As previously reported, on April 28, 2024, UMB Financial Corporation, a Missouri corporation (“UMB”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Heartland Financial USA, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“HTLF”) and Blue Sky Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of UMB (“Blue Sky Merger Sub”), pursuant to which (i) Blue Sky Merger Sub will merge with and into HTLF (the “Merger”), with HTLF surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of UMB (the “Surviving Entity”) and (ii) immediately following the effective time of the Merger and as part of a single, integrated transaction, the Surviving Entity will merge with and into UMB (the “Second Merger”, and together with the Merger, the “Mergers”), with UMB surviving the Second Merger.
In connection with the Mergers, UMB filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a registration statement on Form S-4 on June 13, 2024, as amended on July 2, 2024, and which was declared effective by the SEC on July 5, 2024, which contained a prospectus with respect to the shares of UMB capital stock to be issued in connection with the Mergers and a joint proxy statement of UMB and HTLF. Each of UMB and HTLF filed a definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus with the SEC on July 5, 2024 (collectively, the “joint proxy statement/prospectus”), which UMB and HTLF first mailed to their respective stockholders or shareholders on or about July 5, 2024.
Following the announcement of the Merger Agreement and as of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K, purported stockholders of HTLF filed the following lawsuits against HTLF, the individual members of the HTLF board of directors, and/or UMB: (i) Michenzie v. Heartland Financial USA, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-01741 (D. Colo. June 21, 2024) (the “Michenzie Complaint”), (ii) Garfield v. Engel, et al., Case No. 2024CV32184 (Colo. Dist. Ct. Jul. 18, 2024) (the “Garfield Complaint”), (iii) Hamilton v. Heartland Financial USA, Inc., et al., Case No. 653695/2024 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Jul. 23, 2024) (the “Hamilton Complaint”) and (iv) Williams v. Heartland Financial USA, Inc., et al., Case No. 653706/2024 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Jul. 24, 2024) (the “Williams Complaint”, and together with the Michenzie Complaint, the Garfield Complaint and the Hamilton Complaint, the “Complaints”). Additionally, beginning on June 24, 2024, HTLF received demand letters from counsel representing other individual purported stockholders of HTLF (collectively, the “Demands” and, together with the Complaints, the “Matters”). The Matters allege, among other things, that the defendants caused a false and misleading registration statement relating to the Mergers to be filed with the SEC in violation of Section 14(a) and Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Rule 14a-9 promulgated thereunder, breached their fiduciary obligations under state law, and/or committed negligence and negligent misrepresentation and concealment under state common law.
UMB and HTLF believe that the claims asserted in the Matters are without merit and supplemental disclosures are not required or necessary under applicable laws. However, in order to avoid the risk that the Matters delay or otherwise adversely affect the Mergers, and to minimize the costs, risks and uncertainties inherent in litigation, and without admitting any liability or wrongdoing, UMB and HTLF are supplementing the joint proxy statement/prospectus as described in this Current Report on Form 8-K. HTLF, the other named defendants and UMB deny that they have violated any laws or breached any fiduciary duties. 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 or in the joint proxy statement/prospectus. To the contrary, HTLF, the other named defendants and UMB specifically deny all allegations in the Matters and that any additional disclosure was or is required in the joint proxy statement/prospectus.
Supplemental Disclosures to the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus
The supplemental information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K supplements the disclosures contained in the joint proxy statement/prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the joint proxy statement/prospectus, which should be read in its entirety. Defined terms used but not defined below have the meanings set forth in the joint proxy statement/prospectus. All page references in the information below are to pages in the joint proxy statement/prospectus. Paragraph references used herein refer to the joint proxy statement/prospectus before any additions or deletions resulting from the supplemental disclosures. The information contained herein speaks only as of July 26, 2024, unless the information indicates another date applies. For clarity, new text within restated paragraphs from the joint proxy statement/prospectus is highlighted with bold, underlined text, while deleted text is bold and stricken-through.