UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022
Or
☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File No. 001-39410
CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| ||
Cayman Islands |
| 98-1552405 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
or organization) | | |
| | |
200 Park Avenue, 58th Floor | | |
New York, NY | | 10166 |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | | (Zip Code) |
(212) 355-5515
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class: | Trading Symbol(s): | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-fifth of one redeemable warrant | PRPC.WS | New York Stock Exchange |
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share | PRPC | New York Stock Exchange |
Redeemable warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 | PRPC WS | New York Stock Exchange |
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ |
| Emerging growth company | ☒ | |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act): Yes ☒ No ☐
At June 30, 2022 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the ordinary shares held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was approximately $396.0 million.
As of March 23, 2023, 4,537,338 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, and 15,062,500 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, were issued and outstanding.
CC NEUBERGER PRINCIPAL HOLDINGS III
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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| | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. | 40 | |
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| | Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure. | 47 | |
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| | Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections. | 48 | |
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| | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. | 58 | |
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND
RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains statements that are forward-looking and as such are not historical facts. This includes, without limitation, statements under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations. These statements constitute projections, forecasts and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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.
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K 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, the following risks, uncertainties and other factors:
| ● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| ● | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | the proceeds of the forward purchase securities being available to us; |
| ● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| ● | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the recent COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases); |
| ● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination 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; and |
| ● | the other risk and uncertainties discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). |
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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PART I.
References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) to (i) “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company” are to CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III, a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company, (ii) “founders” are to senior professionals of CC Capital SP, LP and Neuberger Berman; (iii) our “initial shareholders” are to our Sponsor and our independent director that held our founder shares prior to our initial public offering; (iv) our “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors, (v) “NBOKS” are to Neuberger Berman Opportunistic Capital Solutions Master Fund LP, a Delaware limited partnership and a member of our Sponsor; and (vi) “Sponsor” are to CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
Item 1.Business.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on July 24, 2020 as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.
Our sponsor is an affiliate of CC Capital and NBOKS. CC Capital is a private investment firm managed by a team of private equity professionals with a track record of success in sponsoring special purpose acquisition companies. NBOKS is advised by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC (“NBIA”). Neuberger Berman is a leader in a broad range of global investment solutions-equity, fixed income and alternatives to institutions and individuals through customized separately managed accounts, mutual funds and alternative investment products. CC Capital and NBIA have entered into an arrangement whereby they have agreed to co-sponsor a series of special purpose acquisition companies, including our company, CCN I and CCN II; the arrangement provides that NBOKS will make available certain funds through commitments of its limited partners, including its anchor investor, an affiliate of Koch Industries, (i) to each special purpose acquisition company in the form of certain commitments to purchase securities of such company at the time of the initial business combination of each such company, including the forward purchase commitment described herein; and (ii) collectively, to all special purpose acquisition companies co-sponsored by CC Capital and NBOKS, a facility that may be used by the special purpose acquisition companies (in an aggregate amount of up to between $100 million and $600 million, provided, that such aggregate amount shall not exceed $300 million unless and until a fourth special purpose acquisition company is co-sponsored by CC Capital and NBOKS), from time to time, on a first come first serve basis, to backstop redemptions by holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with the consummation of such company’s initial business combination, with any such funds to be used by NBOKS to purchase Class A ordinary shares; provided that in no event will more than $300 million be available to any one special purpose acquisition company under such facility. On December 9, 2021, CCN II entered into a definitive business combination agreement with affiliates of Getty Images and on July 22, 2022, CCN II and Getty Images Holdings, Inc., formerly known as Vector Holding, LLC (“New CCNB”), consummated the transactions contemplated by that definitive business combination agreement. At the closing of the business combination, NBOKS, pursuant to its backstop facility agreement with CCN II, subscribed for 30,000,000 shares of New CCNB Class A common shares, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and aggregate purchase price of $300,000,000. As a result, as of July 22, 2022, there is no available capital under the backstop facility agreement in which NBOKS had committed capital to all special purpose acquisition companies sponsored by CC Capital Partners, LLC and NBOKS, including us.
Given our affiliation with NBOKS and CC Capital’s deep private equity know-how focused on sourcing, due diligence and creating additional operational value in target companies, we believe we have the required investment, operational, diligence and capital raising experience to effect a business combination with an attractive target and to position it for long-term success in the public markets. In addition, we believe that our management team is positioned to drive ongoing value creation post-business combination, as our team has done with investments in various sectors over time. We believe our management team is well suited to identify opportunities that have the potential to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders.
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Effecting a Business Combination
Our Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial Business Combination with a company that complements the experiences and skills of our management team and can benefit from their operational expertise. Our selection process will leverage our founders’ broad and deep relationship network, unique industry experiences and proven deal sourcing capabilities to access a broad spectrum of differentiated opportunities. This network has been developed through our founders’ extensive experience and demonstrated success in both investing in and operating businesses in our target sectors and across a variety of industries, including:
| ● | a track record of successfully identifying, acquiring, and growing companies and ability to deliver shareholder value over an extended time period with above-market-average investment returns; |
| ● | experience deploying a proven value creation toolkit including recruiting world-class talent, identifying value enhancements, delivering operating efficiencies and successfully integrating strategic acquisitions; and |
| ● | an extensive history of accessing the capital markets across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership. |
We believe that our management team is well positioned to identify attractive Business Combination opportunities with a compelling industry backdrop and an opportunity for transformational growth. Our founders’ objectives are to generate attractive returns for shareholders and enhance value through improving operational performance of the acquired company. We expect to favor opportunities with certain industry and business characteristics. Key industry characteristics include compelling long-term growth, attractive competitive dynamics, consolidation opportunities and low risk of technological obsolescence. Key business characteristics include high barriers to entry, significant streams of recurring revenue, opportunity for operational improvement, attractive steady-state margins, high incremental margins and attractive free cash flow characteristics.
In connection with the Initial Public Offering, we entered into a forward purchase agreement with NBOKS, which provides for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units, with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and three-twentieths of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial Business Combination. The forward purchase agreement will allow NBOKS to be excused from its purchase obligation in connection with a specific Business Combination if NBOKS does not have sufficient committed capital allocated to the forward purchase agreement to fulfill its funding obligations under such forward purchase agreement in respect of such Business Combination. Prior to an initial Business Combination, NBOKS intends to raise additional committed capital such that the condition described in the preceding sentence is met, but there can be no assurance that additional capital will be available. The obligations under the forward purchase agreement will not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders. The forward purchase securities will be issued only in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination. The proceeds from the sale of forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial Business Combination, expenses in connection with our initial Business Combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial Business Combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek to acquire businesses that we believe:
| ● | are fundamentally sound but are underperforming their potential; |
| ● | exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace; |
| ● | are at an inflection point where we believe we can drive improved financial performance; |
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| ● | offer opportunities to enhance financial performance through organic initiatives and/or inorganic growth opportunities that we identify in our analysis and due diligence; |
| ● | can benefit from our founders’ knowledge of the target sectors, proven collection of operational strategies and tools, and past experiences in profitably and rapidly scaling businesses; |
| ● | are valued attractively relative to their existing cash flows and potential for operational improvement; and |
| ● | offer an attractive potential return for our shareholders, weighing potential growth opportunities and operational improvements in the target business against any identified downside risks. |
These criteria and guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial Business Combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general criteria and guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant.
Additional Disclosures
In April 2018, Chinh E. Chu, our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors, co-founded Collier Creek Holdings (“Collier Creek”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. Collier Creek completed its initial public offering in October 2018, in which it sold 44,000,000 units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share of Collier Creek and one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share of Collier Creek, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $440 million. On August 28, 2020, Collier Creek consummated the acquisition of Utz Brands Holdings, LLC, the parent of Utz Quality Foods, LLC, a leading manufacturer of branded salty snacks, to form Utz Brands (NYSE: UTZ).
In January 2020, CC Capital SP, LP and NBOKS founded CC Neuberger Principal Holdings I (“CCN I”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. CCN I completed its initial public offering in April 2020, in which it sold 41,400,000 units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share of CCN I and one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share of CCN I, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $414 million. On February 5, 2021, CCN I consummated the acquisition of E2open Holdings, LLC, a leading provider of supply chain management software, to form E2open (NYSE: ETWO). None of the funds available under the backstop facility agreement between CCN I and NBOKS were used in connection with CCN I’s initial business combination.
In May 2020, CC Capital SP, LP and NBOKS founded CC Neuberger Principal Holdings II (“CCN II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. CCN II completed its initial public offering in August 2020, in which it sold 82,800,000 units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share of CCN II and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share of CCN II, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $828 million. On July 22, 2022, CCN II consummated a business combination with affiliates of Getty Images, pursuant to which CCN II merged into a subsidiary of Getty Images Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation that is the publicly traded company and parent of Getty Images (NYSE: GETY). At the closing of the business combination, NBOKS, pursuant to its backstop facility agreement with CCN II, subscribed for 30,000,000 shares of New CCNB Class A common shares, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and aggregate purchase price of $300,000,000. As a result, as of July 22, 2022, there is no available capital under the backstop facility agreement in which NBOKS had committed capital to all special purpose acquisition companies sponsored by CC Capital Partners, LLC and NBOKS, including us.
On February 1, 2023, we held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (“Extension Meeting”) to, in part, amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we have to consummate a business combination. In connection with that vote, the holders of 35,712,662 Class A ordinary shares of the Company properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $362,840,646.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.
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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 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.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial Business Combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial Business Combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) or an independent accounting firm that such initial Business Combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team and our directors directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares and/or Private Placement Warrants and are affiliated with entities that purchase forward purchase securities 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.
In addition, certain of our founders, officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any of our founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, or contractual obligations, he, she or it will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such Business Combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our founders, officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity (including any Business Combination opportunity) offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
In addition, our Sponsor, founders, officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial Business Combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial Business Combination. Our founders, 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 management time among various business activities, including identifying potential Business Combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of the NYSE require that we must consummate an initial Business Combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). 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 that is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make such independent determination of fair market value, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board of directors determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. As any such opinion, if obtained, would only state that the fair market value meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of the target or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion
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would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required by Schedule 14A of the Exchange Act, any proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we will file with the SEC in connection with our initial Business Combination will include such opinion.
We anticipate structuring our initial Business Combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the outstanding 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 shareholders 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 business 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 outstanding voting securities of the target, our shareholders 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 in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. 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 shareholders 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 outstanding 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 valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial Business Combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial Business Combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial Business Combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
To the extent we effect our initial Business Combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
Competition
We have encountered, and expect to continue 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 special purpose acquisition 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.
Some of these competitors may possess greater resources or more specialized industry knowledge related to a specific business combination target than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of some of these competitors. Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for Business Combination targets has increased compared to recent years and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing Business Combinations. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public 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 may 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 shareholder 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.
Our sponsor is CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. Our sponsor currently owns 14,942,500 Class B ordinary shares and 10,050,000 private placement warrants. Our sponsor is not “controlled” (as defined in 31 CFR 800.208) by a foreign person, such that our sponsor’s involvement in the business combination would be a “covered transaction” (as defined in 31 CFR 800.213). However, it is possible that non-U.S. persons could be involved in our business combination, which
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may increase the risk that our business combination becomes subject to regulatory review, including review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), and that restrictions, limitations or conditions will be imposed by CFIUS. If our business combination with a U.S. business is subject to CFIUS review, the scope of which was expanded by the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”), to include certain non-passive, non-controlling investments in sensitive U.S. businesses and certain acquisitions of real estate even with no underlying U.S. business. FIRRMA, and subsequent implementing regulations that are now in force, also subjects certain categories of investments to mandatory filings. If our potential business combination with a U.S. business falls within CFIUS’s jurisdiction, we may determine that we are required to make a mandatory filing or that we will submit a voluntary notice to CFIUS, or to proceed with a business combination without notifying CFIUS and risk CFIUS intervention, before or after closing a business combination. CFIUS may decide to block or delay our business combination, impose conditions to mitigate national security concerns with respect to such business combination or order us to divest all or a portion of a U.S. business of the combined company without first obtaining CFIUS clearance, which may limit the attractiveness of or prevent us from pursuing certain initial business combination opportunities that we believe would otherwise be beneficial to us and our shareholders. As a result, the pool of potential targets with which we could complete a business combination may be limited and we may be adversely affected in terms of competing with other special purpose acquisition companies which do not have similar foreign ownership issues. A failure to notify CFIUS of a transaction where such notification was required or otherwise warranted based on the national security considerations presented by an investment target may expose our sponsor and/or the combined company to legal penalties, costs, and/or other adverse reputational and financial effects, thus potentially diminishing the value of the combined company. In addition, CFIUS is actively pursuing transactions that were not notified to it and may ask questions regarding, or impose restrictions or mitigation on, a business combination post-closing.
Moreover, the process of government review, whether by CFIUS or otherwise, could be lengthy and we have limited time to complete our business combination. If we cannot complete a business combination by the Termination Date (as defined below) because the transaction is still under review or because our business combination is ultimately prohibited by CFIUS or another U.S. government entity, we may be required to liquidate. If we liquidate, our public shareholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per public share or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. This will also cause you to lose the investment opportunity in a target company and the chance of realizing future gains on your investment through any price appreciation in the combined company.
Employees
We currently have four executive officers: Chinh E. Chu, Matthew Skurbe, Douglas Newton and Jason Giordano. 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.
Item 1.A.Risk Factors.
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 Annual Report, 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.
Risks Related to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted 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 blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through our initial public 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.
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Our shareholders 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 shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder 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 typically not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders 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 shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption 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 shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders owned 27.2% of our outstanding ordinary shares immediately following our initial public offering. On February 1, 2023, we held an Extension Meeting to, in part, amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we have to consummate a business combination. In connection with that vote, the holders of 35,712,662 Class A ordinary shares of the Company properly exercised their right to redeem their shares. Accordingly, our initial shareholders currently own, on an as-converted basis, approximately 76.8% of our outstanding ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial Business Combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial Business Combination, such initial business combination will be approved only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, including the founder shares. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial Business Combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial Business Combination.
In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management will rely on the availability of all of the funds from the sale of the forward purchase securities to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of the forward purchase securities does not close, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
We have entered into a forward purchase agreement with NBOKS, which provides for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units, with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and three-twentieths of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement occurred concurrently with the closing of our initial Business Combination. The proceeds from this sale of forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial Business Combination, expenses in connection with our initial Business Combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company. The forward purchase agreement contained customary closing conditions, the fulfillment of which is a condition for NBOKS to purchase the forward purchase securities, including that our initial business combination must be consummated substantially concurrently with, and immediately following, the purchase of forward purchase securities. The forward purchase agreement also allows NBOKS to be excused from its purchase obligation in connection with a specific business combination if NBOKS does not have sufficient committed capital allocated to the forward purchase agreement to fulfill its funding obligations under such forward purchase agreement in respect of such Business Combination.
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The ability of our public shareholders to redeem 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 that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. While we have entered into a forward purchase agreement with NBOKS, which provides for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial Business Combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption and after taking into account the availability of the $200.0 million forward purchase agreement we have entered into with NBOKS. At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial Business Combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption and after taking into account the availability of the forward purchase agreement we have entered into with NBOKS.
We may not be able to complete our initial Business Combination by the Termination Date (as defined below), 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 by the date by which we are required to consummate a business combination pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Termination Date”). 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. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to impact markets and business operations both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial Business Combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. 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 10 business days thereafter, redeem 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial Business Combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the Trust Account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per public share, or less than $10.00 per public share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “- If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption 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.
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 funds in 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 our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption 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. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to
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the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption 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 funds in 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 our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by the Termination Date 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, in particular 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 shareholders.
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 by the Termination Date. 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 time frame described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and other events, and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” The COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious
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diseases), including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or public warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder 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 shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public 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, 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 public shares or public warrants in such transactions.
In the event that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. 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 shareholder approval of the Business Combination, (ii) 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 or (iii) 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. 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 ordinary shares or public warrants 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.
If a shareholder 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 redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem 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 redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.
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 shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholders properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination by the Termination Date and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination by the Termination Date, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder 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.
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The NYSE 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 cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, share price and distribution levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, our units will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination, and, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with NYSE initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, in order for our Class A ordinary shares to be listed upon the consummation of our initial business combination, at such time, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our global market capitalization would be required to be at least $200,000,000, the aggregate market value of publicly-held shares would be required to be at least $100,000,000 and we would be required to have at least 400 round lot holders. 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 our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-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 ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares 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.” Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered 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.
You are not entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Because we had net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the completion of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and filed a Current Report on Form 8-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 are not afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public 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.
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If we seek shareholder 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 shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ 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. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% 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 do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We have encountered, and expect to continue 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 special purpose acquisition 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 local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for Business Combination targets has increased compared to recent years and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing Business Combinations. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public 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 shareholder 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 do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
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 or file for bankruptcy protection, which could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify 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 or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges or file for bankruptcy protection, which could result in our reporting losses. For example, following an investment by one of
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our founders in Constellation Healthcare Technologies Inc. (“CHT”), CHT filed for bankruptcy protection. 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 be non-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 assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public 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 (except our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 shareholders, 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 consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to the company, and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. The underwriters of the initial public offering will not execute an agreement 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 do not 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, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders 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, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party 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 public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, 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 our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. 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 and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our 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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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 shareholders.
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 public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, 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 shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per public share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 shareholders. 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 by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
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.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination. Our public shareholders will not have the right to appoint directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of
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directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, including in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and holders of a majority of our Class B ordinary shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders 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 that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders 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.
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.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. 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, director 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.
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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. In addition, pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor, upon and following the consummation of our initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
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.
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 business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’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 shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition 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 acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Certain of our officers and directors have or will have direct and indirect economic interests in us and/or our sponsor after the consummation of our initial public offering and such interests may potentially conflict with those of our public shareholders as we evaluate and decide whether to recommend a potential business combination to our public shareholders.
Certain of our officers and directors may own membership interests in our sponsor and indirect interests in our Class B ordinary shares and private placement warrants which may result in interests that differ from the economic interests of the investors in our initial public offering, which includes making a determination of whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. There may be a potential conflict of interest between our officers and directors that hold membership interests in our sponsor and our public shareholders that may not be resolved in favor of our public shareholders.
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.
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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.
Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, including other blank check companies, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following our initial Business Combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties.
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 another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity (including any business combination opportunity) offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
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 or directors 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 or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Management — Conflicts of Interest.” In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. 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. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, 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 shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
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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 our initial public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders currently own 15,062,500 Class B ordinary shares. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 10,050,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($10,050,000 in the aggregate), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination by the Termination Date, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. 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 the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the Termination Date nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, 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.
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 investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and 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. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on
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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 shareholders 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 business 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 shareholders 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 Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders 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 our control of the target business.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions 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 Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption 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 redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption 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, special purpose acquisition 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 memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete an initial Business Combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a Business Combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of Business Combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial Business Combination 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 memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company, and amending our warrant agreement in a manner that would adversely impact the registered holders of public warrants will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the Private Placement Warrants, 50% of the then outstanding Private Placement Warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial Business Combination by
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the Termination Date. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered in the Initial Public Offering, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our initial public offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of not less than 65% of our ordinary shares; provided that the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. Our initial shareholders, who collectively beneficially own 76.8% of our ordinary shares following the Extension Meeting, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
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 memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination by the Termination Date, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our shareholders 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 shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Because we must furnish our shareholders 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 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.
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Risks Associated With Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
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, 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; |
| ● | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
| ● | 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; |
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| ● | corruption; |
| ● | protection of intellectual property; |
| ● | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances and wars; |
| ● | regime changes and political upheaval; 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 initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Relating to our Securities
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 with the SEC; |
| ● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| ● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to. |
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 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 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. Our initial public 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 either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would
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affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination by the Termination Date; or (iii) absent an initial business combination by the Termination Date, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders 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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
If we do not consummate our initial business combination by the Termination Date, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such the Termination Date before redemption from our trust account.
If we do not consummate our initial business combination by the Termination Date, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond the Termination Date 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, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders 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. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of approximately $18,000 and imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares 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 except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares 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 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are
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redeemed. 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 Annual Report, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete 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 in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). 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, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold. 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 applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. 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 shall 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 Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our initial public offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. 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 Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants 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 ordinary shares.
Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares and the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. Pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, we will use our reasonable best efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination a registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the forward purchase shares and the forward purchase warrants (and underlying Class A ordinary shares), (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective promptly thereafter but in no event later than 60 days after the initial filing, (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (A) the date on which NBOKS or its assignees cease to hold the securities covered thereby, and (B) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act and (iv) after such registration statement is declared effective, cause us to conduct firm commitment underwritten offerings, subject to certain limitations. In addition, the forward purchase agreement provides for certain “piggy-back” registration rights to the holders of forward purchase securities to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. 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 ordinary shares. 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
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our securities that is expected when the securities owned by our initial shareholders, holders of our private placement warrants or their respective permitted transferees are registered for resale.
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.
We may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector, except that we will not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no 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 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 shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. 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 our initial public offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition 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 Annual Report 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 shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. As of the date of this Report, there are 495,462,662 and 34,937,500 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants and any forward purchase warrants, shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares or any forward purchase shares. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, as described herein. There are no preference shares outstanding.
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We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redeeming the warrants or upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the time we have to consummate a business combination by the Termination Date. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
| ● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our initial public offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| ● | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| ● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may, 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; |
| ● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| ● | may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, on a one-for-one basis. However, if additional Class A ordinary shares or any other equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of our initial public offering plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination (including the forward purchase shares, but not the forward purchase warrants), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor upon conversion of working capital loans, provided that such conversion of Class B ordinary shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. This is different than some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
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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 do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may only receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, 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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Law, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder 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 shareholders or warrant holder to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holder may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
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After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore, investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
Following the initial Business Combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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 shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, 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 is payable on demand; |
| ● | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
| ● | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| ● | 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 ordinary shares 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 or prevailing interest rates; 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 seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
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To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial shareholders own 76.8% of our outstanding ordinary shares following the Extension Meeting. Accordingly, they exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our initial shareholders purchase any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint 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 general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome following our initial business combination. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, including in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and holders of a majority of our Class B ordinary shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. As a result, holders of Class A ordinary shares will not have the right to appoint any directors until after the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert substantial control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
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 Class A ordinary shares 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 warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this Annual Report, or defective provision (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required 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 and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. 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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
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 the outstanding public 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 ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (including adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ and Forward Purchase Warrants — Anti-Dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met. 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. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. 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, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (including adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ and Forward Purchase Warrants — Anti-Dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met, including that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
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None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us as (except as set forth under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Shareholders’ and Forward Purchase Warrants — Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.
The forward purchase warrants will be redeemable on the same terms as the warrants offered as part of the units being sold in our initial public offering. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us on such terms so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 8,050,000 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered in our initial public offering and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 10,050,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. We may also issue up to 3,000,000 forward purchase warrants pursuant to the forward purchase agreement. In addition, our sponsor may convert up to $2,500,000 of its working capital loans into up to an additional 2,500,000 warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redemption of warrants as described in “Description of Securities - Warrants - Public Shareholders’ and Forward Purchase Warrants - Redemption of Warrants for Class A Ordinary Shares.” To the extent we issue ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares 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 outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares 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.
Because each unit contains one-fifth of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-fifth of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-fifth of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if a unit included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
General Risk Factors
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the Staff of the SEC issued a public statement (the “SEC Staff Statement”) entitled Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs’). This SEC Staff Statement highlighted the complex nature of warrants issued in connection with a SPAC’s formation and initial registered offering and the potential accounting implications of certain terms that may be common in warrants included in SPAC transactions to determine if any errors exist in previously-filed financial statements. With this new public statement, we determined that a fresh evaluation of the accounting for the warrants was necessary, and we are now of the view that our warrants should have been accounted for as a liability, recorded at fair value at the date of issuance and marked to market at each balance sheet date.
On our balance sheets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 contained elsewhere in this Annual Report are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statement of operations. As a result of the recurring fair
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value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material.
Past performance of our founders and the other members of our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us, and we may be unable to provide positive returns to shareholders.
Information regarding our founders and the other members of our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance of our founders and the other members of our management team and the businesses with which they have been associated, including related to acquisitions and shareholder returns, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our founders or the other members of our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us, including whether we can provide an attractive return to our shareholders, or as indicative of every prior investment by each of our founders and the other members of our management team. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are 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, or key-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.
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the U.S. courts against our directors or officers.
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Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a U.S. company.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors, advance notice procedures, inability of shareholders to call a general meeting, removal of directors only for cause (other than by holders of our Class B ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination) and only by the board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares are entitled to vote on the appointment of directors, which 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 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.
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Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, the NYSE may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Only holders of our founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the NYSE may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| ● | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of the NYSE; |
| ● | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
| ● | we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
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 U.S. securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with U.S. 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.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in any such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government 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 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 a non-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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We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
Our management concluded that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $399,123 in our operating bank account and working capital deficit of approximately $23,000. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, suspending the pursuit of a Business Combination. Further, our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination by the Termination Date, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution as well as the Company’s working capital deficit, among other factors, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern through our liquidation date. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this annual report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate a Business Combination or our inability to continue as a going concern.
The SEC has recently issued proposed rules to regulate special purpose acquisition companies. Certain of the procedures that we, a potential business combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with such proposals may increase our costs and the time needed to complete an initial business combination and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules (the “SPAC Proposed Rules”) that would, among other items, impose additional disclosure requirements in initial public offerings by special purpose acquisition companies and business combination transactions involving special purpose acquisition companies and private operating companies; amend the financial statement requirements applicable to business combination transactions involving such companies; update and expand guidance regarding the general use of projections in SEC filings, as well as when projections are disclosed in connection with proposed business combination transactions; increase the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and impact the extent to which special purpose acquisition companies could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act. These rules, if adopted, whether in the form proposed or in revised form, may materially adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto.
If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we may be forced to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead be required to liquidate. To mitigate the risk of that result, we have instructed Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company to liquidate the securities held in the trust account and instead hold all funds in the trust account in cash in an interest-bearing demand deposit account until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation.
As a result, following such change, we will likely receive minimal interest on the funds held in the trust account, which would reduce the dollar amount that our public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or our liquidation. As indicated above, we completed our initial public offering in February 2021 and have operated as a blank check company searching for a target business with which to consummate an initial business combination since such time. The SPAC Proposed Rules relate, among other matters, to the circumstances in which special purpose acquisition companies such as us could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act. The SPAC Proposed Rules would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a special purpose acquisition company satisfies certain criteria. To comply with the duration limitation of the proposed safe harbor, a special purpose acquisition company would have a limited time period to announce and complete a de-SPAC transaction. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Proposed Rules would require a company to file a report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for an initial business combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of the registration statement for its initial public offering. The company
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would then be required to complete its initial business combination no later than the Termination Date. We understand that the SEC has recently been taking informal positions regarding the Investment Company Act consistent with the SPAC Proposed Rules.
There is currently uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a special purpose acquisition company, including a company like ours, that does not complete its initial business combination within the proposed time frame set forth in the proposed safe harbor rule. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company. If we were deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we might be forced to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead be required to liquidate. If we are required to liquidate, our investors would not be able to realize the benefits of owning shares in a successor operating business, including the potential appreciation in the value of our shares and warrants or rights following such a transaction, and our warrants would expire worthless.
The funds in the trust account have, since our initial public offering and until the 36-month anniversary of the consummation of our initial public offering, have been held only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. To mitigate the risk of us being deemed to have been operating as an unregistered investment company (including under the subjective test of Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act), prior to the 24-month anniversary of the consummation of our initial public offering, we instructed Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the trustee with respect to the trust account, to liquidate the U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds held in the trust account and have maintained the funds in the trust account in cash in an interest-bearing demand deposit account at a bank until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation. Interest on such deposit account is currently 3.35% per annum, but such deposit account carries a variable rate and we cannot assure you that such rate will not decrease or increase significantly. Following such liquidation, we would likely receive minimal interest on the funds held in the trust account. However, interest previously earned on the funds held in the trust account still may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any. As a result, any decision to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and thereafter to hold all funds in the trust account in cash in an interest-bearing demand deposit account would reduce the dollar amount our public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation. Were we to liquidate, our warrants would expire worthless, and our securityholders would lose the investment opportunity associated with an investment in the combined company, including any potential price appreciation of our securities.
Recent increases in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Recent increases in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere may lead to increased price volatility for publicly traded securities, including ours, and may lead to other national, regional and international economic disruptions, any of which could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Item 1.B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 200 Park Avenue, 58th Floor, New York, New York 10166. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $20,000 per month fee we will pay to an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us or any of our officers or directors in their corporate capacity.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
None.
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PART II.
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
(a)Market Information
Our Units began trading on the NYSE on February 3, 2021. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-fifth of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share. Holders of the Units could elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants included in the Units commencing on March 29, 2021. Any Units not separated continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PRPC.U.” Any underlying Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants that were separated trade on the NYSE under the symbols “PRPC” and “PRPC.WS,” respectively.
(b)Holders
As of March 23, 2023, there was approximately one holder of record of our Units, approximately one holder of record of our separately traded Class A ordinary shares, and approximately two holders of record of our redeemable warrants.
(c)Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares 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. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial Business Combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d)Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
(e)Performance Graph
The performance graph has been omitted as permitted under rules applicable to smaller reporting companies.
(f)Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Unregistered Sales
In August 2020, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 22,250,000 founder shares in exchange for a payment of $25,000 from our sponsor to cover for certain expenses on behalf of us, or approximately $0.001 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash the sponsor paid for the founder shares by the number of founder shares issued. On January 13, 2021, our sponsor irrevocably surrendered to the Company for cancellation and for nil consideration 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares resulting in 15,062,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. On January 14, 2021, June 24, 2021 and April 29, 2022, respectively, the Sponsor transferred 40,000 Founder Shares to each of Keith W. Abell, J. Joel Hackney, Jr. and Matthew Mannelly, the independent directors for approximately $0.001 per share.
On February 5, 2021, the Sponsor purchased 10,050,000 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($10,050,000 in the aggregate), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering. This issuance was 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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Use of Proceeds
On February 5, 2021, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 40,250,000 Units, which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 5,250,000. The Units sold in the Initial Public Offering were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating total gross proceeds of $402,500,000. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Evercore Group LLC acted as joint book-running managers for the Initial Public Offering and Rothschild & Co US LLC, Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc., Nomura Securities International, Inc., Natixis Securities Americas LLC, Loop Capital Markets LLC and Academy Securities, Inc. acted as co-managers for the Initial Public Offering. The securities in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-252104). The registration statement became effective on February 2, 2021.
In connection with the Initial Public Offering, we incurred offering costs of approximately $22.8 million (including approximately $14.1 million in deferred underwriting commissions). Other incurred offering costs consisted principally preparation fees related to the Initial Public Offering. After deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion, which amount will be payable upon consummation of the Initial Business Combination, if consummated) and the Initial Public Offering expenses, $402.5 million of the net proceeds from our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants (or $10.00 per Unit sold in the Initial Public Offering) was placed in the Trust Account. The net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants are held in the Trust Account and invested as described elsewhere in this Annual Report.
On February 1, 2023, we held an Extension Meeting to, in part, amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we have to consummate a business combination. In connection with that vote, the holders of 35,712,662 Class A ordinary shares of the Company properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $362,840,646.
There has been no material change in the planned use of the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as is described in the Company’s final Annual Report related to the Initial Public Offering.
Item 6. [Reserved]
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to the “Company,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factor Summary,” “Item 1.A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other SEC filings.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on July 24, 2020. We were formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination
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with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). We are an emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
Our sponsor is CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for our Initial Public Offering was declared effective on February 2, 2021. On February 5, 2021, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 40,250,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), including 5,250,000 additional Units to cover the underwriters’ over-allotment (the “Over-Allotment Units”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $402.5 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $22.7 million, of which approximately $14.1 million was for deferred underwriting commissions (Note 5).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 10,050,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $10.1 million (Note 4).
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $402.5 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and will be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by us, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of its Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. Our initial Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in Trust). However, we 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 business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
If we are unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination 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 a per-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 us to pay its income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and its board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Recent Developments
On February 1, 2023, we held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Extension Meeting”) for the purpose of approving an amendment to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we must complete a business combination from February 5, 2023, to May 5, 2023 (the “Extended Date”), and to allow us, without another shareholder vote, to elect to further extend the date to consummate a business combination up to nine times by an additional month each time after the Extended Date, for a total of up to nine months, to February 5, 2024, by resolution of our board of directors, if requested by the Sponsor (the “Extension”). The shareholders’ also approved to eliminate from our Memorandum and Articles of Association the limitation that we may not redeem public shares to the extent that such redemption would result in having net tangible assets (as determined in accordance with Rule 3a51-1(g)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) of less than $5,000,001.
In addition, our Sponsor agreed that if the Extension is approved, the Sponsor or one or more of its affiliates, members or third-party designees will contribute to us as a loan, within five business days of the date of the Extension Meeting, in the amount of $360,000,
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to be deposited into the trust account established in connection with our initial public offering. In addition, in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination by the Extended Date, the Lender may contribute to us $120,000 as a loan to be deposited into the Trust Account for each of nine one-month extensions following the Extended Date.
Accordingly, on February 1, 2023, we issued an unsecured promissory note in the total principal amount of up to $2,040,000 (the “Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor. The Sponsor funded the initial principal amount of $560,000 on February 6, 2023. The Promissory Note does not bear interest and matures upon closing of our initial business combination. In the event that we do not consummate a business combination, the Promissory Note will be repaid only from amounts remaining outside of the Trust Account, if any. The proceeds of the Promissory Note will be deposited in the Trust Account. At the election of the payee, up to $1,500,000 of the total principal amount of the Promissory Note may be converted, in whole or in part, at the option of the lender into warrants of us at a price of $1.00 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the private placement warrants issued to the Sponsor at the time of the initial public offering of the Company.
In connection with the Extension, the holders of 35,712,662 Class A ordinary shares, representing approximately 89% of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $362.8 million in cash. Subsequent to the redemption, 4,537,338 of our Class A ordinary shares remained outstanding.
Additional Disclosure
In May 2020, CC Capital SP, LP and NBOKS founded CC Neuberger Principal Holdings II (“CCN II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. CCN II completed its initial public offering in August 2020, in which it sold 82,800,000 units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share of CCN II and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share of CCN II, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $828 million. On December 9, 2021, CCN II entered into a definitive business combination agreement with affiliates of Getty Images and on July 22, 2022, CCN II and Getty Images Holdings, Inc., formerly known as Vector Holding, LLC (“New CCNB”), consummated the transactions contemplated by that definitive business combination agreement. At the closing of the business combination, NBOKS, pursuant to its backstop facility agreement with CCN II, subscribed for 30,000,000 shares of New CCNB Class A common shares, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and aggregate purchase price of $300,000,000. As a result, as of July 22, 2022, there is no available capital under the backstop facility agreement in which NBOKS had committed capital to all special purpose acquisition companies sponsored by CC Capital Partners, LLC and NBOKS, including us.
Results of Operations
Our entire activity from inception through December 31, 2022 related to our formation, the preparation for the Initial Public Offering, and since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial Business Combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income. 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. Additionally, we recognize non-cash gains and losses within other income (expense) related to changes in recurring fair value measurement of our warrant liabilities, forward purchase agreement and working capital loan at each reporting period.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net income of approximately $34.1 million, which consisted of approximately $1.5 million in general and administrative costs, which was more than offset by $29.6 million gain from changes in fair value of derivative financial instruments and approximately $5.9 million in unrealized gains earned on investments held in the Trust Account.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of approximately $9.8 million, which consisted of approximately $7.7 million change in fair value of derivative financial instruments, approximately $1.4 million in general and administrative costs and financing costs attributable to the warrant liabilities of approximately $736,000, which was partially offset by approximately $108,000 in net gain earned on investments held in the Trust Account.
Going Concern
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $399,000 in our operating bank account, and working capital deficit of approximately $23,000. We will use these funds to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective
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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.
Our liquidity needs prior to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering were satisfied through the payment of $25,000 from the Sponsor to purchase Founder Shares (see Note 4), and a loan from the Sponsor of approximately $181,000 under the Note (see Note 4). The Company repaid the Note in full on June 8, 2021. Subsequent from the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, our liquidity has been satisfied through the net proceeds from the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement held outside of the Trust Account. 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 our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us Working Capital Loans (as defined in Note 4) as may be required. On May 20, 2021, the Company issued a Working Capital Loan in the principal amount of $1,000,000 to the Sponsor (see Note 4).
We cannot provide any assurance that new financing along the lines detailed above will be available to us on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. Further, we have until the Termination Date to consummate a Business Combination, but we cannot provide assurance that we will be able to consummate a Business Combination by that date. If a Business Combination is not consummated by the required date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 205-40, “Basis of Presentation - Going Concern,” we have determined that the working capital deficit and mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of the Business Combination or the date we are required to liquidate. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern. We intend to complete our initial Business Combination before the mandatory liquidation date; however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to consummate any Business Combination by the Termination Date. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities should we be required to liquidate after the Termination Date, nor do these financial statements include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern.
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on our financial position, results of our operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Contractual Obligations
Related Party Loans
On August 14, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for the payment of costs related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Note was non-interest bearing, unsecured and due upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. As of February 5, 2021, we borrowed approximately $181,000 under the Note. The loan balance was repaid in full on June 8, 2021.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination or for general operating purposes, 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 may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of 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. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $2.5 million 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 Placement Warrants. 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. On May 20, 2021, the Company issued a Working Capital Loan in the principal amount of $1,000,000 to the Sponsor. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, $1.0 million and $1.0 million, respectively,
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was drawn on the working capital loan, presented at its fair value of approximately $72,000 and $1.9 million, respectively, on the accompanying balance sheets.
Administrative Support Agreement
We agreed, commencing on the effective date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of our consummation of a Business Combination or its liquidation, to reimburse an affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services.
We incurred approximately $240,000 and $219,000 in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $459,000 and $219,000 was included in Due to related party on the accompanying balance sheets at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Forward Purchase Agreement
In connection with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor entered into the Forward Purchase Agreement with Neuberger Berman Opportunistic Capital Solutions Master Fund LP (“NBOKS”), a member of the Sponsor, which provided for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units (the “Forward Purchase Units”), with each Unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share (the “Forward Purchase Shares”) and three-twentieths of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share (the “Forward Purchase Warrants”) at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, for a purchase price of $10.00 per Forward Purchase Unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of the initial Business Combination. The obligations under the Forward Purchase Agreement will not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by the Public Shareholders.
Registration and Shareholder 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 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) were entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement entered into upon the closing date of the Initial Public 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 the completion of the initial Business Combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
We granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the prospectus of the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 5,250,000 additional Units at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. On February 5, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised their over-allotment option.
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or approximately $8.1 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, the underwriters were entitled to a deferred underwriting commission of $0.35 per unit, or approximately $14.1 million in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Deferred Legal Fees
We entered into an engagement letter to obtain legal advisory services, pursuant to which our legal counsel agreed to defer their fees until the closing of the initial Business Combination. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recorded an aggregate of approximately $577,000 and $459,000, respectively, in connection with such arrangement as non-current accounts payable and accrued expenses in the accompanying balance sheets.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
This management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to fair value of financial instruments and accrued expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.We determined the Working Capital Loan and Derivative Liabilities to be critical accounting estimates. The Company has identified the following as its critical accounting policies and estimates:
Working Capital Loan
We have elected the fair value option to account for our Working Capital Loan with our Sponsor. As a result of applying the fair value option of the conversion feature, we record each draw at fair value with a gain or loss recognized at issuance, and subsequent changes in fair value are recorded as change in the fair value of Working Capital Loan on the statement of operations. The fair value of the conversion feature is based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect management’s and, if applicable, an independent third-party valuation firm’s own assumption about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability.
Derivative Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” and ASC 815-15, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The warrants issued in the Initial Public Offering, Private Placement Warrants, as well as the Forward Purchase Agreement are recognized as derivative assets and liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40.
For equity-linked contracts that are classified as assets or liabilities, we record the fair value of the equity-linked contracts at each balance sheet date and record the change in the statements of operations as a (gain) loss on change in fair value of derivative liabilities. Our public warrants are valued using a binomial lattice pricing model. Our Private Placement Warrants are valued using a binomial lattice pricing model when the warrants are subject to the make-whole table, or otherwise are valued using a Black-Scholes pricing model. Our Forward Purchase Agreement is valued utilizing observable market prices for public shares and warrants, relative to the present value of contractual cash proceeds, each adjusted for the probability of executing a successful business combination. The assumptions used in preparing these models include estimates such as volatility, contractual terms, discount rates, dividend rate, expiration dates and risk-free rates.
The estimates used to calculate the fair value of our derivative assets and liabilities change at each balance sheet date based on our stock price and other assumptions described above. If our assumptions change or we experience significant volatility in our stock price or interest rates, the fair value calculated from one balance sheet period to the next could be materially different.
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
We account for our Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC 480. Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class ordinary shares that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events.
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Accordingly, as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, 40,250,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.
Immediately upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount. The change in the carrying value of redeemable shares of Class A ordinary shares resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital and accumulated deficit.
Net loss per ordinary shares
We have two classes of shares: Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net income (loss) per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the periods. We have not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of 18,100,000, of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share, since their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the year ended December 31, 2021. As no Class A ordinary shares or warrants were issued or outstanding as of December 31, 2020, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the year ended December 31, 2020. Accretion associated with the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Our management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act and are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We elected 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 for non-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 of non-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.
Item 7.A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
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Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This information appears following Item 16 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 8.A. Other Information.
None.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9.A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the year ended December 31, 2022, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer have concluded that during the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2022
We previously identified a material weakness in 2021 related to our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex financial instruments that was not effectively designed or maintained. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We designed and implemented new controls to remediate the control. We have expanded and improved our processes to ensure that the nuances of such transactions were effectively evaluated in the context of increasingly complex accounting standards. Based on the actions taken, as well as the evaluation of the design of the new controls, we concluded that the controls were operating effectively as of June 30, 2022. As a result, management concluded that the material weakness was remediated as of June 30, 2022.
Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our consolidated financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(1)pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company,
(2)provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and
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(3)provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our consolidated financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that our internal controls over financial reporting were effective as of December 31, 2022.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of internal controls from our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2022 covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting except for the below:
Item 9.B. Other Information.
None.
Item 9.C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.
Not applicable.
PART III.
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officer and Corporate Governance.
Our executive officers and directors are as follows:
Name |
| Age |
| Title |
|
Chinh E. Chu | | 56 | | Chief Executive Officer and Director | |
Matthew Skurbe | | 49 | | Chief Financial Officer | |
Jason K. Giordano | | 44 | | Executive Vice President, Corporate Development | |
Douglas Newton | | 44 | | Executive Vice President, Corporate Development | |
Charles Kantor | | 53 | | Director | |
Keith W. Abell | | 65 | | Director | |
J. Joel Hackney, Jr. | | 53 | | Director | |
Matthew Mannelly | | 65 | | Director | |
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Chinh E. Chu, 56, has been our Chief Executive Officer and Director since August 2020. Mr. Chu has over 25 years of investment and acquisition experience. Mr. Chu served as the Chief Executive Officer and Director of CCN II (NYSE: PRPB), a blank check company co-founded by CC Capital and formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, from May 2020 until the consummation of the business combination with Getty Images, to form Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GETY) in July 2022. Mr. Chu also served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of CCN I (NYSE: PCPL) from August 2020 until the consummation of the business combination with E2open, to form E2open Parent Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ETWO) in February 2021. Mr. Chu served as the Vice Chairman of Collier Creek Holdings (NYSE: CCH), a blank check company co-founded by him and formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. On August 28, 2020, Collier Creek consummated the acquisition of Utz Brands Holdings, LLC, the parent of Utz Quality Foods, LLC, a leading manufacturer of branded salty snacks, to form Utz Brands (NYSE: UTZ). In 2016, Mr. Chu co-founded CF Corporation for substantially similar purposes as our company. CF Corporation sold 69.0 million units in its initial public offering, generating gross proceeds of $690.0 million. On November 30, 2017, CF Corporation consummated the acquisition of Fidelity & Guaranty Life, a provider of annuities and life insurance products, for approximately $1.835 billion plus the assumption of $405 million of existing debt, and related transactions. In connection with the FGL business combination, the name of the company was changed from “CF Corporation” to “FGL Holdings” (NYSE: FG). Mr. Chu served as Co-Executive Chairman of FGL Holdings. Mr. Chu is also the Founder and the Senior Managing Partner of CC Capital, a private investment firm which he founded in November 2015. As Senior Managing Director of CC Capital, Mr. Chu led the effort to take Dun & Bradstreet private in a $7.2 billion deal that closed in February 2019. Before founding CC Capital, Mr. Chu worked at Blackstone from 1990 to December 2015, where Mr. Chu led numerous investments across multiple sectors, including technology, financial services, chemicals, specialty pharma and healthcare products, and packaging. Mr. Chu was a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone from 2000 until his departure in December 2015, where he served, at various points, as a member of Blackstone’s Executive Committee, the Co-Chair of Blackstone’s Private Equity Executive Committee and as a member of Blackstone Capital Partners’ Investment Committee. Before joining Blackstone in 1990, Mr. Chu worked at Salomon Brothers in the Mergers & Acquisitions Department. In addition to Mr. Chu’s role as Co-Executive Chairman of FGL Holdings, he has served on the boards of directors of NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) and Stearns Mortgage since 2015, Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DNB) since 2019, and E2open Parent Holdings Inc. and Getty Images Holdings, Inc. since 2020. Mr. Chu previously served on the board of directors of AVINTIV from 2011 to 2012, BankUnited Inc. from 2009 to 2014, Kronos Incorporated from 2014 to 2015, Biomet, Inc. from July 2007 to September 2007 and from 2013 to 2015, Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd. from 2011 to 2015, HealthMarkets, Inc. from 2006 to 2016 and CCN I from 2020 to 2021. Mr. Chu also previously served on the board of directors of Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., AlliedBarton Security Services, Celanese Corporation, DJO Global, Inc., Graham Packaging, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, Nalco Company, Nycomed, Stiefel Laboratories and SunGard Data Systems, Inc. Mr. Chu received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Buffalo.
We believe Mr. Chu’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include: his substantial experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and strategic business planning; his track record at CC Capital and Blackstone and in advising and managing multi-national companies; and his experience serving as a director for various public and private companies.
Matthew Skurbe, 49, has been our Chief Financial Officer since August 2020. Mr. Skurbe joined CC Capital as its Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Senior Managing Director in July 2020. Mr. Skurbe served as the Chief Financial Officer of CCN II (NYSE: PRPB) from July 2020 through July 2022, resigning that position in conjunction with the consummation of its business combination with Getty Images in July 2022 (NYSE: GETY). Mr. Skurbe served as Chief Financial Officer for CCN I (NYSE: PCPL) from August 2020 through February 2021, resigning that position in conjunction with the consummation of its business combination with E2open Holdings, LLC (NYSE: ETWO). Prior to joining CC Capital, Mr. Skurbe was the Treasurer and Managing Director in Finance for Blackstone. Before joining Blackstone in 2009, Mr. Skurbe was the CFO for Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust, a multi-billion dollar bank housing several of Merrill Lynch’s consumer lending and banking businesses. Prior to that role, Mr. Skurbe spent seven years supporting Merrill Lynch’s Treasury function and had previous roles with Amerada Hess and Arthur Andersen LLP. Mr. Skurbe is also a board member of Project Sunshine and Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation. Mr. Skurbe received a BS in Accounting from Rutgers University and achieved the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) certifications.
Jason K. Giordano, 44, has been our Executive Vice President, Corporate Development since August 2020. Mr. Giordano served as the Executive Vice President, Corporate Development of CCN II (NYSE: PRPB), a blank check company co-founded by CC Capital and formed for substantially similar purposes as our company since July 2020. CCN II sold 82.8 million units in its initial public offering, generating gross proceeds of $828.0 million and completed the consummation of its business combination with Getty Images in July 2022 (NYSE: GETY). Mr. Giordano has 18 years of investment and acquisition experience across several industry sectors, including consumer products, education, packaging, chemicals and industrials, among others. From June 2018 to August 2020, Mr.
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Giordano served as the Co-Executive Chairman of Collier Creek Holdings (NYSE: CCH), a blank check company which he co-founded to pursue an acquisition, merger or similar business combination with one or more companies in the consumer goods and related sectors. On August 28, 2020, Collier Creek consummated the acquisition of Utz Brands Holdings, LLC, the parent of Utz Quality Foods, LLC, a leading manufacturer of branded salty snacks, to form Utz Brands (NYSE: UTZ). Mr. Giordano has been a Senior Managing Director at CC Capital since November 2018. Previously, Mr. Giordano was a Managing Director in the private equity group at Blackstone where he oversaw investments in the consumer, education, packaging and chemicals sectors. During his over 11 year tenure at Blackstone from August 2006 to October 2017, Mr. Giordano was involved in 12 initial and follow-on acquisitions representing over $10 billion of transaction value. Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Giordano was a private equity investment professional at Bain Capital, LP and an investment banker with Goldman, Sachs, & Co. Mr. Giordano currently serves on the board of Utz Brands, Inc. He previously served on the board of directors of Collier Creek Holdings from October 2018 to August 2020, Pinnacle Foods, Inc. (NYSE: PF), a U.S.-based manufacturer and marketer of branded food products, from 2007 to September 2015, Crocs, Inc. (Nasdaq: CROX), a global supplier of branded footwear, from January 2015 to October 2017, AVINTIV, a global supplier of specialty materials primarily sold to consumer goods manufacturers, from January 2011 to October 2015, Outerstuff LLC, a leading U.S. supplier of licensed children’s sports apparel, from May 2014 to October 2017, Ascend Learning, LLC, a provider of online professional training tools and educational software, from July 2017 to October 2017, and HealthMarkets, Inc., a direct-to-consumer provider of health, life, supplemental, and other insurance and related products, from February 2009 to October 2017. Mr. Giordano earned an M.B.A. with high distinction from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and an A.B. with high honors in economics from Dartmouth College.
Douglas Newton, 44, has been our Executive Vice President, Corporate Development since August 2020. Mr. Newton served as the Executive Vice President, Corporate Development (previously serving as Chief Financial Officer from May 2020 to July 2020) of CCN II (NYSE: PRPB), a blank check company co-founded by CC Capital and formed for substantially similar purposes as our company since July 2020. CCN II sold 82.8 million units in its initial public offering, generating gross proceeds of $828.0 million and completed the consummation of its business combination with Getty Images in July 2022 (NYSE: GETY). Since August 2020, Mr. Newton has served as the Executive Vice President, Corporate Development (previously serving as Chief Financial Officer from May 2020 to August 2020) of CCN I (NYSE: PCPL), a blank check company co-founded by CC Capital and formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. On February 5, 2021, CCN I announced that it had completed its business combination with E2open, a network-based provider of 100% cloud-based, end-to-end supply chain management software. Mr. Newton has more than 16 years of professional investing experience across both public and private markets. Mr. Newton joined CC Capital at its founding and was integral to CC Capital’s $7.2 billion acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet. Mr. Newton served as Chief Financial Officer of CF Corporation, the permanent capital vehicle through which CC Capital acquired Fidelity & Guaranty Life, and he played a leading role in the $2.5 billion acquisition. Before joining CC Capital, Mr. Newton was a Founding Partner at WindAcre, an investment firm that owns a concentrated, long-term portfolio of global public equities and takes a private equity approach to public equity investing. At WindAcre, Mr. Newton helped lead deep company-specific research focused primarily on assessing the quality of potential investment opportunities and their intrinsic value. Prior to that, Mr. Newton was a Senior Investment Analyst at Seneca Capital Investments, a multi-strategy hedge fund, where he focused on making long-term fundamental value investments across a company’s capital structure. Mr. Newton also served as an Analyst at DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, a private equity firm, where he focused on investments in the industrial, power and media sectors. In addition, Mr. Newton served as an Analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston’s Media & Communications Group, and at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Mr. Newton received a A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Charles Kantor, 53, has served on our board of directors since August 2020. Mr. Kantor is a Managing Director at Neuberger Berman after joining the firm in 2000. Since January 2020 and May 2020, respectively, Mr. Kantor has served on the board of directors CCN I (NYSE: PCPL) and CCN II (NYSE: PRPB), respectively, blank check companies co-founded by CC Capital and formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. On February 5, 2021, CCN I announced that it had completed its business combination with E2open, a network-based provider of 100% cloud-based, end-to-end supply chain management software. CCN II sold 82.8 million units in its initial public offering, generating gross proceeds of $828.0 million and completed the consummation of its business combination with Getty Images in July 2022 (NYSE: GETY). Mr. Kantor is the founder and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Kantor Group, which manages over $8 billion of equity and fixed income securities for institutional and high net worth investors as of December 31, 2022. Mr. Kantor leads a team of eleven investment professionals with aggregate investment experience of over 150 years and sits on the firm’s Partnership Committee as a senior leader of Neuberger Berman. Prior to joining Neuberger Berman, Mr. Kantor led Stern Stewart’s Financial Institutions division, where he advised clients on implementing EVA-based financial management systems and co-authored academic papers in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. In addition, Mr. Kantor is a regular commentator and contributor to various financial and business news media outlets. Mr. Kantor earned a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors in Economics) from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business.
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We believe Mr. Kantor’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include: his substantial experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and strategic business planning; his track record at the Kantor Group and in advising and managing multi-national companies; and his experience serving as a director for various public and private companies.
Keith W. Abell, 65, has served on our board of directors since February 2021. In 2010, Mr. Abell co-founded Sungate Properties, LLC, a real estate investment company, after managing private investments from 2007 to 2009. From 1994 to 2007, Mr. Abell was a co-founder of, and served in a variety of senior management roles at, GSC Group (and its predecessor, Greenwich Street Capital Partners, L.P.), an alternative asset manager. Prior to that, Mr. Abell was a Managing Director at Blackstone until 1994 where he, among other things, founded the firm’s first Hong Kong office. Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Abell served as a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he worked in the global finance, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions departments. Mr. Abell serves as the treasurer and as a director of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Since January 2022, Mr. Abell has been Chairman of N4XT Experiences, Inc., a live events company. Mr. Abell has formerly served as a director of numerous public and private companies and non-profit organizations.
We believe Mr. Abell’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include: his substantial experience in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and strategic business planning; his track record at GSC Group and Blackstone and in advising and managing multinational companies; and his experience serving as a director for various public and private companies.
J. Joel Hackney, Jr., 52, has served on our board of directors since May 2021. Mr. Hackney currently sits on the board of Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) and has held numerous leadership positions over the past two decades for some of the world’s most influential businesses. From 2016 to 2021, Mr. Hackney was Chairman and CEO of nThrive – a leading healthcare IT and services company. From 2013 to 2016, Mr. Hackney was CEO and Director of AVINTIV – a global specialty materials innovator serving the healthcare, personal hygiene, and industrial markets. From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Hackney was President of Avaya Cloud Solutions, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, President of Field Operations, and President of Government and Data Solutions. Prior to Avaya, Mr. Hackney spent four years in various executive positions at Nortel Networks Corporation, including President of Nortel Enterprise Solutions and Senior Vice President of Global Operations and Quality. Mr. Hackney also spent fourteen years at General Electric. He was a member of General Electric’s senior executive team, where he led various businesses and functions in both the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Hackney holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
We believe Mr. Hackney’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include: his substantial experience in corporate finance and strategic business planning; his track record at General Electric and in advising and managing multinational companies; and his experience serving as a director for various public and private companies.
Matthew Mannelly, 65, has served on our board of directors since April 2022. Mr. Mannelly currently sits on the boards of SpartanNash Company (NASDAQ: SPTN), where he has served since 2018. Mr. Mannelly was formerly the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Prestige Brands, Inc., a distributor of healthcare and household cleaning products, a position he held from 2009 to 2015. Prior to his position at Prestige Brands, Inc., Mr. Mannelly served as Chief Executive Officer of Cannondale Bicycle from 2003 to 2009. Mr. Mannelly also previously served on the boards of Performance Sports Group (NYSE: PSG) from 2013 to 2016, Collier Creek Holdings from 2018 to 2020 and Hope For Children Foundation from 2016 to 2022. Mr. Mannelly has over 35 years of experience in the consumer products industry and has held management positions at Gatorade, Nike and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Mr. Mannelly holds a B.S. degree in Economics from Boston College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
We believe Mr. Mannelly’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include: his substantial experience as a senior executive in the consumer products industry at various companies; his experience in corporate finance and strategic business planning; and his experience serving as a director for various public and private companies.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being appointed in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Keith W. Abell and J. Joel Hackney, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Charles Kantor
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and Matthew Mannelly, will expire at our second annual meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Chinh E. Chu, will expire at our third annual general meeting.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into at the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
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 persons to the offices as set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairmen of the board, chief executive officers, a president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Keith W. Abell, Matthew Mannelly and J. Joel Hackney, Jr. serve as the members of our audit committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent, subject to the exception described below. Keith W. Abell, Matthew Mannelly and J. Joel Hackney, Jr. are independent.
Keith W. Abell serves as the Chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee meets the financial literacy requirements of the NYSE, and our board of directors has determined that Keith W. Abell qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules. The primary purposes of our audit committee are to assist the board’s oversight of:
| ● | the integrity of our financial statements; |
| ● | our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; |
| ● | the qualifications, engagement, compensation, independence and performance of our independent registered public accounting firm; |
| ● | our process relating to risk management and the conduct and systems of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures; and |
| ● | the performance of our internal audit function. |
The audit committee is governed by a charter that complies with the rules of the NYSE.
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Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Keith W. Abell, J. Joel Hackney, Jr and Matthew Mannelly, with Keith W. Abell serving as chairman of the compensation committee. Keith W. Abell, J. Joel Hackney, Jr. and Matthew Mannelly are independent.
The primary purposes of our compensation committee are to assist the board in overseeing our management compensation policies and practices, including:
· | determining and approving the compensation of our executive officers; and |
· | reviewing and approving incentive compensation and equity compensation policies and programs. |
The charter also provides 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.
The compensation committee is governed by a charter that complies with the rules of the NYSE.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We have established a nominating and corporate governance committee. The members of our nominating and corporate governance are Keith W. Abell, J. Joel Hackney, Jr. and Matthew Mannelly, with Keith W. Abell serving as chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Keith W. Abell, J. Joel Hackney, Jr. and Matthew Mannelly are independent.
· | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
· | developing, recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
· | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
· | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The nominating and corporate governance committee is governed by a charter that complies with the rules of the NYSE.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct (our “Code of Ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics as an exhibit to this Annual Report. We have also posted a copy of our Code of Ethics and the charters of our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee on our website https://www.ccnbprincipal.com/ under “CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III”. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this Annual Report. You are able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.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 on Form 8-K.
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Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
· | duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
· | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
· | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
· | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
· | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
· | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
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, including Collier Creek and other entities that are affiliates of our Sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a Business Combination opportunity to such entity. 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 entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity (including any Business Combination opportunity) offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor, form, invest in or otherwise become involved with other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Any such companies, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations as of March 23, 2023 that may pose a conflict of interest with us:
Individual |
| Entity |
| Entity’s Business |
| Affiliation |
|
Chinh E. Chu | | CC Capital Holdings, LP and CC Capital SP, LP | | Private Investments | | Founder and Managing Partner | |
| | E2open Parent Holdings Inc. | | Software Company | | Director | |
| | Getty Images Holdings, Inc. | | Media and Services | | Director | |
| | Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. | | Commercial and Professional Services | | Director | |
Matthew Skurbe | | CC Capital Holdings, LP and CC Capital SP, LP | | Private Investments | | Senior Managing Director | |
Jason K. Giordano | | CC Capital Holdings, LP and CC Capital SP, LP | | Private Investments | | Senior Managing Director | |
| | Utz Brands, Inc. | | Snack Manufacturer, Marketer, and Distributor | | Director | |
Douglas Newton | | CC Capital Holdings, LP and CC Capital SP, LP | | Private Investments | | Senior Managing Director | |
| | Monica Top GP (Cayman), LLC | | Financial Services | | Co-Chairman | |
Charles Kantor | | Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC | | Investment Advisers | | Managing Director | |
Keith Abell | | National Committee on United States - China Relations | | Non-Profit Organization | | Treasurer and Director | |
| | E2open Parent Holdings Inc. | | Software Company | | Director | |
| | N4XT Experience, Inc. | | Live Events | | Chairman | |
J. Joel Hackney, Jr. | | Stericycle, Inc. | | Medical Waste Disposal | | Director | |
Matthew Mannelly | | SpartanNash Company | | Food Distributor/Grocery Retailer | | Director | |
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 initial shareholders hold founder shares and our Sponsor holds private placement warrants. Our initial shareholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsor with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after our initial public offering. Additionally, our initial shareholders 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. Our initial shareholders 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; and (ii) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, 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 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 director nominees will own ordinary shares 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.
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Upon the successful completion of our initial business combination, we will pay our Chief Financial Officer the greater of $20,000 per month and $120,000 in the aggregate for his services to us.
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 or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation (other than as outlined below) for services rendered prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. However, commencing on the date of our initial public offering, we paid $20,000 per month to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services and our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination. Additionally, pursuant to an agreement between the trustee of the Trust Account and an affiliate of our sponsor, customary management fees have been paid, and we expect to continue to be paid to affiliates of our sponsor to manage the investments in the trust account. In the future, we, upon consultation with the compensation committee of our board of directors, may decide to compensate our executive officers and other employees. Any such payments prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial Business Combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote any shares purchased during or after the offering, in favor of our initial Business Combination.
Item 11. Executive Officer and Director Compensation.
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will reimburse our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $20,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-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 by us to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, 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 their out-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, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or 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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders 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
56
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 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.
Item 12. Principal Shareholders
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of December 31, 2022 with respect to our ordinary shares held by:
| ● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding ordinary shares; |
| ● | each of our executive officers and directors; 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 our ordinary shares 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 December 31, 2022.
| | | | | | | | | |
| | Class A Ordinary Shares |
| Class B Ordinary Shares(1) |
| ||||
| | | | Approximate | | | | Approximate |
|
| | | | Percentage of Class A | | | | Percentage of Issued |
|
Name and Address of | | | | Issued and Outstanding | |
| | and Outstanding |
|
Beneficial Owner(2) |
| Beneficially Owned |
| Ordinary Shares |
| Beneficially Owned |
| Ordinary Shares |
|
CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III Sponsor LLC (our Sponsor)(3) | | — | | — | | 14,942,500 | | 27.0 | % |
Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. (4) | | 3,531,850 | | 8.77 | % | — | | — |
|
Glazer Capital, LLC(5) | | 3,819,502 | | 9.49 | % | — | | — | |
Chinh E. Chu(6) |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| — | |
Charles Kantor(6) |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| — | |
Matthew Skurbe(6) |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| — | |
Jason K. Giordano(6) |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| — | |
Douglas Newton(6) |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| — | |
Keith Abell |
| — |
| — |
| 40,000 | * | | |
J. Joel Hackney, Jr. |
| — |
| — |
| 40,000 | * | | |
Matthew Mannelly | | — | | — | | 40,000 | * | | |
All officers and directors as a group (8 individuals) |
| — |
| — |
| 120,000 | * | | |
* | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 200 Park Avenue, 58th Floor, New York, New York 10166. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities” in our prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) (File No. 333-252104). Excludes Class A ordinary shares |
57
| issuable pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, as such shares will only be issued concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. |
| (3) | There are four managers of our sponsor’s board of managers. Each manager has one vote, and the approval of a majority is required to approve an action of our sponsor. Under the so-called “rule of three,” if voting and dispositive decisions regarding an entity’s securities are made by three or more individuals, and a voting or dispositive decision requires the approval of a majority of those individuals, then none of the individuals is deemed a beneficial owner of the entity’s securities. This is the situation with regard to our sponsor. Based upon the foregoing analysis, no individual manager of our sponsor exercises voting or dispositive control over any of the securities held by our sponsor, even those in which he directly holds a pecuniary interest. Accordingly, none of them will be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of such shares. |
| (4) | Based solely on a Schedule 13G/A filed by Aristeia Capital, L.L.C, (a) Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. is the investment manager of, and has voting and investment control with respect to the securities described herein held by, one or more private investment funds and (b) the business address of Aristeia Capital L.L.C is One Greenwich Plaza, 3rd Floor, Greenwich, CT 06830. |
| (5) | Based solely on a Schedule 13G filed by Glazer Capital, LLC, (a) Paul J. Glazer is the Managing Member of Glazer Capital LLC, and has voting and investment control with respect to the securities described herein held by certain funds and managed accounts to which Glazer Capital LLC serves as investment manager and (b) the address of the business office of Glazer Capital LLC and Paul J. Glazer is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019. |
| (6) | Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this individual as a result of his or her partnership interest in our sponsor or its affiliates. |
On February 1, 2023, we held an Extension Meeting to, in part, amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we have to consummate a business combination. In connection with that vote, the holders of 35,712,662 Class A ordinary shares of the Company properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $362,840,646. After the satisfaction of such redemptions, there were 4,537,338 Class A ordinary shares outstanding. Following such redemptions, our initial shareholders owned, on an as-converted basis, approximately 76.8% of our outstanding ordinary shares.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Founder Shares
In August 2020, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 22,250,000 founder shares in exchange for a payment of $25,000 from our sponsor to cover for certain expenses on behalf of us, or approximately $0.001 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash the sponsor paid for the founder shares by the number of founder shares issued. On January 13, 2021, our sponsor irrevocably surrendered to the Company for cancellation and for nil consideration 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares resulting in 15,062,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. On January 14, 2021, June 24, 2021 and April 29, 2022, respectively, the Sponsor transferred 40,000 Founder Shares to each of Keith W. Abell, J. Joel Hackney, Jr. and Matthew Mannelly, the independent directors for approximately $0.001 per share. The Initial Shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell, subject to certain limited exceptions, any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination and (ii) subsequent to the initial Business Combination (x) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the closing price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the Initial Shareholders with respect to any Founder Shares.
58
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 10,050,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, to the Company’s Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $10.5 million.
Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. Certain proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants were added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. Our Sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
If we do not complete an Initial Business Combination by the Termination Date or during any extension period, the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, subject to the requirements of applicable law, and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
Registration and Shareholder 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 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three 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 the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Related Party Notes
On August 11, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 to be used for the payment of costs related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Note was non-interest bearing, unsecured and due upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. As of February 5, 2021, the Company borrowed approximately $181,000 under the Note. The Company fully repaid the Note on June 8, 2021.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or 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 may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of 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. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $2.5 million 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 Placement Warrants. 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. To date, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
On February 1, 2023, the Company issued a working capital loan under an unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of up to $2,040,000 to our sponsor. The Note does not bear interest and is repayable in full upon consummation of the Company's initial business combination.
Administrative Support Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement whereby, commencing on February 5, 2021, the Company will reimburse the Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to the Company in the amount of $20,000 per month. The Company
59
incurred approximately $240,000 and $219,000 in general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and approximately $459,000 and $219,000 was included in Due to related party on the accompanying balance sheets at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Forward Purchase Arrangement
In connection with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, the Company entered into the Forward Purchase Agreement with NBOKS, a member of our Sponsor, which provides for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units, with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and three-twentieths of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial Business Combination. An affiliate of Koch Industries is an anchor investor in NBOKS. The Forward Purchase Agreement will allow NBOKS to be excused from its purchase obligation in connection with a specific Business Combination if NBOKS does not have sufficient committed capital allocated to the Forward Purchase Agreement to fulfill its funding obligations thereunder in respect of such Business Combination. Following the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and prior to an initial Business Combination, NBOKS intends to raise additional committed capital such that the condition described in the preceding sentence is met, but there can be no assurance that additional capital will be available. The obligations under the Forward Purchase Agreement will not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholder. The forward purchase securities will be issued only in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination. The proceeds from the sale of forward purchase securities may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial Business Combination, expenses in connection with our initial Business Combination or for working capital in the post-transaction company.
Backstop Facility Arrangement
The Company has entered into the Backstop Agreement, whereby NBOKS agreed to, subject to the availability of capital it has committed to all special purpose acquisition companies sponsored by CC Capital Partners, LLC and NBOKS on a first come first serve basis and the other terms and conditions included therein, at the closing of an initial business combination, subscribe for the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $0.0001 per share, to fund redemptions by shareholders of the Company in connection with such Business Combination in an amount of up to $300,000,000. The Backstop Agreement allows NBOKS to be excused from its purchase obligation thereunder in connection with such Business Combination if any direct or indirect investor in NBOKS with opt-out rights exercises such rights in connection with such Business Combination. On December 9, 2021, CCN II entered into a definitive business combination agreement with affiliates of Getty Images and on July 22, 2022, CCN II and Getty Images Holdings, Inc., formerly known as Vector Holding, LLC (“New CCNB”), consummated the transactions contemplated by that definitive business combination agreement. At the closing of the business combination, NBOKS, pursuant to its backstop facility agreement with CCN II, subscribed for 30,000,000 shares of New CCNB Class A common shares, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and aggregate purchase price of $300,000,000. As a result, as of July 22, 2022, there is no available capital under the backstop facility agreement in which NBOKS had committed capital to all special purpose acquisition companies sponsored by CC Capital Partners, LLC and NBOKS, including us.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
Fees for professional services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm for the last two fiscal years include:
| | | | | | |
| | For the Year | | For the Year | ||
| | Ended | | Ended | ||
| | December 31, | | December 31, | ||
|
| 2022 |
| 2021 | ||
Audit Fees(1) | | $ | 87,081 |
| $ | 97,850 |
Audit-Related Fees(2) | | $ | — |
| $ | — |
Tax Fees(3) | | $ | — |
| $ | — |
All Other Fees(4) | | $ | — | | $ | — |
| (1) | Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees for professional services rendered for the audit of our period-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. |
60
| (2) | Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. |
| (3) | Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. |
| (4) | All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services including permitted due diligence services related potential Business Combination. |
Policy on Board Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of the Independent Auditors
The audit committee is responsible for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of the independent auditors. In recognition of this responsibility, the audit committee shall review and, in its sole discretion, pre-approve all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors as provided under the audit committee charter.
61
PART IV.
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K: Financial Statements: See “Item 8. Index to Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” herein. |
(b) | Exhibits: The exhibits listed in the accompanying index to exhibits are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. |
No. |
| Description of Exhibit |
|
3.1(1) | | Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company. | |
3.2(2) | | Amendment to Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company. | |
4.1(1) | | | |
4.2* | | | |
10.1(1) | | | |
10.2(1) | | | |
10.3(1) | | | |
10.4(1) | | Administrative Services Agreement, dated February 5, 2021, between the Company and the Sponsor. | |
10.5(1) | | | |
10.6(1) | | | |
10.7(3) | | Backstop Facility Agreement between the Company and NBOKS, dated as of January 6, 2022. | |
10.8(4) | | | |
10.9(1) | | | |
10.10(2) | | | |
31.1* | | | |
31.2* | | | |
32.1** | | | |
32.2** | | | |
101.INS* | | XBRL Instance Document. | |
101.SCH* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document. | |
101.CAL* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document. | |
101.DEF* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document. | |
101.LAB* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document. | |
101.PRE* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document. | |
*Filed herewith.
**Furnished herewith.
62
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary.
None.
63
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| |
Date: March 23, 2023 | |
| |
| CC NEUBERGER PRINCIPAL HOLDINGS III |
| |
| /s/ Chinh E. Chu |
| By: Chinh E. Chu |
| Chief Executive Officer and Director |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| |||
| /s/ Chinh E. Chu | ||
| Name: | Chinh E. Chu | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | |
| Date: | March 23, 2023 | |
| | ||
| /s/ Matthew Skurbe | ||
| Name: | Matthew Skurbe | |
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |
| Date: | March 23, 2023 | |
| | ||
| /s/ Charles Kantor | ||
| Name: | Charles Kantor | |
| Title: | Director | |
| Date: | March 23, 2023 | |
| | ||
| /s/ Keith Abell | ||
| Name: | Keith Abell | |
| Title: | Director | |
| Date: | March 23, 2023 | |
| | ||
| /s/ J. Joel Hackney, Jr. | ||
| Name: | J. Joel Hackney, Jr. | |
| Title: | Director | |
| Date: | March 23, 2023 | |
| | ||
| /s/ Matthew Mannelly | ||
| Name: | Matthew Mannelly | |
| Title: | Director | |
| Date: | March 23, 2023 | |
64
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
|
| Page No. |
F-2 | ||
| ||
Financial Statements: | ||
| ||
| F-3 | |
| | |
Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 | | F-4 |
| | |
| F-5 | |
| | |
Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 | | F-6 |
| | |
| F-7 |
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for the years then ended, 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 December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
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, if the Company is unable to raise additional funds to alleviate liquidity needs and complete a business combination by May 5, 2023, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans regarding these matters are also described in Note 1. 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 audits. 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 audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits 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 audits, 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 audits 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 audits 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 audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2020.
New York, New York
March 23, 2023
PCAOB ID Number 100
F-2
CC NEUBERGER PRINCIPAL HOLDINGS III
BALANCE SHEETS
| | | | | | |
|
| December 31, | ||||
| | 2022 |
| 2021 | ||
Assets: | |
| | |
| |
Current assets: |
| |
|
| |
|
Cash | | $ | 399,123 | | $ | 908,154 |
Prepaid expenses | |
| 69,350 | |
| 875,001 |
Total current assets | |
| 468,473 | |
| 1,783,155 |
Cash and investments held in Trust Account | |
| 408,518,813 | |
| 402,608,157 |
Total Assets | | $ | 408,987,286 | | $ | 404,391,312 |
| | | | | | |
Liabilities and Shareholders' Deficit: | |
|
| |
|
|
Current liabilities: | |
|
| |
|
|
Accounts payable | | $ | 3,908 | | $ | 9,568 |
Accrued expenses | |
| 28,691 | |
| 211,866 |
Due to related party | |
| 459,286 | |
| 219,286 |
Total current liabilities | |
| 491,885 | |
| 440,720 |
Non-current accounts payable and accrued expenses | |
| 576,939 | |
| 459,275 |
Working capital loan | |
| 72,000 | |
| 1,877,000 |
Deferred underwriting commissions | |
| 14,087,500 | |
| 14,087,500 |
Derivative liabilities | |
| 1,444,000 | |
| 29,265,000 |
Total liabilities | |
| 16,672,324 | |
| 46,129,495 |
| | | | | | |
Commitments and Contingencies | |
|
| |
|
|
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 40,250,000 shares subject to possible redemption at $10.15 and $10.00 per share at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively | |
| 408,418,813 | |
| 402,500,000 |
| | | | | | |
Shareholders' Deficit: | |
|
| |
|
|
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively | |
| — | |
| — |
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized | |
| — | |
| — |
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 15,062,500 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively | |
| 1,506 | |
| 1,506 |
Additional paid-in capital | |
| — | |
| — |
Accumulated deficit | |
| (16,105,357) | |
| (44,239,689) |
Total shareholders' deficit | |
| (16,103,851) | |
| (44,238,183) |
Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Deficit | | $ | 408,987,286 | | $ | 404,391,312 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
CC NEUBERGER PRINCIPAL HOLDINGS III
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| | | | | | |
| | For The Year Ended December 31, | ||||
|
| 2022 |
| 2021 | ||
General and administrative expenses | | $ | 1,483,511 | | $ | 1,440,473 |
Loss from operations | | | (1,483,511) | | | (1,440,473) |
Other income (expense): | | |
| |
|
|
Change in fair value of derivative asset and liabilities | | | 29,626,000 | | | (7,695,000) |
Financing costs | | | — | | | (736,170) |
Interest income and unrealized gain on investments held in Trust Account |
| | 5,910,656 |
| | 108,157 |
Total other income (expense) |
| | 35,536,656 |
| | (8,323,013) |
Net income (loss) | | $ | 34,053,145 | | $ | (9,763,486) |
| | | | | | |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding of Class A ordinary shares | |
| 40,250,000 | |
| 36,390,411 |
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share | | $ | 0.62 | | $ | (0.19) |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding of Class B ordinary shares | |
| 15,062,500 | |
| 14,936,644 |
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share | | $ | 0.62 | | $ | (0.19) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
CC NEUBERGER PRINCIPAL HOLDINGS III
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Ordinary Shares | | Additional | | | | | Total | ||||||||||
| | Class A | | Class B | | Paid-in | | Accumulated | | Shareholders' | |||||||||
|
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Equity (Deficit) | |||||
Balance - January 1, 2021 | | — | | $ | — | | 15,062,500 | | $ | 1,506 | | $ | 23,494 | | $ | (13,604) | | $ | 11,396 |
Accretion on Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | | — | | $ | — | | — | | $ | — | | | (23,494) | | | (34,462,599) | | | (34,486,093) |
Net loss |
| — |
| | — |
| — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (9,763,486) |
| | (9,763,486) |
Balance - December 31, 2021 |
| — | | $ | — |
| 15,062,500 | | $ | 1,506 | | $ | — | | $ | (44,239,689) | | $ | (44,238,183) |
Increase in redemption value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
| — | |
| — |
| — | |
| — | |
| — | |
| (5,918,813) | |
| (5,918,813) |
Net income |
| — | |
| — |
| — | |
| — | |
| — | |
| 34,053,145 | |
| 34,053,145 |
Balance - December 31, 2022 |
| — | | $ | — |
| 15,062,500 | | $ | 1,506 | | $ | — | | $ | (16,105,357) | | $ | (16,103,851) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
CC NEUBERGER PRINCIPAL HOLDINGS III
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| | | | | | |
| | For The Year Ended December 31, | ||||
|
| 2022 |
| 2021 | ||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | |
| | |
| |
Net income (loss) | | $ | 34,053,145 | | $ | (9,763,486) |
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: | |
| | |
| |
Change in fair value of derivative asset and liabilities | | | (29,626,000) | | | 7,695,000 |
Financing costs |
| | — |
| | 736,170 |
Interest income and unrealized gain on investments held in Trust Account |
| | (5,910,656) |
| | (108,157) |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
| |
|
| |
|
Prepaid expenses |
| | 805,651 |
| | (863,605) |
Accounts payable |
| | (5,660) |
| | 9,568 |
Accrued expenses |
| | (183,175) |
| | 101,866 |
Due to related party |
| | 240,000 |
| | 219,286 |
Non-current accounts payable and accrued expenses |
| | 117,664 |
| | 141,275 |
Net cash used in operating activities |
| | (509,031) |
| | (1,832,083) |
| | | | | | |
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: |
| |
|
| |
|
Cash deposited in Trust Account |
| | — |
| | (402,500,000) |
Net cash used in investing activities |
| | — |
| | (402,500,000) |
| | | | | | |
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
| |
|
| |
|
Repayment of note payable to related parties |
| | — |
| | (181,088) |
Proceeds from working capital loan |
| | — |
| | 1,000,000 |
Proceeds received from initial public offering, gross |
| | — |
| | 402,500,000 |
Proceeds received from private placement |
| | — |
| | 10,050,000 |
Offering costs paid |
| | — |
| | (8,128,675) |
Net cash provided by financing activities |
| | — |
| | 405,240,237 |
| | | | | | |
Net change in cash |
| | (509,031) |
| | 908,154 |
| | | | | | |
Cash - beginning of the period |
| | 908,154 |
| | — |
Cash - ending of the period | | $ | 399,123 | | $ | 908,154 |
| | | | | | |
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: | |
|
| |
|
|
Offering costs included in accrued expenses | | $ | — | | $ | 110,000 |
Offering costs paid by related party under promissory note | | $ | — | | $ | 147,913 |
Accounts payable paid by related party under promissory note | | $ | — | | $ | 33,175 |
Deferred legal fees | | $ | — | | $ | 268,832 |
Deferred underwriting commissions | | $ | — | | $ | 14,087,500 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
Note 1—Description of Organization, Business Operations and Basis of Presentation
CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands on July 24, 2020. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses that the Company has not yet selected (“Business Combination”). The Company may pursue a Business Combination in any industry or sector.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not yet commenced operations. All activity for the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2022 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”), which is described below, and, since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, a search for a business combination candidate. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s sponsor is CC Neuberger Principal Holdings III Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on February 2, 2021. On February 5, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 40,250,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), including 5,250,000 additional Units to cover the underwriters’ over-allotment (the “Over-Allotment Units”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $402.5 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $22.7 million, of which approximately $14.1 million was for deferred underwriting commissions (Note 6).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 10,050,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $10.1 million (Note 4).
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $402.5 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of its Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. The Company’s initial Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in Trust). However, 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 business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
The Company will provide its holders of the Public Shares (the “Public Shareholders”) 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 shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Business Combination (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per 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). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 6). These Public Shares will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering, in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (“ASC 480”). In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of
F-7
at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which adopted by the Company upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering (the “Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transactions is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or other 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. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the holders of the Founder Shares prior to the Initial Public Offering (the “Initial Shareholders”) agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined in Note 4) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination. In addition, the Initial Shareholders agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination. In addition, the Company agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial Business Combination without the prior consent of the Sponsor.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder 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 15% of the Class A ordinary shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, without the prior consent of the Company. The Company’s Sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees agreed not to propose an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide for the redemption of its Public Shares in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination by May 5, 2023, or up to twelve months from the original termination date of February 5, 2023 (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 10 business days thereafter, redeem 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
In connection with the redemption of 100% of the Company’s outstanding Public Shares for a portion of the funds held in the Trust Account, each holder will receive a full pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable).
The Initial Shareholders agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Initial Shareholders should acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters agreed to waive their rights to their 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 funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Company’s Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.00 per Public Share initially held in the Trust Account. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor agreed that it will 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 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,
F-8
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 the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). 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 vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and 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.
Going Concern
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had approximately $399,000 in its operating bank account and working capital deficit of approximately $23,000.
The Company’s liquidity needs prior to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering were satisfied through the payment of $25,000 from the Sponsor to purchase Founder Shares (see Note 4), and a loan from the Sponsor of approximately $181,000 under the Note (see Note 4). The Company fully repaid the Note on June 8, 2021. Subsequent to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, the Company’s liquidity has been satisfied through the net proceeds from the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement held outside of the Trust Account. 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 a Working Capital Loans (as defined in Note 4) as may be required. On May 20, 2021, the Company issued a Working Capital Loan in the principal amount of $1,000,000 to the Sponsor. See Note 4 for more details.
The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing along the lines detailed above will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. Further, the Company has until the end of the Combination Period to consummate a Business Combination, but the Company cannot provide assurance that it will be able to consummate a Business Combination by that date. If a Business Combination is not consummated by the required date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 205-40, “Basis of Presentation - Going Concern,” management has determined that the working capital deficit and mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of the Business Combination or the date the Company is required to liquidate, see Note 10 for additional information. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to complete its initial Business Combination before the mandatory liquidation date; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate any Business Combination by the end of the Combination Period. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after the end of the Combination Period, nor do these financial statements include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. 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
F-9
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 to non-emerging growth companies but any such an 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 statement with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used
Concentration of Credit Risk
The Company has significant cash balances at financial institutions which throughout the year regularly exceed the federally insured limit of $250,000. Any loss incurred or a lack of access to such funds could have a significant adverse impact on the Company's financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. As of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company did not hold any cash equivalents.
Investment Securities Held in Trust Account
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, the Company was required to place net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement in a Trust Account, which may be invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by management of the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account. Investments held in Trust Account are classified as trading securities, which are presented on the balance sheets at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of trading securities is included in investment income on Trust Account in the accompanying statements of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in Trust Account are determined using available market information, other than for investments in open-ended money market funds with published daily net asset values (“NAV”), in which case the Company uses NAV as a practical expedient to fair value. The NAV on these investments is typically held constant at $1.00 per unit. The Trust Account may also contain balances of cash as result of investment activity.
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 contingent assets and liabilities, including, but not limited to, derivative assets and liabilities, at the date of the financial statement. 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. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheets, except for derivative liabilities (see Note 9).
F-10
Fair Value Measurements
The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
| ● | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
| ● | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| ● | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
Working Capital Loan
The Company has elected the fair value option to account for its Working Capital Loan with its Sponsor as defined and more fully described in Note 4. As a result of applying the fair value option, the Company records each draw at fair value with a gain or loss recognized at issuance, and subsequent changes in the fair value of the conversion feature are recorded as change in the fair value of working capital loan on the balance sheet and change in fair value of derivative liabilities on the statement of operations. The fair value of the conversion feature is based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect management’s and, if applicable, an independent third-party valuation firm’s own assumption about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability.
The Working Capital Loan is convertible into warrants upon a successful business combination. In the event of an unsuccessful business combination, the Working Capital Loan is forgiven and expires worthless.
Non-current Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses
Non-current accounts payable and accrued expenses includes fees incurred with certain vendors where settlement or liquidation of amounts due is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
Derivative Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The warrants issued in the Initial Public Offering (the “Public Warrants”) and the Private Placement Warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities. The Company also entered into a Forward Purchase Agreement which is classified as a derivative liability. The Forward Purchase Agreement provides for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units, with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and three-twentieths of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial Business Combination. All of our outstanding warrants and the forward purchase agreement are recognized as derivative assets or liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40.
F-11
In the event of an unsuccessful business combination, the warrants will expire worthless, with no liability due and a reversal of the accumulated deficit.
For equity-linked contracts that are classified as assets or liabilities, we record the fair value of the equity-linked contracts at each balance sheet date and record the change in the statements of operations as a (gain) loss on change in fair value of derivative assets and liabilities. The public warrants were initially valued using a binomial lattice pricing model and have subsequently been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants. The Private Placement Warrants are valued using a Black-Scholes pricing model. Our Forward Purchase Agreement is valued utilizing observable market prices for public shares and warrants, relative to the present value of contractual cash proceeds, each adjusted for the probability of executing a successful business combination. The assumptions used in preparing these models include estimates such as volatility, contractual terms, discount rates, dividend rate, expiration dates and risk-free rates.
The estimates used to calculate the fair value of our derivative assets and liabilities change at each balance sheet date based on our stock price and other assumptions described above. If our assumptions change or we experience significant volatility in our stock price or interest rates, the fair value calculated from one balance sheet period to the next could be materially different.
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the Initial Public Offering that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs were allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities were expensed as incurred and presented as non-operating expenses in the statements of operations. Offering costs associated with the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares were charged against the carrying value of the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company classifies deferred underwriting commissions as non-current liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities. These offering costs are only payable in the event of a successful business combination.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with ASC 480. Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares is classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, 40,250,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity (deficit) section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Immediately upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount. The change in the carrying value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital (to the extent available) and accumulated deficit.
Income Taxes
FASB ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” 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’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties. 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.
F-12
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Net income (loss) per ordinary share
The Company has two classes of shares, Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the periods. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering and the private placement warrants to purchase an aggregate of 18,100,000 Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted income per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such warrants would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. Accretion associated with the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2022 |
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | ||||||||
| | Class A |
| Class B |
| Class A | | Class B | ||||
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share: |
| |
|
| |
| | | | | | |
Numerator: |
| |
|
| |
| | | | | | |
Allocation of net income (loss) | | $ | 24,779,916 | | $ | 9,273,229 | | $ | (6,922,222) | | $ | (2,841,264) |
Denominator: | |
|
| |
|
| | |
| | |
|
Basic and diluted weighted average ordinary shares outstanding | |
| 40,250,000 | |
| 15,062,500 | | | 36,390,411 | | | 14,936,644 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share | | $ | 0.62 | | $ | 0.62 | | $ | (0.19) | | $ | (0.19) |
Recently Accounting Standards
The Company’s management does not believe there are any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements if currently adopted would have a material effect on the Company's condensed financial statements.
Note 3—Initial Public Offering
On February 5, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 40,250,000 Units, including 5,250,000 Over-Allotment Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $402.5 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $22.7 million, of which approximately $14.1 million was for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred underwriting commissions will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-fifth of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
Note 4—Related Party Transactions
Forward Purchase Agreement
In connection with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, the Company entered into the Forward Purchase Agreement with Neuberger Berman Opportunistic Capital Solutions Master Fund LP (“NBOKS”), a member of the Sponsor, which provided for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units (the “Forward Purchase Units”), with each Unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share (the “Forward Purchase Shares”) and three-twentieths of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share (the “Forward Purchase Warrants”) at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, for a purchase price of $10.00 per Forward Purchase Unit, in a private placement
F-13
to occur concurrently with the closing of the initial Business Combination. The obligations under the Forward Purchase Agreement will not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by the Public Shareholder.
Founder Shares
On August 14, 2020, the Company issued an aggregate of 22,250,000 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor in exchange for a $25,000 payment from the Sponsor to cover for certain expenses on behalf of the Company, or approximately $0.001 per share (the “Founder Shares”). On January 13, 2021, the Sponsor irrevocably surrendered to the Company for cancellation and for nil consideration 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares resulting in 15,062,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. On January 14, 2021, June 24, 2021 and April 29, 2022, respectively, the Sponsor transferred 40,000 Founder Shares to each of Keith W. Abell, J. Joel Hackney, Jr. and Matthew Mannelly, the independent directors for approximately $0.001 per share. The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to an aggregate of 1,312,500 Founder Shares, on a pro rata basis, to the extent that the option to purchase additional units was not exercised in full by the underwriters, so that the number of Founder Shares would equal 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering plus the number of Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to any forward purchase agreement to be entered into in connection with the Initial Public Offering (the “Forward Purchase Agreement”) as described below. On February 5, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised their over-allotment option; thus, these 1,312,500 Founder Shares were no longer subject to forfeiture.
The Initial Shareholders 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 the initial Business Combination and (ii) subsequent to the initial Business Combination (x) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the closing price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the Initial Shareholders with respect to any Founder Shares.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 10,050,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $10.1 million.
Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. Certain proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
Related Party Loans
On August 14, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 to be used for the payment of costs related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to the Note. The Note was non-interest bearing, unsecured and due upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. As of February 5, 2021, the Company borrowed approximately $181,000 under the Note. The loan balance was repaid in full as of June 8, 2021.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, or for general operating purposes, 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 may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account
F-14
would be used to repay the Working Capital 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 $2.5 million 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 Placement Warrants. 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. On May 20, 2021, the Company issued a Working Capital Loan in the principal amount of $1,000,000 to the Sponsor. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, $1.0 million and $1.0 million, respectively, was drawn on the working capital loan, presented at its fair value of approximately $72,000 and $1.9 million, respectively, on the accompanying balance sheets.
Administrative Support Agreement
Commencing on the effective date of the registration statement on Form S-1 related to the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the Company’s liquidation, we reimburse the Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $20,000 per month. The Company incurred approximately $240,000 and $219,000 in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and approximately $459,000 and $219,000 was included in Due to related party on the accompanying balance sheets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Note 5—Commitments & Contingencies
Registration and Shareholder 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 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) were entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement entered into upon the closing date of the Initial Public Offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three 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 the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the prospectus of the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 5,250,000 additional Units at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. On February 5, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised their over-allotment option.
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or approximately $8.1 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, the underwriters were entitled to a deferred underwriting commission of $0.35 per unit, or approximately $14.1 million in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Deferred Legal Fees
The Company entered into an engagement letter to obtain legal advisory services, pursuant to which the Company’s legal counsel agreed to defer their fees until the closing of the initial Business Combination. As of and December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company recorded an aggregate of approximately $577,000 and $459,000, respectively, in connection with such arrangement as non-current accounts payable and accrued expenses in the accompanying balance sheets.
Note 6—Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of future events. The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holder of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. As of
F-15
December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 40,250,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares outstanding, all of which were subject to possible redemption and classified outside of permanent equity in the balance sheets.
The Class A ordinary shares issued in the Initial Public Offering were recognized in Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as recorded outside of permanent equity as follows:
| | | |
Gross Proceeds |
| $ | 402,500,000 |
Less: | |
|
|
Offering costs allocated to Class A shares subject to possible redemption | |
| (22,089,093) |
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants at issuance | |
| (12,397,000) |
Plus: | |
|
|
Accretion on Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | |
| 34,486,093 |
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as of December 31, 2021 | | | 402,500,000 |
Increase in redemption value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | | | 5,918,813 |
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as of December 31, 2022 | | $ | 408,418,813 |
Note 7 - Shareholders’ Equity
Class A Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, there were 40,250,000 and 0 Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding. All Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption have been classified as temporary equity (see Note 6).
Class B Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 15,062,500 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding, respectively.
Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint directors in any election held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our Class B ordinary shares may remove a member of our board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting.
Holders of the Company’s Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of the initial Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, on a one-for-one basis. However, if additional Class A ordinary shares or any other equity-linked securities (as defined below) are issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of the Initial Public Offering plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial Business Combination (including any Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to a Forward Purchase Agreement, but not any warrants sold pursuant to a Forward Purchase Agreement), excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, provided that such conversion of Class B ordinary shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares described herein will take effect as a redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law.
Preference Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
F-16
Note 8 - Derivative Liabilities
Warrants
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company has 8,050,000 Public Warrants and 10,050,000 Private Placement Warrants outstanding.
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Public Warrants have an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments, and will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a Public Warrant and will have no obligation to settle such Public Warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the Public Warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations described below with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No Public Warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and the Company will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a Public Warrant unless the Class A ordinary share 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.
The Company agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty business days after the closing of the Company’s initial Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants, and the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the Company’s initial Business Combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the Public Warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if the Company’s Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders 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, but the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of Warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00.
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants (except 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; and |
| ● | if, and only if, the reported closing price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those
F-17
Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption of Warrants when the price per Class A Ordinary Share equals or exceeds $10.00.
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Public Warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares based on the redemption date and the “Fair Market Value” of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares; and |
| ● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the “closing price”) of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per Public Share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
If and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
The exercise price and number of ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the Public Warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of ordinary shares 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 has not completed 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 Public 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 Placement Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private 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 Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
Forward purchase agreement
The Forward Purchase Agreement provides for the purchase of up to $200,000,000 of units, with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share (the “Forward Purchase Shares”) and three-twentieths of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share (the “Forward Purchase Warrants”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of the initial Business Combination.
F-18
Note 9.Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques that the Company utilized to determine such fair value.
December 31, 2022
| | | | | | | | | |
|
| Quoted Prices in |
| Significant Other |
| Significant Other | |||
| | Active Markets | | Observable Inputs | | Unobservable | |||
| | (Level 1) | | (Level 2) | | Inputs (Level 3) | |||
Assets: | | | | | | | | | |
Investments held in Trust Account - U.S. Treasury Securities (1) | | $ | 328,414,326 | | $ | — | | $ | — |
Liabilities: | | | | | | | | | |
Derivative warrant liabilities - Public | |
| 402,500 | |
| — | |
| — |
Derivative warrant liabilities - Private | |
| — | |
| — | |
| 502,500 |
Derivative liabilities - Forward purchase agreement | |
| — | |
| — | |
| 539,000 |
Working capital loan | |
| — | |
| — | |
| 72,000 |
December 31, 2021
| | | | | | | | | |
|
| Quoted Prices in |
| Significant Other |
| Significant Other | |||
| | Active Markets | | Observable Inputs | | Unobservable | |||
| | (Level 1) | | (Level 2) | | Inputs (Level 3) | |||
Assets: |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Investments held in Trust Account - U.S. Treasury Securities (1) | | $ | 352,476,525 | | $ | — | | $ | — |
Liabilities: | |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
Derivative warrant liabilities - Public | |
| 8,774,500 | |
| — | |
| — |
Derivative warrant liabilities - Private | |
| — | |
| — | |
| 18,793,500 |
Derivative liabilities - Forward purchase agreement | |
| — | |
| — | |
| 1,697,000 |
Working capital loan | |
| — | |
| — | |
| 1,877,000 |
| (1) | Excludes $50,714,282 and $50,004,352 of investments in an open-ended money market fund, in which the Company uses NAV as a practical expedient to fair value and $29,390,205 and $127,280 in cash as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. |
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 fair value measurement in March 2021, when the Public Warrants were separately listed and traded. There were no other transfers between levels for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Level 1 instruments include investments in money market funds and U.S. Treasury securities. The Company uses inputs such as actual trade data, benchmark yields, quoted market prices from dealers or brokers, and other similar sources to determine the fair value of its investments.
The fair value of warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement were initially measured at fair value using a binomial / lattice model for the public warrants and the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model for the private warrants. The fair value of Public Warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering have been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants, a Level 1 measurement, since March 2021. The Company’s Private Placement Warrants are valued a using Black-Scholes pricing model. The Company’s working capital loan is valued using a Monte Carlo simulation analysis on the convertible feature and a present value of the host contract. The company’s Forward Purchase Agreement is valued utilizing observable market prices for public shares and warrants, relative to the present value of contractual cash proceeds, each adjusted for the probability of executing a successful business combination. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company recognized a gain/(loss) on the statements of operations resulting from an increase in the fair value of liabilities of approximately $29.6 million and ($7.7 million), respectively, presented as change in fair value of derivative assets and liabilities on the accompanying statement of operations.
F-19
The change in the fair value of the Level 3 derivative warrant liabilities for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 is summarized as follows:
| | | | | | | | | |
|
| Derivative warrant |
| Forward |
| | | ||
| | liabilities | | purchase agreement | | Total | |||
Derivative (assets) liabilities as of December 31, 2020 | | $ | — | | $ | — | | $ | — |
Issuance of Public and Private Placement Warrants | |
| 22,447,000 | |
| — | |
| 22,447,000 |
Initial value of forward purchase agreement recognized as change in fair value of derivative assets and liabilities | |
| — | |
| 9,138,000 | |
| 9,138,000 |
Initial value recognized in additional paid-in-capital | |
| 10,150,500 | |
| — | |
| 10,150,500 |
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | |
| (4,546,500) | |
| — | |
| (4,546,500) |
Change in fair value of forward purchase agreement | |
| — | |
| (7,441,000) | |
| (7,441,000) |
Transfer of Public Warrants to Level 1 | | | (9,257,500) | | | — | | | (9,257,500) |
Derivative (assets) liabilities as of December 31, 2021 | | $ | 18,793,500 | | $ | 1,697,000 | | $ | 20,490,500 |
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | | | (18,291,000) | | | — | | | (18,291,000) |
Change in fair value of forward purchase agreement | | | — | | | (1,158,000) | | | (1,158,000) |
Derivative (assets) liabilities as of Dcember 31, 2022 | | $ | 502,500 | | $ | 539,000 | | $ | 1,041,500 |
The change in the fair value of the working capital loan measured with Level 3 inputs for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 is summarized as follows:
| | | |
Fair value of working capital loan as of December 31, 2020 |
| $ | — |
Issuance of working capital loan at May 20, 2021 | | | 1,000,000 |
Change in fair value of working capital loan | | | 877,000 |
Fair value of working capital loan as of December 31, 2021 | |
| 1,877,000 |
Change in fair value of working capital loan | |
| (1,805,000) |
Fair value of working capital loan as of December 31, 2022 | | $ | 72,000 |
The valuation methodologies for the warrants, working capital loan and forward purchase agreement included in Derivative Liabilities include certain significant unobservable inputs, resulting in such valuations to be classified as Level 3 in the fair value measurement hierarchy. The methodologies include a probability of a successful business combination. The warrant valuation models also include expected volatility, which can vary depending on where the Company stands in identifying a business combination target. The fair value of Public Warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering have been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants, a Level 1 measurement, since September 2020. For public warrants and when such warrants are not yet trading and we do not have observed pricing in public markets, we assume a volatility based on research on SPAC warrants and the implied volatilities shortly after they start trading. The volatility of the private placement warrants may vary from the volatility of the public warrants depending on the specific characteristics of the public and private placement warrants. As of December 31, 2022, we assumed a volatility based on the implied volatility of the Public Warrants issued by the Company. As of December 31, 2021 we assumed a weighted average volatility based on (a) the median volatility of the Russell 3000 constituents and (b) the implied volatility of the Public Warrants issued by the Company.
F-20
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs at their measurement dates:
| | | | | | | | |
|
| As of December 31, |
|
| As of December 31, | | ||
Private Warrants | | 2022 |
| | 2021 | | ||
Stock price | | $ | 10.10 | | | $ | 9.88 | |
Volatility | |
| 1.2 | % | | | 30.0 | % |
Expected life of the options to convert | |
| 5.1 | | | | 5.3 | |
Risk-free rate | |
| 4.0 | % | | | 1.3 | % |
Dividend yield | |
| 0.0 | % | | | 0.0 | % |
| | | | | | | | |
|
| As of December 31, |
| | As of December 31, | | ||
Forward Purchase Agreements | | 2022 |
| | 2021 | | ||
Stock price | | $ | 10.10 | | | $ | 9.88 | |
Probability of merger closing | |
| 7.5 | % | | | 80.0 | % |
Discount term | |
| 0.25 | | | | 0.75 | |
Risk-free rate | |
| 4.0 | % | | | 0.3 | % |
| | | | | | | | |
|
| As of December 31, |
|
| As of December 31, | | ||
Working Capital Loan | | 2022 |
| | 2021 | | ||
Stock price | | $ | 10.10 | | | $ | 9.88 | |
Volatility | |
| 1.2 | % | | | 30.0 | % |
Expected life of the options to convert | |
| 5.0 | | | | 5.0 | |
Risk-free rate | |
| 4.0 | % | | | 1.3 | % |
Dividend yield | |
| 0.0 | % | | | 0.0 | % |
Probability of merger closing | |
| 7.5 | % | | | 80.0 | % |
Note 10 - Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred up to the date financial statements were available to be issued. Based upon this review, the Company determined that except as disclosed below there have been no events that have occurred that would require adjustments to the disclosures in the financial statements.
On February 1, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Extension Meeting”) for the purpose of approving an amendment to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which the Company must complete a business combination from February 5, 2023, to May 5, 2023 (the “Extended Date”), and to allow the Company, without another shareholder vote, to elect to further extend the date to consummate a business combination up to nine times by an additional month each time after the Extended Date, for a total of up to nine months, to February 5, 2024, by resolution of the Company’s board of directors, if requested by the Sponsor (the “Extension”). The shareholders’ also approved to eliminate from the Company's Memorandum and Articles of Association the limitation that the Company may not redeem public shares to the extent that such redemption would result in the Company having net tangible assets (as determined in accordance with Rule 3a51-1(g)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) of less than $5,000,001. The Extension and corresponding amendments to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association did not impact or change any aspect of the forward purchase agreement the Company has entered into with NBOKS.
In addition, the Company’s Sponsor agreed that as part of the Extension approval, the Sponsor or one or more of its affiliates, members or third-party designees, would contribute to the Company as a loan, within five business days of the date of the Extension Meeting, $360,000, to be deposited into the trust account established in connection with the Company’s initial public offering. In addition, in the event the Company does not consummate an initial business combination by the Extended Date, the Lender may contribute to the Company $120,000 as a loan to be deposited into the Trust Account for each of nine one-month extensions following the Extended Date.
F-21
Accordingly, on February 1, 2023, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note in the total principal amount of up to $2,040,000 (the “Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor. The Sponsor funded the initial principal amount of $560,000 on February 6, 2023. The Promissory Note does not bear interest and matures upon closing of the Company’s initial business combination. In the event that the Company does not consummate a business combination, the Promissory Note will be repaid only from amounts remaining outside of the Trust Account, if any. At the election of the payee, up to $1,500,000 of the total principal amount of the Promissory Note may be converted, in whole or in part, at the option of the lender into warrants of the Company at a price of $1.00 per warrant, which warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to the Sponsor at the time of the initial public offering of the Company.
In connection with the Extension, the holders of 35,712,662 Class A ordinary shares, representing approximately 89% of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $362.8 million in cash. Subsequent to the redemption, 4,537,338 of our Class A ordinary shares remained outstanding. The respective Trust proceeds were placed in an interest bearing depository account at Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. to mitigate the risk of the Company being deemed to have been operating as an unregistered investment company (including under the subjective test of Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act). The Company made this decision given our understanding that the SEC has recently been taking informal positions regarding the Investment Company Act consistent with the SPAC Proposed Rules. As of the date of the financial statements were available to be issued, this depository account was earning a 3.35% interest rate, subject to change periodically. This depository account is subject to the federally insured limit of up to $250,000. Additionally, subsequent to the redemption and as of the date the financial statements were available to be issued, the Company continued to meet the minimum requirements to remain listed on the NYSE.
F-22
