EXPLANATORY NOTE
References throughout this Amendment No. 1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to “we,” “us,” the “Company” or “our company” are to Motive Capital Corp, unless the context otherwise indicates.
This Amendment No. 1 (“Amendment No. 1”) on Form 10-Q/A amends the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Motive Capital Corp as of and for the period ended September 30, 2021, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on November 9, 2021 (the “Original Filing”).
On November 9, 2021, the Company filed its Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ending September 30, 2021 (the “Q3 Form 10-Q”), which included a section within Note 2, entitled “Revision of Previously Issued Financial Statements,” (“Note 2”) that describes a revision to the Company’s classification of its Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption issued as part of the units sold in the Company’s initial public offering (“IPO”) on December 15, 2020. As described in Note 2, upon its IPO, the Company classified a portion of the Class A ordinary shares as permanent equity to maintain net tangible assets greater than $5,000,000 on the basis that the Company will consummate its initial business combination only if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001. The Company’s management re-evaluated the conclusion and determined that the Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption included certain provisions that require classification of the Class A ordinary shares as temporary equity regardless of the minimum net tangible assets required to complete the Company’s initial business combination. As a result, management corrected the error by reclassifying all Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption as temporary equity. This resulted in an adjustment to the initial carrying value of the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption with the offset recorded to additional paid-in capital (to the extent available), accumulated deficit and Class A ordinary shares.
In connection with the change in presentation for the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, the Company revised its earnings per share calculation to allocate income and losses shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. This presentation differs from the previously presented method of earnings per share, which was similar to the two-class method.
The Company determined the changes were not qualitatively material to the Company’s previously issued financial statements and did not restate its financial statements. Instead, the Company revised its previously issued financial statements in Note 2 to its Q3 Form 10-Q. Although the qualitative factors that management assessed tended to support a conclusion that the misstatements were not material, these factors were not strong enough to overcome the significant quantitative errors in the financial statements. The qualitative and quantitative factors support a conclusion that the misstatements are material on a quantitative basis. Management concluded that the misstatement was of such magnitude that it is probable that the judgment of a reasonable person relying upon the financial statements would have been influenced by the inclusion or correction of the foregoing items. As such, upon further consideration of the change, the Company determined the change in classification of the Class A ordinary shares and change to its presentation of earnings per share is quantitatively material and it should restate its previously issued financial statements.
Therefore, on November 22, 2021, the Company’s management and the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors (the “Audit Committee”) concluded that the Company’s previously issued (i) audited balance sheet as of December 15, 2020 (the “Post IPO Balance Sheet”), as previously revised in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on June 2, 2021 (“2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1”); (ii) audited financial statements included in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1; (iii) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on June 7, 2021; (iv) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on August 13, 2021, and (v) Note 2 to the unaudited interim financial statements and Item 4 of Part 1 included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on November 9, 2021 (collectively, the “Affected Periods”), should be restated to report all Class A ordinary shares as temporary equity and restate earnings per share and should no longer be relied upon.
As such, on December 15, 2021 the Company filed a Form 10-K/A Amendment No. 2 to restate the Post IPO Balance Sheet and the Company's audited financial statements included in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1 and the Company is filing amended Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q/A for each of the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and September 30, 2021, to restate the unaudited interim financial statements of the Company for the periods ended March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and September 30, 2021.
The restatement does not have an impact on the Company’s cash position and cash held in the trust account established in connection with the IPO (the “Trust Account”).
The Company’s management has concluded that a material weakness remains in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective. The Company’s remediation plan with respect to such material weakness is described in more detail in Item 4 of Part I to this Amendment No. 1.