Item 8.01. Other Events.
As previously disclosed, on May 5, 2019, Amplify Energy Corp. (“Amplify” or the “Company”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc. (“Midstates”) and Midstates Holdings, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Midstates (“Merger Sub”), pursuant to which (i) Merger Sub will merge with and into Amplify, with Amplify surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Midstates and (ii) immediately thereafter, as part of the same transaction, Amplify will merge with and into a wholly owned subsidiary of Midstates, with such subsidiary continuing as the surviving entity (collectively, the “Merger”). On June 28, 2019, Amplify filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a definitive proxy statement for the solicitation of proxies in connection with the special meeting of Amplify’s stockholders to be held on August 2, 2019, for purposes of voting, among other things, on the adoption of the Merger Agreement (the “Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus”).
Supplemental Disclosures in Connection with Stockholder Litigation in Connection with the Merger
In connection with the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, five purported class action complaints have been filed on behalf of Amplify stockholders against Amplify, members of the Amplify board of directors in the United States District Courts for the District of Delaware and the Southern District of New York. The five complaints are captioned as follows:Rachel Salpeter-Levy v. Amplify Energy Corp., et al, Case No.: 1:19-cv-06572 (S.D.N.Y.) (July 15, 2019),Eric Sabatini v. Amplify Energy Corp., et al, Case No.: 1:19-cv-01321 (D. Del.) (July 16, 2019),Stephen Bushansky v. Amplify Energy Corp., et al, Case No.: 1:19-cv-01339 (D. Del.) (July 17, 2019),Stephen Paul Flaherty v. Amplify Energy Corp., et al, Case No.: 1:19-cv-01333 (D. Del.) (July 17, 2019), andBarry Tresch v. Amplify Energy Corp., et al, Case No.: 1:19-cv-06740 (S.D.N.Y.) (July 19, 2019) which Amplify and Midstates refer to collectively as the “Stockholder Actions.” In general, the Stockholder Actions allege that the defendants violated Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or aided and abetted in such alleged violations, because the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus allegedly omits or misstates material information. The Stockholder Actions seek, among other things, injunctive relief preventing the consummation of the Merger, unspecified damages and attorneys’ fees.
Amplify and the other named defendants believe that no supplemental disclosures are required under applicable laws; however, to avoid the risk of the Stockholder Actions delaying the Merger, and without admitting any liability or wrongdoing, Amplify is making certain disclosures below that supplement and revise those contained in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, which Amplify refers to as the “litigation-related supplemental disclosures.” The litigation-related supplemental disclosures contained below should be read in conjunction with the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, which is available on the Internet site maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov, along with periodic reports and other information Amplify and Midstates file with the SEC. Amplify and the other named defendants have denied, and continue to deny, that they have committed or assisted others in committing any violations of law, and expressly maintain that, to the extent applicable, they complied with their legal obligations and are providing the litigation-related supplemental disclosures below solely to try to eliminate the burden and expense of further litigation, to put the claims that were or could have been asserted to rest, and to avoid any possible delay to the closing of the Merger that might arise from further litigation. Nothing in the litigation-related supplemental disclosures shall be deemed an admission of the legal necessity or materiality under applicable laws of any of the litigation-related supplemental disclosures set forth herein. To the extent that the information set forth herein differs from or updates information contained in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, the information set forth herein shall supersede or supplement the information in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus. All page references are to pages in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, and terms used below, unless otherwise defined, have the meanings set forth in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus.
The disinterested members of the Amplify board of directors unanimously recommend that Amplify stockholders vote “FOR” the merger agreement proposal, “FOR” the advisory compensation proposal and “FOR” the Amplify adjournment proposal.