Cendant Corporation 8K dated September 1, 2006
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
DC 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): September
5, 2006 (September 1, 2006)
_________________
Avis
Budget Group, Inc.
(Exact
Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
_________________
Delaware
|
1-10308
|
06-0918165
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(State
or Other Jurisdiction
of
Incorporation)
|
(Commission
File
Number)
|
(IRS
Employer
Identification
No.)
|
6
Sylvan Way
Parsippany,
NJ
|
07054
|
(Address
of Principal Executive Offices)
|
(Zip
Code)
|
(973)
496-4700
(Registrant's
telephone number, including area code)
Cendant
Corporation
9
West 57th
Street
New
York, NY 10019
(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 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
September 1, 2006, Avis Budget Group, Inc. (the “Company”) amended and restated
its Rights Agreement, dated as of July 13, 2006, between the Company and Mellon
Investor Services LLC as Rights Agent to reflect the issuance of the Company's
Common Stock in uncertificated form and to reflect the change of the Company's
name from Cendant Corporation (“Cendant”) to Avis Budget Group, Inc. The
complete text of the Amended and Restated Rights Agreement is attached hereto
as
Exhibit 4.1, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item
3.03. Material Modification to Rights of Security Holders.
The
disclosure in Item 1.01 regarding the Amended and Restated Rights Plan and
in
Item 5.03 regarding the reverse stock split, redesignation of the Company’s
common stock and the decrease in authorized shares are incorporated by reference
into this Item 3.03.
Item
5.03. Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.
On
August
29, 2006, at the Cendant Corporation (currently known as Avis Budget Group,
Inc.) 2006 annual meeting of stockholders, the stockholders approved certain
amendments to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amendments”). The
Amendments were filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware
on
September 1, 2006, at which time the Amendments became effective. The Amendments
are as follows:
Name
change.
The
name of the Company in the Certificate of Incorporation has been changed from
Cendant Corporation to Avis Budget Group, Inc. (the “Name Change”).
Reverse
Stock Split.
The
Company has amended its Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse split
on a one for ten (1:10) basis so that ten (10) shares of old common stock shall
be converted into and reconstituted as one (1) share of new common stock. The
name change to Avis Budget Group, Inc. and the one-for-ten reverse stock split
became effective on the New York Stock Exchange at the opening of the market
on
September 5, 2006 and, at that time, its trading symbol was changed to
“CAR.”
Redesignation
of Common Stock.
The
Company has amended its Certificate of Incorporation to redesignate its series
of common stock presently designated as “Cendant Corporation-CD Common Stock” in
its Certificate of Incorporation to “Common Stock” and, to remove all references
to the series of common stock defined as “Move.com Stock”. The rights of the
holders of the redesignated common stock are identical to the rights associated
with Cendant Corporation-CD common stock. The holders of common stock are
entitled to receive an uncertificated share of common stock for each share
of
Cendant Corporation-CD Common Stock that they currently hold, subject to the
impact of the reverse stock split described above. The Company will mail to
the
holders of Common Stock in certificated form a Letter of Transmittal with
instructions that explain how to return certificated shares of Common Stock
to
enable stockholders to receive uncertificated shares of Common Stock to which
they are entitled following the redesignation and reverse stock split of the
Company’s common stock. Unexchanged certificates represent the number of full
shares of reclassified Common Stock to which such holders are entitled, after
giving effect to the one-for-ten reverse stock split and the
redesignation.
Holders of unexchanged certificates are not entitled to receive any dividends
or
other distributions, including cash in lieu of fractional shares, payable by
the
Company since the reverse stock split became effective, until the certificates
have been surrendered together with a duly completed and executed Letter of
Transmittal. Such dividends and distributions, if any, will be accumulated,
and
at the time of surrender of the certificates together with a duly completed
and
executed Letter of Transmittal, all such unpaid dividends or distributions
will
be paid without interest. In addition, if holders of unexchanged certificates
do
not surrender their shares for exchange, within the period provided for under
applicable state law, the state such holder lives in may become the guardian
of
his or her holding as abandoned property.
Decrease
in Shares.
The
Company has amended its Certificate of Incorporation to decrease the number
of
authorized shares of the Company’s common stock from 2,000,000,000 shares to
250,000,000 shares.
The
foregoing descriptions of the Amendments are qualified in their entirety by
reference to the complete text of the Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation of Cendant Corporation, a copy of which is attached hereto as
Exhibit 3.1, and incorporated herein by reference.
On
August
24, 2006, the Company’s Board of Directors approved amendments to the By-Laws of
the Company to, among other things, (i) fix the number of directors constituting
the Audit Committee at three (formerly consisted of not less than four), (ii)
reflect the Name Change and (iii) delete the independence criteria for audit
committee members as the New York Stock Exchange governance standards, the
Company's director independence criteria and applicable SEC rules have
replaced such criteria.
The
Amended and Restated By-Laws became effective on September 1, 2006. The
foregoing description of the amendments to the Company’s By-Laws is qualified in
its entirety by reference to the complete text of the Amended and Restated
By-Laws, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.2, and incorporated
herein by reference.
Item
9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d)
Exhibits.
The
following exhibits are filed as part of this report:
Exhibit
No.
|
|
Description
|
3.1
|
|
Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Cendant
Corporation
|
3.2
|
|
Amended
and Restated By-Laws of Avis Budget Group, Inc.
|
4.1
|
|
Amended
and Restated Rights Agreement between Avis Budget Group, Inc. and
Mellon
Investor Services LLC, dated as of September 1, 2006 (Incorporated
by
reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Amendment No. 1 to the Company’s Registration
Statement on Form 8-A dated September 5,
2006).
|
SIGNATURE
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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|
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AVIS
BUDGET GROUP, INC.
|
|
|
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By:
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/s/
Jean M. Sera
|
|
|
|
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Jean
M. Sera
Senior
Vice President and Secretary
|
|
Date:
September 5, 2006
EXHIBIT
INDEX
Exhibit
No.
|
|
Description
|
3.1
|
|
Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Cendant
Corporation
|
3.2
|
|
Amended
and Restated By-Laws of Avis Budget Group, Inc.
|
4.1
|
|
Amended
and Restated Rights Agreement between Avis Budget Group, Inc. and
Mellon
Investor Services LLC, dated as of September 1, 2006 (Incorporated
by
reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Amendment No. 1 to the Company’s Registration
Statement on Form 8-A dated September 5,
2006).
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