Perdigao and Sadia Association Agreement
May 19 2009 - 9:45AM
PR Newswire (US)
MATERIAL FACT NOTICE SAO PAULO, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
This business combination involves the securities of a Brazilian
company. The business combination is subject to disclosure
requirements of Brazil that are different from those of the United
States. It may be difficult for you to enforce your rights and any
claim you may have arising under the U.S. federal securities laws,
since the issuer is located in Brazil, and some or all of its
officers and directors may be residents of Brazil. You may not be
able to sue a Brazilian company or its officers or directors in a
Brazilian court for violations of the U.S. securities laws. It may
be difficult to compel a Brazilian company and its affiliates to
subject themselves to a U.S. court's judgment. You should be aware
that the issuer may purchase securities otherwise than under the
exchange offer, such as in open market or privately negotiated
purchases. The Boards of Directors of PERDIGAO S.A. ("PERDIGAO" -
BOVESPA PRGA3; NYSE: PDA) and SADIA S.A. ("SADIA" - BOVESPA: SDIA3
e SDIA4; NYSE: SDA; LATIBEX: XSDI) and, together with PERDIGAO, the
"Companies" inform to their shareholders and the market that an
association agreement ("Association Agreement") has been executed
today by and between both listed companies and the holding company
HFF Participacoes S.A. ("HFF"), which will hold the majority of
common shares issued by SADIA, in order to allow, by means of the
successive transactions described below, the combination of the
operations of PERDIGAO and SADIA ("Association"). From the
Association will result BRF - Brasil Foods S.A. ("BRF"), with head
offices in the city of Itajai, Santa Catarina. The steps for the
creation and implementation of the Association are described below.
The execution of the Association Agreement was approved by the
Boards of Directors of PERDIGAO and SADIA and its terms will be
submitted for the adhesion of the shareholders of SADIA, which will
become the shareholders of HFF ("HFF Adhering Shareholders") and
the common shareholders of PERDIGAO that are signatories of the
PERDIGAO Voting Agreement ("PERDIGAO Adhering Shareholders"). The
effectiveness of certain obligations set forth under the
Association Agreement shall be subject to: (i) the adhesion by the
PERDIGAO Adhering Shareholders; (ii) the adhesion by the holders of
more than 51% (fifty one percent) of SADIA's common shares, which
will contribute such shares to the capital stock of HFF; and (iii)
indication to PERDIGAO, until the date of the Share Merger of HFF,
of the group of SADIA Adhering Shareholders which will be obliged
to acquire directly or indirectly, the shares issued by Concordia
Financeira. The Association Agreement will be automatically
terminated in the event that the conditions referred in the
previous paragraph are not met within 15 (fifteen) days from May
19, 2009. The Association will comprise: (i) the change of the
denomination of PERDIGAO to BRF and the merger of the shares issued
by HFF into BRF, which could then be followed by the merger of HFF
into BRF; (ii) the corporate restructuring of BRF, SADIA and HFF;
and (iii) the merger of the shares (incorporacao de acoes) issued
by SADIA into BRF. The merger of the shares issued by HFF into BRF
will be subject to (i) the sale by SADIA, upon the approval by the
competent corporate bodies of SADIA, of the totality of the shares
issued by Concordia Holding Financeira S.A., a company controlled
by SADIA that, in turn, controls SADIA's subsidiaries Banco
Concordia S.A. and Concordia S.A. - Corretora de Valores
Mobiliarios, Cambio e Commodities, to a holding company controlled
by the current controlling shareholders of SADIA; (ii) evidence, by
HFF, that it is holder of more than 51% (fifty one percent) of the
common shares issued by SADIA. The share exchange ratio applicable
to the shareholders of HFF in the merger of its shares into BRF
will be 0,166247 common share of BRF for each common share of HFF.
On the date of the merger, the capital stock of HFF will be divided
into a number of shares equal to the number of SADIA's issued
common shares held by HFF. In connection with the Association, the
name of PERDIGAO will be changed to BRF - Brasil Foods S.A. ("BRF")
and its headquarters shall be transferred to the city of Itajai
(Santa Catarina), Brazil. The By-Laws of PERDIGAO will also be
amended to provide for: (i) 11 (eleven) directors as the maximum
number of members of the Board of Directors of the company; and
(ii) a co- chairman structure for the Board of Directors of the
company. By the same corporate act, the shareholders will approve
the election of three new members of the Board of Directors,
appointed by the shareholders of HFF, one of whom will be the
co-chairman of the Board of Directors of the company until the
Ordinary Shareholders Meeting of BRF (Assembleia Geral Ordinaria)
to be held in 2011. Simultaneously with the amendments to
PERDIGAO's By-Laws, the By-Laws of SADIA will be amended in order
to increase the maximum number of its Board of Directors to 12
(twelve) members. By the same corporate act, the shareholders will
approve the creation of a co-chairman structure in the Board of
Directors of the company and will approve the substitution of some
of the current members of the Board of Directors, in order to
assure that such body is composed by the same persons which will be
elected for the Board of Directors of BRF, being one of them the
Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors. The representative elected
in separate by the holders of preferred shares on the Ordinary
Shareholders Meeting held on April 27th 2009 shall remain in
office. Subsequently, there will be a merger of shares issued by
SADIA into BRF, for which the applicable share exchange ratio will
be 0,132998 common share of BRF for each common and preferred share
of SADIA. This share exchange ratio will be confirmed by the
Special Committees of each of the companies, convened in accordance
with the provisions of CVM's Parecer de Orientacao No. 35/08. On
the date of the share merger, the dissident shareholders owner of
common shares of SADIA will have the right to withdraw from such
company, as established by the law. The shares of BRF will continue
to be listed on the Novo Mercado of BM&F BOVESPA, and American
Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") representing such shares will continue
to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). The ADRs of
SADIA will be converted into ADRs of BRF on the Share Merger of
SADIA into BRF, in the proportion equivalent to the merger of the
preferred shares. Simultaneously with the events mentioned above,
BRF intends to carry out a public offering of common shares to
raise funds in an estimated amount of R$4 Billion. BRF will use its
best efforts to assure the priority in the allocation of the shares
to all of PERDIGAO/BRF's shareholders and, if the Share Merger of
SADIA into BRF had not been concluded, to all of SADIA's
shareholders. (in the latter event, up to the stake that they would
have been allocated in BRF if the Share Merger of SADIA into BRF
had already occurred). The Association Agreement will be submitted
for approval by the Brazilian Antitrust authorities (Administrative
Council for Economic Defense - CADE; Secretariat of Economic Law -
SDE; and Secretariat for Economic Monitoring - SEAE). The
implementation of the Association will also depend on the
submission of the transaction to the Antitrust Authorities of other
jurisdictions, to the extent required by applicable law, by virtue
of the conduction of businesses by PERDIGAO and SADIA. Other
information about the Association required by the CVM Regulation
no. 319/99 will be disclosed by additional Material Fact Notices,
which will be promptly published. The documents related to the
Association will be available to the shareholders of the Companies
from the date of the publication of the call notice of the above
mentioned Shareholders Meetings, at the addresses indicated bellow,
from 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., upon the presentation of a
document providing evidence of the ownership of shares issued up to
2 (two) days before the date thereof. Further information may be
obtained via telephone from Edina Biava (55-11) 3718-5465/5301/5306
or via telephone from Jose Luis Magalhaes Salazar (55-11)
2113-3552. Addresses: (i) PERDIGAO's Shareholders Av. Escola
Politecnica, 760 Sao Paulo, SP. (ii) SADIA's Shareholders Rua
Senador Atilio Fontana, 86 Concordia, SC. Sao Paulo, May 19, 2009.
Nildemar Secches Luiz Fernando Furlan Chairman of the Board of
Directors Chairman of the Board of Directors PERDIGAO S A SADIA S.A
Jose Antonio do Prado Fay Gilberto Tomazoni CEO (Chief Executive
Officer) CEO (Chief Executive Officer) PERDIGAO S.A SADIA S.A
Leopoldo Viriato Saboya Jose Luiz Magalhaes Salazar CFO (Chief
Financial Officer and CFO (Chief Financial Officer and Investor
Relations Officer) Investor Relations Officer) PERDIGAO S.A SADIA
S.A Important Notice This communication is not an offering document
and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or
approval. Investors in American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") of Sadia
S.A. ("Sadia") and U.S. holders of preferred shares of Sadia are
urged to read the U.S. informational document regarding the
association between Sadia and Perdigao S.A. ("Perdigao" and,
together with Sadia, the "Companies"), when it becomes available,
because it will contain important information. U.S. holders of
common shares of Sadia are urged to read any informational document
or other materials prepared by Perdigao for common shareholders of
Sadia regarding the association because they will contain important
information. Perdigao expects to submit copies of these documents
to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") when they
are available, and investors and security holders may obtain free
copies of these documents and other documents filed by the
Companies with the SEC at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/.
A copy of any informational documents prepared for holders of ADRs
or U.S. holders of common or preferred shares of Sadia (when
available) may also be obtained for free from Perdigao. This
communication contains forward-looking statements. These statements
are statements that are not historical facts and are based on the
current view and estimates of management of the Companies of future
economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance
and financial results. The words "anticipates," "believes,"
"estimates," "expects," "plans" and similar expressions, as they
relate to the Companies, are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Statements regarding the structure and timing of any
association between the Companies, business strategies, future
synergies, future costs and future liquidity of the Companies, and
pro forma results of operations and financial condition of the
Companies are examples of forward- looking statements. Such
statements reflect the current views of management and are subject
to a number of risks and uncertainties, including economic and
market conditions in Brazil and globally, conditions in the
industry of the Companies, any regulatory actions relating to the
association, the ability of the Companies to achieve projected
synergies and the risk factors outlined by each of the Companies in
their filings with the SEC and the Brazilian Comissao de Valores
Mobiliarios (CVM). There is no guarantee that the expected events,
trends or results will actually occur. Any changes in the
assumptions and factors on which these forward-looking statements
are based could cause actual results to differ materially from
current expectations. Contact: Edina Aparecida Gomes Biava Investor
Relations Manager 55 11 3718 5791 / 5301 / 5306 DATASOURCE:
Perdigao S.A. CONTACT: Edina Aparecida Gomes Biava, Perdigao
Investor Relations Manager, +011-55-11-3718-5791,
+011-55-11-3718-5301, +011-55-11-3718-5306 Web site:
http://www.perdigao.com.br/
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