As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on June 27, 2024
File No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
NATIONAL VISION
HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware |
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46-4841717 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or
organization) |
|
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| |
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2435 Commerce Ave, Building 2200
Duluth, Georgia
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) |
|
30096
(Zip Code) |
National
Vision Holdings, Inc.
Amended
and Restated 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan
(Full title of the plan)
|
Jared Brandman
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
National Vision Holdings, Inc.
2435 Commerce Ave, Building 2200
Duluth, Georgia 30096
(770) 822-3600
(Name, address, and telephone number, including
area code, of agent for service)
|
|
With a copy to:
Michael L. Stevens
Alston & Bird LLP
One Atlantic Center
1201 W. Peachtree Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
(404) 881-7000 |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company.
See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,”
and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:
| Large accelerated filer |
x |
Accelerated filer |
¨ |
| Non-accelerated filer |
¨ |
Smaller reporting company |
¨ |
| |
|
Emerging growth company |
¨ |
| If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. |
¨ |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
National Vision Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”)
has filed this Registration Statement on Form S-8 (this “Registration Statement”) with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “Commission”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), to register
(i) 5,600,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, $0.01 par value per share (“Common Stock”), that may be issued under
the National Vision Holdings, Inc. Amended and Restated 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Plan”); and (ii) such additional
shares that may become issuable in accordance with the adjustment and anti-dilution provisions of the Plan. The Company previously registered,
for issuance under the Plan, 4,000,000 shares on a Form S-8 filed on October 26, 2017 (File No. 333-221131).
PART I
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS
(a) The
documents constituting Part I of this Registration Statement will be sent or given to participants in the Plan as specified by Rule 428(b)(1)
under the Securities Act. These documents and the documents incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement pursuant to Item
3 of Part II of this form, taken together, constitute a prospectus that meets the requirements of Section 10(a) of the Securities Act.
(b) Upon
written or oral request, the Company will provide, without charge, the documents incorporated by reference in Item 3 of Part II of this
Registration Statement. The documents are incorporated by reference in the Section 10(a) prospectus. The Company will also provide, without
charge, upon written or oral request, other documents required to be delivered to participants pursuant to Rule 428(b). Requests for the
above mentioned information should be directed to the Company’s Secretary at telephone number (770) 822-3600 or the address on the
cover of this Registration Statement.
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.
The following documents, filed
by the Company with the Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are incorporated
herein by reference and deemed to be a part hereof (excluding any portions of such documents that are deemed to be “furnished”
but not “filed” for purposes of the Exchange Act):
| (d) | The description of the Common Stock contained in Company’s registration statement on Form 8-A (Registration
No. 001-38257), filed with the Commission on October 24, 2017 pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act, as amended by the description
of the Common Stock contained in Exhibit 4.1 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2022 (File No. 001-38257),
filed with the Commission on February 28, 2022, and any amendment or report filed with the Commission for the purpose of updating such
description. |
All reports and other documents
filed (but not furnished) by the Company subsequent to the date of this Registration Statement pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and
15(d) of the Exchange Act, and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have
been sold or which deregisters all such 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.
Any statement contained in
a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for 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 such statement so modified or
superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.
Other Information
In the first quarter of 2024,
the Company’s Management & Services Agreement with Walmart, along with various ancillary agreements, terminated. The Company
is also winding down its Walmart associated contact lens business conducted by its subsidiary, Arlington Contacts Lens Service, Inc. The
Company’s Walmart store operations, including its former Legacy reportable segment and certain other results previously included
in its Corporate/Other and Reconciliations categories in its Financial Statements, met the criteria to be presented as discontinued operations
as of March 30, 2024. Please see Notes 2, 3 and 12 to the Financial Statements of the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
March 31, 2024. The annual financial statements for the three years ended December 30, 2023 included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 30, 2023, have not been updated for these discontinued operations.
Item 4. Description of Securities.
Not applicable.
Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and
Counsel.
Not applicable.
Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware
General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, allows a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation
will not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director,
except where the director breached the duty of loyalty, failed to act in good faith, engaged in intentional misconduct or knowingly violated
a law, authorized the payment of a dividend or approved a stock repurchase in violation of Delaware corporate law or obtained an improper
personal benefit. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for this limitation of liability.
Section 145 of the DGCL, or
Section 145, provides, among other things, that a Delaware corporation may indemnify any person who was, is or is threatened to be made,
party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other
than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by reason of the fact that such person is or was an officer, director, employee
or agent of such corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another
corporation or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in
settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, provided such person acted
in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests and, with
respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful.
A Delaware corporation may
indemnify any person who was or is or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in
the right of the corporation by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation
or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in
connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit, provided the person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably
believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests, provided further that no indemnification is permitted without
judicial approval if the officer, director, employee or agent is adjudged to be liable to the corporation. Where an officer or director
is successful on the merits or otherwise in the defense of any action referred to above, the corporation must indemnify him or her against
the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) which such officer or director has actually and reasonably incurred in connection with
the defense.
Section 145 further authorizes
a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation
or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise,
against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s
status as such, whether or not the corporation would otherwise have the power to indemnify such person under Section 145.
Our amended and restated bylaws
provides that we must indemnify, and advance expenses to, our directors and officers to the full extent authorized by the DGCL. We have
also entered into indemnification agreements with our directors, which agreements require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest
extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred
as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.
The indemnification rights
set forth above shall not be exclusive of any other right which an indemnified person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute,
provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws, agreement, vote of stockholders or
disinterested directors or otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we shall not be obligated to indemnify a director or officer in respect
of a proceeding (or part thereof) instituted by such director or officer, unless such proceeding (or part thereof) has been authorized
by our Board of Directors pursuant to the applicable procedure outlined in the amended and restated bylaws.
Section 174 of the DGCL provides,
among other things, that a director, who willfully or negligently approves of an unlawful payment of dividends or an unlawful stock purchase
or redemption, may be held jointly and severally liable for such actions at any time within 6 years after paying such unlawful dividend
or after such unlawful stock purchase or redemption. A director who was either absent when the unlawful actions were approved or dissented
at the time may avoid liability by causing his or her dissent to such actions to be entered in the books containing the minutes of the
meetings of the board of directors at the time such action occurred or immediately after such absent director receives notice of the unlawful
acts.
We maintain standard policies
of insurance that provide coverage (1) to our directors and officers against loss rising from claims made by reason of breach of duty
or other wrongful act and (2) to us with respect to indemnification payments that we may make to such directors and officers.
Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.
Not applicable.
Item 8. Exhibits.
Item 9. Undertakings.
(a) The
Company 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;
(ii) To
reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this 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 this Registration
Statement; and
(iii) To
include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any
material change to such information in this Registration Statement;
Provided, however, that
paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) immediately above do not apply if the registration statement is on Form S-8, and 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 Company pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.
(2) That,
for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, 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.
(b) The
undersigned Company hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Company’s
annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s
annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) 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 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of
the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim
for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer
or controlling person of the Company 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 Company 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 Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements
of the Securities Act, the Company 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 Duluth, state of Georgia, on this 27th day of June, 2024.
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NATIONAL VISION HOLDINGS, INC. |
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By: |
/s/ L. Reade Fahs |
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L. Reade Fahs |
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Chief Executive Officer and Director |
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS,
that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Jared Brandman, his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent,
with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any amendments
(including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents
in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent 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 attorney-in-fact, agent or his 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 dates indicated.
| Signature |
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Title |
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Date |
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| /s/ L. Reade Fahs |
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Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) |
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June 27, 2024 |
| L. Reade Fahs |
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| /s/ Melissa Rasmussen |
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Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
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June 27, 2024 |
| Melissa Rasmussen |
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| /s/ D. Randolph Peeler |
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Director and Board Chair |
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June 27, 2024 |
| D. Randolph Peeler |
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| /s/ Jose Armario |
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Director |
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June 27, 2024 |
| Jose Armario |
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| /s/ Virginia A. Hepner |
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Director |
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June 27, 2024 |
| Virginia A. Hepner |
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| /s/ Susan Somersille Johnson |
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Director |
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June 27, 2024 |
| Susan Somersille Johnson |
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| /s/ Naomi Kelman |
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Director |
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June 27, 2024 |
| Naomi Kelman |
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| /s/ Susan O’Farrell |
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Director |
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June 27, 2024 |
| Susan O’Farrell |
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| /s/ Thomas V. Taylor, Jr. |
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Director |
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June 27, 2024 |
| Thomas V. Taylor, Jr. |
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