Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
On October 18, 2009, Allion Healthcare, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the
"Company"), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger
Agreement") with Brickell Bay Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation
("Parent"), and Brickell Bay Merger Corp., a Delaware corporation and wholly
owned subsidiary of Parent ("Merger Sub"), providing for the merger of Merger
Sub with and into the Company (the "Merger"), with the Company surviving the
Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. Parent and Merger Sub are
affiliates of H.I.G. Capital, LLC ("HIG").
At the effective time of the Merger, each share of Company common stock
(including restricted stock) issued and outstanding immediately prior to the
effective time (other than shares held by the Company, Parent or Merger Sub and
stockholders who have perfected and not withdrawn a demand for appraisal rights
under Delaware law) will be automatically cancelled and converted into the right
to receive $6.60 in cash, without interest. Each outstanding stock option and
warrant of the Company will vest in full and be converted into the right to
receive an amount in cash equal to (i) the number of shares subject to such
option or warrant multiplied by (ii) the excess (if any) of $6.60 over the
exercise price per share of such option or warrant. Each holder of an
outstanding cash-settled phantom stock unit of the Company, whether or not
vested, will be entitled to receive an amount in cash equal to the number of
phantom stock units held by that holder multiplied by $6.60, without interest.
Each holder of phantom stock units also will be entitled to a tax gross-up
payment to cover any excise tax liability he or she may incur as a result of any
payments or benefits, whether paid pursuant to the terms of the phantom stock
units or otherwise, that may be deemed "golden parachute" payments under Section
280G of the Internal Revenue Code.
Consummation of the Merger is subject to a number of customary conditions,
including (i) approval of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Company's
common stock entitled to vote on the Merger, (ii) the expiration or termination
of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and
(iii) the absence of any law, order or injunction prohibiting the Merger.
Moreover, each party's obligation to consummate the Merger is subject to certain
other conditions, including (i) the accuracy of the other party's
representations and warranties and (ii) the other party's compliance with its
covenants and agreements contained in the Merger Agreement. Further, the
obligation of Parent to consummate the Merger is subject to, among other things,
(i) the exercise of dissenters' rights by holders of no more than 10% of the
Company's outstanding stock and (ii) there being no circumstance, effect, event
or change that, individually or in the aggregate, has had or would reasonably be
expected to have a material adverse effect (as that term is defined in the
Merger Agreement) on the Company. The Merger is expected to be completed in the
first quarter of 2010.
Parent has obtained debt and equity financing commitments for the
transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the aggregate proceeds of
which will be sufficient for Parent to pay the aggregate merger consideration
and all related fees and expenses, including any required refinancings or
repayments of existing indebtedness. In addition, an investment fund affiliated
with HIG has provided the Company with a limited guarantee in favor of the
Company guaranteeing the payment of certain monetary obligations that may be
owed pursuant to the Merger Agreement, including any reverse termination fee
that may become payable.
Concurrently with the execution of the Merger Agreement, each of Parallex LLC
and certain related stockholders (the "Rollover Stockholders") entered into an
exchange agreement with Parent pursuant to which such Rollover Stockholders
agreed to surrender to Parent, immediately prior to the effective time of the
Merger, a portion of the shares of Company common stock owned beneficially or of
record by such Rollover Stockholders in exchange for equity interests in Parent.
As a result, immediately following the Merger, the Rollover Stockholders will
hold approximately 29.2% of Parent, and indirectly, the Company. In addition,
the Rollover Stockholders entered into a voting agreement (the "Voting
Agreement") with Parent pursuant to which the Rollover Stockholders, who
collectively own an aggregate of approximately 41.1% of the outstanding shares
of Company common stock, agreed to vote their respective shares of Company
common stock in favor of the Merger and granted Parent a proxy to vote such
shares in the event the Rollover Stockholders do not act in accordance with
their obligations thereunder.
The Company's Board of Directors and a special committee of the Board of
Directors composed entirely of independent directors (the "Special Committee")
unanimously approved the Merger Agreement. Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
served as financial advisor to the Special Committee. On October 18, 2009,
Raymond James rendered a fairness opinion to the Special Committee and the Board
of Directors that, as of the date of the opinion, from a financial point of
view, the consideration to be received by the Company's stockholders (excluding
the Rollover Stockholders, Parent, Merger Sub and their respective affiliates)
in the Merger transaction is fair to such stockholders.
The Company will be subject to customary "no-shop" restrictions on its
ability to solicit alternative acquisition proposals from third parties and to
provide information to and engage in discussions
with third parties regarding alternative acquisition proposals. The no-shop
provision, however, is subject to a customary "fiduciary-out" provision which
allows the Company under certain circumstances to provide information to and
participate in discussions with third parties with respect to unsolicited
alternative acquisition proposals.
The Merger Agreement contains certain termination rights for the Company,
Parent and Merger Sub. Upon termination of the Merger Agreement under specified
circumstances, the Company will be required to pay Parent and Merger Sub a
termination fee of $7.5 million. The Company may also be obligated to reimburse
transaction expenses incurred by Parent and Merger Sub upon termination of the
Merger Agreement under specified circumstances. The Merger Agreement also
provides that Parent will be required to pay the Company a reverse termination
fee of (i) $7.5 million if Parent fails to close the Merger because it does not
receive financing to consummate the Merger after all other conditions have been
satisfied and it is not otherwise in breach or (ii) $10 million if Parent
terminates the Merger Agreement in its discretion or otherwise fails to close
the Merger after all conditions to closing have been satisfied.
The representations, warranties and covenants contained in the Merger
Agreement were made only for purposes of the Merger Agreement and as of
specified dates, were solely for the benefit of the parties to the Merger
Agreement, and may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting
parties, including being qualified by confidential disclosures exchanged between
the parties in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement. The
representations and warranties may have been made for the purposes of allocating
contractual risk between the parties to the Merger Agreement instead of
establishing these matters as facts, and may be subject to standards of
materiality applicable to the contracting parties that differ from those
applicable to investors. Investors should not rely on the representations,
warranties and covenants or any descriptions thereof as characterizations of the
actual state of facts or condition of the Company, Parent or Merger Sub or any
of their respective subsidiaries or affiliates. Moreover, information concerning
the subject matter of the representations and warranties may change after the
date of the Merger Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be
fully reflected in the Company's public disclosures.
The foregoing descriptions of the Merger Agreement, the Voting Agreement and
the transactions contemplated thereby do not purport to be complete and are
subject to, and qualified in their entirety by, the full text of the Merger
Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and the form of the Voting Agreement
attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, both of which are incorporated herein by
reference.
In connection with the Merger, the Company plans to file a proxy statement
with the SEC relating to the solicitation of proxies from its stockholders in
connection with a special meeting of stockholders of the Company to be held for
the purpose of voting on the adoption of the Merger Agreement. The Company and
Parent also intend to file a transaction statement on Schedule 13E-3 with the
SEC relating to the Merger. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION WITH RESPECT TO
THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION, SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY
STATEMENT, TRANSACTION STATEMENT ON SCHEDULE 13E-3 AND OTHER RELEVANT MATERIALS
WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT
THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. The proxy statement, transaction statement on
Schedule 13E-3 and any other documents filed by the Company with the SEC may be
obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. or from the
Company.
The Company and its executive officers and directors, may be deemed to be
participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company's stockholders with
respect to the proposed Merger. Information regarding the Company's directors
and executive officers is available in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2008 filed with the SEC on March 9, 2009. Information
regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their
direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be set
forth in the proxy statement, the Schedule 13E-3 transaction statement and other
relevant materials to be filed with the SEC.
Item 8.01. Other Events.
On October 19, 2009, the Company issued a press release announcing that it
had entered into the Merger Agreement. A copy of the press release is attached
hereto as Exhibit 99.1.
Forward-Looking Statements
This filing contains forward-looking statements as defined by the federal
securities laws, including statements that assume the successful completion of
the Merger. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current
expectations and assumptions, which are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated, projected or implied. These risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, the risk that the stockholders of the Company do not vote to
approve the Merger and the risk that the Merger is not consummated for other
reasons. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, except as provided by law.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit
Number Description
2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated October 18, 2009, by and
among Allion Healthcare, Inc., Brickell Bay Acquisition Corp. and
Brickell Bay Merger Corp.*
99.1 Form of Voting Agreement.
99.2 Press release dated October 19, 2009.
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* Schedules have
been omitted
pursuant to
Item 601(b)(2)
of
Regulation S-K.
The Company
undertakes to
furnish
supplementally
copies of any
of the omitted
schedules upon
request by the
U.S. Securities
and Exchange
Commission.