PROPOSAL 3
APPROVAL OF THE ISSUANCE OF SHARES OF COMMON STOCK UPON CONVERSION OF THE COMPANYS SERIES A
NON-VOTING
CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK ISSUED IN CONNECTION WITH THE ETFS ACQUISITION REPRESENTING MORE THAN 19.99% OF THE OUTSTANDING COMMON STOCK OR VOTING POWER OF THE COMPANY FOR PURPOSES OF COMPLYING WITH
NASDAQ LISTING RULE 5635
The ETFS Acquisition
On November 13, 2017, we and WisdomTree International Holdings Ltd (WisdomTree International), one of our indirect wholly
owned subsidiaries, entered into a Share Sale Agreement with ETF Securities Limited (ETF Securities), as amended by the Waiver and Variation Agreement, dated April 11, 2018 (collectively referred to as the Share Sale
Agreement), pursuant to which we agreed to acquire ETF Securities European exchange-traded commodity, currency and
short-and-leveraged
business
(ETFS). On April 11, 2018, we completed the acquisition of ETFS, which we refer to in this proxy statement as the ETFS Acquisition, by purchasing the entire issued share capital of a subsidiary of ETF Securities into
which ETF Securities transferred ETFS prior to completion of the ETFS Acquisition. ETFS had $17.6 billion of AUM as of April 10, 2018. With the addition of ETFS, our AUM increased to approximately $63.4 billion globally as of
April 10, 2018. The ETFS Acquisition elevated WisdomTree to the ninth largest ETP sponsor globally and the largest global independent ETP provider based on AUM, with significant scale and presence in the U.S. and Europe, the two largest ETP
markets.
Pursuant to the Share Sale Agreement, we acquired ETFS for a purchase price consisting of (a) $253.0 million in cash,
subject to customary adjustments for working capital, and (b) a fixed number of shares of our capital stock, consisting of (i) 15,250,000 shares of common stock (the Common Shares) and (ii) 14,750 shares of Series A
Non-Voting
Convertible Preferred Stock (the Preferred Shares), which are convertible into an aggregate of 14,750,000 shares of common stock, subject to certain restrictions as described below.
On April 11, 2018, we also entered into an Investor Rights Agreement with ETF Securities, pursuant to which, among other things, ETF
Securities will be subject to
lock-up,
standstill and voting restrictions, and will receive certain registration rights, each as described below.
The information set forth in this Proposal 3 is qualified in its entirety by reference to the actual terms of the Share Sale Agreement,
Certificate of Designations, Investor Rights Agreement and other agreements entered into in connection with the ETFS Acquisition, which are described in, or included as exhibits to, the following reports: (i) our Current Report on Form
8-K,
filed with the SEC on November 17, 2018, (ii) our Annual Report on Form
10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2017, filed with the SEC on March 1, 2018 and
(iii) our Current Report on Form
8-K,
filed with the SEC on April 13, 2018.
Senior Secured Debt Financing
On April 11, 2018 and in connection with the ETFS Acquisition, we, WisdomTree International and certain of our subsidiaries party thereto
as guarantors entered into a credit agreement (the Credit Agreement) with the lenders party thereto and Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Islands Branch, as administrative agent, collateral agent, L/C Issuer and lender. Under the Credit
Agreement, the lenders have extended a $200.0 million term loan (the Term Loan) to WisdomTree International, the net cash proceeds of which were used by WisdomTree International, together with other cash on hand, to complete the
ETFS Acquisition and pay certain related fees, costs and expenses, and made a $50.0 million revolving credit facility (the Revolver and, together with the Term Loan, the Credit Facility) available to us and WisdomTree
International for revolving borrowings from time to time for working capital, capital expenditures and general corporate purposes. Interest on the Term Loan accrues at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR, plus up to 2.00% (commencing at LIBOR, plus
1.75%), and interest on the Revolver accrues at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR, plus up to 1.50% (commencing at LIBOR, plus
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