On March 5, 2019, Skadden sent Simpson Thacher, as counsel to Consortium B, a draft of the merger agreement.
Between March 5, 2019 and May 8, 2019, representatives of the Company’s management, J.P. Morgan, Skadden, Consortium B, Consortium B’s financial advisor, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (with respect to the period between March 14, 2019 and May 8, 2019), which we refer to as Morgan Stanley, and Simpson Thacher held various meetings and calls to negotiate the terms of the proposed merger agreement, including issues implicating deal certainty, required efforts to obtain regulatory approvals and financing, and termination fees, and related ancillary documents, and exchanged drafts of the merger agreement and ancillary documents, and Consortium B and its advisors continued to perform their due diligence on the Company.
On March 6, 2019, the Company began to formally solicit interest in the Company’s colocation business in connection with which, J.P. Morgan was instructed to run a formal process to sell the colocation business. Approximately 50 parties were contacted to gauge their interest in a potential transaction.
Also on March 6, 2019, the Company announced that it was postponing its Analyst Day, originally scheduled for March 14, 2019, to allow the board of directors and management time to explore strategic alternatives that may enhance shareholder value, while retaining focus on execution and driving organic growth.
On March 7, 2019, the activist shareholder, Starboard Value, released a public letter urging the Company to sell, but did not specify a price at which it would support a sale.
On March 10, 2019, Mr. Caruso received a call from a business contact on behalf of Party B to inquire whether it made sense for Party B to continue working on the deal. Mr. Caruso referred the contact from Party B to the public announcement that the Company had made earlier in the week that it had indefinitely postponed its Analyst Day to allow the board of directors and the Company’s management time to evaluate strategic alternatives. Mr. Caruso did not comment when asked if there was any concrete feedback concerning steps that Party B could take.
Also on March 10, 2019, Mr. Caruso and Mr. Steinfort spoke with representatives from Party N who were proposing to make an investment in the Company, in connection with which they would join the board of directors and provide stable, long-term committed capital. Mr. Caruso and Mr. Steinfort agreed to discuss this proposal with their advisors, including Mr. Spruill.
On March 14, 2019, Mr. Gips provided the other members of the board of directors with an update on the potential executive succession planning, including a summary of a meeting between Mr. Caruso and a potential candidate.
On March 15, 2019, Mr. Caruso, Mr. Steinfort, Ms. Stack and Mr. Spruill along with representatives of J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs had a call with Party N to discuss due diligence in connection with the potential private investment in public equity, which we refer to as a PIPE investment, by Party N in the Company, once Party N had entered into an acceptable non-disclosure agreement, and the fact that the Company was simultaneously exploring other strategic alternatives.
On March 18, 2019, the Company and Party N entered into a non-disclosure agreement which was materially consistent with the Company’s Standard Form NDA. The standstill provision of the non-disclosure agreement with Party N terminated upon entry into the merger agreement with Consortium B.
Between March 19, 2019 and April 8, 2019, the Company entered into non-disclosure agreements with 21 potential acquirers of the Company’s colocation business, which provided for standstills of varying length similar to the standstill provision in the Company Standard Form NDA. The standstill provisions of these non-disclosure agreements all terminated upon entry into the merger agreement with Consortium B.
On March 20, 2019, Mr. Vesely and Mr. Ganzi invited Mr. Caruso to dinner on March 28, 2019 in Boulder, Colorado. Mr. Caruso indicated that a representative of Goldman Sachs would also join the dinner.
Also on March 20, 2019, a representative of Party B reached out to Mr. Caruso to ask for a brief call. Mr. Caruso responded that he could only speak with them regarding the Company’s colocation business, and based on that understanding a call was set for the next morning at 7:00 am.
On March 21, 2019, two representatives of Party B, Mr. Caruso and Mr. Steinfort had a call during the course of which it became evident that the representatives of Party B did not want to discuss the Company’s