SC14D9C 1 dp253208_sc14d9c.htm FORM SC14D9C

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14D-9

SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT

UNDER SECTION 14(d)(4) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

ACV Auctions Inc.

(Name of Subject Company)

ACV Auctions Inc.

(Name of Person Filing Statement)

Common stock, par value $0.001 per share

(Title of Class of Securities)

00091G104

(CUSIP Number of Class of Securities)

Leanne Fitzgerald

Chief Legal and Administrative Officer

ACV Auctions Inc.

640 Ellicott St #321

Buffalo, NY 14203

(800) 553-4070

(Name, address and telephone number of person authorized to receive notices and communications
on behalf of the persons filing statement)

With copies to:

Nicole Brookshire

Paul S. Scrivano

Michael Davis

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

450 Lexington Ave.

New York, NY 10017

(212) 450-4000

☒

Check the box if the filing relates solely to preliminary communications made before the commencement of a tender offer.

This Schedule 14D-9 filing consists of the following communications related to the proposed acquisition of ACV Auctions Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of September 10, 2026 (the “Merger Agreement”), among the Company, Copart, Inc., Delaware corporation (“Parent”), and Apple Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent.

The information set forth under Items 1.01, 7.01 and 9.01 of the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the Company on September 10, 2026 (including all exhibits attached thereto) is incorporated herein by reference.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

The tender offer has not yet commenced. This document is for informational purposes only and is neither a recommendation, nor an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities of ACV Auctions Inc. (“ACV”) or any other entity, nor is it a substitute for any tender offer materials that Copart, Inc. (“Copart”), Apple Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Copart (“Merger Sub”) or ACV will file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). A solicitation and an offer to buy securities of ACV will be made only pursuant to an offer to purchase and related materials that Copart and Merger Sub intend to file with the SEC. At the time the tender offer is commenced, Copart and Merger Sub will file a Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO, including an offer to purchase, a letter of transmittal and related documents, with the SEC, and ACV thereafter will file a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC with respect to the tender offer.

SECURITYHOLDERS AND OTHER INVESTORS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE TENDER OFFER MATERIALS (INCLUDING AN OFFER TO PURCHASE, A RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CERTAIN OTHER TENDER OFFER DOCUMENTS) AND THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT ON SCHEDULE 14D-9 REGARDING THE OFFER, AS THEY MAY BE AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME, WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT INVESTORS AND SECURITYHOLDERS SHOULD READ CAREFULLY BEFORE ANY DECISION IS MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE TENDER OFFER. The offer to purchase, the related letter of transmittal and certain other tender offer documents, as well as the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9, will be sent to all stockholders of ACV at no expense to them.

The Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO, the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 and other related documents will be made available for free at the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/ and under the "Financial Resources—All SEC filings" section of Copart’s investor relations website at https://www.copart.com/content/us/en/investor-relations. The Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 and other related documents that ACV has filed with or furnished to the SEC will be made available for free at the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/ and under the "SEC Filings" section of ACV’s investor relations website at https://investors.acvauto.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The contents of this document include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words, such as "aim", "anticipate", "aspire", "believe", "can", "continue", "could", "estimate", "expect", "entail", "forecast", "future", "goals", "hope", "intend", "is designed to", "likely", "may", "might", "objective", "plan", "possible", "potential", "pursue", "project", "predict", "seek", "should", "strategy", "target", "will" and other words and terms of similar meaning and expression, including in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.

Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the tender offer, the merger and other related matters; prospective performance and opportunities; post-closing operations and the outlook for the businesses of ACV and Copart, including, without limitation, the anticipated benefits, cost and revenue synergies and other opportunities of the transaction, the expected impact of the transaction on Copart’s revenue growth, the combined company’s growth profile and strategy, the expected impact to Copart’s earnings per share, and the ability of Copart to integrate ACV and to advance its business, products, technology and platform; and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.

Copart’s and ACV’s actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including but not limited to, uncertainties as to the timing of the tender offer and the merger; the risk that the tender offer or the merger may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; uncertainties as to the percentage of ACV’s stockholders tendering their shares in the tender offer; the possibility that competing offers or acquisition proposals for ACV will be made; the possibility that any or all of the various conditions to the consummation of the tender offer or the merger may not be satisfied or waived, including the failure to receive any required regulatory approvals from any applicable governmental entities (or any conditions, limitations or restrictions placed on such approvals), including the risk that the anticipated cost and revenue synergies and other benefits of the transaction are not realized when expected or at all; risks related to the integration of ACV’s business, operations, technology and personnel; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, including in circumstances that would require ACV to pay a termination fee or other expenses; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement on Copart’s business; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement on ACV’s business, its ability to retain and hire key personnel, its ability to maintain relationships with its suppliers and others with whom it does business, or its operating results and business generally; risks related to diverting management’s attention from Copart’s and ACV’s ongoing business operations; the risk that stockholder litigation in connection with the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement may result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability.

A further list and description of these and other risks, uncertainties, and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements can be found in Copart’s SEC filings and reports, including in Copart’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC, as well as in ACV’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. Given these risks and uncertainties, the reader is advised not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of publication of this document. ACV undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise the information in this document, including any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.