UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
INFORMATION
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Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12
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Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
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This Schedule 14A filing consists of the following communication relating to the proposed acquisition of Brocade
Communications Systems, Inc. (Brocade) by Broadcom Limited (Ultimate Parent), a limited liability company organized under the laws of the Republic of Singapore, Broadcom Corporation (Parent), a California
corporation and an indirect subsidiary of Ultimate Parent, and Bobcat Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (Merger Sub), pursuant to the terms of an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated
November 2, 2016 by and among Brocade, Ultimate Parent, Parent and Merger Sub:
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Edited Transcript of Employee All Hands Presentation Recording distributed on November 3, 2016 by Brocade.
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The item listed above was first used or made available on November 3, 2016.
Edited Transcript of Employee All Hands Presentation Recording distributed on November 3, 2016 by Brocade
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, Brocades CEO Lloyd Carney.
How are you doing? Good morning everybody. Morning, morning, morning. Quite a few here, so something must have happened. Something out of the
ordinary. Broadcom announced they acquired us. Its expected to close in the second half of our year, so take at least six months to nine months to get done. The reason for that is being a public company theres a lot of
approvals that are necessary from the government, not just our government, other governments also get to chime in on this. Even the Chinese government gets to chime in on this. A lot of regulatory government approvals are necessary.
And then the genesis of this is we werent trying to sell the company. We were happy with what were doing, we just made the Ruckus
acquisition, actions going pretty well. Great uptick based on that, we had a strategy, we had a plan, were the right people. We were happy with where we were going. When they reached out to us we initially said exactly that,
Were not for sale. Were doing what were doing and we feel good about our prospects. And they came back and were more assertive in their offer, and as a public company we have to listen. We dont get to
say we dont listen otherwise we all get sued and then activists come in here and take the place over. So we had to listen to what they were doing. Going through that process ended up with multiple people were interested. Some people
interested. Some people interested in the IT part of the business, some people interested in all the business, some people interested in fiber channel business. So we had interests from different people in what we have. Because weve
built something good. We have built a great company, we have great products, we have great prospects for the entire portfolio. So we had people showing interest in what were doing, but because of their business model of how they work and their
confidence in our portfolio they were able to bid more than anybody else. You saw the premium based on our pricing, thats a pretty healthy premium. Think about when I started here three and a half years ago it was 4.78 or something like
that, Ken pointed out to me the other day. Theyre able to bid that much because they value the full portfolio, they value all of what we have as a company. Now they have a particular view on fiber channel that most people dont have
because they had bought Emulex which is a fiber channel adapter company that plugs into a server. So theyre on the other end of our fiber channel line, they sit. Our switches and directors actually plug into adapters that the
customer use to connect into servers. So they knew the fiber channel business pretty well because they bought the fiber channel company. Well the guys at Broadcom, because they understood the adapter fiber channel business, they understood
the fiber channel ecosystem, they realized that this wasnt as bad as the market was making it seem. That our prospects were much better than what the market were rewarding us for. So they swooped in. They were agile about
it. They know that business really well, know its not going anywhere. They also make memory chips so they understand whats going on with all flash arrays, and all flash arrays need fiber channel. So they were fearless
about the fiber channel business. And then they understood the value of the rest of the portfolio so they were able to bid more than anybody else. So the main takeaway here is we werent trying to sell the company. We had heads
down, we rebuffed the first time they came to us. They came back more assertively. We went through a defined deliberate process and it wasnt our intent, it wasnt the outcome we had hoped for as far as the plan we have for the
company going forward. The other thing too is, there is time. It will be six to nine months before it closes. So its business as usual, heads down, charging ahead, delivering on the road maps, delivering on the products,
continuing to support our customers. The most important thing we can do is to continue to show value in the company as we look to see the home for the IP business. They see a healthy striving business delivering good valuable products.
A bit about who they are, because its a strange thing. You look at the headline, theyre a chip
company. They make a lot of the chips that go into networking devices that we use to design our Ethernet products as well as our fiber channel products. And so the headline you see is, Chip Company Buys Us. But they have been buying
systems, they have been taking rifle shots at what seems like mature industries, but theyre actually industries that have a long lifespan ahead of it. Look at industries that are profitable, look at segments that they know have a long
lifespan, a long tail on it and they invest there and they take the profitability out of that. Now they were founded in 1961, 15,000 employees worldwide. Theyre actually a Singapore registered company, so they show up as a Singapore
based company even though they have operations globally, and they do 67 billion in market capitalization. Their stock price, just about every four weeks, reaches a new high. Theyve done a really good job of running their company very
efficiently as they bring assets in. They have around 19 to 20 business units that are all profitable entities that they run. Thats some of it at a glance. Youll hear more about them Hock Tan who is the CEO over there
eventually well have him here. But theyre a well ran company, a well respected company and theyll be a great partner with us. So why the interest? When they came to us, other people were interested also because of
our portfolio. We have a strong portfolio of products; data center, fabrics. First there was the virtual router, pioneers of the OpenG technology, Ethernet fabrics. So as you look at our customer base, the people who trust us,
its the top banks in the world, the top pharmaceuticals and the top hospitals in the world. Its the top companies in the world that trust us. So our customer base is an invaluable asset, our partner base, the fact that we
partner with everybody in the world. Every major compute vendor, every major storage vendor is a partner of ours. That is an incredible asset. And then all of our assets, our IP assets, our five channel assets, our software
assets. That is what attracted not just Broadcom to us but others to us, to see what is here as a company. Scale matters, the networking space is a mature space now. Were not startups anymore and so scale does matter and
youre seeing us consolidation in this marketplace and as we consolidated Ruckus were being consolidated. So thats the 10,000 foot of why they were so interested in us. Now the strategic rationale behind it, they focus on
secure industries, mature industries, very profitable industries.
They offered us a healthy premium. They are focused on the SAN space. As much as they like the IP space it competes with too much of their customer base. As much as they value the
IP space they thought of it more in terms of they know they can get value for it because its valuable and the challenge for us now is to help them ascertain that value for the IP space. Ken Chang and Tedis here somewhere. Ted
Rado was here, he walked in with me. Hes over here somewhere. Oh here he is. Hes going to help drive the effort to identify all the people who already showed interest in the IP space to go back to them and say, One
transaction has occurred, let us work with you to see how we can ensure this other transaction occurs sooner rather than later, because I know the uncertainty around the IP business is not comforting. I was going to bring it down with me, but
Ive got two big Excel spreadsheets Ive been going through since 4:30 this morning with our major customers, major partners. As you can imagine, the ones who are fiber channel focused, theyre okay, they get it. The ones
who are IP focused, theres uncertainty for them just as theres uncertainty for those of us here who are aligned with the IP business. The first thing they want to know is, when will I know Lloyd? And the thing that youd
want to know if you were part of the IP portfolio here is when will you know where the IP will end up? I know that, I spent since 4:30 this morning with customers and partners walking them through that. As soon as we know you will
know. Our top priority as a team is to find and make that answer. The good news is we have a head start. We have people who weve been talking to over the last monthand its only been a month this process, probably less than
thatthat showed interest already. So its not like were going out there and saying, Hey I wonder who like the IP business. We have a really good idea who those people are already where we talked to some of
those people and theyre now coming back and said, We couldnt afford the whole company because the fiber channel thing scared us, we didnt understand that. We understand the IP space pretty good, we feel good about that,
so lets talk about this IP business. So we got a head start on it and tomorrow is day one there and were going to be grinding hard. All the key members of the team will be helping to drive the effort. Weve got
Jason, then my critic, Kelly [laughs], all of them will be helping to drive this whole effort. And so I know what that uncertainty is for you, I know what it is for our customers and partners. You have my commitment that my number one job now
is to help allay those uncertainties. So that is job one, thats a task, the team knows the priority, and for Broadcom theyre in the same space. They realize that uncertainty is not healthy for us and so they are encouraging us
to go as fast as possible also. Again, part of their calculus, and theyve done this before if you look at their history, theyll buy assets and then theyll spin some assets off, is they realize theres value in the entire
company, they better than anybody else understood the fiber channel asset and they realized were undervalued. So they realized that value because when people value us they always worry about the fiber channel falling
precipitously. Broadcom has no fear about that, they know its going to be around for a very long time, so theyre able to double down on that and bid more than anybody else. So whats important is value the
IP. Hes going to make sure that we dont wreck the IP business because its important for us to get value for the IP business. And so were going to be working on that as a priority, the whole team, and make sure we
drive that. So now its the back swing. What comes next? Business as usual, and that is a tough thing I know. Trust me Ive been all morning trying to say that to customers and theres silence on the phone when I
say it. But we have to try to do that because the best way for Ken, Ted, I, and the team to go out and ensure value for the IP business and make sure it ends up in the right home is for people to continue to look at it and realize that
its functioning well. It means were supporting our customers, were shipping new products, were doing all the right things and showing its a healthy business.
And of course fiber channel business it goes without saying weve got to make sure that business continues to hum along and continues to be the best of class that it is. And we talked
about the leaders in these functional groups looking at different business segments to make sure we go and position them well outside. Well provide details as they come along. We will over-communicate. The task for my team and I
is to help walk you through the concerns you have, and as soon as we know anything we pass it on. There is again a six to nine month window to get it closed. Business as usual, six to nine months. We keep doing what were
doing. There is a bare minimum safety net that we talked about that should give you some reason here today to know you dont have to rush out and do something life changing right now. Six to nine months, and thats a long time,
but in that time frame were going to be working hard to make sure that we resolve as much as possible where the next transition point is. Are you up next Carol?
Im here Lloyd, Im always here for you.
Thank you,
now I feel better.
Okay, we really didnt have a prescribed set of Q&A but we would like to open the floor to Q&A and we presume that some
of those might have to do with people so thats why Im here. But any questions for Lloyd are fair game as well.
Okay.
Dont be shy.
You know you can ask me anything.
Weve got mic runners, so just hold on a moment.
Here we go. I know, someone just said everyone is still in shock, and I understand that. The point I kept making about dont go off and life
changing right awayreally take the time to just absorb whats going on and to reach out
Carol [unintelligible] this morning another critic who
came in and told me what I should say this morning, that there are people amongst us who have gone through this before, and some of you have never been acquired before. So share what that is like and share whats important to look at, and
whats important to think about as you go through this whole process. We will do another one of these in a quick time frame because youre not going to know what to ask, youre not going to know what to think and it is a shock to
the system. So work through it and absorb it. Talk to your co-workers, your friends, and I understand that, youre absolutely right. This is a shock to the system, trust me. Yesterday when I realized it was coming down to the
point we were going to sign the piece of paper, it was a shock to my system too. Yesterday wasnt a good day for me.
Was there a question over there?
The question here is, can you talk about the structure of Avago, Broadcom, and how we fit in the rest of Brocade.
Yeah, they have created a separate business unit, storage business unit that has the Emulex products in there and were going to fit into that business
unit and it will be end-to-end storage. Think about our director switches going all the way to the adapters that they sell and the storage chips that they sell so they have a end-to-end portfolio of storage products down to memory chips that
they sell. So that would be a part of that division. Theres one way back there. Okay yep, well get that one back there and then well...
Is it possible that the IP network will spin off as a stand alone company?
The question is, is it possible the IP network will spin off in a stand alone company? That is a possibility. There are private equity firms that would be
interested in doing that. Can they afford it? But there is a possibility that a PE firmit would take a private equity firm to do it. Weve looked at could we raise the money ourselves to go off and do that, and thats
problematic. The most likely outcome if it is a stand alone is a private company firm. Venture capital firms dont raise that kind of money. They do early stage small investments. Private equity guysand there are some
private equity guys who were interested in us before by the way. As part of this process there were private equity guys who participated in this process, who know what we have. So the answer is yes, theres a possibility that the IP things
out by itself as part of a private equity investment, and thats something that well be pursuing.
Thanks for that question, we have another
one over here.
Hey Lloyd, can I ask a stock related question?
Pardon me?
Can I ask a stock related question?
Oh sure. Yeah.
I read somewhere that Broadcoms
purchasing us for 12.75 or something like that rate. Are they doing that just for the fiber channel so if we sell off the rest of our IP business would our stock go up?
No. Its a good question. You should be in finance, the question is the acquisition price is 12.75, ends up being $5.9 billion. Hes
saying, if we sold off pieces of the IP business, would that mean theyd have to pay more than the 12.75 for us? The answer is no, because whatever we sell becomes part of what they own. So their calculus is that theres a value
for the fiber channel business, theres a value for the IP business, and therefor they bid almost 6 billion for both of it. Thats part of the calculus. Any other questions? Yep, youve got questions.
When will this dissection of the IP networking business happens? Is this before or after the deal closes?
When will the transaction of IP business, before or after it closes? For us the best thing would be sooner rather than later. If we could ascertain
what that is tomorrow, announce to the world tomorrow and get it transacted the day after that, thats what Id want to do. So Broadcom is aware of that, theyre in agreement with us that if we need to be more nimble than waiting
until the close, theyre receptive to that. Now it might mean that we can announce it and start working towards it but cant do anything until it closes, or it could mean we can announce, get it done, before the close. All of
those things are being worked out but we know because of the uncertainties created that the quicker we do it-uncertainty for our employees, uncertainty for our customers, partners, the sooner the better. And so at a minimum we want to announce
it as quickly as we can and figure out how to close it as quick as we can because some of it might take regulatory issues why it cant close as quick, but Id want to be getting the word out there and get that nailed down quick. There
is another one.
Thanks, probably an HR question, but severance package notifications, will they likely come before the close or after the close?
Severance package notifications, they come before the close or after the close. Youd expect after the close. Well tell you before.
Theres a Q&A package thats going out and it talks about and will specifically tell you what you would be eligible for if there was a severance package, so youll know. But its business as usual until we close, so
its six to nine months before the close happens and then youll see those kinds of things happening. And its detailed in the Q&A package what the severance package is, because you sent it to me and you told me what to read.
But let me embellish that a bit. You might not care, but we have 40 countries around the world that we have
employees in, and every one of those countries has different requirements around severance and notification. So we cant really give you a formula for how that works for everybody. Theres a very brief statement in the FAQs
that we tried to bracket bookends for you. But everybodys personal situation regarding and severance in the event of a job loss would be dependent on the level that youre at, the role that you play, the time that youve been
here, and the country that youre in. So there you go.
Hi Lloyd. So we have companies coming in now and offering, or investigating us for
the IP business. If thats to be done immediately it sounds like Broadcom would have to have an approval on that. They have to have a value on the IP business. So is there a minimum that theyre setting, saying you
cant just go out and sell it to somebody cheap. So how does that work?
Good question. Tomorrow Ted and I go over to talk to the Broadcom
people to start that whole process going. They are motivated to get a transaction done for the IP business. They realize that we today impair the IP business. By announcing that were going to sell the IP business weve done
harm to the IP business. The sooner we take that cloud away from the IP business the better, so theyre motivated not just by value but by deal certainty and timing. And trust me, we have driven that home. They know.
A lot of people have jobs that cover both the SAN and the IP. So when is it going to be determined which group were in. If we make the sale
early am I part of that IP business or am I staying with...
Yeah. The question is, some of us are in both organizations, myself included, so when do
you make that ascertation of what group youre in? It will probably take us about a month to go through that. The team is already trying to create functional organizations as to who belongs where. So Id guess maybe a month
for us to go through and identify and know where all those people are. One over here. Two over here.
Good morning sir.
Hey, morning sir. How are you doing?
Outstanding, good to go. So theres been a lot of talk about [laughter] how are you
doing? Theres been a lot of talk about the differentiation between the SAN business, the storage business, and then the IP business. In strategic accounts we have a lot of initiatives that were heavily doing battle
against. Cisco and Arista heavily leveraged with our vCPE play, V80C BTM, V-routers, etcetera. What message do I take back to my customers?
Well
the message right now, and Ive been talking to some of these customers this morning, there is value in our end-to-end IP storage. Theres value in our end-to end fiber channel and IP story. Now the one thing we know is certain
is that the fiber channel piece of that value chain is going to be in a different organization. Were still positioning the end-to-end story. Were still positioning with the people who are looking at us the value of that
end-to-end IP story. All the things you just talked about is part of our IP strategy, IP story, and thats what were pitching to our customers. Now, three or four months from now is it still one big bucket? Im not
sure, but today its business as usual except the fiber channels over here and the rest of the IP is in a different segment.
If Im
understanding what youre stating correctly, the software BU is underneath the IP category in this conversation?
Yes, absolutely. End-to-end
story absolutely.
Okay, I feel better because I see Kelly nodding his head very fervently up there. Mission team himself, thank you sir.
There he is.
Follow up question to that Lloyd. Are you
seeing buyers separately for data center hardware separately for software and then for the Ruckus as well as Edge business? Is that the way its going to get split up? Like you said earlier, I guess there are engineers who are
centrally located right now so they would have to go for different business units. Is that the way youre looking at it?
Were looking
atfirst out the shoot were looking as an entire IP business.
Software, data center, wireless edge. As I said, we think theres
value in our end-to-end story, and so thats, what were positioning. While were doing that, if a potential inquirer says, I really prefer just a software business, well take note of that, and as we go and look at
whats the value we can get for the entire end-to-end, if the pieces make better sense we might look at that. By my thrust for the team right now is lets go find the end-to-end player, and we have people already that we know who are
end-to-end players look at it. That would be my preference.
Quick questiongood morningwho has the maximum say in the selling of the IP
business? So do we have or does Broadcom has? Someone like PE firm is going to offer a billion or two billion or something like that. Does Broadcom have a say, or do we have a say?
The question is, who has a final say in the sale of the IP assets? It is Broadcom. They are the ones
who are making the acquisition, theyll own all the assets in nine months from now. So it really is their final say. But again, were working well with them, theyre very collaborative with us. They want deal certainty,
they want to get this done sooner rather than later.
Good morning sir. My question is about the current Ruckus integration project that were
doing. I wonder, is this acquisition going to change the plan of the Ruckus integration or its included in the statement of business as usual?
How
does impact the Ruckus integration work thats going on? Is that a part of the business as usual? There are parts of this that we tap the brakes on, and there are parts of it that we need to understand what were going to do
going forward.
Let me add some specifics to that for you. For the vast majority of the Ruckus integration activities, at least from the people
perspective, which I assume is part of your question, its continuing, business as usual. There are, as Lloyd mentioned a few countries, 11 to be specific, that effect about 175 employees in those 11 countries from Ruckus who will not be
joining as a legal entity the Brocade legal entity, but they are still part of the Brocade group, all of the conversions that were under-doing in terms of payroll, etcetera, for the most part will be continuing forward. So if those folks
are listening in, that question is actually answered in the FAQs, so you can get the specifics if you dont remember what I said. Okay?
Hi Lloyd, my question is more like Matts question. Before we buy Ruckus, Brocade is about 4 billion value, and Ruckus is about 1.5
billion. Together were $5.5 billion company. Now Broadcom spends 5.9 billion to buy us. Why do we think its a great deal for Brocade?
Because were trading at $8.74 and they offered $12.75, and the valuation we had was
Any othertheres one right here.
Weve done a
lot of work with the Oracle r12. Do we know what Broadcoms ERP is and what the impact is with all this effort?
I think briefly they used at
Oracle [unintelligible audience comment]. Yeah the answerwhat Broadcom uses for ERP, they use Oracle also. Theyre doing the r12 implementations we are also so that should be fairly seamless. Any other questions?
No other questions? Theres one back there.
Will there be restructuring of fiber channel group or business before or after acquisition?
Will there be restructuring of fiber channel group before or after acquisition? Again its business as usual through acquisition. Well
probably be aligning the group, making sure we have all the right resources as necessary so post acquisition its in as good a business unit kind of shape. But the majority of what were doing today will be continued for the next six
to nine months. Okay were going to turn it over to Carolwell one more question. One more question right there.
A couple of
questions actually. A, whats your confidence that their deal will actually go through. The other is how much does Broadcom get to say what the cost structure of our company will be for the next six months in terms of would they
require us to be leaner so that we look more attractive for the IP business or other investors?
Yep, the question is, confidence of the deal going
through, and how much oversight are they going to provide to us on how we run our company/efficiency of the company. A, on thepretty high probability that the deal goes through, because you have two pivot points. You have
shareholders saying, We dont like the deal, we wont vote for it. Pretty unlikely based on the premium thats being offered, that the shareholders wont vote for it, and then the other pivot point is regulatory
agency approvals. The nine months is because we have to slog through all these different approvals. High probability of going through. How much oversight? We have a plan that weve given them, and as long as we keep
executing to that plan, as in all these acquisitions theres oversight required on any major acquisitions or major contracts that we sign. But we really run as a stand alone company. They can suggest things, but we really are a stand
alone company until the deal gets done.
Just a couple of quick housekeeping items I want to mention to everyone. The first thing is theres
probably more questions, and wed like for you to submit those questions on the be heard. For the Ruckus folks who now have access completely to our share point page, all of this information, all the FAQs, is all posted
on the share point site. So go out to our Brocade Central and click on those links and youll hear Lloyds audio message, youll see the press releases, youll see a number of communication materials that weve
prepared. But if you have additional questions, please send them to be heard. Second thing [unintelligible] @brocade.com so we can answer them for everybody and get them posted back out there. Second thing is, every member of e-staff
has sent out a cascade email this morning as well, and there will be a number of additional all-hands meetings for your respective groups, and weve encouraged all the leadership at Brocade to hold smaller meetings follow-on, and to
over-communicate. So information we know is important, we dont have all the answers, but we definitely want to, in the spirit of straight talk share with you as much information as we have when we have it, and as clearly and as
specifically as we have it. So thats a caution that Ive given to everybody at leadership, please dont make up answers because thats hard to recover from. If you dont know, say you dont know, and come to
somebody who does and well get the right information out to everybody. The last thing is about social media. Ive been asked to give a caution about social media since everybody is probably even as we speak sitting here posting
things on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn. Wed like for you to communicate any official information about the company just by re-tweeting or re-posting information that comes out from official sources. Again in the spirit of keeping
things honest and clear rather than opinions or misinformation. That doesnt help anybody. Was there any otherChristines going to embellish me.
I know you guys are going to want to talk about this with your friends on social media, but we really implore you
to not do that. If you want to take the official posts and re-tweet them or link them in or put them on Facebook or whatever, absolutely do that. But if you can refrain from putting your own opinions, because it ends up having to be filed
as part of the legal filings and that creates a lot more work for our legal team and in some small way could cause some additional problems. So it would just be really good for you to stay off social media with your own opinions for a little
while.
Thank you, back to you Lloyd.
Alright, so heads
down, keep cranking away, and thank you [applause]
[Music plays]
[End recording]
Additional Information and Where to Find It
This communication is being made in respect of the proposed transaction involving Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Brocade) and Broadcom
Limited (Broadcom). In connection with the proposed transaction, Brocade intends to file relevant materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), including a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A.
Promptly after filing its definitive proxy statement with the SEC, Brocade will mail the definitive proxy statement and a proxy card to each stockholder of Brocade entitled to vote at the special meeting relating to the proposed transaction.
INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF BROCADE ARE URGED TO READ THESE MATERIALS (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION THAT BROCADE WILL FILE WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY
BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BROCADE AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. The definitive proxy statement, the preliminary proxy statement and other relevant materials in connection with the proposed transaction
(when they become available), and any other documents filed by Brocade with the SEC, may be obtained free of charge at the SECs website (http://www.sec.gov) or at Brocades website (http://www.brcd.com) or by contacting Brocades
Investor Relations at (408) 333-6208 or scoli@brocade.com.
Participants in the Solicitation
Brocade and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Brocades stockholders with respect
to the proposed transaction. Information about Brocades directors and executive officers and their ownership of Brocades common stock is set forth in Brocades proxy statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC on February 25, 2016,
and Brocades Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2015, which was filed on December 22, 2015. Information regarding the identity of the potential participants, and their direct or indirect interests in the proposed
transaction, by security holdings or otherwise, will be set forth in the proxy statement and other materials to be filed with SEC in connection with the proposed transaction.
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This
communication, and any documents to which Brocade refers you in this communication, contains not only historical information, but also forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent Brocades current expectations or beliefs concerning future events, including but not limited to the expected completion and timing of the proposed transaction, expected benefits and costs
of the proposed transaction, management plans relating to the proposed transaction, strategies and objectives of Brocade and Broadcom for future operations and other information relating to the proposed transaction. Without limiting the foregoing,
the words believes, anticipates, plans, expects, intends, forecasts, should, estimates, contemplate, future, goal,
potential, predict, project, projection, target, seek, may, will, could, should, would, assuming and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You should read any such forward-looking statements carefully, as they involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ
significantly from those projected or contemplated in any such forward-looking statement. Those risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, (i) the risk that the proposed transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may
adversely affect Brocades business and the price of the common stock of Brocade, (ii) the failure to satisfy any of the conditions to the consummation of the proposed transaction, including the adoption of the merger agreement by the
stockholders of Brocade and the receipt of certain governmental and regulatory approvals, (iii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, (iv) the effect of the
announcement or pendency of the proposed transaction on Brocades business relationships, operating results and business generally, (v) risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations and the potential difficulties in
employee retention as a result of the proposed transaction, (vi) risks related to diverting managements attention from Brocades ongoing business operations (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us
related to the merger agreement or the proposed transaction; (viii) unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the proposed transaction, (ix) the ability of Broadcom to achieve its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to
Brocades business after completion of the proposed transaction; and (x) other risks described in Brocades and Broadcoms filings with the SEC, such as their respective Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Reports on Form 10-K.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication or the date of any document incorporated by reference in this document. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, Brocade does not assume any obligation to update
any such forward-looking statements whether as the result of new developments or otherwise.
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