Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Overview
OnJuly 5, 2022 , the Board of Directors (the "Board") ofcomScore , Inc. (the "Company") appointedJonathan Carpenter as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of the Company, effectiveJuly 6, 2022 . In connection withMr. Carpenter's appointment,William Livek retired as the Company's CEO, effectiveJuly 6, 2022 .Mr. Livek will continue to serve as non-executive Vice Chairman of the Board. Also onJuly 5, 2022 , the Board appointedMary Margaret Curry as Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") and Treasurer of the Company, effectiveJuly 6, 2022 .Ms. Curry will continue to serve as principal accounting officer of the Company.
Mr. Carpenter , 46, served as the Company's CFO and Treasurer fromNovember 2021 until his appointment as CEO onJuly 6, 2022 .Mr. Carpenter previously served as CFO ofPublishers Clearing House , a direct marketing and media company, fromJune 2016 untilNovember 2021 . Prior toPublishers Clearing House , he served in divisional CFO roles forNielsen Company , Sears Holdings andNBC Universal . He began his career with General Electric in the GE Financial Management Program.Mr. Carpenter holds a bachelor's degree in economics from theUniversity of Vermont . In connection withMr. Carpenter's appointment as CEO, the Company andMr. Carpenter entered into a letter agreement (the "Carpenter Letter Agreement") onJuly 5, 2022 . Pursuant to the Carpenter Letter Agreement,Mr. Carpenter will receive the following compensation as consideration for his services as CEO: (i) an annualized base salary of$600,000 ; (ii) eligibility to participate in the Company's short-term incentive program (the "STIP") with a target annual incentive equal to 100% of his base salary, which will be prorated for the portion of the 2022 STIP that elapses following his appointment as CEO; (iii) beginning in 2023, eligibility to participate in the Company's long-term incentive program (the "LTIP") subject to the terms and conditions of the LTIP as in effect from time to time; and (iv) reimbursement of up to$10,000 in reasonable attorneys' fees incurred byMr. Carpenter in connection with the negotiation of the Carpenter Letter Agreement and related agreements. Additionally, the Carpenter Letter Agreement provides for the following one-time equity grants toMr. Carpenter as consideration for his services as CEO: (i) 400,000 performance restricted stock units under and pursuant to the terms of thecomScore , Inc. 2018 Equity and Incentive Plan (the "Equity Plan"), which will have the opportunity to vest quarterly from the date of grant (July 6, 2022 ) through the 10th anniversary of the date of grant or an earlier change of control of the Company, subject to and in accordance with the achievement of certain stock-price hurdles (ranging from$5.00 to$15.00 per share) on or prior to such date, as outlined in the Carpenter Letter Agreement; and (ii) subject to approval by the Board, options to purchase 500,000 shares of the Company's common stock under the Equity Plan, with a per-share exercise price equal to the greater of: (A) the closing price per share of the Company's common stock on the date of grant, or (B)$2.50 (the "Carpenter Options"), which will vest in equal annual installments onJuly 6, 2023 , 2024, 2025 and 2026. IfMr. Carpenter's service with the Company is terminated by the Company without cause or byMr. Carpenter for good reason (each as defined inMr. Carpenter's Severance Agreement, described below), in either case within 12 months following a change of control, then subject toMr. Carpenter's timely execution of a release of claims in favor of the Company, any unvested portion of the Carpenter Options will fully vest upon such termination andMr. Carpenter will have 90 days thereafter (or until the Carpenter Options' 10-year expiration date, if earlier) to exercise any vested Carpenter Options. EffectiveJuly 6, 2022 , the Company andMr. Carpenter also amended (i)Mr. Carpenter's Change of Control Agreement, dated as ofNovember 29, 2021 , to increase the lump-sum cash severance payment amount from 15 months to 24 months ofMr. Carpenter's base salary and to provide for 24 months' reimbursement of COBRA premiums (increased from 15 months); and (ii)Mr. Carpenter's Severance Agreement, dated as ofNovember 29, 2021 , to increaseMr. Carpenter's severance payment from 15 months to 24 months of base salary continuation and reimbursement of COBRA premiums. Any severance will be subject toMr. Carpenter's execution of a release of claims and compliance with certain restrictive covenants, including non-compete and non-solicit obligations that were extended (in connection with his appointment as CEO) from 15 months to 24 months following any termination of employment. The foregoing description of the Carpenter Letter Agreement, the amendment toMr. Carpenter's Change of Control Agreement, and the amendment toMr. Carpenter's Severance Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full and complete texts of such agreements, which are filed herewith as Exhibits 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3, respectively, and are incorporated herein by reference. There are no arrangements or understandings betweenMr. Carpenter and any other persons pursuant to which he was selected as the Company's CEO. There are no family relationships betweenMr. Carpenter and any director or executive officer of the Company, or any person nominated or chosen by the Company to become a director or executive officer.Mr. Carpenter has no direct or indirect material interest in any transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As previously disclosed, the Company andMr. Livek entered into a Transition and Separation Agreement onFebruary 28, 2022 (the "Transition Agreement") to facilitateMr. Livek's retirement as CEO. Subject toMr. Livek's timely execution of a release of claims and his continued compliance with the terms of the Transition Agreement,Mr. Livek will receive certain severance and other benefits as described in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission onFebruary 28, 2022 (the "Prior Report"). The foregoing description of the Transition Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full and complete text of such agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Prior Report.
Ms. Curry , 43, served as the Company's Chief Accounting Officer fromDecember 2021 until her appointment as CFO and Treasurer onJuly 6, 2022 .Ms. Curry joined the Company in 2011 and has served in roles of increasing scope and responsibility since then, including as Global Tax Director (August 2011 -July 2015 ), Senior Director of Global Tax Compliance and Reporting (July 2015 -May 2018 ), Vice President of Tax andTreasury (May 2018 -November 2020 ) and Senior Vice President and Controller (November 2020 -December 2021 ). Before joining the Company, she spent nine years withKPMG .Ms. Curry holds bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting fromEast Carolina University and is a Certified Public Accountant. In connection withMs. Curry's appointment as CFO, the Company andMs. Curry entered into a Letter Agreement (the "Curry Letter Agreement") onJuly 5, 2022 . Pursuant to the Curry Letter Agreement,Ms. Curry will receive the following compensation as consideration for her services as CFO: (i) an annualized base salary of$375,000 ; (ii) eligibility to participate in the STIP with a target annual incentive equal to 75% of her base salary, which will be prorated for the portion of the 2022 STIP that elapses following her appointment as CFO; and (iii) beginning in 2023, eligibility to participate in the LTIP subject to the terms and conditions of the LTIP as in effect from time to time. Additionally, the Curry Letter Agreement provides for the following one-time equity grants toMs. Curry as consideration for her services as CFO: (i) 110,000 performance restricted stock units under and pursuant to the terms of the Equity Plan, which will have the opportunity to vest quarterly from the date of grant (July 6, 2022 ) through the 10th anniversary of the date of grant or an earlier change of control of the Company, subject to and in accordance with the achievement of certain stock-price hurdles (ranging from$5.00 to$15.00 per share) on or prior to such date, as outlined in the Curry Letter Agreement; and (ii) subject to approval by the Board, options to purchase 160,000 shares of the Company's common stock under the Equity Plan, with a per-share exercise price equal to the greater of: (A) the closing price per share of the Company's common stock on the date of grant, or (B)$2.50 (the "Curry Options"), which will vest in equal annual installments onJuly 6, 2023 , 2024, 2025 and 2026. IfMs. Curry's service with the Company is terminated by the Company without cause or byMs. Curry for good reason (each as defined inMs. Curry's Severance Agreement, described below), in either case within 12 months following a change of control, then subject toMs. Curry's timely execution of a release of claims in favor of the Company, any unvested portion of the Curry Options will fully vest upon such termination andMs. Curry will have 90 days thereafter (or until the Curry Options' 10-year expiration date, if earlier) to exercise any vested Curry Options.
Effective
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.
As described in Item 5.02, the Board appointedJonathan Carpenter as CEO andMary Margaret Curry as CFO and Treasurer of the Company effectiveJuly 6, 2022 . A copy of the press release announcing the foregoing is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference. The information in this Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1 attached hereto, is being furnished and shall not be deemed "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits. Exhibit No. Description 10.1 Letter Agreement, datedJuly 5, 2022 , by and
between
Jonathan Carpenter 10.2 First Amendment to thecomScore , Inc. Change of
Control Agreement, effective
as ofJuly 6, 2022 , by and betweencomScore , Inc.
and
10.3 First Amendment to thecomScore , Inc. Severance
Agreement, effective as of
July 6, 2022 , by and betweencomScore , Inc. and
10.4 Letter Agreement, datedJuly 5, 2022 , by and
between
Margaret Curry 10.5 Change of Control Agreement, effective as of July
6, 2022, by and between
comScore , Inc. andMary Margaret Curry 10.6 Severance Agreement, effective as ofJuly 6, 2022 ,
by and between
Inc. andMary Margaret Curry 99.1 Press Release datedJuly 6, 2022 101.INS XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are
embedded within the Inline
XBRL document. 101.SCH Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document. 101.CAL Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document. 101.DEF Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document. 101.LAB Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document. 101.PRE Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document. 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File - the cover page
iXBRL tags are embedded
within the Inline XBRL document 4
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