SEC Company Response from NABORS INDUSTRIES INC (CIK 0000798943) — Dec 2, 2004
NABORS INDUSTRIES INC (CIK 0000798943)
Date: Dec. 2, 2004 · CIK: 0000798943 · Accession: 0000950129-04-009524
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-117322
Referenced dates: November 30, 2004
Show Raw Text
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.txt
<TEXT>
<PAGE>
BY EDGAR AND FACSIMILE
December 2, 2004
Christina Chalk, Esq.
Special Counsel
Office of Mergers and Acquisitions
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549-0303
Re: Nabors Industries, Inc. and Nabors Industries Ltd.
Schedule TO-I filed on November 12, 2004
SEC File No. 5-37622
Dear Ms. Chalk:
This letter is our response to the Division of Corporation Finance's
comment letter dated November 30, 2004, in reference to the Schedule TO-I filed
on November 12, 2004 by Nabors Industries, Inc. (the "Company") and its parent
company, Nabors Industries Ltd. ("Nabors"), and the Offering Circular ("Offering
Circular") filed as Exhibit 12 (a)(1)(A) to the Schedule TO-I.
Our responses to the specific comments are set forth below. For the
convenience of the Staff, each of the comments from the November 30, 2004 letter
are restated in italics prior to the response. Capitalized terms have the same
meanings as in the Schedule TO-I and the Offering Circular. We have attached to
the facsimile version of this letter a copy of Amendment No. 1 to the Schedule
TO-I (the "Amendment") that we filed with the Commission today.
SCHEDULE TO-I
1. The EDGAR "tag" for your filing indicates that it was filed as an issuer
tender offer. As you are aware, Nabors Industries, Inc. and Nabors
Industries Ltd. have filed this Schedule TO-I jointly despite the fact
that Nabors Industries Inc. will be the actual issuer of the New
Securities. Under the staff's interpretation of Rule 13e-4, the offer
being made by Nabors Industries Ltd. constitutes a third-party offer and a
joint filing is therefore technically inappropriate, since the disclosure
requirements applicable to third party offers differ from those applicable
to issuer tender offers. Please confirm supplementally that as to Nabors
Industries Ltd., you have provided the disclosure required by Schedule TO
as to third party offers. For example, under Item 5 of Schedule
<PAGE>
Christina Chalk, Esq.
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 2, 2004
Page 2
TO, confirm that you are responding as to the requirements of Item 1005(a)
and (b) applicable to third party offer, versus Item 1005(e) for an issuer
tender offer.
Response: Rule 13e-4 applies only to tender offers by an issuer for a
class of equity securities of such issuer (which has a class of securities
registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended). Similarly, Regulation 14D applies only to tender offers for
equity securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. The only class of registered securities involved in the Exchange
Offer is the Nabors' common shares issuable upon exchange of the Old
Securities.
In the Exchange Offer, Nabors is offering to exchange the right to obtain
Nabors' common shares provided for in the New Securities for the similar
right provided for in the Old Securities. Put differently, the registered
equity security portion of both the Old Securities and New Securities is
an equity security of Nabors Industries Ltd. If not for this equity
security nexus to Nabors, the Company would have no obligation to file a
Schedule TO under Rule 13e-4 and we see no requirement for a filing under
Regulation 14D. The Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nabors, does not
have a class of equity securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the
Securities Act and its obligation under the Old Securities and the New
Securities is to pay cash (unless under certain circumstances Nabors
elects to make its common shares available).
We note further that the Old Securities were, and the New Securities will
be, fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Nabors. By analogy, prior
interpretations by the Staff of Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act
provide that where debt securities of a wholly-owned subsidiary guaranteed
by its parent entity are exchanged for new debt securities of the
subsidiary guaranteed by its parent, the "same issuer" requirement of
Section 3(a)(9) is satisfied. See, e.g., Exxon Mobil Corporation (No
Action Letter, publicly available June 28, 2002). We believe the same
result pertains to the analysis under Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14D.
Further, we do not believe holders of the Old Securities would receive any
relevant additional disclosure by treating the Company(1) as the
third-party-offeror for the Old Securities where the equity component is
limited to securities of Nabors. As a matter of economic reality, holders
of Old Securities do not view the Company as a third party offeror and
disclosure of intercompany arrangements between Nabors and its
wholly-owned subsidiary would not be material to a decision by a holder of
Old Securities to tender into the Exchange Offer (and such disclosure was
not required even
-------------------
(1) The Staff's comment refers to Nabors Industries Ltd. as possibly being a
third-party offeror. However, as the only equity security involved is the right
to receive Nabors' common shares, we believe that the Staff intended to express
a concern that Nabors Industries, Inc. might be a third-party offeror for
securities of Nabors Industries Ltd. If we misunderstand the comment, we would
be pleased to discuss it with you.
<PAGE>
Christina Chalk, Esq.
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 2, 2004
Page 3
when the Old Securities were sold for cash). Accordingly, we believe that
the offer by both the Company and Nabors for the Old Securities satisfies
the technical requirements of Rule 13e-4, and preparing the Schedule TO on
that basis provides holders of the Old Securities with the appropriate
level of disclosure upon which to base their decision whether or not to
tender their Old Securities. We believe that the Schedule TO-I would also
comply with the rules if it was signed only by Nabors and if requested we
would be prepared to delete the Company from the signature page if the
Staff would prefer this approach.
2. Pursuant to Item 10 of Schedule TO, you incorporate by reference the
financial statements in various periodic reports filed by Nabors
Industries Ltd. Where you incorporate by reference financial statements
found in other documents filed with the Commission, we require you to
include in the document disseminated to security holders the summary
financial statements required by Item 1010(c) of Regulation M-A. See
Instruction 6 to Item 10 of Schedule TO and Q&A 7 in Section I.H of the
Division of Corporation Finance's Manual of Publicly Available Telephone
Interpretations (July 2001). Please revise to include the summary
financial statements and advise how you will disseminate this material new
information.
Response: The Company and Nabors incorporated the financial statements in
response to Item 10 because the Exchange Offer did not meet the safe
harbor in the instructions for not doing so, even though the Company and
Nabors did not believe the financial statements to be material to an
investor. Upon further review, the Company and Nabors continue to believe
that the financial condition of the Company or Nabors is not material to a
decision by holders of Old Securities whether to accept the Exchange Offer
as the financial terms of the Old Securities and the New Securities are
the same in all material respects. Accordingly, Nabors and the Company
propose to amend the Schedule TO-I to remove the incorporation by
reference of the financial statements previously incorporated by
reference. This change is reflected in Item 10 of the Amendment.
3. See comment 2 above. Include earnings per share data for each period
presented.
Response: Please see the response to Comment 2.
4. The book value per share information provided pursuant to Item 10(a)(4) of
Schedule TO should be included in the offering circular.
Response: Please see the response to Comment 2. As set forth in Item 10 of
the Amendment, Nabors and the Company propose to delete the book value per
share information from the Schedule TO-I.
<PAGE>
Christina Chalk, Esq.
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 2, 2004
Page 4
OFFERING CIRCULAR
Summary Term Sheet
5. The purpose of the summary term sheet is to provide security holders with
a summary of the most material aspects of this transaction. Pursuant to
Item 1001 of Regulation M-A, it should be in bullet point format, with
cross-references to more detailed discussion elsewhere in the offering
materials. Your summary term sheet contains an excessive amount of
information not appropriate for this section. As an example, we cite the
extensive discussion of the business of the bidders found on the first
page of the Summary Term Sheet. By presenting information unrelated to the
material terms of the Exchange Offer, you obfuscate the most important
aspects of this transaction. Please consider revising.
Response: We appreciate the comment and have carefully reviewed the
appropriateness of revising the Summary Term Sheet. We believe that the
rationale and terms of this Exchange Offer are complex and we have clearly
and accurately presented the same in the appropriate manner. We do not
believe that a more abbreviated, bullet-point summary would be appropriate
for this transaction. In this regard we note that other offerors
conducting similar offers have used a "Q&A" format in lieu of a more
abbreviated bullet-point presentation. See, e.g., Countrywide Financial
Corp., Registration Statement on Form S-4, filed July 12, 2004, as amended
on Aug. 18, 2004 (File No. 333-117322).
6. Include the disclosure about the accounting treatment of the Exchange
Offer required by Item 1004(a)(1)(xi) of Regulation M-A. In addition,
please confirm supplementally that you applied the guidance in EITF Issue
No. 96-19 with respect to that accounting treatment.
Response: The Company and Nabors believe that the Summary Term Sheet,
particularly the response to "Why are you making the Exchange Offer?", as
amended in accordance with our response to Comment 7 below, sufficiently
describes the accounting that the Exchange Offer is intended to address
and the effect if the Exchange Offer is not consummated.
Additionally, the Company and Nabors confirm that they reviewed EITF Issue
No. 96-19 to determine whether the exchange of debt would be treated as a
modification of the debt or as an extinguishment of the debt. Their
determination was that this exchange of debt qualifies as a modification
of debt under EITF 96-19 and therefore the exchange has no material
accounting consequences.
<PAGE>
Christina Chalk, Esq.
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 2, 2004
Page 5
Why are you making the Exchange Offer? Page 1
7. Here or in an appropriate section later in the offering circular, give an
example of what the effect on 2003 reported earnings per share would be if
the Exchange Offer were not consummated.
Response: The Company and Nabors have provided the requested disclosure in
the paragraph numbered 1 of Items 1 through 4, 6 and 7 of the Amendment.
What are the conditions to the Exchange Offer? Page 3
8. Here and on the cover page of the offering circular, you state that you
may terminate the offer "for any reason or for no reason." Reserving the
right to end the offer at will and for no reason renders it an
impermissible illusory offer. Please revise this and similar language
throughout the offering circular.
Response: The Company and Nabors have made the requested change in the
paragraph numbered 2 of Items 1 through 4, 6 and 7 of the Amendment.
Can I withdraw my tender of Old Securities? Page 4
9. Please include disclosure about the "back end" withdrawal rights afforded
by Rule 13e-4(f)(2)(ii). Make the same change in the more extensive
discussion of withdrawal rights beginning on page 34 of the offering
circular.
Response: The Company and Nabors have made the requested change in the
paragraph numbered 3 of Items 1 through 4, 6 and 7 of the Amendment.
Summary Description of the New Securities - Interest, Page 6
10. Briefly explain what you mean by the statement the "New Securities will
not accrete."
Response: In the paragraph numbered 4 of Items 1 through 4, 6 and 7 of the
Amendment, the Company and Nabors have amended this sentence to be more
descriptive.
Risks Related to the New Securities, Page 17
11. Revise this section to focus on the risks presented by the New Securities
that differ materially from those associated with the Old Securities.
Please explain in clear and concise language.
Response: We believe that the risks involved in this Exchange Offer are
somewhat more complex than in a standard offering and thus the information
set forth in the Offering
<PAGE>
Christina Chalk, Esq.
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 2, 2004
Page 6
Circular is appropriate under the circumstances. In particular, since the
only covenant a tendering holder will give up is immaterial (i.e., the
right to receive equity upon an exchange rather than cash in a default or
similar situation), there are therefore no unusual risks from accepting
the offer. Nevertheless, we believe there are risks attendant to the
Exchange Offer not presented solely by accepting the New Securities (e.g.,
risks related to retaining the Old Securities).
12. Here or in an appropriate section of the offering circular, explain the
effect on the Nabors' liquidity and capital resources from the cash
settlement provisions of the New Securities, and discuss the means by
which the company reasonably expects to finance the cash required upon
conversion.
Response: We believe that the first full risk factor on page 16 of the
Offering Circular that begins "We may not have sufficient funds to pay the
principal return upon exchange. . . " adequately explains the effect on
the Nabors' liquidity and capital resources from the cash settlement
provisions of the New Securities. Furthermore, we believe that there is no
material difference in the cash settlement provisions of the New
Securities and those of the Old Securities because the respective
indentures for both securities require cash settlement of the principal
amount in all material circumstances (the cash settlement requirement in
the Old Securities became effective on October 25, 2004 as a result of
execution of the Supplemental Indenture for the Old Securities).
Forward Looking Information, Page 24
13. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 does not by its terms apply to
statements made in connection with a tender offer. See Section
27A(b)(2)(C) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E(b)(2)(C) of
the Securities Exchange Act