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CUSIP No. 92556D 304 | | Page 9 of 17 | | |
Amendment No. 8 to Schedule 13D
This Amendment No. 8 to Schedule 13D (this “Amendment”) amends and restates (where indicated) the Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on August 8, 2014, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto filed on April 8, 2016 (“Amendment No. 1”), Amendment No. 2 thereto filed on August 25, 2016 (“Amendment No. 2”), Amendment No. 3 thereto filed on November 17, 2016 (“Amendment No. 3”), Amendment No. 4 thereto filed on December 5, 2016 (“Amendment No. 4”), Amendment No. 5 thereto filed on April 4, 2019 (“Amendment No. 5”), Amendment No. 6 thereto filed on July 28, 2021 (“Amendment No. 6”) and Amendment No. 7 thereto filed on May 23, 2023 (“Amendment No. 7”) and, together with Amendment No. 1, Amendment No. 2, Amendment No. 3, Amendment No. 4, Amendment No. 5, Amendment No. 6 and Amendment No. 7, and amending the Schedule 13D as filed on August 8, 2014, the “Schedule 13D”), and relates to the beneficial ownership by the Reporting Persons (defined below) of the Class A Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”) of Via Renewables, Inc., a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “Issuer”).
On December 29, 2023, the Issuer, Retailco, LLC, a Texas limited liability company (“Parent”), and NuRetailco LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”).
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, and upon the terms and subject to the conditions described therein and in accordance with the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended, all of the Class A Common Stock, except for certain shares described below, will be acquired by Parent for $11.00 per share in cash (the “Merger Consideration”) in a transaction in which Merger Sub will be merged with and into the Issuer (the “Merger,” and, collectively with the other transactions contemplated in the Merger Agreement, the “Transactions”), with the Issuer surviving the Merger and becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent as a result of the Merger (the “Surviving Corporation”).
Capitalized terms used in this Amendment, but not defined herein, have the meanings given to them in the Merger Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 22 to this Amendment.
All Excluded Shares (as defined below), other than Class A Common Stock held by the Individual Filer (as defined below), held immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically be canceled and cease to exist as of the Effective Time, and no Merger Consideration shall be delivered or deliverable therefor. Each issued and outstanding share of Class A Common Stock held by the Individual Filer prior to the Effective Time shall be unchanged and shall remain issued and outstanding as Class A Common Stock of the Surviving Corporation.
As a result of the Merger and the Transactions, the Class A Common Stock would cease to trade on The Nasdaq Stock Market (“NASDAQ”). The Reporting Persons (as defined below) expect that the Issuer’s Series A Preferred Stock will continue to trade on NASDAQ following the transaction and that the Issuer will continue to file reports under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) with the SEC.
At the Effective Time, each Issuer restricted stock unit (“Issuer RSUs”) outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time and issued pursuant to the Issuer’s Second Amended and Restated Long Term Incentive Plan, other than any Issuer RSUs held by the Individual Filer will, by virtue of the Merger and without any action by Parent, Merger Sub, the Issuer or the holder of such Issuer RSU, be canceled, extinguished and converted into the right to receive from the Surviving Corporation an amount in cash, without interest, equal to the product of (i) the Merger Consideration multiplied by (ii) the total number of shares of Common Stock (as defined below) underlying the Issuer RSUs. However, each Issuer RSU held by the Individual Filer that was issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall automatically be canceled and cease to exist at the Effective Time, and no consideration therefor shall be delivered or deliverable to the Individual Filer.
The Merger Agreement was entered into following receipt by the Issuer of proposals by the Individual Filer on September 5, 2023 and November 15, 2023 (collectively, the “Proposal”), in which the Individual Filer expressed interest in purchasing all of the Issuer’s Class A Common Stock not held by the Individual Filer. After receiving the first Proposal, the Board of Directors of the Issuer (the “Board”) formed a special committee of the Board, excluding the Individual Filer and consisting entirely of disinterested and independent directors (the “Special Committee”), to engage in the discussions contemplated by the Proposal, including with the authority to reject the Proposal. The Special Committee engaged independent financial and legal advisors and negotiated the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement and Transactions.