Hanesbrands (HBI)

 

Current U.S. federal tax law that applies to spin offs generally creates a presumption that the spin off would be taxable to Sara Lee but not to its stockholders if we engage in, or enter into an agreement to engage in, a plan or series of related transactions that would result in the acquisition of a 50% or greater interest (by vote or by value) in our stock ownership during the four-year period beginning on the date that begins two years before the spin off, unless it is established that the transaction is not pursuant to a plan related to the spin off. U.S. Treasury Regulations generally provide that whether an acquisition of our stock and a spin off are part of a plan is determined based on all of the facts and circumstances, including specific factors listed in the regulations. In addition, the regulations provide certain “safe harbors” for acquisitions of our stock that are not considered to be part of a plan related to the spin off.

 

There are other restrictions imposed on us under current U.S. federal tax law for spin offs and with which we will need to comply in order to preserve the favorable tax treatment of the distribution, such as continuing to own and manage our apparel business and limitations on sales or redemptions of our common stock for cash or other property following the distribution.

 

In the Tax Sharing Agreement that we entered into with Sara Lee, we agreed that, among other things, we will not take any actions that would result in any tax being imposed on Sara Lee as a result of the spin off. Further, for the two-year period following the spin off, we agreed not to: (1) repurchase any of our stock except in certain circumstances permitted by the IRS guidelines, (2) voluntarily dissolve or liquidate or engage in any merger (except certain cash acquisition mergers), consolidation, or other reorganizations except for certain mergers of our wholly-owned subsidiaries to the extent not inconsistent with the tax-free status of the spin off, (3) sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of more than 50% of our assets, excluding any sales conducted in the ordinary course of business or (4) cease, transfer or dispose of all or any portion of our socks business. We are, however, permitted to take certain actions otherwise prohibited by the tax sharing agreement if we provide Sara Lee with an unqualified opinion of tax counsel or private letter ruling from the IRS, acceptable to Sara Lee, to the effect that these actions will not affect the tax-free nature of the spin off. These restrictions could substantially limit our strategic and operational flexibility, including our ability to finance our operations by issuing equity securities, make acquisitions using equity securities, repurchase our equity securities, raise money by selling assets, or enter into business combination transactions.