SCHEDULE TO

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

SCHEDULE TO

TENDER OFFER STATEMENT UNDER SECTION 14(D)(1) OR 13(E)(1)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

 

 

SOUTHWALL TECHNOLOGIES INC.

(Name of Subject Company (Issuer))

 

BACKBONE ACQUISITION SUB, INC.

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of

 

SOLUTIA INC.

(Names of Filing Persons (Offerors))

 

 

 

COMMON STOCK, $0.001 PAR VALUE

(Title of Class of Securities)

 

844909200

(CUSIP Number of Class of Securities)

 

Paul J. Berra, III

Senior Vice President, Legal and Governmental Affairs

and General Counsel

Solutia Inc.

575 Maryville Centre Drive

P.O. Box 66760

St. Louis, Missouri 63166-6760

(314) 674-1000

(Name, address, and telephone number of person authorized to receive notices and communications on behalf of filing persons)

 

 

Copies to:

 

William B. Sorabella, Esq.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

601 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10022

(212) 446-4800

CALCULATION OF FILING FEE

 

 

Transaction Valuation   Amount of Filing Fee
N/A   N/A

 

 

 

¨ Check the box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing with which the offsetting fee was previously paid. Identify the previous filing by registration statement number, or the form or schedule and the date of its filing.

 

Amount Previously Paid: N/A    Filing Party: N/A
Form of Registration No.: N/A    Date Filed: N/A

 

x Check the box if the filing relates solely to preliminary communications made before the commencement of a tender offer.

Check the appropriate boxes below to designate any transactions to which the statement relates:

 

  x Third-party tender offer subject to Rule 14d-1.
  ¨ Issuer tender offer subject to Rule 13e-4.
  ¨ Going-private transaction subject to Rule 13e-3.
  ¨ Amendment to Schedule 13D under Rule 13d-2.

Check the following box if the filing is a final amendment reporting the results of the tender offer.  ¨

If applicable, check the appropriate box(es) below to designate the appropriate rule provision(s) relied upon:

 

  ¨ Rule 13e-4(i) (Cross-Border Issuer Tender Offer)
  ¨ Rule 14d-1(d) (Cross-Border Third-Party Tender Offer)

 

 

 


This filing relates solely to preliminary communications made before the commencement of a planned tender offer by Backbone Acquisition Sub, Inc. (“Purchaser”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Solutia Inc. (“Parent”), for all of the outstanding common stock of Southwall Technologies Inc. (the “Company”), to be commenced pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 6, 2011, by and among Parent, Purchaser and the Company.

The exhibits are neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell securities. The tender offer for the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock described in this filing has not commenced. At the time the offer is commenced, Parent will file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and the Company will file a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9, with respect to the offer. The tender offer statement (including an offer to purchase, a related letter of transmittal and other offer documents) and the solicitation/recommendation statement will contain important information that should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the tender offer. Those materials will be made available to the Company’s stockholders at no expense to them. In addition, all of those materials (and all other offer documents filed with the SEC) will be available at no charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.


EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit
Number

  

Description

99.1    Press Release dated October 7, 2011
99.2    Transcript dated October 7, 2011
99.3    Communication to Parent employees dated October 7, 2011