Item 1. | Security and Issuer. |
This Amendment No. 7 amends the Statement on Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 29, 1997, as amended by Amendment No. 1 to Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 10, 1997, by Amendment No. 2 to Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 23, 1997, by Amendment No. 3 to Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 2, 1998, by Amendment No. 4 to Schedule 13D filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on May 18, 2000, by Amendment No. 5 to Schedule 13D filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on April 7, 2008 and by Amendment No. 6 to Schedule 13D filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on December 16, 2010, by Phoenix Acquisition Company II, L.L.C. (“Phoenix”), Stonington Capital Appreciation 1994 Fund, L.P. (the “Fund”), Stonington Partners, L.P. (“Stonington L.P.”), Stonington Partners, Inc. II (“Stonington II”) and Stonington Partners, Inc. (“Stonington”, and together with Phoenix, the Fund, Stonington L.P. and Stonington II, the “Reporting Persons”). This Amendment No. 7 is filed with respect to the shares of (i) common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Shares”), and (ii) convertible preferred stock (the “Convertible Preferred Stock”), par value $0.01 per share, in each case of Merisel, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Issuer”) with principal executive offices at 127 West 30th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10001. The Convertible Preferred Stock provides for an 8% annual dividend payable quarterly in additional shares of Convertible Preferred Stock. Dividends are cumulative and accrue from the original issue date, whether or not declared by the Issuer’s board of directors.
Item 2. | Identity and Background. |
This Amendment No. 7 amends and substitutes in its entirety Item 2 to state as follows:
This Statement is being filed by and on behalf of the Reporting Persons. Phoenix is a Delaware limited liability company. Each of the Fund and Stonington L.P. is a Delaware limited partnership. Each of Stonington II and Stonington is a Delaware corporation. The principal business of Phoenix is to invest in the capital stock of the Issuer. The principal business of the Fund is investing in securities. The principal business of Stonington L.P. is being the general partner of the Fund. The principal business of Stonington II is being the general partner of Stonington L.P. The principal business of Stonington is being the management company of the Fund.
The directors and officers of Stonington and Stonington II are: Alexis P. Michas, Director and Managing Partner, James J. Burke, Jr., Director and Partner, Bradley J. Hoecker, Director and Partner and John A. Bartholdson, Director and Partner. The principal occupation of each of the directors and officers of Stonington and Stonington II is management of the Fund.
During the last five years, none of the Reporting Persons or the individuals listed in Item 2 has (i) been convicted in a criminal proceeding or (ii) been a party to a civil proceeding of a judicial or administrative body of competent jurisdiction and as a result of such proceeding was or is subject to a judgment, decree or final order enjoining future violations of, or prohibiting or mandating activities subject to, federal or state securities laws or finding any violation with respect to such laws.
The business address of each of the Reporting Persons and the individuals listed in this Item 2 is 600 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, New York 10022.
The citizenship of each of the individuals listed in this Item 2 is of the United States of America.
Item 3. | Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration. |
Item 3 is inapplicable to this Amendment No. 7.
Item 4. | Purpose of Transaction. |
This Amendment No. 7 amends and substitutes in its entirety Item 4 to state as follows:
On December 14, 2010, Phoenix and Sun Graphics, LLC (“Sun”) executed a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which Phoenix agreed to sell and transfer, and Sun agreed to purchase and accept, all of the Common Shares and Convertible Preferred Stock held by the Reporting Persons (the “Proposed Sale”), which together constitute all of the Issuer’s securities owned by the Reporting Persons. The Proposed Sale was subject to closing conditions. Certain of those closing conditions were not satisfied, as a result of which the Proposed Sale was not consummated and t he Purchase Agreement was terminated pursuant to its terms.
On January 19, 2011, Phoenix and the Issuer executed a redemption agreement (the “Redemption Agreement”) pursuant to which Phoenix agreed to have redeemed by the Issuer, and the Issuer agreed to redeem, all of the Convertible Preferred Stock held by the Reporting Persons in exchange for (i) $3,500,000.00 in cash and (ii) 140,000 shares of the Issuer’s Series A Preferred Stock (the “New Preferred Stock”), par value $0.01 per share (the “Proposed Transaction”). The Proposed Transaction is subject to closing conditions, including, inter alia , the receipt by the Issuer of written consent to the Proposed Transaction by one of its lenders. If the Proposed Transaction is consummated, it will result in the (i) disposition by the Reporting Persons of their ownership of, and all voting and investment power in respect of, the Convertible Preferred Stock in and (ii) acquisition by the Reporting Persons of ownership of, and all voting and investment power in respect of, the New Preferred Stock.
In connection with the Redemption Agreement, Phoenix and the Issuer also executed (i) a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which the Reporting Persons and the Issuer agreed to grant to the Reporting Persons certain registration rights in respect of the Common Shares and the New Preferred Stock owned by the Reporting Persons; and (ii) an amendment to that certain Stock and Note Purchase Agreement, dated September 19, 1997, by and among Phoenix, the Issuer and Merisel Americas, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of the Issuer (the “Amendment Agreement”), pursuant to which Phoenix and the Issuer agreed to extinguish certai n rights of the Issuer in respect of the participation by all holders of Common Shares in certain dispositions by the Reporting Persons of Common Shares owned by the Reporting Persons.
The foregoing summary of the terms of the Redemption Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement and the Amendment Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of such agreements. A copy of the Redemption Agreement is attached hereto as Exhibit 1 to this Amendment No. 7 and is incorporated herein by reference (the Amendment Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement are Exhibits B and C, respectively, to the Redemption Agreement).
Pursuant to the terms of the Fund’s limited partnership agreement, as amended (the “LP Agreement”), the period for the liquidation or distribution of the portfolio investments of the Fund shall expire on March 31, 2011. Unless such term is extended, any portfolio assets of the Fund, including its investment in the Issuer, must be disposed of or distributed prior to that date, subject to the terms and conditions of the LP agreement. As a result, the Reporting Persons intend to evaluate on an ongoing basis their investment in the Issuer and their options in respect of such investment. Whether or not the Proposed Transaction is consummated, the Reporting Persons will consider all available courses of action, including selling or otherwise disp osing of, or causing to be sold or disposed, all of the Common Shares and either the Convertible Preferred Stock or the New Preferred Stock held by the Reporting Persons, as applicable, on or before March 31, 2011. Notwithstanding anything contained herein, the Reporting Persons specifically reserve the right to change at any time their intention with respect to any or all of the Common Shares and the Convertible Preferred Stock or the New Preferred Stock, as applicable.
The Reporting Persons have no current plan or proposal that relates to, or would result in, any of the actions enumerated in subparagraphs (a) through (j) of Item 4 of Schedule 13D, other than as set forth herein.
Item 5. | Interest in Securities of the Issuer. |
This Amendment No. 7 amends and substitutes in its entirety Item 5 to state as follows:
Phoenix owns beneficially 5,000,000 Common Shares of the Issuer. The number of Common Shares currently held by Phoenix represents 69.3% of the total number of outstanding Common Shares.
As of November 15, 2010, Phoenix also owns beneficially 339,376 shares of Convertible Preferred Stock. Phoenix initially purchased 150,000 shares of Convertible Preferred Stock in June 2000, and as of September 30, 2010, 189,376 shares of Convertible Preferred Stock had accrued as dividends and 182,722 shares had been issued to Phoenix in payment of that accrual. The remaining 6,654 shares were issued on October 1, 2010. Additionally, cumulative accrued dividends of $18,937 and $16,980 were recorded as temporary equity at September 30, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively. Each share of Convertible Preferred Stock is convertible at the option of Phoenix into a number of Common Shares equal to $100.00 divided by the applicable conversion price, which was disclosed as $17.50 in the IssuerR 17;s Quarterly Report on 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2010, filed on November 15, 2010. As such, the Convertible Preferred Stock is convertible at Phoenix’s option into 1,939,290 Common Shares. Phoenix’s ownership of Common Shares and Convertible Preferred Stock represents, in aggregate, 75.80% of the Common Shares that would be outstanding in the event of such conversion.
Each of: the Fund, as the sole member of Phoenix; Stonington L.P., as the general partner of the Fund; Stonington II, as the general partner of Stonington L.P.; and Stonington, as the management company of the Fund, may be deemed to own beneficially the same number of shares as Phoenix, as described above.
Item 6. | Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships With Respect to Securities of the Issuer. |
This Amendment No. 7 amends and substitutes in its entirety Item 6 as follows:
The information set forth under Item 4 of this Amendment No. 7 is incorporated by reference into this Item 6.
Item 7. | Material to be Filed as Exhibits. |
The following Exhibits are incorporated herein by reference or filed herewith:
Exhibit 1: Redemption Agreement, dated as of January 19, 2011, by and between Phoenix Acquisition Company II, L.L.C. and Merisel, Inc.