As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 12, 2025
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Sonder Holdings Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 85-2097088 | |||||||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |||||||
447 Sutter St., Suite 405 #542
San Francisco, CA 94108
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Sonder Holdings Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Plan
(Full title of the plans)
Vanessa Barmack
Associate General Counsel
447 Sutter St., Suite 405 #542
San Francisco, CA 94108
(Name and address of agent for service)
(617) 300-0956
(Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
Lindsey A. Getz, Esq.
Angela Gomes, Esq.
Sullivan & Worcester LLP
One Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109
Telephone: (617) 338-2800
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ||||||||
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ | ||||||||
Emerging growth company | ☒ | ||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ¨
Explanatory Note
Sonder Holdings Inc. (the “Registrant”) is filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) this Registration Statement on Form S-8 (this “Registration Statement”) for the purpose of registering (a) 6,500,000 additional shares of its common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”), available for issuance under the Registrant’s 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 EIP”), pursuant to the First Amendment to the 2021 EIP adopted by the Registrant’s Board of Directors and approved by the Registrant’s stockholders at its 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, which increased the number of shares of Common Stock available for the issuance of awards under the 2021 EIP from 3,457,029 shares of Common Stock to 9,957,029 shares of Common Stock, subject to automatic annual share increases as set forth in the 2021 EIP, as amended, and (b) 579,281 additional shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the 2021 EIP, pursuant to the provision of the 2021 EIP providing for an annual 5% automatic increase to the number of shares available for issuance.
In accordance with General Instruction E of Form S-8, this Registration Statement hereby incorporates by reference the contents of the Registrant’s Registration Statements on Form S-8 filed with the Commission on March 28, 2022 (Registration No. 333-263914), March 21, 2023 (Registration No. 333-270705) and November 14, 2024 (Registration No. 333-283239) to the extent not superseded hereby.
PART I
In accordance with the provisions of Rule 428 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and the instructional note to Part I of Form S-8 as promulgated by the Commission, the information specified in Item 1 and Item 2 of Part I of Form S-8 has been omitted from this Registration Statement. The documents containing the information specified in Part I of Form S-8 will be delivered to the participants in the equity benefit plan covered by this Registration Statement as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act.
PART II
ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The following documents filed by the Registrant with the Commission are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:
A.The Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-39907) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the Commission on September 27, 2024;
B.All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Registrant’s Annual Report referred to in (A) above; and
C.The description of the Registrant’s Common Stock which is contained in the Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed with the Commission on January 19, 2021 under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description, including the description set forth in Exhibit 4.5 of the Registrant’s Annual Report.
All other reports and documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act (other than Current Reports on Form 8-K furnished pursuant to Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and exhibits furnished on such form that relate to such items) on or after the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part of this Registration Statement from the date of the filing of such reports and documents.
For the purposes of this Registration Statement, 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 subsequently filed document that also is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such 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.
ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
Section 102 of the Delaware General Corporation Law permits a corporation to include a provision in its certificate of incorporation to provide that the corporation’s directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to the corporation or its stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors. The amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended (the “certificate of incorporation”) of the Registrant limits the Registrant’s directors’ liability to the fullest extent permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law.
As permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Registrant’s amended and restated bylaws (the “bylaws”) provide that:
•the Registrant may indemnify its directors, officers and employees to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, subject to limited exceptions;
•the Registrant may advance expenses to its directors, officers and employees in connection with a legal proceeding to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, subject to limited exceptions; and
•the rights provided in the Registrant’s amended and restated bylaws are not exclusive.
The Registrant’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide for the limitation of liability and indemnification provisions described above and elsewhere herein. The Registrant has entered into separate indemnification agreements with its directors and officers that may be broader than the specific indemnification provisions contained in the Delaware General Corporation Law and in addition to the indemnification provided for in the Registrant’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws. The Registrant’s bylaws also permit the Registrant to maintain insurance, and the Registrant maintains a general liability insurance policy, which will cover certain liabilities of its directors and officers arising out of claims based on acts or omissions in their capacities as directors or officers.
ITEM 7. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED
Not applicable.
ITEM 8. EXHIBITS
Incorporated by Reference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exhibit No. | Exhibit | Form | File No. | Exhibit No. | Filing Date | Filed or Furnished Herewith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4.1 | 8-K | 001-39907 | 4.1 | January 24, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5.1 | x | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23.1 | x | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23.2 | x | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23.3 | x | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
99.1 | S-4/A | 333-257726 | 10.8 | December 13, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
99.2 | 8-K | 001-39907 | 10.1 | December 30, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
107 | x | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS
(a) The 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 a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Filing Fee Tables” 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;
Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 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 herein, 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.
(b) The 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 Section 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 herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) 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.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, 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 the City of San Francisco, State of California, on this 12th day of February, 2025.
| SONDER HOLDINGS INC. | |||||
| By: | /s/ Francis Davidson | ||||
| Francis Davidson | |||||
| Chief Executive Officer and Director | |||||
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Francis Davidson and Vanessa Barmack, and each one of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for them and in their name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this registration statement and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as they might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them, or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement on Form S-8 has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated below.
Signature | Title | Date | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Francis Davidson | Chief Executive Officer and Director | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
Francis Davidson | (Principal Executive Officer) | |||||||||||||
| /s/ Michael Hughes | Chief Financial Officer | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
Michael Hughes | (Principal Financial Officer) | |||||||||||||
| /s/ Rahul Thumati | Interim Chief Accounting Officer | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| Rahul Thumati | (Principal Accounting Officer) | |||||||||||||
| /s/ Prashant (Sean) Aggarwal | Director | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
Prashant (Sean) Aggarwal | ||||||||||||||
| /s/ Sanjay Banker | Director | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
Sanjay Banker | ||||||||||||||
| /s/ Michelle Frymire | Director | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
Michelle Frymire | ||||||||||||||
| /s/ Janice Sears | Director | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
Janice Sears | ||||||||||||||
| /s/ Simon Turner | Director | February 12, 2025 | ||||||||||||
Simon Turner | ||||||||||||||