ACTUANT CORPORATION (NYSE:ATU) Files An 8-K Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement

ACTUANT CORPORATION (NYSE:ATU) Files An 8-K Entry into a Material Definitive AgreementItem 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On March 20, 2018, Actuant Corporation (the “Company”) entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) with Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. (“Southeastern”) to which the Company and its Board of Directors agreed to elect J. Palmer Clarkson and Sidney S. Simmons to the Company's Board of Directors. Additionally, Southeastern agreed that, until one day following the Company’s 2019 annual meeting of shareholders, it will not call or seek to call, or encourage any other party to call or seek to call, a special meeting of the shareholders of the Company. The Agreement further specifies Southeastern’s voting requirements and other prohibitions in the event any party other than Southeastern calls or seeks to call a special meeting of the shareholders of the Company.

The Company and Southeastern also made certain customary representations, agreed to mutual non-disparagement provisions and agreed to issue the press release attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto.

The foregoing description of the Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full and complete terms of the Agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.1 hereto.

Item 5.02Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

to the Agreement, on March 20, 2018, the Company elected Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Simmons to the Company's Board of Directors effective the same day. The Company, as part of routine succession and governance planning, also elected Alfredo Altavilla to the Board of Directors effective the same day. Mr. Altavilla, Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Simmons (collectively the “New Directors”) will receive the Company’s standard compensation for non-employee directors, as described in the Company’s proxy statement for its 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 4, 2017.

Mr. Altavilla currently serves as both the Chief Operating Officer of Europe, Africa and the Middle East and as the Head of Business Development at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to his current role, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Iveco (the Trucks and Commercial Vehicles Division of CNH Industrial) and as Director of Chrysler LLC.

Mr. Clarkson is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bridgestone HosePower LLC, the largest U.S. based service provider of hydraulic and industrial hoses used in construction machinery, mining, oil field equipment and general industrial applications.

Mr. Simmons is a corporate attorney focusing on business development, mergers & acquisitions and capital restructuring as part of an independent practice.

In connection with the election of the New Directors, the Company announced that Gurminder S. Bedi, R. Alan Hunter, Jr. and Dennis K. Williams (collectively the “Retiring Directors”) will step down from the Board of Directors effective immediately. In connection with their retirements, any unvested restricted stock granted to the Retiring Directors in January 2018 will vest immediately and all outstanding stock options held by the Retiring Directors will be exercisable through their respective expiration dates.

Following the election of the New Directors and the retirement of the Retiring Directors, the standing committees of the Actuant Corporation Board of Directors – Audit, Compensation, and Nominating & Governance Committees – will have the following membership:

A copy of the press release announcing these appointments is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) The following exhibits are filed as part of this report:

ACTUANT CORP ExhibitEX-10.1 2 exhibit101.htm EXHIBIT 10.1 Exhibit Exhibit 10.1Actuant CorporationN86W12500 Westbrook CrossingMenomonee Falls,…To view the full exhibit click here
About ACTUANT CORPORATION (NYSE:ATU)
Actuant Corporation designs, manufactures and distributes a range of industrial products and systems to various end markets. The Company operates through three segments: Industrial, Energy and Engineered Solutions. The Company’s Industrial segment is primarily involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded hydraulic and mechanical tools to the maintenance, industrial, infrastructure and production automation markets. The Company’s Energy segment provides joint integrity products and services, customized offshore vessel mooring solutions, as well as rope and cable solutions to the global oil and gas, power generation and other energy markets. The Company’s Engineered Solutions segment provides engineered position and motion control systems to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in various on and off-highway vehicle markets, as well as various other products to the industrial and agricultural markets.