Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
Merger Agreement
On March 9, 2021, WSFS Financial Corporation ("WSFS"), a Delaware corporation
and the parent holding company of Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB ("WSFS
Bank"), and Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation ("Bryn Mawr"), a Pennsylvania corporation
and the parent holding company of Bryn Mawr Trust Company ("Bryn Mawr Bank"),
entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Agreement"), pursuant to
which, subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, among other things,
(i) Bryn Mawr will merge with and into WSFS (the "Merger"), with WSFS continuing
as the surviving corporation in the Merger and (ii) simultaneously with the
Merger, Bryn Mawr Bank will merge with and into WSFS Bank, with WSFS Bank
continuing as the surviving bank (together with the Merger, the "Mergers").
Subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, upon the consummation of
the Merger, each share of common stock, par value $1.00 per share, of Bryn Mawr
("Bryn Mawr Common Stock"), will be converted into the right to receive 0.90 of
a share of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of WSFS ("WSFS Common
Stock").
The Agreement contains customary representations and warranties and covenants by
WSFS and Bryn Mawr, including, among others, covenants relating to (1) the
conduct of each party's business during the period prior to the consummation of
the Merger, (2) each party's obligations to facilitate its stockholders'
consideration of, and voting upon, the Agreement and the Merger as well as, in
the case of WSFS, the issuance of shares of WSFS Common Stock in connection with
the Merger (the "WSFS Share Issuance"), (3) the recommendation by the parties'
respective boards of directors in favor of approval of the Agreement and the
Mergers, and, in the case of WSFS, the WSFS Share Issuance, and (4) Bryn Mawr's
non-solicitation obligations relating to alternative business combination
transactions. Furthermore, the Agreement provides that, following the
consummation of the Merger, three current directors of Bryn Mawr will join the
WSFS board of directors.
The Merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including, among others,
(1) approval of the Merger by the stockholders of Bryn Mawr and WSFS and the
approval of the WSFS Share Issuance by the stockholders of WSFS, (2) receipt of
required regulatory approvals, (3) the absence of any law or order prohibiting
the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Agreement (including
the Mergers), (4) the effectiveness of the registration statement for the WSFS
Common Stock to be issued in the Merger and (5) the approval of the listing on
the Nasdaq Global Select Market of the WSFS Common Stock to be issued in the
Merger.
Each party's obligation to consummate the Mergers is also subject to certain
additional customary conditions, including, among others, (1) subject to certain
exceptions, the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the other
party, (2) performance in all material respects by the other party of its
obligations under the Agreement and (3) receipt by each party of an opinion from
its respective counsel to the effect that the Mergers will qualify as a
"reorganization" within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended. WSFS' obligation to consummate the Mergers is also
subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals without the imposition of a
condition that would be materially financially burdensome to the business,
operations, financial condition or results of operations of WSFS and its
subsidiaries, taken as a whole, after giving effect to the Merger.
The Agreement provides certain termination rights for both WSFS and Bryn Mawr
and further provides that a termination fee of $37,725,000 will be payable by
Bryn Mawr upon termination of the Agreement under certain circumstances.
The representations, warranties and covenants of each party set forth in the
Agreement have been made only for purposes of, and were and are solely for the
benefit of the parties to, the Agreement, may be subject to limitations agreed
upon by the contracting parties, including being qualified by confidential
disclosures made for the purposes of allocating contractual risk between the
parties to the Agreement instead of establishing these matters as facts, and may
be subject to standards of materiality applicable to the contracting parties
that differ from those applicable to investors. Accordingly, the representations
and warranties may not describe the actual state of affairs at the date they
were made or at any other time, and investors should not rely on them as
statements of fact. In addition, such representations and warranties (1) will
not survive consummation of the Mergers, unless otherwise specified therein, and
(2) were made only as of the date of the Agreement or such other date as is
specified in the Agreement. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter
of the representations, warranties and covenants may change after the date of
the Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in
the parties' public disclosures. Accordingly, the Agreement is included with
this filing only to provide investors with information regarding the terms of
the Agreement, and not to provide investors with any other factual information
regarding WSFS or Bryn Mawr, their respective affiliates or their respective
businesses. The Agreement should not be read alone, but should instead be read
in conjunction with the other information regarding WSFS, Bryn Mawr, their
respective affiliates or their respective businesses, the Agreement and the
Mergers that will be contained in, or incorporated by reference into, the
Registration Statement on Form S-4 that will include a joint proxy statement of
WSFS and Bryn Mawr and a prospectus of WSFS, as well as in the Forms 10-K, Forms
10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings that each of WSFS and Bryn Mawr make, as
applicable, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").
The foregoing summary of the Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its
entirety by reference to the complete text of the Agreement, which is filed as
Exhibit 2.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, and incorporated by reference
herein.
Voting Agreement
In connection with the Agreement, WSFS entered into a Voting Agreements with
Bryn Mawr, and each director of Bryn Mawr and each executive officer of Bryn
Mawr, a form of which is attached to this Current Report as Exhibit 99.1 (the
"Voting Agreements"). The Voting Agreements require, among other things, that
the shareholder party thereto vote all of his or her shares of Bryn Mawr Common
Stock in favor of the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the
Agreement and against alternative transactions and not to, directly or
indirectly, assign, sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of their shares of Bryn
Mawr Common Stock, subject to certain exceptions.
The foregoing description of the Voting Agreements does not purport to be
complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the form of Voting
Agreement, which is attached to this Current Report as Exhibit 99.1, and
incorporated by reference herein.
Important Additional Information will be Filed with the SEC
This Current Report on Form 8-K 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 with respect to the proposed acquisition by WSFS of Bryn Mawr. No offer
of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the
requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and no offer to sell or
solicitation of an offer to buy shall be made in any jurisdiction in which such
offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or
qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
In connection with the proposed transaction, WSFS will file with the SEC a
Registration Statement on Form S-4 that will include a joint proxy statement of
WSFS and Bryn Mawr and a prospectus of WSFS (the "Joint Proxy/Prospectus"), and
each of WSFS and Bryn Mawr may file with the SEC other relevant documents
concerning the proposed transaction. The definitive Joint Proxy/Prospectus will
be mailed to stockholders of WSFS and Bryn Mawr. STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ
THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND THE JOINT PROXY/PROSPECTUS REGARDING THE PROPOSED
TRANSACTION CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND ANY
OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC BY WSFS AND BRYN MAWR, AS WELL AS
ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT WSFS, BRYN MAWR AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Free copies of the Registration Statement and the Joint Proxy/Prospectus, as
well as other filings containing information about WSFS and Bryn Mawr, may be
obtained at the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov) when they are filed. You will
also be able to obtain these documents, when they are filed, free of charge, by
directing a request to WSFS Financial Corporation, WSFS Bank Center, 500
Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 or by directing a request to Bryn
Mawr Bank Corporation, 801 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010.
Participants in the Solicitation
WSFS, Bryn Mawr and certain of their respective directors and executive officers
may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the
stockholders of WSFS or Bryn Mawr in respect of the proposed transaction.
Information about WSFS's directors and executive officers is available in its
proxy statement for its 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed
with the SEC on March 23, 2020, and other documents filed by WSFS with the SEC.
Information regarding Bryn Mawr's directors and executive officers is available
in its proxy statement for its 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, which was
filed with the SEC on March 6, 2020, and other documents filed by Bryn Mawr with
the SEC. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC,
be deemed participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their
direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be
contained in the Joint Proxy/Prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed
with the SEC when they become available. Free copies of this document may be
obtained as described in the preceding paragraph.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report on Form 8-K contains estimates, predictions, opinions,
projections and other "forward-looking statements" as that phrase is defined in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements
include, without limitation, statements relating to the impact WSFS and Bryn
Mawr expect their proposed merger to have on the combined entity's operations,
financial condition, and financial results, and WSFS's and Bryn Mawr's
expectations about their ability to successfully integrate their respective
businesses and the amount of cost savings and overall operational efficiencies
WSFS and Bryn Mawr expect to realize as a result of the proposed acquisition.
The forward-looking statements also include predications or expectations of
future business or financial performance as well as goals and objectives for
future operations, financial and business trends, business prospects, and
management's outlook or expectations for earnings, revenues, expenses, capital
levels, liquidity levels, asset quality or other future financial or business
performance, strategies or expectations. The words "believe," "intend,"
"expect," "anticipate," "strategy," "plan," "estimate," "approximately,"
"target," "project," "propose," "possible," "potential," "should" and similar
expressions, among others, generally identify forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions (many of which are
beyond the control of WSFS and Bryn Mawr) and are subject to risks and
uncertainties (which change over time) and other factors which could cause
actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Such risks
and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the possibility that the
proposed acquisition does not close when expected or at all because required
regulatory, stockholder or other approvals and other conditions to closing are
not received or satisfied on a timely basis or at all; the delay in or failure
to close for any other reason; changes in WSFS's share price before closing; the
outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against WSFS or Bryn
Mawr; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give
rise to the right of one or both parties to terminate the merger agreement
providing for the merger; the risk that the businesses of WSFS and Bryn Mawr
will not be integrated successfully; the possibility that the cost savings and
any synergies or other anticipated benefits from the proposed acquisition may
not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; disruption
from the proposed acquisition making it more difficult to maintain relationships
with employees, customers or other parties with whom WSFS or Bryn Mawr have
business relationships; diversion of management time on merger-related issues;
risks relating to the potential dilutive effect of the shares of WSFS common
stock to be issued in the proposed transaction; the reaction to the proposed
transaction of the companies' customers, employees and counterparties;
uncertainty as to the extent of the duration, scope, and impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic on WSFS, Bryn Mawr and the proposed transaction; and other factors,
many of which are beyond the control of WSFS and Bryn Mawr. We refer you to the
"Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations" sections of WSFS's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2020, Bryn Mawr's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2020 and any updates to those risk factors set forth in
WSFS's and Bryn Mawr's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form
8-K and other filings, which have been filed by WSFS and Bryn Mawr with the SEC
and are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking
statements, expressed or implied, included herein are expressly qualified in
their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to herein. The
actual results or developments anticipated may not be realized or, even if
. . .
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
Number Description
2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated March 9, 2021, by and between WSFS
Financial Corporation and Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation*
99.1 Form of Voting Agreement, dated March 9, 2021, by and between WSFS
Financial Corporation, Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation and certain
shareholders of Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL
document)
* Schedules have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. A
copy of any omitted schedule will be furnished supplementally to the SEC upon
request; provided, however, that the parties may request confidential treatment
pursuant to Rule 24b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for
any document so furnished.
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