Item 1.01.
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Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
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Agreement and Plan of Merger
On August 12, 2020, Montage Resources Corporation (the “Company” or “Montage”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Southwestern Energy Company, a Delaware corporation (“Southwestern”), pursuant to which Southwestern will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company (each, a “Montage Common Share”) in exchange for 1.8656 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Southwestern (each, a “Southwestern Common Share”) per share of Montage common stock. Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Merger Agreement, Montage will merge with and into Southwestern, with Southwestern continuing as the surviving company (the “Merger”). Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), each Montage Common Share issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time will be cancelled and extinguished and automatically converted into the right to receive 1.8656 Southwestern Common Shares (the “Exchange Ratio”). No fractional Southwestern Common Shares will be issued in the Merger, and holders of Montage Common Shares will, instead, receive cash in lieu of fractional Southwestern Common Shares, if any.
Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, by virtue of the occurrence of the Effective Time and without any action on the part of the holder thereof, each award of restricted stock units relating to Montage Common Shares that vests based on continued service to the Company granted pursuant to the Company’s equity plan (other than Montage PSU Awards (defined below)) (“Montage RSU Award”) that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be converted into an award (an “Assumed RSU Award”), with respect to a number of Southwestern Common Shares equal to the product obtained by multiplying (i) the applicable number of Montage Common Shares subject to such Montage RSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time by (ii) the Exchange Ratio. For each holder of a Montage RSU Award, any fractional shares resulting from the conversion of his or her Montage RSU Awards shall be rounded to the nearest whole share. Except as otherwise provided in the Merger Agreement, each Assumed RSU Award shall continue to have, and shall be subject to, the same terms and conditions (including time vesting conditions and, if applicable, any accelerated vesting in connection with a termination of service) that applied to the underlying Montage RSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time, except that Southwestern (x) may modify terms rendered inoperative by reason of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement or for such other immaterial administrative or ministerial changes as in the reasonable and good faith determination of Southwestern are appropriate to effectuate the administration of the Assumed RSU Award, and (y) may settle the Assumed RSU Award upon vesting in Southwestern Common Shares or cash.
The Merger Agreement provides that the Company shall take all necessary and appropriate actions so that, prior to the Effective Time, each then outstanding award of performance-based restricted stock units (“Montage PSU Award”) shall be terminated and vested in accordance with its terms with the number of shares of Montage Common Shares deliverable with respect to a Montage PSU Award in connection with such termination and vesting determined by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s board of directors pursuant to the terms of the applicable Company PSU Award, as such terms are in effect on August 12, 2020. The Company (including the board of directors of the Company and any delegate thereof) may not use discretion to increase the amount of consideration payable with respect to any Montage PSU Award in connection with such termination and vesting, and Southwestern may elect to settle each Montage PSU Award in Southwestern Common Shares (determined using the vesting determination described above and converted into a number of Southwestern Common Shares in the same manner described above with respect to the Assumed RSU Awards) or in cash (the amount of which will be equal to the fair market value of the Southwestern Common Shares otherwise deliverable in settlement of the Montage PSU Award pursuant to the foregoing if Southwestern had instead elected to settle the Montage PSU Award in Southwestern Common Shares).
The Merger Agreement provides that the Company shall take all necessary and appropriate actions so that prior to the Effective Time each award of restricted shares of Montage common stock (“Montage Restricted Stock Award”) granted to non-employee directors of the Company shall vest. Montage Common Shares attributable to such Montage Restricted Stock Awards shall be treated in the manner set forth in the Merger Agreement upon the Effective Time.
The Company and Southwestern each made customary representations and warranties and agreed to customary covenants in the Merger Agreement. The Merger is subject to various closing conditions, including, but not limited to, (i) the approval of the Merger Agreement by the holders of a majority of the Company’s outstanding common stock entitled to vote, (ii) the absence of any law, order or injunction prohibiting the Merger, (iii) the expiration