UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13D
Under the Securities Act of 1934
(Amendment No. 2)
BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC. (BRKS)
(Name of Issuer)
Common Stock
(Title of Class of Securities)
114340102
(CUSIP Number)
David Nierenberg
The D3 Family Funds
19605 NE 8th Street
Camas, WA 98607
360-604-8600
(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person
Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)
November 17, 2005
(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)
If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report
the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D and is filing this
schedule because of ss.ss.240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the
following box: |_|
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSON
The D3 Family Fund, L.P. (David Nierenberg is president
of the General Partner, which is Nierenberg Investment
Management Company.)
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) |X|
(b) |_|
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3 SEC USE ONLY
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4 SOURCE OF FUNDS*
WC
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5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED
PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) OR 2(e) |_|
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6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Washington
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7 SOLE VOTING POWER
1,527,032 common shares (2.0%)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER OF 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY 0
OWNED BY -----------------------------------------------------------------
EACH 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
REPORTING
PERSON 1,527,032
WITH -----------------------------------------------------------------
10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0
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11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
3,148,802 shares (4.2%)
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12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* |_|
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13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
4.2%
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14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
PN
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*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT!
2
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSON
The D3 Family Retirement Fund, L.P. (David Nierenberg is president of the
General Partner, which is Nierenberg Investment Management Company.)
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) |X|
(b) |_|
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3 SEC USE ONLY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 SOURCE OF FUNDS*
WC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED
PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) OR 2(e) |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Washington
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7 SOLE VOTING POWER
454,000 common shares (0.6%)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER OF 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY 0
OWNED BY -----------------------------------------------------------------
EACH 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
REPORTING
PERSON 454,000
WITH -----------------------------------------------------------------
10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
3,148,802 shares (4.2%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
4.2%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
PN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT!
3
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSON
The D3 Children's Fund, L.P. (David Nierenberg is president of the General
Partner, which is Nierenberg Investment Management Company.)
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) |X|
(b) |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 SEC USE ONLY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 SOURCE OF FUNDS*
WC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED
PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) OR 2(e) |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Washington
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7 SOLE VOTING POWER
116,360 common shares (0.2%)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER OF 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY 0
OWNED BY -----------------------------------------------------------------
EACH 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
REPORTING
PERSON 116,360
WITH -----------------------------------------------------------------
10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
3,148,802 shares (4.2%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
4.2%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
PN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT!
4
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSON
The D3 Offshore Fund, L.P. (David Nierenberg is president of the General
Partner, which is Nierenberg Investment Management Company.)
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) |X|
(b) |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 SEC USE ONLY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 SOURCE OF FUNDS*
WC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED
PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) OR 2(e) |_|
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6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Bahamas
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7 SOLE VOTING POWER
750,160 common shares (1.0%)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER OF 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY 0
OWNED BY -----------------------------------------------------------------
EACH 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
REPORTING
PERSON 750,160
WITH -----------------------------------------------------------------
10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
3,148,802 shares (4.2%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
4.2%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
PN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT!
5
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSON
The D3 Family Bulldog Fund, L.P. (David Nierenberg is
president of the General Partner, which is Nierenberg
Investment Management Company.)
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) |X|
(b) |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 SEC USE ONLY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 SOURCE OF FUNDS*
WC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED
PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) OR 2(e) |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Washington
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7 SOLE VOTING POWER
301,250 common shares (0.4%)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NUMBER OF 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY 0
OWNED BY -----------------------------------------------------------------
EACH 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
REPORTING
PERSON 301,250
WITH -----------------------------------------------------------------
10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
3,148,802 shares (4.2%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* |_|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
4.2%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
PN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT!
6
Item 1. Security and Issuer.
Common stock in BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC. (BRKS) 15 Elizabeth Drive,
Chelmsford, MA 01824-4111.
Item 2. Identity and Background.
The D3 Family Funds are Washington State limited partnerships, whose
principal business is investing in the equities of public micro-cap
issuers. The D3 Family Funds consist of: D3 Family Fund, L.P, D3 Family
Retirement Fund, L.P, D3 Children's Fund, L.P, D3 Offshore Fund, L.P.,
D3 Family Bulldog Fund, L.P. Located at 19605 N.E. 8th St., Camas,
Washington 98607. No convictions or administrative proceedings as
described in 2 (d) and (e).
Item 3. Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration
Source of funds is money invested in the partnership by their partners.
Item 4. Purpose of Transaction
Solely as a result of Brooks' recent acquisition of Helix Technology for
Brooks' stock, our ownership percentage of Brooks has fallen below the
5% filing threshold. We do want to point out, however, that, since
filing our prior 13D we have bought 577,646 more shares of Brooks.
We have made these additional purchases because we continue to believe
that Brooks is extremely undervalued using almost any relevant
definition of value: relative to the company's long term revenue and
earnings growth potential, relative to its strong balance sheet,
relative to its leading competitive position in outsourced tool
automation systems and service, relative to the increasing penetration
of tool outsourcing, and relative to its complete and capable management
team.
We attribute the persistence of Brooks' undervaluation to three short
term factors, all of which we expect to decline in importance over the
coming months. First, some Helix shareholders currently are selling the
Brooks shares they received in exchange for their Helix shares. We
believe this is happening either because they earned an acceptable
return on their Helix investment or because they only invest in
companies which pay dividends, which Brooks does not. Second, Brooks'
software division recently surprised and disappointed the financial
community with weak sales and an operating loss. Corporate management
moved quickly to downsize the software division and narrow sharply its
strategic focus, which had been overbroad. We expect immediate and
substantial improvement in the operating performance of Brooks Software
and further expect that it soon will become, as before, an opportunistic
source of positive cash for the parent. More
7
important, though, is that Brooks' acquisition of Helix makes crystal
clear that the parent's strategic focus is on outsourced tool automation
systems and services. Third, some market pundits have been predicting a
poor retail Christmas, projecting from that, weak consumer electronics
sales, flagging demand for chips, and diminished appetite for
semiconductor capital equipment. To which we respond, based on our
differing assessment of how well consumer electronics seem to be
selling: "Bah, Humbug!"
We do have a second reason for amending our 13D, beyond updating our
ownership numbers. Immediately before Thanksgiving, we sent a letter to
the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of Brooks' Board of
Directors, setting forth our views on several matters of corporate
governance. Unlike many other activist hedge funds, which seem to enjoy
using their letters as rhetorical weapons, we have no plans to take our
letter public. Diplomatic negotiations are best conducted
diplomatically. Moreover, our relationship with Brooks is anything but
adversarial. In fact, we are very pleased with their most recent
addition to the board, which we view as extremely responsive to our
concerns. Our only reason for disclosing the existence of our letter is
that we believe that relevant federal regulations obligate us to do so.
Item 5. Interest in Securities of the Issuer.
(a,b) D3 Family Funds own and have sole voting and dispositive power
over 3,148,802, 4.2% common shares of BRKS.
(c)
Fund Transaction Date Shares Bought Price
D3 Family Fund, L.P. 10/11/2005 45,000 12.72
D3 Family Fund, L.P. 10/27/2005 70,000 11.99
D3 Family Fund, L.P. 10/28/2005 17,700 11.64
D3 Family Retirement Fund, L.P. 10/11/2005 20,000 12.72
D3 Childrens Fund, L.P. 10/28/2005 12,000 11.64
D3 Offshore Fund, L.P. 10/11/2005 30,000 12.72
D3 Offshore Fund, L.P. 10/27/2005 42,500 11.99
D3 Family Bulldog Fund, L.P. 10/11/2005 5,000 12.72
D3 Family Bulldog Fund, L.P. 10/27/2005 50,000 11.99
D3 Family Bulldog Fund, L.P. 10/28/2005 25,000 11.64
(d) N/A
(e) N/A
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Item 6. Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships with Respect to
Securities of the Issuer.
N/A
Item 7. Material to be Filed as Exhibits
N/A
SIGNATURE
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, each of the
undersigned certifies that the information set forth in the Statement is true,
complete and correct.
December 9, 2005 /s/ DAVID NIERENBERG
----------------------------------------
David Nierenberg
President
Nierenberg Investment Management
Company, Inc., the General Partner of
The D3 Family Funds
9