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ABRY Partners Agrees to Acquire Q9 Networks Inc.
Toronto, ON, - August 24, 2008 – Q9 Networks Inc. (TSX:Q) (“Q9”)
announced today that it has entered into a definitive acquisition
agreement with CDC Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of ABRY Partners,
LLC (“ABRY Partners”) to purchase all of the outstanding common shares
of Q9. Under the terms of the Agreement, Q9 shareholders will receive
$17.05 per common share in cash, representing a premium of 38% to the
30-trading day volume weighted average closing price on the Toronto
Stock Exchange. The transaction, which values Q9 at approximately $361
million, will be implemented by way of a court-approved plan of
arrangement under the laws of Ontario.
“ABRY is one of the most
experienced private equity firms in the media, communications, and
information industry.” said Osama Arafat, CEO and Paul Sharpe,
President and COO of Q9. “We believe they are the right partner to
continue our aggressive growth plans while providing outstanding
service to our valued customers. We are very proud of what the Q9 team
has achieved to date and we look forward to leading them through our
next phase of growth.”
“We are strong believers in the Canadian
data centre infrastructure market and are excited to be participating
in it through our acquisition of Q9.” said C.J. Brucato, Partner at
ABRY Partners. “Q9, with its talented management team, has achieved a
leading market position and a diversified blue chip customer base. We
look forward to helping Q9 accelerate their growth and extend their
leadership position.”
The completion of this transaction is
subject to the approval of Q9's shareholders at a special meeting which
is expected to be held in October 2008. In addition, the arrangement
will require approval by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The
transaction has been approved unanimously by the Board of Directors of
Q9 (with interested directors abstaining) following the unanimous
recommendation of a Special Committee of independent directors
comprised of Timothy Jackson, John Albright, Timothy Price, John Turner
and Timothy Aubrey. In doing so, the Q9 Board determined that the
arrangement is in the best interests of Q9 and authorized the
submission of the arrangement to shareholders of Q9 for their approval
at the special meeting. The Q9 Board has also determined unanimously
(with interested directors abstaining) to recommend to Q9 shareholders
that they vote in favour of the transaction.
The transaction must
be approved by the holders of common shares representing at least 66
2/3% of votes represented at the meeting and by the holders of more
than 50% of the votes, other than votes in respect of shares held by
certain members of senior management of Q9, represented at the meeting.
Q9's
financial advisor, Jefferies & Company, Inc. has provided an
opinion to the Q9 Board that the consideration to be received by the
shareholders under the arrangement is fair, from a financial point of
view, to the shareholders of Q9. TD Securities is acting as financial
advisor to ABRY.
The Agreement contains a “go-shop” provision
pursuant to which Q9 has the right to solicit and engage in discussions
and negotiations with respect to potential competing proposals through
the go-shop period, which ends on October 3, 2008.
After October
3, 2008, Q9 is subject to a “no-shop” restriction on its ability to
solicit third party proposals, provide information and engage in
discussions with third parties, other than parties with whom
discussions commenced prior to the expiration of the go-shop (each, an
“Excluded Party”). The no-shop provision is subject to a fiduciary out
that allows Q9, subject to certain conditions, to provide information
and participate in discussions with respect to any unsolicited
acquisition proposal received after October 3, 2008 which the Q9 Board
has determined in good faith constitutes or is reasonably likely to
result in a superior acquisition proposal.
Q9 may terminate the
Agreement under certain circumstances, including if the Q9 Board
determines in good faith it has received a superior acquisition
proposal. Q9 has agreed to provide ABRY with notice of any superior
acquisition proposal and to negotiate with ABRY for a period of four
business days prior to accepting a superior acquisition proposal. If Q9
terminates the Agreement in order to accept a superior acquisition
proposal it must pay a fee of approximately $6.3 million to ABRY
Partners if such termination occurs during the go-shop period or
following the go-shop period where the superior proposal is from an
Excluded Party, or approximately $10.8 million if such termination
occurs following the go-shop period with anyone other than an Excluded
Party.
Completion of the transaction is subject to various
customary conditions precedent. The closing of the transaction will
take place after satisfaction or waiver of all conditions. While the
timing associated with satisfying these conditions is not certain, Q9
currently expects the transaction to close in the fourth calendar
quarter of 2008, subject to the terms of the Agreement.
The
transaction is not subject to any financing condition. The transaction
will be financed through a combination of equity which has been
committed by ABRY Partners VI, L.P. (the “ABRY Fund”) and debt
financing that has been committed by TD Securities, TD Capital
Mezzanine Partners, and affiliates, in each case subject to the terms
of those commitments. The Agreement provides that in certain
circumstances where the purchaser fails to complete the transaction as
required, the purchaser would be required to pay to Q9 a “reverse break
fee” of approximately $18 million provided that in certain other
circumstances such fee will be approximately $10.8 million. The ABRY
Fund has guaranteed the payment of the reverse break fee.
Q9 has
been advised that certain shareholders (including Osama Arafat, Chief
Executive Officer and Paul Sharpe, President and Chief Operating
Officer) holding approximately 28% of the outstanding common shares of
Q9 have entered into an agreement with ABRY to vote the shares of Q9
owned by such shareholders in favour of the transaction, subject to the
terms and conditions of such agreement. The voting agreements terminate
if the Q9 Board terminates the Agreement in certain circumstances,
including in order to accept a superior acquisition proposal.
Copies
of the Agreement and certain documents will be filed with the Canadian
securities regulators and will be available at the Canadian SEDAR
website at www.sedar.com. The management information circular in
connection with the special meeting of shareholders to consider the
arrangement is expected to be mailed to shareholders over the coming
weeks. The circular will also be available as part of Q9's public
filings at www.sedar.com.
Q9 is being represented by McCarthy Tétrault LLP while ABRY is being represented by McMillan LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Forward Looking Statements
This
media release includes certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the proposal to
acquire all of the outstanding shares of Q9. Any statements contained
herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be
forward-looking statements. The completion of the proposed transaction
is subject to a number of terms and conditions, including, without
limitation: (i) required Q9 shareholder approval, (ii) necessary court
approvals, and (iii) certain termination rights available to the
parties under the arrangement agreement. These approvals may not be
obtained, the other conditions to the transaction may not be satisfied
in accordance with their terms, and/or the parties to the arrangement
agreement may exercise their termination rights, in which case the
proposed transaction could be modified, restructured or terminated, as
applicable. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may differ
materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on,
among other things, the risks that the parties will not proceed with a
transaction, that the ultimate terms of the transaction will differ
from those that are currently contemplated, and that the transaction
will not be successfully completed for any reason (including the
failure to obtain any required approvals). Q9 does not intend, and
disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or
revise any forward looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
About Q9 Networks
Q9 Networks is a leading Canadian provider of outsourced data centre
infrastructure for organizations with mission-critical IT operations.
Q9's data centres and network are backed by an industry leading SLA
which guarantees 100% network and power availability. Q9 managed
services, including: bandwidth, dedicated servers, firewalls, load
balancing, virtual private networking (VPN) and back-up/restore, enable
the rapid provisioning and scalability of client infrastructure.
About ABRY
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, ABRY Partners enjoys a position as one
of the most experienced and successful media and communications focused
private equity investment firms in North America. Since 1989, ABRY
Partners has completed over $21 billion of leveraged transactions and
other private equity and mezzanine investments, representing
investments in more than 500 media and communications properties.
Extensive and long-standing relationships with many different
stakeholders in the media, communications and finance businesses allow
ABRY Partners to contribute significant value to operating partners and
portfolio companies. ABRY Partners has extensive experience in data
centre space through its existing U.S. data centre portfolio companies
CyrusOne and Hosted Solutions. More information is available at www.abry.com.