Morphic Holding (MORF) 8-K Lilly to Acquire Morphic to Improve Outcomes for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): July 7, 2024

Morphic Holding, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware	001-38940	47-3878772
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(Commission File Number)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

35 Gatehouse Drive, A2
Waltham, Massachusetts	02451
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (781) 996-0955

Not Applicable

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share	MORF	The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

Merger Agreement

On July 7, 2024, Eli Lilly and Company, an Indiana corporation (“Parent”), Rainier Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”), and Morphic Holding, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”). The Merger Agreement provides that, subject to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will commence a cash tender offer (the “Offer”) to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Shares”), at a price of $57.00 per share (the “Offer Price”), net to the seller in cash, without interest, subject to applicable withholding taxes.

Consummation of the Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of various conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, including (i) there shall have been validly tendered in the Offer (and not validly withdrawn) prior to the expiration of the Offer that number of Shares (excluding Shares tendered pursuant to guaranteed delivery procedures that have not yet been “received” by the “depository,” as such terms are defined by Section 251(h) of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”)) that, when added to the Shares then owned by Parent, Merger Sub or any subsidiary of Parent, would represent at least a majority of the Shares outstanding as of immediately following the consummation of the Offer, (ii) the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (as amended, the “HSR Act”), (iii) the accuracy of the Company’s representations and warranties contained in the Merger Agreement (except, generally, for any inaccuracies that have not had a Company Material Adverse Effect (as defined in the Merger Agreement)), (iv) the Company’s performance in all material respects of its obligations under the Merger Agreement and (v) the other conditions set forth in Exhibit A to the Merger Agreement. The consummation of the Offer and Merger is not subject to a financing condition.

The Merger Agreement provides that Merger Sub will commence the Offer no later than 10 business days after the date of the Merger Agreement. The Offer will expire at one minute after 11:59 p.m., Eastern time, on the date that is 20 business days following the commencement date of the Offer, unless extended in accordance with the terms of the Offer and the Merger Agreement and the applicable rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

Following consummation of the Offer, Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company, with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (the “Merger”). In the Merger, each Share issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”) that is not tendered and accepted pursuant to the Offer (other than the Shares owned by the Company or any subsidiary of the Company, Shares held by Parent, Merger Sub or any other subsidiary of Parent, and Shares as to which appraisal rights have been perfected in accordance with applicable law) will be canceled and converted into the right to receive the Offer Price in cash and without interest, less any applicable tax withholding. Prior to the Effective Time, each Company stock option that is then outstanding but not then vested or exercisable shall become immediately vested and exercisable in full. At the Effective Time, each Company stock option that has an exercise price less than the Offer Price will be canceled and converted into the right to receive, for each Share underlying such Company stock option, an amount in cash without interest equal to the product of (i) the excess, if any, of the Offer Price over the exercise price per share of Company common stock underlying such Company stock option and (ii) the number of shares of Company common stock underlying such Company stock option. At the Effective Time, each Company restricted stock unit that is then outstanding shall become immediately vested in full and will be canceled and converted into the right to receive an amount in cash without interest equal to the Offer Price, less any applicable tax withholding.

The board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) has (i) determined that the Offer, the Merger, the Merger Agreement and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (collectively, the “Transactions”) are fair to, and in the best interests of, the Company and the stockholders of the Company, (ii) approved and declared advisable the Merger, the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Merger Agreement and the consummation of the Transactions, (iii) resolved that the Merger Agreement and the Merger will be governed by Section 251(h) of the DGCL and that the Merger will be consummated as soon as practicable following the consummation of the Offer without a stockholders’ meeting and (iv) resolved, subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, to recommend that all stockholders of the Company accept the Offer and tender their Shares pursuant to the Offer.

The Merger Agreement contains customary representations and warranties by Parent, Merger Sub and the Company. The Merger Agreement also contains customary covenants and agreements, including with respect to the operations of the business of the Company between signing and closing, governmental filings and approvals and other matters.

The Merger Agreement contains customary non-solicitation restrictions prohibiting the Company’s solicitation of alternative business combination transactions and restricts the Company’s ability to furnish non-public information to, or participate in any discussions or negotiations with, any third party with respect to any such transaction, subject to customary exceptions in the event of an acquisition proposal that was not solicited in material violation of these restrictions and that the Board determines constitutes or could reasonably be expected to lead to a Superior Company Proposal (as defined in the Merger Agreement), if failing to do so would be inconsistent with the Board’s fiduciary duties under applicable law.

The Merger Agreement contains termination rights for each of Parent, Merger Sub and the Company including by either Parent or the Company if the Offer Closing Time (as defined in the Merger Agreement) shall not have occurred on or before November 4, 2024, which date shall be extended on up to two occasions for 90 days each, or for an aggregate of up to 180 days, if the closing condition regarding the expiration of the waiting period under the HSR Act remains unsatisfied, or by the Company to enter into an alternative transaction that constitutes a Superior Company Proposal, and further provides that, upon termination of the Merger Agreement under specified circumstances, the Company may be required to pay Parent a termination fee of $118 million.

A copy of the Merger Agreement is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and is incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Merger Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Merger Agreement. The Merger Agreement has been attached to provide investors with information regarding its terms. It is not intended to provide any other factual information about the Company, Merger Sub or Parent. In particular, the assertions embodied in the representations and warranties contained in the Merger Agreement are qualified by information in confidential disclosure schedules provided by the parties thereto in connection with the signing of the Merger Agreement. These disclosure schedules include information that modifies, qualifies and creates exceptions to the representations, warranties and covenants set forth in the Merger Agreement. Moreover, certain representations and warranties in the Merger Agreement were used for the purpose of allocating risk between the Company, Merger Sub and Parent, rather than establishing matters of fact. Accordingly, the representations and warranties in the Merger Agreement may not constitute the actual state of facts about the Company, Merger Sub or Parent.

Tender and Support Agreements

On July 7, 2024, in connection with the Merger Agreement, each of (i) Timothy Springer, Chafen Lu, Springer-Lu Family 2004 Irrevocable Trust dated March 29, 2004 FBO – Kayla, Springer-Lu Family 2004 Irrevocable Trust dated March 29, 2004 FBO – Minerva and TAS Partners LLC, (ii) Praveen Tipirneni and The Praveen Tipirneni Irrevocable Trust of 2019 and (iii) Amir Nashat, Polaris Partners VII, L.P. and Polaris Entrepreneurs Fund VII, L.P. (collectively, the “Supporting Stockholders”), in each case, in their capacity as a stockholder of the Company and who, collectively, beneficially own approximately 20.5% of the outstanding Shares, entered into a Tender and Support Agreement (together, the “Tender and Support Agreements”) with Parent and Merger Sub. The Tender and Support Agreements provide, among other things, that each of the Supporting Stockholders will tender all of the Shares held by such Supporting Stockholder, as applicable, in the Offer.

The Tender and Support Agreements have been included to provide information regarding their terms. It is not intended to modify or supplement any factual disclosures about the applicable Supporting Stockholder or the Company, Parent or Merger Sub in any public reports filed with the SEC by the Company, Parent or Merger Sub.

The foregoing description of the Tender and Support Agreements does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of each of the Tender and Support Agreements, which are attached hereto as Exhibits 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3 and are incorporated herein by reference.

Item 8.01 Other Events.

On July 8, 2024, the Company and Parent issued a joint press release announcing the execution of the Merger Agreement. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Form 8-K contains “forward-looking statements” relating to the proposed acquisition of the Company by Parent. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company and Parent to complete the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, including the parties’ ability to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the Offer contemplated thereby and the other conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, statements about the expected timetable for completing the transaction, the Company’s and Parent’s beliefs and expectations and statements about the benefits sought to be achieved by Parent’s proposed acquisition of the Company, the potential effects of the acquisition on both the Company and Parent, and the possibility of any termination of the Merger Agreement. In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by terminology such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “should”, “predict”, “goal”, “strategy”, “potentially,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “expect,” “seek” and similar expressions and variations thereof. These words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect the financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs of the Company, but there can be no guarantee that such expectations and projections will prove accurate in the future.

All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from current expectations because of risks associated with uncertainties as to the timing of the Offer and the subsequent Merger; uncertainties as to how many of the Company’s stockholders will tender their shares in the Offer; the risk that competing offers or acquisition proposals will be made; the possibility that various conditions to the consummation of the Merger and the Offer contemplated thereby may not be satisfied or waived; the effects of disruption from the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement on the Company’s business and the fact that the announcement and pendency of the transactions may make it more difficult to establish or maintain relationships with employees, suppliers and other business partners; and the risk that stockholder litigation in connection with the Offer or the Merger may result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability. Moreover, the Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks emerge from time to time. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future events, results, actions, levels of activity, performance or achievements, business and market conditions, the timing and results of any developments and whether the conditions to the closing of the proposed acquisition are satisfied on the expected timetable or at all. Additional factors that may affect the future results of Parent and the Company are set forth in their respective filings with the SEC, including in each of Parent’s and the Company’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The risks described in this communication and in Parent’s and the Company’s filings with the SEC should be carefully reviewed. Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Parent and the Company undertake no obligation to publicly release any revisions to the forward-looking statements after the date hereof to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations.

Additional Information about the Acquisition and Where to Find It

The Offer referenced in this communication has not yet commenced. This communication is for informational purposes only, is not a recommendation and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities, nor is it a substitute for the tender offer materials that, Parent and Merger Sub will file with the SEC upon commencement of the Offer. A solicitation and offer to buy outstanding shares of the Company will only be made pursuant to the tender offer materials that Parent and Merger Sub intend to file with the SEC. At the time the Offer is commenced, Parent and Merger Sub will file with the SEC tender offer materials on Schedule TO and the Company will file with the SEC a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the Offer.

THE TENDER OFFER MATERIALS (INCLUDING AN OFFER TO PURCHASE, A RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CERTAIN OTHER TENDER OFFER DOCUMENTS), AND THE SOLICITATION / RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION AND THE PARTIES THERETO. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ THESE DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE (AND EACH AS IT MAY BE AMENDED OR SUPPLEMENTED FROM TIME TO TIME), BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISION REGARDING TENDERING THEIR SHARES OF COMMON STOCK IN THE OFFER.

The tender offer materials (including the Offer to Purchase and the related Letter of Transmittal), as well as the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement, will be made available to all investors and stockholders of the Company at no expense to them at Parent’s website at investor.lilly.com and (once they become available) will be mailed to the stockholders of the Company free of charge. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by the Company will be available free of charge on the Company’s website, investor.morphictx.com, or by contacting the Company’s investor relations department at chris.erdman@morphictx.com. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, the Company’s and Parent’s websites is not a part of, or incorporated by reference herein. The tender offer materials (including the Offer to Purchase and the related Letter of Transmittal), as well as the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement, will also be made available for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition to the Offer to Purchase, the related Letter of Transmittal and certain other tender offer documents, as well as the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement, Parent and the Company file annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read any reports, statements or other information filed by Parent and the Company with the SEC for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit No.	Description
2.1	Agreement and Plan of Merger, by and among Morphic Holding, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company and Rainier Acquisition Corporation, dated July 7, 2024.*
10.1	Tender and Support Agreement, dated as of July 7, 2024, by and among Eli Lilly and Company, Rainier Acquisition Corporation, Timothy Springer, Chafen Lu, Springer-Lu Family 2004 Irrevocable Trust dated March 29, 2004 FBO – Kayla, Springer-Lu Family 2004 Irrevocable Trust dated March 29, 2004 FBO – Minerva and TAS Partners LLC.
10.2	Tender and Support Agreement, dated as of July 7, 2024, by and among Eli Lilly and Company, Rainier Acquisition Corporation, Praveen Tipirneni and The Praveen Tipirneni Irrevocable Trust of 2019.
10.3	Tender and Support Agreement, dated as of July 7, 2024, by and among Eli Lilly and Company, Rainier Acquisition Corporation, Amir Nashat, Polaris Partners VII, L.P. and Polaris Entrepreneurs Fund VII, L.P.
99.1	Joint Press Release, dated July 8, 2024.
104	Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

* Schedules and similar attachments have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. A copy of any omitted schedule will be furnished supplementally to the SEC upon request.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	MORPHIC HOLDING, INC.
Date: July 8, 2024	By:	/s/ Marc Schegerin
		Marc Schegerin, M.D.
		Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer