SEC Company Response from VERTRUE INC (CIK 0001020996) — Dec 1, 2004
VERTRUE INC (CIK 0001020996)
Date: Dec. 1, 2004 · CIK: 0001020996 · Accession: 0000947871-04-002630
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[LETTERHEAD OF SHEARMAN & STERLING LLP]
November 30, 2004
Via EDGAR, Federal Express and Facsimile (202-942-9638)
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Ms. Michele M. Anderson
Special Counsel
Office of Mergers and Acquisitions
Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Vertrue Incorporated
(formerly known as MemberWorks Incorporated)
Schedule TO-I filed November 15, 2004
File No. 5-47315
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Dear Ms. Anderson:
On behalf of our client, Vertrue Incorporated, formerly known as
MemberWorks Incorporated (the "Company"), set forth below are the Company's
responses to the comments (the "Comments") of the staff (the "Staff") of the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") dated November 23, 2004,
concerning the tender offer on Schedule TO-I filed by the Company with the
Commission on November 15, 2004. The responses set forth below have been
organized in the same manner in which the Staff's comments were organized.
The Company is filing today via the EDGAR system Amendment No. 1 to the
Schedule TO-I (the "Amended Schedule TO") together with this response letter. We
have also sent to your attention today via federal express five clean copies and
five marked copies of the ancillary documents filed as exhibits to the Amended
Schedule TO including the Offer to Purchase and the Letter of Transmittal.
In addition, as requested by the Staff, the Company is also providing
separately a written statement acknowledging that:
o the company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the
disclosure in the filings;
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o staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments
in the filings reviewed by the staff do not foreclose the Commission
from taking any action with respect to the filing; and
o the company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any
proceeding imitated by the Commission or any person under the federal
securities laws of the United States.
Item 6. Purposes of the Transaction and Plans or Proposals
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Comment No. 1. Provide all of the disclosure regarding the company's plans as
required by Item 1006(c)(1-10) of Regulation M-A. If any of the items
contained in (c)(1-10) are inapplicable or an answer is in the
negative, revise the Schedule TO to so state. See General Instruction E
to Schedule TO.
Response: In response to the Staff's comment, the Company has revised the
disclosure to indicate that except as otherwise disclosed in the Offer to
Purchase, the Company does not have any plans, proposals or negotiations
that relate to the items listed in Item 1006(c)(1-10) of Regulation M-A.
Item 12. Exhibits
------------------
Comment No. 2. File a form of the notice of withdrawal as an exhibit to the
Schedule TO.
Response: The Company has not provided a form of notice of withdrawal to
security holders. As the Company will accept a withdrawal notice in any
form that meets the requirements of Section 4 of the Offer to Purchase, it
has not filed a form of notice of withdrawal as an exhibit to the Schedule
TO. In addition, the Company respectfully submits that it is not aware of a
requirement to file a form of notice of withdrawal as an exhibit to the
Schedule TO.
Offer to Purchase
-----------------
Comment No. 3. Revise the disclosure on pages 3 and 10 of the offering document
to clarify that the company will pay the purchase price "promptly," not "as
soon as practicable," after the expiration date. Refer to Rules 13e-4(f)
(5) and 14e-1(c).
Response: In response to the Staff's comment, the Company has revised the
above-referenced disclosure to clarify that the Company will pay the
purchase price "promptly."
Comment No. 4. We reference the aspect of your offer relating to participants
in the 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan, whereby the tender prices they elect
will be deemed to have been increased to the closest tender price that
is not less than the closing price of the shares on the Nasdaq National
Market. While we understand that this provision is designed to ensure
compliance with the prohibition contained in the Profit Sharing Plan,
it also appears that plan participants will benefit from the automatic
increase because they will
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not have to incur the risk of tendering shares at lower than current market
prices. Please advise us what consideration you have given as to whether
this provision conflicts with the equal treatment requirement of Rule
13e-4(f)(8) as it appears to provide a benefit to plan participants that is
not afforded to all holders of the company's common stock.
Response: The Company respectfully notes the Staff's comment. This
provision (the "Deemed Retender Provision") is designed to ensure
compliance with ERISA. We do not believe the Deemed Retender Provision
conflicts with the equal treatment of Rule 13e-4(f)(8). We believe the
Deemed Retender Provision is effectively equivalent to a withdrawal by the
plan participant and a re-tender at the closing market price on the
expiration date, an action the plan participants cannot undertake at that
time (i.e., during the last two business days of the tender offer). All
other holders of the Company's common stock may tender at any time prior to
the expiration of the tender offer. In accordance with Rule 13e-4(f)(8),
both the plan participants and the other holders of the Company's common
stock will receive the same consideration from the Company in the tender
offer (i.e., they each will receive the clearing price). The Deemed
Retender Provision does not provide the plan participants with an advantage
that is not available to the other holders of the Company's common stock.
In addition, it should be noted that the clearing price in the tender offer
may be higher or lower than the closing market price on the expiration
date. That is, the plan participants have no greater certainty than do the
other holders of the Company's common stock that their tender prices will
be accepted (i.e., at or below the clearing price).
Comment No. 5. Please revise the offer to ensure that persons who hold shares
through the company's 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan or the Employee Stock
Purchase Plan have at least 20 full business days to tender in the
offer. In this regard, we note that the deadline for these shareholders
to give appropriate directions to tender is 5:00 p.m. instead of
midnight on the twentieth business day after commencement of the offer.
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Response: The Company respectfully disagrees with the Staff's comment.
Bankers Trust Co., NA ("Bankers Trust") holds the shares in the trust
established for the 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan, and Computershare Trust
Company Incorporated ("Computershare") holds the shares on behalf of
certain participants in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Bankers Trust and
Computershare have until 5:00 p.m. on December 15, 2004 (i.e., the
expiration date), in order to tender in the offer. Bankers Trust and
Computershare have sent separate letters to their respective plan
participants indicating that the participants must return a direction form
indicating if the participants wish to have Bankers Trust or Computershare,
as the case may be, tender shares held in the participants plan account.
However, the Company has complied with the 20 business day requirement by
allowing the holder of record for shares of the Company's common stock held
in the 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan trust and with respect to the Employee
Stock Purchase Plan (i.e., Bankers Trust and Computershare respectively) to
tender up until 5:00 p.m. on December 15, 2004. If the Staff disagrees with
our position, we will endeavor to have Bankers Trust and Computershare
extend the deadline for the plan participants to submit their direction
forms.
Forward-Looking Statements, page 7
Comment No.6. We remind you that statements made in connection with tender
offers are specifically excluded from the safe harbor protections of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. See Section
21E(b)(2)(C) of the Exchange Act and Regulation M-A telephone
interpretation M.2 of the July 2001 Supplement to the Division of
Corporation Finance's Manual of Publicly Available Telephone
Interpretations. Therefore, please delete the reference to
forward-looking statements "made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995" or revise the
disclosure to make clear that the safe harbor protections do not apply
to statements made in connection with the tender offer.
Response: The Company respectfully advises the Staff that it has deleted
the disclosure in question.
Conditions to the Tender Offer, page 20
---------------------------------------
Comment No. 7. The first paragraph of this section contains language suggesting
that once a condition is triggered, the offeror may decide in its
judgment whether it is advisable to proceed with the offer. Please note
that when a condition is triggered and an offeror decides to proceed
with the offer anyway, we believe that this constitutes a waiver of the
triggered condition. The company may not rely on this language to
tacitly waive a condition of the offer by failing to expressly assert
it. Please confirm your understanding on a supplemental basis.
Response: In response to the Staff's comment, the Company confirms its
understanding that when a condition of the offer is triggered and the
Company decides to proceed with the offer anyway, this will constitute a
waiver of the triggered condition. In such a case, the Company will
expressly state that it has waived the condition.
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Comment No. 8. We do not object to the imposition of conditions in a tender
offer, provided that they are not within the direct or indirect control
of the offeror and are specific and capable of objective verification
when satisfied. In this regard, revise the language appearing in the
first paragraph to exclude any action or omission to act by the company
as a reason for the assertion of a condition.
Response: In response to the Staff's comment, the Company respectfully
advises the Staff that it has deleted the language in question.
Comment No. 9. Several of your listed offer conditions refer to an impairment
of the benefits the company expects to receive from this offer. Since
security holders should have a reasonable idea whether or not an offer
condition is triggered, or at least should understand how this
determination will be made, please revise to specify or generally
describe those benefits.
Response: In response to the Staff's comment, the Company has added in
several of the listed offer conditions cross references to Section 9 of the
Offer to Purchase, which Section 9 includes a description of the benefits
the Company expects to receive from the offer.
Comment No. 10. We note that the offer is subject to the condition that the
company will remain listed on the Nasdaq National Market and not be
eligible for deregistration under the Exchange Act. However, we also
note under "Purpose of the Tender Offer; Certain Additional Effects of
the Tender Offer" that the company may engage in possible future
purchases of additional shares of common stock. Please be advised that
this tender offer and any of the additional transactions may constitute
the first steps in a future going private transaction. See Rue
13e-3(a)(3).
Response: The Company respectfully notes the Staff's comment.
Information Concerning Memberworks, page 25
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Comment No. 11. Despite your attempt to incorporate by reference any future
filings made with the Commission from the date of this offer until it
expires, Schedule TO does not permit such "forward" incorporation by
reference. If the information provided to security holders in the Offer
to Purchase materially changes, you are under an obligation to amend
the Schedule TO to update it and to disseminate the new information to
security holders in a manner reasonably calculated to inform them about
the change. Please revise the disclosure accordingly.
Response: In response to the Staff's comment, the Company has revised the
disclosure to remove references to "forward" incorporation by reference and
acknowledges the Staff's comment concerning its amendment and dissemination
obligations described above.
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Letter of Transmittal
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Comment No.12. We reference the language requiring security holders to
acknowledge that they have "read" the tender offer document. We believe
it is inappropriate to require security holders to attest to the fact
that they "read" the terms of the offer as such language effectively
operates as a waiver of liability. Please provide a statement in your
next amendment that expressly rescinds this language.
Response: In response to the Staff's comment, the Company has deleted the
language in question and has added a statement expressly rescinding the
language.
* * *
If you have any questions with regard to these responses, or if you require
additional information, please feel free to contact me at (212) 848-7325.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Stephen T. Giove
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cc: George Thomas, Vertrue Incorporated
Matthew F. Musselman, Shearman & Sterling LLP
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