Q.
Who
is St. Bernard Software?
|
A.
St.
Bernard is a recognized independent supplier of IT security software
products and services, with a special emphasis on Secure Content
Management, or SCM, including messaging security, with $28.7 million
in
gross billings for 2005. St. Bernard’s products protect businesses,
government organizations and educational institutions from cyber
attack,
improve worker productivity, reduce legal liability and assist in
meeting
regulatory requirements for data/privacy protection. St. Bernard’s
network-attached security products are delivered as appliances that
connect into the data path between the Internet gateway and a company’s
local area network. St. Bernard’s system security products consist of
software that is installed on workstations and servers. St. Bernard
has approximately 8,000 customers supporting over 3.5 million device
licenses, primarily comprised of small to medium sized businesses,
educational institutions and governmental organizations. The products
offered by St. Bernard include Open File Manager, a data protection
product; UpdateEXPERT, a patch and settings management product; iPrism,
SCM, Internet access management product; and ePrism, SCM, messaging
security e-mail filtering product. According to International Data
Corporation, or IDC, in September 2005, St. Bernard’s iPrism product line
was the leading Internet filtering appliance, enabling customers
to manage
and control employee access to millions of web sites that are updated
continuously as part of St. Bernard’s fee-based Software as a Service”, or
a “SaaS”, business model subscription service. Other St. Bernard products
also have a subscription component that increases deferred revenue
thereby
increasing revenue predictability. St. Bernard’s revenue model includes
revenue from appliance sales, software license sales and multi-year
subscription for software/database updates. St. Bernard had revenues
of
$21.2 million in 2004 and revenues of $24.0 million in 2005.
St. Bernard is a corporation that was founded in 1984 as Emerald
Systems, Inc. In 1995, the corporation sold substantially all of
its
operating assets, changed its name to St. Bernard Software, Inc., and
began its current operations to take advantage of its existing personnel
and infrastructure. The St. Bernard operations rapidly moved into
the data
protection and IT security market. St. Bernard Software is a private
company with headquarters in San Diego,
California.
|
|
IDC
is a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services
for the
information technology and telecommunications industries. In September
of
2005, IDC released a report titled, “Worldwide Secure Content Management
2005-2009 Forecast Update” from which the information that references IDC
in this document has been gathered. St. Bernard subscribes to IDC
information technology reports. There is no other relationship between
IDC, St. Bernard or Sand Hill.
|
Q.
Why
is Sand Hill proposing the merger with St.
Bernard?
|
A.
The
Sand Hill board of directors believes that the proposed merger between
Sand Hill and St. Bernard is in the best interests of St. Bernard
and its
stockholders for the following primary reasons:
·
St.
Bernard is positioned in a portion of the IT security market known
as
Secure Content Management, or SCM, that has experienced rapid growth
and
the appliance portion of SCM, according to IDC, is expected to continue
to
grow at 47% per year for the next five years;
·
St.
Bernard reached $28.7 million in gross billings in 2005 and has
experienced solid growth in the past five years;
·
Sand
Hill believes that St. Bernard has an attractive SaaS, or Software
as a
Service, business model, with a subscription revenue component that
increases revenue renewals, and, therefore, predictability. In 2005
subscription revenue accounted for approximately 59% of St. Bernard’s
business;
·
St.
Bernard has approximately 8,000 active customers, with very high
retention
rates, on the order of 80% to 95%, resulting in strong subscription
renewals (i.e., repeat business) each year;
·
St.
Bernard, according to IDC in September 2005, had the number one market
position in web-filtering appliances;
·
St.
Bernard targets small to medium size businesses, or the SME market,
with
50 to 1000 employees. The SME market for IT security products is
experiencing growth. AMI Partners projects greater than 15% of all
SME’s
will purchase IT security products in 2006 (Sources: AMI Partners,
2005-2006
U.S. Medium Business Overview and Comprehensive Market Opportunity
Assessment (September
2005) and
2005-2006 U.S. Small Business Overview and Comprehensive Market
Opportunity Assessment; available
at
ask_ami@ami-partners.com);
·
Sand
Hill believes that St. Bernard has a strong management team;
and
·
Sand
hill believes that the revision to the merger agreement to provide
for
1,700,000 of the shares of Sand Hill common stock to be initially
issued
in the merger to be held by a stockholders’ representative of St. Bernard
pending their release if the combined company’s stock reaches certain
price thresholds after the merger helps to adjust the timing of the
merger
consideration to take into account changes in public company comparables
and St. Bernard’s first quarter revenue performance.
Given
the above, Sand Hill believes that a business combination with
St. Bernard
will provide Sand Hill stockholders with an opportunity to participate
in
a combined company in the IT security market with significant growth
potential.
|
Q.
Why
is St. Bernard proposing the merger with Sand
Hill?
|
A.
The
St. Bernard board of directors believes that the proposed merger
between
Sand Hill and St. Bernard is in the best interests of St. Bernard
and its
stockholders for the following primary reasons:
·
As
of May 26, 2006, Sand Hill had $22,109,631 in escrow, representing
the net
proceeds from its initial public offering. If the merger is consummated,
at least 80% of the funds in the Sand Hill escrow account, less expenses
of the merger, will be available for operations of the combined company.
St. Bernard believes that because the combined company will have
substantially greater capitalization than St. Bernard alone, the
combined
company will be in a better position than St. Bernard alone, to compete
in
the SCM marketplace.
·
St.
Bernard believes that the skills and expertise of the officers and
directors of Sand Hill, their collective access to acquisition
opportunities and ideas, their contacts, and, in particular, Mr.
Polanen’s
and Mr. Broomfield’s expertise in the IT security market, will provide the
combined company with increased opportunities for future acquisitions
and
growth.
|
Q.
What
is being voted on at the Sand Hill special
meeting?
|
A.
There
are four proposals that stockholders of Sand Hill are being asked
to vote
on at the Sand Hill special meeting. The first proposal is to adopt
the
merger agreement and the transactions contemplated by the merger
agreement. This proposal is referred to as the merger proposal. The
second
proposal is to adopt the amended and restated certificate of incorporation
of Sand Hill to change the name of Sand Hill to St. Bernard Software,
Inc.
and to remove certain provisions related to a business combination
that
were put in place as a result of Sand Hill being a Targeted Acquisition
Corporation. This proposal is referred to as the amendment proposal.
The
third proposal is to adopt the St. Bernard Software, Inc. 1992 Stock
Option Plan, the St. Bernard Software, Inc. 2000 Stock Option Plan
and the
St. Bernard Software, Inc. 2005 Stock Option Plan for non-employee
directors, officers and other key employees. This proposal is referred
to
as the stock option plans proposal. The fourth proposal allows the
adjournment of the Sand Hill special meeting to a later date if necessary
to permit further solicitation of proxies in the event that there
are not
sufficient votes at the time of the Sand Hill special meeting to
approve
the merger proposal, the amendment proposal or the stock option plans
proposal, but in no event to a date later than July 27, 2006. This
proposal is referred to as the adjournment
proposal.
|
Q.
Does
the Sand Hill board of directors recommend voting in favor of the
merger
proposal, the amendment proposal, the stock option plans proposal
and the
adjournment proposal?
|
A.
Yes.
After careful consideration, Sand Hill’s board of directors has determined
unanimously that the merger proposal, the amendment proposal, the
stock
option plans proposal and the adjournment proposal are fair to, and
in the
best interests of, Sand Hill and its stockholders. The board of directors
of Sand Hill did not obtain a fairness opinion in connection with
making
these determinations. Sand Hill’s board recommends that Sand Hill
stockholders vote or instruct your vote to be cast “FOR” the adoption of
the merger agreement, the amendment proposal, the stock option plans
proposal and the adjournment proposal. Please see “The
Merger Proposal - Sand Hill’s Reasons for the Merger”
on page 55.
|
Q.
What
vote is required in order to adopt the merger proposal at the Sand
Hill
special meeting?
|
A.
The
adoption of the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated
by the
merger agreement by the Sand Hill stockholders will require the
affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of Sand
Hill’s
common stock on the Sand Hill record date. Sand Hill’s initial
stockholders, who purchased their shares of common stock prior to
its
initial public offering and presently own an aggregate of approximately
19.6% of the outstanding shares of Sand Hill common stock, have agreed
to
vote their shares of Sand Hill common stock purchased prior to the
initial
public offering on the merger proposal in the same manner as how
the
majority of the shares of common stock held by all other Sand Hill
stockholders are voted on the merger proposal. However, if the holders
of
20% or more of the shares of common stock issued in Sand Hill’s initial
public offering vote against the merger and demand that Sand Hill
convert
their shares into a pro rata portion of the trust account, then,
pursuant
to the terms of Sand Hill’s certificate of incorporation, the merger will
not be consummated. No vote of the holders of any warrants issued
by Sand
Hill is necessary to adopt the merger proposal, and Sand Hill is
not
asking the warrant holders to vote on the merger
proposal.
|
Q.
What
vote is required in order to adopt the amendment proposal at the
Sand Hill
special meeting?
|
A.
The
adoption of the amendment proposal by the Sand Hill stockholders
will
require the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares
of
Sand Hill’s common stock on the Sand Hill record date.
|
Q.
What
vote is required in order to adopt the stock option plans proposal
at the
Sand Hill special meeting?
|
A.
The
adoption of the stock option plans proposal by the Sand Hill stockholders
will require the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of
Sand
Hill’s common stock present in person or represented by proxy at the Sand
Hill special meeting.
|
Q.
What
vote is required in order to adopt the adjournment proposal at the
Sand
Hill special meeting?
|
A.
The
adoption of the adjournment proposal by the Sand Hill stockholders
will
require the affirmative vote of the majority of the shares of Sand
Hill’s
common stock present in person or represented by proxy at the Sand
Hill
special meeting.
|
Q.
Are
the proposals of the Sand Hill special meeting conditioned on each
other?
|
A.
The
adoption of the merger proposal is conditioned on the adoption of
the
amendment proposal and the adoption of the amendment proposal is
conditioned on the adoption of the merger proposal. The adoption
of
neither the merger proposal nor the amendment proposal is conditioned
on
the adoption of the stock option plans proposal or the adjournment
proposal. The adoption of the stock option plans proposal, however,
is
conditioned upon the adoption of the merger proposal and the amendment
proposal.
|
Q.
What
will Sand Hill security holders receive in the
merger?
|
A.
Sand
Hill security holders will continue to hold the Sand Hill securities
they
currently own, and will not receive any of the shares of common stock,
replacement options or replacement warrants issued in connection
with the
merger. The stockholders of St. Bernard will receive all of the shares
of
common stock, replacement options and replacement warrants being
issued by
Sand Hill in the merger.
|
|
The
total amount of shares of Sand Hill common stock to be issued or
that will
underlie replacement options and replacement warrants is 10,880,000.
1,700,000 of these shares will be issued to a stockholders’ representative
that will hold these shares on behalf of the persons who held shares
of
St. Bernard common stock as of the closing of the merger. These
shares will be released, pro rata, to the persons who held shares
of St.
Bernard common stock as of the closing of the merger, if, after the
merger, the price of the combined company’s common stock closes at $8.50
or more per share for 20 trading days during any 30-day trading period
prior to July 25, 2009 or the consideration to be received by the
combined
company or its stockholders in a sale of the majority of the ownership
or
business of the combined company prior to July 25, 2009 equals or
exceeds
$8.50 per share, excluding the dilutive effects of the exercise of
any of
the Sand Hill warrants issued in its initial public offering. If,
after
the merger, neither of these thresholds are achieved prior to July
25,
2009, then the 1,700,000 shares will be returned to the combined
company
for no consideration and will be cancelled. Holders of St. Bernard
common
stock, options and warrants are entitled to receive their pro rata
portion
of this 10,880,000 figure, subject to the potential return of the
1,700,000 shares to be issued to the stockholders’ representative. This
results in an exchange ratio of 0.421419 shares of Sand Hill common
stock,
replacement options or replacement warrants for each share of St.
Bernard
common stock or options or warrants to purchase St. Bernard common
stock
outstanding. Based upon the number of shares of St. Bernard common
stock
outstanding and the number of shares issuable for St. Bernard common
stock
pursuant to outstanding options and warrants as of May 26, 2006,
Sand Hill
will issue approximately 9,782,357 shares of common stock at the
close of
the merger. The holders of options and warrants to purchase shares
of the
common stock of St. Bernard will receive, in exchange for those
options and warrants, replacement options and replacement warrants
to
purchase approximately 1,097,643 shares of Sand Hill common stock.
To the
extent that outstanding St. Bernard options or warrants are exercised
prior to the closing of the merger, the number of shares of Sand
Hill
common stock that would be issued at the closing of the merger would
increase and the number of the shares of Sand Hill common stock that
would
be subject to replacement options or replacement warrants to be issued
at
the closing of the merger would decrease by a like amount. For a
complete
description of the post-closing fully diluted capitalization of Sand
Hill.
Please see “Beneficial
Ownership of Securities”
on page 145.
|
Q.
What
is the structure of the merger?
|
A.
Under
the merger agreement, St. Bernard and Sand Hill Merger Corp., a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Sand Hill, will merge, with St. Bernard
surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sand Hill (referred to
as the
merger). The merger will be accounted for as an equity recapitalization
of
St. Bernard for financial reporting purposes.
|
Q.
How
much of the combined company will existing Sand Hill stockholders
own?
|
A.
After
completion of the merger, if no holders of Sand Hill common stock
demand
that Sand Hill convert their shares into a pro rata portion of the
trust
account holding a substantial portion of the net proceeds of Sand
Hill’s
initial public offering, then Sand Hill’s stockholders will own
approximately 34.3% of the combined company’s issued and outstanding
shares of common stock. If one or more of Sand Hill’s stockholders vote
against the merger proposal and demand that Sand Hill convert their
shares
into a pro rata portion of the trust account, then Sand Hill’s
stockholders will own less than approximately 34.3% of the combined
company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock after completion
of the merger. In either case, the balance of the issued and outstanding
shares of Sand Hill’s common stock will be owned by the stockholders of
St. Bernard, subject to the potential return of the 1,700,000 shares
to be
issued to the stockholders’ representative.
|
Q.
Why
is Sand Hill proposing the stock option plans?
|
A.
Sand
Hill is proposing the stock option plans because it has agreed to
assume
the outstanding options of St. Bernard at the closing of the merger
and
the plans need to remain outstanding under which such options were
issued
as those plans govern the terms of the options. The adoption of the
2005
Stock Option Plan will also enable the combined company to offer
non-employee directors, officers, other key employees and consultants
equity-based incentives, thereby helping to attract, retain and reward
these participants and create value for the combined company’s
stockholders.
|
Q.
What
will the name of the combined company be after the
merger?
|
A.
Sand
Hill will change its name following completion of the merger to St.
Bernard Software, Inc.
|
Q.
How
much cash does Sand Hill hold in escrow?
|
A.
As
of May 26, 2006, Sand Hill had $22,109,631 in escrow, which would
equate
to $5.38 per share of outstanding Sand Hill common stock to participate
in
the funds held in escrow.
|
Q.
Do
stockholders of Sand Hill have conversion rights?
|
A.
If
you hold shares of common stock issued in Sand Hill’s initial public
offering, then you have the right to vote against the merger proposal
and
demand that Sand Hill convert these shares into a pro rata portion
of the
trust account in which a substantial portion of the net proceeds
of Sand
Hill’s initial public offering are held. We sometimes refer to these
rights to vote against the merger and demand conversion of the shares
into
a pro rata portion of the trust account as conversion
rights.
|
Q.
If
stockholders of Sand Hill have conversion rights, how do they exercise
them?
|
A.
If
you wish to exercise your conversion rights, you must vote against
the
merger and at the same time demand that Sand Hill convert your shares
into
cash. If, notwithstanding your vote, the merger is completed, then
you
will be entitled to receive a pro rata portion of the trust account
in
which a substantial portion of the net proceeds of Sand Hill’s initial
public offering are held, including any interest earned thereon through
the date of the Sand Hill special meeting. Based on the amount of
cash
that was held in the trust account on May 26, 2006, you will be
entitled to convert each share of Sand
Hill common stock that you hold into approximately $5.38. If you
exercise
your conversion rights, then you will be exchanging your shares of
Sand
Hill common stock for cash and will no longer own these shares. You
will
only be entitled to receive cash for these shares if you continue
to hold
these shares through the effective time of the merger and then tender
your
stock certificate to the combined company. If the merger is not completed,
then your shares will not be converted to cash at this time, even
if you
so elected.
|
Q.
What
happens to the funds deposited in the trust account after consummation
of
the merger?
|
A.
Upon
consummation of the merger: the Sand Hill stockholders electing to
exercise their conversion rights will receive their pro rata portion
of
the funds deposited in the trust account; and the remaining funds
will be
released to the combined company, which intends to use its existing
cash
resources, along with funds released from the Sand Hill trust, to
(1) enhance its SCM product offering, (2) further develop its
products, (3) increase its international presence, and
(4) improve its VAR and indirect sales channels, in addition to using
its cash resources for working capital and for general corporate
purposes.
|
Q.
What
are the expected United States federal income tax consequences to
the
merger?
|
A.
It
is the opinion of Duane Morris LLP, counsel to St. Bernard, that
the
merger will qualify as a reorganization within the meaning of Section
368(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.
A
St. Bernard stockholder’s receipt of Sand Hill common stock in the merger
will be tax-free for United States federal income tax purposes. However,
a
St. Bernard stockholder who exercises his or her appraisal rights
and who
receives cash in exchange for his or her shares of St. Bernard common
stock generally will recognize gain or loss measured by the difference
between the amount of cash received and the tax basis of such
stockholder’s shares of St. Bernard common stock.
A
stockholder of Sand Hill who exercises conversion rights and effects
a
termination of the stockholder’s interest in Sand Hill will generally be
required to recognize capital gain or loss upon the exchange of that
stockholder’s shares of common stock of Sand Hill for cash, if such shares
were held as a capital asset on the date of the merger. Such gain
or loss
will be measured by the difference between the amount of cash received
and
the tax basis of that stockholder’s shares of Sand Hill common stock. No
gain or loss will be recognized by non-converting stockholders of
Sand
Hill.
No
gain or loss will be recognized by Sand Hill or St. Bernard as a
result of
the merger. For a description of the material federal income tax
consequences of the merger, please see the information set forth
in
“Material
Federal Income Tax Consequences of the Merger”
on page 69.
|
Q.
Who
will manage the combined company?
|
A.
The
combined company will be managed by the current management of St.
Bernard.
John E. Jones, who is currently the President and Chief Executive
Officer
of St. Bernard, will become the President and Chief Executive Officer
of
the combined company. Alfred Riedler, who is currently the Chief
Financial
Officer of St. Bernard, will become the Chief Financial Officer of
the
combined company. Bart van Hedel, who is currently on the board of
directors of St. Bernard, will continue as a board member of the
combined
company. Humphrey P. Polanen, who is currently the Chairman of the
Board
and Chief Executive Officer of Sand Hill, will continue as Chairman
of the
Board of the combined company. Scott R. Broomfield, who is currently
the
Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and on the board
of
directors of Sand Hill, will continue as a board member of the combined
company.
|
Q.
What
happens to Sand Hill if the merger is not
consummated?
|
A.
If
the merger is not consummated Sand Hill will be liquidated in accordance
with the provisions of Delaware law. Upon such a liquidation, the
net
proceeds of Sand Hill’s initial public offering held in the trust account,
plus any interest earned thereon, will be distributed pro rata to
Sand
Hill’s common stockholders, excluding Sand Hill’s initial stockholders who
purchased their shares of common stock prior to its initial public
offering. Please see “Information
About Sand Hill—Liquidation if No Business Combination”
on
page 123.
|
Q.
When
do you expect the merger to be completed?
|
A.
It
is currently anticipated that the merger will be completed promptly
following the special meetings of Sand Hill and
St. Bernard.
|
Q.
Do
I have appraisal rights?
|
A.
Sand
Hill’s stockholders do not have appraisal or dissenters rights in
connection with the merger.
Holders
of St. Bernard capital stock who hold their shares of St. Bernard
capital
stock of record and continue to own those shares through the effective
time of the merger and who properly demand appraisal of their shares
in
writing on or before July 17, 2006 in accordance with the requirements
of
Section 262 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware,
or
the DGCL, are entitled to appraisal rights as set forth in Section
262. A
copy of Section 262 of the DGCL is attached to this proxy
statement/prospectus as Annex
F.
Under
Section 262, St. Bernard stockholders who comply with the procedures
set
forth in Section 262 will be entitled to have their shares appraised
by
the Delaware Court of Chancery and to receive cash payment of the
fair
value of the shares, exclusive of any element of the value arising
from
the accomplishment or expectation of the merger, together with a
fair rate
of interest, if any, as determined by the court. St. Bernard will
send notice pursuant to Section 262 of the DGCL to the St. Bernard
stockholders who are entitled to appraisal rights when St. Bernard
mails this prospectus to the St. Bernard stockholders. See “The
Merger Proposal - Appraisal or Dissenters Rights”
on page 67.
|
Q.
If
I am not going to attend the Sand Hill special meeting in person,
should I
return my proxy card instead?
|
A.
Yes.
After carefully reading and considering the information contained
in this
document, please fill out and sign your proxy card. Then return the
enclosed proxy card in the return envelope as soon as possible, so
that
your shares may be represented at the Sand Hill special
meeting.
|
Q.
What
will happen if I abstain from voting or fail to vote at the Sand
Hill
special meeting?
|
A.
Sand
Hill will count a properly executed proxy marked ABSTAIN with respect
to a
particular proposal as present for purposes of determining whether
a
quorum is present. For purposes of approval, an abstention or failure
to
vote will have the same effect as a vote against the merger proposal,
the
amendment proposal, the stock options plan proposal and the adjournment
proposal. However, if you want to convert your shares into a pro
rata
portion of the trust account in which a substantial portion of the
net
proceeds of Sand Hill’s initial public offering are held, you must vote
against the merger and make an affirmative election to convert your
shares
of common stock on the proxy card. An abstention will have the same
effect
as a vote against the stock option plans proposal and the adjournment
proposal, but a failure to vote will have no effect on the stock
option
plans proposal and the adjournment proposal, assuming that a quorum
for
the special meeting is present. Shares that are not voted or are
broker
non-voted or where the stockholder abstains from voting shall not
be
eligible to be converted into cash upon completion of the
merger.
|
Q.
What
do I do if I want to change my vote prior to the Sand Hill special
meeting?
|
A.
Send
a later-dated, signed proxy card to Sand Hill prior to the date of
the
Sand Hill special meeting or attend the special meeting in person
and
vote. Your attendance alone will not revoke your proxy. You also
may
revoke your proxy by sending a notice of revocation to Sand Hill
at the
address of Sand Hill’s corporate headquarters, on or before July 25,
2006.
|
Q.
If
my shares of Sand Hill stock are held in “street name” by my broker, will
my broker vote my shares for me?
|
A.
No.
Your broker can vote your shares only if you provide instructions
on how
to vote. You should instruct your broker to vote your shares, following
the directions provided by your broker.
|
Q.
Who
can help answer my questions?
|
A.
If
you are a Sand Hill stockholder and have questions about the merger,
you
may write or call Sand Hill IT Security Acquisition Corp., 3000 Sand
Hill
Road, Building 1, Suite 240, Menlo Park, California 94025, (650)
926-7022, Attn: Humphrey P.
Polanen.
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