As Filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 11, 2019
RegistrationNo. 333-229027
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO
FORMS-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
PIVOTAL ACQUISITION CORP.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 6770 | 61-1898603 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
c/o Graubard Miller
The Chrysler Building
405 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York 10174
(212)818-8800
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Jonathan J. Ledecky, Chief Executive Officer
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
c/o Graubard Miller
The Chrysler Building
405 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York 10174
(212)818-8800
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
| David Alan Miller, Esq. | Douglas S. Ellenoff, Esq. | |
| Jeffrey M. Gallant, Esq. | Stuart Neuhauser, Esq. | |
| Graubard Miller | Jeffrey W. Rubin, Esq. | |
| The Chrysler Building | Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP | |
| 405 Lexington Avenue | 1345 Avenue of the Americas | |
| New York, New York 10174 | New York, New York 10105 | |
| Telephone: (212)818-8800 | Telephone: (212) 370-1300 |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, anon-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. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Title of each class of security being registered | Amount being registered | Proposed maximum offering price per security(1) | Proposed maximum aggregate offering price(1) | Amount of registration fee | ||||||||||||
Units, each consisting of one share of common stock, $.0001 par value, and one Warrant(2) | 23,000,000 Units | $ | 10.00 | $ | 230,000,000 | $ | 27,876 | |||||||||
Shares of common stock included as part of the Units(3) | 23,000,000 Shares | — | — | — | (4) | |||||||||||
Redeemable Warrants included as part of the Units(3) | 23,000,000 Warrants | — | — | — | (4) | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 230,000,000 | $ | 27,876 | (5) | |||||||||||
| (1) | Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee. |
| (2) | Includes 3,000,000 Units, 3,000,000 shares of common stock and 3,000,000 Redeemable Warrants underlying such Units which may be issued on exercise of a45-day option granted to the underwriters. |
| (3) | Pursuant to Rule 416, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions. |
| (4) | No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g). |
| (5) | Previously paid. |
This registration statement shall hereafter become effective in accordance with the provisions of section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
Subject to completion, dated January 11, 2019
Preliminary prospectus
$200,000,000
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
20,000,000 Units
Pivotal Acquisition Corp. is a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as our initial business combination. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential target regarding entering into a business combination with us.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock and one redeemable warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. The underwriters have a45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to 3,000,000additional units.
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (net of our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Class A common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein. Additionally, the Class A common stock sold in this offering will have limited voting rights in certain situations, as further described herein.
Our sponsor, Pivotal Acquisition Holdings LLC, whose members are Jonathan J. Ledecky, our chief executive officer and chairman of our board of directors, and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC (which is a newly formed entity that is an affiliate of Kevin Griffin, one of our directors who is also Chief Executive Officer of MGG Investment Group, LP), has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 5,750,000 warrants (or 6,350,000 warrants if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($5,750,000 in the aggregate or $6,350,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.
Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC has agreed, pursuant to a forward purchase contract with us, to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination, up to $150,000,000 of our securities. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will be determined by us and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC. This agreement is independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to redeem their public shares and may provide us with an increased minimum funding level for the initial business combination. However, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC may not agree to purchase any securities.
There is presently no public market for our units, Class A common stock or warrants. We have applied to have our units listed on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol “PVT.U” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions as described in more detail in this prospectus, we expect that the Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “PVT” and “PVT WS,” respectively.
We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 22 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
| Per unit | Total | |||||||
Public offering price | $ | 10.00 | $ | 200,000,000 | ||||
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) | $ | 0.55 | $ | 11,000,000 | ||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us | $ | 9.45 | $ | 189,000,000 | ||||
| (1) | Includes $0.35 per unit, or an aggregate of $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares is exercised in full), of deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account in the United States as described in this prospectus in more detail. See the section titled “Underwriting” for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters. |
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $200,000,000, or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about[·], 2019.
Sole Book-Running Manager
Cantor
Lead Manager
BTIG
[·], 2019
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We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
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This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| • | “we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to Pivotal Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation; |
| • | “amended and restated certificate of incorporation” are to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation; |
| • | “common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock; |
| • | “DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| • | “founder shares” are to our shares of Class B common stock initially issued to our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and the shares of Class A common stock that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B common stock at the time of our initial business combination (for the avoidance of doubt, such shares of Class A common stock which are converted from Class B common stock will not be “public shares”); |
| • | “initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering; |
| • | “management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors; |
| • | “private placement warrants” are to the warrants to be issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering and upon conversion of working capital loans, if any; |
| • | “public shares” are to our shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| • | “public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” will exist only with respect to such public shares; and |
| • | “sponsor” are to Pivotal Acquisition Holdings LLC, whose members are Jonathan J. Ledecky, our chief executive officer and chairman of our board of directors, and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC. Kevin Griffin, one of our directors, is an affiliate of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC. |
Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their option to purchase additional units.
General
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential target regarding entering into a business combination with us.
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Business Strategy and Target Industries
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic location, we intend to focus our search on companies in North America in industries ripe for disruption from continuously evolving digital technology and the resulting shift in distribution patterns and consumer purchase behavior. Most of these middle market and emerging growth companies will ultimately need to consolidate to achieve the scale necessary to attain high revenue growth and attractive profitability. We believe that acquiring a leading, high-growth participant will provide a public currency to fund consolidation and fuel growth. Segments we might explore include, but are not limited to, logistics technology and “last mile” delivery services, business technology services, on-line cyber security and off-line physical security services, media and entertainment services and franchise businesses.
Competitive Strengths
We believe that we possess several competitive strengths to successfully source, evaluate and execute an initial business combination. We believe that the background, operating history and experience of our management team and special advisors have equipped us not only to provide access to a broad spectrum of investment opportunities, but also to significantly improve upon the operational and financial performance of a target business.
Experienced management
We are led by Jonathan J. Ledecky, our Chief Executive Officer and the chairman of our board of directors. He is also a managing member of our sponsor. Mr. Ledecky has an extensive track record of involvement in public companies and acquisition vehicles. Mr. Ledecky has been aco-owner of the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders franchise since October 2014. Previously, Mr. Ledecky served as president, secretary and a director of Endeavor Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that raised gross proceeds of approximately $129 million in its initial public offering and completed its initial business combination with American Apparel, Inc. Mr. Ledecky also founded U.S. Office Products. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Mr. Ledecky has been involved with other blank check companies that were unable to complete initial business combinations or completed initial business combinations only after changes were made to the structure of such companies. See the section titled “Management – Prior involvement of principals in blank check companies” for further information.
Additionally, Kevin Griffin, one of our directors, is the Chief Executive Officer of MGG Investment Group, LP, an affiliate of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC. During Mr. Griffin’s20-year career, Mr. Griffin has originated and invested over $4 billion across the capital structure of middle market businesses and has also served on numerous boards of directors. In May 2015, the M&A Advisor named Mr. Griffin a winner of its 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award. In December 2016, the Hedge Fund Journal, in association with Ernst & Young, named Mr. Griffin one of 50 “Tomorrow’s Titans”.
The past performance of our management team and MGG is not a guarantee that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management’s and MGG’s performance as indicative of our future performance.
Established sourcing network
We intend to maximize our potential target investments by proactively approaching our extensive network of contacts, including private equity and venture capital sponsors, executives of public and private companies,
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merger and acquisition advisory firms, investment banks, capital markets desks, lenders and other financial intermediaries. We believe the prior investment experience and track record of our team will give us a competitive advantage when sourcing potential initial business combination opportunities.
We also expect to benefit from Mr. Griffin’s affiliation with MGG Investment Group. MGG Investment Group is a private direct lender centered on the underserved and less competitive lower-middle market. MGG Investment Group is an affiliate of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor. MGG Investment Group possesses a sourcing network built over two decades focused on management teams and advisors. MGG Investment Group generally reviews roughly 700 opportunities per year across a variety of industries, including those referenced above. MGG Investment Group’s veteran team members, led by Mr. Griffin, have spent their careers providing financings to, and advising,mid-market businesses and public companies. MGG Investment Group’s investment team includes individuals with prior investment and transactional experience at Highbridge Principal Strategies, Fortress Investment Group, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., TPG Capital/Oaktree Capital, TCW/Regiment Capital Advisors, J.P. Morgan, AEA Investors LP, Apollo Investment Corporation, Avenue Capital, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, among others. MGG Investment Group partners with its portfolio companies to help them build value, address immediate needs, and solve complex situations. MGG Investment Group currently manages in excess of $1 billion of equity capital from leading institutional endowments, foundations, insurance companies and pensions. We believe that potential sellers will be interested in a relationship with the MGG Investment Group platform and look favorably upon our affiliation with MGG Investment Group. While MGG Investment Group has no contractual obligation to assist us in locating and consummating an initial business combination, we believe that MGG Investment Group will assist us to the extent it can as a result of Mr. Griffin’s affiliation with us. However, we cannot assure you of this fact.
Value-enhancing operational expertise
We will be focused on identifying target businesses where we believe significant value can be created through the implementation of operational improvements. We will also use our extensive expertise to ramp up the growth and franchise value of our target businesses through opportunistic “add on” acquisitions.
Financial acumen
We believe, given our management and board of directors’ transactional experience and network of contacts, we are well positioned to identify, source, negotiate, structure, and close an initial business combination and subsequently pursue “add on” acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic relationships. Collectively, management and our directors have been involved in numerous transactions ranging in size from several million dollars to several billion dollars.
Our business combination process
NYSE rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (net of amounts previously disbursed to management for tax obligations and excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post transaction
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company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common or preferred stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target in order to consummate such transaction. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the NYSE’s 80% fair market value test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team and directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities, including as described below. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
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Corporate information
Our executive offices are located at c/o Graubard Miller, The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10174, and our telephone number is (212) 818-8800.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding anon-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our shares of Class A common stock that are held bynon-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion innon-convertible debt during the prior three year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
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The Offering
In deciding whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled “Risk Factors.”
Securities offered | 20,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of: |
| • | one share of Class A common stock; and |
| • | one redeemable warrant. |
Proposed Listing symbols | Units: “PVT.U” |
| Class A Common Stock: “PVT” |
| Warrants: “PVT WS” |
Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and warrants | The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A common stock and warrants. |
Separate trading of the Class A common stock and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form8-K | In no event will the Class A common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place two business days from the date the units commence trading. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. |
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Units:
Number outstanding before this offering | 0 |
Number outstanding after this offering | 20,000,000 |
Shares of common stock:
Number outstanding before this offering | 5,750,000(1)(2) |
Number outstanding after this offering | 25,000,000(2)(3) |
Warrants:
Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering | 5,750,000(4) |
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement | 25,750,000(4) |
Exercisability | Each warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock. |
Exercise price | $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein. |
Exercise period | The warrants will become exercisable on the later of: |
| • | 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; and |
| • | 12 months from the closing of this offering; |
| provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or we permit |
| (1) | Includes up to 750,000 founder shares that will be forfeited by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised. |
| (2) | Founder shares are currently classified as Class B common stock, which shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.” |
| (3) | Assumes the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised and 750,000 founder shares have been forfeited by our sponsor as a result thereof. Represents 20,000,000 public shares and 5,000,000 founder shares. |
| (4) | Assumes the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, Pivotal Acquisition Holdings LLC will purchase an additional 600,000 warrants in a private placement simultaneously with this offering and an additional 1,500,000 warrants will be issued as part of the units sold pursuant to the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. |
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holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. |
| We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. |
| The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account. |
Redemption of warrants | Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants): |
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the30-day redemption period; and |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of our shares of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
| We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. |
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| If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average reported closing price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Please see “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information. |
| None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. |
Founder shares | In August 2018, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. Our sponsor transferred 50,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors in December 2018 and transferred 100,000 founder shares to our chief financial officer in December 2018, in each case at the sameper-share purchase price paid by our sponsor. Prior to the initial investment in our company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. Theper-share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Our sponsor will forfeit for no consideration up to 750,000 shares depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or contribution back to capital, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. |
| The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: |
| • | only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination; |
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| • | the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; |
| • | our initial stockholders, which include our independent directors, have entered into letter agreements with us, the form of which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their conversion rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination (and not seek to sell their shares to us in any tender offer we undertake in connection with our initial business combination), (ii) waive their conversion rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed, pursuant to the above-referenced letter agreements, to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised). The members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public shares acquired by them directly in or after this offering; and |
| • | the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on aone-for-one basis subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.” |
Transfer restrictions on founder shares | Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of |
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Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as thelock-up. |
| Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be automatically released from thelock-up. |
Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights | The founder shares are designated as Class B common stock and will automatically convert into Class A common stock on the first business day following the consummation of our initial business combination on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities convertible or exercisable for shares of Class A common stock, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which founder shares will convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate 20% of the sum of the shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering plus the number of shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked shares issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination (net of conversions), excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, pursuant to the forward purchase contract, or to any seller in our initial business combination and any private placement warrants or working capital warrants issued to our sponsor, any of our officers or directors, or any of their affiliates. |
Election of directors; voting rights | Prior to the vote (if there is one) on our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by a majority of at least 90% of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. |
Private placement at time of offering | Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 5,750,000 private placement warrants (or 6,350,000 private placement warrantsif the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($5,750,000 in the aggregate or $6,350,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional |
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units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The number of private placement warrants to be purchased by the sponsor if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised only in part will be a number of warrants necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional private placement warrants will be purchased simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will benon-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. |
Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants | The private placement warrants (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” |
Private placement at time of business combination | Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, has agreed, pursuant to a forward purchase contract with us, to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination, up to $150,000,000 of our securities. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will be determined by us and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC at the time we enter into a definitive agreement for a proposed initial business combination. The funds received from this arrangement, if any, may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination or may be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. This agreement is independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to redeem their public shares and may provide us with an increased minimum funding level for the initial business combination. The agreement to purchase these securities is also conditioned on our board of directors, including Kevin Griffin, who is affiliated with Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, having unanimously approved the proposed initial business combination. Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC has no assets other than its interest in our sponsor and we have not required it to reserve the assets necessary to satisfy any obligations under the agreement. Accordingly, we may not receive any proceeds from this agreement and may need to arrange alternate financing to complete a business combination. |
Proceeds to be held in trust | Of the proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $200,000,000, or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is |
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exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, $4,000,000 will be paid to the underwriters as commissions and $1,750,000 will be used to pay other expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions. |
| Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our tax obligations and subject to the requirements of law and regulation, provides that none of the funds held in the trust account will be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. |
Anticipated expenses and funding sources | Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay our tax obligations. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7(d) under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate theafter-tax interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $3,000,000per year, assuming an interest rate of 1.5% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Except as described above, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from: |
| • | the net proceeds of this offering not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $1,000,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $750,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and |
| • | any loans or additional investments from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. |
Conditions to completing our initial business combination | NYSE rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (net of amounts previously disbursed to management for tax obligations and excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in |
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trust) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions. |
| We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of NYSE’s 80% fair market value test, provided that in the event that the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the transactions together as our initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test. |
Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our affiliates | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of |
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how our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction. |
| The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. |
Conversion rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination | We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the trust account and not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. Theper-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly convert their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no conversion rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial stockholders, which include our independent directors, have entered into agreements with us, the form of which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their conversion rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public shares acquired by them directly in or after this offering. |
Limitations on conversions | Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will consummate an initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets |
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of at least $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted conversion requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, we would not proceed with such conversion and the related business combination. Additionally, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the shares sold in this offering. Such a public stockholder would still be entitled to vote against a proposed business combination with respect to all shares owned by him or his affiliates. We believe this restriction will prevent stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares before the vote held to approve a proposed business combination and attempt to use the conversion right as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then current market price. By limiting a stockholder’s ability to convert no more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we have limited the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block a transaction which is favored by our other public stockholders. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a proposed business combination may require (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. Furthermore, although we will not consummate on initial business combination if our net tangible assets are below $5,000,001, we do not have a maximum conversion threshold based on the percentage of the shares sold in this offering, as many blank check companies do. This may make it easier for us to consummate our initial business combination.
| In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for conversion plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or convert any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for conversion will be returned to the holders thereof. |
Manner of conducting conversions | We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require stockholder approval, while direct mergers |
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with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We currently intend to conduct conversions in connection with a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct conversions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other legal reasons. |
| If we hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will: |
| • | file proxy materials with the SEC; and |
| • | conduct the conversions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. |
| If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised). The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering. Each public stockholder may elect to convert their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. |
| If we conduct conversions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: |
| • | conduct the conversions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| • | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the conversion rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
| Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct conversions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. |
In the event we conduct conversions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to convert will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with |
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Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination. |
Limitation on conversion rights of stockholders holding 20% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote | Notwithstanding the foregoing conversion rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct conversions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from converting its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 20% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 20% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its conversion rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination. |
Release of funds in trust account | On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds held in the trust account will be used to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their conversion rights as described above under “Conversion rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriters the deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial |
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business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. |
Liquidation if no initial business combination | Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 18 months from the consummation of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such period (or such later date as may be approved by our stockholders), we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay liquidation expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the18-month time period. |
| The holders of the founders’ shares will not participate in any liquidation distribution from our trust account with respect to such securities. |
| Our sponsor has contractually agreed pursuant to a written agreement with us that, if we liquidate the trust account prior to the consummation of a business combination, our sponsor will be liable to ensure that the proceeds in the trust account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or claims of vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us. However, the agreement entered into by our sponsor specifically provides for two exceptions to the indemnity given: it will have no liability (1) as to any claimed amounts owed to a target business or vendor or other entity who has executed an agreement with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account, or (2) as to any claims for indemnification by the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. As a result, we cannot assure you that theper-share distribution from the trust account, if we liquidate the trust account because we have not completed a business combination within the required time period, will not be less than $10.00. |
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| We will pay the costs of liquidating the trust account from the up to $100,000 of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that is available to us for liquidation expenses. |
Limited payments to insiders | There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by the company to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination: |
| • | repayment of a $125,000 loan made to us by an affiliate of our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
| • | payment of consulting, finder or success fees for assisting us in consummating our initial business combination; |
| • | reimbursement for anyout-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; and |
| • | repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor, officers, directors or their respective affiliates to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. |
Audit committee | We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors. Among its responsibilities, the audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates and monitor compliance with the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.” |
Risks
We are a newly formed company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors.”
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The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
| August 25, 2018 | September 30, 2018 | |||||||||||
| Actual | Actual | As adjusted | ||||||||||
| (Audited) | (Unaudited) | (Unaudited) | ||||||||||
Balance Sheet Data: | ||||||||||||
Working capital deficiency(1) | $ | (2,869 | ) | $ | (45,993 | ) | $ | 194,024,007 | ||||
Total assets(2) | 152,500 | 152,476 | 201,024,007 | |||||||||
Total liabilities | 127,869 | 128,469 | 7,000,000 | |||||||||
Value of common stock subject to possible conversion/tender(3) | — | — | 189,024,000 | |||||||||
Stockholders’ equity(4) | 24,631 | 24,007 | 5,000,007 | |||||||||
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| (1) | The “as adjusted” calculation includes $200,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,000,000 of cash held outside the trust account, less $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, plus $24,007 of actual stockholders’ equity at September 30, 2018. The “as adjusted” calculation excludes gross proceeds of up to $150,000,000 that we may receive from the forward purchase contract we have entered into with a member of our sponsor. |
| (2) | The “as adjusted” calculation equals $200,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,000,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $24,007 of actual stockholders’ equity at September 30, 2018. |
| (3) | The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” stockholders’ equity, which is set to approximate the minimum net tangible assets threshold of at least $5,000,001. |
| (4) | Excludes 18,902,400 shares of Class A common stock purchased in the public market which are subject to conversion in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of the shares of Class A common stock that may be converted in connection with our initial business combination ($10.00 per share). |
The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units we are offering, including the application of the related gross proceeds and the payment of the estimated remaining costs from such sale and the repayment of the accrued and other liabilities required to be repaid.
The “as adjusted” working capital and total assets amounts include the $200,000,000 to be held in the trust account, which, except for limited situations described in this prospectus, will be available to us only upon the consummation of a business combination within the time period described in this prospectus.
If no initial business combination is completed within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our initial stockholders, which include our independent directors, have entered into agreements with us in which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months.
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
We are a recently formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a recently formed company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
As of September 30, 2018, we had $82,476 in cash and a working capital deficiency of $45,993. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Our stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a stockholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would not be required to seek stockholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our shares of common stock do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see the section entitled “Proposed Business—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
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Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to convert your shares to cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your conversion rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Our initial stockholders will own 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering. Our initial stockholders and management team also may from time to time purchase shares of Class A common stock prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, if we seek stockholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the founder shares. If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised). Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.
The ability of our public stockholders to convert their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target business that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. Although we may have access to up to $150,000,000 from the forward purchase contract entered into with Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, as described in this prospectus, if too many public stockholders exercise their conversion rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted conversion requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such conversion and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise conversion rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their conversion rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for conversion. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for conversion than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock result in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock at the time of our business combination. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are converted in connection with an initial business combination. Theper-share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their conversion rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such conversions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise conversion rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with the conversion until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct
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due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions.
In the event that our initial stockholders, sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their conversion rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to convert their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business
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—Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
In connection with any stockholder meeting called to approve a proposed initial business combination, we may require stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to comply with specific requirements for conversion that may make it more difficult for them to exercise their conversion rights prior to the deadline for exercising their rights.
In connection with any stockholder meeting called to approve a proposed initial business combination, each public stockholder will have the right, regardless of whether he is voting for or against such proposed business combination, to demand that we convert his shares into a pro rata share of the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. We may require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to either (i) tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent or (ii) deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holders’ option, prior to the vote on the business combination with the specific deadline set forth in the proxy materials sent in connection with the proposal to approve the business combination. In order to obtain a physical share certificate, a stockholder’s broker and/or clearing broker, DTC and our transfer agent will need to act to facilitate this request. It is our understanding that stockholders should generally allot at least two weeks to obtain physical certificates from the transfer agent. However, because we do not have any control over this process or over the brokers or DTC, it may take significantly longer than two weeks to obtain a physical share certificate. While we have been advised that it takes a short time to deliver shares through the DWAC System, we cannot assure you of this fact. Accordingly, if it takes longer than we anticipate for stockholders to deliver their shares, stockholders who wish to convert may be unable to meet the deadline for exercising their conversion rights and thus may be unable to convert their shares.
If, in connection with any stockholder meeting called to approve a proposed business combination, we require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares to comply with specific requirements for conversion, such converting stockholders may be unable to sell their securities when they wish to in the event that the proposed business combination is not approved.
If we require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares to comply with specific delivery requirements for conversion and such proposed business combination is not consummated, we will promptly return such certificates to the tendering public stockholders. Accordingly, investors who attempted to convert their shares in such a circumstance will be unable to sell their securities after the failed acquisition until we have returned their securities to them. The market price for our shares of common stock may decline during this time and you may not be able to sell your securities when you wish to, even while other stockholders that did not seek conversion may be able to sell their securities.
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If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be converted.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting conversions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to convert its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly convert or tender public shares. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be converted to cash. See “Proposed Business—Business Strategy—Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with Exercising Conversion Rights.”
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to convert, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management may rely on the availability of the funds from the sale of the securities pursuant to the forward purchase contract to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of the securities pursuant to the forward purchase contract fails to close, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, has agreed, pursuant to a forward purchase contract with us, to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination, up to $150,000,000 of our securities. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will be determined by us and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC at the time we enter into the definitive agreement for the proposed business combination. The funds received from this arrangement, if any, may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination or may be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. This agreement is independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to redeem their public shares and may provide us with an increased minimum funding level for the initial business combination. The forward purchase contract is subject to additional conditions, including that our board of directors unanimously approves our proposed initial business combination (and Kevin Griffin, an affiliate of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, is one of our directors). Accordingly, if the conditions are
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not satisfied, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will not be obligated to purchase the securities. Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC has no assets other than its interest in our sponsor and we have not required it to reserve the assets necessary to satisfy any obligations under the agreement. If the sale of the securities pursuant to the forward purchase contract does not close by reason of (i) the failure of a condition or contingency to the closing of the forward purchase contract not being satisfied or (ii) Pivotal Spac Funding LLC’s failure to fund the purchase price for the securities, either because it lacks sufficient funds or because it determines that it is not in its best interest to fund the purchase price for any reason whatsoever, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination, or we may need to seek alternative financing. In the event of any such failure to fund, we may not be able to obtain additional funds to account for such shortfall on terms favorable to us or at all. Any such shortfall may also reduce the amount of funds that we have available for the working capital of the post-business combination company. We have not obligated Pivotal Spac Funding LLC to reserve any funds to satisfy its obligations under the forward purchase contract.
TheNYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSEon or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock and warrants on or promptly after their date of separation. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSElisting standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on the NYSEin the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSEprior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum market capitalization (generally $50,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 400 public holders).
Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will likely be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $4.0 million. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on anover-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| • | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| • | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| • | a determination that our Class A common stock are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| • | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| • | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our
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units, Class A common stock and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
If we take advantage of the NYSE controlled company standards, we would be exempt from various corporate governance requirements.
NYSE Rule 303A defines a “Controlled Company” as any company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, a group or another company. Prior to the vote on our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. More than 50% of the founder shares will be held by our sponsor. Accordingly, prior to the vote on our initial business combination, we would likely satisfy the definition of being a controlled company. As indicated herein, we will not use the related exemptions to the NYSE governance rules under the controlled company standards. However, if we were to change our intentions and take advantage of the controlled company standards, we would be exempt from various corporate governance requirements such as the requirement to have a majority of independent directors and to have nominating/corporate governance and compensation committees comprised entirely of independent directors.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon the completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 20% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to convert all such shares in excess of 20% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct conversions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or
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any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 20% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. As a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 20% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in the trust account, together with the interest that may be released to us, are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering, only $1,000,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We will also have access to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account to pay our tax obligations. We believe that, upon closing of this offering, such funds will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 18 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate.
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In the event that our offering expenses (not including underwriting commissions) exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses (not including underwriting commissions) are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, members of our management team or an affiliate of our sponsor or members of our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down orwrite-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may benon-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assumingpre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
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If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and theper-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the offering, will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, theper-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to a letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accountants) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations. Since our sponsor’s assets consist only of our securities, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers or directors or members of our sponsor will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
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If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and theper-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, theper-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| • | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| • | restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| • | registration as an investment company; |
| • | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| • | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7(d) promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of
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either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering; or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholder rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, our public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond such to 18 months before redemption from our trust account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public stockholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required towind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public stockholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the DGCL. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 18 months from the closing of this offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we seek to amend our certificate of incorporation as described herein or consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A common stock. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public stockholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
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Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 18th month from the closing of this offering in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
Holders of Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on any election of directors we hold prior to the vote on our initial business combination.
Prior to the vote on our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
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We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants and causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and maintain a current prospectus relating to the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, unless an exemption is available. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to take such action as is necessary to register or qualify for sale the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants in such states, to the extent an exemption is not available. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
If you exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
There are circumstances in which the exercise of the public warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a cashless basis. For instance, if we call our warrants for redemption, we can force all holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. Additionally, If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. In the event of an exercise on a cashless basis, a holder would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (as defined in the next sentence) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average volume weighted average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the
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holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The private placement warrants may be exercised at a time when the public warrants may not be exercised.
Once the private placement warrants become exercisable, such warrants may immediately be exercised on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. The public warrants, however, will only be exercisable on a cashless basis at the option of the holders if we fail to register the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act within 60 days following the closing of our initial business combination. Accordingly, it is possible that the holders of the private placement warrants could exercise such warrants at a time when the holders of public warrants could not exercise their warrants.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders, holders of our private placement warrants and purchasers of securities pursuant to the forward purchase contract may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A common stock into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, and holders of units that may be issued pursuant to the forward purchase contract may demand that we register such securities. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants and forward purchase contract units and underlying securities. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders, holders of our private placement warrants, and holders of units that may be issued pursuant to the forward purchase contract or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Although we initially intend to focus our search for a target business in in the sports, logistics,e-commerce and consumer technology industries, we are not limited to evaluating a target business in any particular industry sector (except that we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations). As a result, there is no current basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity
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lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in any industry our management chooses (which industries may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise).
We may consider a business combination with a target business operating in any industry our management chooses. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any securityholders who choose to remain securityholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such securityholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue, cash flow or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues, cash flows or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater thanone-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained therein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 75,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 29,250,000 and 5,000,000 (assuming in each case that the underwriters have not exercised their option to purchase additional units) authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B common stock or securities issuable pursuant to the forward purchase contract. The Class B common stock is automatically convertible into Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination initially at aone-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater thanone-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the rights granted to public stockholders in this offering, including but not limited to conversion rights.
These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or preferred stock:
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock; |
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| • | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of Class A common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, shares of Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
Our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock on the first business day following the consummation of our initial business combination on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities convertible or exercisable for shares of Class A common stock, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which founder shares will convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate 20% of the sum of our shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus the number of shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination (net of conversions), excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. This is different than most other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial stockholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to our initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on stockholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite stockholder approval under the DGCL, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a stockholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the stockholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders to pay such taxes. Stockholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
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Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, our operations will be dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, orkey-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements. In addition, the officers and directors of an initial business combination candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an initial business combination candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an initial business combination candidate’s management team will remain associated with the initial business combination candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an initial business combination candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
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We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any securityholders who choose to remain securityholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such securities are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Management.”
Our officers and directors presently have fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. For instance, Jonathan J. Ledecky, our chief executive officer, is also the president and a director of Newtown Lane Holdings, Incorporated, a blank check company currently searching for strategic alternatives. Accordingly, our officers and directors may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Management—Officers and Directors” and “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”
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Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business, including another blank check company that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to other entities prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Management—Directors and Executive Officers,” “Management —Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business—Effecting our initial business combination—Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial businesscombination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
In August2018, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. Our sponsor transferred 50,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors in December 2018 and transferred 100,000 founder shares to our chief financial officer in December 2018, in each case at the sameper-share purchase price paid by our sponsor. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. Theper-share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to us
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by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Our sponsor will forfeit to us for no consideration up to 750,000 shares depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 5,750,000 private placement warrants (or 6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($5,750,000 in the aggregate or $6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, our officers or directors, or any of their affiliates. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following our initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the18-month anniversary of the closing of this offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| • | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| • | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
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| • | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and proceeds from the forward purchase contract, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from this offering and the private placement of warrants will provide us with $194,000,000(or $222,950,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $7,000,000, or $8,050,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account). We may also have access to up to $150,000,000 of proceeds from the forward purchase contract as described herein.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| • | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
| • | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and
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services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
We do not have a specified maximum conversion threshold. The absence of such a threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum conversion threshold, except that in no event will we consummate an initial business combination if holders exercising conversion rights would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have converted their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct conversions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are
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validly submitted for conversion plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or convert any shares, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for conversion will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination, changed industry focus and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of at least 65% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 18 months of the closing of this offering. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to ourpre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), including an amendment to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated, may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than 65% of our outstanding shares of common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’spre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement) provide that any of its provisions related topre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide conversion rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of not less than 65% of our outstanding shares of common stock. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our shares of common
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stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern ourpre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our sponsor, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholder may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and proceeds from the forward purchase contract will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and proceeds from the forward purchase contract prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment has made it especially difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
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Our initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term for three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Our sponsor contributed $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A common stock.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the share of Class A common stock and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 91.8% (or $9.18per share), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering of $0.82 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater thanone-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public stockholders seek conversion from the trust for their public shares. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the
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warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption provided that on the date we give notice of redemption. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing warrants to purchase 20,000,000shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 23,000,000shares ofClass A common stock if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 5,750,000 private placement warrants (or 6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. In addition, if our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates make any working capital loans, they may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. To the extent we issue common stock to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
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The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the representative of the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the shares of Class A common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:
| • | the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; |
| • | prior offerings of those companies; |
| • | our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values; |
| • | a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| • | our capital structure; |
| • | an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
| • | general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and |
| • | other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target
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businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our shares of Class A common stock held bynon-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply tonon-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ending December 31, 2020. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target
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business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. Prior to the vote on our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such period This may entrench management and discourage unsolicited stockholder proposals that may be in the best interest of stockholders. Additionally, our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. As a result, at a given annual meeting only a minority of the board of directors may be considered for election. Since our “staggered board” may prevent our stockholders from replacing a majority of our board of directors at any given annual meeting, it may further entrench management and discourage unsolicited stockholder proposals that may be in the best interests of stockholders. Moreover, our board of directors has the ability to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We will likely depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss or inability to consummate an initial business combination.
There may be tax consequences to our business combinations that may adversely affect us.
While we expect to undertake any merger or acquisition so as to minimize taxes both to the owners of the acquired business and us, such business combination might not meet the statutory requirements of a tax-free reorganization, or the parties might not obtain the intended tax-free treatment upon a transfer of shares or assets. A non-qualifying reorganization could result in the imposition of substantial taxes. Additionally, depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, it is possible that at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of personal holding company income. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-
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exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts, it is possible that more than 50% of our stock will be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a personal holding company following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a personal holding company in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional personal holding company tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in this offering is unclear under current law. It is also unclear what impact the conversion rights with respect to our shares of Class A common stock would have on a U.S. holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and with respect to any dividends we may pay. See the section titled “Taxation” for a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.
Recently enacted tax reform legislation in the U.S. could adversely affect our business and financial condition following a business combination.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”) was signed into law, making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Changes under the Tax Act include, but are not limited to, a corporate tax rate decrease from 35% to 21% effective for tax years beginning after July 2, 2018, aone-time transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of cumulative foreign earnings, a limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense to 30% of adjusted earnings (except for certain small businesses), a limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and the elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, aone-time taxation of offshore earnings at reduced rates regardless of whether they are repatriated, the elimination of U.S. tax on foreign earnings (subject to certain important exceptions), immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time, and modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits (including reducing the business tax credit for certain clinical testing expenses incurred in the testing of orphan drugs). The overall impact of the Tax Act is uncertain, and it could make completing a business combination with us less appealing than with companies in other countries. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Act and what effect any legal challenges will have on the Tax Act, including litigation in the U.S. and international challenges brought by organizations such as the World Trade Organization. The impact of the Tax Act on holders of our securities is also uncertain and could be adverse. Investors should consult with their legal and tax advisors with respect to this legislation and the potential tax consequences of investing in or holding our securities.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations,
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including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| • | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
| • | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| • | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| • | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| • | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| • | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| • | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| • | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| • | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| • | longer payment cycles; |
| • | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| • | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| • | rates of inflation; |
| • | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| • | cultural and language differences; |
| • | employment regulations; |
| • | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| • | corruption; |
| • | protection of intellectual property; |
| • | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| • | regime changes and political upheaval; |
| • | terrorist attacks and wars; and |
| • | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
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If we consummate a business combination with a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, substantially all of our assets could be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue could be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects could be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are ultimately located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire anon-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
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Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements
Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
| • | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| • | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
| • | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| • | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities; |
| • | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
| • | the lack of a market for our securities; |
| • | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| • | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| • | our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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We are offering 20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 units if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full) at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering, together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants, will be used as set forth in the following table.
| Option not exercised | Option exercised in full | |||||||
Gross proceeds | ||||||||
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) | $ | 200,000,000 | $ | 230,000,000 | ||||
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement | 5,750,000 | 6,350,000 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Total gross proceeds | $ | 205,750,000 | $ | 236,350,000 | ||||
|
| |||||||
Offering expenses(2) | ||||||||
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3) | $ | 4,000,000 | $ | 4,600,000 | ||||
Legal fees and expenses | 300,000 | 300,000 | ||||||
Printing and engraving expenses | 50,000 | 50,000 | ||||||
Accounting fees and expenses | 40,000 | 40,000 | ||||||
SEC/FINRA Expenses | 65,000 | 65,000 | ||||||
Travel and road show | 25,000 | 25,000 | ||||||
Stock exchange listing and filing fees | 85,000 | 85,000 | ||||||
Director & Officer liability insurance premiums | 100,000 | 100,000 | ||||||
Miscellaneous | 85,000 | 85,000 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Total offering expenses | $ | 4,750,000 | $ | 5,350,000 | ||||
|
| |||||||
Proceeds after offering expenses | $ | 201,000,000 | $ | 231,000,000 | ||||
|
| |||||||
Held in trust account(3) | $ | 200,000,000 | $ | 230,000,000 | ||||
% of public offering size | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Not held in trust account | $ | 1,000,000 | $ | 1,000,000 | ||||
| ||||||||
The following table shows the use of the $1,000,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account.(4)(5)
| Amount | % of total | |||||||
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination | $ | 400,000 | 40.0% | |||||
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations | 150,000 | 15.0% | ||||||
Consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during search for initial business combination target(6) | 100,000 | 10.0% | ||||||
Stock exchange continued listing fees | 80,000 | 8.0% | ||||||
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses | 270,000 | 27.0% | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Total | $ | 1,000,000 | 100.0% | |||||
| ||||||||
| (1) | Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination. |
| (2) | A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of a loan from an affiliate of our sponsor of an aggregate of $125,000as described in this prospectus. This loan will be repaid upon completion of this offering. |
| (3) | The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon and concurrently with the completion of our initial business combination, $7,000,000, which constitutes the underwriters deferred commissions (or $8,050,000 if the |
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underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account. The remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming stockholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. |
| (4) | These expenses are estimates only and do not include interest which may be available to us from the trust account to pay taxes. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify a business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. |
| (5) | The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7(d) under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate theafter-tax interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $3,000,000per year, assuming an interest rate of 1.5% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. |
| (6) | This could include payment of consulting, finder or success fees to our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates for assisting us in consummating our initial business combination. |
Of the $201,000,000 in net proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, or $231,000,000 in net proceeds if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, $200,000,000 ($10.00 per unit), or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit), will be deposited into a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $1,000,000 in each case will be used for working capital following this offering. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7(d) under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate theafter-tax interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $3,000,000per year, assuming an interest rate of 1.5% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our tax obligations, until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay income taxes.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, has agreed, pursuant to a forward purchase contract with us, to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination, up to $150,000,000 of our securities. The funds, if any, from the sale of securities pursuant to this agreement may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination or may be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will be determined by us and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC at the time we enter into the definitive agreement for the proposed business combination. This agreement is independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to redeem their public shares and may provide us with an increased minimum funding level for the initial business combination. The agreement is also conditioned on our board of directors, including Kevin Griffin, who is affiliated with Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, having unanimously approved the proposed initial business combination. Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC has no assets other than its interest in our
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sponsor and we have not required it to reserve the assets necessary to satisfy any obligations under the agreement. Accordingly, we may not receive any proceeds from this agreement and may need to arrange alternate financing to complete a business combination.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for conversions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account and proceeds of the forward purchase contract for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.
We believe that amounts not held in trust, in addition to the interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us as described above, will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertakein-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertakingin-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, an affiliate of our sponsor has loaned us $125,000to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan isnon-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of September 1,2019, the closing of this offering or if we determine to abandon this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the funds not held in the trust account.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, officers or directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on an interest-free basis. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, officers or directors or their affiliates as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
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We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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The difference between the public offering price per share of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of shares of Class A common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock.
At September 30, 2018, our net tangible book value was a deficit of $45,993, or approximately $(0.01) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 23,000,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at September 30, 2018 would have been $5,000,007or $0.82per share (or $5,000,007or approximately $0.72per share if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the 18,902,400 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash, or 21,797,400 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) of $0.82per share (or approximately $0.72if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution to public stockholders from this offering of $9.18per share (or approximately $9.28if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full).
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on aper-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:
Public offering price | $ | 10.00 | ||||||
Net tangible book value before this offering | $ | (0.01 | ) | |||||
Increase attributable to public stockholders and private sales | 0.83 | |||||||
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| |||||||
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering | 0.82 | |||||||
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Dilution to public stockholders | 9.18 | |||||||
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| |||||||
Percentage of dilution to public stockholders | 91.8% | |||||||
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For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units) by $189,024,000 because holders of up to approximately 94.5% of our public shares may convert their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share conversion price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholder meeting, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering.
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The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and the public stockholders:
| Total consideration | Average price per share | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | Shares purchased(1) | Percentage | Amount | Percentage | ||||||||||||||||
Existing stockholders | 5,000,000 | 20% | $ | 25,000 | 0.01% | $ | 0.005 | |||||||||||||
Public stockholders | 20,000,000 | 80% | 200,000,000 | 99.99% | 10.00 | |||||||||||||||
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Total | 25,000,000 | 100% | $ | 200,025,000 | 100.0% | |||||||||||||||
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| (1) | Assumes that 750,000 founder shares are forfeited by our sponsor after the closing of this offering in the event the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional units. |
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering (assuming that the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional units) is calculated as follows:
Numerator: | ||||
Net tangible book value before the offering | $ | (45,993 | ) | |
Net proceeds from this offering and private placement of private placement warrants | 201,000,000 | |||
Plus: Offering costs accrued for and paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering | 70,000 | |||
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to conversion/tender | (189,024,000 | ) | ||
Less: Underwriters’ Deferred Commissions | (7,000,000 | ) | ||
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| |||
Total | $ | 5,000,007 | ||
Denominator: | ||||
Shares of Class B common stock outstanding prior to this offering | 5,000,000 | (1) | ||
Shares of Class A common stock included in the units offered | 20,000,000 | |||
Less: Class A shares subject to conversion/tender | (18,902,400 | ) | ||
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| |||
Total | 6,097,600 | |||
| ||||
| (1) | Assumes that 750,000 founder shares are forfeited in the event the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional units. |
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The following table sets forth our capitalization at September 30, 2018, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units in this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional units:
| September 30, 2018 | ||||||||
| Actual | As adjusted(1) | |||||||
Note Payable—related party(1) | $ | 125,000 | $ | — | ||||
Deferred underwriting discounts and commissions | — | 7,000,000 | ||||||
Class A common stock subject to possible conversion; $0.0001 par value, 0 and 18,902,400shares subject to possible conversion, actual and adjusted, respectively(2) | — | 189,024,400 | ||||||
Stockholders’ equity: | ||||||||
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted | — | — | ||||||
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 75,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding, actual;1,097,600shares issued and outstanding (excluding 18,902,400shares subject to conversion), as adjusted | — | 110 | ||||||
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000and 5,000,000shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively | 575 | 500 | ||||||
Additionalpaid-in capital | 24,425 | 5,000,390 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit | (993 | ) | (993 | ) | ||||
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| |||||||
Total stockholders’ equity | $ | 24,007 | $ | 5,000,007 | ||||
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Total capitalization | $ | 149,007 | $ | 201,024,407 | ||||
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| (1) | An affiliate of our sponsor has loaned us $125,000under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the repayment of the loan made under this note out of the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. |
| (2) | Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert their public shares to cash at a per share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein whereby conversion cannot cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. |
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Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on August 2, 2018 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic location, we intend to focus our search on companies exploiting disruptive smart phone technology and the resultant rapidly changing distribution patterns and evolving consumer purchase behavior. These middle market companies and emerging growth companies will also need to eventually consolidate to achieve the scale necessary to attain high growth in revenues and profitability.
We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our securities in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the forward purchase contract described herein, shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.
The issuance of additional shares in connection with a business combination to the owners of the target or other investors:
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A common stock on a greater thanone-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock; |
| • | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of our shares of Class A common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
| • | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or the owners of a target, it could result in:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| • | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
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| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| • | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| • | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, as of September 30, 2018, we had $82,476in cash and deferred offering costs of $70,000. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
Results of operations and known trends or future events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generatenon-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
Liquidity and capital resources
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, we had $82,476in cash and a working capital deficiency of $45,993 at September 30, 2018. Management’s plans to address this uncertainty through this offering are discussed above. Our plans to raise capital or to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of a $25,000 capital contribution from our sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares and a $125,000 loan from an affiliate of our sponsor. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of $750,000, underwriting commissions of $4,000,000, or $4,600,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000, or $8,050,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $5,750,000 (or $6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) will be $201,000,000 (or $231,000,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full). $200,000,000 (or
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$230,000,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes the deferred underwriting commissions described above. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7(d) under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. The remaining $1,000,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (less taxes payable and deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our tax obligations. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, has agreed, pursuant to a forward purchase contract with us, to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination, up to $150,000,000 of our securities. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will be determined by us and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC at the time we enter into a definitive agreement for a proposed initial business combination. This agreement is independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to redeem their public shares and may provide us with an increased minimum funding level for the initial business combination. The funds received from this agreement, if any, may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination or may be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. The agreement is also conditioned on our board of directors, including Kevin Griffin, who is affiliated with Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, having unanimously approved the proposed initial business combination. Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC has no assets other than its interest in our sponsor and we have not required it to reserve the assets necessary to satisfy any obligations under the agreement. Accordingly, we may not receive any proceeds from this agreement and may need to arrange alternate financing to complete a business combination.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account for our working capital needs. We will use these funds to primarily identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertakingin-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, officers and directors or their respective affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on anon-interest basis. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000of such loans may be convertible into warrants of
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the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, officers, directors or their respective affiliates as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during the 18 months after this offering (assuming a business combination is not consummated during this time) to include approximately $400,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $150,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $100,000 for consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during the search for an initial business combination target; $80,000 for stock exchange continued listing fees; and $270,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves. These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses.
Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account.
Controls and procedures
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of our internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small andmid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
| • | staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties; |
| • | reconciliation of accounts; |
| • | proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate; |
| • | evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions; |
| • | documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and |
| • | documentation of accounting policies and procedures. |
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our
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operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account may be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7(d) under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
Off-balance sheet arrangements; commitments and contractual obligations; quarterly results
As of September 30, 2018, we did not have anyoff-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of RegulationS-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required fornon-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required ofnon-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
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Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated on August 2, 2018 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. We have not selected any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential target regarding entering into a business combination with us.
Business Strategy and Target Industries
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic location, we intend to focus our search on companies in North America in industries ripe for disruption from continuously evolving digital technology and the resulting shift in distribution patterns and consumer purchase behavior. Most of these middle market and emerging growth companies will ultimately need to consolidate to achieve the scale necessary to attain high revenue growth and attractive profitability. We believe that acquiring a leading, high-growth participant will provide a public currency to fund consolidation and fuel growth. Segments we might explore include, but are not limited to, logistics technology and “last mile” delivery services, business technology services, on-line cyber security and off-line physical security services, media and entertainment services and franchise businesses.
Competitive Strengths
We believe that we possess several competitive strengths to successfuly source, evaluate and execute an initial business combination. We believe that the background, operating history and experience of our management team and special advisors have equipped us not only to provide access to a broad spectrum of investment opportunities, but also to significantly improve upon the operational and financial performance of a target business.
Experienced management
We are led by Jonathan J. Ledecky, our Chief Executive Officer and the chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Ledecky is also a managing member of our sponsor. Mr. Ledecky has an extensive track record of involvement in public companies and acquisition vehicles. Mr. Ledecky has been aco-owner of the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders franchise since October 2014. Previously, Mr. Ledecky served as president, secretary and a director of Endeavor Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that raised gross proceeds of approximately $129 million in its initial public offering and completed its initial business combination with American Apparel, Inc. Mr. Ledecky also founded U.S. Office Products. U.S. Office Products was one of the fasteststart-up entrants in the history of the Fortune 500 with sales in excess of $3 billion within its first three years of operation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Mr. Ledecky has been involved with other blank check companies that were unable to complete initial business combinations or completed initial business combinations only after changes were made to the structure of such companies. See the section titled “Management - Prior involvement of principals in blank check companies” for further information.
Additionally, Kevin Griffin, one of our directors, is the Chief Executive Officer of MGG Investment Group, an affiliate of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC. During Mr. Griffin’s20-year career, Mr. Griffin has originated and invested over $4 billion across the capital structure of middle market businesses and has also served on numerous boards of directors. In May 2015, the M&A Advisor named Mr. Griffin a winner of its 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award. In December 2016, the Hedge Fund Journal, in association with Ernst & Young, named Mr. Griffin one of 50 “Tomorrow’s Titans”.
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The past performance of our management team is not a guarantee that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management’s performance as indicative of our future performance.
Established sourcing network
We intend to maximize our potential target investments by proactively approaching our extensive network of contacts, including private equity and venture capital sponsors, executives of public and private companies, merger and acquisition advisory firms, investment banks, capital markets desks, lenders and other financial intermediaries. We believe the prior investment experience and track record of our team will give us a competitive advantage when sourcing potential initial business combination opportunities.
We also expect to benefit from Mr. Griffin’s affiliation with MGG Investment Group. MGG Investment Group is a private direct lender centered on the underserved and less competitive lower-middle market. MGG Investment Group is an affiliate of Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor. MGG Investment Group possesses a sourcing network built over two decades focused on management teams and advisors. MGG Investment Group generally reviews roughly 700 opportunities per year across a variety of industries, including those referenced above. MGG Investment Group’s veteran team members, led by Mr. Griffin, have spent their careers providing financings to, and advising,mid-market businesses and public companies. MGG Investment Group’s investment team includes individuals with prior investment and transactional experience at Highbridge Principal Strategies, Fortress Investment Group, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., TPG Capital/Oaktree Capital, TCW/Regiment Capital Advisors, J.P. Morgan, AEA Investors LP, Apollo Investment Corporation, Avenue Capital, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, among others. MGG Investment Group partners with its portfolio companies to help them build value, address immediate needs, and solve complex situations. MGG Investment Group currently manages in excess of $1 billion of equity capital from leading institutional endowments, foundations, insurance companies and pensions. We believe that potential sellers will be interested in a relationship with the MGG Investment Group platform and look favorably upon our affiliation with MGG Investment Group. While MGG Investment Group has no contractual obligation to assist us in locating and consummating an initial business combination, we believe that MGG Investment Group will assist us to the extent it can as a result of Mr. Griffin’s affiliation with us. However, we cannot assure you of this fact.
Value-enhancing operational expertise
We will be focused on identifying target businesses where we believe significant value can be created through the implementation of operational improvements. We will also use our extensive expertise to ramp up the growth and franchise value of our target businesses through opportunistic “add on” acquisitions.
Financial acumen
We believe, given our management and board of directors’ transactional experience and network of contacts, we are well positioned to identify, source, negotiate, structure, and close an initial business combination and subsequently pursue “add on” acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic relationships. Collectively, management and our directors have been involved in numerous transactions ranging in size from several million dollars to several billion dollars.
Status as a public company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering
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through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our Class A common stock (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of shares of our Class A common stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds and experience will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek stockholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
Financial position
With funds available for a business combination in our trust account initially in the amount of $194,000,000, after payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $222,950,000 after payment of $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), together with up to $150,000,000 that we may receive pursuant to the forward purchase contract described elsewhere herein, offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting our initial business combination
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our securities in connection with our initial business combination from the forward purchase contract described herein, shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for conversions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash
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released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions with any business combination target. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. Except as described in this prospectus, we are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Sources of target businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings.
These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the track record and business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee for introducing a target business to us.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial
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business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Evaluation of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction. Our board of directors has determined that we will not proceed with any proposed business combination unless approval of the proposed transaction is unanimous among the members of the board.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Lack of business diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
| • | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and |
| • | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
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We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Fair Market Value of Target Business
NYSE rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (net of amounts previously disbursed to management for tax obligations and excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common or preferred stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target in order to consummate such transaction. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the NYSE’s 80% fair market value test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test.
Stockholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination
We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
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Under the NYSE’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| • | we issue shares of common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our shares of common stock then outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
| • | any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of shares of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding shares of common stock or voting power of 5% or more; or |
| • | the issuance or potential issuance of shares of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
Permitted purchases of our securities
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholder, sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If our initial stockholders, sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any materialnon-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
In the event that our initial stockholders, sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their conversion rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to convert their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our initial stockholder, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders (in the case of Class A common stock) following our mailing of proxy materials in
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connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to convert their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the stockholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Conversion rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination
At any meeting called to approve an initial business combination, public stockholders may seek to convert their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the trust account and not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations) as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. Alternatively, we may provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares of common stock to us through a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the trust account and not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations).
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will not have conversion rights with respect to any shares of common stock owned by them, directly or indirectly, whether acquired prior to this offering or purchased by them in this offering or in the aftermarket.
We may require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to either (i) tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent or (ii) deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holders’ option, prior to the vote on the business combination with the specific deadline set forth in the proxy materials sent in connection with the proposal to approve the business combination. The foregoing is different from the procedures used by some earlier blank check companies. In order to perfect conversion rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her conversion rights. After the initial business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the initial business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the conversion price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the conversion rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the initial business combination until the converting holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a converting holder’s election to convert is irrevocable once the initial business combination is approved.
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There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced delivery process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $45.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise conversion rights. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising conversion rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated. However, in the event we require stockholders seeking to exercise conversion rights prior to the consummation of the proposed business combination and the proposed business combination is not consummated this may result in an increased cost to stockholders.
Any proxy solicitation materials we furnish to stockholders in connection with a vote for any proposed business combination will indicate whether we are requiring stockholders to satisfy such certification and delivery requirements. Accordingly, a stockholder would have from the time the stockholder received our proxy statement up until two business days prior to the originally scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination to deliver his shares if he wishes to seek to exercise his conversion rights. This time period varies depending on the specific facts of each transaction. However, as the delivery process can be accomplished by the stockholder, whether or not he is a record holder or his shares are held in “street name,” in a matter of hours by simply contacting the transfer agent or his broker and requesting delivery of his shares through the DWAC System, we believe this time period is sufficient for an average investor. However, we cannot assure you of this fact.
Any request to convert such shares once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the vote on the proposed business combination or the expiration of the tender offer. Furthermore, if a holder of a public shares delivered his certificate in connection with an election of their conversion and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, he may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically).
If the initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their conversion rights would not be entitled to convert their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. In such case, we will promptly return any shares delivered by public holders.
Limitations on conversions
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will consummate an initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted conversion requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, we would not proceed with such conversion and the related business combination. Additionally, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the shares sold in this offering. Such a public stockholder would still be entitled to vote against a proposed business combination with respect to all shares owned by him or his affiliates. We believe this restriction will prevent stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares before the vote held to approve a proposed business combination and attempt to use the conversion right as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then current market price. By limiting a stockholder’s ability to convert no more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we have limited the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block a transaction which is favored by our other public stockholders.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a proposed business combination may require (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the
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proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for conversion plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or convert any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for conversion will be returned to the holders thereof.
Liquidation if no initial business combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provided that we will have only 18 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such18-month period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors in all cases subject to and the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the18-month time period.
Our initial stockholders, which include our independent directors, have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted18-month time period.
Our sponsor, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to written agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not effectuate any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation if it would result in our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) as a result of holders exercising their redemption rights. If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account plus the interest earned on the funds in the trust account available to us to pay taxes although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, we may
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request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, theper-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actualper-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the offering, will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accountants) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations. Since our sponsor’s assets consist only of our securities, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor assert that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve any funds to satisfy its obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of theper-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $1,000,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (iii) if they convert their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business
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combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s converting its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its conversion rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.
Comparison of redemption or purchase prices in connection with our initial business combination and if we fail to complete our initial business combination.
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering.
| Redemptions in connection with our initial business combination | Other permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates | Redemptions if we fail to complete an initial business combination | ||||
Calculation of redemption price | Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations), divided by the number | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the | If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. | |||
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| Redemptions in connection with our initial business combination | Other permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates | Redemptions if we fail to complete an initial business combination | ||||
| of then outstanding public shares, provided that we will not consummate the initial business combination if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. | |||||
Impact to remaining stockholders | The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable | If the permitted purchases described above are made, there would be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. | The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions | |||
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Comparison of this offering to those of blank check companies subject to Rule 419
The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
| Terms of our offering | Terms under a Rule 419 offering | |||
Escrow of offering proceeds | $200,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | Approximately $176,400,000of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering, would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account. | ||
Investment of net proceeds | $200,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust may be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7(d) under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.
| Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States. | ||
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds | Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to an additional $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation
| Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination | ||
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| Terms of our offering | Terms under a Rule 419 offering | |||
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business | We must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (net of amounts previously disbursed to management for tax obligations and excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust) at the time of the agreement to enter into our initial business combination. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test.
| The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds. | ||
Trading of securities issued | The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The shares of Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date the units commence trading. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form8-K will be filed to provide updated financial | No trading of the units or the underlying shares of Class A common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. | ||
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| Terms of our offering | Terms under a Rule 419 offering | |||
information to reflect the exercise of the option to purchase additional units. | ||||
Exercise of the warrants | The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering | The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account. | ||
Election to remain an investor | We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. In the event we conduct | A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. | ||
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| Terms of our offering | Terms under a Rule 419 offering | |||
redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period.
If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Under Delaware law and our bylaws, we must provide at least 10 days advance notice of any meeting of stockholders held to approve a proposed business combination. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to convert their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. | ||||
Business combination deadline | If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the | If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors. | ||
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| Terms of our offering | Terms under a Rule 419 offering | |||
| trust account not previously released to us (to pay our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. | ||||
Release of funds | Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our tax obligations, none of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. | The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time. | ||
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their conversion rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at c/o Graubard Miller, The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10174. This space, to the extent it is needed, is being provided to us for no charge by Graubard Miller, our counsel. We consider our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers and directors, adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic reporting and financial information
We will register our units, Class A common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to stockholders. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
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We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding anon-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of the shares of our Class A common stock that are held bynon-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion innon-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
Legal proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
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Officers and directors
Our officers and directors are as follows:
| Name | Age | Position | ||||
| Jonathan J. Ledecky | 60 | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | ||||
James H.R. Brady | 54 | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Kevin Griffin | 42 | Director | ||||
Evan B. Morgan | 34 | Director | ||||
Efrat Epstein | 35 | Director | ||||
| Katrina Adams | 50 | Director | ||||
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Jonathan J. Ledeckyhas served as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since our inception. Mr. Ledecky has been aco-owner of the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders franchise since October 2014. He also serves as an Alternate Governor on the Board of Governors of the NHL and as President of NY Hockey Holdings LLC. Mr. Ledecky has served as chairman of Ironbound Partners Fund LLC, a private investment management fund, since March 1999. Mr. Ledecky has also served as President and a director of Newtown Lane Holdings, Incorporated, a blank check company, since October 2015. Mr. Ledecky also served as a member of the board of directors of Propel Media, Inc., a digital media holding company, from January 2015 to January 2019. From July 2005 to December 2007, Mr. Ledecky served as president, secretary and a director of Endeavor Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that completed its initial business combination with American Apparel, Inc. From January 2007 to May 2009, he served as president, secretary and a director of Victory Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that was unable to consummate an initial business combination. He also served as president, secretary and a director of Triplecrown Acquisition Corp., a blank check company, from June 2007 until it completed its initial business combination with Cullen Agricultural Technologies, Inc. in October 2009. During 2007, he also served as president, secretary and director of Grand Slam Acquisition Corp., Performance Acquisition Corp. and Endeavour International Acquisition Corp., three similarly structured blank check companies that never completed their initial public offerings due to market conditions at the time. Mr. Ledecky founded U.S. Office Products in October 1994 and served as its chief executive officer until November 1997 and as its chairman until its sale in June 1998. U.S. Office Products was one of the fasteststart-up entrants in the history of the Fortune 500 with sales in excess of $3 billion within its first three years of operation. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Ledecky was vice chairman of Lincoln Holdings, owners of the Washington sports franchises in the NBA, NHL and WNBA. In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Ledecky served as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Consolidation Capital Corporation from its formation in February 1997 until March 2000 when it merged with Group Maintenance America Corporation. Mr. Ledecky also has served as a trustee of George Washington University, a director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a commissioner on the National Commission on Entrepreneurship and currently serves as a trustee of the U.S. Olympic Foundation and the U.S. Paralympic Foundation. In 2004, Mr. Ledecky was elected the Chief Marshal of the 2004 Harvard University Commencement, an honor bestowed by his alumni peers for a 25th reunion graduate deemed to have made exceptional contributions to Harvard and the greater society while achieving outstanding professional success. Mr. Ledecky received a B.A. (cum laude) from Harvard University in 1979 and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 1983.
We believe Mr. Ledecky is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board due to his public company experience, including with other similarly structured blank check companies, business leadership, operational experience and contacts.
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James H.R. Bradyhas served as our Chief Financial Officer since September 2018. Since 2014, Mr. Brady has been the Chief Executive Officer of Brady Enterprises, an advisory firm Mr. Brady founded that provides financial, legal and strategic services to growth companies. From 2013 to 2014, Mr. Brady was the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of Sweetgreen, a high-growth healthy, fast casual restaurant chain. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Brady was Executive Vice President – Finance and Legal for Audax Health Solutions, a digital health/social media company. From 2009 to 2011, he was Executive Counsel of ODIN Technologies, a RFID software company. From 2007 to 2008, he was Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of VCampus Corporation, a company engaged in the learning/education industry. Mr. Brady previously served as a corporate and securities attorney with the firms of Hogan & Hartson and Hunton & Williams. Mr. Brady received a BA from the College of William and Mary, a JD from the George Washington National Law Center and a MBA from Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.
Kevin Griffin has served as a member of our board of directors since September 2018. Mr. Griffin has been designated as a director by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. During Mr. Griffin’s20-year career, Mr. Griffin has originated and invested over $4 billion across the capital structure of middle market businesses and has also sat on numerous boards of directors. Mr. Griffin founded MGG Investment Group in October 2014 and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer since such time. Prior to launching MGG Investment Group, Mr. Griffin was a Managing Director with Highbridge Principal Strategies from January 2010 to June 2014, where he was a senior member of the Specialty Lending Platform and a Member of the Highbridge Credit Committee. Prior to this, Mr. Griffin was the Head of Private Investing for Octavian Funds, a hedge fund focused on global investing across debt and equity structures, from 2007 to 2009. From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Griffin was part of Fortress Investment Group in charge of originating and underwriting investment opportunities for the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund. Prior to Fortress, Mr. Griffin was an investor with one of the first publicly traded business development companies, American Capital, where he was involved in numerous equity buyout and subordinated debt investments. Mr. Griffin began his career with Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin’s Investment Banking Division, focusing primarily on distressed M&A and financial restructurings. The M&A Advisor in May 2015 named Mr. Griffin a winner of its 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award. The Hedge Fund Journal, in association with Ernst & Young, in December 2016 named Mr. Griffin one of 50 “Tomorrow’s Titans”. Mr. Griffin received a BSBA in Finance from Georgetown University.
We believe Mr. Griffin is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board due to his business and operational experience and contacts.
Evan B. Morgan has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2018. Since July 2016, Mr. Morgan has served as Manager of The Radcliff Companies (“Radcliff”), a New York-based private investment partnership. Radcliff invests across the capital structure seeking long-term compounding at high rates of return primarily in privately held consumer and services businesses. From 2011 until he joined Radcliff in 2016, Mr. Morgan was a Partner at Revolution Growth, a Washington D.C. based private equity firm which invests in and actively helps build disruptive, innovative, and significant new consumer companies. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Morgan was with the Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager based in Washington, D.C. Mr. Morgan is a member of the board of directors of KLDiscovery, JetLinx Global and SportRadar US. Mr. Morgan received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
We believe Mr. Morgan is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board due to his business experience and contacts.
Efrat Epstein has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2018. Ms. Epstein has held leadership positions across media, tech and financial services. Since November 2016, Ms. Epstein has been the Managing Partner of Sound Ventures, an LA-based venture capital fund founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary. In this role, Ms. Epstein leads investing, strategy and the day-to-day management of the fund. From
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January 2016 to November 2016, Ms. Epstein led Global Strategy at Marsh, a multi-billion dollar division of financial services firm Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC). From October 2013 to January 2016, Ms. Epstein was Senior Vice President of Planning and Head of Investor Relations at iHeartMedia, a global entertainment company, and from May 2011 to September 2013, she was Head of Business Development and Strategy at CLEAR, a privately held technology company. Earlier in her career, Ms. Epstein was part of Merrill Lynch’s Global Energy and Power Investment Banking group as well as the Global Strategy team at NYSE Euronext. Ms. Epstein received a BA from the University of Texas in Austin and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
We believe Ms. Epstein is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board due to her work experience and contacts.
Katrina Adams has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2018. Ms. Adams is the Chairman of the Board and President of the United States Tennis Association, a position she assumed in January 2015. In this role, she also serves as Chairman of the US Open. Ms. Adams is the first African-American, first former professional tennis player and youngest person to serve as President in the organization’s 135-year history. She is also the first individual to serve a second two-year term as Chairman of the Board and President. In 2015, Ms. Adams was elected Vice President of the International Tennis Federation and in 2016, she was appointed Chairman of the Fed Cup Committee, which governs the Fed Cup, the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport. She also serves on the board of directors for the International Tennis Hall of Fame. An accomplished tennis professional, Ms. Adams played for 12 years on the Women’s Tennis Association tour, where she ranked as high as No. 67 in the world in singles and No. 8 in doubles, winning 20 career doubles titles and reaching the quarterfinals or better in doubles at all four Grand Slam events. While an active pro, Ms. Adams served on the board of directors of the Women’s Tennis Association as a player representative for four one-year terms and on the Women’s Tennis Association’s Players Association for five two-year terms. After leaving the tour, Ms. Adams was a USTA National Tennis Coach from 1999 to 2002. She also joined the USTA’s Board of Directors in 2005, serving as a Director at Large and as the association’s Vice President and First Vice President before assuming the presidency. She was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Rookie of the Year in 1986 and an NCAA All-American in 1986 and 1987. She also became the first African-American to win the NCAA doubles title in 1987. Among her many accolades, Ms. Adams was honored with the WTA’s Player Service Award in 1989, 1996 and 1997, and she received the WTA Althea Gibson Award in 2003. In addition, she was inducted into the Northwestern Hall of Fame in 1998, the USTA Midwest Section Hall of Fame in 2005, the Chicago District Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008, the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012, the ITA Women’s Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014 and the USTA Eastern Section Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015. She was also named one of the “25 Influential Black Women in Business” by The Network Journal and as one of Sports Business Daily’s “Game Changers” in 2015. In 2016, she was inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame. In addition to her duties with the USTA, Ms. Adams is a contributor on CBS Sports Network’s first all-female sports show, “We Need to Talk.” She also serves as a television analyst for Tennis Channel and as a contributor to Tennis magazine and tennis.com, providing instructional articles and videos. Moreover, since 2005, Ms. Adams has served as the Executive Director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program, a National Junior Tennis & Learning network (NJTL) chapter based in New York City. Ms. Adams attended Northwestern University, majoring in communications, before deciding to leave school and focus on her professional tennis career.
We believe Ms. Adams is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board due to her experience and contacts.
Number and terms of office of officers and directors
Our board of directors consists of five members and is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first full fiscal year end
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following our listing on the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting ofKatrina Adams, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Evan Morgan and Efrat Epstein, will expire at our second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Jonathan J. Ledecky and Kevin Griffin, will expire at our third annual meeting of stockholders.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint such officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Prior and current involvement of principals in blank check companies
Mr. Ledecky has been involved in the initial public offerings of several similarly structured blank check companies. From July 2005 to December 2007, Mr. Ledecky served as president, secretary and a director of Endeavor Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that raised gross proceeds of approximately $129.3 million in its initial public offering which priced at $8.00 per unit and completed its initial business combination with American Apparel, Inc. in 2006. Upon the consummation of the business combination, Mr. Ledecky resigned from all his positions with the company. Mr. Ledecky received a portion of the founder shares in connection with Endeavor Acquisition Corp.’s initial public offering. An affiliate of Mr. Ledecky’s was also paid a monthly fee of $7,500 until Endeavor consummated its business combination for providing the company with office space and administrative services. He did not receive any other cash payment or securities from this entity. While American Apparel’s units traded at a high of $24.25 per unit, American Apparel filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and its securities are no longer trading. From January 2007 to May 2009, he served as president, secretary and a director of Victory Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that raised $330 million in its initial public offering but was unable to consummate an initial business combination and dissolved and liquidated. Mr. Ledecky received a portion of the founder shares and purchased risk capital warrants in connection with Victory Acquisition Corp.’s initial public offering. He did not receive any cash payment or any other securities from this entity. He also served as president, secretary and a director of Triplecrown Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that raised $552 million in its initial public offering, from June 2007 until it completed its initial business combination with Cullen Agricultural Technologies, Inc., a dairy and agricultural company affiliated with one of the founders of Triplecrown, in October 2009. Triplecrown amended its charter to allow it to consummate the transaction with Cullen Agricultural Technologies, Inc. The combined company ultimately abandoned its business plan and completed a merger with Long Island Brand Beverages in 2015 and is now trading on the Pink Sheets under the Symbol “LBCC”. Mr. Ledecky received a portion of the founder shares and purchased risk capital warrants in connection with Triplecrown Acquisition Corp.’s initial public offering. He did not receive any cash payment or any other securities from this entity.
During 2007, Mr. Ledecky served as president, secretary and director of Grand Slam Acquisition Corp., Performance Acquisition Corp. and Endeavour International Acquisition Corp., three similarly structured blank check companies that never completed their initial public offerings due to market conditions at the time.
In January 2011, Mr. Ledecky became an officer and director of Ascend Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed in December 2005 to serve as a vehicle to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with a currently unidentified operating business. Ascend Acquisition Corp. was unable to complete a business combination within the required time period and returned funds to its stockholders. After Mr. Ledecky became an officer and director in 2011, Ascend Acquisition Corp. completed several business combinations culminating in the business combination with Future Ads LLC whereby the company ultimately became known as Propel Media, Inc. The company ceased being a publicly traded reporting company in September 2018.
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In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Ledecky served as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Consolidation Capital Corporation from its formation in February 1997 until March 2000 when it merged with Group Maintenance America Corporation. Consolidation Capital Corporation was formed to build consolidated enterprises with national market reach through the acquisition and integration of multiple businesses in one or more fragmented industries. In November 1997, Consolidation Capital Corporation completed its initial public offering raising gross proceeds of $552 million.
Mr. Ledecky also currently serves as president of Newtown Lane Marketing, Incorporated, a shell company exploring strategic alternatives. It is possible that the fiduciary duties Mr. Ledecky owes to Newtown Lane Marketing may affect our ability to complete our initial business combination as Mr. Ledecky may be required to present potential business combination opportunities to Newtown Lane Marketing prior to our company.
Other than as set forth above, none of our officers or directors has been a principal of, or affiliated with, a blank check company. Past performance by Mr. Ledecky, or any other member of our management team, is not a guarantee of any future performance. There is no assurance that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or that any business combination we ultimately may consummate will be successful.
Executive officer and director compensation
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. We may pay consulting, finder or success fees to our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates for assisting us in consummating our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for anyout-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for theirout-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us
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after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Corporate Governance
NYSE rules require that we follow certain corporate governance requirements described herein, including having a majority of our board of directors be independent and maintaining certain committees of our board of directors. Prior to the vote on our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. More than 50% of the founder shares will be held by our sponsor. This would permit us to be considered a “controlled company” under NYSE rules and allow us to avoid certain of the foregoing corporate governance requirements. Nevertheless, we will not use the related exemptions to the NYSE corporate governance rules under the controlled company standard.
Director independence
NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. Our board of directors has determined that Evan Morgan, Efrat Epstein and Katrina Adams are “independent directors” as defined in the listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the board of directors
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating committee and a compensation committee. Each of these committees will be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Evan Morgan, Efrat Epstein andKatrina Adamswill serve as members of our audit committee, all of whom are independent. Pursuant to NYSE’sphase-in rules for newly listed companies, we have one year from the date on which we are first listed on NYSE to have our audit committee be comprised of three members. We intend to identify one additional independent director to serve on the audit committee within the applicable time period.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that each of Mr. Morgan and Ms. Adams qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
| • | meeting with our independent auditor regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
| • | monitoring the independence of the independent auditor; |
| • | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
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| • | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
| • | pre-approving all audit services and permittednon-audit services to be performed by our independent auditor, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
| • | appointing or replacing the independent auditor; |
| • | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent auditor (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
| • | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; |
| • | monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of this offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of this offering; and |
| • | reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing stockholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
Nominating committee
Effective upon the date of this prospectus, we will establish a nominating committee of the board of directors, which will consist of Evan Morgan, Efrat Epstein and Katrina Adams, each of whom is an independent director under the NYSE’s listing standards. The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, stockholders, investment bankers and others.
Guidelines for selecting director nominees
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which are specified in the Nominating Committee Charter, generally provide that persons to be nominated:
| • | should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service; |
| • | should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and |
| • | should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the stockholders. |
The Nominating Committee will consider a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by stockholders and other persons.
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Compensation committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be Evan Morgan, Efrat Epstein and Katrina Adams. We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| • | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer based on such evaluation; |
| • | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers; |
| • | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| • | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| • | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| • | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees; |
| • | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| • | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Compensation committee interlocks and insider participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of ethics
Upon to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics and our committee charters as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site atwww.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report onForm 8-K.
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Conflicts of interest
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
| • | the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity; |
| • | the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and |
| • | it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation. |
In relation to the foregoing, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that:
| • | we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or being offered an opportunity to participate in, any business opportunities that are presented to us or our officers, directors or stockholders or affiliates thereof, including but not limited to, our sponsor and its affiliates, except as may be prescribed by any written agreement with us; and |
| • | our officers and directors will not be liable to our company or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of any fiduciary duty by reason of any of our activities or any of our sponsor or its affiliates to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. |
In addition to our sponsor, our officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with other companies. In order to minimize potential conflicts of interest which may arise from such other corporate affiliations, each of our officers and directors has contractually agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, until the earliest of our execution of a definitive agreement for a business combination, our liquidation or such time as he ceases to be an officer or director, to present to our company for our consideration, prior to presentation to any other entity, any suitable business opportunity which may reasonably be required to be presented to us, subject to anypre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations he might have.
Our officers and directors and we have agreed not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which has publicly filed a registration statement with the SEC until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the consummation of this offering.
The following table summarizes the relevantpre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations of our officers and directors:
| Individual | Entity | Position at affiliated entity | ||
Jonathan J. Ledecky | New York Islanders NY Hockey Holdings LLC Ironbound Partners Fund LLC Newtown Lane Holdings, Incorporated | Owner President Chairman President and Director | ||
Kevin Griffin | MGG Investment Group | Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer | ||
Evan B. Morgan | The Radcliff Companies | Manager | ||
Efrat Epstein | Sound Ventures | Managing Partner | ||
| ||||
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Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| • | Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. |
| • | Our sponsor and directors purchased founder shares prior to the date of this prospectus and will purchase private placement warrants in a transaction that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our initial stockholders, which include our independent directors, have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their conversion rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public shares acquired by them directly in or after this offering. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lockup. The private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our executive officers and directors will own common stock or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
| • | Our sponsor, officers and directors may loan funds to us after this offering and may be owed reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with certain activities on our behalf which would only be repaid if we complete an initial business combination. |
| • | Our officers and directors may be paid consulting, finder or success fees for assisting us in consummating our initial business combination. |
| • | Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with an business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking or another valuation or appraisal firm that commonly renders fairness opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they, and the members of our management team, have agreed to vote any shares purchased during or after the offering, in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on liability and indemnification of officers and directors
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors and officers will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our 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.
Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our directors and officers against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify the directors and officers.
These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions. We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.
We believe that these provisions and the insurance are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our shares of common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
| • | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock; |
| • | each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns shares of common stock; and |
| • | all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of the shares of our common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
In August2018, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. Our sponsor transferred 50,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors in December 2018 and transferred 100,000 founder shares to our chief financial officer in December 2018, in each case at the sameper-share purchase price paid by our sponsor. Prior to the initial investment in our company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. Theper-share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Our sponsor will forfeit for no consideration up to 750,000 shares depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. The post-offering percentages in the following table assume that the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional units, that our sponsor has forfeited for no consideration 750,000 founder shares, and that there are 25,000,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.
| Prior to offering(2) | After offering(4) | |||||||||||||||
| Name and address of beneficial owner(1) | Amount and nature of beneficial ownership(3) | Approximate percentage of outstanding common stock | Amount and nature of beneficial ownership(3) | Approximate percentage of outstanding common stock | ||||||||||||
Jonathan J. Ledecky(5) | 5,500,000 | 95.7% | 4,750,000 | 19.0% | ||||||||||||
James H.R. Brady | 100,000 | 1.7% | 100,000 | * | ||||||||||||
Kevin Griffin(5) | 5,500,000 | 95.7% | 4,750,000 | 19.0% | ||||||||||||
Pivotal Acquisition Holdings LLC | 5,500,000 | 95.7% | 4,750,000 | 19.0% | ||||||||||||
Evan Morgan | 50,000 | * | 50,000 | * | ||||||||||||
Efrat Epstein | 50,000 | * | 50,000 | * | ||||||||||||
Katrina Adams | 50,000 | * | 50,000 | * | ||||||||||||
All officers and directors as a group (six individuals) | 5,750,000 | 100.0% | 5,000,000 | 20.0% | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our stockholders is c/o Pivotal Acquisition Corp., c/o Graubard Miller, The Chrysler Building, 425 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10174. |
| (2) | Includes up to 750,000 founder shares that will be forfeited by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised. |
| (3) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B common stock. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” |
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| (4) | Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units and, therefore, the forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares. |
| (5) | Represents shares held by our sponsor, Pivotal Acquisition Holdings LLC, of which each of Mr. Ledecky and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, an affiliate of Mr. Griffin, is a managing member. |
Immediately after this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own 20.0% of the then issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering) and will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to elect any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 5,750,000 private placement warrants (or 6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($5,750,000 in the aggregate or $6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The number of private placement warrants to be purchased by the sponsor if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised only in part will be a number of warrants necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional private placement warrants will be purchased simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions described below. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor and independent directors or their permitted transferees. Our sponsor or its permitted transferees have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering.
Our sponsor and Messrs. Ledecky and Griffin are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Transfers of founder shares and private placement warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant tolock-up provisions in the agreements entered into by our initial stockholders and management team. Thoselock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective shares of Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any
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affiliate or family member of any of our officers or directors, any affiliate of our sponsor or to any member of the sponsor or any of their affiliates, (b) in the case of an individual, as a gift to such person’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of such person’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of such person; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with any forward purchase agreement or similar arrangement or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares or warrants were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor, (g) in the event of our liquidation prior to our consummation of our initial business combination; or (h) in the event that, subsequent to our consummation of an initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (f) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreements.
Registration rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, as well as the holders of the securities we issue pursuant to the forward purchase contract described below, will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period, which is described above under “—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.”
Forward purchase contract
Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, has agreed, pursuant to a forward purchase contract with us, to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination, up to $150,000,000 of our securities. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will be determined by us and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC at the time we enter into the definitive agreement for the proposed business combination. This agreement is independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to redeem their public shares and may provide us with an increased minimum funding level for the initial business combination. The agreement is also conditioned on our board of directors, including Kevin Griffin, who is affiliated with Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, having unanimously approved the proposed initial business combination. Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC has no assets other than its interest in our sponsor and we have not required it to reserve the assets necessary to satisfy any obligations under the agreement. Accordingly, we may not receive any proceeds from this agreement and may need to arrange alternate financing to complete a business combination.
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Certain relationships and related party transactions
In August 2018, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 5,570,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. Our sponsor transferred 50,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors in December 2018 and transferred 100,000 founder shares to our chief financial officer in December 2018, in each case at the sameper-share purchase price paid by our sponsor. Prior to the initial investment in our company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. Theper-share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Our sponsor will surrender for no consideration up to 750,000 founder shares depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering.
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 5,750,000 private placement warrants (or 6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($5,750,000 in the aggregate or $6,350,000if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The number of private placement warrants to be purchased by the sponsor if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised only in part will be a number of warrants necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional private placement warrants will be purchased simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
We may pay consulting, finder or success fees to our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates for assisting us in consummating our initial business combination.
Other than the salaries, consulting fees or success fees described above, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s fees, will be paid by us to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for anyout-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, has agreed, pursuant to a forward purchase contract with us, to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination, up to $150,000,000 of our securities. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will be determined by us and Pivotal Spac Funding LLC at the time we enter into a definitive agreement for a proposed initial business combination. This agreement is independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to redeem their public shares and may provide us with an increased minimum funding level for the initial business
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combination. The agreement is also conditioned on our board of directors, including Kevin Griffin, who is affiliated with Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, having unanimously approved the proposed initial business combination. Additionally, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC has no assets other than its interest in our sponsor and we have not required it to reserve the assets necessary to satisfy any obligations under the agreement. Accordingly, we may not receive any proceeds from this agreement and may need to arrange alternate financing to complete a business combination.
An affiliate of our sponsor previously loaned to us $125,000. This loan isnon-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of September 1, 2019, the closing of this offering or if we determine to abandon this offering. The loan would be repaid upon the closing of this offering.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, officers, directors or their respective affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on anon-interest basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from other third parties as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and securities issued pursuant to the forward purchase contract described, among other securities, which is described under the heading “Principal Stockholders—Registration Rights.”
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As of the date of this prospectus, we will be authorized to issue 85,000,000shares of common stock, par value $0.0001, including 75,000,000shares of Class A common stock and 10,000,000shares of Class B common stock, as well as 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001. As of the date of this prospectus, 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock are outstanding. No shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock are currently outstanding. The following description summarizes the material terms of our securities. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you. For a complete description you should refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the form of warrant agreement, which are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and to the applicable provisions of Delaware law.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock and one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units are expected to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A common stock and warrants.
In no event will the Class A common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form8-K which includes this audited balance sheet upon the completion of this offering, which is anticipated to take place two business days after the units commence trading. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units.
Common stock
Prior to the date of this prospectus, there were 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding, all of which were held of record by our initial stockholders, so that our initial stockholders will own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming our initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Our sponsor will surrender for no consideration up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. Upon the closing of this offering, 25,000,000 shares of common stock will be issued and outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units and the corresponding surrender for no consideration of 750,000 founder shares by our sponsor) including:
| • | 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock underlying the units issued as part of this offering; and |
| • | 5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders. |
If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock
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immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering.
Stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of Class A common stock and holders of Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders except as required by law. However, prior to the vote on our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time.
Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 75,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first full fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, at all times prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC may designate a director to serve on our board. Prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws will require the approval of such designee and such designee’s presence will be required to form a quorum of the board. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, transactions between the company and any managing member of our sponsor or any other officer, director or 5% stockholder of the company or their respective affiliates will require the unanimous approval of the board, other than those transactions, payments or reimbursements described in this prospectus. Pivotal Spac Funding LLC, a managing member of our sponsor, has designated Kevin Griffin as a director. Should Mr. Griffin cease to serve as a director prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, Pivotal Spac Funding LLC will have the right to designate his successor.
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the trust account (to pay our tax obligations), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. Theper-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial stockholders, which include our independent directors, have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their conversion rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public shares acquired by them directly in or after this offering. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not
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required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of our initial business combination. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock,non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from converting its shares with respect to Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to convert the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 20% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5%, of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all shares of common stock are voted and the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised). The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account (to pay our tax obligations and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our
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board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. Our initial stockholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the shares of common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that public stockholders have the right to sell their shares to us in a tender offer or have their shares of common stock converted to cash for cash at a per share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our tax obligations, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. Public stockholders who sell or convert their stock into their share of the trust account still have the right to exercise the warrants that they received as part of the units.
Founder shares
The founder shares are designated as Class B common stock and, except as described below, are identical to the Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) our initial stockholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their conversion rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) to waive their conversion rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering and (C) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period, (iii) the founder shares are automatically convertible into Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of the holder, on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described herein, (iv) prior to the completion of our initial business combination, only our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of our directors and (v) have registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. The members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders with respect to any public shares acquired by them directly in or after this offering.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time our initial business combination on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities convertible or exercisable for shares of Class A common stock, such as options, rights or warrants are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in this prospectus and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which founder shares will
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convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted unless waived by majority of Class B holders so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate 20% of the sum of the shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus the number of shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked shares issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination (net of conversions), excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, pursuant to the forward purchase contract, or to any seller in our initial business combination and any private placement warrants or working capital warrants issued to our sponsor, officers and directors or any of their affiliates.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property. Up to 750,000 founder shares will be forfeited by our sponsor depending on the exercise of the option to purchase additional units.
Preferred stock
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock and provides that preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue shares of preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.
Warrants
Public stockholders’ warrants
Each warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of one year from the closing of this offering or 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement) and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities
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Act with respect to the Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue a share of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 days and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th) day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the warrants for redemption:
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the“30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and |
| • | if, and only if, the reported closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a30-trading day period ending three business days before we send to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of
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our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average reported closing price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, the holders of the private placement warrants and their permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.
A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (as specified by the holder) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a share dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by asplit-up of shares of common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such share dividend,split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding common stock. A rights offering to holders of common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock) and (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such Class A common stock (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, which are dividends of $0.50 or less in any fiscal year (subject to adjustments), (c) to satisfy the conversion rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination or (d) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.
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If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock. We will not be required to make adjustments to the exercise price for any other events including the issuance of additional shares of Class A common stock other than dividends paid in Class A common stock as described above.
Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of Class A common stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants in order to determine and realize the option value component of the warrant. This formula is to compensate the warrantholder for the loss of the option value portion of the warrant due to the requirement that the warrantholder exercise the warrant within 30 days of the event. The Black-Scholes model is an accepted pricing model for estimating fair market value where no quoted market price for an instrument is available.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.
The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed
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and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A common stock. After the issuance of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.
No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round up to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.
Private placement warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with the sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor and independent directors or their permitted transferees. The sponsor and independent directors, or their permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor and independent directors or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.
If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average reported closing price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor and independent directors or their permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of materialnon-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the Class A common stock received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, officers, directors or their respective affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
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Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase the size of this offering, then we will effect a share capitalization with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our transfer agent and warrant agent
The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any claims and losses due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.
Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company has agreed that it has no right ofset-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account, and has irrevocably waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account that it may have now or in the future. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied, or a claim will only be able to be pursued, solely against us and our assets outside the trust account and not against the any monies in the trust account or interest earned thereon.
Certain anti-takeover provisions of delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation andby-laws
Staggered board of directors
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors of approximately equal size. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.
Special meeting of stockholders
Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our president or by our chairman or by our secretary at the request in writing of stockholders owning a majority of our issued and outstanding capital stock entitled to vote.
Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations
Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be delivered to our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 60th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 90th day prior to the scheduled date of the annual meeting of stockholders. In the event that less than 70
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days’ notice or prior public disclosure of the date of the annual meeting of stockholders is given, a stockholder’s notice shall be timely if delivered to our principal executive offices not later than the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of our annual meeting of stockholders is first made or sent by us. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.
Authorized but unissued shares
Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Exclusive forum selection
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits our company by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Section 203 opt out
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we have opted out of the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law regulating corporate takeovers. This section prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:
| • | a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”); |
| • | an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or |
| • | an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder. A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if: |
| • | our board of directors approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction; |
| • | after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or |
| • | on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at leasttwo-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder. |
We have opted out of the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law because we believe this statute could prohibit or delay mergers or other change in control attempts, and thus may discourage attempts to acquire us.
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Limitation on liability and indemnification of directors and officers
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors and officers will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our 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.
Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our directors and officers against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify the directors and officers.
These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions. We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.
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Securities eligible for future sale
Immediately after this offering we will have 25,000,000 (or 28,750,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the Class A common stock sold in this offering (20,000,000 shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised and 23,000,000 shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares of Class A common stock purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding founder shares (5,000,000 founder shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised and 5,750,000 founder shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) and all of the outstanding private placement warrants (5,750,000 warrants if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised and 6,350,000 warrants if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) will be restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering.
Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
| • | 1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 250,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 287,500 if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional units); or |
| • | the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale. |
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the use of rule 144 by shell companies or former shell companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
| • | the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| • | the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| • | the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form8-K reports; and |
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| • | at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
As a result, our initial stockholders will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans), as well as the holders of the securities we issue pursuant to the forward purchase contract described herein, will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, upon the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”), provided that, notwithstanding the foregoing, the founder shares will be released from thelock-up if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants and the securities issued pursuant to the forward purchase contract, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of securities
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE under the symbol “PVT.U” commencing on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “PVT” and “PVT WS,” respectively. We do not anticipate having units traded following consummation of the initial business combination.
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The following are the material U.S. federal income and estate tax considerations with respect to your ownership and disposition of our units or components thereof, which we refer to collectively as our securities, assuming you purchase the securities in this offering and will hold them as capital assets within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
This discussion does not address all of the U.S. federal income and estate tax considerations that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, and it does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to persons subject to special rules, such as:
| • | certain financial institutions; |
| • | insurance companies; |
| • | dealers and traders in securities or foreign currencies; |
| • | persons holding our securities as part of a hedge, straddle, conversion transaction or other integrated transaction; |
| • | former citizens or residents of the United States; |
| • | U.S. persons whose functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes is not the U.S. dollar; |
| • | partnerships or other entities classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes; |
| • | persons liable for the alternative minimum tax; and |
| • | tax-exempt organizations. |
The following does not discuss any aspect of state, local ornon-U.S. taxation. This discussion is based on current provisions of the Code, Treasury regulations, judicial opinions, published positions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and all other applicable authorities, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.
If an entity that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our securities, the tax treatment of a partner will generally depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the entity. If you are a partner in such an entity, you should consult your tax advisor.
WE URGE PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS TO CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL ANDNON-U.S. INCOME, ESTATE AND OTHER TAX CONSIDERATIONS WITH RESPECT TO ACQUIRING, HOLDING AND DISPOSING OF OUR SECURITIES.
Each unit will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as an investment unit consisting of one share of our common stock and one warrant to acquire one share of our common stock, subject to adjustment. In determining your basis for the common stock and warrant composing a unit, you should allocate your purchase price for the unit between the components on the basis of their relative fair market values at the time of issuance.
Personal holding company status
We could be subject to United States federal income tax at rates in excess of those generally applicable to corporations on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for United States federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation will generally be classified as a PHC for United
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States federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certaintax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for United States federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).
Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, it is possible that at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certaintax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts, it is possible that more than 50% of our stock will be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.
U.S. holders
This section is addressed to U.S. holders of our securities. For purposes of this discussion, you are a “U.S. holder” if you are a beneficial owner of a security that is:
| • | an individual citizen or resident of the United States for U.S. federal income tax purposes; |
| • | a corporation, or other entity taxable as a corporation, created or organized in, or under the laws of, the United States or any state thereof or the District of Columbia; or |
| • | an estate or trust the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source. |
Dividends and distributions
As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. In the event that we do make distributions on our common stock, such distributions generally will be treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. Distributions in excess of our current or accumulated earnings and profits generally will first reduce your basis in the common stock (but not below zero) and then will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the common stock (as described in the first paragraph under “Sale or Other Disposition or Conversion of Common Stock” below).
The conversion feature of the common stock described under “Proposed Business—Effecting a Business Combination—Conversion Rights” may be viewed as a position with respect to substantially similar or related property which diminishes your risk of loss and thereby affects your ability to satisfy the holding period requirements for the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income with respect to the time period prior to the approval of an initial business combination.
Sale or other disposition or conversion of common stock
Gain or loss you realize on the sale or other disposition of our common stock (other than conversion into cash but including a liquidation in the event we do not consummate a business combination within the required time) will be capital gain or loss. The amount of your gain or loss will be equal to the difference between your tax
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basis in the common stock disposed of and the amount realized on the disposition. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations. Any capital gain or loss you realize on a sale or other disposition of our common stock will generally be long-term capital gain or loss if your holding period for the common stock is more than one year. However, the conversion feature of the common stock described under “Proposed Business —Effecting a Business Combination—Conversion Rights” could affect your ability to satisfy the holding period requirements for the long-term capital gain tax rate with respect to the time period prior to the approval of an initial business combination.
If you convert your common stock into a right to receive cash as described in “Proposed Business—Effecting a Business Combination—Conversion Rights,” the conversion generally will be treated as a sale of common stock described in the preceding paragraph (rather than as a dividend or distribution). The conversion will, however, be treated as a dividend or distribution and taxed as described in “—Dividends and Distributions” above if your percentage ownership in us (including shares that you are deemed to own under certain attribution rules, such as the shares into which the warrants are exercisable) after the conversion is not meaningfully reduced from what your percentage ownership was prior to the conversion. If you have a relatively minimal stock interest and, taking into account the effect of conversion by other stockholders, your percentage ownership in us is reduced as a result of the conversion, you may be regarded as having suffered a meaningful reduction in interest. For example, the IRS has ruled that any reduction in the stockholder’s proportionate interest will constitute a “meaningful reduction” in a transaction in which a holder held less than 1% of the shares of a corporation and did not have management control over the corporation. You should consult your own tax advisor as to whether conversion of your common stock will be treated as a sale or as a dividend under the Code and, if you actually or constructively own 5% (or, if our stock is not then publicly traded, 1%) or more of our common stock before conversion, whether you are subject to special reporting requirements with respect to such conversion.
Sale or other disposition, exercise or expiration of warrants
Upon the sale or other disposition of a warrant (other than by exercise), you will generally recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized on the sale or other disposition and your tax basis in the warrant. This capital gain or loss will be long-term capital gain or loss if, at the time of the sale or other disposition, the warrant has been held by you for more than one year. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
With respect to the warrants, in general, you will not be required to recognize income, gain or loss upon exercise of a warrant for its exercise price. Your basis in a share of common stock received upon exercise will be equal to the sum of (1) your basis in the warrant and (2) the exercise price of the warrant. Your holding period in the shares received upon exercise will commence on the day after you exercise the warrants. Although there is no direct legal authority as to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of an exercise of a warrant on a cashless basis, we intend to take the position that such exercise will not be taxable, either because the exercise is not a gain realization event or because it qualifies as atax-free recapitalization. In the former case, the holding period of the common stock should commence on the day after the warrant is exercised. In the latter case, the holding period of the common stock would include the holding period of the exercised warrants. However, our position is not binding on the IRS and the IRS may treat a cashless exercise of a warrant as a taxable exchange. You are urged to consult your own tax advisor as to the consequences of an exercise of a warrant on a cashless basis.
If a warrant expires without being exercised, you will recognize a capital loss in an amount equal to your basis in the warrant. Such loss will be long-term capital loss if, at the time of the expiration, the warrant has been held by you for more than one year. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
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Constructive dividends on warrants
As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. If at any time during the period you hold warrants, however, we were to pay a taxable dividend to our stockholders and, in accordance with the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, the conversion rate of the warrants were increased, that increase would be deemed to be the payment of a taxable dividend to you to the extent of our earnings and profits, notwithstanding the fact that you will not receive a cash payment. If the conversion rate is adjusted in certain other circumstances (or in certain circumstances, there is a failure to make adjustments), such adjustments may also result in the deemed payment of a taxable dividend to you. You should consult your tax advisor regarding the proper treatment of any adjustments to the warrants.
Unearned income medicare tax
A 3.8% Medicare contribution tax will generally apply to all or some portion of the net investment income of a U.S. holder that is an individual with adjusted gross income that exceeds a threshold amount ($250,000 if married filing jointly or if considered a “surviving spouse” for federal income tax purposes, $125,000 if married filing separately, and $200,000 in other cases). This 3.8% tax will also apply to all or some portion of the undistributed net investment income of certain U.S. holders that are estates and trusts. For these purposes, dividends and gains from the taxable dispositions of the common stock, rights and warrants will generally be taken into account in computing such a U.S. holder’s net investment income.
Information reporting and backup withholding
Information returns may be filed with the IRS with respect to dividends or other distributions we may pay to you and proceeds from the sale of your shares of common stock, rights or warrants. You will be subject to backup withholding on these payments if you fail to provide your taxpayer identification number to the paying agent and comply with certain certification procedures or otherwise establish an exemption from backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld with respect to your shares of common stock or warrants under the backup withholding rules will be refunded to you or credited against your United States federal income tax liability, if any, by the IRS provided that certain required information is furnished to the IRS in a timely manner.
Non-U.S. holders
This section is addressed tonon-U.S. holders of the securities. For purposes of this discussion, a“non-U.S. holder” is a beneficial owner of a security (other than an entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is not a U.S. holder.
Dividends and distributions
As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. If, however, we were to pay taxable dividends to you with respect to your shares of common stock (including any deemed distributions treated as a dividend on the warrants, as described in “Constructive Dividends on Warrants” below), those dividends would generally be subject to United States withholding tax at a rate of 30% of the gross amount, unless you are eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and you provide proper certification of your eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E). A distribution generally will constitute a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits as determined under the Code. Any distribution not constituting a dividend generally will be treated first as reducing your
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basis in your shares of common stock and, to the extent it exceeds your basis, as gain from the disposition of your shares of common stock treated as described under “Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock or Warrants” below. The full amount of any distributions to you may, however, be subject to United States withholding tax unless the applicable withholding agent elects to withhold a lesser amount based on a reasonable estimate of the amount of the distribution that would be treated as a dividend. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock orWarrants” below), we will withhold at least 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits as provided by the Code.
Dividends we pay to you that are effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if certain income tax treaties apply, are attributable to a United States permanent establishment maintained by you) generally will not be subject to United States withholding tax if you comply with applicable certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, such dividends generally will be subject to United States federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same graduated individual or corporate rates applicable to United States persons. If you are a corporation, effectively connected income may also be subject to a “branch profits tax” at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty).
Exercise of warrants
You generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the exercise of the warrants into shares of common stock. However, if a cashless exercise of warrants results in a taxable exchange, as described in “U.S. Holders—Sale or Other Disposition, Exercise or Expiration of Warrants,” the rules described below under “Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock or Warrants” would apply.
Sale or other disposition of common stock or warrants
You generally will not be subject to United States federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale, exchange or other disposition of our common stock (which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required timeframe) or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), unless:
| • | the gain is effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment you maintain); |
| • | you are an individual, you hold your shares of common stock or warrants as capital assets, you are present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and you meet other conditions, and you are not eligible for relief under an applicable income tax treaty; or |
| • | we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for United States federal income tax purposes and, in the case where the shares of our common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, you hold or have held, directly or indirectly, at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding disposition or your holding period for your shares of common stock or warrants, more than 5% of our common stock. Special rules may apply to the determination of the 5% threshold in the case of a holder of a warrant. You are urged to consult your own tax advisors regarding the effect of holding the warrants on the calculation of such 5% threshold. We will be classified as a United States real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of (1) the fair market value of our United States real property interests, (2) the fair market value of ournon-United States real property interests and (3) the fair market value of any other of our assets which are used or held for use in our trade or business. Although we currently are not a United States real property holding corporation, we cannot determine whether we will be a United States real property holding corporation in the future until we consummate an initial business combination. |
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Gain that is effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business within the United States generally will be subject to United States federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same rates applicable to United States persons. If you are a corporation, the branch profits tax also may apply to such effectively connected gain. If the gain from the sale or disposition of your shares of common stock or warrants is effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business in the United States but under an applicable income tax treaty is not attributable to a permanent establishment you maintain in the United States, your gain may be exempt from United States tax under the treaty. If you are described in the second bullet point above, you generally will be subject to United States federal income tax at a rate of 30% on the gain realized, although the gain may be offset by some United States source capital losses realized during the same taxable year. If you are described in the third bullet point above, gain recognized by you on the sale, exchange or other disposition of shares of common stock or warrants will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at normal graduated U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of your shares of common stock or warrants may be required to withhold United States income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition.
If you convert your common stock into a right to receive cash as described in “Proposed Business—Effecting a Business Combination—Conversion Rights,” the conversion generally will be treated as a sale of common stock rather than as a dividend or distribution. The conversion will, however, be treated as a dividend or distribution and taxed as described in “Dividends and Distributions” if your percentage ownership in us (including shares that you are deemed to own under certain attribution rules, such as the shares into which the warrants are exercisable) after the conversion is not meaningfully reduced from what your percentage ownership was prior to the conversion. See the discussion in “U.S. Holders—Sale or Other Disposition or Conversion of Common Stock.” You should consult your own tax advisor as to whether conversion of your common stock will be treated as a sale or as a dividend under the Code.
Constructive dividends on warrants
As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. If at any time during the period you hold warrants, however, we were to pay a taxable dividend to our stockholders and, in accordance with the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, the conversion rate of the warrants were increased, that increase would be deemed to be the payment of a taxable dividend to you to the extent of our earnings and profits, notwithstanding the fact that you will not receive a cash payment. If the conversion rate is adjusted in certain other circumstances (or in certain circumstances, there is a failure to make adjustments), such adjustments may also result in the deemed payment of a taxable dividend to you. Any resulting withholding tax attributable to deemed dividends would be collected from other amounts payable or distributable to you. You should consult your tax advisor regarding the proper treatment of any adjustments to the warrants.
Information reporting and backup withholding
We must report annually to the IRS the amount of dividends or other distributions we may pay to you on your shares of common stock and the amount of tax we withhold on any such distributions regardless of whether withholding is required. The IRS may make copies of the information returns reporting those dividends and amounts withheld available to the tax authorities in the country in which you reside pursuant to the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty or exchange of information treaty.
The United States imposes backup withholding on dividends and certain other types of payments to United States persons. You will not be subject to backup withholding on dividends you receive on your shares of common stock if you provide proper certification (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E) of your status as anon-United States person or you are a corporation or one of several types of entities and organizations that qualify for exemption (an “exempt recipient”).
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Information reporting and backup withholding generally are not required with respect to the amount of any proceeds from the sale of your shares of common stock or warrants outside the United States through a foreign office of a foreign broker that does not have certain specified connections to the United States. However, if you sell your shares of common stock or warrants through a United States broker or the United States office of a foreign broker, the broker will be required to report to the IRS the amount of proceeds paid to you unless you provide appropriate certification (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E) to the broker of your status as anon-United States person or you are an exempt recipient. Information reporting also would apply if you sell your shares of common stock or warrants through a foreign broker deriving more than a specified percentage of its income from United States sources or having certain other connections to the United States.
Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld with respect to your shares of common stock or warrants under the backup withholding rules will be refunded to you or credited against your United States federal income tax liability, if any, by the IRS provided that certain required information is furnished to the IRS in a timely manner.
Estate tax
Common stock owned or treated as owned by an individual who is not a citizen or resident (as defined for United States federal estate tax purposes) of the United States at the time of his or her death, or by an entity the property of which is potentially includible in such an individual’s gross estate, will be included in the individual’s gross estate for United States federal estate tax purposes and therefore may be subject to United States federal estate tax unless an applicable estate tax treaty provides otherwise. The foregoing may also apply to warrants.
Unearned income medicare tax
If you are a foreign estate or trust, you may be subject to the Medicare contribution tax described under “U.S. Holders—Unearned Income Medicare Tax” above.Non-U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of the Medicare contribution tax on their investments in the units.
FATCA
A 30% withholding tax will be imposed on payments to certain foreign entities of U.S.-source dividends and after December 31, 2018, the gross proceeds of dispositions of stock (including our securities) that can produce U.S.-source dividends, unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied or an exemption has otherwise been established. Potential investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of this withholding tax on their investment in the units.
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Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is acting as sole book-running manager of the offering and as representative of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement dated the date of this prospectus, the underwriters named below have agreed to purchase, and we have agreed to sell to the underwriters, the following respective number of units set forth opposite each underwriters’ name.
| Underwriters | Number of Units | |||
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. | ||||
|
| |||
BTIG, LLC | ||||
|
| |||
Total | 20,000,000 | |||
| ||||
The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to approval of legal matters by counsel and to other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to purchase all of the units (other than those covered by the option to purchase additional units described below) if they purchase any of the units.
Units sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. Any units sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at a discount from the initial public offering price not to exceed $[·] per unit. If all of the units are not sold at the initial offering price, the underwriters may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The underwriters have advised us that they do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.
If the underwriters sell more units than the total number set forth in the table above, we have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with this offering. Any units issued or sold under the option will be issued and sold on the same terms and conditions as the other units that are the subject of this offering.
We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of the underwriters, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, shares of Class A common stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of Class A common stock, subject to certain exceptions. The underwriters in their sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to theselock-up agreements at any time without notice, other than in the case of the officers and directors, which shall be with notice. Our sponsor, officers and directors are also subject to separate transfer restrictions on their founder shares and private placement warrants.
Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal stockholders—Transfers of founder shares and private placement warrants”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lockup. The private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business
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combination. Because each of our executive officers and directors will own common stock or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the representative of the underwriters. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in the equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A common stock or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A common stock or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.
We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE under the symbol “PVT.U” and our Class A common stock and warrants under the symbols “PVT” and “PVT WS,” respectively.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units.
| Payable by Pivotal Acquisition Corp. | ||||||||
| No Exercise | Full Exercise | |||||||
Per Unit(1) | $ | 0.55 | $ | 0.55 | ||||
Total(1) | $ | 11,000,000 | $ | 12,650,000 | ||||
| ||||||||
| (1) | Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. |
If we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate, the trustee and the underwriters have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to its deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account upon liquidation, and (ii) that the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes to the public stockholders.
In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell units in the open market. Purchases and sales in the open market may include short sales, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the option to purchase additional units and stabilizing purchases, in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
| • | Short sales involve secondary market sales by the underwriters of a greater number of units than it is required to purchase in the offering. |
| • | “Covered” short sales are sales of units in an amount up to the number of units represented by the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. |
| • | “Naked” short sales are sales of units in an amount in excess of the number of units represented by the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. |
| • | Covering transactions involve purchases of units either pursuant to the option to purchase additional units or in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover short positions. |
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| • | To close a naked short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering. |
| • | To close a covered short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed or must exercise the option to purchase additional units. In determining the source of units to close the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the option to purchase additional units. |
| • | Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase units so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum. |
Purchases to cover short positions and stabilizing purchases, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own account, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. They may also cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that would otherwise exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The underwriters may conduct these transactions in theover-the-counter market or otherwise. If the underwriters commence any of these transactions, it may discontinue them at any time.
We estimate that our portion of the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $750,000, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for all expenses and fees related to the review by FINRA, which will not exceed $15,000, and the expenses of investigations and background checks of our principals not to exceed $5,000 per principal.
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make because of any of those liabilities.
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay the underwriters fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriters prior to the date that is 90 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which it is affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of an initial business combination.
The underwriters and their affiliates may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates, for which it may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for any such transactions.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.
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Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area
In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area that has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a “relevant member state”), with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that relevant member state (the “relevant implementation date”), an offer of units described in this prospectus may not be made to the public in that relevant member state prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the units that has been approved by the competent authority in that relevant member state or, where appropriate, approved in another relevant member state and notified to the competent authority in that relevant member state, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that, with effect from and including the relevant implementation date, an offer of our units may be made to the public in that relevant member state at any time:
| • | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive; |
| • | to fewer than 100, or, if the relevant member state has implemented the relevant provisions of the 2010 PD Amending Directive, 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), as permitted under the Prospectus Directive, subject to obtaining the prior consent of the relevant Dealer or Dealers nominated by the issuer for any such offer; or natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined below) subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriters for any such offer; or |
| • | in any other circumstances that do not require the publication by us of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive. |
Each purchaser of units described in this prospectus located within a relevant member state will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that it is a “qualified investor” within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive.
For the purpose of this provision, the expression an “offer of units to the public” in any relevant member state means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the units, as the expression may be varied in that member state by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that member state, and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive to the extent implemented by the relevant member state) and includes any relevant implementing measure in each relevant member state. The expression 2010 PD Amending Directive means Directive 2010/73/EU.
We have not authorized and do not authorize the making of any offer of units through any financial intermediary on their behalf, other than offers made by the underwriters with a view to the final placement of the units as contemplated in this prospectus. Accordingly, no purchaser of the units, other than the underwriters, is authorized to make any further offer of the units on behalf of us or the underwriters.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom
This prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (each such person being referred to as a “relevant person”). The units are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to purchase or otherwise acquire such units will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.
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Notice to Prospective Investors in France
Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units described in this prospectus has been submitted to the clearance procedures of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers or of the competent authority of another member state of the European Economic Area and notified to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. The units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units has been or will be:
| • | released, issued, distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed to the public in France; or |
| • | used in connection with any offer for subscription or sale of the units to the public in France. |
Such offers, sales and distributions will be made in France only:
| • | To qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs), in each case investing for their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with, articlesL.411-2,D.411-1,D.411-2,D.734-1,D.744-1,D.754-1 andD.764-1 of the French Code monétaire et financier; |
| • | to investment services providers authorized to engage in portfolio management on behalf of third parties; or |
| • | in a transaction that, in accordance with articleL.411-2-II-1°-or-2°-or 3° of the French Code monétaire et financier and article211-2 of the General Regulations (Règlement Général) of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, does not constitute a public offer (appel public à l’épargne). |
The units may be resold directly or indirectly, only in compliance with articlesL.411-1,L.411-2,L.412-1 andL.621-8 throughL.621-8-3 of the French Code monétaire et financier.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong
The units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the units may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan
The units offered in this prospectus have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan. The units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to or for the account of any resident of Japan (including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), except (i) pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and (ii) in compliance with any other applicable requirements of Japanese law.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore
This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for
133
subscription or purchase, of the units may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA, in each case subject to compliance with conditions set forth in the SFA.
Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is
| • | a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or |
| • | a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except: |
| • | to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less than $200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA; |
| • | where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or |
| • | where the transfer is by operation of law. |
Notice to Prospective Investors in Canada
The units may be sold in Canada only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.
134
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Dubai International Financial Centre
This prospectus relates to an Exempt Offer in accordance with the Offered Securities Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). This prospectus is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Offered Securities Rules of the DFSA. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with Exempt Offers. The DFSA has not approved this prospectus nor taken steps to verify the information set forth herein and has no responsibility for the prospectus. The securities to which this prospectus relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the securities offered should conduct their own due diligence on the securities. If you do not understand the contents of this prospectus you should consult an authorized financial advisor.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Australia
No placement document, prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”), in relation to the offering. This prospectus does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act 2001 (the “Corporations Act”), and does not purport to include the information required for a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act. Any offer in Australia of the securities may only be made to persons (the “Exempt Investors”) who are “sophisticated investors” (within the meaning of section 708(8) of the Corporations Act), “professional investors” (within the meaning of section 708(11) of the Corporations Act) or otherwise pursuant to one or more exemptions contained in section 708 of the Corporations Act so that it is lawful to offer the securities without disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act.
The securities applied for by Exempt Investors in Australia must not be offered for sale in Australia in the period of 12 months after the date of allotment under the offering, except in circumstances where disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act would not be required pursuant to an exemption under section 708 of the Corporations Act or otherwise or where the offer is pursuant to a disclosure document which complies with Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act. Any person acquiring securities must observe such Australianon-sale restrictions. This prospectus contains general information only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It does not contain any securities recommendations or financial product advice. Before making an investment decision, investors need to consider whether the information in this prospectus is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances, and, if necessary, seek expert advice on those matters.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Switzerland
The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the securities or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the company, the shares have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (FINMA), and the offer of securities has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (“CISA”). The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of securities.
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Graubard Miller, New York, New York, is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus. In connection with this offering, Ellenoff Grossman and Schole LLP, New York, New York, advised the underwriters in connection with the offering of the securities.
The financial statements of Pivotal Acquisition Corp. as of August 25, 2018 and for the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) through August 25, 2018 appearing in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of Pivotal Acquisition Corp. to continue as a going concern, as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
Where you can find additional information
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on FormS-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.
Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website atwww.sec.gov.
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Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
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F-1
Report of independent registered public accounting firm
To the Shareholder and the Board of Directors of
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the financial statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Pivotal Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of August 25, 2018 and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) through August 25, 2018 and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of August 25, 2018 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) through August 25, 2018, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory paragraph—going concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, its business plan is dependent on the completion of a financing and the Company’s cash and working capital as of August 25, 2018 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2018.
New York, NY
September 14, 2018
F-2
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
September 30, 2018 (unaudited) | August 25, 2018 | |||||||
ASSETS | ||||||||
Current asset—cash | $ | 82,476 | $ | 125,000 | ||||
Deferred offering costs | 70,000 | 27,500 | ||||||
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Total Assets | $ | 152,476 | $ | 152,500 | ||||
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LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY | ||||||||
Current liabilities | ||||||||
Accrued expenses | $ | 969 | $ | 369 | ||||
Accrued offering costs | 2,500 | 2,500 | ||||||
Promissory note—related party | 125,000 | 125,000 | ||||||
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Total Current Liabilities | $ | 128,469 | $ | 127,869 | ||||
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Commitments | ||||||||
Stockholder’s Equity | ||||||||
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Class A Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 75,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | — | — | ||||||
Class B Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding(1) | 575 | 575 | ||||||
Additionalpaid-in capital | 24,425 | 24,425 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit | (993 | ) | (369 | ) | ||||
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Total Stockholder’s Equity | $ | 24,007 | $ | 24,631 | ||||
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TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY | $ | 152,476 | $ | 152,500 | ||||
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| (1) | Includes up to 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full or in part. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
For the period (unaudited) | For the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) to August 25, 2018 | |||||||
Formation and operating costs | $ | 993 | $ | 369 | ||||
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Net Loss | $ | (993 | ) | $ | (369 | ) | ||
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Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1) | 5,000,000 | 5,000,000 | ||||||
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Basic and diluted net loss per common share | $ | (0.00 | ) | $ | (0.00 | ) | ||
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| (1) | Excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full or in part. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Statement of changes in stockholder’s equity
| Common stock(1) | Additional capital | Accumulated deficit | Total equity | |||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance—August 2, 2018 (inception) | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | |||||||||||
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor(1) | 5,750,000 | 575 | 24,425 | — | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||
Net loss | — | — | — | (369 | ) | (369 | ) | |||||||||||||
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Balance—August 25, 2018 | 5,750,000 | $ | 575 | $ | 24,425 | $ | (369 | ) | $ | 24,631 | ||||||||||
Net loss (unaudited) | — | — | — | (624 | ) | (624 | ) | |||||||||||||
Balance-September 30, 2018 | 5,750,000 | $ | 575 | $ | 24,425 | $ | (993 | ) | $ | 24,007 | ||||||||||
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| (1) | Includes 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full or in part. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
For the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) to September 30, 2018 (unaudited) | For the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) to August 25, 2018 | |||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
Net loss | $ | (993 | ) | $ | (369 | ) | ||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable | 969 | 369 | ||||||
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Net cash used in operating activities | $ | (24 | ) | $ | — | |||
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Proceeds from issuance of common stock to Sponsor | $ | 25,000 | $ | 25,000 | ||||
Proceeds from promissory note—related party | 125,000 | 125,000 | ||||||
Payment of offering costs | (67,500 | ) | (25,000 | ) | ||||
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Net cash provided by financing activities | $ | 82,500 | $ | 125,000 | ||||
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Net Change in Cash | 82,476 | 125,000 | ||||||
Cash—Beginning | — | — | ||||||
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Cash—Ending | $ | 82,476 | $ | 125,000 | ||||
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Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs | $ | 2,500 | $ | 2,500 | ||||
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Note 1—Description of organization and business operations
Pivotal Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on August 2, 2018. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”).
The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination although it intends to focus on target businesses in the sports, logistics,e-commerce and consumer technology industries. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of September 30, 2018, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through September 30, 2018 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generatenon-operating income on cash and cash equivalents in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a Proposed Public Offering of 20,000,000 units (each a “Unit” and collectively the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 5,750,000 warrants (or 6,350,000 warrants if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) (each, a “Private Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Warrant in a private placement to Pivotal Acquisition Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”) that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering and the sale of the Private Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete its initial Business Combination having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into an initial Business Combination. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company is not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, it would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”).
Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including the proceeds of the Private Warrants, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraph (d) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act,
F-7
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 1—Description of organization and business operations—(Continued)
as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the assets held in the Trust Account, as described below.
The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). There will be no conversion rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants. The Public Shares subject to conversion will be recorded at conversion value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Offering in accordance with the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” The Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon the consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks stockholder approval, a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the conversions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Company’s Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
If the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct conversions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 20% or more of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Sponsor has agreed (a) to waive its conversion rights with respect to its Founder Shares and Public Shares held by it in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (i) that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights orpre-business combination activity, unless the Company provides the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
F-8
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 1—Description of organization and business operations—(Continued)
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (the “Combination Period”), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.
The Sponsor has agreed to waive its liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor acquires Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within in the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Proposed Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.00 per share or (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriter of the Proposed Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
F-9
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 1—Description of organization and business operations—(Continued)
Going concern consideration
At September 30, 2018, the Company had $82,476 in cash and working capital deficit of $45,993. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Management plans to address this uncertainty through a Proposed Public Offering as discussed in Note 3. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Note 2—Summary of significant accounting policies
Basis of presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging growth company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply tonon-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of
F-10
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 2—Summary of significant accounting policies—(Continued)
contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Deferred offering costs
Deferred offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering and that will be charged to stockholder’s equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.
Income taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of August 2, 2018 (inception) to August 25, 2018 and for the period from September 30, 2018. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
The provision for income taxes was deemed to be immaterial for the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) to August 25, 2018 and for the period from August 2, 2018 (inception) to September 30, 2018.
Net loss per common share
Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of common stock that
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Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 2—Summary of significant accounting policies—(Continued)
are subject to forfeiture if the option to purchase additional units is not exercised by the underwriter (see Note 7). At August 25, 2018 and September 30, 2018, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.
Concentration of credit risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. At August 25, 2018 and September 30, 2018, the Company has not experienced losses on this account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.
Fair value of financial instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.
Recent accounting pronouncements
The Company’s management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
Note 3—Public offering
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 20,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
Note 4—Private placement
The Sponsor has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 5,750,000 Private Warrants (or 6,350,000 Private Warrants if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per Private Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,750,000, or $6,350,000 if the option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering.
Each Private Warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50. The proceeds from the sale of Private Warrants will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds of the sale of the Private Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Private Warrants will expire worthless.
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Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 5—Related party transactions
Founder shares
On August 2, 2018, the Sponsor purchased 5,750,000 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B common stock for an aggregate price of $25,000. The Founder Shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock upon the consummation of a Business Combination on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustments as described in Note 7.
The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will own, on anas-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Proposed Public Offering).
The Sponsor has agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Related party loans
On August 24, 2018, an affiliate of the Sponsor loaned the Company an aggregate of $125,000 to cover expenses related to the Proposed Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Promissory Note”). The Promissory Note isnon-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of September 30, 2019, the date on which the Proposed Public Offering is completed or the date on which the Company determines not to proceed with the Proposed Public Offering.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination is not completed, the Company may use a portion of the proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Warrants.
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Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 6—Commitments
Registration rights
The holders of the Founder Shares (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the Founder Shares), Private Warrants (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Warrants), and securities that may be issued pursuant to the forward purchase contract described below and upon conversion of Working Capital Loans will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of Proposed Public Offering, requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to Class A common stock). The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting agreement
The Company will grant the underwriter a45-day option from the effective date of the Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units, at the Proposed Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.
The underwriter will be entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $4,000,000 in the aggregate (or $4,600,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. In addition, the underwriter will be entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $7,000,000 in the aggregate (or $8,050,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full). The deferred fee will be forfeited by the underwriter solely in the event that the Company fails to complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Forward purchase agreement
It is anticipated that a managing member of the Sponsor will enter into a forward purchase contract with the Company to purchase, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination, up to $150,000,000 of the Company’s securities. The type and amount of securities to be purchased by the managing member of the Sponsor will be determined by the Company and the managing member of the Sponsor at the time the Company enters into the definitive agreement for the proposed Business Combination. This agreement would be independent of the percentage of stockholders electing to convert their public shares and may provide the Company with an increased minimum funding level for the initial Business Combination. The agreement is also conditioned on the Company’s board of directors, including an affiliate of the managing member of the Sponsor, having unanimously approved the proposed initial Business Combination. Additionally, the managing member of the Sponsor has no assets other than its interest in the Sponsor and the Company has not required it to reserve the assets necessary to satisfy any obligations under the agreement. Accordingly, the managing member of the Sponsor may not agree to purchase any securities, in which case the Company may need to arrange alternate financing to complete the Business Combination.
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Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 7—Stockholder’s equity
Preferred Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. At September 30, 2018 and August 25, 2018, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.
Common stock
Class A common stock—The Company is authorized to issue 75,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At September 30, 2018, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.
Class B common stock—The Company is authorized to issue 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At September 30, 2018 and August 25, 2018, there were 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Proposed Public Offering).
Prior to an initial Business Combination, only holders of Class B common stock vote on the election of directors. Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of stockholders except as required by law.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination on aone-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Proposed Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on anas-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering, net of conversions, plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, any private placement-equivalent securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, any private placement equivalent securities issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to the Company). Holders of Founder Shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.
Warrants—The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after
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Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 7—Stockholder’s equity—(Continued)
the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Company will use its best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of a Business Combination, warrantholders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants:
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and |
| • | if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a30-trading day period ending three business days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrantholders. |
| • | If, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying such warrants. |
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of Class A common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
The Private Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Proposed Offering, except that the Private Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and benon-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or
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Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Notes to financial statements
Note 7—Stockholder’s equity—(Continued)
their permitted transferees. If the Private Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
Note 8—Subsequent events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
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20,000,000 Units
Pivotal Acquisition Corp.
Preliminary prospectus
Sole Book-Running Manager
Cantor
Lead Manager
BTIG
Until[·], 2019, all dealers that buy, sell or trade our common stock, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.
We have not, and the underwriter has not, authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representatives other than contained in this prospectus. We and the underwriter take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may provide you. We are not, and the underwriter is not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
No dealer, salesperson or any other person is authorized to give any information or make any representations in connection with this offering other than those contained in this prospectus and, if given or made, the information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by us. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security other than the securities offered by this prospectus, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities by anyone in any jurisdiction in which the offer or solicitation is not authorized or is unlawful.
Part II
Information not required in prospectus
Item 13. other expenses of issuance and distribution.
The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:
SEC expenses | $ | 27,876 | ||
FINRA expenses | 35,000 | |||
Accounting fees and expenses | 40,000 | |||
Printing and engraving expenses | 40,000 | |||
Travel and road show expenses | 25,000 | |||
Legal fees and expenses | 300,000 | |||
Stock exchange listing and filing fees | 85,000 | |||
Director & Officer liability insurance premiums(1) | 100,000 | |||
Miscellaneous | 97,124 | |||
|
| |||
Total | $ | 750,000 | ||
| ||||
| (1) | This amount represents the approximate amount of annual director and officer liability insurance premiums the registrant anticipates paying following the completion of its initial public offering and until it completes a business combination. |
Item 14. indemnification of directors and officers.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that all directors, officers, employees and agents of the registrant shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law.
Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.
“Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.
| (a) | A corporation shall have power to 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) by reason of the fact that 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), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person 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 the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person 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 reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful. |
| (b) | A corporation shall have power to 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 |
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procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that 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 the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper. |
| (c) | To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith. |
| (d) | Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders. |
| (e) | Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former directors and officers or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate. |
| (f) | The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. |
| (g) | A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was 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 such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section. |
| (h) | For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a |
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consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued. |
| (i) | For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section. |
| (j) | The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person. |
| (k) | The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).” |
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, 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 of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the 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.
Paragraph B of Article Eighth of our certificate of incorporation provides:
“The Corporation, to the full extent permitted by Section 145 of the GCL, as amended from time to time, shall indemnify all persons whom it may indemnify pursuant thereto. Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which such officer or director may be entitled to indemnification hereunder shall be paid by the Corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the Corporation as authorized hereby.”
Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the Underwriter and the Underwriter has agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.
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Item 15. recent sales of unregistered securities.
| (a) | During the past three years, we sold the following shares of Class B common stock without registration under the Securities Act: |
| Shareholders | Number of shares | |||
Pivotal Acquisition Holdings LLC | 5,750,000 | |||
| ||||
Such shares were issued in August 2018 in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as the shares were sold to an accredited investor. The shares issued were sold for an aggregate offering price of $25,000 at an average purchase price of approximately $0.004 per share.
The Company’s sponsor has also committed to purchase 5,750,000 warrants at $1.00 per private warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $5,750,000), or 6,350,000 (for $6,350,000) if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full. This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of the initial public offering. These issuances will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.
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Item 16. exhibits and financial statement schedules.
(a) The following exhibits are filed as part of this Registration Statement:
| Exhibit no. | Description | |
| 1.1 | ||
| 3.1 | ||
| 3.2 | ||
| 3.3 | ||
| 4.1 | ||
| 4.2 | ||
| 4.3 | ||
| 4.4 | Form of Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant. | |
| 5.1 | ||
| 10.1.1 | Form of Letter Agreement from each of the Registrant’s officers and directors. | |
| 10.1.2 | ||
| 10.2 | Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant. | |
| 10.3 | ||
| 10.4 | ||
| 10.5 | ||
| 10.6 | ||
| 14 | ||
| 23.1 | ||
| 23.2 | ||
| 24 | Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this Registration Statement). | |
| ||
| ** | Previously filed. |
Item 17. 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 of 1933; |
| 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 |
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aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table 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. |
| (2) | That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, 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. |
| (4) | That for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933 in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser: |
| (i) | Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424; |
| (ii) | Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant; |
| (iii) | The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and |
| (iv) | Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser. |
| (b) | The undersigned hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser. |
| (c) | Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 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 Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the 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 Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. |
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| (d) | The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that: |
| (1) | For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective. |
| (2) | For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus 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 initialbona fideoffering thereof. |
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in New York, New York, on the 11th day ofJanuary, 2019.
| PIVOTAL ACQUISITION CORP. | ||
| By: | /s/ JONATHAN J. LEDECKY | |
| Name: | JONATHAN J. LEDECKY | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
Power of attorney
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Jonathan J. Ledecky his or her true and lawfulattorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution and resubstitution for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign any and all amendments includingpre- and post-effective amendments to this registration statement, any subsequent registration statement for the same offering which may be filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, andpre- or post-effective amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that saidattorney-in-fact or his substitute, each acting alone, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue thereof.
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.
| Name | Position | Date | ||
JONATHAN J. LEDECKY | Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | January 11, 2019 | ||
/S/ JAMES H.R. BRADY JAMES H.R. BRADY | Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | January 11, 2019 | ||
* KEVIN GRIFFIN | Director | January 11, 2019 | ||
* EVAN B. MORGAN | Director | January 11, 2019 | ||
* EFRAT EPSTEIN | Director | January 11, 2019 | ||
* KATRINA ADAMS | Director | January 11, 2019 | ||
*By /s/ Jonathan J. Ledecky | Attorney-in-fact | January 11, 2019 | ||
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