UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date
of earliest event reported): May 6, 2011
Plug Power Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
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1-34392
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22-3672377
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(State or other jurisdiction
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(Commission File
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(IRS Employer
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of incorporation)
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Number)
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Identification No.)
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968 Albany Shaker
Road,
Latham, New York
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12110
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(Address of principal executive offices)
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(Zip Code)
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Registrants
telephone number, including area code:
(518) 782-7700
N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last
report.)
Check the appropriate box below
if the Form 8-k filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing
obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
[ ] Written communications
pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material
pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c))
Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive
Agreement.
On May
6, 2011, Plug Power Inc.,
a Delaware corporation (the
Company
), entered into a Standstill and
Support Agreement (the
Governance Agreement
) with OJSC INTER RAO UES, an
open joint stock company organized under the laws of the Russian Federation (
INTER RAO
), and OJSC Third Generation Company of the Wholesale Electricity
Market, an open joint stock company organized under the laws of the Russian
Federation (
OGK-3
, and together with INTER RAO, the
Stockholders
).
OGK-3 directly holds approximately 33.59% of the Companys outstanding shares
of common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the
Shares
), and is a
majority-owned subsidiary of INTER RAO. As described in more detail below, in
addition to customary representations and covenants, the Governance Agreement
provides for certain voting support arrangements, director designation rights
and standstill arrangements.
Support Arrangements
The Governance Agreement provides,
among other things, that during the period commencing on the date of the
Governance Agreement and ending upon the election of directors at the Companys
annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2016 (the
Support Period
),
the Stockholders shall cause the Shares beneficially owned by them and/or their
respective affiliates or associates as of the record date for any annual or
special meeting of stockholder of the Company: (i) to be present for quorum
purposes for any such meeting, (ii) with respect to the election of directors,
to be voted in accordance with the recommendation of the board of directors of
the Company (the
Board
) and withheld from any nominee that is not
recommended by the Board, and (iii) with respect to each other matter brought
before such meeting, to be voted at least seven days prior to the date thereof.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
Governance Agreement provides that the Stockholders shall cause all Shares
beneficially owned by them and/or their affiliates or associates, as of the
record date for the 2011 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company: (i)
to be present for quorum purposes, (ii) to be voted in favor of the nominees
for election as directors of the Company and withheld from any nominee that is
not recommended by the Board, (iii) to be voted in favor of each other matter
brought before such meeting upon the recommendation of the Board and set forth
in the Companys definitive proxy statement for such meeting filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the
SEC
), and (iv) to be voted
against any proposal made by a stockholder that is not recommended by the
Board.
In order to facilitate the
foregoing, under the terms of the Governance Agreement, the Stockholders
granted the Company, subject to certain limitations, an irrevocable proxy to
vote the Shares beneficially owned by the Stockholders in accordance with the
terms of support provisions of the Governance Agreement in the event such
shares are not counted as present and voted at least seven days prior to the
date of the applicable stockholder meeting.
Director Designees
The Governance Agreement further provides that as soon as practicable after the
2011 annual meeting of stockholders of the Company (and in no event later than
June 30, 2011), the Board will increase the size of the Board to seven members
and appoint two designees of INTER RAO to fill the resulting vacancies, provided
that the designees must satisfy the Companys director qualification criteria
provided in the Companys Corporate Governance Guidelines. Such nominees
will serve as Class II and Class III directors, with terms expiring at the
Companys 2013 and 2014 annual meetings of stockholders, respectively.
Upon the expiration of the term of the Class II nominee, the Company shall
re-nominate such INTER RAO nominee (or another individual designated by INTER RAO),
but only if the Stockholders continue to beneficially own Shares representing at
least 20% of the Companys total outstanding Shares. Upon the expiration
of the term of the Class III nominee, the Company shall re-nominate such INTER RAO
nominee (or another individual designated by INTER RAO), provided that the Board
will not be required to make such re-nomination if either (i) the Stockholders
beneficially own Shares representing at least 10% but less than 20% of the
Companys total outstanding Shares and at least one of INTER RAOs
designees is already serving on the Board or INTER RAO has the right to have at
least one designee serving (in each case, other than the Class III nominee), or
(ii) the Stockholders beneficially own less than 10% of the Companys total
outstanding Shares. INTER RAO has
agreed that its director designees shall not be entitled to receive any
compensation from the Company in connection with their service on the Board for
the first year of service as directors of the Company.
Standstill Arrangements
The Governance Agreement also provides that
during the Support Period, none of the Stockholders nor any of their affiliates
or associates will, without the written consent of the Board, directly or
indirectly: (i) with certain limited exceptions, acquire or propose to acquire,
or finance or participate in the financing of the acquisition of, any of the
assets, business or securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, (ii)
form, join, become a member of or in any way participate in a group within
the meaning of Section 13(d)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended (the
Exchange Act
) (other than any group to the extent such
group could be deemed to exist among parties consisting solely of the
Stockholders and/or their affiliates or associates), with respect to any equity
securities of the Company, (iii) solicit proxies for the voting of any
securities of the Company in connection with any election contest, or otherwise
become a participant, directly or indirectly, in any solicitation of proxies in
connection with any election contest or exempt solicitation under Rule
14a-2(b)(1) under the Exchange Act relating to an election contest, or (iv)
nominate or propose any person as a director of the Company, other than
nominations made in a non-public manner in accordance with the policy relating
to the consideration of director candidates recommended by security holders
established from time to time by the Companys Corporate Governance and
Nominating Committee.
The foregoing description of the
Governance Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its
entirety by reference to the Governance Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit
10.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference.
OGK-3 is also a party to the
Companys previously disclosed Investor Rights Agreement and Registration
Rights Agreement, each dated June 29, 2006, as amended, which are included as
Exhibits 10.9 and 10.10, respectively, to the Companys Annual Report on Form
10-K filed with the SEC on March 31, 2011.
Important Information
In connection with the solicitation
of proxies, on April 11, 2011, the Company filed a definitive proxy statement
with the SEC in connection with the Companys 2011 annual meeting of
stockholders. THE COMPANYS STOCKHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO READ THE
DEFINITIVE PROXY MATERIALS AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT MATERIALS FILED BY THE
COMPANY WITH THE SEC BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION BECAUSE
THESE DOCUMENTS CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The Companys proxy statement
and any other materials filed by the Company with the SEC can be obtained free
of charge at the SECs website at www.sec.gov. The Companys definitive proxy
materials are also available for free from the Company at www.plugpower.com, by
writing to Investor Relations at Plug Power Inc., 968 Albany Shaker Road,
Latham, NY 12110, or by calling (518) 782-7700. The contents of the websites referenced
above are not deemed to be incorporated by reference into the proxy statement.
The Company and its directors,
nominees and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the
solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of the Company in connection with
the Companys 2011 annual meeting of stockholders. Information concerning the
interests of participants in the solicitation of proxies is included in the
definitive proxy statement filed by the Company with the SEC on April 11, 2011
in connection with its 2011 annual meeting of stockholders.
Item 3.03 Material Modification to Rights of
Security Holders.
On May
6, 2011, contemporaneously with the
execution of the Governance Agreement, the Company entered into an Amendment (the
Amendment
)
to the Shareholder Rights Agreement, dated as of June 23, 2009, between the
Company and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company LLC, as rights agent
(the
Rights Agreement
). The terms of the Amendment amend the
Rights Agreement to provide that, generally, any deemed ownership of Shares by
INTER RAO and its affiliates or associates will not cause the Preferred Stock
Purchase Rights to become exercisable under the Rights Agreement unless INTER RAO or such affiliates or associates acquire beneficial ownership of Shares
representing more than 34.09% (the
INTER RAO Grandfathered Percentage
)
of the total outstanding Shares.
On March 29, 2011, INTER RAO filed a Form 3 with the SEC disclosing that as of
the date thereof, INTER RAO
directly owned 81.9267% of the shares of OGK-3. OGK-3 is the beneficial owner
of 44,626,939 Shares, or approximately 33.59% of the Company's outstanding
Shares (the
Applicable Shares
). In the Form 3, INTER RAO
disclosed that, by virtue of the acquisition of such OGK-3 shares, INTER RAO
could, pursuant to Section 16 of the Exchange Act, be deemed to have the power
to vote or direct the voting of and the power to dispose or direct the
disposition of, such Shares and that INTER RAO could be deemed to be the
beneficial owner of the Applicable Shares. In its Form 3, INTER RAO
expressly disclaimed, for all purposes, beneficial ownership of all Shares
directly owned by OGK-3 and that such report shall not be deemed an admission
that INTER RAO is the beneficial
owner of such Shares for any purpose. On May 6, 2011, the Company entered
into the Amendment as described above, establishing the INTER RAO Grandfathered
Percentage at 33.59% plus an additional 0.5%. Although INTER RAO has
disclaimed beneficial ownership of the Applicable Shares, the Amendment may not
be effective to exclude INTER RAO from the definition of an acquiring person
under the Rights Agreement if INTER RAO were deemed to have acquired beneficial
ownership of the Applicable Shares prior to execution of the Amendment.
The foregoing description of the
Amendment does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by
reference to the Amendment, which is filed as Exhibit 4.1 hereto and is
incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9.01 Financial
Statements and Exhibits.
(d)
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Exhibits.
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4.1
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Amendment, date as of May 6, 2011, to the Shareholder
Rights Agreement by and between the Company and American Stock Transfer &
Trust Company LLC, as Rights Agent.
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10.1
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Standstill and Support Agreement, dated as of May 6,
2011, by and among the Company, INTER RAO and OGK-3.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to
be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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Plug Power Inc.
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Date: May 6, 2011
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By:
/s/ Andrew Marsh
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Name: Andrew Marsh
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Title: President and Chief
Executive Officer
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