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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 17, 2000
Registration No. 333-_________
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
SKILLSOFT CORPORATION
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
DELAWARE 02-0496115
(State or Other Jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
Incorporation or Organization) Identification Number)
20 INDUSTRIAL PARK DRIVE, NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03062
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
1999 NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN
(Full Title of the Plan)
CHARLES E. MORAN
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SKILLSOFT CORPORATION
20 INDUSTRIAL PARK DRIVE
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 03062
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)
(603) 324-3000
(Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
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Title of Proposed Maximum Proposed Maximum
Securities Amount Offering Aggregate Amount of
to be to be Price Offering Registration
Registered Registered Per Share Price Fee
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Common Stock, $.001 par value 160,000 shares $14.47(1) $2,315,200(1) $612
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</TABLE>
(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee, and
based on the average of the high and low prices of the Common Stock on the
Nasdaq National Market on February 16, 2000 in accordance with Rules 457(c)
and 457(h) under the Securities Act of 1933.
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PART I. INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS
The information required by Part I is included in documents sent or given
to participants in the Registrant's 1999 Non-Employee Director Stock Option Plan
(the "Plan") pursuant to Rule 428(b)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the "Securities Act").
PART II. INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The Registrant is subject to the informational and reporting
requirements of Sections 13(a), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and in accordance therewith files
reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission"). The following documents, which are on file with
the Commission, are incorporated in this Registration Statement by reference:
(1) The Registrant's latest annual report filed pursuant to
Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, or the latest prospectus
filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act that contains
audited financial statements for the Registrant's latest fiscal year for
which such statements have been filed.
(2) All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d)
of the Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the
document referred to in (1) above.
(3) The description of the common stock of the Registrant,
$.001 par value per share (the "Common Stock"), contained in the
Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed by the Registrant with the
Commission on January 10, 2000, including any amendment or report filed
for the purpose of updating such description.
All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of
a post-effective amendment which indicates that all shares of Common Stock
offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all shares of Common Stock
then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein
and to be part hereof from the date of the 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 or is 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
Not applicable.
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Item 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
The Delaware General Corporation Law and the Registrant's Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provide for indemnification of the
Registrant's directors and officers for liabilities and expenses that they may
incur in such capacities. In general, directors and officers are indemnified
with respect to actions taken in good faith in a manner reasonably believed to
be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the Registrant and, with respect
to any criminal action or proceeding, actions that the indemnitee had no
reasonable cause to believe were unlawful.
In addition, the Registrant has purchased a directors and officers
liability insurance policy.
Item 7. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED
Not applicable.
Item 8. EXHIBITS
The Exhibit Index immediately preceding the exhibits is
incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. UNDERTAKINGS
1. 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;
(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 20 percent
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;
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provided, however, that paragraphs (i) and (ii) do not apply if the
information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by
those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished
to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the 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.
2. The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
Registrant'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.
3. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act 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 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 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 Securities Act and will be governed by the final
adjudication of such issue.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, 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 Nashua, New Hampshire on February 17, 2000.
SKILLSOFT CORPORATION
By: /s/ Charles E. Moran
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Charles E. Moran
President and Chief Executive Officer
POWER OF ATTORNEY
We, the undersigned officers and directors of Entrust Technologies Inc.
hereby severally constitute Charles E. Moran, Thomas J. McDonald and Patrick J.
Rondeau, and each of them singly, our true and lawful attorneys with full power
to them, and each of them singly, to sign for us and in our names in the
capacities indicated below, the Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed
herewith and any and all subsequent amendments to said Registration Statement,
and generally to do all such things in our names and behalf in our capacities as
officers and directors to enable SkillSoft Corporation to comply with all
requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and
confirming our signatures as they may be signed by said attorneys, or any of
them, to said Registration Statement and any and all amendments thereto.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration
Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the
dates indicated.
SIGNATURE TITLE DATE
/s/ Charles E. Moran Chairman of the Board, February 17, 2000
- -------------------------- President and Chief Executive
Charles E. Moran Officer (Principal Executive
Officer)
/s/ Thomas J. McDonald Chief Financial Officer, February 17, 2000
- -------------------------- Vice President, Operations,
Thomas J. McDonald Treasurer and Secretary
(Principal Financial and
Accounting Officer)
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/s/ James Adkisson Director February 17, 2000
- --------------------------
James Adkisson
/s/ C. Samantha Chen Director February 17, 2000
- --------------------------
C. Samantha Chen
/s/ William T. Coleman Director February 17, 2000
- --------------------------
William T. Coleman
/s/ Stewart K.P. Gross Director February 17, 2000
- --------------------------
Stewart K.P. Gross
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EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit
Number Description
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4 Specimen Certificate of Common Stock, $.001 par value per share, of
the Registrant is incorporated herein by reference to the
Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-86815)
5 Opinion of Hale and Dorr LLP
23.1 Consent of Hale and Dorr LLP (included in Exhibit 5)
23.2 Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP
24 Power of Attorney (included in the signature page of this
Registration Statement)
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EXHIBIT 5
HALE AND DORR LLP
Counsellors At Law
60 State Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109
617-526-6000 * FAX 617-526-5000
February 17, 2000
SkillSoft Corporation
20 Industrial Park Drive
Nashua, New Hampshire 03062
Re: 1999 Non-Employee Director Stock Option Plan
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Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have assisted in the preparation of a Registration Statement on Form
S-8 (the "Registration Statement") to be filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
"Securities Act"), relating to an aggregate of 160,000 shares of Common Stock,
$.001 par value per share (the "Shares"), of SkillSoft Corporation, a Delaware
corporation (the "Company"), issuable under the Company's 1999 Non-Employee
Director Stock Option Plan (the "Plan").
We have examined the Certificate of Incorporation of the Company, as
amended to date, and the Bylaws of the Company, as amended to date, and
originals, or copies certified to our satisfaction, of all pertinent records of
the meetings of the directors and stockholders of the Company, the Registration
Statement and such other documents relating to the Company as we have deemed
material for the purposes of this opinion.
In our examination of the foregoing documents, we have assumed the
genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us
as originals, the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to
us as copies, the authenticity of the originals of such latter documents and the
legal competence of all signatories to such documents.
We assume that the appropriate action will be taken, prior to the offer
and sale of the Shares in accordance with the Plan, to register and qualify the
Shares for sale under all applicable state securities or "blue sky" laws.
We express no opinion herein as to the laws of any state or
jurisdiction other than the state laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the
Delaware General Corporation Law and the federal laws of the United States of
America.
Based upon and subject to the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the
Shares have been duly authorized for issuance and the Shares, when issued and
paid for in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Plan, will be
validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.
It is understood that this opinion is to be used only in connection
with the offer and sale of the Shares while the Registration Statement is in
effect.
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Please note that we are opining only as to the matters expressly set
forth herein, and no opinion should be inferred as to any other matters.
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion with the Commission as
an exhibit to the Registration Statement in accordance with the requirements of
Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act. In giving such
consent, we do not hereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose
consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules and
regulations of the Commission.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Hale and Dorr LLP
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HALE AND DORR LLP
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EXHIBIT 23.2
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in this
Registration Statement on Form S-8 of SkillSoft Corporation, of our report dated
December 16, 1999 (except with respect to the matter discussed in Note 6(b) as
to which the date is December 28, 1999), relating to the financial statements,
appearing in Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-86815) of
SkillSoft Corporation.
/s/ Arthur Andersen LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 14, 2000
