Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Sonic Financial Corporation Enter into Definitive Merger Agreement
July 24 2019 - 6:55AM
Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: TRK) (the “Company”) and Sonic
Financial Corporation (“Sonic Financial”) announced today that
they, along with a wholly owned acquisition subsidiary of Sonic
Financial, have entered into a definitive merger agreement for
Sonic Financial’s subsidiary to acquire all of the outstanding
shares of common stock of the Company for cash consideration of
$19.75 per share. The per share price represents a premium of
approximately 42% to the closing price of the Company’s common
stock on April 23, 2019, the day before Sonic Financial’s
nonbinding proposal was first announced. Sonic Financial, O. Bruton
Smith, his family and related entities (collectively, the “Smith
Group”) beneficially own, directly or indirectly, approximately 29
million shares of the Company, and control over 71% of the voting
power of the Company. The merger agreement was unanimously approved
by the Company’s board of directors upon the unanimous
recommendation of a special committee (the “Special Committee”)
comprised solely of independent and disinterested members of the
Company’s board of directors.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Sonic Financial’s
subsidiary will promptly commence a tender offer to acquire all of
the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock at a price of
$19.75 per share in cash. The closing of the tender offer will be
subject to several conditions, including the tender by more than
50% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company not
held by the Smith Group and certain other related parties and other
customary conditions.
After completion of the tender offer, Sonic Financial will
acquire all remaining shares of Company stock not held by Sonic
Financial or its subsidiary at the same price of $19.75 per share
through a statutory merger of Sonic Financial’s subsidiary and the
Company in which the Company will be the surviving corporation and
will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonic Financial. Under
Delaware law, stockholders are not required to approve this
statutory merger. The closing of the tender offer and merger
transaction is expected to take place in the third quarter of
2019.
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor to
the Special Committee and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is
acting as legal counsel to the Special Committee. McGuireWoods LLP
is acting as legal counsel to the Company. BofA Merrill Lynch is
acting as financial adviser to Sonic Financial and Kirkland &
Ellis LLP and Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP are acting as
legal counsel to Sonic Financial.
About Speedway Motorsports,
Inc.
Speedway Motorsports is a leading marketer and
promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. The
Company, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates the following
premier facilities: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway,
Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and Texas
Motor Speedway. The Company provides souvenir merchandising
services through its SMI Properties subsidiaries; manufactures and
distributes smaller-scale, modified racing cars and parts through
its US Legend Cars International subsidiary; and produces and
broadcasts syndicated motorsports programming to radio stations
nationwide through its Performance Racing Network subsidiary. For
more information, visit the Company's website at
www.speedwaymotorsports.com. IMPORTANT
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT
The tender offer for the outstanding shares of common
stock of the Company described above has not yet commenced. This
communication is for informational purposes only and is neither an
offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of
common stock of the Company, nor is it a substitute for the tender
offer materials that Sonic Financial and Sonic Financial’s
subsidiary will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “SEC”) upon commencement of the tender offer. On the
commencement date of the tender offer, a tender offer statement on
Schedule TO, including an offer to purchase, a letter of
transmittal and related documents, will be filed with the SEC by
Sonic Financial and its subsidiary, a Solicitation/Recommendation
Statement on Schedule 14D-9 will be filed with the SEC by the
Company, and a Schedule 13E-3 transaction statement will be filed
by the Company and certain other persons, including Sonic
Financial. The offer to purchase shares of the Company’s common
stock will only be made pursuant to the offer to purchase, the
letter of transmittal and related documents filed as a part of the
Schedule TO. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE
TENDER OFFER STATEMENT, THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT
REGARDING THE OFFER AND THE SCHEDULE 13E-3 TRANSACTION STATEMENT,
AS THEY MAY BE AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME, WHEN THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of these
materials (when available) and other documents filed with the SEC
at the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov or by directing
such requests to the exchange agent for the tender offer which will
be named in the tender offer statement. Copies of the Company’s
filings with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the
“Investor Relations” section of the Company’s website
at http://www.speedwaymotorsports.com or by directing a
request to: Speedway Motorsports, Inc., 5555 Concord Parkway South
Concord, North Carolina 28027, Attn: Investor Relations, (704)
455-3239.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including
statements relating to the proposed acquisition of the Company by
Sonic Financial and the expected benefits of the acquisition and
other matters, that are not historical facts. Statements in this
news release that relate to future results and events are
forward-looking statements based on the Company’s current plans and
expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties
that could cause such plans and expectations, including actual
results, to differ materially from those described in these
forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on
these statements. All statements other than statements of
historical fact, including statements containing the words
“estimates,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “will,”
and similar expressions, are statements that could be deemed
forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and other factors
include, but are not limited to: (a) the occurrence of any
event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the
termination of the merger agreement; (b) the inability of
Sonic Financial to complete the proposed tender offer and merger
due to the failure to obtain the minimum percentage of the
Company’s stockholders tendering their shares in the tender offer
or the failure to satisfy other conditions to completion of the
proposed tender offer and merger; (c) the failure of Sonic
Financial to obtain the necessary financing arrangements as set
forth in the debt commitment letter delivered pursuant to the
merger agreement, or the failure of the proposed tender offer or
merger to close for any other reason; (d) risks related to
disruption of management’s attention from the Company’s ongoing
business operations due to these transactions; (e) the outcome
of any legal proceedings, regulatory proceedings or enforcement
matters that may be instituted against the Company and others
relating to the merger agreement; (f) the risk that the pendency of
the proposed tender offer and merger disrupts current plans and
operations and the potential difficulties in employee retention as
a result of the pendency of the proposed tender offer and merger;
(g) the effect of the announcement of the proposed tender offer and
merger on the Company’s relationships with its customers, operating
results and business generally; and (h) the amount of the costs,
fees, expenses and charges related to the proposed transactions
under the merger agreement. You should consider these factors
carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements. Many of
these risks and uncertainties are beyond the Company’s control. No
assurance can be given that actual results or events will not
differ materially from those projected, estimated, assumed or
anticipated in any such forward-looking statements. Important
factors that could result in such differences, in addition to other
factors noted with such forward-looking statements, are discussed
in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10–K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2018, which was filed with the SEC on March 15,
2019, under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” and in any
subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current
Reports on Form 8-K filed by the Company with the SEC. Inclusion of
any information or statement in this news release does not
necessarily imply that such information or statement is material.
The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any
forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring
after the date of this news release or otherwise, and such
information included in this news release is based on information
currently available and may not be reliable after this date.
Contact: Janet Kirkley, 704-532-3318
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