UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13D
(Rule 13d-101)
INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN STATEMENTS FILED PURSUANT
TO § 240.13d-1(a) AND AMENDMENTS THERETO FILED PURSUANT TO
§ 240.13d-2(a)
(Amendment No. 1)1
EZchip Semiconductor Ltd.
(Name of Issuer)
Ordinary Shares, par value NIS 0.02 per share
(Title of Class of Securities)
M4146Y108
(CUSIP Number)
STEVE WOLOSKY, ESQ.
OLSHAN FROME WOLOSKY LLP
Park Avenue Tower
65 East 55th Street
New York, New York 10022
(212) 451-2300
Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)
October 20, 2015
(Date of Event Which Requires Filing of This Statement)
If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of §§ 240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box ¨.
Note: Schedules filed in paper format shall include a signed original and five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See § 240.13d-7 for other parties to whom copies are to be sent.
_______________
1 The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person’s initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.
The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).
CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
| 1 | NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Raging Capital Master Fund, Ltd. | ||
| 2 | CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP | (a) x (b) o | |
| 3 | SEC USE ONLY | ||
| 4 | SOURCE OF FUNDS WC | ||
| 5 | CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(d) OR 2(e) | ¨ | |
| 6 | CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION CAYMAN ISLANDS | ||
| NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH | 7 | SOLE VOTING POWER - 0 - | |
| 8 | SHARED VOTING POWER 1,944,595 | ||
| 9 | SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER - 0 - | ||
| 10 | SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 1,944,595 | ||
| 11 | AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 1,944,595 | ||
| 12 | CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES | o | |
| 13 | PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) 6.5% | ||
| 14 | TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON CO | ||
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
| 1 | NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Raging Capital Management, LLC | ||
| 2 | CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP | (a) x (b) o | |
| 3 | SEC USE ONLY | ||
| 4 | SOURCE OF FUNDS AF | ||
| 5 | CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(d) OR 2(e) | ¨ | |
| 6 | CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION DELAWARE | ||
| NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH | 7 | SOLE VOTING POWER - 0 - | |
| 8 | SHARED VOTING POWER 1,944,595 | ||
| 9 | SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER - 0 - | ||
| 10 | SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 1,944,595 | ||
| 11 | AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 1,944,595 | ||
| 12 | CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES | o | |
| 13 | PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) 6.5% | ||
| 14 | TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON IA | ||
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
| 1 | NAME OF REPORTING PERSON William C. Martin | ||
| 2 | CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP | (a) x (b) o | |
| 3 | SEC USE ONLY | ||
| 4 | SOURCE OF FUNDS AF | ||
| 5 | CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(d) OR 2(e) | ¨ | |
| 6 | CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION USA | ||
| NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH | 7 | SOLE VOTING POWER - 0 - | |
| 8 | SHARED VOTING POWER 1,944,595 | ||
| 9 | SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER - 0 - | ||
| 10 | SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 1,944,595 | ||
| 11 | AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 1,944,595 | ||
| 12 | CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES | o | |
| 13 | PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) 6.5% | ||
| 14 | TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON IN | ||
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
| 1 | NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Paul K. McWilliams | ||
| 2 | CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP | (a) x (b) o | |
| 3 | SEC USE ONLY | ||
| 4 | SOURCE OF FUNDS PF | ||
| 5 | CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(d) OR 2(e) | ¨ | |
| 6 | CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION USA | ||
| NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH | 7 | SOLE VOTING POWER 4,000 | |
| 8 | SHARED VOTING POWER - 0 - | ||
| 9 | SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 4,000 | ||
| 10 | SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER - 0 - | ||
| 11 | AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 4,000 | ||
| 12 | CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES | o | |
| 13 | PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) Less than 1% | ||
| 14 | TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON IN | ||
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
| 1 | NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Kenneth H. Traub | ||
| 2 | CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP | (a) x (b) o | |
| 3 | SEC USE ONLY | ||
| 4 | SOURCE OF FUNDS | ||
| 5 | CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEM 2(d) OR 2(e) | ¨ | |
| 6 | CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION USA | ||
| NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH | 7 | SOLE VOTING POWER - 0 - | |
| 8 | SHARED VOTING POWER - 0 - | ||
| 9 | SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER - 0 - | ||
| 10 | SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER - 0 - | ||
| 11 | AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON - 0 - | ||
| 12 | CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES | o | |
| 13 | PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) 0% | ||
| 14 | TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON IN | ||
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
The following constitutes Amendment No. 1 to the Schedule 13D filed by the undersigned (“Amendment No. 1”). This Amendment No. 1 amends the Schedule 13D as specifically set forth herein.
| Item 2. | Identity and Background. |
Item 2 is hereby amended and restated to read as follows:
(a) This statement is filed by Raging Capital Master Fund, Ltd., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Raging Master”), Raging Capital Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Raging Capital”), William C. Martin, Paul K. McWilliams and Kenneth H. Traub. Each of the foregoing is referred to as a “Reporting Person” and collectively as the “Reporting Persons.” The Reporting Persons are parties to that certain Joint Filing and Solicitation Agreement, as further described in Item 6. Accordingly, the Reporting Persons are hereby filing a joint Schedule 13D.
Raging Capital is the Investment Manager of Raging Master. William C. Martin is the Chairman, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Member of Raging Capital. By virtue of these relationships, each of Raging Capital and William C. Martin may be deemed to beneficially own the Ordinary Shares owned directly by Raging Master.
Set forth on Schedule A annexed to the initial Schedule 13D filing (“Schedule A”) is the name and present principal business, occupation or employment and the name, principal business and address of any corporation or other organization in which such employment is conducted of the executive officers and directors of Raging Master and Raging Capital. To the best of the Reporting Persons’ knowledge, except as otherwise set forth herein, none of the persons listed on Schedule A beneficially owns any securities of the Issuer or is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding required to be disclosed herein.
(b) The address of the principal office of each of Raging Capital and William C. Martin is Ten Princeton Avenue, P.O. Box 228, Rocky Hill, New Jersey 08553. The address of the principal office of Raging Master is c/o Ogier Fiduciary Services (Cayman) Limited, 89 Nexus Way, Camana Bay, Grand Cayman KY 1-9007, Cayman Islands. The address of the principal office of Paul K. McWilliams is 8010 West 113th Terrace, Overland Park, Kansas 66210. The address of the principal office of Kenneth H. Traub is c/o Ethos Management LLC, 90 Nassau Street, Suite 500, Princeton, New Jersey 08542.
(c) The principal business of Raging Master is investing in securities. The principal business of Raging Capital is serving as the Investment Manager of Raging Master. The principal occupation of William C. Martin is serving as the Chairman, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Member of Raging Capital. The principal occupation of Paul K. McWilliams is serving as the principal of Vizue LLC, a provider of consulting services to institutional investment managers, mutual funds and hedge funds. The principal occupation of Kenneth H. Traub is serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ethos Management LLC, which specializes in investing in and advising undervalued companies to execute strategies to build and unlock stockholder value.
(d) No Reporting Person nor any person listed on Schedule A has, during the last five years, been convicted in a criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations or similar misdemeanors).
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
(e) No Reporting Person nor any person listed on Schedule A has, during the last five years, been party to a civil proceeding of a judicial or administrative body of competent jurisdiction and as a result of such proceeding was or is subject to a judgment, decree or final order enjoining future violations of, or prohibiting or mandating activities subject to, federal or state securities laws or finding any violation with respect to such laws.
(f) Raging Master is organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. Raging Capital is organized under the laws of the State of Delaware. Each of William C. Martin, Paul K. McWilliams and Kenneth H. Traub are citizens of the United States of America.
| Item 3. | Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration. |
Item 3 is hereby amended and restated to read as follows:
The aggregate purchase price of the 1,944,595 Ordinary Shares owned directly by Raging Master is approximately $31,498,123, including brokerage commissions. Such Ordinary Shares were acquired with the working capital of Raging Master.
Raging Master effects purchases of securities primarily through margin accounts maintained for it with prime brokers, which may extend margin credit to it as and when required to open or carry positions in the margin accounts, subject to applicable federal margin regulations, stock exchange rules and the prime brokers’ credit policies. In such instances, the positions held in the margin accounts are pledged as collateral security for the repayment of debit balances in the accounts.
The aggregate purchase price of the 4,000 Ordinary Shares owned directly by Paul K. McWilliams is approximately $77,147, including brokerage commissions. Such Ordinary Shares were acquired with personal funds.
| Item 4. | Purpose of Transaction. |
Item 4 is hereby amended to add the following:
Raging Capital strongly believes the $25.50 per share sale price shareholders would receive under the proposed acquisition of the Issuer by Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (“Mellanox”) considerably undervalues the Issuer and its future prospects. Raging Capital believes the Issuer has enormous potential to grow as an independent public company and should not be sold at this time. The Issuer has a dominant position in the network processor market, a position Raging Capital believes has been strengthened with Marvell Technology’s recent announcement that it will be exiting this market. In addition, following three years of significant investment in research and development, the Issuer is on the verge of sampling its new NPS-400 chip, which leapfrogs existing technologies. If the proposed acquisition is approved, Mellanox will reap the fruits of the NPS-400 chip without appropriately compensating current shareholders. Raging Capital also believes the growth opportunity associated with the Tile-MX processor, an ARM-based multi-core chip that will incorporate the Issuer’s best-of-breed networking processor and accelerator capabilities, has not been factored into the $25.50 sale price. If the Issuer should be sold, Raging Capital believes the Board has a fiduciary obligation to conduct a thorough sale process designed to maximize shareholder value. Raging Capital does not believe such a process has been conducted and the proposed merger appears to be a marriage of convenience rather than the product of a robust and rigorous sale process.
Raging Capital intends to not only vote against the Mellanox acquisition but to vigorously oppose the deal by soliciting proxies from the shareholders against approval of the acquisition at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Issuer scheduled to be held on November 12, 2015 (the “General Meeting”). In addition, on October 20, 2015, Raging Capital submitted a notice to the Issuer nominating Paul K. McWilliams and Kenneth H. Traub (the “Nominees”) for election to the Board at the General Meeting pursuant to Israeli law. In light of its significant concerns with the Mellanox acquisition, Raging Capital believes representation on the Board is necessary to protect the interests of all shareholders and intends to also solicit proxies for the election of its Nominees at the General Meeting.
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
| Item 5. | Interest in Securities of the Issuer. |
Items 5(a) – (c) are hereby amended and restated to read as follows:
(a) The aggregate percentage of Ordinary Shares reported owned by each person named herein is based upon 29,961,616 Ordinary Shares outstanding as of October 12, 2015, which is the total number of Ordinary Shares outstanding as reported in Exhibit 99.1 to the Issuer’s Form 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 13, 2015.
As of the close of business on the date hereof, Raging Master directly owned 1,944,595 Ordinary Shares, constituting approximately 6.5% of the Ordinary Shares outstanding. By virtue of their relationships with Raging Master discussed in further detail in Item 2, each of Raging Capital and William C. Martin may be deemed to beneficially own the Ordinary Shares directly owned by Raging Master.
As of the close of business on the date hereof, Paul K. McWilliams directly owned 4,000 Ordinary Shares, constituting less than 1% of the Ordinary Shares outstanding.
As of the close of business on the date hereof, Kenneth H. Traub did not own any Ordinary Shares.
Each of the Reporting Persons, as a member of a “group” with the other Reporting Persons for purposes of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), may be deemed to beneficially own the securities of the Issuer owned by the other Reporting Persons. The filing of this Schedule 13D shall not be deemed an admission that the Reporting Persons are, for purposes of Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act, the beneficial owners of any securities of the Issuer he or it does not directly own. Each of the Reporting Persons specifically disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities of the Issuer reported herein that he or it does not directly own.
(b) Raging Master may be deemed to share with Raging Capital and William C. Martin the power to vote and dispose of the Ordinary Shares directly owned by Raging Master.
Paul K. McWilliams has the sole power to vote and dispose of the Ordinary Shares directly owned by him.
(c) There have been no transactions by the Reporting Persons in the securities of the Issuer since the filing of the initial Schedule 13D. Messrs. McWilliams and Traub have not entered into any transactions in the securities of the Issuer during the past sixty days.
| Item 6. | Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships With Respect to Securities of the Issuer. |
Item 6 is hereby amended to add the following:
On October 20, 2015, the Reporting Persons entered into a Joint Filing and Solicitation Agreement pursuant to which, among other things, (i) the Reporting Persons agreed to the joint filing on behalf of each of them of statements on Schedule 13D, and any amendments thereto, with respect to the securities of the Issuer, (ii) the Reporting Persons agreed to solicit proxies against the EZchip / Mellanox Agreement and for the election of the Nominees to the Board at the General Meeting (the “Solicitation”), and (iii) Raging Capital and its affiliates agreed to bear all expenses incurred in connection with the Solicitation. The Joint Filing and Solicitation Agreement is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
Raging Capital has agreed in principle to pay each of the Nominees $35,000 in cash in connection with their nomination. Raging Capital also intends to enter into an agreement with Kenneth H. Traub pursuant to which he will be eligible to receive a portion of the Incentive Allocation, attributable solely to the performance of Raging Master’s investment in the Ordinary Shares, that is earned by Raging Capital.
| Item 7. | Material to be Filed as Exhibits. |
Item 7 is hereby amended to add the following exhibit:
| Exhibit No. | Description |
| 99.1 | Joint Filing and Solicitation Agreement by and among Raging Capital Master Fund, Ltd., Raging Capital Management, LLC, William C. Martin, Paul K. McWilliams and Kenneth H. Traub, dated October 20, 2015. |
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CUSIP NO. M4146Y108
SIGNATURES
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of his knowledge and belief, each of the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.
| Dated: October 21, 2015 | Raging Capital Master Fund, Ltd. | ||
| By: | Raging Capital Management, LLC Investment Manager | ||
| By: | /s/ Frederick C. Wasch | ||
| Name: | Frederick C. Wasch | ||
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer | ||
| Raging Capital Management, LLC | |||
| By: | /s/ Frederick C. Wasch | ||
| Name: | Frederick C. Wasch | ||
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer | ||
| /s/ Frederick C. Wasch | |
| Frederick C. Wasch as attorney-in-fact for William C. Martin |
| /s/ Paul K. McWilliams | |
| Paul K. McWilliams |
| /s/ Kenneth H. Traub | |
| Kenneth H. Traub |
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