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Offer
to Purchase for Cash
Up
to 3,500,000 Shares of its Common Stock
(including
Associated Preferred Share Purchase Rights)
At
a Purchase Price Not Greater Than $2.60
Nor
Less Than $1.80 Per Share
by
Aware,
Inc.
THE
TENDER OFFER, PRORATION PERIOD AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS WILL EXPIRE AT 5:00 P.M.,
NEW YORK CITY TIME, ON APRIL 2, 2009, UNLESS AWARE EXTENDS THE TENDER
OFFER.
March 5,
2009
To
Brokers, Dealers, Commercial Banks, Trust Companies and Other
Nominees:
Aware,
Inc., a Massachusetts corporation (“Aware” or “we”), is proposing to purchase
for cash up to 3,500,000 shares of its
common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “shares”), including the associated
preferred share purchase rights issued under the Rights Agreement dated as of
October 2, 2001 between Aware and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as Rights
Agent, as amended on September 6, 2007, at a price per share not greater than
$2.60 nor less than $1.80, net to the seller in cash, without interest, upon the
terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the offer to purchase, dated
March 5, 2009, and the related letter of transmittal (which, together with any
supplements or amendments thereto, collectively constitute the “tender offer”).
Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the shares include the associated
preferred share purchase rights, and a tender of shares includes a tender of the
associated rights. Please furnish copies of the enclosed materials to
those of your clients for whom you hold shares registered in your name or in the
name of your nominee.
Given the
prices specified by tendering stockholders and the number of shares properly
tendered and not properly withdrawn, we will select the lowest price between
(and including) $2.60 and $1.80 per share (the “Purchase Price”) that will
enable us to purchase 3,500,000 shares, or, if a lesser number of shares is
properly tendered, all shares that are properly tendered and not properly
withdrawn. All shares purchased by us under the tender offer will be purchased
at the same per share price.
All
shares properly tendered before the expiration date (as specified in Section 1
of the offer to purchase) at prices at or below the Purchase Price and not
validly withdrawn will be purchased by us at the Purchase Price, net to the
seller in cash, without interest, upon the terms and subject to the conditions
of the tender offer, including the “odd lot,” proration and conditional tender
provisions thereof. See Section 1 of the offer to purchase. Shares tendered at
prices in excess of the Purchase Price and shares that we do not accept for
purchase because of proration or conditional tenders will be returned at our
expense to the stockholders that tendered such shares, as promptly as
practicable after the expiration date. We expressly reserve the right, in our
sole discretion, to purchase more than 3,500,000 shares under the tender offer,
subject to applicable law.
If, at
the expiration date, more than 3,500,000 shares (or such greater number of
shares as we may elect to purchase, subject to applicable law) are properly
tendered at or below the Purchase Price and not properly withdrawn, we will buy
shares:
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first,
from all holders of “odd lots” (holders of less than 100 shares) who
properly tender all their shares at or below the Purchase Price
and do not properly withdraw them before the expiration
date;
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second,
on a pro rata basis from all other stockholders who properly tender shares
at or below the Purchase Price, other than stockholders who tender
conditionally and whose conditions are not
satisfied; and
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third,
only if necessary to permit us to purchase 3,500,000 shares (or such
greater number of shares as we may elect to purchase, subject to
applicable law) from holders who have tendered shares subject to the
condition that we purchase a specified minimum number of the holder’s
shares if we purchase any of the holder’s shares in the tender offer (for
which the condition was not initially satisfied) at or below the Purchase
Price by random lot, to the extent feasible. To be eligible for purchase
by random lot, stockholders whose shares are conditionally tendered must
have tendered all of their shares.
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The tender offer is not conditioned on
any minimum number of shares being tendered. The tender offer is, however,
subject to other conditions. See Section 7 of the offer to
purchase.
For your
information and for forwarding to your clients for whom you hold shares
registered in your name or in the name of your nominee, we are enclosing the
following documents:
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1.
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Offer
to Purchase, dated March 5, 2009;
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2.
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Letter
to Clients, which you may send to your clients for whom you hold shares
registered in your name or in the name of your nominee, with an
accompanying Instruction Form provided for obtaining such clients’
instructions with regard to the tender
offer;
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3.
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Letter
of Transmittal, for your use and for the information of your clients,
together with accompanying instructions, Substitute Form W-9,
Guidelines of the Internal Revenue Service for Certification of Taxpayer
Identification Number on Substitute Form W-9, Substitute Form W-8BEN
and Instructions for Substitute Form W-8BEN;
and
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4.
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Notice
of Guaranteed Delivery, to be used to accept the tender offer in the event
that you are unable to deliver the share certificates, together with all
other required documents, to the depositary before the expiration date, or
if the procedure for book-entry transfer cannot be completed before the
expiration date.
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WE URGE YOU TO CONTACT YOUR CLIENTS AS
PROMPTLY AS POSSIBLE. THE TENDER OFFER, PRORATION PERIOD AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS
WILL EXPIRE AT 5:00 P.M., NEW YORK CITY TIME, ON APRIL 2, 2009, UNLESS
AWARE EXTENDS THE TENDER OFFER.
No fees
or commissions will be payable to brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust
companies or any person for soliciting tenders of shares under the tender offer
other than fees paid to the dealer manager and the information agent, as
described in the offer to purchase. We will, however, upon request, reimburse
brokers, dealers, commercial banks and trust companies for reasonable and
necessary costs and expenses incurred by them in forwarding the enclosed
materials to their customers who are beneficial owners of shares held by them as
a nominee or in a fiduciary capacity. We will pay or cause to be paid any stock
transfer taxes applicable to our purchase of shares pursuant to the tender
offer, except as otherwise provided in the offer to purchase and letter of
transmittal (see Instruction 9 of the letter of transmittal). No broker, dealer,
bank, trust company or fiduciary shall be deemed to be an agent of Aware, the
dealer manager, the information agent or the depositary or any affiliate of the
foregoing for purposes of the tender offer.
For
shares to be properly tendered pursuant to the tender offer, the depositary must
timely receive (1) the share certificates or confirmation of receipt of such
shares under the procedure for book-entry transfer, together with a properly
completed and duly executed letter of transmittal, including any required
signature guarantees or an “agent’s message” (as defined in the offer to
purchase and the letter of transmittal) and any other documents required
pursuant to the tender offer, or (2) the tendering stockholder must comply with
the guaranteed delivery procedures, all in accordance with the instructions set
forth in the offer to purchase and letter of transmittal.
Stockholders
(a) whose share certificate(s) are not immediately available or who will be
unable to deliver to the depositary the certificate(s) for the shares being
tendered and all other required documents before the expiration date, or
(b) who cannot complete the procedures for book-entry transfer before the
expiration date, must tender their shares according to the procedure for
guaranteed delivery set forth in Section 3 of the offer to
purchase.
None of Aware, its Board of Directors,
the dealer manager or the information agent makes any recommendation to any
stockholder as to whether to tender or refrain from tendering all or any shares
or as to the price or prices at which to tender. Holders of shares
must make their own decision as to whether to tender shares and, if so, how many
shares to tender and at which price or prices.
Please
address any inquiries you may have with respect to the tender offer to the
information agent, Georgeson Inc., at its address set forth on the back cover
page of the offer to purchase and telephone number set forth below.
You may
obtain additional copies of the enclosed material from Georgeson Inc. by calling
them at: (800) 262-0158 or (212) 440-9800.
Capitalized
terms used but not defined herein have the meanings assigned to them in the
offer to purchase and the letter of transmittal.
Enclosures
NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN OR IN THE
ENCLOSED DOCUMENTS SHALL CONSTITUTE YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON AN AGENT OF AWARE,
THE DEALER MANAGER, THE INFORMATION AGENT OR THE DEPOSITARY OR ANY AFFILIATE OF
THE FOREGOING, 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 TENDER OFFER OTHER
THAN THE DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED HEREWITH AND THE STATEMENTS CONTAINED
THEREIN.
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