Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement and Plan of Merger
On December 17, 2019, ArQule, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("ArQule"), Merck
Sharp & Dohme Corp., a New Jersey corporation ("Merck"), and Argon Merger Sub,
Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck ("Merger
Sub"), entered into the First Amendment (the "Merger Agreement Amendment") to
the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 6, 2019, among ArQule,
Merck and Merger Sub (the "Merger Agreement"). The Merger Agreement Amendment
corrects certain scrivener's errors contained in Annex I to the Merger Agreement
regarding the conditions to consummation of the tender offer contemplated by the
Merger Agreement. Specifically, the Merger Agreement Amendment (i) limits the
conditions that cannot be waived by Merck and Merger Sub without ArQule's
consent and that would, if such conditions are not satisfied and other
conditions have been satisfied or waived, require extension of the outside date
in accordance with the Merger Agreement, to the conditions concerning antitrust
approvals and the absence of judgments, laws or orders preventing the
transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, and (ii) specifies that the
conditions concerning antitrust approvals and the absence of judgments, laws or
orders preventing the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are
limited to the requirements and actions of jurisdictions in which Merck or any
of its affiliates operate their respective businesses or own any assets. Other
than as expressly modified pursuant to the Merger Agreement Amendment, the
Merger Agreement remains in full force and effect as originally executed on
December 6, 2019.
Additional Information
The foregoing description of the Merger Agreement Amendment is not complete and
is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Merger Agreement Amendment,
which is attached as Exhibit 2.1 to this report and incorporated herein by
reference. The Merger Agreement Amendment and the foregoing description have
been included to provide investors and stockholders with information regarding
the terms of the Merger Agreement Amendment. They are not intended to provide
any other factual information about ArQule.
Notice to Investors and Security Holders
The offer contemplated by the Merger Agreement and Merger Agreement Amendment
(the "Offer") referred to in this Current Report on Form 8-K (the "Current
Report") has not yet commenced. The description contained in this Current Report
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 Merck and
Merger Sub will file with the SEC. The solicitation and offer to buy Shares will
only be made pursuant to an offer to purchase and related tender offer
materials. At the time the Offer is commenced, Merck and Merger Sub will file a
tender offer statement on Schedule TO and thereafter ArQule will file a
solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC with
respect to the Offer. THE TENDER OFFER MATERIALS (INCLUDING AN OFFER TO
PURCHASE, A RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CERTAIN OTHER OFFER DOCUMENTS) AND
THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT ON SCHEDULE 14D-9 WILL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. ANY HOLDERS OF SHARES ARE URGED TO READ THESE DOCUMENTS
CAREFULLY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION THAT HOLDERS SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING ANY DECISION REGARDING
TENDERING THEIR SHARES. The offer to purchase, the related letter of transmittal
and the solicitation/recommendation statement will be made available for free at
the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Additional copies may be obtained for free by
contacting ArQule or Merck. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by ArQule
will be available free of charge on ArQule's internet website at
http://investors.arqule.com/financial-information/sec-filings or by contacting
ArQule's investor relations contact at +1 (781) 994-0300. Copies of the
documents filed with the SEC by Merck can be obtained, when filed, free of
charge by directing a request to the Information Agent for the Offer which will
be named in the Schedule TO.
In addition to the offer to purchase, the related letter of transmittal and
certain other tender offer documents filed by Merck, as well as the
solicitation/recommendation statement filed by ArQule, ArQule will also file
annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. You may read and copy any
reports or other information filed by ArQule or Merck at the SEC public
reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the
SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room.
ArQule's filings with the SEC are also available to the public from commercial
document-retrieval services and at the website maintained by the SEC at
http://www.sec.gov.
Forward Looking Statements
The information contained in this Current Report is as of December 17, 2019.
ArQule assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in
this Current Report as the result of new information or future events or
developments.
This Current Report contains forward-looking information related to Merck,
ArQule and the proposed acquisition of ArQule by Merck that involves substantial
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements
in this document and the accompanying exhibits include, among other things, the
ability of ArQule and Merck 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; ArQule's and Merck's beliefs and expectations and
statements about the benefits being sought to be achieved in Merck's proposed
acquisition of ArQule; the potential effects of the acquisition on both ArQule
and Merck; the possibility of any termination of the Merger Agreement, as well
as the expected benefits and success of ArQule's product candidates. These
statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the ArQule's
and Merck's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.
There can be no guarantees that the conditions to the closing of the proposed
transaction will be satisfied on the expected timetable or at all, with respect
to pipeline products that the products will receive the necessary regulatory
approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying
assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual
results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, uncertainties as to the
timing of the offer and the subsequent merger; uncertainties as to how many of
ArQule'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 and the impact of the
announcement and pendency of the transactions on ArQule's business; the risk
that stockholder litigation in connection with the offer or the merger may
result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability; general
industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including
interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; challenges inherent in
new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; and the
company's ability to accurately predict future market conditions.
A further description of risks and uncertainties relating to ArQule can be found
in ArQule's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2018, and in its subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports
on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov
and https://www.arqule.com/.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit
Number Description
2.1 First Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated December 17,
2019, among ArQule, Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. and Argon Merger
Sub, Inc.
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