Individual decision · SEC · 11 Jun 2014
The staff of the Division of Corporation Finance will not recommend that the Commission take enforcement action under Rules 13e-4(d)(1), 13e-4(e)(3), 13e-4(f)(1)(ii) or 14e-1(b) if CBS Corporation conducts its Exchange Offer in the manner described. This relief permits CBS to disclose a specified dollar value rather than a fixed exchange ratio for the tender of CBS Class B Common Stock for Outdoor Americas Common Stock, provided the formula remains fixed and is disclosed in tender offer materials. If an upper limit on the exchange ratio is triggered, the Exchange Offer must remain open for at least two additional business days, with final pricing published by 4:30 p.m. New York City time on the expiration date. The position is strictly limited to these specific rules and facts, requiring CBS to discontinue the offer if any representations change.
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rules 13e-4(d)(1), 13e-4(e)(3) and 13e-4(f)(1)(ii) Rule 14e-1(b)
June 11, 2014
Response of the Office of Mergers and Acquisitions Division of Corporation Finance
Re:
cCBS Corporation - Exchange Offer Incoming letter dated June 11, 2014
Via E-mail David Shapiro, Esq. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz 51 West 52nd Street New York, NY 10019-6150
Dear Mr. Shapiro:
We are responding to your letter dated June 11, 2014, addressed to David Fredrickson, Michele M. Anderson, and Mellissa Campbell Duru, as supplemented by telephone conversations with us, in regard to CBS's request for no-action relief. To avoid having to recite or summarize the facts set forth in your letter, our response letter is attached to the enclosed copy of your letter. Unless otherwise noted, capitalized terms in this response letter have the same meaning as in your letter.
On the basis of the representations and the facts presented in your letter, the staff of the Division of Corporation Finance will not recommend that the Commission take enforcement action under Rules 13e-4(d)(1), 13e-4(e)(3), 13e-4(f)(1)(ii) or 14e-1(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 if CBS conducts the Exchange Offer in the manner described in your letter. In issuing this no-action position, we considered the following facts, among others:
CBS will be disclosing a specified dollar value of Outdoor Americas Common Stock that tendering CBS Class B Common Stock holders will receive in exchange for a fixed dollar value of tendered CBS Class B Common Stock;
The formula for determining the number of shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock to be received in exchange for shares of CBS Class B Common Stock will be disclosed in the tender offer materials disseminated to security holders, the formula will remain fixed throughout the duration of the Exchange Offer and, if there is a change in the formula, the Exchange Offer will remain open for at least 10 business days thereafter;
The Exchange Offer will be extended for two business days if the final exchange ratio is subject to the upper limit, as defined in your letter, thereby providing CBS Class B Common Stock holders with up to two additional business days during which to tender or withdraw their shares;
CBS will publish on a website maintained for the Exchange Offer (i) the daily indicative calculated per-share values of CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoors Americas Common Stock and the indicative exchange ratios, each calculated in the manner described in your letter and (ii) a toll-free number that CBS security holders can use to obtain Exchange Offer pricing-related information;
CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoor Americas Common Stock are both listed on the New York Stock Exchange, thereby providing security holders with readily observable trading prices and CBS with trading information, which will be used in calculating indicative exchange ratios;
CBS will publish the final exchange ratio on the Exchange Offer website and in a press release no later than 4:30 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date of the Exchange Offer and CBS will file an amendment to its Schedule TO on the same date setting forth the same information; and,
CBS will make available forms of notice of guaranteed delivery and notice of withdrawal both in printed materials and on the Exchange Offer website, will permit tenders and withdrawals to be made until 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on the expiration date of the Exchange Offer, and will disclose the procedures for making tenders and withdrawals, including the times and methods by which tenders and withdrawals must be made, in the tender offer materials.
The foregoing no-action positions are based solely on the representations and the facts presented in your letter dated June 11, 2014, as supplemented by telephone conversations with the Commission staff. This relief is strictly limited to the application of the rules listed above to the Exchange Offer. CBS should discontinue the Exchange Offer pending further consultations with the staff if any of the facts or representations set forth in your letter change.
We also direct your attention to the anti-fraud and anti-manipulation provisions of the federal securities laws, including Sections 9(a), 10(b) and 14(e) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5 and 14e-3 thereunder. Responsibility for compliance with these and any other applicable provisions of the federal securities laws rests with the participants in the Exchange Offer. The Division of Corporation Finance expresses no view with respect to any other questions that the Exchange Offer may raise, including, but not limited to, the adequacy of the disclosure concerning, and the applicability of any other federal or state laws to, the Exchange Offer.
For the Division of Corporation Finance,
David Fredrickson Chief, Office of Chief Counsel
Incoming Letter:
The Incoming Letter is in Acrobat format.
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
MARTIN LIPTON JODI J. SCHWARTZ 51 WEST 52ND STREET MARK GORDON DAMIAN G. DIDDEN HERBERT M. WACHTELL ADAM 0. EMMERICH JOSEPH D. LARSON ANTE VUCIC LAWRENCE B. PEDOWITZ GEORGE T. CONWAY Ill NEW Y 0 R K, N.Y. I 0 0 I 9-6 I 50 LAWRENCE S. MAKOW IAN BOCZKO PAUL VIZCARRONOO. JR. RALPH M. LEVENE JEANNEMARIE O'BRIEN MATTHEW M. GUEST PETER C. HEIN RICHARD G. MASON TELEPHONE: <212) 403- 1000 WAYNE M. CARLIN DAVID E. KAHAN HAROLD S. NOVIKOFF MEYER G. KOPLOW MICHAEL J. SEGAL DAVID M. SILK FACSIMILE: <212>403-2000 STEPHEN R. D1PRIMA NICHOLAS G. DEMMO DAVID K. LAM BENJAMIN M. ROTH THEODORE N. MIRVIS ROBIN PANOVKA IGOR KIRMAN JOSHUA A. FELTMAN EDWARD D. HERLIHY DAVID A. KATZ GEORGE A. KATZ (1965·1989> JONATHAN M. MOSES ELAINE P. GOLIN DANIEL A. NEFF ILENE KNABLE GOTTS JAMES H. FOGELSON Cl967·1991l T. EIKO STANGE EMIL A. KLEINHAUS ERIC M. ROTH DAVID M. MURPHY LEONARD M. ROSEN Cl965·2014l DAVID A. SCHWARTZ KARESSA L. CAIN ANDREW R. BROWNSTEIN JEFFREY M. WINTNER JOHN F. LYNCH RONALD C.CHEN MICHAEL H. BYOWITZ TREVOR S. NORWITZ OF COUNSEL WILLIAM SAVITT GORDON S. MOODIE PAUL K. ROWE BEN M. GERMANA ERIC M. ROSOF DONG.JU SONG MARC WOLINSKY ANDREW J. NUSSBAUM WILLIAM T. ALLEN PHILIP MINDLIN MARTIN J.E. ARMS BRADLEY R. WILSON DAVID GRUENSTEIN RACHELLE SILVERBERG PETER C, CANELLOS ROBERT M. MORGENTHAU GREGORY E. OSTLING GRAHAM W. MELI STEVEN A. ROSENBLUM STEVEN A. COHEN DAVID M. EINHORN BERNARD W. NUSSBAUM DAVID B. ANDERS GREGORY E. PESSIN STEPHANIE J. SELIGMAN DEBORAH L. PAUL KENNETH B. FORRE:ST ERIC 5. ROBINSON ADAM J. SHAPIRO CARRIE M. REILLY JOHN F. SAVARESE DAVID C. KARP THEODORE GEWERTZ PATRICIA A. ROBINSON" NELSON 0. FITTS MARK F. VEBLEN SCOTT K. CHARLES RICHARD K. KIM MAU RA R. GROSSMAN MICHAEL W. SCHWARTZ JOSHUA M. HOLMES DAVIDS. NEILL JOSHUA R. CAM MAKER RICHARD D. KATCHER ELLIOTT V. STEIN DAVID E. SHAPIRO THEODORE A. LEVINE WARREN R. STERN DOUGLAS K. MAYER PATRICIA A. VLAHAKIS ROBERT B. MAZUR AMY R. WOLF
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
CBS Outdoor Americas Inc. ("Outdoor Americas") as described below. The Exchange Offer adopts substantially the same pricing mechanism as the one used by (i) Halliburton Company ("Halliburton") in its exchange offer (the "Halliburton Exchange Offer") with respect to the common stock ofKBR, Inc., (ii) Weyerhaeuser Company ("Weyerhaeuser") in its exchange offer (the "Weyerhaeuser Exchange Offer") with respect to the common stock ofDomtar Corporation, (iii) McDonald's Corporation ("McDonald's") in its exchange offer (the "McDonald's Exchange Offer" with respect to the Class B Common Stock ofChipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., (iv) PPG Industries, Inc. ("PPG") in its exchange offer (the "PPG Exchange Offer") with respect to the common stock of Georgia Gulf Corporation as part of a Reverse Morris Trust transaction, (v) Kraft Foods Inc. ("Kraft") in its exchange offer (the "Kraft Exchange Offer") with respect to the common stock ofRalcorp Holdings, Inc. as part of a Reverse Morris Trust transaction and (vi) Pfizer, Inc. ("Pfizer") in its exchange offer (the "Pfizer Exchange Offer") with respect to the common stock of Zoetis, Inc., all ofwhich employed "Day 20" pricing mechanisms, as described below. The proposed pricing mechanism for the Exchange Offer is also similar to the one used by (i) Bristol-Myers Squibb Company ("BMS") in its exchange offer (the "BMS Exchange Offer") with respect to the common stock ofMead Johnson Nutrition Company and (ii) Procter & Gamble Company ("P&G") in its exchange offer (the "P&G Exchange Offer") with respect to the shares of The J .M. Smucker Company as part of a Reverse Morris Trust transaction, both of which employed "Day 18" pricing mechanisms, as described below. The Halliburton Exchange Offer, the Weyerhaeuser Exchange Offer, the McDonald's Exchange Offer, the PPG Exchange Offer, the Kraft Exchange Offer, the Pfizer Exchange Offer, the BMS Exchange Offer and the P&G Exchange Offer, are collectively referred to herein as the "Similar Exchange Offers." We respectfully request that the Staff confirm that it will not recommend that the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") take enforcement action pursuant to Rules 13e-4(d)(l), 13e-4(e)(3), 13e-4(t)(l)(ii) and 14e-l(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") (requiring the specification of consideration offered and the specification of the total number of securities sought in an issuer tender offer and the extension of such offer for ten business days upon a change in consideration, a change in the amount of securities sought, or a change in the percentage ofthe class of securities being sought) with respect to the pricing mechanism for the Exchange Offer as described below (the "Pricing Mechanism") and with respect to the specification ofthe number of shares sought in the Exchange Offer as described below. The issues presented are substantially identical to those to which the Staff did not object in connection with Pfizer,
PPG, Kraft, Halliburton, Weyerhaeuser
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance and McDonald's. 1 The issues presented are also substantively similar to those to which the Staff did not object in BMS and P&G. 2
I. BACKGROUND
A. Parties to the Transaction
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATz
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
As ofMay 7, 2014, there were 120,000,000 shares of Outdoor Americas common stock, par value $0.01 per share ("Outdoor Americas Common Stock"), outstanding. Outdoor Americas Common Stock is listed on the NYSE. CBS currently owns approximately 80.8% of Outdoor Americas Common Stock. B. Purpose of the Exchange Offer The purpose ofthe Exchange Offer is to complete the separation of CBS's out-of-home advertising business now comprised by Outdoor Americas from CBS's remaining businesses in a tax-efficient manner, thereby enhancing stockholder value and better positioning CBS to focus on its core businesses. In addition, the Exchange Offer is expected to be tax-free to CBS stockholders and CBS. Finally, the Exchange Offer is an efficient means of placing Outdoor Americas Common Stock with holders of CBS Class B Common Stock who wish to own an interest in Outdoor Americas. By comparison, a separation effected exclusively by a spin-off dividend of CBS's remaining interest in Outdoor Americas would result in all CBS stockholders becoming owners of Outdoor Americas, regardless oftheir desire to own shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock.
II. THE EXCHANGE OFFER
The terms ofthe Exchange Offer will be more fully described in the Prospectus (the "Prospectus") included in Outdoor Americas' Registration Statement on Form S-4 to be filed by Outdoor Americas. The Exchange Offer will also be described in the Schedule TO (the "Schedule TO") to be filed by CBS. CBS will distribute shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock to CBS Class B stockholders pursuant to the Exchange Offer. In the Exchange Offer, CBS is offering holders of CBS Class B Common Stock the opportunity to exchange all or a portion oftheir CBS Class B Common Stock for shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock. Participation in the Exchange Offer is voluntary, and it is expected that CBS, Outdoor Americas and the dealer managers will not make any recommendation about whether holders of CBS Common Stock should participate. Although the Exchange Offer will not be open to shares of CBS Class A Common Stock, holders of shares of CBS Class A Common Stock may participate in the Exchange Offer, either by converting their shares of CBS Class A Common Stock in advance ofthe expiration ofthe Exchange Offer and tendering such shares of CBS Class B Common Stock received upon conversion in advance of the expiration ofthe Exchange Offer or conditionally converting their CBS Class A Common Stock into CBS Class B Common Stock as further described below. Under CBS's Certificate of Incorporation, so long as there are at least 5,000 shares of CBS Class A Common Stock outstanding, each share CBS Class A Common Stock is, by its terms, convertible at the election of the holder into one share of CBS Class B Common Stock. As in the Similar Exchange Offers, the Exchange Offer does not set forth a fixed exchange ratio at the outset of the Exchange Offer. Rather, the Exchange Offer price is expressed as a ratio of Outdoor Americas Common Stock for each $100.00 of CBS Class B
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
Common Stock tendered pursuant to the Exchange Offer (subject to the upper limit on the exchange ratio described below). This value relationship will reflect a discount to the estimated value of Outdoor Americas Common Stock in order to encourage participation in the Exchange Offer. Consistent with the Similar Exchange Offers, the Pricing Mechanism will calculate the per-share values for CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoor Americas Common Stock by reference to the simple arithmetic average ofthe daily volume-weighted average price ("VW AP") over a three-day period (the "Averaging Period"). The Averaging Period, consistent with Pfizer, Halliburton, Weyerhaeuser and McDonald's, will end on and include the expiration date of the Exchange Offer. Similarly, PPG and Kraft had a pricing mechanism that utilized the last three full trading days of the exchange offer period.3 In BMS and P&G, the per-share values of underlying stocks were determined by reference to the daily VWAP of each stock during an averaging period ending on and including the second trading day preceding the expiration date of such exchange offer. The trading data to be used to set the value of CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoor Americas Common Stock will be the trading data for CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoor Americas Common Stock, respectively, on the NYSE. More specifically, the calculated per-share values of CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoor Americas Common Stock will be determined by reference to the simple arithmetic average of the daily VWAP for CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoor Americas Common Stock, respectively, on the NYSE for each day during the Averaging Period. 4 The daily VWAP for CBS Class B Common Stock and Outdoor Americas Common Stock will be the VWAP per share of the applicable stock on the NYSE during the period beginning at 9:30a.m., New York City time (or the then official open oftrading), and ending at 4:00p.m., New York City time (or the then official close of trading), on such day, except that such data will only take into account any adjustments made to reported trades included by 4:10p.m., New York City time. The daily VWAP will be reported by Bloomberg L.P. as displayed under the heading Bloomberg VWAP on the Bloomberg pages "CBS UN<Equity>AQR" with respect to CBS Class B Common Stock and "CBSO UN<Equity>AQR" with respect to Outdoor Americas Common Stock (or their equivalent successor pages if such pages are not available). The daily VWAPs obtained from Bloomberg L.P. may be different from other sources or investors' or other security holders' own calculations. CBS will determine the simple arithmetic average of the VWAPs of each stock over the averaging period, and such determination will be final. CBS believes that the Averaging Period offers stockholders a reasonable balance between the objectives of providing the most current pricing practicable, while reducing price distortions that could occur if prices 3 In each ofPPG and Kraft, the
exchange offer expired at 8:00a.m. on the first business day following the threeday averaging period. 4 Although the last trading days of the Exchange Offer could change if the Exchange Offer is extended, they will not change for purposes of calculating the per-share values if the extension occurs solely as a result of the automatic extension that would be triggered if the upper limit is in effect.
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance were established at a single point in time or that could result from short-term volatility in the trading price of CBS Common Class B Stock and/or Outdoor Americas Common Stock. In addition, like the Similar Exchange Offers, CBS stockholders participating in the Exchange Offer will receive a maximum number of shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock for each share of CBS Class B Common Stock accepted for exchange, which limit will be established based on the closing price for CBS Class B Common Stock on the last trading day prior to the commencement of the Exchange Offer, and a discount to the closing price for Outdoor Americas Common Stock on such date (referred to as the "upper limit"). This upper limit is intended to protect non-tendering holders of CBS Class B Common Stock against an unusual or unexpected drop in the trading price of Outdoor Americas Common Stock, relative to the trading price of CBS Class B Common Stock, and the prospective loss of value to them (as continuing CBS investors) if Outdoor Americas Common Stock were exchanged at an unduly high exchange ratio. If the upper limit is in effect at the close of trading on the expiration date of the Exchange Offer, the final exchange ratio will be fixed at the upper limit and the Exchange Offer will be extended until12:00 midnight, New York City time, on the second following trading day to permit stockholders to tender or withdraw their shares of CBS Class B Common Stock during those days. No later than 4:30p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date of the Exchange Offer, CBS will issue a press release to announce whether the upper limit is in effect and, if so, the extension of the Exchange Offer. This announcement will also be published on the website described below. Consistent with the Similar Exchange Offers, the Exchange Offer will not include any minimum exchange ratio because, were such a limit to be triggered, it would provide tendering stockholders with a windfall return for CBS Class B Common Stock tendered and accepted. Also consistent with the Similar Exchange Offers, if, upon the expiration of the Exchange Offer, CBS stockholders have validly tendered more CBS Class B Common Stock than CBS is able to accept for exchange, CBS will accept for exchange CBS Class B Common Stock validly tendered and not withdrawn by each tendering stockholder on a pro rata basis (other than with respect to certain odd-lot tenders as described below) in accordance with Rule 13e-4(t)(3) under the Exchange Act. CBS will first calculate a "Proration Factor," which will equal (i) the total number of shares of CBS Class B Common Stock that CBS is able to accept (taking into account the final exchange ratio and the total number of shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock owned by CBS) divided by (ii) the total number of shares of CBS Class B Common Stock validly tendered and not withdrawn (in all cases after adjustment for odd-lot tenders, which are not subject to
proration as described below). The Proration Factor will then be applied to each CBS stockholder with respect to the total number of shares of CBS Class B Common Stock validly tendered by such CBS stockholder pursuant to the Exchange Offer and not withdrawn (except for holders of less than 100 shares of CBS Class B Common Stock who validly tender all of their shares who will not to be subject to proration). Consistent with the rules governing proration, if shares are held on behalf of a participant in a CBS or Outdoor Americas savings plan (each ofwhich holds more than 100 shares of CBS Class B Common Stock), those shares will be subject to proration. --···------------------------
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
The Pricing Mechanism will be disclosed in the Prospectus and will be constant throughout the Exchange Offer. Any change in the Pricing Mechanism (including in the upper limit described above) will be made no later than ten business days before offer expiration and would be published on the website described below and in a press release. That information and the press release will also be included in an amendment to CBS's Schedule TO to be filed in connection with the Exchange Offer. To make pricing information available to the general public during the Exchange Offer, CBS will cause a website to be maintained and will publish pricing information as follows:
WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
VWAP for the first and second days of the Averaging Period averaged with the actual intra-day VWAP during the elapsed portion of that third day ofthe Averaging Period. During the Averaging Period, the indicative exchange ratios will be updated on the website at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30p.m., New York City time, with the final exchange ratio available by 4:30p.m., New York City time, on the third day ofthe Averaging Period. 6
WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
WACHTELL, LrPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
III. DISCUSSION
We respectfully request on behalf of CBS that the Staff confirm that it will not recommend that the Commission take enforcement action pursuant to Rules 13e-4(d)(1), 13e-4(e)(3), 13e-4(f)(1)(ii) and 14e-1(b) under the Exchange Act (requiring the specification of consideration offered and the specification of the total number of securities sought in an issuer tender offer and the extension of such offer for ten business days upon a change in consideration, a change in the amount of securities sought, or a change in the percentage of the class of securities being sought) with respect to CBS's use of the Pricing Mechanism and with respect to the specification of the number of shares sought in the Exchange Offer as described below. We believe that the Pricing Mechanism is consistent with the protection of investors because it results in a fixed, constant dollar value exchange (subject to the upper limit described above) and provides greater certainty about the ultimate return to investors and absolute certainty about the maximum number of shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock receivable per share of CBS Class B Common Stock tendered. This approach is consistent with the Similar Exchange Offers, which build on other traditionally available pricing structures, including formula-based and "Dutch auction" structures to which the Staff did not previously object, and provides investors with advantages not available in those offers. We further note that Paragraph 16 of Schedule A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), requires a prospectus for an exchange offer to specify "the price at which it is proposed that the security shall be offered to the public or the method by which such price is computed." For the reasons described in this letter, CBS believes the disclosure in the Prospectus will fully define the method by which the price will be determined as required by paragraph 16 of Schedule A. This approach is the same as the Similar Exchange Offers, which build on other traditionally available pricing structures, including formula-based and "Dutch auction" structures to which the Staff did not previously object, and provides investors with advantages not available in those offers. A. Fixed Exchange Ratios The Pricing Mechanism allows investors to better predict the value they will receive in the Exchange Offer than they would in an offer using the traditional pricing method of a fixed exchange ratio. In fixed-ratio offers, the return to investors depends on the value at the time of expiration of the offer of both what is offered and what is tendered. These values fluctuate independently and without constraint during the offer period, and an investor only realizes the actual discount or premium initially embedded in the exchange ratio if the prices of the underlying stocks on offer expiration are equal to their prices at the offer's inception. Sophisticated investors may seek at the start of the offer to lock in the initial
discount through a variety oftrading strategies (including a "long-short" arbitrage strategy) 8 that, when For example, if CBS had made a fixed-ratio offer, an investor could buy CBS Class B Common Stock and sell short the number of shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock it expected to receive by tendering shares of
WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance implemented, could make them economically indifferent to subsequent changes in trading prices for the stocks involved. Less sophisticated investors, such as small retail investors, generally will not lock in the discount at the offer's inception. Instead, their participation decision may be more heavily influenced by the relative prices of each stock at the offer's end, which may not reflect the discount originally provided. B. Formula-Based Exchange Ratios and Pricing Structures For various reasons, including to mitigate the disadvantages of fixed-ratio offers and to permit a more current market valuation of the securities involved in an exchange, market participants have sought, and the Staff has granted, relief under the tender offer rules when the exchange ratio is based on a formula using trading data over a specified period (typically 10 trading days). 9 In Lazard Freres & Co. ("Lazard"), the first ofthese no-action letters, the Staff nonetheless required that the exchange ratio be set based upon average trading prices over a specified period ending not later than the second full business day preceding the expiration of the exchange offer. The Staff has extended the relief granted in Lazard to other circumstances involving formula-based pricing, but in many instances has continued to require that the final consideration be set no later than two trading days prior to the expiration of the exchange offer. For example, the Staff permitted AB Volvo ("AB Volvo") to set the redemption price for AB Volvo common stock using a formula-based on volume-weighted average trading prices ofthat stock on the Stockholm Stock Exchange on three specified days during a three-week period ending two U.S. trading days before the expiry of the U.S. offer. 10 Similarly, the Staff permitted TXU Corporation ("TXU") to offer to purchase certain equity-linked securities for a price fixed at least two days prior to the expiration of the exchange offer and indexed to the daily VWAP of TXU' s stock for the 1 0-day period then ended. 11 CBS Class B Common Stock in the Exchange Offer. The investor could thus seek to lock in an immediate gain equal to the excess of the value of Outdoor Americas Common Stock it sells short over the value of CBS Class B Common Stock it purchases. The investor's return is independent of future changes in the value of either CBS Class B Common Stock or Outdoor Americas Common Stock because the investor does not have a position in either stock on a net basis. 9 Lazard Freres & Co. (avail. Aug. II, 1995). See also BBVA Privanza International (Gibraltar) Limited (avail. Dec. 23, 2005); TXU Corporation (avail. Sept. 13, 2004); Epicor Software Corp. (avail. May 13, 2004); AB Volvo (avail. May 16, 1997). 10 AB Volvo (avail. May 16, 1997). ll TXU Corporation (avail. Sept. 13, 2004). See also, e.g., Epicor Software Corp. (avail. May 13, 2004) (permitting Epicor to determine the magnitude of an offer price adjustment by
reference to the average closing price per share ofEpicor common stock during the 10 trading-day period ending two trading days before expiration of the offer); BBVA Privanza International (Gibraltar) Limited (avail. Dec. 23, 2005) (permitting BBVA Gibraltar to price a tender offer for preference shares based on a stated fixed spread over yield on a specified benchmark U.S. Treasury security on the second business day immediately preceding the expiration of the tender offer period).
WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
I. "Day 20" versus "Day 18" Pricing
Consistent with the Pfizer, PPG, Kraft, Halliburton, Weyerhaeuser and McDonald's, the Pricing Mechanism uses a "Day 20" formula whereby the averaging period will end on and include the expiration date of the Exchange Offer. This is in contrast to the "Day 18" formula used by Lazard, AB Volvo, TXU, P&G and BMS whereby the averaging period ended on and included the second trading day preceding the expiration date of the exchange offer, thus providing for a two trading day window between pricing and offer expiration. While "Day 18" formula-based exchange ratios provide benefits relative to traditional fixed-ratio offers, the values of both what is sought and what is offered still fluctuate without limit during the last two days of the offer period. During that period, sophisticated investors may take steps, as they would in a traditional fixed-ratio offer, to lock in the value embedded in the exchange ratio, whereas less sophisticated investors may lack the know-how or means to do the same. The ability of sophisticated investors, such as market professionals, to extract value during that period has over the years increased in line with the sophistication of trading infrastructure that allows for rapid, program trade execution. We understand that providing for a two-day window between pricing and the expiration date of the exchange offer reflects an effort to balance potentially conflicting considerations: on the one hand, the need for adequate dissemination of information about the absolute consideration being offered to investors and, on the other hand, the desire to minimize the exposure to market risk resulting from the imposition of a time delay between pricing and offer expiration. In recent years, however, trading markets and investor behavior and expectations have changed dramatically due to the substantially increased penetration of the Internet, online brokerage services and high speed trading among all classes of investors. We note in particular the following developments that have contributed to investors having immediate access to pricing and other material information:
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
Thus, we believe the Pricing Mechanism's "Day 20" formula is more appropriate for today's trading environment as opposed to the "Day 18" formula adopted in Lazard.
2. Length ofAveraging Period
Consistent with BMS, Pfizer, PPG, McDonald's, P&G, Kraft, Halliburton and Weyerhaeuser, the Pricing Mechanism uses a three-day averaging period. For the same reasons stated above, we believe that the 1 0-day averaging period used in Lazard and TXU is not as favorable to investors as the three-day averaging period incorporated in the Pricing Mechanism. The underlying policy favoring a longer pricing period is in principle that it protects investors against potential manipulation and other unusual price movements that could distort the value of consideration offered to investors. A lengthy averaging period, however, increases the likelihood that market-wide fluctuations may influence the calculation and that the prices of the underlying securities at the end of such averaging period will differ significantly from the value ascribed to them by the Pricing Mechanism- a result that could particularly adversely affect less sophisticated investors who decide whether to participate in an exchange offer based on the final values of the stocks involved. The Pricing Mechanism uses more current pricing through a shorter averaging period, while still providing protection against the manipulation that could arise using "point in time" pricing, and thus should benefit investors as a whole. The Pricing Mechanism enables investors to consider whether to accept or reject an exchange or tender offer based on a fixed dollar value of Outdoor Americas Common Stock receivable per dollar of CBS Class B Common Stock tendered (subject to the upper limit on the exchange ratio described above). While tendering holders will not know prior to the last day of the Exchange Offer period the precise number of shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock they will receive per share of CBS Class B Common Stock tendered, as they would in a formulabased offer using "Day 18" pricing, they will know the relative value relationship of the two stocks intended to be provided in the Exchange Offer. The Pricing Mechanism also offers significant advantages to investors in that it:
WACHTELL, L1 PTON, RoSEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance entirely consistent with the initiatives ofthe Commission and its Staff to adapt the Commission's rules to facilitate- and encourage- capital transactions in the U.S. public market in which the protections ofthe federal securities laws apply. The Pricing Mechanism is also consistent with the relief granted in Lazard and its progeny in all other material respects: (i) the value relationship expressed as a ratio of a specified dollar value of Outdoor Americas Common Stock for each $100.00 worth of CBS Class B Common Stock is fixed and will remain constant during the Exchange Offer (subject to the upper limit on the exchange ratio described above), such that holders will be able to determine the value they will receive in consideration for tendering their shares; (ii) the final exchange ratio will be based on readily observable average trading prices for securities listed on a national securities exchange over a specified period; (iii) CBS will issue a press release announcing the final exchange ratio promptly following the close of trading on the expiration date ofthe Exchange Offer, and will file an amendment to its Schedule TO on that date setting forth the final exchange ratio and including the press release as an exhibit, thus allowing investors time to make last-minute tenders or withdrawals oftheir shares of CBS Class B Common Stock; and (iv) holders of CBS Class B Common Stock will be provided with a toll-free number for CBS's information agent and a freely-accessible website with trading information relevant to pricing, including (a) indicative exchange ratios, enabling holders to predict whether the final exchange ratio will make participation in the offer economically beneficial for them and (b) the final exchange ratio when it has been publicly announced.
C. The Number of Shares of CBS Class B Common Stock Sought in the Exchange
Offer
Rule 13e-4(f)(1)(ii) and Rule 14e-1(b) prohibit an issuer from changing the percentage of the class of securities being sought (provided that acceptance for payment of an additional amount of the shares not to exceed two percent of outstanding shares shall not be deemed to be an increase in the percentage ofthe class of securities being sought) unless the exchange offer remains open for at least ten business days from the date the change is announced. The Prospectus will clearly and unambiguously disclose that the maximum number of shares of CBS Class B Common Stock that will be accepted if the Exchange Offer is completed will be equal to the number of shares of Outdoor Americas Common Stock held by CBS (i.e., 97,000,000 shares) divided by the final exchange ratio (which will be subject to the upper limit). If a greater number of shares of CBS Class B Common Stock are validly tendered and not withdrawn, then those tendered shares would be subject to proration as described above. 14 If a lesser number of shares Compensation and Related Person Disclosure) (permitting expanded use oflnternet to make certain governance-related disclosures); SEC Rei. Nos. 33-8591; 34-52056; IC 26993; FR-75 (July 19, 2005) (Securities Offering Reform); SEC Rei. Nos. 34-55146; IC-27671 (Mar. 30, 2007) (Internet Availability of Proxy Materials); SEC Rei. No. 34-48745 (Nov. 4, 2003) (approving changes to listing standards to incorporate Internet-based disclosure requirements). 14 This is similar to the scenario faced in the Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc. exchange offer, where, because the percentage of securities accepted was dependent on the average VWAP of the subject securities (and the
WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
of CBS Class B Common Stock are validly tendered and not withdrawn, then subject to the satisfaction, or when permissible, waiver of the conditions of the Exchange Offer, including any minimum tender condition, CBS will accept the shares so tendered. As in Pfizer, Kraft, Halliburton, Weyerhaeuser, PPG, McDonald's, BMS and P&G, CBS believes that defining the amount of securities CBS may accept in the Exchange Offer in accordance with the above, which will be clearly and unambiguously described in the Prospectus, is consistent with the regulatory, disclosure and investor protection objectives of Rule 13e-4(f)(1)(ii) and Rule 14e-1(b) under the Exchange Act, is not coercive or unfair and should be permitted. In this regard, we note:
WACHTELL, LtPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
D. Other Precedents
The Staff also has an established interpretation of its tender offer pricing rules to permit modified Dutch auction tender offers, although these offers do not provide security holders with the final offer price until offer expiration, subject to certain conditions. We believe that the Pricing Mechanism is consistent with the Staffs position on Dutch auction tender offers and, indeed, provides certain advantages to investors. Like modified Dutch auction tender offers, (i) the Exchange Offer will provide for pro rata acceptance throughout the Exchange Offer with all securities participating equally in prorationing; (ii) withdrawal rights will exist throughout the offer period; (iii) there will be prompt announcement ofthe final exchange ratio; and (iv) the offeror will exchange all accepted securities at the highest consideration paid to any security holder under the offer. 15 Unlike the Pricing Mechanism, however, Dutch auction pricing provides significantly less visibility to investors about the value they will receive, since it merely establishes a range of prices at the outset without providing any visibility during the offer as to likely outcomes. Indeed, we believe that this disadvantage of Dutch auction pricing in part led to the need for the relief granted in the case of "Day 18" and "Day 20" pricing constructs. 16 Consistent with the Similar Exchange Offers, CBS has not incorporated a minimum exchange ratio because it believes that it could potentially result in a windfall to tendering stockholders. Indeed, incorporating a minimum exchange ratio in the Pricing Mechanism would not correlate to the low end ofthe range specified in a Dutch auction in which the final exchange ratio is determined independently of the values of the stocks in question based on investor indications of interest in a process that is not transparent to the market generally. E. Similarities and Differences from Precedent
WACHTELL, LIPTON, RosEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
2. Proxy Pricing
Consistent with Pfizer, BMS, Halliburton and McDonald's, no proxy is used to determine the value of Outdoor Americas Common Stock, whereas in P&G, PPG, Kraft and Weyerhaeuser the value of the distributed shares was determined by reference to the trading data for an acquiring company. Because Outdoor Americas Common Stock is already listed and traded on the NYSE, no proxy is required to determine the value of Outdoor Americas Common Stock.
3. Averaging Period
The Pricing Mechanism is consistent with Pfizer, PPG, BMS, P&G, Kraft, Halliburton and Weyerhaeuser but differs from McDonald's, TXU and Lazard in that the exchange ratio of the Exchange Offer is based on a three-day averaging period, while in McDonald's the exchange ratio was based on a two-day averaging period and in TXU and Lazard the exchange ratio was based on a ten-day averaging period.
IV. REQUESTED NO-ACTION RELIEF
Based on the foregoing, we respectfully request on behalf of CBS that the Staff confirm that it will not recommend that the Commission take enforcement action pursuant to Rules 13e4(d)(l), 13e-4(e)(3), 13e-4(f)(l)(ii) and 14e-l(b) under the Exchange Act (requiring the specification of consideration offered and the specification of the total number of securities sought in an issuer tender offer and the extension of such offer for ten business days upon a change in consideration, a change in the amount of securities sought, or a change in the percentage ofthe class of securities being sought) with respect to CBS's use ofthe Pricing Mechanism and specification of the number of shares of CBS Class B Common Stock sought in the Exchange Offer. We note that the relief sought is consistent with the position previously taken by the Staff in Pfizer, PPG, Kraft, Halliburton, Weyerhaeuser and McDonald's. It is also consistent with the position previously taken by the Staff in BMS, P&G, TXU and Lazard, and to the extent that the Exchange Offer differs from BMS, P&G, TXU and Lazard, such differences are consistent with the position previously taken by the Staff in PPG, Kraft, Halliburton, Weyerhaeuser and McDonald's and do not affect the adequate dissemination of pricing related information or CBS's stockholders' ability to make informed investment decisions with respect to whether or not to participate in the Exchange Offer.
WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
We respectfully request that the Staff issue the requested no-action relief as soon as practicable. If you have any questions or comments with respect to this matter, please call me at (212) 403-1314. Sincerely, ?? David E. Shapiro cc: Lawrence P. Tu, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, CBS Corporation
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