As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 8, 2026
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 88-3599336 | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
| 90 Aviation Lane Belgrade, MT |
59714 | |
| (Address of Principal Executive Office) | (Zip Code) | |
BRIDGER AEROSPACE GROUP HOLDINGS, INC. 2023 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN
(Full title of the plan)
Justin D. Mogford
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
90 Aviation Lane
Belgrade, MT 59714
Telephone: (406) 813-0079
(Name and address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
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
This Registration Statement on Form S-8 (this “Registration Statement”) is being filed by Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Registrant”), relating to the registration of 3,097,618 shares of its common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”), authorized to be issued pursuant to the 2024, 2025 and 2026 annual share increases under the Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc. 2023 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2023 Plan”).
PART I
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS
The information specified in Item 1 and Item 2 of Part I of this Registration Statement is omitted from this filing in accordance with the provisions of Rule 428 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the introductory note to Part I of Form S-8. The documents containing the information specified in Part I will be delivered to participants in the 2023 Plan as required by Rule 428(b)(1).
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.
The following documents previously filed by the Registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:
| (1) | The Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Commission on March 6, 2026 (the “2025 10-K); |
| (2) | The Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, filed with the Commission on May 8, 2026; |
| (3) | The Registrant’s Current Reports on Form 8-K, filed with the Commission on March 11, 2026 and March 26, 2026; and |
| (4) | The description of the Common Stock contained in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form 8-A, filed with the Commission on January 24, 2023, including any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description and any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating that description, including Exhibit 4.3 to the 2025 10-K. |
All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant with the Commission pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), 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 hereby 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 hereof from the respective dates of filing of such documents (such documents, and the documents enumerated above, being hereinafter referred to as “Incorporated Documents”).
Any statement contained in an Incorporated Document 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 other subsequently filed Incorporated Document 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.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, unless specifically stated to the contrary, none of the information disclosed by the Registrant under Items 2.02 or 7.01 of any current report on Form 8-K, including the related exhibits under Item 9.01, that the Registrant may from time to time furnish to the Commission will be incorporated by reference into, or otherwise included in, 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 145(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) provides, in general, that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation), because he or she is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.
Section 145(b) of the DGCL provides, in general, that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor because the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, except that no indemnification shall be made with respect to any claim, issue or matter as to which he or she shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or other adjudicating court determines that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all of the circumstances of the case, he or she is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses that the Court of Chancery or other adjudicating court shall deem proper.
Section 145(g) of the DGCL provides, in general, that a corporation may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of his or her status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify the person against such liability under Section 145 of the DGCL.
Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL provides that a corporation’s certificate of incorporation may contain a provision eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director or officer to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director or officer, provided that such provision shall not eliminate or limit liability (i) for the director or officer for any breach of the director or officer’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for the director or officer for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) for the director under Section 174 of the DGCL (iv) the director or officer for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit or (v) for the officer for any action by or in the right of the corporation.
The Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for indemnification of its directors and officers to the maximum extent authorized or permitted by the DGCL, as now or hereafter in effect.
In addition, the Registrant has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors and officers. These agreements require the Registrant to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as may be amended from time to time, against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to the Registrant, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified. The Registrant also intends to enter into indemnification agreements with its future directors and officers.
Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.
Not applicable.
Item 8. Exhibits.
* Filed herewith.
Item 9. Undertakings.
(a) The undersigned 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; and
(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 therein, 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 undersigned 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 therein, 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.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, 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 Belgrade, Montana, on May 8, 2026.
| Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc. | ||
| By | /s/ Sam Davis | |
| Name | Sam Davis | |
| Title | President and Chief Executive Officer | |
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that that each of the undersigned hereby constitutes and appoints, jointly and severally, Sam Davis, Anne Hayes, and Justin D. Mogford, or either of them (with full power to each of them to act alone), as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, each with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and on his or her behalf to sign, execute and file all amendments (including, without limitation, post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and any documents required to be filed with respect therewith, with the Commission or any regulatory authority, granting unto such 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 and about the premises in order to effectuate the same as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do if personally present, hereby ratifying and confirming all that such attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or his, her or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature |
Title |
Date | ||
| /s/ Sam Davis Sam Davis |
President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Anne Hayes Anne Hayes |
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Accounting and Financial Officer) | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Jeffrey E. Kelter Jeffrey E. Kelter |
Director and Executive Chairman of the Board | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Dan Drohan Dan Drohan |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Elizabeth C. Fascitelli Elizabeth C. Fascitelli |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Ernest M. Freedman Ernest M. Freedman |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Dean Heller Dean Heller |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ H. Wyman Howard III H. Wyman Howard III |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Meghan Pasricha Meghan Pasricha |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ Robert F. Savage, Jr. Robert F. Savage, Jr. |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||
| /s/ David Schellenberg David Schellenberg |
Director | May 8, 2026 | ||