As filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 5, 2008
Registration
No. 333-__________
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
S-8
REGISTRATION
STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
CREE,
INC.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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North
Carolina
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56-1572719
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(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
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(I.R.S.
Employer Identification No.)
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4600
Silicon Drive
Durham,
North Carolina
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27703
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(Address
of Principal Executive Offices)
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(Zip
Code)
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LED
Lighting Fixtures, Inc. 2006 Stock Plan
(Full
title of the plan)
John T.
Kurtzweil
Executive
Vice President – Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Cree,
Inc.
4600
Silicon Drive
Durham, North Carolina
27703
(919)
313-5300
(Name,
address and telephone number, including area code, of agent for
service)
Copy
to:
Adam H.
Broome, Esq.
Cree,
Inc.
4600
Silicon Drive
Durham, North Carolina
27703
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CALCULATION
OF REGISTRATION FEE
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Title
of securities
to
be registered
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Amount
to be
registered
(1)
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Proposed
maximum offering
price
per share
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Proposed
maximum
aggregate
offering price
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Amount
of
registration
fee
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Common
Stock,
$0.00125
par value
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322,152
(2)
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$3.18 (3)
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$1,024,867 (4)
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$40.28 (4)
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(1)
Pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
“Securities Act”), this Registration Statement also covers such additional
shares of Common Stock, $0.00125 par value (“Common Stock”) of Cree, Inc.
(the “Registrant”) as may be issued to
prevent dilution of the shares of Common Stock covered hereby resulting
from stock splits, stock dividends or similar
transactions.
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(2)
Represents the maximum number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon
exercise of outstanding options pursuant to the LED Lighting Fixtures,
Inc. 2006 Stock Plan (322,152 shares) (the
“Plan”).
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(3) Represents
the weighted-average exercise price of the outstanding options under the
Plan.
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(4) Estimated
solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to
Rule 457(h), the aggregate offering price and fee have been
computed upon the basis of the price at which the options outstanding
under the Plan may be
exercised.
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PART
I
INFORMATION
REQUIRED IN THE 10(a) PROSPECTUS
This
Registration Statement on Form S-8 is being filed by the Registrant to register
322,152 shares of Common Stock, in the aggregate, issuable upon exercise of
outstanding options granted pursuant to the Plan. The Registrant
acquired LED Lighting Fixtures, Inc. (“LLF”) on February 29, 2008. In
connection with the acquisition, the Registrant assumed all of the outstanding
options to purchase shares of LLF previously granted pursuant to the Plan, and
such options became exercisable for shares of Common Stock, based on the
exchange ratio applicable in the acquisition. As permitted by the
rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), this
Registration Statement omits the information specified in Part I of Form S-8 and
consists of only those items required by General Instruction E to Form
S-8. The document containing the information specified in Part I will
be delivered to the participants in the Plan as required by Rule 428(b) under
the Securities Act. This document is not being filed with the
Commission as part of this Registration Statement or as a prospectus or
prospectus supplement pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities
Act.
PART
II
INFORMATION
REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
| Item
3. |
Incorporation of Documents by
Reference. |
The
following documents filed with the Commission are hereby incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement:
(a) The
Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 24,
2007;
(b) The
Registrant’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 23,
2007 and December 30, 2007;
(c) The
Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K/A filed on June 29, 2007 and the
Registrant’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on August 7, 2007, August 24,
2007, October 18, 2007, November 7, 2007, January 3, 2008, January 22,
2008, February 8, 2008, and March 3, 2008;
(d) The
description of the Registrant’s Common Stock contained in the Registrant’s
Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on January 29, 1993, and any amendments
or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description; and
(e) The
description of the rights attached to the Registrant’s Common Stock contained in
the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on May 30, 2002, and
any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such
description.
In addition, all documents subsequently
filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been
sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed
to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part
hereof from the date of filing of such documents. However, any
documents or portions thereof, whether specifically listed above or filed in the
future, that are not deemed “filed” with the Commission, including without
limitation any information furnished pursuant to Item 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K
or certain exhibits furnished pursuant to Item 9.01 of Form 8-K, shall not be
deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration
Statement.
Any statement in a document
incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to
be modified or superseded for the purposes of this Registration Statement to the
extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed
document which also is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference
herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.
| Item
4. |
Description of
Securities. |
Not applicable.
| Item
5. |
Interests of Named Experts and
Counsel. |
The validity of the securities being
registered by this Registration Statement will be passed upon for the Registrant
by Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P., Raleigh,
North Carolina. As of the date of this Registration Statement,
certain current individual attorneys with Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett,
Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P. beneficially own an aggregate of 3,050 shares of
the Registrant’s Common Stock.
| Item
6. |
Indemnification of Officers and
Directors. |
North
Carolina law permits a corporation to indemnify its directors, officers,
employees or agents under either a statutory or non-statutory scheme of
indemnification, or both. The statutory scheme includes mandatory, court-ordered
and permissive indemnification. North Carolina law requires a corporation,
unless its articles of incorporation provide otherwise, to indemnify a director
or officer who has been wholly successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the
defense of any proceeding to which such director or officer was a party because
he or she was a director or officer of the corporation against reasonable
expenses incurred by him or her in connection with the proceeding. Unless
prohibited by the articles of incorporation, a director or officer also may
apply for and obtain court-ordered indemnification if the court determines that
such director or officer is fairly and reasonably entitled to such
indemnification.
North
Carolina law also permits a corporation to indemnify any of its directors,
officers, employees or agents against liability incurred in any proceeding if he
or she: (1) conducted himself or herself in good faith; (2) reasonably believed
(a) that any action taken in his or her official capacity with the corporation
was in the best interest of the corporation and (b) that in all other cases his
or her conduct was at least not opposed to the corporation’s best interests; and
(3) in the case of any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe
his or her conduct was unlawful. Whether a director, officer,
employee or agent has met the requisite standard of conduct for the type of
indemnification set forth above is determined by the corporation’s board of
directors in accordance with the statute. A corporation may not
indemnify a director, officer, employee or agent under the statutory scheme in
connection with a proceeding by or in the right of the corporation in which the
director, officer, employee or agent was adjudged liable to the corporation or
in connection with a proceeding, whether or not involving action in his or her
official capacity, in which a director, officer, employee or agent was adjudged
liable on the basis of having received an improper personal
benefit. In addition, if a proceeding by or in the right of the
corporation is concluded without a final adjudication on the issue of liability,
the corporation may only indemnify the director, officer, employee or agent
under the statutory scheme to the extent of the reasonable expenses he or she
incurred in connection with the proceeding.
In
addition to, and separate and apart from, the indemnification described above
under the statutory scheme, North Carolina law permits a corporation, in its
articles of incorporation or bylaws or by contract or resolution, to indemnify
or agree to indemnify any of its directors, officers, employees or agents
against liability and expenses in any proceeding (including proceedings brought
by or on behalf of the corporation) arising out of their status as such or their
activities in such capacities, except for any liabilities or expenses incurred
on account of activities that were, at the time taken, known or believed by the
person to be clearly in conflict with the best interests of the corporation.
Accordingly, the Registrant may indemnify its directors, officers, employees and
agents in accordance with either the statutory or non-statutory standard, or
both.
The
Registrant agrees in its bylaws to indemnify to the fullest extent from time to
time permitted by law any current or former director or officer of the
Registrant or any person serving at the request of the Registrant as an officer,
director, agent, partner, trustee, administrator or employee for any other
entity who is made, or is threatened to be made, a party to any threatened,
pending or completed civil, criminal, administrative, investigative or
arbitrative action, suit or proceeding and any appeal therein (and any inquiry
or investigation that could lead to such action, suit or proceeding), whether or
not brought by or on behalf of the Registrant, seeking to hold him or her liable
by reason of the fact that he or she is or was acting in such capacity. Such
indemnity would not extend to any liability or expense incurred on account of
activities that the indemnitee knew or believed to be, at the time taken,
clearly in conflict with
the best interests of the Registrant. Indemnification under the bylaws may
include the obligation to pay any judgment, money decree, settlement, penalty,
fine (including an excise tax assessed with respect to an employee benefit plan)
and reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the proceeding (including
attorneys’ fees). The Registrant may also indemnify employees and agents of the
Registrant as its Board of Directors deems appropriate.
As permitted by North Carolina law, the Registrant’s
articles of incorporation limit the personal liability of a
director for monetary damages for breach of his or her duty as a director,
provided that such limitation will not apply to: (1) acts or omissions not made
in good faith that the director at the time of the breach knew or believed were
in conflict with the Registrant’s best interests; (2) any liability for unlawful
distributions under North Carolina law; (3) any transaction from which the
director derived an improper personal benefit; or (4) acts or omissions
occurring prior to the date such provision of the articles of incorporation
became effective.
Finally,
North Carolina law provides that a corporation may purchase and maintain
insurance on behalf of an individual who is or was a director, officer, employee
or agent of the corporation against certain liabilities incurred by such
persons, whether or not the corporation is otherwise authorized under North
Carolina law to indemnify such persons against those liabilities. The Registrant
currently maintains directors’ and officers’ insurance policies covering its
directors and officers.
| Item
7. |
Exemption from Registration
Claimed. |
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Exhibit
No.
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Description
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5.1
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Opinion
of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan,
L.L.P.
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23.1
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Consent
of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
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23.2
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Consent
of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P.
(Contained in Exhibit 5.1)
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24.1
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Power
of Attorney (Contained on signature
page)
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(a) The
undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To
file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a
post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:
(i)
To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of
1933;
(ii)
To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective
date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment
thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change
in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the
total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was
registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum
offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the
Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume
and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering
price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective
Registration Statement;
(iii) To
include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not
previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to
such information in the Registration Statement.
Provided, however, that
paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to
be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to
Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are
incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.
(2) That,
for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933,
each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration
statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such
securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.
(3) To
remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the
securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the
offering.
(4) That,
for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any
purchaser, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a
registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration
statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on
Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration
statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no
statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the
registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated
by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the
registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale
prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the
registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement
or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first
use.
(5) That,
for the purpose of determining liability of the Registrant under the Securities
Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the
undersigned Registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of
the undersigned Registrant pursuant to this Registration Statement, regardless
of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the
securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the
following communications, the undersigned Registrant will be a seller to the
purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such
purchaser:
(i) Any
preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned Registrant relating to
the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;
(ii) Any free writing
prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned
Registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned Registrant;
(iii)
The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering
containing material information about the undersigned Registrant or its
securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned Registrant;
and
(iv) Any
other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned
Registrant to the purchaser.
(b) The
undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s
annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 that is incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the
securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time
shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) Insofar
as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may
be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant
pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been
advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is,
therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against
such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred
or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the
successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has
reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing
on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Durham,
State of North Carolina, on this 3rd day of March, 2008.
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CREE,
INC.
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By:
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/s/ Charles M.
Swoboda
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Charles
M. Swoboda
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Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and
President
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KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS that
each individual whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Charles
M. Swoboda and John T. Kurtzweil, and each of them, his true and lawful
attorneys-in-fact and agents with full power of substitution and resubstitution,
for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any
and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration
Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and all documents in
connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto
said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and authority to do and perform
each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the
premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in
person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and
agents, or their substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed
by the following persons in the capacities and on the date
indicated.
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Name
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Title
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Date
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/s/ Charles M. Swoboda
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Charles
M. Swoboda
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Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and
President
(Principal Executive Officer)
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February
29, 2008 |
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/s/ John T. Kurtzweil
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John
T. Kurtzweil
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Executive
Vice President – Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
(Principal
Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)
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February
29, 2008
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James
E. Dykes
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Director |
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March __,
2008
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/s/ Clyde
R. Hosein
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Clyde
R. Hosein
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Director |
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February
29, 2008
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/s/ John W. Palmour
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John
W. Palmour, Ph.D.
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Director |
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February 29, 2008
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Franco
Plastina
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Director |
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March
__, 2008
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/s/ Dolph
W. von Arx
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Dolph
W. von Arx
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Director |
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February
29, 2008
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Harvey
A. Wagner
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Director |
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March
1, 2008
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Thomas
H. Werner
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Director
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March
__, 2008
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EXHIBIT
INDEX
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Exhibit
No.
|
Description
|
|
5.1
|
Opinion
of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan,
L.L.P.
|
|
23.1
|
Consent
of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
|
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23.2
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Consent
of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P.
(Contained in Exhibit 5.1)
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24.1
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Power
of Attorney (Contained on signature
page)
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