This Amendment No. 3 (this “Amendment No. 3”) amends and supplements the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 (as further amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Schedule 14D-9”) previously filed by CinCor Pharma, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company” or “CinCor”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 23, 2023, relating to the tender offer on Schedule TO filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 23, 2023 by AstraZeneca PLC, a public limited company incorporated in England and Wales (“AstraZeneca”), AstraZeneca Finance and Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation and direct wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca (“Parent”), and Cinnamon Acquisition, Inc., a Delaware corporation and direct wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Purchaser”), pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions of an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of January 8, 2023 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, Parent and Purchaser to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of CinCor, $0.00001 par value per share (the “Shares”) in exchange for (i) $26.00 per Share in cash, plus (ii) one contingent value right per Share representing the right to receive a contingent payment of $10.00 in cash if a specified milestone is achieved, subject to and in accordance with the terms of the Contingent Value Rights Agreement in the form attached as Exhibit E to the Merger Agreement, in each case, without interest, subject to any applicable withholding taxes, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, dated January 23, 2023 and the related Letter of Transmittal, as each may be amended or supplemented from time to time. Any capitalized term used and not otherwise defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in the Schedule 14D-9.
Following the announcement of the Merger and as of the filing of this amendment, various demands were received by CinCor, and five lawsuits were filed by purported stockholders of CinCor (captioned O’Dell v. CinCor Pharma, Inc., et al., No. 1:23-cv-00556 (S.D.N.Y., filed Jan. 23, 2023); Johnson v. CinCor Pharma, Inc., et al., No. 1:23-cv-00646 (S.D.N.Y., filed Jan. 25, 2023); Kent v. CinCor Pharma, Inc. et al., No. 1:23-cv-00095-UNA (D. Del., filed Jan. 26, 2023); Lawrence v. CinCor Pharma, Inc., et al., No. 1:23-cv-00740 (S.D.N.Y., filed Jan. 27, 2023), Cataldi v. CinCor Pharma, Inc., et al., No. 1:23-cv-01013 (S.D.N.Y., filed Feb. 7, 2023)), challenging the disclosures in the Schedule 14D-9 and the Merger. The complaints and demands assert claims against CinCor and its Board of Directors.
This supplemental information should be read in conjunction with the Schedule 14D-9 in its entirety. While the Company believes that the disclosures set forth in the Schedule 14D-9 comply fully with all applicable law and denies the allegations in the pending actions described above, in order to moot plaintiffs’ disclosure claims, avoid nuisance and possible expense and business delays, and provide additional information to its stockholders, CinCor determined voluntarily to supplement certain disclosures in the Schedule 14D-9 related to the claims in the demands and complaints with the supplemental disclosures set forth below (the “Supplemental Disclosures”). Nothing in the Supplemental Disclosures shall be deemed an admission of the legal merit, necessity or materiality under applicable laws of any of the disclosures set forth herein. To the contrary, CinCor specifically denies all allegations in the demands and complaints described above that any additional disclosure was or is required or material.
Except as otherwise set forth below, the information set forth in the Schedule 14D-9 remains unchanged and is incorporated herein by reference as relevant to the items in this Amendment No. 3. This Amendment No. 3 is being filed to reflect certain updates as set forth below.
Item 4. The Solicitation or Recommendation.
Item 4 “The Solicitation or Recommendation” of the Schedule 14D-9 is hereby amended and supplemented as follows:
1. By adding the bold text to the below paragraph under section (i) titled “—Background of Offer and Merger” in the sixth full paragraph on page 18 as follows:
“Later that day, CinCor received an unsolicited non-binding, written proposal from AstraZeneca to acquire CinCor for $54.00 per Share in cash (the “August 24 Proposal”), representing an equity value of approximately $2.63 billion and a 53% premium to CinCor’s closing price on August 23, 2022, which proposal was conditioned upon completion of AstraZeneca’s due diligence review. The proposal also included, among other things, a condition that the CinCor Contract be amended as previously discussed between the parties. No request for exclusivity was made in the August 24 Proposal. The proposal did not include any terms regarding employee retention or other compensation related agreements for CinCor’s officers and directors and no list of key employees was identified at this time.”