DealLawyers.com Blog

February 15, 2017

Enforcement: SEC Targets Control Contest Disclosures

Yesterday, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement announced two new actions involving disclosure violations that took place in the heat of takeover & activist battles.  Disclosure in this arena seems to be an area of emphasis for the SEC – it recently sanctioned Allergan for failing to disclose merger negotiations with third parties while it was the target of a tender offer from Valeant.

The first proceeding involves inadequate disclosures about “success fees” payable by CVR Energy to two investment banks that it retained to help fight off a tender offer.  The second targets failures by individuals and investment funds to comply with beneficial ownership reporting obligations under Section 13(d) and 16(a) of the Exchange Act in connection with their joint efforts in several activist campaigns.

It’s interesting to note that disclosure of banker success fees was addressed in one of the new tender offer CDIs (159.02) issued in late 2016. Last month on TheCorporateCounsel.net, I flagged a Cooley blog that said market practice on success fee disclosure would need to change as a result of the new CDI. The SEC’s press release notes that CVR’s cooperation and remedial actions resulted in a decision not to impose any monetary sanctions on it – but I suspect the fact that the company’s disclosures may have been consistent with market practice might have played a role in it as well.

Public companies and their advisors can be excused for enjoying the predicament of the targets of the second enforcement action – they’ve long complained about activists playing fast and loose with beneficial ownership disclosure requirements, and undoubtedly are relishing their comeuppance in this instance.

John Jenkins