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Item 1.01
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Entry Into a Material Definitive Agreement.
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On February 12, 2018, Crystal Rock Holdings, Inc. (the “
Company
”)
entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “
Merger Agreement
”) with Cott Corporation, a Canadian
corporation (“
Cott
”), and CR Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Cott (“
Purchaser
”).
Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Purchaser will commence a tender offer (the “
Offer
”)
to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company (the “
Company
Common Stock
”), at a price per share of $0.97, net to the seller in cash, without interest (the “
Offer
Price
”), and subject to deduction for any required withholding of taxes. Purchaser is obligated to commence the Offer
as promptly as practicable, and in any event within 10 business days following the date of the Merger Agreement, and the Offer
will remain open for 20 business days from the date of commencement of the Offer, subject to extension in accordance with the terms
of the Merger Agreement.
The consummation of the Offer is subject to customary closing conditions,
including, among other things, the valid tender of shares of Company Common Stock representing a majority of the total outstanding
shares of Company Common Stock, calculated on a fully diluted basis, and other conditions to the Offer set forth in Annex I to
the Merger Agreement. The consummation of the Offer is not subject to any financing condition.
Upon the completion of the Offer, and subject to the satisfaction
or waiver of the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, Purchaser will be merged with and into the Company, with the Company
surviving as a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Cott (the “
Merger
”). The Merger Agreement provides
that the Merger will be governed by Section 251(h) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “
DGCL
”)
and shall be effected by Purchaser and the Company as soon as practicable following the consummation of the Offer without a stockholder
meeting.
At the effective time of the Merger (the “
Effective Time
”),
each outstanding share of Company Common Stock, other than shares of Company Common Stock owned by the Company, Cott or Purchaser
immediately prior to the Effective Time, or by stockholders who have validly exercised their appraisal rights under Delaware law,
as more fully described below, will be canceled and converted into the right to receive an amount in cash equal to the Offer Price,
payable to the holder thereof on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement.
The Company, Cott and Purchaser have made customary representations,
warranties and covenants in the Merger Agreement. The Company’s covenants include, among other things, covenants regarding
the operation of the Company’s business prior to the Effective Time and covenants restricting the ability of the Company
to solicit third-party proposals relating to alternative transactions or provide information or enter into discussions in connection
with alternative transactions, subject to certain exceptions to permit the board of directors of the Company (the “
Company
Board
”) to comply with its fiduciary duties. Notwithstanding the limitations applicable pursuant to the “no-shop”
restrictions set forth in the Merger Agreement, prior to the consummation of the Offer, under specified circumstances the Company
Board may change its recommendation in connection with an intervening event that was not known or reasonably foreseeable as of
the date of the Merger Agreement, or in connection with an alternative proposal that does not result from breach of the “no-shop”
restrictions and that the Company Board determines in good faith constitutes a superior proposal (in which latter case the Company
may also terminate the Merger Agreement to enter into such superior proposal upon payment of the termination fee, as discussed
below). Before the Company Board may change its recommendation in connection with a superior proposal, or terminate the Merger
Agreement to accept a superior proposal, the Company must provide Cott with a five-business-day match right, subject to an additional
three-business-day match right in the event of a material change to such superior proposal.
The Merger Agreement also includes customary termination provisions
for both the Company and Cott and provides that, in connection with the termination of the Merger Agreement, under certain circumstances,
the Company may be obligated to pay Cott a termination fee of $1.5 million, including due to termination of the Merger Agreement
by the Company to accept a superior proposal.
Each party is required to use its reasonable best efforts to satisfy
the closing conditions relating to required governmental or third-party consents.
In connection with the Company’s entry into the Merger Agreement,
on February 12, 2018, stockholders of the Company holding 50.8% of the outstanding shares of Company Common Stock entered into
a Tender and Support Agreement (the “
Support Agreement
”) with Purchaser and Cott, pursuant to which each
stockholder signatory agreed to tender all shares of Company Common Stock owned by such stockholder in the Offer. The Support Agreement
also places certain restrictions on the transfer of the shares of Company Common Stock held by the signatories and includes covenants
as to the voting of such shares in favor of approving the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and against taking
specified actions that could adversely affect the consummation of the Merger.
The foregoing summary of the Merger Agreement, the Support Agreement,
the Offer and the Merger does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, the full text of
the Merger Agreement and the Support Agreement, copies of which are attached hereto as Exhibits 2.1 and 2.2, respectively, and
the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The Merger Agreement has been attached hereto pursuant to applicable
rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “
SEC
”) in order to provide investors
and stockholders with information regarding its terms. However, it is not intended to provide any other factual information about
the Company, Cott, their respective subsidiaries and affiliates, or any other party. In particular, the representations, warranties
and covenants contained in the Merger Agreement have been made only for the purpose of the Merger Agreement and, as such, are intended
solely for the benefit of the parties to the Merger Agreement. In many cases, these representations, warranties and covenants are
made as of specific dates, subject to limitations agreed upon by the parties and qualified by certain disclosures exchanged by
the parties in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement. Furthermore, many of the representations and warranties in
the Merger Agreement are the result of a negotiated allocation of contractual risk among the parties and, taken in isolation, do
not necessarily reflect facts about the Company, Cott, their respective subsidiaries and affiliates or any other party. Likewise,
any references to materiality contained in the representations and warranties may not correspond to concepts of materiality applicable
to investors or stockholders. Information concerning the subject matter of the representations and warranties may change after
the date of the Merger Agreement and these changes may not be fully reflected in the Company’s public disclosures.
AS A RESULT OF THE FOREGOING, INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY
ENCOURAGED NOT TO RELY ON THE REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS CONTAINED IN THE MERGER AGREEMENT, OR ON ANY DESCRIPTIONS
THEREOF, AS ACCURATE CHARACTERIZATIONS OF THE STATE OF FACTS OR CONDITION OF THE COMPANY OR ANY OTHER PARTY.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this Current Report on Form 8-K and in the
press release attached hereto may constitute “forward-looking statements.” Such statements relate to a variety of matters,
including but not limited to: the timing and anticipated completion of the Offer and the proposed Merger; and other statements
that are not purely statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs,
expectations and assumptions of the management of the Company and Cott and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date they are made, and neither the Company nor Cott undertakes any obligation to update or revise these statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
the forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to: potential adverse reactions or changes to business
relationships resulting from the announcement of the proposed acquisition of the Company; unexpected costs, charges or expenses
resulting from the proposed acquisition of the Company; litigation or adverse judgments relating to the proposed acquisition of
the Company; risks relating to the consummation of the proposed acquisition of the Company, including the risk that the closing
conditions to the Offer or the proposed Merger will not be satisfied; and any changes in general economic and/or industry-specific
conditions. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements are set forth under the heading “Item 1A—Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, which was filed with the SEC on January 24, 2018, as well as in subsequent reports
on Form 8-K, and other filings made with the SEC by the Company and Cott.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
No statement in this document or the attached exhibits is an offer
to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell securities. The Offer for the shares of Company Common Stock has not commenced.
Cott intends to file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the SEC, and the Company intends to file a solicitation/recommendation
statement on Schedule 14D-9, each with respect to the Offer described in this Current Report on Form 8-K and the exhibits attached
hereto. Any offers to purchase or solicitations of offers to sell will be made only pursuant to such tender offer statements. The
tender offer statement on Schedule TO (including an offer to purchase, a related letter of transmittal and other offer documents)
and the related solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 will contain important information, including the
various terms of, and conditions to, the Offer, which should be read carefully by the Company’s stockholders before they
make any decision with respect to the Offer. Such materials, when prepared and ready for release, will be made available to the
Company’s stockholders at no expense to them. In addition, at such time, such materials (and all other offer documents filed
with the SEC) will be available publicly at no charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, on the Company’s website
at http://ir.crystalrock.com and on Cott’s website at http://www.cott.com/investor-relations, or upon request by writing
to the Company at Crystal Rock Holdings, Inc., 1050 Buckingham Street, Watertown, Connecticut 06795, attention: David Jurasek,
Chief Financial Officer.