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and Scott M. Shaw.*
14. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and Cesar Ribeiro.*
15. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and Cesar Ribeiro.*
16. Amended
and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2007, between the
Company and Shaun E. McAlmont.*
17. Amendment
to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of January 14, 2009,
between the Company and Shaun E. McAlmont.*
18. Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation 2005 Long Term Incentive Plan.*
19. Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation 2005 Non Employee Directors Restricted Stock
Plan.*
20. Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation 2005 Deferred Compensation Plan.*
21. Lincoln
Technical Institute Management Stock Option Plan, effective January 1,
2002.*
22. Form
of Stock Option Agreement, dated January 1, 2002, between Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc. and certain participants.*
23. Form
of Stock Option Agreement under the Company’s 2005 Long Term Incentive
Plan.*
24. Form
of Restricted Stock Agreement under the Company’s 2005 Long Term Incentive
Plan.*
25. Management
Stock Subscription Agreement, dated January 1, 2002, among Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc. and certain management investors.*
26. Stockholder’s
Agreement among the Company, Back to School Acquisition L.L.C., Steven W. Hart
and Steven W. Hart 2003 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust.*
27. Stock
Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 20, 2009, among Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc., NN Acquisition, LLC, Brad Baran, Barbara Baran, UGP Education
Partners, LLC, UGPE Partners Inc. and Merion Investment Partners,
L.P.*
28. Stock
Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 20, 2009, among Lincoln Technical
Institute, Inc., NN Acquisition, LLC, Brad Baran, UGP Education Partners, LLC,
Merion Investment Partners, L.P, and, for certain limited purposes only, UGPE
Partners Inc.*
29. Stock
Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 5, 2009, among Lincoln Educational
Services Corporation and Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C.*
___________________
*
Listed as an exhibit to the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2009. The documents marked with one asterisk (*)
in the aggregate constitute all documents listed as an exhibit to such Form 10-K
pursuant to Items 601(b)(4) or 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K under the Securities
Act.
Exhibit
B-2
FORM OF OPINION OF THE
COMPANY’S OUTSIDE COUNSEL
to be delivered pursuant to
Section 5(c)
[·],
2010
To the
Persons listed in Schedule A
|
Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation
|
|
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We have
acted as counsel to Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, a New Jersey
corporation (the “Company”), in
connection with the purchase and sale of 3,000,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the
Company’s common stock, no par value, pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, dated
as of March 30, 2010 (the “Purchase Agreement”),
among the Company, the Selling Shareholder named therein and each of
you. This opinion is furnished to you pursuant to Section 5(c) of the
Purchase Agreement.
In that connection, we have reviewed
the following:
(a) The
Purchase Agreement.
(b) The
registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-152854) filed by the
Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”),
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on
August 7, 2008 (such registration statement, at the time it became effective,
including the documents incorporated by reference therein and the information
deemed to be a part thereof at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B
under the Securities Act, being hereinafter referred to as the “Registration
Statement”).
(c) The
prospectus, dated September 12, 2008, forming a part of the Registration
Statement, with respect to the offering from time to time of shares of the
Company’s common stock (the “Base
Prospectus”).
(d) The
preliminary prospectus supplement, dated March 30, 2010, relating to the Shares
(the “Preliminary
Prospectus Supplement”) (the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the
Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, in the form filed with the Commission
pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, including the documents
incorporated by reference therein, being hereinafter collectively referred to as
the “Preliminary
Prospectus”).
(e) The
final prospectus supplement, dated March 31, 2010, relating to the Shares (the
“Final Prospectus
Supplement”) (the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the Final
Prospectus Supplement, in the form filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule
424(b) under the Securities Act, including the documents incorporated by
reference therein, being hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Final
Prospectus”).
(f) The
documents incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.
As used
herein, “Applicable
Time” shall mean 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, on March 30, 2010,
being the time identified to us by you as the time of first sale of the Shares
to the public, and the “General Disclosure
Package” means the Preliminary Prospectus, when considered together with
the information included in Schedule B hereto.
We also
reviewed and participated in discussions concerning the preparation of the
Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus and the Final Prospectus with
certain officers or employees of the Company and its auditors, and with your
representatives and your counsel. The limitations inherent in the
independent verification of factual matters and in the role of outside counsel
are such, however, that we cannot and do not assume any responsibility for the
accuracy, completeness or fairness of any of the statements made in the
Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Final Prospectus,
except as set forth in paragraph 5 of our opinion addressed to you, dated the
date hereof.
Subject
to the limitations set forth in the immediately preceding paragraph, we advise
you that, on the basis of the information we gained in the course of performing
the services referred to above, in our opinion, (a) each of the documents
incorporated by reference in the Final Prospectus (other than the financial
statements and other financial data contained therein or omitted therefrom, as
to which we express no opinion), at the time it was filed with the Commission,
appears on its face to have been appropriately responsive in all material
respects to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and
(b) each of the Registration Statement and the Final Prospectus (other than
the financial statements and other financial data contained therein or omitted
therefrom, as to which we express no opinion), appears on its face to be
appropriately responsive in all material respects to the requirements of the
Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission
thereunder.
We
further advise you that, subject to the limitations set forth in the second
preceding paragraph, on the basis of the information we gained in the course of
performing the services referred to above, no facts came to our attention that
caused us to believe that (i) the Registration Statement (other than the
financial statements and other financial data contained therein or omitted
therefrom, as to which we have not been requested to comment), as of the date of
the Applicable Time, 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, or (ii) the General Disclosure Package
(other than the financial statements and other financial data contained therein
or omitted therefrom, as to which we have not been requested to comment), as of
the Applicable Time, contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted
to state a 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 Final Prospectus (other than the financial statements and other
financial data contained therein or omitted therefrom, as to which we have not
been requested to comment), as of its date or the date hereof, contained or
contains an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or omits to state a
material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of
the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
This
letter is being furnished to you solely for your benefit in connection with your
role as underwriter of the offering of the Shares, and is not to be used,
circulated, quoted or otherwise referred to for any other purpose.
Very
truly yours,
SCHEDULE
A
Barclays
Capital Inc.
745
Seventh Avenue
New York,
NY 10019
SCHEDULE
B
[Public
offering price: $[·] per
share]
[OR]
[Description
of variable price offering terms included in the Prospectus]
Exhibit
C
FORM OF OPINION OF THE
COMPANY’S NEW JERSEY COUNSEL
to be delivered pursuant to
Section 5(d)
[·],
2010
Barclays
Capital, Inc.
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We serve
as special New Jersey counsel to Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, a New
Jersey corporation (the “Company”). This
opinion is furnished to you in connection with (i) the filing by the
Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) of a
registration statement on Form S-3 (the “Registration
Statement”) which became effective on September 12, 2008 (File No.
333-152854), (ii) the prospectus contained in the Registration Statement
(the “Prospectus”), relating to the offering and sale from time to time by the
Company of up to 1,500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, no par value
(the “Common Stock”), and by the selling stockholders named in the Prospectus of
up to 22,024,003 shares of the Common Stock, and (iii)(A) the preliminary
prospectus supplement (the “Preliminary Prospectus
Supplement”) dated March 30, 2010 and (B) the prospectus supplement
(the “Prospectus
Supplement”) dated March 31, 2010, each relating to the offering and sale
of 3,000,000 shares of the Common Stock (the “Shares”) by the
selling stockholder named therein (the “Selling Stockholder”)
in the manner set forth therein.
In that
connection, we have reviewed originals or copies of the following documents (the
“Documents”):
(a) The
Registration Statement and the Prospectus Supplement;
(b) The
amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws of the Company, as
amended through the date hereof;
(c) The
Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”)
dated March 30, 2010 by and among the Company, the selling stockholders named
therein and the underwriter named therein;
(d) Resolutions
adopted by the Board of Directors of the Company on August 1, 2008 authorizing
and approving the execution and delivery of the Purchase Agreement;
and
(e) Originals
or copies of such other corporate records of the Company, certificates of public
officials and officers of the Company and agreements and other documents as we
have deemed necessary as a basis for the opinions expressed below.
In our review of the Documents, we have
assumed:
(a) The
genuineness of all signatures;
(b) The
authenticity of the originals of the documents submitted to us;
(c) The
conformity to authentic originals of any documents submitted to us as copies;
and
(d) As
to matters of fact, the truthfulness of the statements made in certificates of
public officials and officers of the Company.
We have not independently established
the validity of the foregoing assumptions.
Members
of our firm are admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey, and we do
not express any opinion as to the laws of any other jurisdiction.
Subject
to the foregoing assumptions and the limitations and qualifications set forth
below, it is our opinion that as of the date hereof
1. The
Company is a corporation duly incorporated, validly existing and in good
standing under the laws of the State of New Jersey and has the corporate power
and other power and authority under such laws, to own, lease and operate its
properties and to conduct its business as described in the Registration
Statement, the Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement and the
Prospectus Supplement and to enter into and perform its obligations under the
Purchase Agreement.
2. The
Company (a) has the corporate power to execute, deliver and perform the
Purchase Agreement and (b) has taken all corporate action necessary to
authorize the execution, delivery and performance of the Purchase
Agreement.
3. The
Purchase Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the
Company.
4. The
number of authorized, issued and outstanding shares of common stock of the
Company is as set forth in the consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of
December 31, 2009 included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 (except for subsequent issuances, if any,
pursuant to reservations, agreements or employee benefit plans referred to in
the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus
Supplement and the Prospectus Supplement or pursuant to the exercise of
convertible securities or options referred to in the Registration Statement, the
Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement and the Prospectus
Supplement); the shares of issued and outstanding common stock of the Company,
including the Shares, have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully
paid and nonassessable; none of the outstanding shares of common stock of the
Company, including the Shares, were issued in violation of the statutory
preemptive rights of any securityholder of the Company; and the sale of the
Shares in accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement is not subject to
any statutory preemptive rights of any securityholder of the
Company.
This
opinion letter is rendered to you in connection with the transactions
contemplated by the Registration Statement. This opinion letter may
not be relied upon by you for any other purpose without our prior written
consent. This opinion letter speaks only as of the date
hereof. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to advise you of any
development or circumstance of any kind, including any change of law or fact,
that may occur after the date of this opinion letter that might affect the
opinions expressed herein.
We hereby
consent to the filing of this opinion with the Commission as an exhibit to the
Registration Statement. We also consent to the reference to our firm
under the heading “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus Supplement. In
giving this consent, we do not hereby admit that we are included in the category
of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations of the Commission.
Very
truly yours,
McCarter
& English, LLP
Exhibit
D
FORM OF OPINION OF THE
COMPANY’S OUTSIDE REGULATORY COUNSEL
to be delivered pursuant to
Section 5(e)
|
Re:
|
Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation
|
|
3,000,000
Shares of Common Stock
|
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We have
acted as special educational regulatory counsel to Lincoln Educational Services
Corporation, a New Jersey corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the
sale of 3,000,000 shares of its common stock (the “Shares”) pursuant to the
Purchase Agreement dated March 30, 2010 (the “Purchase Agreement”), among the
Company, the Selling Shareholder and the underwriter named
therein. This opinion letter is furnished to you pursuant to Section
5(e) of the Purchase Agreement.
For
purposes of the opinions set forth herein, we have assumed without investigation
that the documents examined by us are genuine and precisely match the final
execution copies of the documents; the signatures on all such documents are
genuine; all individuals executing such documents had all requisite legal
capacity and competency; the documents submitted to us as originals are
authentic and complete; the documents submitted to us as certified or
reproduction copies conform to the originals; and the documents reviewed by us
constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of the parties
thereto.
We have
examined such certificates of public officials, certificates of officers of the
Company, originals (or copies thereof certified to our satisfaction) of
corporate documents and records of the Company, and other documents, records and
papers as we have deemed relevant and necessary in order to give the opinions
hereinafter set forth. We also have assumed that any certificate,
electronic message, or other document on which we have relied that was given or
dated earlier than this opinion letter was accurate when given and has remained
accurate as far as relevant to the opinions contained herein from such earlier
date through and including the date of this letter. With respect to
certain of the factual matters set forth herein, and the accuracy of certain
factual matters upon which certain of the opinions set forth herein are based,
we have relied, without investigation, solely upon certifications of officers of
the Company. We have relied upon the aforesaid certifications for the
accuracy of certain material factual matters which were not independently
established by us. Capitalized terms utilized herein and not
otherwise defined shall have the same meaning as in the Purchase
Agreement. Where in this opinion letter a statement is made “to our
knowledge,” it means that none of the attorneys in our firm who have given
substantive attention to legal representation of the Company has current actual
knowledge of the inaccuracy of such statement.
On the
basis of the foregoing, and in reliance thereon, and subject to the assumptions,
limitations, qualifications and exceptions contained herein, we are of the
opinion that:
1. The
statements under the captions “Prospectus Supplement Summary—Recent Regulatory
Developments” and “Risk Factors — Risks Related to the Offering — The sale of
shares in this offering by the selling stockholder will constitute a change in
control of each of our schools under the DOE standards and standards of certain
institutional accrediting agencies requiring each of our schools to apply for
recertification for continued ability to participate in Title IV Programs and
reaffirm certain accreditations. The failure to obtain the required
recertifications and reaffirmations could have a material adverse effect on our
results of operations,” in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and
under the
captions “Business — Regulatory Environment,” “Risk Factors — Risks Related to
Our Industry,” “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business — Failure on our
part to establish and operate additional schools or campuses or effectively
identify suitable expansion opportunities could reduce our ability to implement
our growth strategy,” “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business — A
protracted economic slowdown and rising unemployment could harm our business if
our students are unable to obtain employment upon completion of their programs,
are unable to repay student loans or elect not to pursue education with us” and
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations — General” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2009 (the “2009 Form 10-K), insofar as such statements
constitute a summary of applicable federal and state laws and regulations or a
summary of judicial and administrative proceedings with respect to the operation
of postsecondary educational institutions (collectively, “Regulatory Matters”),
are as of the date of this opinion letter accurate in all material respects and
present fairly the information conveyed therein.
2. We
have no knowledge that leads us to believe that, as of the Applicable Time or
the date of this opinion letter, the information contained in the statements
under the captions “Prospectus Supplement Summary—Recent Regulatory
Developments” and “Risk Factors — Risks Related to the Offering — The sale of
shares in this offering by the selling stockholder will constitute a change in
control of each of our schools under the DOE standards and standards of certain
institutional accrediting agencies requiring each of our schools to apply for
recertification for continued ability to participate in Title IV Programs and
reaffirm certain accreditations. The failure to obtain the required
recertifications and reaffirmations could have a material adverse effect on our
results of operations,” in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and
under the captions “Business — Regulatory Environment,” “Risk Factors — Risks
Related to Our Industry,” “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business —
Failure on our part to establish and operate additional schools or campuses or
effectively identify suitable expansion opportunities could reduce our ability
to implement our growth strategy,” “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business
— A protracted economic slowdown and rising unemployment could harm our business
if our students are unable to obtain employment upon completion of their
programs, are unable to repay student loans or elect not to pursue education
with us” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations — General” in the 2009 Form 10-K, insofar as such
statements constitute a summary of Regulatory Matters, contained or contain, as
the case may be, any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or omit, as
the case may be, to state any material fact necessary to make the statements
therein not misleading.
3. Except
as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no consent,
approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of, or filing
with, the U.S. Department of Education under Title IV of the HEA is required for
the offer and sale of the Shares pursuant to the Purchase
Agreement.
4. To
our knowledge, except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the
Prospectus, the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the
Purchase Agreement and the offer and sale of the Shares pursuant to the Purchase
Agreement, do not and will not conflict with or result in a violation of
(i) Title IV of the HEA or (ii) any rule, regulation or requirement of
the U.S. Department of Education promulgated under Title IV of the HEA, except
for such conflicts or violations which would not be reasonably likely to,
individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.
5. To
our knowledge, except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the
Prospectus, the Company and each of its subsidiaries have all necessary
licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations required for each of
the Company’s schools to participate in Title IV Programs under the HEA and
pursuant to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries must be authorized by
applicable states to engage in rendering educational services as described in
the General Disclosure Package and the
Prospectus,
except where the failure to so have any such licenses, certificates, permits and
other authorizations would not be reasonably likely to, individually or in the
aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.
Except as
specifically set forth above, the foregoing opinions relate only to matters of
federal law. We do not purport to express any opinion of the law of
any other jurisdiction.
This
opinion letter is limited to the matters expressly stated herein, and no
additional or other opinion is implied or may be inferred to extend this opinion
letter beyond the matters expressly stated herein. We express no
opinion as to any matters beyond the scope of the regulatory issues discussed
above.
The opinions expressed in this letter
have been prepared solely for your use and reliance in connection with the
closing of the offering as described in the Prospectus, and may not be relied on
by any other entity or person or for any other purpose. The opinions
expressed in this letter are made only as of the date hereof and cannot be
relied upon with respect to events which occur subsequent to the issuance of
this letter. We assume no obligation to advise you of any changes in
the foregoing subsequent to the delivery of this letter.
This
opinion is not to be quoted in whole or in part or otherwise referred to, nor is
it to be filed with any governmental agency. Other than the addressee
hereof, no one is entitled to rely on this opinion.
Yours
truly,
Exhibit
E-1
FORM OF OPINION OF COUNSEL
TO BACK TO SCHOOL ACQUISITION, L.L.C.
to be delivered pursuant to
Section 5(g)
[·],
2010
To the
Persons listed in Schedule A
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Lincoln
Educational Services Corporation
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Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We have
acted as counsel to Back to School Acquisition L.L.C., a Delaware limited
liability company (the “Selling
Shareholder”), in connection with the sale by the Selling Shareholder of
3,000,000 shares (the “Shares”), of the
common stock, no par value, of Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, a New
Jersey corporation (the “Company”), pursuant
to the Purchase Agreement, dated as of March 30, 2010 (the “Purchase Agreement”),
among the Company, the Selling Shareholder and each of you. This
opinion is furnished to you pursuant to Section 5(f) of the Purchase
Agreement.
In that
connection, we have reviewed originals or copies of the Purchase Agreement,
which is referred to herein as the “Opinion
Document.”
We have also reviewed the
following:
(a) The
registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-152854) filed by the
Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”),
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on August 7, 2008
(such registration statement, at the time it became effective, including the
documents incorporated by reference therein and the information deemed to be a
part thereof at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B under the
Securities Act, being hereinafter referred to as the “Registration
Statement”).
(b) The
prospectus, dated September 12, 2008, forming a part of the Registration
Statement, with respect to the offering from time to time of shares of the
Company’s common stock (the “Base
Prospectus”).
(c) The
preliminary prospectus supplement, dated March 30, 2010, relating to the Shares
(the “Preliminary
Prospectus Supplement”) (the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the
Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, in the form filed with the Commission
pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, including the documents
incorporated by reference therein, being hereinafter collectively referred to as
the “Preliminary
Prospectus”).
(d) The
final prospectus supplement, dated March 31, 2010, relating to the Shares (the
“Final Prospectus
Supplement”) (the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the Final
Prospectus Supplement, in the form filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule
424(b) under the
Securities
Act, including the documents incorporated by reference therein, being
hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Final
Prospectus”).
(e)
The documents incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement.
(f) The
certificate of formation and the limited liability company agreement of BSA
(collectively, the “Organizational
Documents”).
(g) The
originals or copies of the agreements and documents listed in Schedule
B.
(h) Originals
or copies of such other corporate records of the Company and the Selling
Shareholder, certificates of public officials and of officers of the Company and
the Selling Shareholder and agreements and other documents as we have deemed
necessary as a basis for the opinions expressed below.
In our review of the Opinion Document
and other documents, we have assumed:
(a) The
genuineness of all signatures.
(b) The
authenticity of the originals of the documents submitted to us.
(c) The
conformity to authentic originals of any documents submitted to us as
copies.
(d) As
to matters of fact, the truthfulness of the representations made in the Opinion
Document and in certificates of public officials and officers of the Company and
the Selling Shareholder.
(e) That
the Opinion Document is the legal, valid and binding obligation of each party
thereto, other than the Selling Shareholder, enforceable against each such party
in accordance with its terms.
(f) That:
(i) The
Selling Shareholder is an entity duly organized and validly existing under the
laws of the jurisdiction of its organization.
(ii) The
Selling Shareholder has power and authority (limited liability company or
otherwise) to execute, deliver and perform, and has duly authorized, executed,
and delivered (except to the extent Generally Applicable Law is applicable to
such execution and delivery), the Opinion Document.
(iii) The
execution, delivery and performance by the Selling Shareholder of the Opinion
Document has been duly authorized by all necessary action (limited liability
company or otherwise) and do not contravene its Organizational
Documents.
(iv) The
execution, delivery and performance by the Selling Shareholder of the Opinion
Document does not:
(A) except
with respect to Generally Applicable Law, violate any law, rule or regulation
applicable to it; or
(B) result
in any conflict with or breach of any agreement or document binding on it (other
than the documents and agreements listed on Schedule C hereto) of which any
addressee hereof has knowledge, has received notice or has reason to
know.
(v) Except
with respect to Generally Applicable Law, no authorization, approval or other
action by, and no notice to or filing with, any governmental authority or
regulatory body or (to the extent the same is required under any agreement or
document binding on it of which an addressee has knowledge, has received notice
or has reason to know) any other third party is required for the due execution,
delivery or performance by the Selling Shareholder of any Opinion Document or,
if any such authorization, approval, consent, action, notice or filing is
required, it has been duly obtained, taken, given or made and is in full force
and effect.
(g) The
Underwriter listed on Schedule A to the Purchase Agreement (the “Underwriter”) is a
Depository Trust Company (“DTC”)
participant. As such, the Underwriter maintains a customer account
with DTC in the name of the Underwriter, and such customer account is the
subject of an agreement between DTC and the Underwriter providing, among other
things, that: (i) financial assets (as defined in Section
8-102(a)(9) of the Uniform Commercial Code as currently in effect in the state
of New York (“NYUCC”)) (including
financial assets consisting of security entitlements with respect to the
Securities sold to the Underwriter) may be credited to such customer account;
(ii) DTC undertakes to treat the Underwriter as entitled to exercise the
rights that comprise the financial assets so credited from time to time to such
customer account in accordance with Article 8, Part 5 of NYUCC ; and
(iii) such agreement is governed by the law of the State of New York (such
that DTC’s “securities intermediary’s jurisdiction” (as defined in Section
8-110(e)) of NYUCC is New York).
We have not independently established
the validity of the foregoing assumptions.
“Generally Applicable
Law” means the federal law of the United States of America, and the law
of the State of New York (including the rules or regulations promulgated
thereunder or pursuant thereto), that a New York lawyer exercising customary
professional diligence would reasonably be expected to recognize as being
applicable to the Company and the Selling Shareholder, the Opinion Document or
the transactions governed by the Opinion Document. Without limiting
the generality of the foregoing definition of Generally Applicable Law, the term
“Generally Applicable Law” does not include any law, rule or regulation that is
applicable to the Company, the Selling Shareholder, the Opinion Document or such
transactions (including any law, rule or regulation applicable to individuals,
companies or businesses because such entities provide educational services)
solely because such law, rule or regulation is part of a regulatory regime
applicable to any party to the Opinion Document or any of its affiliates due to
the specific assets or business of such party or such affiliate.
Based
upon the foregoing and upon such other investigation as we have deemed necessary
and subject to the qualifications set forth below, we are of the opinion
that:
1. Insofar
as New York law governs the execution and delivery of the Purchase Agreement,
the Purchase Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by the Selling
Shareholder.
2. The
execution and delivery by the Selling Shareholder of each Opinion Document does
not, and the performance by the Selling Shareholder of its obligations
thereunder, will not (a) result in a violation of Generally Applicable Law
or (b) result in a breach of, a default under or the acceleration of (or
entitle any party to accelerate) the maturity of any obligation of the Selling
Shareholder under, or result in or require the creation of any lien upon or
security interest in any property of the Selling Shareholder pursuant to the
terms of, any agreement or document listed in the Schedule C.
3. No
authorization, approval or other action by, and no notice to or filing with, any
United States federal or New York governmental authority or regulatory body, or
an third party that is a party to any of the documents listed in Schedule B is
required for the due execution, delivery or performance by the Selling
Shareholder of any Opinion Document, except as have been obtained and are in
full force and effect under the Securities Act or as may be required under the
securities or blue sky laws of any jurisdiction in the United States in
connection with the offer and sale of the Shares.
4. Assuming
(i) the Underwriter’s purchase of the Shares from the Selling Shareholder
is for value, (ii) the Underwriter’s securities intermediary has indicated
by book entry that the Shares have been credited to the Underwriter’s securities
accounts (such security entitlements, the “Shares Security
Entitlements”) and (iii) the Underwriter have no notice of any
adverse claim to any of the Shares or their respective Shares Security
Entitlements, no action based on an adverse claim to the Shares or the Shares
Security Entitlements may be asserted against the Underwriter.
Our opinions expressed above are
subject to the following qualifications:
(a) Our
opinion in paragraph 4 is limited to Article 8 of the NYUCC and therefore such
opinion does not address laws other than Article 8 of the
NYUCC. Terms defined in Articles 1 and 8 of the NYUCC are used in
paragraph 5 as therein defined.
(b) Our
opinions are limited to Generally Applicable Law, and we do not express any
opinion herein concerning any other law.
This
opinion letter is rendered to you in connection with the transactions
contemplated by the Opinion Document. This opinion letter may not be
relied upon by you for any other purpose without our prior written
consent.
This
opinion letter speaks only as of the date hereof. We expressly
disclaim any responsibility to advise you of any development or circumstance of
any kind, including any change of law or fact, that may occur after the date of
this opinion letter that might affect the opinions expressed
herein.
Very
truly yours,
SCHEDULE
A
Barclays
Capital Inc.
745
Seventh Avenue
New York,
NY 10019
SCHEDULE
B
1. Stockholders’
Agreement, dated as of September 15, 1999, among Lincoln Technical Institute,
Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and Five Mile River Capital Partners
LLC.
2. Letter
agreement, dated August 9, 2000, by Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C., amending
the Stockholders’ Agreement.
3. Letter
agreement, dated August 9, 2000, by Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc., amending
the Stockholders’ Agreement.
4. Management
Stockholders Agreement, dated as of January 1, 2002, by and among Lincoln
Technical Institute, Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and the
Stockholders and other holders of options under the Management Stock Option Plan
listed therein.
5. Assumption
Agreement and First Amendment to Management Stockholders Agreement, dated as of
December 20, 2007, by and among Lincoln Educational Services Corporation,
Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc., Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C. and the
Management Investors parties therein.
6. Registration
Rights Agreement between the Company and Back to School Acquisition,
L.L.C..
7. Stockholder’s
Agreement among the Company, Back to School Acquisition L.L.C., Steven W. Hart
and Steven W. Hart 2003 Grantor Retained Annuity Trust.
8. Stock
Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 5, 2009, among Lincoln Educations
Services Corporation and Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C.
Exhibit
E-2
[Letterhead
of Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A.]
[·],
2010
To the
Parties
Listed
on Schedule A Hereto
Re: Back to School Acquisition,
L.L.C.
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We have
acted as special Delaware counsel for Back to School Acquisition, L.L.C., a
Delaware limited liability company (the “Company”), in
connection with the sale by the Company of shares (the “Shares”), of the
common stock, no par value, of Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, a New
Jersey corporation (“Lincoln”), pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, dated as of
March 30, 2010 (the “Purchase Agreement”),
among Lincoln, the Company and each of you. This opinion is furnished
to you pursuant to Section 5(f) of the Purchase Agreement.
For
purposes of giving the opinions hereinafter set forth, our examination of
documents has been limited to the examination of executed or conformed
counterparts of the following:
(a) The
Certificate of Formation of the Company, dated as of April 22, 1999 (the “LLC Certificate”), as
filed in the office of the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware (the
“Secretary of
State”) on April 22, 1999;
(b) The
Agreement of Limited Liability Company of the Company, dated as of April 22,
1999 (the “LLC
Agreement”), entered into by Stonington Capital Appreciation 1994 Fund,
L.P., as the sole member];
(c) The
Written Consent of the Sole Member of the Company, dated as of March [·], 2010
(the “Consent”);
(d) A
Certificate of the Sole Member of the Company, dated as of March [·], 2010
(the “Certificate”), as to certain matters;
(e) The
documents listed on Schedule B attached hereto (jointly, the “Transaction
Documents”); and
(f) A
Certificate of Good Standing for the Company, dated [·], 2010,
obtained from the Secretary of State.
For
purposes of this opinion, we have not reviewed any documents other than the
documents listed in paragraphs (a) through (f) above. In particular,
we have not reviewed any document (other than the documents listed in paragraphs
(a) through (f) above) that is referred to in or incorporated by reference into
any document reviewed by us. We have assumed that there exists no
provision in any document that we have not reviewed that is inconsistent with
the opinions stated herein. We have conducted no independent factual
investigation of our own but rather have relied solely upon the foregoing
documents, the statements and information set forth therein and the additional
matters recited
or
assumed herein, all of which we have assumed to be true, complete and accurate
in all material respects.
With
respect to all documents examined by us, we have assumed that (i) all
signatures on documents examined by us are genuine, (ii) all documents
submitted to us as originals are authentic, and (iii) all documents
submitted to us as copies conform with the originals of those
documents.
For
purposes of this opinion, we have assumed (i) except to the extent provided
in numbered paragraph 1 below, that each party to the documents examined by us
is duly organized or formed, as the case may be, and validly exists in good
standing under the laws of the jurisdiction governing its organization or
formation (ii) that the natural persons who are signatories to the
documents examined by us have the legal capacity to sign such documents,
(iii) except to the extent provided in numbered paragraph 2 below, that
each of the parties to the documents examined by us has the power and authority
to execute and deliver, and to perform its obligations under, such documents,
(iv) except to the extent provided in numbered paragraph 3 below, that all
of the documents examined by us have been duly authorized, executed and
delivered by all parties thereto, (v) that the LLC Certificate, the LLC
Agreement, the Consent and the Certificate are in full force and effect, have
not been amended and no amendment of such documents is pending or has been
proposed, and (vi) that there are no proceedings pending for the merger,
consolidation, conversion, dissolution, liquidation or termination of the
Company. We have not participated in the preparation of any offering
material relating to the Company or the transactions contemplated by the
Transaction Documents and assume no responsibility for the contents of any such
material.
This
opinion is limited to the laws of the State of Delaware (excluding the
securities, blue sky and tax laws of the State of Delaware), and we have not
considered and express no opinion on the laws of any other jurisdiction,
including federal laws and rules and regulations relating
thereto. Our opinions are rendered only with respect to Delaware laws
and rules, regulations and orders thereunder that are currently in
effect. In rendering the opinions set forth herein, we express no
opinion concerning the nature or validity of title to any property.
Based
upon the foregoing, and upon our examination of such questions of law and
statutes of the State of Delaware as we have considered necessary or
appropriate, and subject to the assumptions, qualifications, limitations and
exceptions set forth herein, we are of the opinion that:
(a) The
Company has been duly formed and is validly existing in good standing as a
limited liability company under the laws of the State of Delaware.
(b) Under
the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (6 Del. C. § 18-101, et
seq.) (the “LLC
Act”) and the LLC Agreement, the Company has all necessary limited liability
company power and authority to execute and deliver the Transaction Documents,
and to perform its obligations thereunder.
(c) Under
the LLC Act, the LLC Agreement and the Consent, the execution and delivery by
the Company of the Transaction Documents, and the performance by the Company of
its obligations thereunder, have been duly authorized by all necessary limited
liability company action on the part of the Company. Under the LLC
Act, the LLC Agreement, the Consent and the Certificate, the Transaction
Documents have been duly executed and delivered by the Company to the
underwriter listed on Schedule A hereto.
(d) The
execution and delivery by the Company of the Transaction Documents, and the
performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder, do not violate the LLC
Certificate or the LLC Agreement.
We
understand that you will rely as to matters of Delaware law upon this opinion in
connection with the transactions contemplated by the Transaction
Documents. In connection with the foregoing, we hereby consent to
your relying as to matters of Delaware law upon this opinion in connection with
the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents, subject to the
understanding that the opinions rendered herein are given on the date hereof and
such opinions are rendered only with respect to facts existing on the date
hereof and laws, rules and regulations currently in effect. Except as
stated above, without our prior written consent, this opinion may not be
furnished or quoted to, or relied upon by, any other person or entity for any
purpose.
Very
truly yours,
SCHEDULE
A
Barclays
Capital Inc.
745
Seventh Avenue
New York,
NY 10019
SCHEDULE
B
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1.
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Purchase
Agreement, dated as of March 30, 2010, among Lincoln Educational Services
Corporation, the Company and the underwriter named
therein.
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2.
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Lock-up
Letter of the Company, dated as of [·],
2010.
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Exhibit
F
Form of
lock-up from directors, officers or other stockholders pursuant to Section
5(m)
[·],
2010
Barclays
Capital Inc.
745
Seventh Avenue
New York,
New York 10019
Re: Proposed Public Offering by
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation
Dear
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The
undersigned, a shareholder, an officer and/or a director of Lincoln Educational
Services Corporation, a New Jersey corporation (the “Company”), understands that
Barclays Capital Inc. (“Barclays”), as underwriter, proposes to enter
into a Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with the Company and the
Selling Shareholders named in the Purchase Agreement providing for the public
offering (the “Public Offering”) of shares (the “Securities”) of the Company’s
common stock, no par value per share (the “Common Stock”). In
recognition of the benefit that such an offering will confer upon the
undersigned as a shareholder, officer and/or director of the Company, and for
other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are
hereby acknowledged, the undersigned agrees with the underwriter to be named in
the Purchase Agreement that, during a period of 40 days from the date of the
Purchase Agreement, the undersigned will not, without the prior written consent
of Barclays, directly or indirectly, (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, or otherwise dispose of
or transfer any shares of the Company’s Common Stock or any securities
convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, whether now
owned or hereafter acquired by the undersigned or with respect to which the
undersigned has or hereafter acquires the power of disposition, or file, or
cause to be filed, any registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, with respect to any of the foregoing (collectively, the “Lock-Up
Securities”) or (ii) enter into any swap or any other agreement or any
transaction that transfers, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the
economic consequence of ownership of the Lock-Up Securities, whether any such
swap or transaction is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or other
securities, in cash or otherwise.
The
foregoing shall not apply to any Lock-Up Securities transferred:
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(i)
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as
a bona fide gift or gifts;
or
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(ii)
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to
any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned or the
immediate family of the undersigned (for purposes of this lock-up
agreement, “immediate family” shall mean any relationship by blood,
marriage or adoption, not more remote than first cousin);
or
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(iii)
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by
operation of law, such as rules of intestate succession or statutes
governing the effects of a merger;
or
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(iv)
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pursuant
to the exercise of any stock option granted as a direct or indirect result
of any Company program, including but not limited to, any form of
“cashless” exercise generally available for such grants, provided that the
net resulting shares from such stock option exercise are not sold during
the lock-up period; or
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(v)
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pursuant
to the use of any Common Stock or stock options as collateral for a loan
provided that the holder of such collateral executes this agreement or an
agreement in substantially similar form;
or
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(vi)
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as
a distribution to limited partners, members or stockholders of the
undersigned; or
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(vii)
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to
the undersigned’s affiliates or to any investment fund or other entity
controlled or managed by the undersigned;1
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provided that, in
each case, unless required by applicable law, the undersigned does not
voluntarily effect any public filing or report regarding such transfers; provided further
that, in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to (i), (ii) or (vii)
above, prior to any such distribution, transfer or
donation: (1) Barclays shall receive a signed lock-up agreement
for the balance of the lock-up period from each donee, trustee, distributee, or
transferee, as the case may be, (2) any such distribution, transfer or
donation shall not involve a disposition for value.
The first
paragraph of this letter shall not prohibit the entering into new “10b5-1
trading plans” by officers and directors of the Company and the filing of a
resale registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in
connection with such “10b5-1 trading plans” provided that, no
sales are effected under such registration statement until the expiration of the
lock-up period pursuant to this letter.
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1
The lock-up agreements for David Carney and Scott Shaw shall contain a
10b5-1 exception and the lock-up agreement for Cesar Riberio shall contain
a pledge exception.
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