Form DEFA14C Files Dataset

The Form DEFA14C Files Dataset is a complete EDGAR archive of "Definitive Additional Materials" filings made under Section 14(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — supplemental disclosures issued by an issuer when a corporate action has already been authorized by the written consent of holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities, rather than through a proxy solicitation. Each record is one EDGAR submission accepted under the DEFA14C form code, materialized as the full bundle of documents the issuer transmitted under a single accession number plus a generated metadata.json descriptor. The dataset covers all DEFA14C filings on EDGAR from April 1994 to the present and packages them as monthly ZIP containers organized by filing date. Typical record contents include cover letters, notices of Internet availability of information statement materials, revised or supplemental schedules, updated financial data, clarifying stockholder statements, and press releases that supplement a previously filed Schedule 14C information statement.

Dataset APIs

Dataset Files

What This Dataset Contains

The dataset captures the population of Form DEFA14C submissions on EDGAR — definitive additional materials companions to Schedule 14C information statements filed under Section 14(c) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14c-2 thereunder. Section 14(c) governs the situation in which a corporate action that would ordinarily require a stockholder vote has already been authorized by the written consent of holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities, removing the need for a proxy solicitation. In that posture, the issuer is nevertheless required to furnish remaining (non-consenting) security holders with an information statement on Schedule 14C describing the action that has been or will be taken; DEFA14C is the channel through which the issuer distributes any further definitive materials connected to that already-filed Schedule 14C.

The dataset includes every DEFA14C accession accepted by EDGAR from April 1994 to present. For each accession, the dataset includes a generated metadata.json file plus all documents in the original EDGAR submission except image files. Records are delivered as monthly ZIP containers organized by filing date, with the folder hierarchy YYYY/YYYY-MM/<18-digit-accession>/<files> inside each archive. File types found across the dataset are TXT, JSON, HTML, and PDF, although in practice modern filings consist almost exclusively of HTM/HTML documents plus the JSON manifest, with the EDGAR full-submission TXT aggregate appearing alongside whenever it is generated. Because DEFA14C is a low-volume notification form, monthly containers are typically small and most accessions consist of a single supplemental exhibit alongside the metadata file.

Content Structure of a Single Record

What one record represents

A single record in the Form DEFA14C Files Dataset is one complete EDGAR submission filed under the DEFA14C form code — a "Definitive Additional Materials" filing that supplements a previously filed definitive Schedule 14C information statement. Concretely, one record is the bundle of files that an issuer transmitted to EDGAR under a single accession number, materialized in the dataset as a folder named after that accession (the 18-digit form, dashes stripped) containing every original submission document except image files, plus a generated metadata.json file describing the submission. Each accession folder is the atomic record unit, and each monthly ZIP aggregates the DEFA14C accessions accepted by EDGAR during that calendar month.

What the underlying filing is

A DEFA14C filing is the channel through which the issuer distributes definitive additional materials connected to an already-filed Schedule 14C — most often a brief cover document such as a "Notice of Internet Availability of Information Statement Materials," a revised or supplemental schedule, refreshed financial information, a clarifying statement, or a press release directed to stockholders. The filing is informational only; it never solicits a proxy and almost always carries the standard caption "WE ARE NOT ASKING YOU FOR A PROXY, AND YOU ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SEND US A PROXY." Substantively, the content of any DEFA14C is only fully meaningful when read alongside the prior PRE 14C / DEF 14C in the same matter, because DEFA14C amends, supplements, clarifies, or completes that primary information statement rather than standing on its own.

Container layout of one record

Each accession folder lives two levels below the root of its monthly ZIP, in a YYYY/YYYY-MM/ path. Inside the folder, the canonical inventory is:

• exactly one metadata.json, always present, holding the structured submission descriptor
• the primary DEFA14C exhibit, almost invariably an .htm document with <TYPE>DEFA14C and <SEQUENCE>1
• zero or more additional exhibit documents (cover letters, revised schedules, updated financial data, press releases, stockholder communications) in .htm, .txt, or occasionally .pdf form
• frequently a complete-submission .txt aggregate that EDGAR generates by concatenating every document in the submission, carrying a blank <SEQUENCE> and a blank <TYPE>

Image attachments that may have been part of the original EDGAR submission are deliberately excluded from the dataset copy. The accession folder name maps deterministically back to EDGAR through the canonical archive URL https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/<cik>/<accessionNoDigits>/.

Anatomy of metadata.json

The metadata.json file is a flat JSON object that describes the EDGAR submission and indexes every document inside the folder. Its top-level scalar fields include:

• formType — the EDGAR form code, fixed at "DEFA14C"
• accessionNo — the canonical dashed accession number (e.g. "0001213900-25-080704")
• description — the form long-name, typically "Form DEFA14C - Additional information statement materials, definitive"
• filedAt — ISO-8601 filing timestamp with the EDGAR US-Eastern offset (e.g. "2025-08-26T15:05:18-04:00")
• linkToFilingDetails — direct URL to the primary document on EDGAR
• linkToTxt — URL of the full-submission text aggregate
• linkToHtml — URL of the EDGAR submission index page (...-index.htm)
• linkToXbrl — empty string for DEFA14C, since this form does not carry XBRL
• id — an internal MD5-style record identifier

Two arrays carry the structural detail:

• documentFormatFiles[] lists every document delivered as part of the submission. Each entry has sequence (typically "1" for the primary exhibit and a single space " " for the EDGAR full-submission text aggregate), size (bytes, encoded as a string), documentUrl pointing at the file on EDGAR, description (e.g. "DEFINITIVE ADDITIONAL MATERIALS", "Complete submission text file"), and type (the form code such as "DEFA14C", or a blank space for the aggregate .txt). The array order mirrors the order documents appear inside the SGML envelope, and each entry pairs one-to-one with a sibling file inside the accession folder.
• entities[] carries one object per filer or subject parsed from the EDGAR submission header, with cik, companyName (annotated with the role suffix such as "(Filer)"), type (a role-flavored copy of the form code), fileNo (the SEC file number, e.g. "001-41792"), filmNo, irsNo, fiscalYearEnd in MMDD form, stateOfIncorporation, act (the governing statute, "34" for the Exchange Act), sic (numeric SIC code with a human-readable label), and tickers[] (one or more trading symbols, when assigned). Multi-party submissions (joint filers, subject company plus filer) appear as multiple objects in this array, each carrying its own role-suffixed companyName.

Two further arrays — seriesAndClassesContractsInformation[] and dataFiles[] — are reserved for fund-style class/series metadata and structured data attachments respectively, and both are empty for DEFA14C records because this form has no XBRL data files and is not used by registered funds.

Anatomy of the exhibit documents

Every original document inside the accession folder is delivered inside the standard EDGAR SGML <DOCUMENT> envelope. The envelope opens with a small block of header tags — <TYPE> (the form/exhibit code), <SEQUENCE> (its position in the submission), <FILENAME> (the on-disk filename), and <DESCRIPTION> (the human-readable label) — followed by the payload nested inside <TEXT>...</TEXT>. For HTML documents the payload is a complete <HTML>...</HTML> body; for PDF or binary attachments it is uuencoded; for text exhibits it is the raw plaintext. The header values mirror the corresponding documentFormatFiles[] entry exactly, so the SGML wrapper and the JSON manifest are two synchronized views of the same submission.

The HTML payload of the primary DEFA14C exhibit typically opens with the cover-page caption "UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Washington, DC 20549, SCHEDULE 14C", marks the "Definitive Additional Materials" checkbox among the Schedule 14C cover-page options, identifies the registrant by name and principal executive office address, and then proceeds with the supplemental text. A representative DEFA14C body might be a "NOTICE OF INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION STATEMENT MATERIALS" describing that, on a specified date, holders of a majority of the issuer's voting securities approved one or more corporate actions by written consent — for example, Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(d) issuance authority for a private placement of preferred stock and warrants combined with an equity line of credit — with the body referring stockholders to a hosted URL where the full information statement materials may be retrieved. Standard non-solicitation language is reproduced in the body, and the supplemental document closes with an issuer signature block (officer name, title, and date).

Typical content variants of a DEFA14C

The supplemental document(s) inside a DEFA14C accession folder fall into a recognizable set of categories, all of which sit downstream of an already-filed definitive Schedule 14C:

• A short cover letter or notice of internet availability directing security holders to where the full information statement is hosted.
• A revised or supplemental schedule that amends, corrects, or expands a portion of the prior Schedule 14C (for example, an updated description of the corporate action or an updated record date).
• Updated financial data, such as refreshed pro forma statements or audited financials issued after the initial 14C.
• A clarifying stockholder statement responding to questions raised on the underlying matter or addressing staff comments.
• A press release or other stockholder communication attached as an exhibit, providing context for the corporate action that was approved by written consent.

Because DEFA14C is a notification-only filing tied to an already-authorized corporate action, the document set is almost always small — frequently a single primary HTML exhibit plus the EDGAR full-submission text aggregate.

Included content

The dataset record packages the full structured metadata for the submission together with every textual and document-form attachment from the original EDGAR filing: the metadata.json descriptor; the primary DEFA14C HTML exhibit; any additional .htm, .txt, or .pdf exhibit documents that accompanied it; and, where EDGAR generated one, the complete-submission .txt aggregate. The SGML <DOCUMENT> envelope is preserved around each original document, retaining the <TYPE>, <SEQUENCE>, <FILENAME>, and <DESCRIPTION> header tags that align the content with the manifest.

Excluded or separate content

Image files attached to the original EDGAR submission are not included in the dataset copy; references to them may still appear inside the HTML payloads but their binary content is omitted. The earlier PRE 14C and DEF 14C information statements that the DEFA14C supplements are separate EDGAR filings under different form codes; they are not part of a DEFA14C record, although the substantive meaning of a DEFA14C body is generally only fully recoverable in conjunction with that prior definitive 14C in the same matter. Subsequent corrections delivered as DEFA14C/A amendments are likewise filed under their own accession numbers and live in their own dataset records.

Notes on structural and format consistency over time

Form DEFA14C has a stable, narrow disclosure remit anchored in Section 14(c) and Rule 14c-2: it carries definitive additional materials linked to a prior Schedule 14C and, unlike Schedule 14A-family proxy filings, it has not accumulated additional substantive disclosure items over time. As a result, the internal structure of a record has remained essentially the same across the dataset's full April 1994-to-present span: an EDGAR submission consisting of one or more supplemental documents wrapped in the standard SGML <DOCUMENT> envelope, with no required tabular schedules and no event-specific item structure.

The visible evolution is in document presentation rather than disclosure scope. Earliest DEFA14C filings from the mid-1990s used plain ASCII text inside the SGML envelope, in keeping with the era's EDGAR submission conventions. HTML became the dominant payload format from the early 2000s onward and is now nearly universal, with the primary exhibit almost always delivered as an .htm document; PDF appears only occasionally and typically as a graphical facsimile of a printed cover letter. The outer SGML wrapper, the per-submission metadata.json descriptor, and the accession-folder layout are uniform across the dataset regardless of payload format.

Interpretation and extraction notes

A DEFA14C record should be interpreted as a supplement: the primary exhibit's substantive meaning depends on the matter described in the prior PRE 14C / DEF 14C, and the entities[] block in metadata.json (CIK, file number, SIC, tickers) is the most reliable join key between a DEFA14C and the related earlier filings for the same registrant.

Parsers consuming the original documents must strip the SGML header tags (<TYPE>, <SEQUENCE>, <FILENAME>, <DESCRIPTION>) and the surrounding <TEXT> tags before processing the inner HTML, PDF, or text payload. The manifest entry in documentFormatFiles[] mirrors those header values exactly and is the most efficient way to identify which sibling file in the accession folder is the primary DEFA14C exhibit (the one with sequence "1" and type "DEFA14C") versus which is the EDGAR full-submission text aggregate (blank sequence and blank type, with description "Complete submission text file"). The file sizes inside documentFormatFiles[] are byte counts encoded as strings and must be cast before arithmetic use.

Cover-page captions inside the HTML payload generally reproduce the Schedule 14C cover layout, including the form-stage checkbox set; the "Definitive Additional Materials" box is the one marked for DEFA14C records, and the presence of that marker — together with the exhibit-level <TYPE>DEFA14C tag and the form-level formType field — provides multiple corroborating signals that the record is in fact a DEFA14C and not a DEF 14C, PRE 14C, or 14C amendment. The filedAt timestamp uses the US-Eastern timezone offset that EDGAR records at acceptance and should be normalized when ordering filings across registrants in different filing windows. Embedded URLs pointing at issuer-hosted materials (typical of "Notice of Internet Availability" letters) are part of the HTML payload itself and are not separately surfaced in metadata.json; recovering them requires parsing the inner HTML body.

Who Files or Publishes This Dataset, and When

Who files DEFA14C

The filer is always the issuer itself — a registrant with a class of equity securities registered under Section 12(b) or Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Because Section 14(c) applies only when the issuer is not soliciting proxies, consents, or authorizations, there is no separate soliciting person; the issuer is both the disclosing and disseminating party.

The DEFA14C population is narrow and skews toward:

• Controlled or closely held public companies — controlled subsidiaries, founder- or sponsor-controlled issuers, and private-equity-held registrants where one holder or a small group can authorize corporate action by written consent under state law (most often DGCL Section 228).
• Issuers effecting actions that do not require a vote at a meeting — charter amendments, reverse or forward stock splits, name changes, increases in authorized shares, recapitalizations, reincorporations, equity plan adoptions, going-private transactions, and director elections by written consent.

Outside the population:

• Foreign private issuers are exempt from Regulation 14C under Rule 3a12-3 and disclose corporate actions on Form 6-K.
• Section 15(d)-only filers (no Section 12 registration) are not subject to Section 14(c).
• Issuers soliciting proxies or consents file under Regulation 14A and use DEFA14A, not DEFA14C. The choice is jurisdictional, not elective.

What triggers a DEFA14C filing

A DEFA14C is filed whenever an issuer with an active Schedule 14C matter distributes additional written materials to security holders concerning the same corporate action authorized (or to be authorized) by written consent. Typical triggers:

• Supplemental or clarifying disclosure responding to SEC staff comments after a PRE 14C or DEF 14C, where a full amendment is not warranted.
• Updated financials, pro formas, fairness opinion summaries, or revised transaction terms arising between the DEF 14C and the effective date.
• Cover letters, press releases, or holder communications distributed in connection with mailing the information statement.
• Errata or corrective notices for non-material errors in the DEF 14C.
• Notices regarding mailing date, effective date, or revised closing timing.

DEFA14C is not used for the original information statement (that is DEF 14C) or its preliminary version (PRE 14C). Material restatements or substantive revisions are filed as a new DEF 14C — or, where staff review is again required, a new PRE 14C — not as DEFA14C.

Regulatory basis

DEFA14C is a Regulation 14C submission under Section 14(c) of the Exchange Act. The relevant rules:

• Rule 14c-2 requires that an information statement complying with Schedule 14C be sent to every holder entitled to vote or consent on a matter being effected without proxy solicitation, at least 20 calendar days before the earliest date the action may be taken.
• Rule 14c-5 governs filing mechanics and timing for Schedule 14C materials, including preliminary, definitive, and additional definitive submissions. DEFA14C is the EDGAR submission type for additional definitive materials under this rule.
• Schedule 14C (Rule 14c-101) prescribes the line-item disclosure content of the information statement that DEFA14C filings supplement.

Timing relative to mailing

Regulation 14C anchors on dissemination, not a periodic calendar:

• PRE 14C: filed at least 10 calendar days before the definitive information statement is sent to holders, unless an exemption applies.
• DEF 14C: filed on or before the date the information statement is first sent or given to holders.
• Mailing: the DEF 14C must reach holders at least 20 calendar days before the corporate action's effective date (Rule 14c-2(b)).
• DEFA14C: filed no later than the date the additional materials are first sent or given to holders. There is no fixed window — DEFA14C can be filed concurrently with the DEF 14C, during the 20-day notice period, or after the effective date if supplemental communications continue. Filings cluster in the 20-day window between DEF 14C dissemination and the effective date.

The 20-day period is a notice period, not a voting period — the action has already been authorized by written consent. DEFA14C expands the informational record but does not extend or restart any clock.

Important distinctions

• DEFA14C vs. DEFA14A: DEFA14A accompanies an active proxy or consent solicitation under Regulation 14A. DEFA14C is non-solicitation by definition. Only one regime applies to a given matter.
• DEFA14C vs. DEF 14C / DEFM14C: DEF 14C is the information statement itself; DEFM14C is the merger-specific definitive variant. DEFA14C layers additional materials on top of these and is not used to restate or replace them.
• DEFA14C vs. Form 8-K: A press release or holder communication about the consent or transaction may simultaneously be furnished under Item 7.01 or Item 8.01 of Form 8-K. When the same materials are distributed to holders in connection with the Schedule 14C matter, they are also filed as DEFA14C. The regimes are complementary.
• Filer vs. consenting holder: The filer is always the issuer. The majority or controlling holders whose written consent authorized the action are not DEFA14C filers, though they may have separate Section 13(d)/13(g) or Section 16 obligations producing distinct filings.
• Investment companies: Registered funds generally proceed under Regulation 14A or fund-specific information statement variants; certain BDC and closed-end fund actions can fall under Section 14(c), but the operating-company DEFA14C population dominates the dataset.

How This Dataset Differs From Similar Datasets or Filings

DEFA14C sits inside a tightly clustered family of Section 14 disclosure filings. The most useful comparisons are to other Schedule 14C filings (the consent-context family DEFA14C supplements), to the parallel Schedule 14A proxy-solicitation family, and to event-driven disclosures such as Form 8-K and tender-offer schedules that often describe the same underlying transaction through a different regulatory lens.

DEF 14C — Definitive Information Statement

The parent filing DEFA14C exists to supplement. DEF 14C carries the substantive disclosure load: description of the corporate action, identity and interests of affiliated parties, financial statements where required, dissenters' rights, and pro forma data. DEFA14C is a short, dependent follow-on — cover letters, revised schedules, clarifications — that has no meaning without the DEF 14C it attaches to. Pull DEF 14C for the transaction itself; pull DEFA14C for post-filing communications and updates.

PRE 14C — Preliminary Information Statement

The pre-clearance version of the same information statement, filed for staff review before the definitive document goes to security holders. PRE 14C precedes DEF 14C; DEFA14C follows it. PRE 14C content largely mirrors what becomes DEF 14C, while DEFA14C is narrower and supplemental rather than a full restatement.

DEFR14C / DEFRA14C — Revised Filings

DEFR14C re-issues the definitive information statement when material changes warrant a substantive replacement; DEFRA14C, where used, marks a revised set of additional materials. Both share post-DEF 14C timing with DEFA14C but differ in posture: DEFR14C replaces or substantively revises the core disclosure, while DEFA14C is additive and leaves the DEF 14C in place. DEFR14C signals a real correction to the underlying document; DEFA14C signals incremental supplementation.

DEFA14A — Definitive Additional Proxy Soliciting Materials

The single closest non-14C neighbor and a structural twin: definitive additional materials filed after a definitive filing in the same family. The decisive distinction is the voting context. DEFA14A is filed when proxies are being solicited under Schedule 14A (holders are being asked to vote), so its content is solicitation-oriented — talking points, investor presentations, supplemental Q&A. DEFA14C is filed when no solicitation occurs because the action was authorized by written consent under Schedule 14C, so its content is informational only. Treat the two as parallel but mutually exclusive datasets.

DEF 14A — Definitive Proxy Statement

The proxy statement proxy-context counterpart to DEF 14C. DEF 14A and DEF 14C cover overlapping subject matter (mergers, charter amendments, recapitalizations, going-private transactions, name changes) but differ in the legal mechanism of approval: solicited vote versus delivered consents. DEFA14C is the supplemental layer of the consent track; DEFA14A is the supplemental layer of the voting track. The choice of form signals which procedural posture the issuer is in.

Form 8-K — Current Reports

Many actions that trigger a Schedule 14C process (mergers, charter amendments, changes in control, reverse splits, authorized-share increases, name changes) are also reportable on 8-K under Items such as Item 1.01, Item 3.03, Item 5.03, Item 5.07, and 8.01. The two differ in audience and structure: 8-K is an event-driven current report to the broad market with prescribed Item categories and short deadlines; DEFA14C is a holder-directed supplement to an information statement, with no Item taxonomy. The same transaction may generate 8-Ks (event disclosure), a DEF 14C (statutory holder disclosure), and one or more DEFA14Cs (supplements to holders). 8-K offers broader, more uniformly coded event coverage; DEFA14C offers narrower content tied to a specific consent-authorized action.

Schedule TO and SC 14D9

Tender-offer schedules under Sections 14(d) and 14(e): Schedule TO is the bidder's tender offer statement, SC 14D9 is the subject company's solicitation/recommendation response. They may travel alongside DEFA14C when a controlling-shareholder transaction combines consents with a tender, but they sit in a different regulatory regime and carry the substantive tender-offer content (offer terms, fairness analyses, board recommendations). DEFA14C remains confined to information-statement supplements.

What makes DEFA14C distinct

Three features separate DEFA14C from every neighbor above:

1. Consent-context only. It presupposes majority written consent has already authorized the action, so it never solicits proxies and never asks holders to vote. This excludes the entire 14A family.
2. Supplemental, not primary. It depends on a previously filed DEF 14C and carries clarifications, cover letters, or updated exhibits — not the full statutory disclosure. This excludes DEF 14C, PRE 14C, and DEF 14A.
3. Additive, not replacement. Unlike DEFR14C, it appends to the definitive document rather than revising it.

DEFA14C is therefore not a substitute for DEF 14C (transaction substance), DEFA14A (solicitation behavior), DEFR14C (corrections to the core disclosure), or 8-K (broad event coverage). It is best used together with DEF 14C to reconstruct the complete information-statement record for a consent-authorized action, and alongside 8-K or tender-offer schedules when the same transaction crosses regimes.

Who Uses This Dataset

The dataset is small, finite, and concentrated in controlled companies, take-private deals, recapitalizations, and charter actions, which gives it a defined professional user base.

M&A and securities lawyers

Outside transaction counsel and in-house securities lawyers use supplemental cover letters, revised schedules, updated fairness-opinion summaries, and corrective disclosures as drafting precedents. They focus on document descriptions, filing dates relative to the prior DEF 14C, and the language used to address late-breaking developments, confirming that the Rule 14c-2 twenty-day waiting period was respected when material new information was added.

Paralegals and corporate secretaries

Used as a working precedent library when assembling DEFA14C packages. Relevant fields are the EDGAR submission structure, exhibit ordering in the document index, attached file types (HTML, PDF, TXT), and prior-filing references binding the additional materials to the underlying information statement.

Event-driven and special-situations analysts

Sell-side and buy-side analysts covering small-caps, controlled companies, take-privates, and Up-C collapses track corporate actions that bypass shareholder meetings. They pull filer identity, filing date, and any revised consideration, exchange ratios, or updated pro forma figures in the supplement to update deal-tracking sheets and thesis notes.

Merger arbitrage desks

Arb desks monitor timing risk in written-consent deals, which lack a meeting date as a close anchor. They read supplemental materials for effective dates, mailing dates, regulatory delays, and revised closing conditions, and use the gap between DEF 14C, DEFA14C, and effectiveness to size positions and time hedges.

Governance researchers and proxy advisors

Used to study controlled-company practices, where consents replace meetings. Researchers focus on the nature of the action being supplemented (charter amendments, reverse splits, going-private steps, equity issuances) and the substance of communications to minority holders, feeding thematic reports and voting-policy updates on consent-based actions.

Issuer compliance and disclosure teams

Compliance officers at serial 14C filers audit their own and peer practices on supplemental disclosure. They focus on document-type tagging, cross-references to the underlying DEF 14C, and the substance of clarifying or corrective filings to support post-filing reviews and pre-close remediation.

Transfer agents and information agents

Used to align stockholder mailings with EDGAR filings. The cover letters, mailing notices, and record-date or distribution-date language drive templated mailing instructions and reconciliation between filed materials and physical mailings.

Financial printers and EDGAR filing agents

Reference for document-type conventions, exhibit ordering, and accepted file formats in DEFA14C submissions. Submission metadata and file-type composition support packaging decisions, rendering checks, and onboarding of clients new to the 14C series.

Academic and policy researchers

Researchers studying minority-shareholder protections, going-private mechanics, and written-consent practice use the full population of supplements, the time gap between DEF 14C and DEFA14C, and the cross-section of issuers relying on consent-based authorization. Supports event studies, disclosure-quality analyses, and Section 14(c) policy work.

Investor-relations teams

Used to benchmark peer communications during the window between the original information statement and the effective date. Focus is on the tone of cover letters, inclusion of Q&A or clarifying statements, and how revised financials or transaction updates are framed.

LLM and RAG engineering teams

Engineering teams building deal-monitoring and disclosure-classification pipelines use the dataset as a narrow, clean corpus. They rely on structured EDGAR metadata, document descriptions, and supplemental text to fine-tune classifiers that separate proxy from consent-based actions and to build retrieval indices linking supplements to parent DEF 14C filings.

Each role draws on a different slice of the record — metadata, document index, supplemental text, or linkage to the underlying DEF 14C — but all need a single, consolidated view of consent-context supplemental disclosures across EDGAR history.

Specific Use Cases

Reconstructing consent-authorized deal timelines for arbitrage sizing

Merger arbitrage desks pair the filedAt timestamp on each DEFA14C accession with the prior DEF 14C and the issuer-stated effective or mailing date inside the HTML exhibit body to measure the Rule 14c-2 twenty-day window and any post-filing slippage. The CIK and fileNo from entities[] join DEFA14C records back to the parent DEF 14C in the same matter, producing a per-deal sequence of filing dates, mailing dates, and revised closing conditions that drives position sizing in written-consent transactions where there is no shareholder meeting to anchor close.

Building a supplemental-disclosure precedent library

Paralegals, corporate secretaries, and securities lawyers index documentFormatFiles[] entries (description, type, sequence, file extension) across the full April 1994-to-present population to retrieve precedents by category — "Notice of Internet Availability," revised pro forma schedule, clarifying stockholder letter, attached press release. The HTML payload of the matched primary DEFA14C exhibit is lifted directly into draft packages, and the on-disk exhibit ordering inside the accession folder is used as a template for assembling new DEFA14C submissions for the financial printer.

Classifier and retrieval corpus for consent-vs-proxy disclosure pipelines

LLM and RAG teams use the dataset as a narrow, labeled corpus to fine-tune classifiers that separate consent-context supplements (DEFA14C) from proxy-context supplements (DEFA14A) and to detect supplement subtypes (cover letter, revised schedule, updated financials, clarifying statement). The standard "WE ARE NOT ASKING YOU FOR A PROXY" caption, the Schedule 14C cover-page checkbox, and the <TYPE>DEFA14C SGML header act as reliable training labels, and the entities[] block (CIK, ticker, SIC) anchors retrieval indices that link each supplement to its parent DEF 14C.

Event studies on minority-holder treatment in controlled-company actions

Academic and governance researchers iterate the full DEFA14C population, parse the underlying corporate-action language from the primary HTML exhibit (charter amendments, reverse splits, going-private steps, Nasdaq 5635(d) issuance authority, Up-C collapses), and join on CIK to price and ownership data to run event studies on how minority holders are informed and compensated. The gap between the DEF 14C filedAt and each DEFA14C filedAt becomes a disclosure-timing variable; SIC and stateOfIncorporation from entities[] cut the sample by industry and Delaware-versus-other regime.

Peer benchmarking of supplemental communications by serial 14C filers

Issuer compliance teams and investor-relations groups filter the dataset by entities[].cik or by SIC peer set, then compare the cover-letter language, presence or absence of an attached Q&A, and framing of revised financial data across peer DEFA14Cs. The output is a redlined template for the issuer's own next supplemental filing and an internal audit of whether prior DEFA14Cs cross-referenced the underlying DEF 14C cleanly and respected the Rule 14c-2 waiting period when material new information was introduced.

Stockholder-mailing reconciliation for transfer and information agents

Transfer agents and information agents extract the record-date, distribution-date, and Internet-availability URL language directly from the HTML payload of each DEFA14C primary exhibit, then reconcile that against their physical and electronic mailing logs for the same CIK. The linkToFilingDetails and linkToHtml fields in metadata.json provide the canonical EDGAR pointers used in mailing instructions, and the documentFormatFiles[] description field flags which exhibit is the holder-facing notice versus internal supporting material.

Dataset Access

Dataset Index JSON API: https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-defa14c-files.json

This endpoint returns metadata describing the Form DEFA14C Files Dataset, including its name, description, last update timestamp, earliest sample date (April 1994), form types covered, container format, and file types contained in each archive. The response also includes the full dataset download URL and a containers[] array listing every monthly container file with its download URL, key, size, record count, and last updated timestamp. Use this endpoint to monitor which containers have changed in the most recent refresh run, so you can selectively download only the containers updated since your last sync. This endpoint does not require an API key.

Example response:

          1
          {
        

          2
            "datasetId": "1f13365b-9ae0-69c9-9809-fb18d086f372",
        

          3
            "datasetDownloadUrl": "https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-defa14c-files.zip",
        

          4
            "name": "Form DEFA14C Files Dataset",
        

          5
            "updatedAt": "2026-04-15T12:22:38.080Z",
        

          6
            "earliestSampleDate": "1994-04-01",
        

          7
            "totalRecords": 456,
        

          8
            "totalSize": 4406633,
        

          9
            "formTypes": ["DEFA14C"],
        

          10
            "containerFormat": "ZIP",
        

          11
            "fileTypes": ["TXT", "JSON", "HTML", "PDF"],
        

          12
            "containers": [
        

          13
              {
        

          14
                "downloadUrl": "https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-defa14c-files/2026/2026-04.zip",
        

          15
                "key": "2026/2026-04.zip",
        

          16
                "size": 13818783,
        

          17
                "records": 12,
        

          18
                "updatedAt": "2026-04-15T12:22:38.080Z"
        

          19
              }
        

          20
            ]
        

          21
          }
        

Download Entire Dataset: https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-defa14c-files.zip?token=YOUR_API_KEY

Downloads the complete dataset as a single ZIP archive containing every monthly container from April 1994 to the latest refresh. This endpoint requires an API key.

Download Single Container: https://api.sec-api.io/datasets/form-defa14c-files/2026/2026-04.zip?token=YOUR_API_KEY

Downloads one individual monthly container ZIP instead of the full archive. Use the downloadUrl values from the dataset index JSON to retrieve specific months. This endpoint requires an API key.

Frequently Asked Questions

What form does this dataset cover?

The dataset covers Form DEFA14C — "Definitive Additional Materials" filings submitted under Section 14(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 14c-2 thereunder. DEFA14C is the EDGAR submission type for additional definitive materials that supplement a previously filed Schedule 14C information statement.

What does one record in this dataset represent?

One record is one complete EDGAR submission filed under the DEFA14C form code, materialized as a folder named after the 18-digit accession number. The folder contains every original submission document except image files, plus a generated metadata.json descriptor that indexes the submission and its filer entities.

Who is required to file Form DEFA14C?

The filer is always the issuer itself — a registrant with a class of equity securities registered under Section 12(b) or Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act — distributing additional written materials to security holders in connection with a corporate action that has already been authorized by the written consent of holders of a majority of the outstanding voting securities. Foreign private issuers (who use Form 6-K) and Section 15(d)-only filers fall outside the population.

What time period does the dataset cover?

The dataset includes all Form DEFA14C filings submitted to EDGAR from April 1, 1994 to the present, delivered as monthly ZIP containers organized by filing date under the path YYYY/YYYY-MM/<18-digit-accession>/.

What file format is the dataset distributed in?

The dataset is distributed as ZIP containers. Inside each container, file types include HTML (the primary DEFA14C exhibit and most supplemental documents), TXT (the EDGAR full-submission text aggregate and some legacy ASCII filings), JSON (the per-record metadata.json descriptor), and occasional PDF attachments. Image attachments from the original EDGAR submission are excluded.

How does this dataset differ from DEFA14A?

DEFA14A and DEFA14C are structural twins — both carry definitive additional materials following a definitive filing — but they sit in mutually exclusive regulatory regimes. DEFA14A is filed when proxies are being solicited under Schedule 14A, so its content is solicitation-oriented; DEFA14C is filed when no solicitation occurs because the corporate action was authorized by written consent under Schedule 14C, so its content is purely informational and carries the standard "WE ARE NOT ASKING YOU FOR A PROXY" caption.

How does DEFA14C relate to the underlying DEF 14C?

A DEFA14C is meaningful only as a supplement to a previously filed DEF 14C in the same matter. The DEF 14C carries the substantive disclosure (description of the corporate action, affiliated-party interests, financials, dissenters' rights); the DEFA14C layers cover letters, revised schedules, updated financial data, clarifying statements, or press releases on top of it. The CIK, file number, SIC, and tickers in the entities[] block of metadata.json are the most reliable join keys for reconnecting a DEFA14C to its parent DEF 14C.