SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13D/A
(AMENDMENT NO. 5 TO SCHEDULE 13D)
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
NOEL GROUP, INC.
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(Name of Issuer)
Shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share
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(Title of Class of Securities)
655260107
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(CUSIP NUMBER)
FIR TREE PARTNERS
1211 Avenue of the Americas
29th Floor
New York, New York 10036
Tel. No.: (212) 398-3500
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(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person
Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)
- with copies to -
Eliot D. Raffkind, P.C.
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP
1700 Pacific Avenue, Suite 4100
Dallas, Texas 75201-4618
(214) 969-2800
June 23, 1997
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(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 which is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is
filing this schedule because of Rule 13d-1(b)(3) or (4) check the following
box. [ ]
The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be
deemed to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Act"), or otherwise subject to the
liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other
provisions of the Act.
CUSIP No. 655260107 13D
1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS
Fir Tree, Inc. d/b/a Fir Tree Partners
2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP* (a) [ ]
(b) [ ]
3 SEC USE ONLY
4 SOURCE OF FUNDS*
AF, WC
5 CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT
TO ITEM 2(d) or 2(e) [ ]
6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
USA
NUMBER OF 7 SOLE VOTING POWER 4,281,867
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY 8 SHARED VOTING POWER 0
OWNED BY
EACH 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER 4,281,867
REPORTING
PERSON WITH 10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 0
11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
4,281,867
12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES
CERTAIN SHARES* [ ]
13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
20.97%
14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
CO, IN
*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT
AMENDMENT NO. 5 TO SCHEDULE 13D
This Amendment No. 5 to Schedule 13D is being filed on behalf of Fir
Tree, Inc., a New York corporation, doing business as Fir Tree Partners
("Fir Tree Partners"), and Mr. Jeffrey Tannenbaum ("Mr. Tannenbaum"), the
sole shareholder, executive officer, director, and principal of Fir Tree
Partners, as an amendment to the initial statement on Schedule 13D,
relating to shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Noel
Group, Inc., as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission") on March 24, 1997, amended by Amendment No. 1 to Schedule
13D, filed with the Commission on May 15, 1997, amended by Amendment No. 2
to Schedule 13D, filed with the Commission on May 22, 1997, amended by
Amendment No. 3 to Schedule 13D, filed with the Commission on June 5, 1997,
and further amended by Amendment No. 4 to Schedule 13D, filed with the
Commission on June 20, 1997 (as amended, the "Amended Schedule 13D"). The
Amended Schedule 13D is hereby further amended and supplemented as follows:
ITEM 3. SOURCE AND AMOUNT OF FUNDS
Item 3 of the Amended Schedule 13D is hereby amended and restated in
its entirety to read as follows:
As of June 25, 1997, Fir Tree Partners had invested (i)
$13,336,748 in shares of Common Stock through Fir Tree Value Fund, (ii)
$1,783,458 in shares of Common Stock through Fir Tree Institutional and
(iii) $712,158 in shares of Common Stock through Fir Tree LDC, all as
described in Item 5 below. The source of these funds was the working
capital of each of Fir Tree Value Fund, Fir Tree Institutional and Fir Tree
LDC, as the case may be. On April 28, 1997, the Issuer distributed shares
of common stock of HealthPlan Services, valued at approximately $2.64 per
share of Common Stock, to its shareholders. The amounts set forth above do
not include the value of the shares of common stock of HealthPlan Services
distributed to each of Fir Tree Value Fund, Fir Tree Institutional and Fir
Tree LDC.
ITEM 5. INTEREST IN SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER
Item 5 of the Amended Schedule 13D is hereby amended by amending and
restating Items 5(a) and (c) as follows:
(a) As of June 25, 1997, Fir Tree Partners and Mr. Tannenbaum
are beneficial owners of 4,281,867 shares of Common Stock of the Issuer or
20.97% of the shares outstanding. The 4,281,867 shares described above are
beneficially owned by Fir Tree Partners and Mr. Tannenbaum for the account
of the Fir Tree Value Fund, Fir Tree Institutional or Fir Tree LDC, as the
case may be.
The number of shares beneficially owned by Fir Tree Partners and
Mr. Tannenbaum, and the percentage of outstanding shares represented
thereby, have been computed in accordance with Rule 13d-3 under the Act.
The percentage of beneficial ownership of Fir Tree Partners and Mr.
Tannenbaum on June 25, 1997 is based on 20,421,039 outstanding shares of
Common Stock as of April 25, 1997, as reported in the Issuer's Current
Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
May 12, 1997.
(c) The transactions in the Issuer's securities by Fir Tree
Partners during the period of June 13, 1997 to June 25, 1997 are listed on
Annex A attached hereto and made apart hereof.
ANNEX A
Transaction Buy/Sell Quantity Price per
Date (shares) Share ($)
----------- -------- --------- ----------
6/16/97 Buy 15,000 3.7500
6/18/97 Buy 20,000 3.7500
6/19/97 Buy 20,000 3.7813
6/23/97 Buy 140,000 3.8750
6/25/97 Buy 5,000 3.8750
6/25/97 Buy 10,000 3.8750
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210,000
SIGNATURE
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief,
the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement
is true, complete and correct.
Dated: July 15, 1997
Fir Tree, Inc. d/b/a/ Fir Tree Partners
By: /S/ JEFFREY TANNENBAUM
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JEFFREY TANNENBAUM, President
/S/ JEFFREY TANNENBAUM
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Jeffrey Tannenbaum
