As previously announced, on May 24, 2022, Covetrus, Inc. (“Covetrus”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among Covetrus, Corgi Bidco, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Parent”) and Corgi Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”). Parent and Merger Sub are subsidiaries of investment funds managed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC (“CD&R”) and an affiliate of CD&R and affiliates of TPG Global, LLC (“TPG”) have, among other things, entered into equity commitment letters with Parent in an aggregate amount of $1.604 billion. Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, among other things, Merger Sub will merge with and into Covetrus (the “Merger”), with Covetrus surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. As a result of the Merger, Covetrus will cease to be a publicly traded company. On June 30, 2022, Covetrus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) its preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A relating to the special meeting of Covetrus stockholders to be held on October 11, 2022 (the “Proxy Statement”) to, among other things, vote on a proposal to adopt the Merger Agreement. Covetrus subsequently filed, on September 12, 2022, a definitive Proxy Statement, which the Company first mailed to its stockholders on September 13, 2022.
Since the filing of the preliminary Proxy Statement, ten actions have been filed in the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York (“S.D.N.Y.”) and the District of Delaware (“D. Del.”) and the Westchester County Supreme Court, in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement: Stein v. Covetrus, Inc. et al., Case No. 22-cv-5737 (S.D.N.Y. filed July 6, 2022), O’Dell v. Covetrus, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-05803 (S.D.N.Y. filed July 7, 2022), Stanley v. Covetrus, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-5818 (S.D.N.Y. filed July 8, 2022), Whitfield v. Covetrus, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-5908 (S.D.N.Y. filed July 11, 2022), Justice v. Covetrus, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-5909 (S.D.N.Y. filed July 11, 2022), Rayfield v. Covetrus, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-06298 (S.D.N.Y. filed July 25, 2022), Morgan v. Covetrus, Inc., et al., 1:22-cv-8076 (S.D.N.Y. filed September 21, 2022), Lawrence v. Covetrus, Inc., et al., 1:22-cv-1234 (D. Del. filed Sept. 21, 2022), and Dixon v. Covetrus, Inc., et al., 1:22-cv-8120 (S.D.N.Y. filed Sept. 22, 2022) (together, the “Covetrus Federal Actions”) and Gatto v. Covetrus, Inc., et al., Case No. 64793/2022 (Westchester County Supreme Court filed Sept. 14, 2022) (the “Covetrus State Action”, together with the Covetrus Federal Actions, the “Covetrus Actions”). Each of the Covetrus Actions names Covetrus and its directors as defendants. The Covetrus State Action also names CD&R and TPG as defendants. The Covetrus Federal Actions assert claims under Section 14(a) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and Rule 14a-9 promulgated under the Exchange Act, and allege that the Proxy Statement contains alleged material misstatements or omissions. The Covetrus State Action asserts claims under Maine and New York state law in connection with the filing of the Proxy Statement, and alleges that the Proxy Statement contains alleged material misstatements or omissions. The Covetrus Actions seek, among other things, to enjoin the defendants from proceeding with, consummating or closing the Merger, rescisissory damages should the Merger not be enjoined, and an award of attorneys’ and experts’ fees.
The defendants deny the allegations in the Covetrus Actions and deny any alleged violations of law or any legal or equitable duty. The defendants believe that the claims asserted in the Covetrus Actions are without merit and no additional disclosures are required under applicable law. However, in order to avoid the risk of the Covetrus Actions delaying or adversely affecting the Merger and to minimize the costs, risks and uncertainties inherent in litigation, and without admitting any liability or wrongdoing, the defendants have determined to voluntarily make the following supplemental disclosures to the definitive Proxy Statement, as described in this Current Report on Form 8-K, solely for the purpose of mooting any alleged disclosure issue. Nothing in this Current Report on Form 8-K shall be deemed an admission of the legal necessity or materiality under applicable laws of any of the disclosures set forth herein. To the contrary, the defendants specifically deny all allegations in the Covetrus Actions that any additional disclosure was or is required.
Supplemental Disclosures to Proxy Statement
This supplemental information should be read in conjunction with the definitive Proxy Statement filed on September 12, 2022 (the “Definitive Proxy Statement”), which should be read in its entirety. Page references in the below disclosures are to pages in the Definitive Proxy Statement, and defined terms used but not defined herein have the meanings set forth in the Definitive Proxy Statement. To the extent the following information differs from or conflicts with the information contained in the Definitive Proxy Statement, the information set forth below shall be deemed to supersede the respective information in the Definitive Proxy Statement.
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