Edgar Filing: Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc.

f8k_063014.htm

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): June 29, 2014

CONSOLIDATED COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware	000-51446	02-0636095
(State of Incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS employer identification no.)

121 South 17th Street
Mattoon, Illinois		61938-3987
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (217) 235-3311

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

[X] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

[X] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

As previously reported on a Form 8-K, dated June 29, 2014 (the “June 29 Form 8-K”), on June 29, 2014, Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”), Sky Merger Sub Inc., a newly formed Minnesota corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”), and Enventis Corporation, a Minnesota corporation (“Enventis”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”).

A copy of the Merger Agreement is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and is incorporated herein by reference. The description of the Merger Agreement contained in the June 29 Form 8-K is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Merger Agreement.

The Merger Agreement has been included to provide investors and security holders with information regarding its terms. It is not intended to provide any other factual or financial information about the Company, Enventis, or their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. The representations, warranties and covenants contained in the Merger Agreement were made only for purposes of that agreement and as of specific dates; were solely for the benefit of the parties to the Merger Agreement; may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the parties, including being qualified by confidential disclosures made for the purposes of allocating contractual risk between the parties to the Merger Agreement instead of establishing these matters as facts; and may be subject to standards of materiality applicable to the contracting parties that differ from those applicable to investors. Investors should not rely on the representations, warranties and covenants or any description thereof as characterizations of the actual state of facts or condition of the Company or Enventis or any of their respective subsidiaries or affiliates. The Company’s disclosure schedule contains information that has been included in the Company’s prior public disclosures, as well as non-public information. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter of the representations, warranties and covenants may change after the date of the Merger Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in public disclosures by the Company and Enventis. The Merger Agreement should not be read alone, but should instead be read in conjunction with the other information regarding the companies and the Merger that will be contained in, or incorporated by reference into, the proxy statement/prospectus that the parties will file in connection with the Merger, as well as in the other filings that each of the Company and Enventis make with the SEC.

As previously reported on the June 29 Form 8-K, in connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, Consolidated Communications, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“CCI”), entered into a Commitment Letter, dated June 29, 2014 (the “Commitment Letter”), from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., WF Investment Holdings, LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, RBS Securities Inc. and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

A copy of the Commitment Letter is attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1 and is incorporated herein by reference. The description of the Commitment Letter contained in the June 29 Form 8-K is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Commitment Letter.

Safe Harbor

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) encourages companies to disclose forward-looking information so that investors can better understand a company’s future prospects and make informed investment decisions. Certain statements in this report are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, the Company’s current expectations, plans, strategies, and anticipated financial results. There are a number of risks, uncertainties, and conditions that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the Company’s ability to complete the acquisition of Enventis and successfully integrate Enventis’ operations and realize the synergies from the acquisition, as well as a number of factors related to the Company’s business and that of Enventis, including economic and financial market conditions generally and economic conditions in the Company’s and Enventis’ service areas; various risks to stockholders of not receiving dividends and risks to the Company’s ability to pursue growth opportunities if the Company continues to pay dividends according to the current dividend policy; various risks to the price and volatility of the Company’s common stock; changes in the valuation of pension plan assets; the substantial amount of debt and the Company’s ability to repay or refinance it or incur additional debt in the future; the Company’s need for a significant amount of cash to service and repay the debt and to pay dividends on the common stock; restrictions contained in the debt agreements that limit the discretion of management in operating the business; regulatory changes, including changes to subsidies, rapid development and introduction of new technologies and intense competition in the telecommunications industry; risks associated with the Company’s possible pursuit of acquisitions; system failures; losses of large customers or government contracts; risks associated with the rights-of-way for the network; disruptions in the relationship with third party vendors; losses of key management personnel and the inability to attract and retain highly qualified management and personnel in the future; changes in the extensive governmental legislation and regulations governing telecommunications providers and the provision of telecommunications services; telecommunications carriers disputing and/or avoiding their obligations to pay network access charges for use of the Company’s and Enventis’ network; high costs of regulatory compliance; the competitive impact of legislation and regulatory changes in the telecommunications industry; and liability and compliance costs regarding environmental regulations. A detailed discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements are discussed in more detail in the Company’s and Enventis’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including their reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Many of these circumstances are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict. Moreover, forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions on the Company’s part. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “project”, “intend”, “plan”, “should”, “may”, “will”, “would”, “will be”, “will continue” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company and its subsidiaries to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on the Company’s behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements that appear throughout this report. Furthermore, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required under the federal securities laws or the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, we disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Prospectus/Proxy Statement

This material is not a substitute for the prospectus/proxy statement the Company and Enventis will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors in the Company or Enventis are urged to read the prospectus/proxy statement, which will contain important information, including detailed risk factors, when it becomes available. The prospectus/proxy statement and other documents which will be filed by the Company and Enventis with the Securities and Exchange Commission will be available free of charge at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, www.sec.gov, or by directing a request when such a filing is made to Consolidated Communications, 121 South 17th Street, Mattoon, IL 61938, Attention: Investor Relations; or to Enventis Corporation, P.O. Box 3248, Mankato, MN 56002, Attention: Investor Relations. A final proxy statement or prospectus/proxy statement will be mailed to the Company’s stockholders and Enventis’ shareholders.

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Proxy Solicitation

The Company and Enventis, and certain of their respective directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees are participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transactions. Information about the directors and executive officers of the Company is set forth in the proxy statement for its 2014 annual meeting of stockholders. Information about the directors and executive officers of Enventis is set forth in its proxy statement for its 2014 annual meeting of shareholders. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interests of such participants in the proposed transactions by reading the prospectus/proxy statement for such proposed transactions when it becomes available.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

No.			Description
2.1			Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of June 29, 2014, by and among the Company, Enventis Corporation and Sky Merger Sub Inc.*
10.1			Commitment Letter, dated as of June 29, 2014, from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., WF Investment Holdings, LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, RBS Securities Inc. and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and agreed to and accepted by Consolidated Communications, Inc.

*Schedules and other attachments to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, which are listed in the exhibit, are omitted. The Company agrees to furnish supplementally a copy of any schedule or other attachment to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon request.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: June 30, 2014
	Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc.

	By:	/s/ Steven L. Childers
		Name: Steven L. Childers Title: Chief Financial Officer

EXHIBIT INDEX

No.			Description
2.1			Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of June 29, 2014, by and among the Company, Enventis Corporation and Sky Merger Sub Inc.*
10.1			Commitment Letter, dated as of June 29, 2014, from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., WF Investment Holdings, LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, RBS Securities Inc. and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and agreed to and accepted by Consolidated Communications, Inc.