Company: AWK
Filing Date: 2025-12-17
Form Type: S-4
Source: 0001193125-25-321389
Chunk: 115

Company: American Water Works Company, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-12-17
Form: S-4
Chunk 115
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 is not exhaustive, but includes many of the material reasons and factors considered by the Essential board in reaching its conclusions and recommendations in relation to the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the merger. The Essential board collectively reached the decision to unanimously approve the merger agreement in light of the factors described above and other factors that the Essential board believed were appropriate. In view of the wide variety of factors considered by the Essential board in connection with its evaluation of the merger and the complexity of these matters, the Essential board did not consider it practical, and did not attempt, to quantify, rank or otherwise assign relative weights to the specific factors it considered in reaching its decision and did not undertake to make any specific determination as to whether any particular factor, or any aspect of any particular factor, was favorable or unfavorable to the ultimate determination of the Essential board. Rather, the Essential board considered all these factors as a whole, including through its discussions with Essential management and independent financial and legal advisors, and made its recommendation based on the totality of information presented to it and the investigation conducted by it. In considering the factors discussed above, individual members of the Essential board may have given different weights to different factors. For the reasons set forth above, the Essential board unanimously (i) determined that it is advisable, fair to, and in the best interests of Essential and its shareholders to enter into the merger agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, including the merger, (ii) approved, adopted, and declared advisable the merger agreement, and (iii) directed that the merger agreement proposal, the merger-related compensation proposal, and the Essential adjournment proposal be submitted to the Essential shareholders for approval at the Essential special meeting. In considering the recommendation of the Essential board, you should be aware that certain directors and executive officers of Essential may have interests in the merger that are different from, or in addition to, interests of shareholders of Essential generally. The Essential board was aware of these interests and considered them when evaluating and negotiating the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby (including the merger), and in recommending to the shareholders of Essential that they vote in favor of the merger agreement proposal, the merger-related compensation proposal, and the Essential adjournment proposal. It should be noted that this explanation of the reasoning of the Essential board and all other information presented in this section is forward-looking in nature and, therefore, should be read in light of the factors discussed in “ Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” beginning on page 33. Certain Un