Filed
by
Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc.
pursuant
to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended,
and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Subject
Company: North Pittsburgh Systems, Inc.
File
No.
of Related Registration Statement: 333-146131
September
24, 2007
To
All
North Pittsburgh Systems Employees,
We
thought it would be helpful to give you another update on integration
activities, as it’s been some time since our all-employee meetings and more than
two months since the merger agreement. I’d like to share with you our progress
and provide some details that could help manage your expectations during a
time
of transition and probably some uneasiness.
It’s
natural for there to be some anxiety and uncertainty about the future and what
it means for you personally. Unfortunately, the gap in time between the signing
of the agreement and the transaction close is also an opportunity for rumors
to
circulate, which is usually not beneficial to anyone. To minimize this potential
and lessen anxiety, we’ll do our best to keep you informed and set reasonable
expectations for next steps.
By
now
you may have seen Consolidated senior management visiting North Pittsburgh
and
also meeting with some individuals. These visits are to better understand roles,
responsibilities, processes and systems of each department and have been very
positive and beneficial to the integration process. This is a good opportunity
for Consolidated to assess current operations of both companies and incorporate
best practices into the organization. We’re appreciative of the cooperation and
assistance we’ve received from NPSI management and also the openness of
employees. These visits and meetings will continue.
While
we’re anxious to move forward with organizational decisions, we must wait until
the NPSI shareholders approve the transaction. Once approved, we will move
quickly to finalize and communicate our new organizational structure with the
combined companies.
In
the
meantime, there are some projects that we can, and must, begin tackling now.
For
example, due to North Pittsburgh business environment issues and timing of
vendor decisions, we’re moving forward with some integration projects, such as
IPTV deployment and the financial system migration from JD Edwards to
PeopleSoft. We are working together with the NPSI Executive Team now so that
time is not wasted. Some of you may already be directly involved in these
projects.
Regulatory
approvals are going as expected and we are still targeting a year-end or early
first quarter 2008 close. Please be patient as we wait for these approval
processes to be completed and allow us to get all integration efforts fully
underway.
If
you
have specific questions or concerns, please continue to use the NPSI intranet
Q&A, or contact Consolidated integration officer, Chris Young (chris.young@consolidated.com
or
217-234-5888) or Bill Barthlow (724-443-9556) directly. We may not have all
the
answers yet, but will share what we can until more decisions can be made and
communicated.
Thank
you
for your patience. Let me say again how excited we are about the opportunities
that lie ahead and how eager we are to work together to join our companies
into
one.
Sincerely,
Bob
Currey
President
and CEO
Consolidated
Communications
Safe
Harbor
Any
statements other than statements of historical facts, including statements
about
management’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements and should
be evaluated as such. These statements are made on the basis of management’s
views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance. Words
such as “estimate,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” and similar expressions
are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
(including oral representations) involve risks and uncertainties that may
cause
actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance
or
achievements expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and
uncertainties include the ability of Consolidated Communications Holdings,
Inc.
(the “Company”) to complete the acquisition, successfully integrate the
operations of North Pittsburgh Systems, Inc. (“North Pittsburgh”) and realize
the synergies from the acquisition, as well as a number of other factors
related
to the businesses of the Company and North Pittsburgh, including various
risks to stockholders of not receiving dividends and risks to the Company’s
ability to pursue growth opportunities if the Company continues to pay dividends
according to the current dividend policy; various risks to the price and
volatility of the Company’s common stock; the substantial amount of debt and the
Company’s ability to incur additional debt in the future; the Company’s need for
a significant amount of cash to service and repay the debt and to pay dividends
on the Company’s common stock; restrictions contained in the Company’s debt
agreements that limit the discretion of management in operating the business;
the ability to refinance the existing debt as necessary; regulatory changes,
rapid development and introduction of new technologies and intense competition
in the telecommunications industry; risks associated with the Company’s possible
pursuit of acquisitions; economic conditions in the Company’s and North
Pittsburgh’s service areas in Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania; system failures;
losses of large customers or government contracts; risks associated with
the
rights-of-way for the network; disruptions in the relationship with third
party
vendors; losses of key management personnel and the inability to attract
and
retain highly qualified management and personnel in the future; changes in
the
extensive governmental legislation and regulations governing telecommunications
providers and the provision of telecommunications services; telecommunications
carriers disputing and/or avoiding their obligations to pay network access
charges for use of the Company’s network; high costs of regulatory compliance;
the competitive impact of legislation and regulatory changes in the
telecommunications industry; and liability and compliance costs regarding
environmental regulations. These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed
in more detail in the Company’s and North Pittsburgh’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including our respective reports on Form
10-K and Form 10-Q.
Many
of these risks are beyond management’s ability to control or predict. All
forward-looking statements attributable to the Company, North Pittsburgh
or
persons acting on behalf of each of them are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the cautionary statements and risk factors contained in this
communication and the companies’ filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Because of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should
not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Furthermore,
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except
as
required under the federal securities laws or the rules and regulations of
the
Securities and Exchange Commission, we do not undertake any obligation to
update
or review any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Prospectus/Proxy
Statement
This
material is not a substitute for the prospectus/proxy statement the Company
and
North Pittsburgh filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September
17, 2007. Investors are urged to read the prospectus/proxy statement, which
contains important information, including detailed risk factors, and any
amendments thereto when they become available. The prospectus/proxy statement
and other documents which will be filed by the Company and North Pittsburgh
with
the Securities and Exchange Commission will be available free of charge at
the
Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, www.sec.gov, or by directing a
request to Consolidated Communications, 121 South 17th Street, Mattoon, IL
61938, Attention: Investor Relations; or to North Pittsburgh, 4008 Gibsonia
Road, Gibsonia, Pennsylvania 15044, Attention: Investor Relations. The final
prospectus/proxy statement will be mailed to shareholders of North
Pittsburgh.
This
communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an
offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior
to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such
jurisdiction.
Proxy
Solicitation
The
Company and North Pittsburgh, and certain of their respective directors,
executive officers and other members of management and employees are
participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed
transactions. Information about the directors and executive officers of the
Company is set forth in the proxy statement for the Company’s 2007 annual
meeting of shareholders. Information about the directors and executive officers
of North Pittsburgh is set forth in the prospectus/proxy statement and North
Pittsburgh’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, as
amended. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interests
of
such participants in the proposed transactions by reading the prospectus/proxy
statement, and any amendments thereto when they become available, for such
proposed transactions.