defa14a
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
(RULE 14A-101)
SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. )
Filed by the Registrant þ
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant o
Check the appropriate box:
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Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
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Definitive Proxy Statement |
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Definitive Additional Materials |
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Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a12 |
LEAR CORPORATION
(Name of Registrants Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):
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No fee required. |
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Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11. |
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(1) Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies: |
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(2) Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies: |
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(3) Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to
Exchange Act Rule 0-11 (set forth the amount on which the filing fee is calculated and
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(4) Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction: |
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Fee paid previously with preliminary materials. |
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Check box any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule 011(a)(2) and
identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid previously. Identify the previous
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(1) Amount Previously Paid: |
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(2) Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.: |
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(4) Date Filed: |
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This filing consists of a letter submitted by Lear Corporation (the Company) on May 30, 2007
to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware in and for New Castle County (the Court) in
response to a request by the Court for an update on the Companys ongoing discussions with third
parties regarding a potential competing proposal for the Company. As disclosed in the letter, the
Company is no longer engaged in discussions with any parties regarding a competing proposal.
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ABRAMS & LASTER LLP |
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Brandywine West, Suite 303 |
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1521 Concord Pike |
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Kevin G. Abrams
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Wilmington, DE 19803
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Direct Dial Number |
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Main: 302-778-1000
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302-778-1002 |
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Fax: 302-778-1001
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Abrams@AbramsLaster.com |
May 30, 2007
VIA E-FILING AND EMAIL
The Honorable Leo E. Strine, Jr.
Court of Chancery
New Castle County Courthouse
500 North King Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19801
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Re: |
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In re Lear Corp. Shareholders Litigation, C.A. No. 2728 |
Dear Vice Chancellor Strine:
In accordance with Your Honors instruction on May 21, 2007, I am writing on behalf of the
Lear Defendants to provide an update on the status of Lear Corporations (Lear or the Company)
ongoing discussions with third parties in connection with a potential acquisition proposal on terms
more favorable than contained in the merger agreement with American Real Estate Partners, L.P.
(AREP), an affiliate of Carl Icahn.
As Your Honor may recall, Lear negotiated the right to affirmatively solicit third-party
acquisition proposals for a period of 45 days (the Go-Shop Period) following execution of the
merger agreement, dated February 9, 2007 (the Merger Agreement), between Lear and affiliates of
AREP. During the Go-Shop Period, Lears financial advisors contacted 41 parties, including 24
financial sponsors and 17 potential strategic buyers. No potential acquirer initiated contact with
Lear or its advisors. With the exception of the three parties noted below, all parties contacted
by Lear during the Go-Shop Period declined to pursue the potential acquisition of Lear. At the end
of the Go-Shop Period, no entity had made an acquisition proposal. Under the Merger Agreement, the
Company was permitted at the expiration of the Go-Shop Period to continue ongoing discussions with
parties it was in discussions with at the expiration of the Go-Shop Period on March 26. At that time, Lear was in discussions with a group consisting of
Tata Autocomp Systems Ltd., an Indian automotive products company (Tata), and two prominent
private equity firms.
Tata was first contacted by Lears financial advisors on February 15 as part of the Go-Shop
Process. At that time, Tata declined to pursue an acquisition proposal. On March 18, Tata
reconsidered its position and expressed an interest in evaluating a potential acquisition of Lear
as part of a group consisting of Tata and its two private equity partners. The Tata group
thereafter engaged in extensive due diligence, including access to Lears electronic data room
The Honorable Leo E. Strine, Jr.
May 30, 2007
Page 2
and
detailed management presentations on March 21 and April 12. Lear requested on April 16 that the
Tata group submit an acquisition proposal by April 24. In response, Lear was advised on or about
April 24 that Tatas private equity partners were withdrawing from consideration of an acquisition
proposal, indicating that they were unable to reach agreement on structuring issues and valuation.
While the two private equity firms that were part of the Tata group declined to continue
discussions with Lear regarding an acquisition proposal, Tata thereafter informed Lear that it
wished to continue discussions regarding a potential acquisition proposal. On May 6, the day after
Lears CEO met in India with the chairman of Tata, Lear sent a second letter to Tata requesting a
written acquisition proposal by May 10. Tata informed Lear on May 9 that due to its own resource
constraints Tata would need co-investors willing to acquire 49% of any entity acquiring Lear. In
separate communications, Tata identified six private equity firms that might consider joining with
Tata to make an acquisition proposal for Lear. Tata also advised Lear that it was unwilling to
make a unilateral acquisition proposal.
In Tatas May 9 letter to Lear, Tata requested that two additional equity partners be
permitted access to Lears confidential information and stated that Tata would be in a position to
submit a non-binding bid for Lear one week following access by such private equity firms to Lears
confidential information. Under the Merger Agreement, Lear was required to obtain AREPs consent
to provide confidential information to and solicit an acquisition proposal from Tatas potential
equity partners since the private equity firms were not in discussions with Lear at the expiration
of the Go-Shop Period. On May 10, Lear requested that AREP provide such consent, which AREP
provided on May 14. Lear and one private equity firm thereafter executed a confidentiality
agreement and the private equity firm was granted access to the Companys data room on May 16.
Tata later indicated that it was never able to induce a second potential equity investor to
evaluate an acquisition proposal for Lear. Additionally, Tata never provided the non-binding
proposal it referred to in its May 9 letter.
On May 22, Lear sent a third letter to Tata requesting an acquisition proposal by June 4.
Between May 22-29, Lears management and the Special Committees advisors participated in a series
of due diligence calls with Tata representatives and responded to Tatas supplemental information
requests. At Tatas request, Lear scheduled another management presentation for Tata and the
private equity firm on May 29. On May 23, Tata requested that Lear extend the June 4 target date
for delivering an acquisition proposal. During the May 26th weekend, Tata indicated that it needed
additional time for due diligence and requested the postponement of the scheduled May 29 management presentation until the week of June 4. Tata
also indicated last weekend that a decision of whether to submit an acquisition proposal would be
made within 2-3 weeks of the management presentation. On May 28, Lear agreed to Tatas request to
postpone the management presentation and offered alternative dates. Lear also agreed to extend the
target date for receiving an acquisition proposal.
On May 29, Tata informed Lear that its private equity partner had withdrawn from considering
an acquisition proposal and that Tata would address whether it wished to continue its consideration
of an acquisition proposal at an upcoming board meeting. Earlier today, Tata informed Lear that it
had decided not to continue considering an acquisition proposal for Lear.
The Honorable Leo E. Strine, Jr.
May 30, 2007
Page 3
In summary, Lear has been in discussions with Tata since March 18, has been extremely flexible
and accommodated numerous scheduling requests by Tata, has devoted extensive resources to Tatas
due diligence requests, has reiterated its willingness to provide information to Tata, and
repeatedly has solicited a topping bid from Tata. Each of Lears requests for acquisition
proposals has been met with requests by Tata for further time to prepare a proposal or identify
co-investors. Furthermore, to satisfy Tatas need for co-investors, Lear has worked with three
separate private equity firms, all of whom, following a due diligence period, declined to continue
pursuing with Tata an acquisition proposal for Lear. Even after Tatas original private equity
partners withdrew, Lear solicited and AREP consented to Tatas effort to bring in new private
equity partners. To date, all of Lears extensive efforts have not yielded even a non-binding
proposal and, as of today, Lear is not in discussions with any third party regarding a potential
acquisition proposal on more favorable terms than contained in the AREP Merger Agreement.
As always, we are available at the Courts convenience to respond to any questions that Your
Honor may have.
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Respectfully submitted,
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/s/ Kevin G. Abrams
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Kevin G. Abrams (#2375) |
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cc: |
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Seth D. Rigrodsky, Esq.
Kenneth J. Nachbar, Esq.
Daniel A. Ninivaggi, Esq.
Bruce A. Toth, Esq. |