Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
Chief Executive Officer
On April 22, 2021, Canoo Inc. (the “Company”) announced the appointment of Tony Aquila as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Aquila will also continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors (the “Board”). Mr. Aquila succeeds Ulrich Kranz, who resigned on April 18, 2021 and will remain with the Company through April 30, 2021.
Mr. Aquila, age 56, has served as the Executive Chairman of the Board since December 2020, and prior to this, served as Executive Chairman of Canoo Holdings Ltd. from October 2020 to December 2020. In June 2019, Mr. Aquila founded AFV Partners LLC, an affirmative low-leverage capital vehicle that invests in long-term mission critical software, data and technology businesses and serves as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since its founding. In 2005, Mr. Aquila founded Solera Holdings Inc., and led it as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer to an initial public offering in 2007. Mr. Aquila currently serves as the Chairman for Aircraft Performance Group, LLC, a global provider of mission critical flight operations software, since January 2020; RocketRoute Limited, global aviation services company, since March 2020; and APG Avionics LLC, an aviation data and software company for the general aviation market, since September 2020. From November 2018 to July 2020, Mr. Aquila served as the Global Chairman of Sportradar Group, a sports data and content company.
Compensatory Arrangements
In connection with his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, the Board granted Mr. Aquila 2 million performance-based restricted stock units (“PSUs”) that vest upon the satisfaction of a combination of performance- and time-based conditions. The PSUs will vest based on performance in one-third increments upon the achievement of each of the following price hurdles during the five-year period beginning October 19, 2020: (i) the stock price equals or exceeds two times the greater of (a) the stock price on the grant date or (b) $10, (ii) the stock price equals or exceeds two and one-half times the greater of (a) the stock price on the grant date or (b) $10; and (iii) the stock price equals or exceeds three times the greater of (a) the stock price on the grant date or (b) $10. In addition, the PSUs will vest based on time upon the completion of three years of continuous service beginning on October 19, 2020, subject to specified qualifying termination and change of control protections.
Mr. Aquila will not receive additional cash compensation in connection with his new role. The Company and Mr. Aquila are finalizing the terms of the equity awards that will be granted to him in connection with his appointment as Executive Chairman of the Board.
Related Party Transactions
In August 2020, in connection with the entry into the Merger Agreement relating to the Company’s business combination with Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. IV (“HCAC”), HCAC entered into a subscription agreement with AFV Partners SPV-4 LLC, an entity controlled by AFV Partners LLC, which was founded by Mr. Aquila and where he serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, for the purchase of shares of HCAC Class A common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $35.0 million. At closing of the business combination, such shares converted into shares of common stock of the Company.
Mr. Aquila, through an entity owned and controlled by him, owns a personal aircraft, which he uses for business travel. The Company reimburses Mr. Aquila for certain costs and third-party payments associated with the use of his personal aircraft for Company-related business travel, excluding certain incidental fees and expenses. The Company incurred approximately $0.5 million for such reimbursements for the year ended December 31, 2020.
In March 2021, Canoo Technologies Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Canoo Technologies”), entered into a lease for an office facility in Justin, Texas with 11520 HWY 114 LLC, an entity owned by Mr. Aquila. The lease term is five years, commencing on January 1, 2021. The lease has a monthly base rent of $21,875 and contains a 3% per annum escalation clause which updates on January 1st of each year. Canoo Technologies