EX-99.A.1.IV 5 d642137dex99a1iv.htm EX-99.A.1.IV EX-99.A.1.IV

Exhibit (a)(1)(iv)

Offer to Purchase for Cash

All Outstanding Shares of Common Stock

of

Spark Therapeutics, Inc.

at

$114.50 Net per Share

Pursuant to the Offer to Purchase Dated March 7, 2019

by

022019 Merger Subsidiary, Inc.

a wholly owned subsidiary of

Roche Holdings, Inc.

 

THE OFFER AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS EXPIRE AT 12:00 MIDNIGHT, NEW YORK CITY TIME, AT THE END OF THE DAY ON APRIL 3, 2019, UNLESS THE OFFER IS EXTENDED OR EARLIER TERMINATED.

March 7, 2019

To Brokers, Dealers, Commercial Banks, Trust Companies and Other Nominees:

We have been engaged by 022019 Merger Subsidiary, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Purchaser”) and a wholly owned subsidiary of Roche Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Parent”), to act as the dealer manager (the “Dealer Manager”) in connection with Purchaser’s offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Shares”), of Spark Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Spark”), at a purchase price of $114.50 per Share (the “Offer Price”), net to the seller in cash, without interest, subject to any required withholding of taxes and upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated March 7, 2019 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Offer to Purchase”) and the related Letter of Transmittal (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Letter of Transmittal” and, together with the Offer to Purchase, the “Offer”) enclosed herewith.

Please furnish copies of the enclosed materials to those of your clients for whose accounts you hold Shares registered in your name or in the name of your nominee.

Enclosed herewith for your information and forwarding to your clients for whose accounts you hold Shares registered in your name or in the name of your nominee are copies of the following documents:

 

  1.

The Offer to Purchase.

 

  2.

The related Letter of Transmittal for your use in accepting the Offer and tendering Shares and for the information of your clients. Facsimile copies of the Letter of Transmittal may be used to tender Shares.

 

  3.

IRS Form W-9 and instructions providing information relating to federal income tax backup withholding.

 

  4.

Notice of Guaranteed Delivery to be used to accept the Offer if certificates for Shares and all other required documents cannot be delivered to Citibank, N.A., the depositary for the Offer (the “Depositary”), or if the procedures for book-entry transfer cannot be completed, prior to the expiration of the Offer.

 

  5.

A form of letter which may be sent to your clients for whose accounts you hold Shares registered in your name or in the name of your nominee, with space provided for obtaining such clients’ instructions with regard to the Offer.

 

  6.

Spark’s Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 dated March 7, 2019.

 

  7.

A return envelope addressed to the Depositary.


YOUR PROMPT ACTION IS REQUESTED. WE URGE YOU TO CONTACT YOUR CLIENTS AS PROMPTLY AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE OFFER AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS EXPIRE AT 12:00 MIDNIGHT, NEW YORK CITY TIME, AT THE END OF THE DAY ON APRIL 3, 2019, UNLESS THE OFFER IS EXTENDED.

The Offer is being made pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 22, 2019 (the “Merger Agreement”), among Spark, Parent and Purchaser. The Merger Agreement provides, among other things, that as soon as practicable after consummation of the Offer and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the other conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, Purchaser will merge with and into Spark (the “Merger”), with Spark continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. At the effective time of the Merger, each outstanding Share (other than Shares held by Spark, any of its subsidiaries, Parent, us or any subsidiary of Parent, or any stockholders who have properly exercised their appraisal rights under Section 262 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”)) will be converted into the right to receive the Offer Price, net to the seller in cash, without interest, subject to any required withholding of taxes. No appraisal rights are available in connection with the Offer. However, pursuant to the DGCL, if the Merger is consummated, stockholders who do not tender their Shares in the Offer will have the right, by fully complying with the applicable provisions of Section 262 of the DGCL, to choose not to accept the consideration payable for their Shares pursuant to the Merger, and instead to demand an appraisal of their Shares by the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and receive a cash payment of the “fair value” of their Shares as of the effective time of the Merger as determined by the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware. The “fair value” of such Shares as of the effective time of the Merger may be more than, less than, or equal to the Offer Price. The Merger Agreement is more fully described in Section 13 of the Offer to Purchase.

The board of directors of Spark (the “Spark Board”) has duly and unanimously (i) approved, adopted and declared advisable the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the Offer and the Merger; (ii) determined that the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, including the Offer and the Merger, are in the best interests of Spark and its stockholders; (iii) agreed that the Merger Agreement will be effected under Section 251(h) of the DGCL; and (iv) resolved to recommend that the holders of the Shares accept the Offer and tender their Shares to Purchaser pursuant to the Offer. Spark has been advised that all of its directors and executive officers intend to tender all of their transferrable Shares pursuant to the Offer.

The Offer is conditioned upon, among other things, (1) there being validly tendered in accordance with the terms of the Offer (and “received” as defined in Section 251(h) of the DGCL), and not validly withdrawn, that number of Shares that, considered together with all other Shares (if any) owned by Parent and its affiliates (excluding any Shares tendered pursuant to guaranteed delivery procedures that have not yet been “received”), represent at least one more than 50% of the total number of Shares outstanding immediately after the consummation of the Offer (referred to as the “Minimum Condition”); and (2) the expiration or termination of the waiting period (and any extension thereof) or receipt of clearance under (A) the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, as amended, and (B) any other competition, merger control, trade regulation, antitrust or similar laws applicable to the Offer and the Merger, in either case, without the imposition of any requirement that Parent or Purchaser, except solely with respect to Spark and its subsidiaries, and solely with respect to (and limited to) Spark’s developmental products and programs (other than any Hemophilia A programs or products, including SPK-8011 and SPK-8016) that are or would be competitive with the products and programs of Parent and its affiliates or in which Parent and its affiliates own or control any interest (w) sell, divest, license, hold separate or otherwise dispose of any asset, interest or business of Parent or its affiliates or Spark or its subsidiaries, (x) permit Spark or its subsidiaries to sell, divest, license, hold separate or otherwise dispose of any of their assets, interests, or businesses prior to the effective time of the Merger, (y) terminate, relinquish, modify, transfer, assign, restructure or waive existing agreements, collaborations, relationships, ventures, contractual rights, obligations or other arrangements of Parent, Spark or their respective subsidiaries and (z) undertake any other behavioral remedy or commitment whatsoever including but not limited to creating or consenting to create any relationships, ventures, contractual rights, obligations, or other arrangements of Parent or Spark or their respective subsidiaries and, in each case, to enter, or to offer to enter, into agreements and stipulate to the entry of an order or decree or file appropriate applications with any governmental entity in connection with any of the


foregoing and in the case of actions by or with respect to Spark or its subsidiaries or their businesses or assets, by consenting to such action by any of Spark or its subsidiaries. These and other conditions to the Offer are described in Sections 15 and 16 of the Offer to Purchase.

Purchaser will not pay any fees or commissions to any broker, dealer or any other person (other than to Mackenzie Partners, Inc. (the “Information Agent”) and the Depositary as described in the Offer to Purchase) for soliciting tenders of Shares pursuant to the Offer. Purchaser will, however, upon request, reimburse brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust companies and other nominees for reasonable and necessary costs and expenses incurred by them in forwarding the enclosed materials to their clients.

Purchaser will pay all stock transfer taxes applicable to its purchase of Shares pursuant to the Offer, subject to Instruction 6 of the Letter of Transmittal.

In order to take advantage of the Offer, a duly executed and properly completed Letter of Transmittal (or a manually signed facsimile thereof), or an Agent’s Message (as defined in the Offer to Purchase) in connection with a book-entry transfer of Shares, and any other required documents, should be sent to the Depositary, and certificates representing the tendered Shares should be delivered or such Shares should be tendered by book-entry transfer, all in accordance with the instructions contained in the Letter of Transmittal and the Offer to Purchase.

If holders of Shares wish to tender, but it is impracticable for them to forward their certificates or other required documents or to complete the procedures for delivery by book-entry transfer prior to the expiration of the Offer, a tender may be effected by following the guaranteed delivery procedures described in Section 3 of the Offer to Purchase.

Any inquiries you may have with respect to the Offer should be addressed to, and additional copies of the enclosed materials may be obtained from, the undersigned or the Information Agent at their respective addresses and telephone numbers set forth on the back cover of the Offer to Purchase.

Very truly yours,

NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN OR IN THE ENCLOSED DOCUMENTS SHALL RENDER YOU THE AGENT OF PARENT, PURCHASER, THE DEALER MANAGER, THE INFORMATION AGENT OR THE DEPOSITARY, OR ANY AFFILIATE OF ANY OF THEM, OR AUTHORIZE YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON TO USE ANY DOCUMENT OR MAKE ANY STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF ANY OF THEM IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFER OTHER THAN THE DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED HEREWITH AND THE STATEMENTS CONTAINED THEREIN.