As previously announced, on August 8, 2021, Sanderson Farms, Inc., a Mississippi business corporation (the “Company”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Walnut Sycamore Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Parent”), Sycamore Merger Sub LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”), and solely for purposes of certain provisions specified therein, Wayne Farms LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Wayne Farms”), which provides, among other things and subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, that Merger Sub will be merged with and into the Company (the “Merger”), with the Company continuing as the surviving corporation and as an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Parent.
The Merger Agreement and certain related proposals were approved by the Company’s stockholders at a special meeting of the Company’s stockholders held on October 21, 2021, and the parties to the Merger Agreement continue to work to satisfy the other conditions to the closing of the Merger. While the Company no longer expects the Merger to be completed in the first half of the calendar year 2022, the Company continues to expect the Merger to be completed in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement.
There can be no assurance, however, that the conditions to the closing of the Merger will be satisfied or that the parties will waive any of such conditions, or that the completion of the Merger will occur on or before the End Date (as defined in the Merger Agreement).
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form 8-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions about future events and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the views, beliefs, projections and estimates expressed in such statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, those discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2022, and the following: (1) the timing, receipt and terms and conditions of any required governmental or regulatory approvals of the proposed transaction and the related transactions involving affiliates of Cargill and Continental Grain that could reduce the anticipated benefits of or cause the parties to abandon the proposed transaction; (2) risks related to the satisfaction of the conditions to closing the proposed transaction (including the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals), and the related transactions involving affiliates of Cargill and Continental Grain, in the anticipated timeframe or at all; (3) the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of the Company’s shares of common stock, par value $1.00 per share; (4) disruption from the proposed transaction making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; (5) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement entered into pursuant to the proposed transaction or of the transactions involving affiliates of Cargill and Continental Grain; (6) risks related to disruption of management’s attention from the Company’s ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction; (7) disruption from the proposed transaction making it difficult to maintain business and operational relationships, including retaining and hiring key personnel and maintaining relationships with the Company’s customers, vendors and others with whom it does business; (8) significant transaction costs; (9) the risk of litigation and/or regulatory actions related to the proposed transaction or unfavorable results from currently pending litigation and proceedings or litigation and proceedings that could arise in the future; (10) other business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions; (11) information technology system failures, data security breaches, data privacy
