AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO RIGHTS AGREEMENT
Exhibit 4.1
AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO RIGHTS AGREEMENT
AMENDMENT NO. 1 dated as of September 15, 2014 (this “Amendment”), to the RIGHTS AGREEMENT dated as of December 30, 2013 (the “Rights Agreement”), between HERTZ GLOBAL HOLDINGS, INC., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and COMPUTERSHARE TRUST COMPANY, N.A., as Rights Agent (the “Rights Agent”).
WHEREAS, the Company may from time to time supplement or amend the Rights Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Section 27 thereof;
WHEREAS, the Company desires to amend the Rights Agreement as provided herein and subject to the terms and conditions hereof.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and the mutual agreements set forth in the Rights Agreement and this Amendment, the parties hereto hereby agree as follows:
SECTION 1. Capitalized Terms. Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings specified in the Rights Agreement.
SECTION 2. Amendment.
(a) Section 1(a) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its entirety as follows:
“(a) “Acquiring Person” shall mean any Person (as such term is hereinafter defined) who or which shall be the Beneficial Owner (as such term is hereinafter defined) of 20% or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding, but shall not include an Exempt Person (as such term is hereinafter defined); provided, however, that
(i) if the Board of Directors of the Company determines that a Person who would otherwise be an “Acquiring Person” became the Beneficial Owner of a number of shares of Common Stock such that the Person would otherwise qualify as an “Acquiring Person” inadvertently (including, without limitation, because (A) such Person was unaware that it beneficially owned that number of shares of Common Stock that would otherwise cause such Person to be an “Acquiring Person” or (B) such Person was aware of the extent of its Beneficial Ownership of Common Stock but had no actual knowledge of the consequences of such Beneficial Ownership under this Agreement) and without any intention of obtaining, changing or influencing control of the Company, then such Person shall not be deemed to be or to have become an “Acquiring Person” for any purposes of this Agreement unless and until such Person shall have failed to divest itself, as soon as practicable (as determined by the Board of Directors of the Company), of Beneficial Ownership of a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock so that such Person would no longer otherwise qualify as an “Acquiring Person”;
(ii) if, as of the date hereof or prior to the first public announcement of the adoption of this Agreement, any Person is or becomes the Beneficial Owner of 20% or more of the shares of Common Stock outstanding, such Person shall not be deemed to be or to become an “Acquiring Person” unless and until such time as such Person shall, after the first public announcement of the adoption of this Agreement, become the Beneficial Owner of any additional shares of Common Stock (other than pursuant to a dividend or distribution paid or made by the Company on the outstanding Common Stock or pursuant to a split or subdivision of the outstanding Common Stock), unless, upon becoming the Beneficial Owner of such additional shares of Common Stock, such Person is not then the Beneficial Owner of 20% or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding;
(iii) no Person shall become an “Acquiring Person” solely as a result of any unilateral grant of any security by the Company or through the exercise of any options, warrants, rights or similar interests (including restricted stock) granted by the Company to its directors, officers and employees;
(iv) no Person shall become an “Acquiring Person” solely as the result of an acquisition of shares of Common Stock by the Company which, by reducing the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding, increases the proportion of the shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by such Person to 20% or more of the Common Stock then outstanding; provided, however, that if a Person shall become the Beneficial Owner of 20% or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding by reason of such share acquisitions by the Company and shall thereafter become the Beneficial Owner of any additional shares of Common Stock (other than pursuant to a dividend or distribution paid or made by the Company on the outstanding Common Stock or pursuant to a split or subdivision of the outstanding Common Stock), then such Person shall be deemed to be an “Acquiring Person” unless, upon becoming the Beneficial Owner of such additional shares of Common Stock, such Person does not beneficially own 20% or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding; and
(v) no Person shall become an “Acquiring Person” solely as the result of the acquisition by such Person of Beneficial Ownership of shares of Common Stock from an individual who, on the later of the date hereof and the first public announcement of this Agreement, is the Beneficial Owner of 20% or more of the Common Stock then outstanding if such shares of Common Stock are received by such Person upon such individual’s death pursuant to such individual’s will or pursuant to a charitable trust created by such individual for estate planning purposes unless and until such time as such Person shall become the Beneficial Owner of any additional shares of Common Stock (other than pursuant to a dividend or distribution paid or made by the Company on the outstanding Common Stock or pursuant to a split or subdivision of the outstanding Common Stock), unless, upon becoming the Beneficial Owner of such additional shares of Common Stock, such Person is not then the Beneficial Owner of 20% or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding.
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With respect to any Person, for all purposes of this Agreement, any calculation of the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding at any particular time, including for purposes of determining the particular percentage of the outstanding shares of Common Stock of which such Person is the Beneficial Owner, shall include the number of shares of Common Stock not outstanding at the time of such calculation that such Person is otherwise deemed to beneficially own for purposes of this Agreement, but the number of shares of Common Stock not outstanding that such Person is otherwise deemed to beneficially own for purposes of this Agreement shall not be included for the purpose of computing the percentage of the outstanding shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by any other Person (unless such other Person is also otherwise deemed to beneficially own for purposes of this Agreement such shares of Common Stock not outstanding).”
(b) The defined term “Passive Institutional Investor” in Section 1(x) of the Rights Agreement is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with “[Reserved]”.
(c) All references to “10%” in the Rights Agreement shall be deemed to refer to “20%.”
(d) A new Section 1(ss) is hereby inserted into the Rights Agreement, to read as follows:
““Qualifying Offer” shall mean a fully financed tender offer or an exchange offer, or a combination thereof, in each such case for any and all of the shares of Common Stock of the Company then outstanding for the same per-share consideration, which offer is not subject to any financing or funding conditions; provided that the Company and its stockholders have received an irrevocable, legally binding written commitment of the offeror to consummate, as promptly as practicable upon successful completion of the offer, a second step transaction whereby all shares of Common Stock of the Company not purchased in the offer will be acquired for the same per-share consideration actually paid pursuant to the offer, subject to stockholders’ statutory appraisal rights, if any.
For the purposes of the definition of Qualifying Offer, “fully financed” shall mean that the offeror has sufficient funds for the offer and related expenses which shall be evidenced by (i) firm, unqualified, written commitments from responsible financial institutions or affiliates having the necessary financial capacity, accepted by the offeror, to provide funds for such offer subject only to customary terms and conditions, (ii) cash or cash equivalents then available to the offeror, set apart and maintained solely for the purpose of funding the offer with an irrevocable, legally binding written commitment being provided by the offeror to the Board to maintain such availability until the offer is consummated or withdrawn or (iii) a combination of the foregoing; which evidence has been provided to the Company prior to, or upon, commencement of the offer. If an offer becomes a Qualifying Offer in accordance with this definition, but subsequently ceases to be a Qualifying Offer as a result of the failure at a later date to continue to satisfy any of the requirements of this definition, such offer shall cease to be a Qualifying Offer and the provisions of Section 7(a) shall no longer be applicable to such offer.”
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(e) Section 7(a) of the Rights Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its entirety as follows:
“Except as otherwise provided herein, the Rights shall become exercisable on the Distribution Date, and thereafter the registered holder of any Right Certificate (other than Right Certificates representing Rights that have become null and void pursuant to Section 11(a)(ii) hereof or that have been exchanged pursuant to Section 24 hereof) may, subject to Section 11(a)(ii) hereof and except as otherwise provided herein, exercise the Rights evidenced thereby in whole or in part upon surrender of the Right Certificate, with the form of election to purchase on the reverse side thereof duly executed, to the Rights Agent at the office or agency of the Rights Agent designated for such purpose, together with payment of the aggregate Purchase Price with respect to the total number of one ten-thousandths of a share of Preferred Stock (or other securities, cash or other assets, as the case may be) as to which the Rights are exercised, at any time which is both after the Distribution Date and prior to the time (the “Expiration Date”) that is the earliest of (i) the Close of Business on December 29, 2014 (the “Final Expiration Date”), (ii) the time at which the Rights are redeemed as provided in Section 23 hereof (the “Redemption Date”), (iii) the closing of any merger or other acquisition transaction involving the Company pursuant to an agreement of the type described in Section 1(d)(ii)(A)(z) hereof, at which time the Rights are terminated, (iv) the time at which such Rights are exchanged as provided in Section 24 hereof or (v) the time, which shall not be earlier than the hundredth (100th) day after the commencement of the Qualifying Offer, at which a Person, together with such Person’s Affiliates and Associates, accepts, pursuant to the Qualifying Offer, for purchase or exchange at the same per share consideration such number of shares of Common Stock of the Company as would represent, following such acceptance for purchase or exchange and together with any shares of Common Stock owned by such offeror(s), more than 50% of the shares of Common Stock of the Company then outstanding on a fully diluted basis.”
(f) Exhibits B and C to the Rights Agreement shall be deemed amended in a manner consistent with this Amendment.
SECTION 3. Full Force and Effect. Except as expressly amended hereby, the Rights Agreement shall continue in full force and effect in accordance with the provisions thereof.
SECTION 4. Governing Law. This Amendment shall be deemed to be a contract made under the law of the State of Delaware and for all purposes shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of such State applicable to contracts to be made and performed entirely within such State.
SECTION 5. Counterparts; Effectiveness. This Amendment may be executed in any number of counterparts and each of such counterparts shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument. A signature to this Amendment transmitted electronically shall have the same authority, effect and enforceability as an original signature. This Amendment shall become effective on the date first referenced above.
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SECTION 6. Descriptive Headings. Descriptive headings of the several Sections of this Amendment are inserted for convenience only and shall not control or affect the meaning or construction of any of the provisions hereof.
SECTION 7. Rights Agreement as Amended. From and after the date hereof, any reference to the Rights Agreement and the Form of Right Certificate attached thereto shall mean such agreement or certificate, as applicable, as amended hereby.
SECTION 8. Severability. If any term, provision, covenant or restriction of this Amendment is held by a court of competent jurisdiction or other authority to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remainder of the terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions of this Amendment shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Amendment to be duly executed as of the day and year first above written.
HERTZ GLOBAL HOLDINGS, INC.,
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By:
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/s/ J. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx | ||
Name: |
J. Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx
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Title: |
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
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COMPUTERSHARE TRUST COMPANY, N.A.,
as Rights Agent
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By:
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/s/ Xxxxx Xxxxxxx | ||
Name: |
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
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Title: |
Vice President
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[Signature Page to Amendment to Rights Agreement]