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, 2021
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 Number 001-39982
Novus Capital Corporation II
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
Delaware | | 85-3230987 |
(State or other jurisdiction of | | (I.R.S. Employer |
| | |
8556 Oakmont Lane | | 46260 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (317) 590-6959
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class |
| Trading |
| Name of each exchange on |
Units, each consisting of one share of common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant | | NXU.U | | New York Stock Exchange |
Class A common stock par value $0.0001 per share | | NXU | | New York Stock Exchange |
Redeemable warrants, exercisable for shares of common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share | | NXU.WS | | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
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 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 if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☒
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 definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:
| Large accelerated filer ☐ | Accelerated filer ☐ |
| Non-accelerated filer ☒ | Small reporting company ☒ |
| | Emerging growth company ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by the 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. YES ☐ NO ☐
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. YES ☐ NO ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES ☒ NO ☐
The Registrant’s units began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 4, 2021 and the Registrant's shares of common stock began separate trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 29, 2021. The aggregate market value of the Registrant’s shares of common stock outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the Registrant, at December 31, 2021, was $284,625,000.
As of February 10, 2022, 28,750,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 7,187,500 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, were issued and outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This annual report includes, and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may include, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (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. Such statements include, but are not limited to, possible business combinations and the financing thereof, and related matters, as well as all other statements other than statements of historical fact included in this annual report. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings. Forward-looking statements in this annual report may include, for example, statements about:
| ● | our ability to complete our initial business combination and related PIPE financing; |
| ● | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
| ● | 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, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements; |
| ● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| ● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition 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. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this annual report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
i
PART I
References in this annual report to “we,” “us,” “Novus,” “company” or “our company” are to Novus Capital Corporation II, a Delaware corporation. References to “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors. References to our “initial stockholders” are to the holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering (“IPO”), including members of our management and/or their affiliates that purchased founder shares (collectively, our “sponsors”) and NCCII Co-Invest LLC (“Cowen Investments” and , together with our sponsors, the “founders”).
Item 1. Business.
Introduction
We are a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses, which we refer to throughout this annual report as our initial business combination. Based on our business activities, the Company is a “shell company” as defined under the Exchange Act because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
Our executive offices are located at 8556 Oakmont Lane, Indianapolis, IN 46260 and our telephone number is (317) 590-6959. Our corporate website address is novuscapitalcorporationII.com. 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 should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.
We are an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
Company History
Novus was incorporated in Delaware on September 29, 2020 and is a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (the “business combination”).
In October 2020, we issued an aggregate of 7,187,500 shares (the “founder shares”) of our Class B common stock, for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to our initial stockholders.
A registration statement for the IPO was declared effective by the Securities Exchange Commission (the ”SEC”) on February 2, 2021. On February 8, 2021, we consummated the IPO of 28,750,000 units , with each unit consisting of one-third of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant (the “units,” the shares of Class A common stock included in the units, the “public shares” and the warrants included in the units, the “public warrants”). Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of Novus’s initial business combination, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. The units in our IPO were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating total gross proceeds of $287.5 million.
Simultaneously with the consummation of our IPO, we consummated a private placement in which we issued an aggregate of 7,187,500 shares of Novus Class B common stock (the “founder shares”) to our initial stockholders, generating total gross proceeds of approximately $25,000. In addition, the founders and/or their designees purchased from us an aggregate of 5,166,666 private warrants (4,816,666 private warrants by the initial stockholders and/or their designees and 350,000 private warrants by Cowen Investments) at a price of $1.50 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $7.75 million in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our IPO.
Following the closing of the IPO on February 8, 2021, an amount of $287,500,000 ($10.00 per unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in the IPO and the sale of the private warrants was placed in a trust account (the “trust account”) located in the United States, and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination or (ii) the distribution of the trust account to the Company’s stockholders, except that interest earned on the trust account may be released to the Company to pay its tax obligations.
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Transaction costs amounted to $6,224,714 consisting of $5,750,000 of underwriting fees and $474,714 of other offering costs. In addition, as of December 31, 2021, cash of $396,295 was held outside of the trust account and is available for working capital purposes.
Our activities since February 3, 2021, have consisted of the search and evaluation of potential targets in contemplation of a business combination. All activity for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through February 3, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the IPO, which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a business combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the IPO.
Proposed Business Combination
On September 8, 2021, Novus, NCCII Merger Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Novus incorporated in the State of Delaware (“Merger Sub”), and Energy Vault, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Energy Vault”), have entered into a Business Combination Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the “Business Combination Agreement”) pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into Energy Vault, with Energy Vault surviving the merger and becoming a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of Novus (collectively with the other transactions described in the Business Combination Agreement, the “Business Combination”). Energy Vault develops sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions designed to advance the transition to a carbon free, resilient power grid. Energy Vault’s mission is to accelerate the decarbonization of our economy through the development of sustainable and economical energy storage technologies. To achieve this, Energy Vault has designed the EVx and the Energy Vault Resiliency Center (EVRC) platforms, advanced gravity energy storage solutions that are intended to minimize environmental and supply chain risks and do not have the geological constraints of some of the energy storage technologies on the market today.
At the closing of the Business Combination, each of the then issued and outstanding shares of Energy Vault common stock (including each share of Energy Vault preferred stock that will be converted into shares of Energy Vault common stock immediately prior to such closing) will be cancelled and automatically convert into the right to receive the number of shares of Novus common stock equal to the exchange ratio (determined in accordance with the Business Combination Agreement and as further described herein). Based on the anticipated exchange ratio of 6.7892, Novus will issue 106,566,033 shares of Novus common stock to the stockholders of Energy Vault plus up to an additional 8,251,906 shares of Novus common stock that may be issuable pursuant to outstanding Energy Vault options and restricted stock units. The exchange ratio is equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) 100,000,000 by (ii) the number of shares of Energy Vault common stock outstanding on a fully diluted basis (excluding the outstanding shares of Energy Vault Series C preferred stock for purposes of calculating the exchange ratio). The 106,566,033 shares of Novus common stock have a value of approximately $1.07 billion based on a price of $10.00, the per share amount held in Novus’s Trust Account on January 4, 2022, the record date for the special meeting of the stockholders of Novus or approximately $1.06 billion based on the closing sale price of the Novus common stock of $9.96 on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) on January 4, 2022. If all of the additional 8,251,906 shares Novus common stock described above are issued, such shares would have a value (after reduction for the aggregate exercise price of the Energy Vault options) of approximately $76.0 million based on a price of $10.00, the per share amount held in Novus’s trust account on January 4, 2022, the record date for the special meeting of the stockholders, or approximately $75.7 million based on the closing sale price of the Novus common stock of $9.96 on the NYSE on January 4, 2022. In addition, the holders of Energy Vault common stock (including each share of Energy Vault preferred stock that will be converted into shares of Energy Vault common stock immediately prior to such closing) and holders of Energy Vault equity awards immediately prior to such closing are eligible to receive up to 9,000,000 additional shares of Novus common stock upon the achievement of certain earn out targets.
Upon completion of the Business Combination, it is anticipated that Energy Vault’s stockholders will own approximately 68.0% of the total outstanding common stock of the combined company, assuming that none of the Public Stockholders exercise their redemption rights and that no Earn Out Shares are issued. On September 8, 2021, in December 2021 and in January 2022, Novus executed subscription agreements with certain investors for the sale of an aggregate of 20,000,005 shares of Novus Class A common stock at a purchase price of $10.00 per share for gross aggregate proceeds of approximately $200.0 million (the “PIPE”). The closing of the sale of the PIPE will occur concurrently with the consummation of the Business Combination.
Current Business
We are a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses.
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Following is a description of our business activities as a blank check company:
Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination
The NYSE rules require that an 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, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount). We refer to tis as the 80% net assets test. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial 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 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 by us is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
Lack of business diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business.
By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. 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:
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.
Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is highly unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the post-business combination company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
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Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Stockholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination
We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.
| ||
|
| Whether Stockholder |
Type of Transaction |
| Approval is |
Purchase of assets |
| No |
| | |
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company |
| No |
| | |
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company |
| No |
| | |
Merger of the company with a target |
| Yes |
Under the NYSE’s listing rules, stockholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities
In the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our founders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of securities such persons may purchase. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our founders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non- public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. We will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to (1) refrain from purchasing securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (2) clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.
In the event that our founders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, (2) 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 (3) 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 transactions may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our founders, officers, directors, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our founders, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders (in the case of public shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our founders, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination. Such persons would select the stockholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Our founders, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
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Any purchases by our founders, officers, directors and/or any of their respective affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will be restricted unless such purchases are made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our founders, officers, directors and/or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of common stock if such purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.
Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At completion of the business combination, we will be required to purchase any public shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Manner of conducting redemptions
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either: (1) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (2) by means of a tender offer. Except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20.0% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons.
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we and our officers and directors will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If
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public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any stockholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our NYSE listing or Exchange Act registration.
In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial stockholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions. Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for 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 shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek stockholder approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our founders or their affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other
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undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our founders or their affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the public shares, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a stockholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or two business days prior to the scheduled date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable (unless we elect to allow additional withdrawal rights). Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
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If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination by February 8, 2023 or during any Extension Period.
Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only until February 8, 2023 to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such period or during any Extension Period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares and held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period. However, if our initial stockholders or any of our officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates then hold any public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame to complete our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the estimated $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of funds held outside of the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account and any tax payments or expenses for the dissolution of the trust, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. The proceeds held in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Please see “Risk Factors — 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors described above. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
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Although we have sought and will continue to seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than 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 stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. 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 we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, V Donargo LLC, an entity controlled by Vincent Donargo, our Chief Financial Officer, 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 discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the IPO 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, V Donargo LLC will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether V Donargo LLC has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that its only assets are stock of our company. Therefore, V Donargo LLC may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked V Donargo LLC to reserve for such obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that it 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.
In the event that the proceeds held in the trust account are reduced below: (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and V Donargo LLC asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against V Donargo LLC to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against V Donargo LLC to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in certain instances. For example, the cost of such legal action may be deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or the independent directors may determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per public share. Please see “Risk Factors — 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors described above.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that V Donargo LLC will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than 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 monies held in the trust account. V Donargo LLC will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to funds held outside of the trust account, which were $396,295 as of December 31, 2021 with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.
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Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.
Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we have not completed our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or during any Extension Period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the end of our acquisition period and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent ten years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than 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.
As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, V Donargo LLC may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below: (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, V Donargo LLC will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to
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addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. Please see “Risk Factors — If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.”
A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination and then, only in connection with those public shares that such stockholder has properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations set forth in the warrant agreement and described in this annual report; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2021 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination by February 8, 2023, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with our initial business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. Holders of warrants will not have any rights of proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants.
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre- initial business combination activity, we will provide public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to waive any redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with any such amendment. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:
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These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock.
Additionally, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B common stock have the right to vote on the election of directors and that holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting.
Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders.
Competition
We encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire.
Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the proceeds held in the trust account 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. Our initial stockholders or any of their affiliates may make additional investments in us, although our they have no obligation or other duty to do so. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and completing an initial business combination.
Employees
We currently have two officers and do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Members of our management team 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 that any such person will devote in any time period to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
Emerging Growth Company Status
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
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In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) of 2026, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Item 1A. 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 securities. 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.
In addition to the risks and uncertainties set forth below, we face certain material risks and uncertainties related to the business combination with Energy Vault. In addition, if we succeed in effecting the proposed business combination, we will face additional and different risks and uncertainties related to the business of Energy Vault. Such material risks will be set forth in the Registration Statement on Form S-4, as amended, and the proxy statement/prospectus that we filed with the SEC in connection with the meeting to be called to approve the proposed business combination.
Risks Relating to Business Operations, Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
We are a newly incorporated 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 newly incorporated company with no operating results. To date, our only activities have been related to our formation and the IPO and the search and evaluation of potential targets in contemplation of a business combination. 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 with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
As of December 31, 2021, we had $396,295 in cash held outside of the trust account and a working capital of $317,788. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our finance and acquisition plans. The Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination and the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2021 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. We cannot assure you that we will consummate an initial business combination or that we will have sufficient cash available to allow us to complete our initial business combination.
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We identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2021 and as of March 31, 2021. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
In connection with Novus’ IPO, Novus accounted for a portion of the proceeds received from the offering of redeemable common stock as stockholders’ equity. Novus’ management identified this error made in its historical financial statements and performed a quantitative assessment under SAB 99, concluding a restatement was required of Novus’ financial statements to classify such amount as Class A common stock subject to possible redemption and a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting relating to the accounting for complex financial instruments as of March 31, 2021.
Novus also reported a material weakness in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 as management determined our internal control over financial reporting did not result in the proper accounting for complex financial instruments, in that the classification of the private placement warrants and public warrants we issued in February 2021 were recorded as equity and not liabilities.
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 and corrected on a timely basis.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material weakness. These remediation measures may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the NYSE rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our outstanding public shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see “Proposed Business — Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 10,781,251, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or 1,796,876, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 28,750,000 public shares to be voted in favor of a transaction, in order to have such initial business combination approved. We expect that our initial stockholders and their
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permitted transferees will own at least 20.0% of our outstanding shares of common stock at the time of any such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of such business combination.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Additionally, since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential 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 stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
The ability of our public stockholders 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. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. In no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target). Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public stockholders 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.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, we will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is 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. 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 stockholders 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 stock.
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 increases. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock 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 stock in the open market.
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame 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 stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2023. 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 end of the timeframe 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.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2023. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. 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 COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the pandemic 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. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 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. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic 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. It 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 have not completed our initial business combination within such time period or during any Extension Period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than $10.00 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. Please 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our founders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into certain transactions, including purchasing shares or warrants from the public, which may influence the outcome of our proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our founders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants or a combination thereof 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 or other duty to do so.
Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such public stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our
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founders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling public stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our founders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. Please see “Proposed Business — Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities” for a description of how such persons will determine from which stockholders to enter into transactions with. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, (2) 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 (3) 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 transactions may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy 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 tender or redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer or proxy materials documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. Please see “Proposed Business — Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights.”
Our public stockholders do not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate their investment, therefore, public stockholders may be forced to sell their public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination by February 8, 2023, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if we have not completed an initial business combination within the required time period for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond the end of such period before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in or to 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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If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate at until February 8, 2023, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate at least until February 8, 2023, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans.
Our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses. Any such event in the future may negatively impact the analysis regarding our ability to continue as a going concern at such time.
We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate at least until February 8, 2023; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a prospective target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may 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. Please 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
If our cash not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our founders or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain such loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
As of December 31, 2021, we had $396,295 available to us outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our initial stockholders, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our initial stockholders, members of our management team nor any of their respective affiliates is under any obligation or other duty to loan funds to, or invest in, us in such circumstances. Any such loans may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. Please 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to subsequently take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and 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 that may be present 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 that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may 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 stockholders or warrant holders who choose
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to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement entered in connection with the IPO or at or after the time of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their founder shares after those shares convert to shares of our Class A common stock. In addition, (1) our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants and (2) holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to complete. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities described above are registered for resale.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating target businesses in a particular industry, sector or geographic area 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 seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry, sector or geographic area. However, we are not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, 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 stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in acquisition targets that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
Although we expect to focus our search for a target business that is at the forefront of high technology and are enabling the future evolution of smart technologies, such as 5G communication, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, spatial computing, cloud analytics, machine learning, hardware and software distribution, value added customized logistics services, sustainable smart city systems and AgTech. We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if such business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors relevant to such acquisition. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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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 have all of these positive attributes, including satisfying ESG considerations. 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 stockholders 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 stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may 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 may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel.
Many participants in the industries in which we intend to focus our search for target businesses are early stage companies. To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. 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 are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm regarding fairness. Consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsors, officers or directors, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may 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.
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Please 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or 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 departure 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. As a result, we may need to reconstitute the management team of the post-transaction company in connection with our initial business combination, which may adversely impact our ability to complete an acquisition in a timely manner or at all.
Since our initial stockholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to any public shares they may hold), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
In October 2020, our initial stockholders purchased an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares for a capital contribution of $25,000. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20.0% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon the completion of the IPO (not including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants). The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination.
In addition, our initial stockholders purchased an aggregate of 5,166,666 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $7,750,000, or $1.50 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination.
The personal and financial interests of our 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 deadline for completing our initial business combination nears.
Cowen and Company, LLC may have a conflict of interest in rendering services to us in connection with our initial business combination.
Pursuant to a Business Combination Marketing Agreement, we engaged Cowen and Company, LLC to provide certain specified services to us in connection with our initial business combination, though such services will not include the provision of any M&A-related advisory services We will pay Cowen and Company, LLC the Marketing Fee for such services upon the consummation of our initial business combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the IPO (or $10,062,500). In the ordinary course of business, Cowen and Company, LLC and its affiliates may at any time hold long or short positions, and may trade or otherwise effect transactions, for its own account and the accounts of customers, in the debt or equity securities of us, our affiliates or other entities that may be involved in the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Marketing Agreement, and may provide advisory and other services to one or more actual or potential business combination targets, investors or other parties to any business combination or other transaction entered into by us, for which services Cowen and Company, LLC or one or more of its affiliates may be paid fees, including fees conditioned upon the closing of a particular business combination or other transaction or
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transactions. This financial interest may result in Cowen and Company, LLC having a conflict of interest when providing the services to us in connection with an initial business combination. See “Underwriting — Business Combination Marketing Agreement.”
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this 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 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:
| ● | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of held in the trust account 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 materially negatively impact our operations and profitability.
We had $277,453,323 (assuming no redemptions by the public stockholders), after payment of the Marketing Fee of $10,062,500 in the trust account as of December 31, 2021, that we may use to complete our initial business combination.
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 risks. 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
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complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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 acquisition 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 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 likely will not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own or acquire shares will own less than 100% of the outstanding 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 or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target, or issue a substantial number of new shares to third parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In such cases, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction would likely own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock 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 stockholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial
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business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder 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 founders, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock 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 shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments, including our warrant agreement, in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our stockholders or warrant holders may not support.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, 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. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
Although we believe that the proceeds held in the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the proceeds held in the trust account prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. None of our initial stockholders or its affiliates are obligated to provide, or seek, any such financing or, except as expressly set forth herein, to provide any other services to us. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may 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.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as
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economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
Over the past year, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed. The premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity will likely need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
Our initial stockholders control the election of our board of directors until consummation of our initial business combination and will hold a substantial interest in us. As a result, they will elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial stockholders own 20.0% of our outstanding common stock. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of our board of directors for any reason. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over the election of directors prior to our initial business combination.
Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than in connection with the PIPE, 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 common stock. In addition, as a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on other actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their influence over these actions. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will exert significant influence over actions requiring a stockholder vote. Please see “Proposed Business — Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities.”
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or
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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 financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
If our management team pursues a 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 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 our management team pursues 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 market, 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:
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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 combination or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with U.S. 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, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers of the post-business combination company, and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination could 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.
Risks Relating to Our Management
Past performance by members of our management team and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, members of our management team and their respective affiliates, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance, including related to acquisitions, of members of our management team and their respective affiliates, is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s or their affiliates’ performance, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward.
Our officers and directors 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 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 responsibilities. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our business combination. Each of our officers and directors is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers and directors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and/or board members for other entities. If our 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. Please see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers” for a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals. 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. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be 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 or advisory positions following our initial business combination, we do not currently expect that any of them will do so. 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
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to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure 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. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may cause our key personnel to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination. However, we do not expect that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination.
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. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination, as we do not expect that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity or other transaction should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsors and officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business. We do not have employment contracts with our officers and directors that will limit their ability to work at other businesses.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business, including other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to our company. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate 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 our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. 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.
Please see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers,” “Management — Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and potential conflicts of interest.
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Our 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, 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 one or more of our sponsors, directors or officers. We do not 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.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our initial stockholders, officers or directors which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our initial stockholders, officers and directors, and their affiliates with other businesses, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with or competitive with our initial stockholders, officers and directors, and their respective affiliates. Our directors also serve as officers and/or board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management — Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business — Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from 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 sponsors, 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 stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Moreover, we may, at our option, pursue an affiliated joint acquisition opportunity with an initial stockholder or one of their affiliates or with other entities to which an officer or director has a fiduciary, contractual or other obligation or duty. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a future issuance of securities to any such parties, which may give rise to certain conflicts of interest.
Risks Relating to Our Securities
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.
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on the NYSE. Although we currently meet the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, 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, distribution and stock price levels. In general, we must maintain a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public stockholders).
Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, in order for our Class A common stock to be listed upon the consummation of our initial business combination, at such time, our stock 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.
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If the NYSE delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units have been approved for listing on the NYSE and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A common stock and warrants will qualify as covered securities under such statute. 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 such statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of the public shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of the public shares.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent.
However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions.
Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. 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 stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their stock, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to
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various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we have and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the proceeds held in the trust account, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. Our initial stockholders or any of their affiliates may make additional investments in us, although our initial stockholders and their affiliates have no obligation or other duty to do so. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and completing an initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may 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. Please 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our holding of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us.
Although we have sought and will continue to seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than 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 stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue. 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 we are 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 have not completed 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 stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.
V Donargo, an entity controlled by Vincent Donargo, our Chief Financial Officer, 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 discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below: (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the IPO 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, V Donargo LLC will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether V Donargo LLC has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that its only assets are stock of our company. V Donargo may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked V Donargo LLC to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such 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
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connection with any redemption of your public shares. Except as set forth above, none of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our independent directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of V Donargo LLC, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds held in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of: (1) $10.00 per public share; or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and V Donargo LLC 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 V Donargo LLC to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against V Donargo LLC to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in certain instances. For example, the cost of such legal action may be deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or the independent directors may determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $10,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith by paying public stockholders 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 stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our public stockholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.
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Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following February 8, 2023 of the (or the end of any Extension Period) in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we do not intend to comply with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, consultants, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
We likely will not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination and you will not be entitled to any of the corporate protections provided by such a meeting.
We likely will not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination (unless required by the NYSE) and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL. Until we hold an annual meeting of stockholders, public stockholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management. In addition, prior to our business combination (a) as holders of our Class A common stock, our public stockholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of our directors and (b) holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock may remove a member of our board of directors for any reason.
Our warrants are accounted for as a warrant liability and are recorded at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in our statement of operations, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Following the consummation of the IPO and the concurrent private placement of private placement warrants on February 8 2021, we have 14,749,999 warrants outstanding (comprised of the 9,583,333 warrants included in the units and the 5,166,666 private placement warrants). We recorded the warrant liability at fair value upon issuance as determined by us based upon a valuation report obtained from our third-party valuation firm. The warrant liability is adjusted for the changes in fair value each period with a charge or credit recognized in our statement of operations. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings, which may be material, may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. In addition, potential targets may seek a business combination partner that does
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not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
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 warrants could be converted into cash or stock, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that (a) 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, or defective provision or (ii) 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 and (b) all other modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or working capital warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants or working capital warrants, at least 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants or working capital warrants, respectively. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant if, among other things, the last reported sales price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the public 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: (1) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (3) 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 outstanding public warrants commencing ninety days after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants for cash or on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of Class A common stock determined by reference to the table set forth under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants” based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below) except as otherwise described in “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” 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 shares received is capped at 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees.
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Our public warrants, founder shares and private placement warrants (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 9,583,333 shares of our Class A common stock as part of the units sold in the IPO and, simultaneously with the closing of the IPO and an aggregate of 5,166,666 i private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Our initial stockholders currently hold 7,187,500 founder shares. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our founders, affiliates of our founders or certain of our officers and directors make any working capital loans, up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate our initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants or conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our public warrants, founder shares and private placement warrants (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Further, unlike the warrants offered by many other blank check companies, whose warrants become exercisable on the later of (i) 30 days following their initial business combination and (ii) twelve months after the date their initial public offering, our warrants become exercisable 30 days after an initial business combination, even if that date is less than twelve months after our initial public offering. The possibility that our warrants may become exercisable more quickly than the warrants of other blank check companies may make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle in the eyes of a target business relative to other blank check companies and may cause our warrants to have a greater or more immediate adverse effect on the market price for our securities or our ability to obtain future financing. In addition, as our warrants may become exercisable sooner, you may experience dilution to your holdings sooner.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity- linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial stockholders or their affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “newly issued price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the newly issued price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the newly issued price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
As a result of such material weakness, the change in accounting for the warrants, and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this annual report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.
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General Risks
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:
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 total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business is 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 principal activities 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.
The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not continue to 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 consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. Please 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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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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 issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share and 5,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. As of the date of this annual report, there are 456,450,001 and 12,812,500 authorized but unissued shares of Class A and Class B common stock available, respectively, for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon the conversion of the Class B common stock. Shares of Class B common stock are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. There will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock, and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock to redeem the warrants as described in “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants — Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” or upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:
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Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation 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 65% of our outstanding common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by holders of a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by holders holding between 90% and 100% of the company’s public shares. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting) related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to hold proceeds of the IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders, and, prior to our initial business combination, the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock is required to approve the election or removal of directors. We may not issue additional securities that can vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our initial stockholders, who beneficially own 20.0% of our common stock, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which will govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete our initial business combination with which you do not agree.
Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our initial stockholders, officers and directors. Our public stockholders are not parties to, or third- party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our initial stockholders, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our public stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Certain agreements with our initial stockholders, officers and directors may be amended without stockholder approval.
Certain agreements, including the letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, officers and directors and the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders may be amended without stockholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions, including transfer restrictions on our founder shares and private placement warrants and the securities included therein, that our public stockholders might deem to be material. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendments would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
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We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company through 2026, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of any second quarter of a fiscal year, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls.. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls.
The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
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Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our shares of Class B common stock, which are held by our initial stockholders, are entitled to vote on the election 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.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company or our company’s directors, officers or other employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, employee or agent of our company to our company or our stockholders, or any claim for aiding and abetting any such alleged breach, (3) action asserting a claim against our company or any director or officer of our company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or (4) action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer of our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine except for, as to each of (1) through (4) above, any claim (a) as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (b) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (c) arising under the federal securities laws, including the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall concurrently be the sole and exclusive forums. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph will 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 shall be the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “foreign action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware 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 stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.
This forum selection clause may discourage claims or limit stockholders’ ability to submit claims in a judicial forum that they find favorable and may result in additional costs for a stockholder seeking to bring a claim. While we believe the risk of a court declining to enforce this forum selection clause is low, if a court were to determine the forum selection clause to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs in conjunction with our efforts to resolve the dispute in an alternative jurisdiction, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 8556 Oakmont Lane, Indianapolis, IN 46260 which is provided to us by Robert J. Laikin, our Chief Executive Officer at no cost. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations. We consider
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our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers, adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding since our inception.
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.
Market Information.
Our units, common stock and warrants are traded on the NYSE under the symbols “NXU.U”, “NXU” and “NXU.WS”, respectively.
Holders
Although there are a larger number of beneficial owners, at January 4, 2022, there were one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our separately traded Class A common stock, 14 holders of record of our Class B common stock and 12 holders of record of our separately traded warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our shares of common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future. 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.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
On February 8, 2021, we consummated the IPO of 28,750,000 units, which includes the full exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 3,750,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $287,500,000. Cowen and Company LLC acted as the underwriter of the IPO. The securities in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on registration statements on Form S-1 (No. 333-252079). The Securities and Exchange Commission declared the registration statements effective on February 3, 2021.
Simultaneous with the consummation of the IPO, and the full exercise of the over-allotment option, we consummated the private placement of an aggregate of 5,166,666 private placement warrants to the initial stockholders at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating total proceeds of $7,750,000. The issuance was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants underlying the Units sold in the IPO, except that the private placement warrants are not transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a business combination, subject to certain limited exceptions.
We paid a total of $5,750,000 in underwriting discounts and commission and $474,714 for other costs and expenses related to the IPO.
Of the gross proceeds received from the IPO, including the over-allotment option, and the private placement warrants, $287,500,000 was placed in the trust account and 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 any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the consummation of a business combination or (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to the Company’s stockholders. For a description of the use of the proceeds generated in our Initial Public Offering, see Part I, Item 2 of this Form 10-Q.
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Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
Not required for a smaller reporting company.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to the “Company,” Novus,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Novus Capital Corporation II. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected and projected. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Form 10KQ including, without limitation, statements in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predicts,” “project,” “shall,” “should,” “would and variations and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, but reflect management’s current beliefs, based on information currently available. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. For information identifying important factors relating to the Merger, please refer to the Risk Factors section of the Registration Statement on Form S-4, as amended, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our 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 “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on September 29, 2020, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. We intend to effectuate our business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.
We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a business combination will be successful.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any operating revenues to date. Our only activities from inception through December 31, 2021 were organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for the IPO, described below, and our search for a target business for a business combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial business combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held after the IPO. We expect that we will 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 in connection with searching for, and completing, a Business Combination.
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For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $3,338,538, which consisted of formation and operational costs of $1,247,217, change in fair value of warrant liability of $1,865,833 and transaction costs incurred in connection with warrant liability of $241,311, offset by the interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust account of $15,823.
For the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had net loss of $1,104, which consisted of operating costs.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On February 8, 2021, we consummated the IPO of 287,500,000 Units, at a price of $10.00 per Unit, which included the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,750,000 Units, generating gross proceeds of $287,500,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated the sale of 5,166,666 private placement warrants to the Sponsor at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant generating gross proceeds of $7,750,000.
Following the IPO, the full exercise of the over-allotment option, and the sale of the private placement warrants, $287,500,000 was placed in the trust account, and we had $1,281,731 of cash held outside of the Trust Account, after payment of costs related to the IPO, and available for working capital purposes. We incurred $6,224,714 in transaction costs, including $5,750,000 of underwriting fees, $474,714 of other offering costs.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used in operating activities was $1,153,887. Net loss of $3,338,538 was affected by interest earned on marketable securities held in the trust account of $15,823 and offset by the change in fair value of warrant liability of $1,865,833 and transaction costs incurred in connection with warrant of $241,311. Changes in operating assets and liabilities which provided $93,330 of cash for operating activities.
For the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, there was $104 cash used in operating activities. Net loss of $1,104 was affected by changes in operating assets and liabilities provided $1,000.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and marketable securities held in the trust account of $287,515,823. We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less deferred underwriting commissions and income taxes payable), to complete our business combination. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash of $396,295. We intend to use the funds held outside the trust account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete a business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. In the event that a business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts, but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Going Concern
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standard Board’s Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” we have determined that the liquidity condition raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern through at least one year from issuance date of these financial statements. These financial statements do not 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.
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Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2021. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than described below.
The underwriters are entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $5,750,000 which was paid upon the closing of the IPO.
We engaged the underwriter as an advisor in connection with a business combination to assist the Company in holding meetings with its stockholders to discuss the potential business combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce the Company to potential investors that are interested in purchasing the Company’s securities in connection with a business combination, provide financial advisory services to assist the Company in the Company’s efforts to obtain any stockholder approval for the business combination and assist the Company with its press releases and public filings in connection with the business combination. The Company will pay the underwriters a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of a business combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the IPO.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Warrant Liabilities
We account for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding.
For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a liability at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations.
We account for the public warrants and private placement warrants (together with the public warrants, the “Warrants”) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. The warrants are not considered indexed to the Company’s own common stock, and as such, the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. The private placement warrants and the public warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available were valued using the Modified Monte Carlo Simulation and Modified Black Scholes option pricing models (see Note 9).
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Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
We recognize changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable common stock are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
Net Income (Loss) per Share
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. Net income (loss) per common stock is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common stock outstanding for the period. Remeasurement adjustment associated with the redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
The calculation of diluted income (loss) per share does not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the (i) Initial Public Offering, and (ii) the private placement. The warrants are exercisable to purchase 14,749,999 Class A common stock in the aggregate. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company did not have any dilutive securities or other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted net loss per common stock is the same as basic net loss per common stock for the periods presented.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. ASU 2020-06 removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Not applicable for smaller reporting companies.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
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Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
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 principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting for complex financial instruments. As a result, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Form 10-K present fairly, in all material respects, our financial position, result of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, other than noted below, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. Management has identified a material weakness in internal controls related to the accounting for complex financial instruments as described above. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance our system of evaluating and implementing the accounting standards that apply to our financial statements, including through enhanced analyses by our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
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PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name |
| Age* |
| Position |
Robert J. Laikin | | 58 | | Chief Executive Officer and Director |
| | | | |
Larry M. Paulson | | 68 | | Chairman |
| | | | |
Hersch Klaff | | 68 | | Director |
| | | | |
Vincent Donargo | | 61 | | Chief Financial Officer |
| | | | |
Jeffrey Foster | | 44 | | Director |
| | | | |
Heather Goodman | | 47 | | Director |
| | | | |
Ronald J. Sznaider | | 62 | | Director |
*As of September 30, 2021.
Robert J. Laikin has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Laikin cofounded and served as Chairman of Novus Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: NOVSU; NOVS; NOVSW) since its inception in March 2020 until its business combination with AppHarvest, Inc. in January 2021 and served as a director at AppHarvest, Inc. (NASDAQ: APPH; APPHW) until February 2022. Mr. Laikin has served as a managing member of Novus Capital Associates, LLC, one of our initial stockholders since its formation in October 2020. Mr. Laikin has been the managing member of L7 Investments LLC, a closely held company that invests primarily in multi-family apartments as well as single purpose buildings, hotels, divestitures and single-family homes, since January 2015. Mr. Laikin formerly served as the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Washington Prime Group In(NASDAQ: APPH, APPHW. (NYSE:WPG), where he held a director role from May 2014 to October 2021. Mr. Laikin served as Executive Advisor to the CEO and Government Relations Executive of Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE:IM), a wholesale technology distributor and supply chain management and mobile device lifecycle services company, from November 2012 to December 2019. Previously Mr. Laikin served as the founder, Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors of Brightpoint, Inc. (Nasdaq:CELL) from August 1989 until it was acquired by Ingram Micro Inc. in November 2012. Mr. Laikin holds a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University. We believe Mr. Laikin is well qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his significant experience in the areas of executive leadership, corporate management, retail, real estate, business strategy and corporate finance, banking, financing, accounting, corporate management, general business and global business operations, accounting, corporate governance, public company compliance, political/governmental matters, audit/compliance, entrepreneurism, real estate development, sales, charitable/philanthropic matters, marketing, risk management/insurance, legal, investor, media and public relations, negotiation and deal structure.
Larry M. Paulson has served as our non-executive Chairman since our inception. Mr. Paulson co-founded Novus Capital Corporation and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and a director since its inception in March 2020 until its business combination with AppHarvest, Inc. in January 2021. Mr. Paulson served as a managing member of Novus Capital Associates, LLC since its formation in October 2020 and resigned as a managing member on September 24, 2021. He has also served as principal and founder of Rancho Santa Fe Solutions, a wireless industry consulting company he founded in February 2010. From 2013 to January 2020, Mr. Paulson was with Qualcomm (Nasdaq:QCOM) where he served as Vice President of Product Management (2013-16), Vice President and President India and SAARC (2016-2018) and Vice President Sales NA and Australia (2018-Jan 2020). Prior to Qualcomm, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Brightpoint, Inc., a provider of worldwide distribution and integrated logistics services to the wireless communications industry, from 2011 to 2013. Prior to that he served with Nokia (NYSE:NOK) from 1987 to 2009 where he had numerous roles including global Senior Vice President and General Manager CDMA Product line. Mr. Paulson holds a BA in Communications from Point Park University. We believe Mr. Paulson is well qualified to serve as our Chairman because of his more than thirty years of global senior management positions in the tech industry with expertise in wireless communications.
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Hersch Klaff has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Klaff is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Klaff Realty which he formed in 1984. Klaff Realty deploys several entrepreneurial strategies to unlock value for its investors, including its flagship business line of acquiring distressed and under-utilized retail real estate and operating businesses. To date, Klaff Realty (including through partnerships and entities managed by it or its affiliates) has acquired properties and invested in operating entities that control in excess of 200 million square feet with a value in excess of $10 billion. Mr. Klaff is currently on the board of directors of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE: ACI), Tienda Inglesa (Uruguay), and Chlorum Solutions (Brazil). Mr. Klaff began his career with the public accounting firm of Altschuler, Melvoin and Glasser in Chicago. Mr. Klaff holds a degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. We believe Mr. Klaff is well qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his expertise in the farming industry and retail development, his accounting and investment experience, as well as his extensive knowledge of merger and acquisitions which broadens the scope of our board of directors’ oversight of our financial performance.
Vincent Donargo has served as our Chief Financial Officer since our inception. Mr. Donargo co-founded Novus Capital Corporation and served as its Chief Financial Officer since its inception in March 2020 until its business combination with AppHarvest, Inc. in January 2021, LLC. Since September 24, 2021, Mr. Donargo has served as a managing member of Novus capital Associates. Since August 2020, Mr. Donargo has served as the Chief Accounting Officer for Calumet Specialty Products Partners, LP, a leading producer of specialty hydrocarbons and fuels. From December 2019 to August 2020, Mr. Donargo provided financial advisory and consulting services to private clients. From May 2019 to December 2019, Mr. Donargo served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Celadon Group Inc. (OTC:CGIPQ).
From November 2017 to April 2019, he was Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of the Celadon Group Inc., where he was brought in to assist with Celadon Group’s financial restructuring. Celadon Group filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy on December 8, 2019. From August 2016 to November 2017, Mr. Donargo was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Beaulieu Group LLC, a North American carpet and flooring manufacturing company, where he assisted the company with its financial restructuring process. Beaulieu Group LLC filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy on July 16, 2017. Prior to joining Beaulieu Group, Mr. Donargo held senior finance positions at several publicly traded companies, including Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Brightstar Corporation from April 2014 to August 2016 and Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Brightpoint, Inc. from September 2005 until it was acquired by Ingram Micro Inc. in November 2012. From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Donargo was the strategic business unit controller, director of finance and corporate controller of Aearo Company, a safety products manufacturing company. Prior to that, from 1990 to 1998, Mr. Donargo was employed in various financial positions with National Starch and Chemical Company, a specialty chemical manufacturing company. Mr. Donargo holds a BA in Accounting from Rutgers University.
Jeffrey Foster has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Foster is an active real estate investor, managing a portfolio of multi-family, commercial and single-family assets. Mr. Foster has been the managing member of New Frontier LLC since its inception in 2012. Mr. Foster was a professional basketball player, playing for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers from 1999 through 2012. Mr. Foster holds a B.A.A.S. from Texas State University. We believe Mr. Foster is well qualified to serve on our board of directors because experience in mergers and acquisitions, investments experience and the healthcare, technology and logistics industries, and his knowledge of the public markets broadens the scope of our board of directors’ oversight of our financial performance.
Heather Goodman has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Ms. Goodman has served as a director of Novus Capital Corporation since its inception in March 2020 until its business combination with AppHarvest, Inc. in January 2021. Since March 2007, Ms. Goodman has served as the Chief Operating Officer and President of True Capital Management, a boutique multi-family office specializing in business management and investment advisory services for athletes, entertainers and high net worth individuals. Previously Ms. Goodman acted as Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney from February 2002 to February 2007. Ms. Goodman holds a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is a Certified Public Accountant and maintains Series 63, 65 and life insurance licenses. We believe Ms. Goodman is well qualified to serve as a director given her experience in building infrastructures which have created scalable platforms to achieve goals.
Ronald J. Sznaider has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Previously Mr. Sznaider has held executive leadership positions in several global technology companies. In January 2020, Mr. Sznaider founded Sznaider Consulting LLC, a firm which provides expert business advisory services, and has served as its President since its formation. Mr. Sznaider serves as a member of the board of directors of the TBG AG ownership group overseeing DTN LLC, where he has served as Vice Chairman since December 2018. Mr. Sznaider held several executive positions with DTN LLC from 1998 serving as its chief
50
executive officer from November 2018 through his retirement in December 2019. Mr. Sznaider is also currently a member of the American Meteorological Society Commission on Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise. Mr. Sznaider holds a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We believe Mr. Sznaider is well suited to serve as a Board member because he has significant operational experience in multiple technology business disciplines, considerable M&A experience, and private-public-partnership experience relating to environmental and sustainability topics including active initiatives with the United Nations.
Number, Terms of Office and Election of Executive Officers and Directors
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Ms. Goodman and Mr. Sznaider, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Paulson and Klaff, will expire at our second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Laikin and Foster, will expire at our third annual meeting of stockholders.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws will provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the Board, a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, a Secretary and such other officers (including without limitation, a President, Vice Presidents, Assistant Secretaries, and a Treasurer) as our board of directors from time to time may determine.
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
No executive officer has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us.
None of our officers or directors have received any compensation for services rendered to us. Our founders, officers, directors and 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 sponsors, officers, directors or our or any of their respective affiliates.
We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, and we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination should be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination.
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, each of which will be composed solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and 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. Each committee will operate under a charter that will be approved by our board of directors and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website.
Audit Committee
The members of our audit committee are Heather Goodman, Larry M. Paulson and Ronald J. Sznaider. Ms. Goodman serves as chairwoman of the audit committee.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Heather Goodman qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
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Our audit committee charter details the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
Compensation Committee
The members of our compensation committee are Larry M. Paulson, Heather Goodman and Hersch Klaff. Mr. Paulson serves as chairman of the compensation committee.
Our compensation committee charter details the purpose and responsibilities of the compensation committee, including:
52
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent 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.
Nominating Committee
The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Hersch Klaff, Jeffrey Foster and Ronald J. Sznaider. Mr. Klaff serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
Our nominating and corporate governance committee charter details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our Public Shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than ten percent of our common stock to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. These reporting persons are also required to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely upon a review of such forms, we believe that since our inception on September 29, 2020 there have been no delinquent filers.
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Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to our officers and directors. We have filed copies of our code of ethics, our audit committee charter, nominating committee charter and compensation committee charter as exhibits to our registration statement in connection with our IPO. You may review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov and on our website. In addition, a copy of the code of ethics will be provided without charge upon request to us.
Conflicts of Interest
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business, including other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to our company. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. 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.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate 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 our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
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The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors have similar legal obligations and duties relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have, and there will not be any expectancy that any of our directors or officers will offer any such corporate opportunity of which he or she may become aware to us. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest:
Name of |
| Entity Name |
| Entity’s Business |
| Affiliation |
Robert J. Laikin | | AppHarvest, Inc. | | AgTech | | Director |
| | | | | | |
| | Washington Prime Group Inc. | | Publicly-traded REIT | | Chairman |
| | | | | | |
| | L7 Investments LLC | | Real Estate Investment Company | | Managing Member |
| | | | | | |
Vincent Donargo | | Calumet Specialty Products Partners, LP | | Specialty Hydrocarbons and Fuels Producer | | Chief Accounting Officer |
| | | | | | |
Hersch Klaff | | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | | Food and Drug Retailer | | Director |
| | | | | | |
| | Klaff Realty LP | | Real Estate/Private Equity | | Chief Executive Officer |
| | | | | | |
| | Tienda Inglesa | | Food Retailer | | Director |
| | | | | | |
| | Chlorum Solutions | | Industrial/ Chlor-Alkali Production | | Director |
| | | | | | |
| | HMK Advisor LLC | | Investment Adviser | | Manager |
| | | | | | |
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| | MONS Investments LLC | | Diversified Investment Holding Company | | Investment Advisor |
| | | | | | |
| | Klaff Family Foundation | | Non-Profit | | Officer |
| | | | | | |
Larry M. Paulson | | Rancho Santa Fe Solutions LLC | | Wireless Industry Consulting Company | | Principal |
| | | | | | |
Jeffrey Foster | | New Frontier LLC | | Private Investment Firm | | Managing Partner |
| | | | | | |
Heather Goodman | | True Capital Management | | Registered Investment Advisor | | Chief Operating Officer, President and Director |
| | | | | | |
| | Global Fitness Partners LLC | | Fitness Centers | | Director |
| | | | | | |
Ronald J. Sznaider | | Sznaider Consulting LLC | | Consulting Firm | | President |
| | | | | | |
| | DTN LLC | | Information Service Provider | | Vice Chairman |
Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. 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.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate 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 our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsors, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsors, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
In addition, our initial stockholders or any of their affiliates may make additional investments in the company in connection with the initial business combination, although, our initial stockholders and their affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our initial stockholders or any of their affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence our initial stockholders’ motivation to complete an initial business combination.
Further, pursuant to a Business Combination Marketing Agreement, we have engaged Cowen and Company, LLC to provide certain specified services to us in connection with our initial business combination. In particular, Cowen and Company, LLC may assist us in holding meetings with our stockholders to discuss the potential business combination and the target business’s attributes, introduce us to potential investors that are interested in purchasing our securities in connection with the potential business combination, provide financial advisory services to assist us in our efforts to obtain any stockholder approval for the business combination and assist us with our press releases and public filings in connection with the business combination, but will not provide any M&A-related advisory services pursuant to the Business Combination Marketing Agreement. We will pay Cowen and Company, LLC the Marketing Fee for such services upon the consummation of our initial business combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the IPO (or $10,062,50). In the ordinary course of business, Cowen and Company, LLC and its affiliates may at any time hold long or short positions, and may trade or otherwise effect transactions, for its own account and the accounts of customers, in debt or equity securities of us, our affiliates or other entities that may be involved in the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Marketing Agreement, and may provide advisory and other services to one or more actual or potential business combination targets, investors or other parties to any business combination or other transaction entered into by us, for which services Cowen and Company, LLC or one or more of its affiliates may be paid fees, including fees conditioned upon
56
the closing of a particular business combination or other transaction or transactions. This financial interest may result in Cowen and Company, LLC having a conflict of interest when providing the services to us in connection with an initial business combination. See “Underwriting — Business Combination Marketing Agreement.”
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination, and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote public shares purchased by them (if any) in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted by the DGCL.
In connection with the IPO, we entered into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also permit us to maintain insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We have obtained a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
A stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
No executive officer has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us.
No compensation or fees of any kind will be paid to our initial stockholders, members of our management team or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, they will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders. However, the amount of such compensation may not be known at the time of the stockholder meeting held to consider an initial business combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K or a periodic report, as required by the SEC.
We may not 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 officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after the 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
57
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 officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
We have no compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this annual report, by:
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this annual report.
| | | | | | |
|
| | |
| |
|
| | Number of |
| |||
| | Shares of Novus |
| |||
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) |
| Common Stock | | % |
| |
Directors and Executive Officers of Novus: |
| | |
| | |
Robert J. Laikin (2)(3) |
| 1,911,111 | |
| 5.3 | % |
Hersch Klaff (4) |
| 1,298,828 | |
| 3.6 | % |
Larry M. Paulson (5) |
| 966,146 | |
| 2.7 | % |
Vincent Donargo (3)(6) |
| 1,475,694 | |
| 4.1 | % |
Jeffrey Foster (7) |
| 966,146 | |
| 2.7 | % |
Heather Goodman |
| 291,667 | |
| * | |
Ronald Sznaider |
| 182,292 | |
| * | |
All Directors and Executive Officers of Novus as a Group (5 Individuals) |
| 5,980,773 | |
| 16.6 | % |
Five Percent Holders of Novus: |
| | |
| | |
Highbridge Capital management LLC (8) | | 1,705,105 | | | 4.7 | % |
Adage Capital Advisors, L.L.C. (Adage Capital Partners, L.P.) (9) | | 1,500,000 | | | 4.2 | % |
Citadel Advisors LLC (10) | | 1,576,535 | | | 4.4 | % |
* | Less than one percent. |
(2)Includes 1,111,111 Initial Stockholder Shares held by Novus Capital Associates, LLC.
(3)Messrs. Laikin and Donargo are the managing members of Novus Capital Associates, LLC. The shares beneficially owned by Novus Capital Associates, LLC may also be deemed beneficially owned by Messrs. Laikin and Donargo.
(4)Mr. Klaff holds Initial Stockholder Shares through KNC I LLC and KNC II LLC. Mr. Klaff has voting and dispositive control over the shares held by these entities and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of such shares. He disclaims beneficial ownership of any shares other than to the extent he may have a pecuniary interest therein, directly or indirectly.
(5)Mr. Paulson holds Initial Stockholder Shares through the Larry M Paulson and Gretchen V Paulson Family Trust dated Sept 4, 2019, and any amendments thereto, of which he is a trustee. Consequently, Mr. Paulson may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of
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such. He disclaims beneficial ownership of any shares other than to the extent he may have a pecuniary interest therein, directly or indirectly.
(6)Consists of (a) 364,583 Initial Stockholder Shares held by V Donargo LLC and (b) 1,111,111 Initial Stockholder Shares held by Novus Capital Associates, LLC.
(7)Mr. Foster holds Initial Stockholder Shares through New Frontier LLC, of which Mr. Foster is the manager. Mr. Foster has voting and dispositive control over the shares held by New Frontier LLC and may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of such shares. He disclaims beneficial ownership of any shares other than to the extent he may have a pecuniary interest therein, directly or indirectly.
(8)As reported by Highbridge Capital Management, LLC (“Highbridge”) on a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on June 3, 2021. Highbridge serves as trading manager of Highbridge Tactical Credit Master Fund, L.P. and Highbridge SPAC Opportunity Fund, L.P. The principal business address of Highbridge is 277 Park Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, New York 10172.
(9)As reported by Adage Capital Partners on a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 18, 2021, which states that each of Adage Capital Partners, L.P. (“ACP”), Adage Capital Partners, GP, L.L.C. (“ACPGP”), Adage Capital Advisors, L.L.C. (“ACA”), Robert Atchinson and Phillip Gross hold shared voting and dispositive power over 1,500,000 shares. ACP has the power to dispose of and the power to vote the shares beneficially owned by it, which power may be exercised by its general partner, ACPGP. ACA, as managing member of ACPGP, directs ACPGP’s operations. Neither ACPGP nor ACA directly owns any shares. By reason of the provisions of Rule 13d-3 of the Exchange Act, ACPGP and ACA may be deemed to beneficially own the shares owned by ACP. Messrs. Atchinson and Gross, as managing members of ACA, have shared power to vote the shares beneficially owned by ACP. Neither Mr. Atchinson nor Mr. Gross directly owns any shares. By reason of the provisions of Rule 13d-3 of the Act, each of Mr. Atchinson and Mr. Gross may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned by ACP. The principal business address of ACP, ACPGP, ACA, Mr. Atchinson and Mr. Gross is 200 Clarendon Street, 52nd Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02116.
(10)As reported by Citadel Advisors LLC on a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on November 22, 2021, which states that (i) each of Citadel Advisors LLC (“Citadel Advisors”), Citadel Advisors Holdings LP (“CAH”) and Citadel GP LLC (“CGP”) may be deemed to beneficially own 1,576,535 shares, (ii) each of Citadel Securities LLC (“Citadel Securities”), Citadel Securities Group LP (“CALC4”) and Citadel Securities GP LLC (“CSGP”) may be deemed to beneficially own 5,419 shares and (iii) Kenneth Griffin may be deemed to beneficially own 1,581,954 shares. The shares are held directly by Citadel Multi-Strategy Equities Master Fund Ltd. (“CM”) and Citadel Securities. Citadel Advisors is the portfolio manager for CM. CAH is the sole member of Citadel Advisors. CGP is the general partner of CAH. CALC4 is the non-member manager of Citadel Securities. CSGP is the general partner of CALC4. Mr. Griffin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGP and owns a controlling interest in CGP and CSGP. The principal business address of Citadel Advisors, CAH, CGP, Citadel Securities, CALC4, CSGP, CM and Mr. Griffin is 131 S. Dearborn Street, 32nd Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60603.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Founder Shares
On October 12, 2020, our founders purchased an aggregate of 7,187,500 shares of Class B common stock (the “founder shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. The founder shares included an aggregate of up to 937,500 shares which were subject to forfeiture by our founders to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment was not exercised in full or in part, so that our founders would collectively own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the IPO. As a result of the underwriters’ election to fully exercise their over-allotment option, no founder shares are currently subject to forfeiture.
Our founders have agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (1) one year after the completion of a business combination or (B) subsequent to a business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a business combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
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Private Warrants
Simultaneously with the IPO, the founders purchased an aggregate of 5,166,666 private warrants at a price of $1.50 per private warrant ($7.75 million in the aggregate) in a private placement. Each private warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Proceeds from the private warrants were added to the net proceeds from the IPO held in the trust account. If we do not complete an initial business combination by February 8, 2023, the proceeds from the sale of the private warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private warrants will expire worthless. The private warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our founders or their permitted transferees.
Registration Rights
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into on February 3, 2021, the holders of the founder shares, private warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) will have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of the securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to shares of Class A common stock). 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 a business combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Cowen Investments may not exercise its demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of our IPO. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Promissory Note and Potential Related Party Loans
On October 1, 2020, certain of the Company’s directors agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to our IPO pursuant to promissory notes (the “Promissory Notes”). From October 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, the Company borrowed an aggregate of $160,000 under the Promissory Notes. The Promissory Notes are non-interest bearing and are payable on the earlier of (i) September 30, 2021 and (ii) the consummation of our IPO. The outstanding balance under the Promissory Notes was fully repaid on February 10, 2021.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, our founders or certain of the Company’s directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a business combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the trust account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that a business combination 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. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a business combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $2,000,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the private warrants.
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
The Company engaged the underwriters as an advisor in connection with a business combination to assist the Company in holding meetings with its stockholders to discuss the potential business combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce the Company to potential investors that are interested in purchasing the Company’s securities in connection with a business combination, provide financial advisory services to assist the Company in the Company’s efforts to obtain any stockholder approval for the business combination and assist the Company with its press releases and public filings in connection with the business combination. The Company will pay the underwriters a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of a business combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of our IPO.
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Insider Letter Agreements
We have entered into a letter agreement with our initial stockholders, officers and directors pursuant to which (x) they have agreed to waive: (1) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; (2) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or (B)with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination by February 8, 2023 or during any Extension Period (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame), and (y) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described under “Description of Securities — Founder Shares”
Transactions in Connection with the Proposed Business Combination with Energy Vault and PIPE
Lock-Up Agreements
In connection with the closing, the founders and certain stockholders of Energy Vault will agree, subject to certain exceptions, not to (i) sell, offer to sell, contract or agree to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agree to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act, and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder, the lock-up shares (which, in the case of the founders, are the founder shares, the private warrants and the shares of combined company common stock issuable upon exercise of the private warrants), (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any of the lock-up shares, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise or (iii) publicly announce any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (i) or (ii). The lock-up period shall terminate upon the earlier of (i) with respect to 50% of the lock-up shares, 180 days after the closing and (ii) with respect to the remaining 50% of the lock-up shares, one year after the Closing; provided however that the lock-up period shall terminate 180 days after the Closing with respect to the private warrants and the shares of combined company common stock issuable upon exercise of the private warrants.
Registration Rights Agreement
In connection with the closing, the founders and security holders of Energy Vault will enter into an amended and restated registration rights agreement, which amends and restates the registration rights agreement. Pursuant to the amended and restated registration rights agreement, Novus will agree that, no later than (i) 30 calendar days after the closing and (ii) 20 business days after the closing, Novus will file with the SEC (at Novus’s sole cost and expense) a resale registration statement, and Novus shall use commercially reasonable efforts to have the resale registration statement declared effective as soon as practicable after the filing thereof. In certain circumstances, the founders and the Energy Vault security holders may each demand up to two registrations, which may be underwritten offerings, and all of the holders will be entitled to piggyback registration rights.
Sponsor Restricted Stock Agreement
In connection with the closing, the initial stockholders and certain stockholders of Energy Vault will agree, that the Restricted Shares (defined as 4,851,561 founder shares) shall be subject to the transfer restrictions set forth herein until satisfaction of the following trigger events (each, a “Triggering Event”):
| (a) | 808,594 founder shares shall be released upon the date on which (x) the closing price of the combined company common stock (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) exceeds $12.50 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period occurring from the announcement of the PIPE through the thirty-six (36) month anniversary of the closing of the Merger or (ii) the closing of a sale, merger, the remaining lock-up shares liquidation, or exchange offer transaction after the closing date of the Merger which results in the stockholders of the combined company having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property having a value of at least $12.50 per share. |
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(b) | 808,594 founder shares shall be released upon the date on which (x) the closing price of the combined company common stock (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) exceeds $15.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period occurring from the announcement of the PIPE through the thirty-six (36) month anniversary of the closing of the Merger or (ii) the closing of a sale, merger, the remaining lock-up shares liquidation, or exchange offer transaction after the closing date of the Merger which results in the stockholders of the combined company having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property having a value of at least $15.00 per share. |
(c) | 3,234,375 founder shares, shall be subject to forfeiture (the “Forfeiture Percentage”) proportionately with redemptions of cash from the Trust Account held by the Trustee in excess of $25,000,000. The Forfeiture Percentage shall be calculated by (1) dividing (A) the aggregate dollar amount of cash redeemed from the trust account in excess of $25,000,000 by (B) $287,500,000 and then (2) multiplying the quotient obtained in subsection (c)(1) by 45.0% of the founder shares. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that more than 26,250,000 shares of Class A common stock are redeemed from the trust account (resulting in $262,500,000 of cash redeemed from the trust account assuming a redemption price of $10.00 per share), such 3,234,375 Founder Shares shall be forfeited in lieu of applying the Forfeiture Percentage. |
The remaining 1,617,187 founder shares are not Restricted Shares and are not subject to the vesting restrictions or forfeiture provisions set forth in clauses (a)-(c) above.
Sponsor Support Agreement
On September 8, 2021, Novus, Energy Vault and the founders entered into the Sponsor Support Agreement pursuant to which the founders agreed to vote all of their founder shares and shares of Novus common stock in favor of the approval and adoption of the Merger and other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement. Additionally, such Founders have agreed, among other things, not to (a) transfer any of their shares of founder shares or common stock (or enter into any arrangement with respect thereto), subject to certain customary exceptions, (b) enter into any voting arrangement that is inconsistent with the Sponsor Support Agreement or (c) exercise their redemption rights in connection with the Merger.
PIPE
In connection with the PIPE, Robert Laikin, our Chief Executive Officer and a director, Larry Paulson, our Chairman, and Hersch Klaff, Jeffrey Foster, Ronald Sznaider and Heather Goodman each a director of Novus, or their affiliates, agreed to purchase 250,000 shares, 50,000 shares, 250,000 shares, 250,0000 shares, 50,000 shares and 250,000 shares, respectively, at a purchase price of $10.00 per share and on the same terms and conditions as the other investors in the PIPE.
Other Arrangements
Our founders, officers and directors or any of 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 sponsors, officers, directors or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our founders, officers and directors and their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our founders. The terms of such loans by our founders, officers and directors and their affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our founders, an affiliate of our founders, officers and directors and their affiliates, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
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No compensation or fees of any kind will be paid to the Novus initial stockholders, members of our management team or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the Combined Company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders. However, the amount of such compensation may not be known at the time of the stockholder meeting held to consider an initial business combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K or a periodic report, as required by the SEC.
All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions will require prior approval by a majority of our uninterested “independent” directors or the members of our board who do not have an interest in the transaction, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our disinterested “independent” directors determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.
Related Party Policy
Our Code of Ethics requires us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board of directors) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our Code of Ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company. Our Code of Ethics is available on our website.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter, is responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsors, officers or directors, or our or any of their affiliates.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsors, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by us to our founders, officers or directors or our or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
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Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum LLP, or Marcum, for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Marcum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-Q for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 totaled approximately $161,000 and $57,500, respectively. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Marcum for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
Tax Fees. We did not pay Marcum for tax planning and tax advice for the year ended December 31, 2021. We paid Marcum $8,240 for tax services for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Marcum for other services for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a)The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K:
| (1) | Financial Statements: |
| Page |
F-2 | |
F-3 | |
F-4 | |
F-5 | |
F-6 | |
F-7 |
| (2) | Financial Statement Schedules: |
None.
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(3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
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| Incorporated by Reference | ||||||
Exhibit Number |
| Description of Document | Schedule/Form |
| File Number |
| Exhibits |
| Filing Date | |
2.1* | |
| Form 8-K |
| 001-39982 |
| 2.1 |
| September 9, 2021 | |
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3.1 | |
| Form S-1 |
| 333-252079 |
| 3.1 |
| January 13, 2021 | |
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3.2 | |
| Form 8-K |
| 001-39982 |
| 3.1 |
| February 8, 2021 | |
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3.3 | |
| Form S-1 |
| 333-252079 |
| 3.3 |
| January 13, 2021 | |
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3.4 | |
| Form 8-K |
| 001-39982 |
| 2.1 |
| September 9, 2021 | |
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3.5 | | Form of Amended and Restated Bylaws of Combined Company (included in Exhibit 2.1) | | Form 8-K |
| 001-39982 |
| 2.1 |
| September 9, 2021 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
4.1 | |
| Form S-1 |
| 333-252079 |
| 4.1 |
| January 13, 2021 | |
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4.2 | |
| Form S-1 |
| 333-252079 |
| 4.2 |
| January 13, 2021 | |
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4.3 | |
| Form S-1 |
| 333-252079 |
| 4.3 |
| January 13, 2021 | |
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4.4 | |
| Form 8-K |
| 001-39982 |
| 4.1 |
| February 8, 2021 | |
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10.1 | | Business Combination Marketing Agreement, dated February 3, 2021, between Novus and Cowen | | Form 8-K |
| 001-39982 |
| 1.2 |
| February 8, 2021 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
10.2 | | | Form 8-K | | 001-39982 | | 10.2 | | February 8, 2021 | |
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10.3 | | Registration Rights Agreement, dated February 3, 2021, by and among Novus and certain stockholders | | Form 8-K | | 001-39982 | | 10.3 | | February 8, 2021 |
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10.4 | | | Form 8-K | | 001-39982 | | 2.1 | | September 9, 2021 | |
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10.5 | | | Form S-1 | | 333-252079 | | 10.1 | | January 13, 2021 | |
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10.6 | | Stockholder Support Agreement, dated September 8, 2021, by and among Novus and certain stockholders | | Form 8-K | | 001-39982 | | 10.1 | | September 9, 2021 |
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10.7 | | | Form 8-K | | 001-39982 | | 10.2 | | September 9, 2021 | |
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10.8 | | | Form 8-K | | 001-39982 | | 10.3 | | September 9, 2021 | |
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10.9 | | Warrant Subscription Agreement, dated February 2, 2021, by and between Novus and NCCII | | Form S-1 | | 333-252079 | | 10.7 | | January 13, 2021 |
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10.10 | | Form of Letter Agreement from Novus’s officers and directors and other initial stockholders | | Form S-1 | | 333-252079 | | 10.2 | | January 13, 2021 |
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10.11 | | | Form 8-K | | 001-39982 | | 2.1 | | September 9, 2021 | |
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10.12 | | | Form S-4 | | 333-260307 | | 10.12 | | December 30, 2021 | |
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23.1 | | Consent of Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm of Novus | | | | | | | | |
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24.1 | | Power of Attorney (included on the signature page to this Form 10-K)* | | | | | | | | |
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101.INS | | Inline XBRL Instance Document | | | | | | | | |
101.CAL | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | | | | | | | | |
101.SCH | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | | | | | | | | |
101.DEF | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | | | | | | | | |
101.LAB | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase Document | | | | | | | | |
101.PRE | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | | | | | | | | |
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104 | | Cover Page Interactive Data File (Embedded within the Inline XBRL document and included in Exhibit) | | | | | | | | |
| ● | Certain of the exhibits and schedules to this Exhibit have been omitted in accordance with Regulation S-K Item 601. The Registrant agrees to furnish a copy of all omitted exhibits and schedules to the SEC upon its request. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this annual report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in New York City, New York, on the 10th day of February, 2022.
Novus Capital Corporation II |
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By: /s/ Robert J. Laikin |
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Name: Robert J. Laikin |
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Title: Chief Executive Officer |
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POWERS OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned constitutes and appoints each of Vincent Donargo and Robert J. Laikin, each acting alone, his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for such person and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this annual report on Form 10-K (including amendments thereto), and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that any such attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this annual report has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name |
| Position |
| Date |
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/s/ Robert J. Laikin |
| Chief Executive Officer and Director |
| February 10, 2022 |
Robert J. Laikin | | (Principal Executive Officer) | | |
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ Larry M. Paulson |
| Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director |
| February 10, 2022 |
Larry M. Paulson | | | | |
| | | | |
/s/ Vincent Donargo |
| Chief Financial Officer |
| February 10, 2022 |
Vincent Donargo |
| (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
|
|
| | | | |
/s/ Heather Goodman |
| Director |
| February 10, 2022 |
Heather Goodman |
|
|
|
|
| | | | |
/s/ Ronald Sznaider | | Director | | February 10, 2022 |
Ronald Sznaider | | | | |
| | | | |
/s/ Hersch Klaff |
| Director |
| February 10, 2022 |
Hersch Klaff | | | | |
68
NOVUS CAPITAL CORPORATION II
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID # 688) | F-2 |
Consolidated Financial Statements: | |
F-3 | |
F-4 | |
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity | F-5 |
F-6 | |
F-7 |
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of Novus Capital Corporation II
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Novus Capital Corporation II (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, consolidated changes in stockholders’ (deficit) equity and consolidated cash flows for year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination and the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2021 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/S/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
Boston, MA
February 10, 2022
F-2
NOVUS CAPITAL CORPORATION II
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
| | | | | | |
| | December 31, | ||||
|
| 2021 | | 2020 | ||
ASSETS | | | | | | |
Current assets | | | | | | |
Cash | | $ | 396,295 | | $ | 172,854 |
Prepaid expenses | |
| 114,583 | |
| — |
Total Current Assets | | | 510,878 | | | 172,854 |
| |
| | |
| |
Deferred offering costs | | | — | | | 37,042 |
Marketable securities held in Trust Account | | | 287,515,823 | | | — |
TOTAL ASSETS | | $ | 288,026,701 | | $ | 209,896 |
| | | | | | |
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY | |
| | |
|
|
Current liabilities | | | | | | |
Accrued expenses | | $ | 208,913 | | $ | 1,000 |
Accrued offering costs | | | — | | | 25,000 |
Promissory note — related party | | | — | | | 160,000 |
Total Current Liabilities | |
| 208,913 | |
| 186,000 |
| | | | | | |
Warrant liability | |
| 18,437,499 | |
| — |
TOTAL LIABILITIES | |
| 18,646,412 | |
| 186,000 |
| |
|
| |
|
|
Commitments and Contingencies | |
|
| |
|
|
| | | | | | |
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption 28,750,000 and 0 shares at redemption value at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively | | | 287,500,000 | | | — |
| |
|
| |
|
|
Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity | |
|
| |
|
|
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; 0 shares issued and outstanding | |
| — | |
| — |
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 7,187,500 shares issued and outstanding, at December 31, 2021 and 2020 | |
| 719 | |
| 719 |
Additional paid-in capital | |
| — | |
| 24,281 |
Accumulated deficit | |
| (18,120,430) | |
| (1,104) |
Total Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity | |
| (18,119,711) | |
| 23,896 |
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY | | $ | 288,026,701 | | $ | 209,896 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-3
NOVUS CAPITAL CORPORATION II
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| | | | | | |
| | | | | For the Period from | |
| | | | September 29, 2020 | ||
| | Year Ended | | (Inception) Through | ||
| | December 31, | | December 31, | ||
|
| 2021 |
| 2020 | ||
Operating and formation costs | | $ | 1,247,217 | | $ | 1,104 |
Loss from operations | | | (1,247,217) | | | (1,104) |
| | | | | | |
Other income (expense): | | | | | | |
Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account | | | 15,823 | | | — |
Transaction costs incurred in connection with warrants | | | (241,311) | | | — |
Change in fair value of warrants | | | (1,865,833) | | | — |
Total other expense, net | | | (2,091,321) | | | — |
| | | | | | |
Net loss | | $ | (3,338,538) | | $ | (1,104) |
| | | | | | |
| |
| | |
| |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A common stock | |
| 25,678,082 | | | — |
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class A common stock | | $ | (0.10) | | $ | — |
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class B common stock | |
| 7,087,329 | |
| 6,250,000 |
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class B common stock | | $ | (0.10) | | $ | — |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-4
NOVUS CAPITAL CORPORATION II
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Class A | | Class B | | Additional | | | | | Total | ||||||||
| | Common Stock | | Common Stock | | Paid-in | | Accumulated | | Stockholders’ | |||||||||
|
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Equity (Deficit) | |||||
Balance — September 29, 2020 (Inception) | | 0 | | | 0 | | 0 | | | 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 |
|
| | |
| | | | | | | |
| | |
| | |
| |
Issuance of Class B Common Stock to Sponsor | | — | | $ | — | | 7,187,500 | | $ | 719 | | $ | 24,281 | | $ | — | | $ | 25,000 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss | | — | | | — | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (1,104) | | | (1,104) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Balance – December 31, 2020 | | — | | $ | — | | 7,187,500 | | $ | 719 | | $ | 24,281 | | $ | (1,104) | | $ | 23,896 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Remeasurement adjustment on redeemable common stock | | — | | | — | | — | | | — | | | (1,935,948) | | | (14,780,788) | | | (16,716,736) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Cash paid in excess of private warrants | | — | | | — | | — | | | — | | | 1,911,667 | | | — | | | 1,911,667 |
| | | | | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss |
| — | |
| — | | — | | | — | |
| — | |
| (3,338,538) | |
| (3,338,538) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Balance – December 31, 2021 |
| — | | $ | — | | 7,187,500 | | $ | 719 | | $ | — | | $ | (18,120,430) | | $ | (18,119,711) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-5
NOVUS CAPITAL CORPORATION II
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| | | | | | |
| | | | | For the Period from | |
| | | | | September 29, 2020 | |
| | Year Ended | | (Inception) Through | ||
| | December 31, | | December 31, | ||
| | 2021 | | 2020 | ||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
| | | |
| |
Net loss | | $ | (3,338,538) | | $ | (1,104) |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | |
| | |
| |
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | | | 1,865,833 | | | — |
Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account | | | (15,823) | | | — |
Transaction costs incurred in connection with warrants | |
| 241,311 | |
| — |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | | | | | |
Prepaid expenses | | | (114,583) | | | — |
Accrued expenses | | | 207,913 | | | 1,000 |
Net cash used in operating activities | |
| (1,153,887) | |
| (104) |
| | | | | | |
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | | | | | | |
Investment of cash into Trust Account | | | (287,500,000) | | | — |
Net cash used in investing activities | | | (287,500,000) | | | — |
| |
|
| |
|
|
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | |
|
| |
|
|
Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts paid | |
| 281,750,000 | |
| — |
Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor | | | — | | | 25,000 |
Proceeds from promissory note - related party | | | — | | | 160,000 |
Proceeds from sale of Private Placement Warrants | |
| 7,750,000 | |
| — |
Repayment of promissory note – related party | |
| (160,000) | |
| — |
Payment of offering costs | |
| (462,672) | |
| (12,042) |
Net cash provided by financing activities | |
| 288,877,328 | |
| 172,958 |
| |
|
| |
|
|
Net Change in Cash | |
| 223,441 | |
| 172,854 |
Cash – Beginning | |
| 172,854 | |
| — |
Cash – Ending | | $ | 396,295 | | $ | 172,854 |
| |
| | |
| |
Non-cash investing and financing activities: | |
| | |
| |
Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs | | $ | — | | $ | 25,000 |
Remeasurement adjustment on redeemable common stock | | $ | 16,716,736 | | $ | — |
Payment of deferred offering costs by the Sponsor in exchange for the issuance of Class B common stock | | $ | 35,000 | | $ | — |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-6
NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Novus Capital Corporation II (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on September 29, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effectuating a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with 1 or more businesses (the “Business Combination”).
The Company has one wholly owned subsidiary which was formed on September 2, 2021, NCCII Merger Corp. (the “Merger Sub”), a Delaware corporation.
The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies. The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination although it intends to focus on target businesses that are at the forefront of high technology and are enabling the future evolution of smart technologies, 5G communication, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, spatial computing, cloud analytics, machine learning, hardware and software distribution, value added customized logistics services, sustainable smart city systems and sustainable agricultural technology, or AgTech.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity from inception through December 31, 2021 related to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) and its search for a target business for a Business Combination, which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income on cash and cash equivalents in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. On September 8, 2021, the Company, Merger Sub and Energy Vault, Inc (“Energy Vault”) entered into a business combination agreement relating to a proposed business combination with (see Note 6).
The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on February 3, 2021. On February 8, 2021, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 28,750,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), which includes the full exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 3,750,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $287,500,000, which is described in Note 3.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 5,166,666 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and, collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Company’s initial stockholders, including Cowen Investments (an affiliate of one of the underwriters), generating gross proceeds of $7,750,000, which is described in Note 4.
Transaction costs amounted to $6,224,714, consisting of $5,750,000 of underwriting fees, and $474,714 of other offering costs.
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on February 8, 2021, $287,500,000 ($10.00 per Public Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Public Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting certain conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to the Company’s stockholders, as described below, except that interest earned on the Trust Account can be released to the Company to pay its tax obligations (“permitted withdrawals”).
White the Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of cash held outside of the Trust Account, substantially all of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, which are placed in the Trust Account, are intended to be applied generally toward completing a Business Combination. The Company’s Business Combination must be with 1 or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding taxes payable on interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the signing a definitive agreement to enter a Business Combination. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-Business Combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling
F-7
interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
The Company will provide its stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants.
The Company will proceed with a Business Combination only if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 either prior to or upon such consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks stockholder approval, a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or 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. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the initial stockholders and Cowen Investments have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares, without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed Business Combination.
The initial stockholders and Cowen Investments have agreed (a) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of a Business Combination, (b) to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within by February 8, 2023 and (c) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Company’s initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless the Company provides the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment. However, if the initial stockholders and Cowen Investments acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.
The Company has until February 8, 2023 to complete a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at 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 the Company to pay its tax obligations (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, V Donargo LLC, an entity controlled by Vincent Donargo, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (1) $10.00 per Public Share or (2) the actual amount per Public
F-8
Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay our taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as 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”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, V Donargo LLC will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that V Donargo LLC will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
On September 8, 2021, the Company, Merger Sub and Energy Vault entered into the Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to which Novus and Energy Vault will consummate the Business Combination. The Business Combination Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, covenants, closing conditions, termination fee provisions and other terms relating to the Merger and the other transactions contemplated thereby (Note 6).
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Going Concern
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had $396,295 in its operating bank accounts and working capital of $317,788. As of December 31, 2021, $15,823 of the amount on deposit in the Trust Account represented interest income, which is available to be withdrawn to pay taxes.
Until the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company will be using the funds not held in the Trust Account for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.
The Company will need to raise additional funds through loans or additional investments from its Sponsor, stockholders, officers, directors, or third parties. The Company’s officers, directors and Sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. Accordingly, the Company may not be able to obtain additional financing. 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, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for at least one year from the date that the consolidated financial statements are issued. These consolidated financial statements do not 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 consolidated financial statement is presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
F-9
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
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 of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a 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 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 consolidated financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of consolidated 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 at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the consolidated financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these consolidated financial statements is the determination of the fair value of the warrant liabilities. Such estimates may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
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. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Marketable Securities Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2021 and 2020, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds which are invested primarily in U.S. Treasury securities. All of the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the consolidated balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account in the accompanying statements of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in Trust Account are determined using available market information.
F-10
Offering Costs
Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting and other expenses 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 allocated to warrant liabilities were expensed as incurred in the consolidated statements of operations. Offering costs associated with the Class A common stock issued were charged to temporary equity. Offering costs amounted to $6,224,714, of which $5,983,403 were charged against temporary equity and $241,311 were expensed on the consolidated statement of operations.
Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s consolidated balance sheet.
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable common stock are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
At December 31, 2021, the Class A common stock reflected in the consolidated balance sheet are reconciled in the following table:
| | | |
|
| | |
Gross proceeds |
| $ | 287,500,000 |
Less: |
|
|
|
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants |
| $ | (10,733,333) |
Issuance costs allocated to Class A common stock |
|
| (5,983,403) |
Plus: |
|
|
|
Remeasurement adjustment on redeemable common stock |
| $ | 16,716,736 |
|
|
| |
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption |
| $ | 287,500,000 |
Warrant Liabilities
The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding.
For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a liability at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each consolidated
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balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations.
The Company accounts for the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants (together with the Public Warrants, the “Warrants”) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. The Warrants are not considered indexed to the Company’s own common stock, and as such, the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. The Private Placement Warrants and the Public Warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available were valued using the Modified Monte Carlo Simulation and Modified Black Scholes option pricing models (see Note 9).
Income Taxes
The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the consolidated financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the consolidated financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, if any, as income tax expense. There were 0 unrecognized tax benefits and 0 amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception. The Company’s effective tax rates for the periods presented differ from the expected (statutory) rates due to non-deductible transaction costs and changes in fair value of warrants, the recording of full valuation allowances on deferred tax assets and permanent differences.
Net Loss Per Common Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. Net income (loss) per common stock is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common stock outstanding for the period.. Remeasurement adjustment associated with the redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
The calculation of diluted income (loss) per share does not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the (i) Initial Public Offering, and (ii) the private placement. The warrants are exercisable to purchase 14,749,999 Class A common stock in the aggregate. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company did not have any dilutive securities or other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted net loss per common stock is the same as basic net loss per common stock for the periods presented.
The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share (in dollars, except per share amounts):
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| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | For the Period from | ||||
| | | | | | | | September 29, 2020 | ||||
| | | | | | | | (Inception) Through | ||||
| | Year Ended December 31 | | December 31, | ||||||||
| | 2021 | | 2020 | ||||||||
| | Class A |
| Class B |
| Class A |
| Class B | ||||
Basic and diluted net loss per common stock | | |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Numerator: | | |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Allocation of net loss, as adjusted | | $ | (2,616,395) | | $ | (722,143) | | $ | — | | $ | (1,104) |
Denominator: | |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding | |
| 25,678,082 | |
| 7,087,329 | |
| — | |
| 6,250,000 |
Basic and diluted net loss per common stock | | $ | (0.10) | | $ | (0.10) | | $ | — | | $ | — |
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of$250,000. The Company had not experienced losses on this account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the consolidated balance sheets, primarily due to their short-term nature, except for warrant liabilities (see Note 9).
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, “Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. ASU 2020-06 removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
NOTE 3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
On February 8, 2021, the Company sold 28,750,000 Units which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,750,000 Units at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of 1 share of the Company’s Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase 1 share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole share.
NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,166,666 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant ($7,750,000 in the aggregate), each exercisable to purchase 1 share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, in a private placement. The proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants were added to the net 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 proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to
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fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
NOTE 5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
On October 12, 2020, the Initial Stockholders purchased 7,187,500 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B common stock for an aggregate price of $25,000. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 937,500 shares subject to forfeiture by the initial stockholders to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will collectively own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Initial Public Offering). As a result of the underwriters’ election to fully exercise their over-allotment option, no Founder Shares are subject to forfeiture.
The Initial Stockholders have agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (1) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On October 1, 2020, certain of the Company’s directors agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to promissory notes (the “Promissory Notes”). The Promissory Notes are non-interest bearing and are payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2021 and (ii) the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had $160,000 outstanding under the Notes. The outstanding balance under the Promissory Note of $80,000 was subsequently repaid on February 8, 2021, while the remaining $80,000 was repaid on February 10, 2021.
Related Party Loans
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 directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination 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. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $2,000,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.
NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Registration Rights
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into on February 3, 2021, the holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) were granted registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of the securities for resale (in the case of the
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Founder Shares, only after conversion to shares of Class A common stock). The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to 3 demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Cowen Investments may not exercise its demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of the Initial Public Offering. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
The Company engaged the underwriters as an advisor in connection with a Business Combination to assist the Company in holding meetings with its stockholders to discuss the potential Business Combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce the Company to potential investors that are interested in purchasing the Company’s securities in connection with a Business Combination, provide financial advisory services to assist the Company in the Company’s efforts to obtain any stockholder approval for the Business Combination and assist the Company with its press releases and public filings in connection with the Business Combination. The Company will pay the underwriters a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of a Business Combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of Initial Public Offering.
Business Combination Agreement
On September 8, 2021, the Company, Merger Sub and Energy Vault entered into the Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to which Novus and Energy Vault will consummate the Business Combination. The Business Combination Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, covenants, closing conditions, termination fee provisions and other terms relating to the Merger and the other transactions contemplated thereby.
The Merger is to become effective by the filing of a certificate of merger with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law and mutually agreed by the parties and will be effective immediately upon such filing or upon such later time as may be agreed by the parties and specified in such certificate of merger (such time, “Effective Time”). The parties will hold the Closing immediately prior to such filing of a certificate of merger, on the Closing Date.
The Effective Time shall occur as promptly as practicable but in no event later than three business day after the satisfaction or, if permissible, waiver of the conditions to the completion of the Business Combination set forth in the Business Combination Agreement (other than those conditions that by their nature are to be satisfied at Closing, provided that the occurrence of the Closing shall remain subject to the satisfaction or, if permissible, waiver at the Closing). Immediately prior to the Effective Time, Energy Vault shall cause each share of Energy Vault Preferred Stock that is issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time to be automatically converted into a number of shares of Energy Vault Common Stock at the then effective conversion rate as calculated pursuant to Energy Vault’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation. All of the shares of Energy Vault Preferred Stock converted into shares of Energy Vault Common Stock shall no longer be outstanding and shall cease to exist, and each holder of Energy Vault Preferred Stock shall thereafter cease to have any rights with respect to such securities.
At the Effective Time, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of the Company, Merger Sub, Energy Vault or the holders of any of Energy Vault’s securities:
a) | Each share of Energy Vault Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time will be cancelled and automatically converted into the right to receive the number of shares of Combined Company Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio and all shares of Energy Vault Common Stock subject to forfeiture to or repurchase by Energy Vault shall retain such restrictions following conversion into Combined Company Common Stock; |
b) | All shares of Energy Vault Common Stock and Energy Vault Preferred Stock held in the treasury of Energy Vault shall be canceled without any conversion thereof and no payment or distribution shall be made with respect thereto; |
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c) | Each share of Merger Sub Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be converted into and exchanged for one validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable share of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the surviving corporation; |
d) | Each Energy Vault Option that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, whether vested or unvested, shall be assumed, converted and/or substituted by Novus into an option to purchase a number of shares of Combined Company Common Stock equal to the product (rounded down to the nearest whole number) of (x) the number of shares of Energy Vault Common Stock subject to such Energy Vault Option immediately prior to the Effective Time and (y) the Exchange Ratio, and at an exercise price per share (rounded up to the nearest whole cent) equal to (A) the exercise price per share of such Energy Vault Option immediately prior to the Effective Time divided by (B) the Exchange Ratio, subject to adjustments related to Section 409A and Section 422 of the Code; |
e) | Each award of outstanding restricted stock units to acquire shares of Energy Vault Common Stock issued pursuant to an award granted under the 2017 Plan or otherwise (each an “Energy Vault RSU”), whether vested or unvested, that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be assumed, converted and/or substitutes by Novus into an award of restricted stock units to acquire shares of Combined Company Common Stock (each, a Converted RSU Award). Each Converted RSU Award will represent the right to acquire that number of shares of Combined Company Common Stock equal to the product (rounded down to the nearest whole number) of (1) the number of shares of Energy Vault Common Stock subject to the Energy Vault RSU award immediately before the Effective Time and (2) the Exchange Ratio; provided, that, except as specifically described above, following the Effective Time, each Converted RSU Award shall continue to be governed by the same terms and conditions (including vesting terms) as were applicable to the corresponding former Energy Vault RSU award immediately prior to the Effective Time. |
f) | Each award of outstanding restricted shares of Energy Vault Common Stock issued pursuant to a grant agreement under the 2017 Plan or otherwise (each an “Energy Vault Restricted Share Award”), whether vested or unvested, that is outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be assumed, converted and/or substituted by Novus into a restricted stock award with respect to a number of shares of Combined Company Common Stock equal to the product (rounded down to the nearest whole number) of (x) the number of shares of Energy Vault Common Stock subject to such Energy Vault Restricted Share Award immediately prior to the Effective Time and (y) the Exchange Ratio, with the same terms and conditions as were applicable under such Company Restricted Share Award immediately prior to the Effective Time. |
Earn Out
Subject to certain exceptions, during the period between the date that is 90 days following the Closing and the third anniversary of the Closing, the Company will issue to eligible Energy Vault equity holders up to 9,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s Common Stock in the aggregate (the “Earn Out Shares”) in three equal tranches of 3,000,000 Earn Out Shares, respectively, upon the Company’s achieving price targets of $15.00, $20.00 or $30.00, respectively, which price targets will be based upon the closing sale price of one share of the Company’s Common Stock quoted on the New York Stock Exchange or the exchange on which the shares of the Company’s Common Stock are then traded, for any 20 trading days within a 30 consecutive trading day period (as adjusted for stock splits, reverse stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations, reclassifications, combination, exchange of shares or the like).
Subscription Agreements
In connection with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, on September 8, 2021, the Company entered into separate subscription agreements (collectively, the “Subscription Agreements”) with a number of investors (each, a “Subscriber” and collectively, the “Subscribers”), pursuant to which the Subscribers agreed to purchase, and the Company agreed to sell to the Subscribers, an aggregate of 10,000,005 shares of the Company’s Common Stock (the “PIPE Shares”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase price of $100,000,050 in a private placement (the “PIPE”).
F-16
The closing of the sale of the PIPE Shares pursuant to the Subscription Agreements is contingent upon, among other customary closing conditions, the concurrent consummation of the Proposed Transactions. The purpose of the PIPE is to raise additional capital for use by the combined company following the Closing.
Pursuant to the Subscription Agreements, the Company agreed that, by the later of 30 calendar days and 20 business days after the consummation of the Proposed Transactions, the Company will file with the SEC (at the Company’s sole cost and expense) a registration statement registering the resale of the PIPE Shares (the “PIPE Resale Registration Statement”), and the Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to have the PIPE Resale Registration Statement declared effective as soon as practicable after the filing thereof, but no later than the earlier of (i) the 60th calendar day (or 120th calendar day if the SEC notifies the Company that it will “review” the PIPE Resale Registration Statement) following the Closing and (ii) the 10th business day after the date the Company is notified (orally or in writing, whichever is earlier) by the SEC that the PIPE Resale Registration Statement will not be “reviewed” or will not be subject to further review.
On December 29, 2021, the Company entered into a Subscription Agreement with the Subscriber, pursuant to which the Subscriber agreed to purchase, and the Company agreed to sell the Subscriber, 5,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value of $0.0001 per share (the “Additional PIPE Shares”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase price of $50,000,000 in a private placement. Pursuant to the Subscription Agreement, the Additional PIPE Shares will be sold upon the same terms and conditions as those set forth in those certain Subscription Agreements entered into between the Company and certain other investors on September 8, 2021 in connection with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement among the Company, the Merger Sub and Energy Vault. The closing of the sale of the Additional PIPE Shares pursuant to the Subscription Agreement is contingent upon, among other customary closing conditions, the concurrent consummation of the Proposed Transactions. The purpose of the sale of the Additional PIPE Shares is to raise additional capital for use by the combined company following the closing of the Proposed Transactions.
Vendor Agreements
On April 30, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with a vendor for investment banking services related to the pending Business Combination. Specifically, the agreement relates to assisting in raising the funds as part of the PIPE financing. The agreement calls for the vendor to receive a contingent fee equal to 70% of the total placement fee paid as part of the PIPE financing which is expected to equal 5% of the gross proceeds of securities sold in the PIPE placement.
On May 21, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with a vendor for financial advisement services related to the Business Combination. The agreement calls for the vendor to receive a contingent fee in the amount of $7,500,000 plus expenses. In addition, the agreement contains an additional contingent fee provision of 1% of the gross proceeds of any equity or equity-linked securities sold in connection with the Business Combination.
On September 13, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with a vendor for capital market advisement services related to the Business Combination. The agreement calls for the vendor to receive a contingent fee in the amount of $500,000 upon the consummation of the Business Combination.
On September 29, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with a vendor for tax advisory services related to the Business Combination agreement. The agreement calls for the vendor to receive a fee of $20,000 a month through December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2021, the Company incurred legal fees of approximately $2,750,000. These fees will only become due and payable upon the consummation of an initial Business Combination.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company incurred printer fees of approximately $336,000. These fees will only become due and payable upon the consummation of an initial Business Combination.
NOTE 7. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 shares of $0.0001 par value preferred stock. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were 0 shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.
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Class A Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue up to 500,000,000 shares of Class A, $0.0001 par value common stock. Holders of the Company’s common stock are entitled to 1 vote for each share. At December 31, 2021, there were 28,750,000 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding which are presented as temporary equity. At December 31, 2020, there were 0 shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.
Class B Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue up to 20,000,000 shares of Class B, $0.0001 par value common stock. Holders of the Company’s common stock are entitled to 1 vote for each share. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were 7,187,500 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding.
Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of shareholders, except as required by law.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment). In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of the Initial Public Offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, and any private placement-equivalent warrants issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to the Company).
NOTE 8 — INCOME TAX
The Company’s net deferred tax assets (liability) at December 31, 2021 and 2020 are as follows:
| | | | | | |
|
| December 31, |
| December 31, | ||
|
| 2021 |
| 2020 | ||
Deferred tax assets |
| |
|
| |
|
Net operating loss carryforward | | $ | 34,842 | | $ | 232 |
Startup/Organization Expenses | |
| 223,983 | |
| — |
Total deferred tax assets | |
| 258,825 | |
| 232 |
Valuation Allowance | |
| (258,825) | |
| (232) |
Deferred tax assets (liability) | | $ | — | | $ | — |
The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 consists of the following:
| | | | | | |
|
| December 31, |
| December 31, | ||
|
| 2021 | | 2020 | ||
Federal |
| |
|
| |
|
Current | | $ | — | | $ | — |
Deferred | |
| (258,593) | |
| (232) |
| | | | | | |
State and Local | |
|
| |
|
|
Current | |
| — | |
| — |
Deferred | |
| — | |
| — |
| | | | | | |
Change in valuation allowance | |
| 258,593 | |
| 232 |
Income tax provision | | $ | — | | $ | — |
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As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company has a total of $165,916 and $0, respectively, of U.S. federal net operating loss carryovers available to offset future taxable income. The federal net operating loss can be carried forward indefinitely. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company did not have any state net operating loss carryovers available to offset future taxable income.
In assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax assets (liabilities), projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the change in the valuation allowance was $258,593. For the period from September 29, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the change in the valuation allowance was $232.
A reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate at December 31, 2021 and 2020 is as follows:
| | | | | |
|
| December 31, |
| December 31, |
|
| | 2021 | | 2020 | |
Statutory federal income tax rate |
| 21.0 | % | 21.0 | % |
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit |
| 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % |
Deferred tax liability change in rate |
| 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % |
Change in fair value of Warrant Liability |
| (11.7) | % | — | % |
Compensation Expense |
| 0.0 | % | — | % |
Transaction costs - warrants |
| (1.5) | % | — | % |
Meals and entertainment |
| 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % |
Valuation allowance |
| (7.8) | % | (21.0) | % |
Income tax provision |
| 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % |
The Company’s effective tax rates for the periods presented differ from the expected (statutory) rates due to changes in fair value in warrants, transaction costs associated with warrants and the recording of full valuation allowances on deferred tax assets.
The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and is subject to examination by the various taxing authorities. The Company’s tax returns for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 remain open and subject to examination. The Company considers Indianapolis to be a significant state tax jurisdiction.
NOTE 9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820 for its financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at least annually.
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
Level 1:Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.
Level 2:Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.
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Level 3:Unobservable inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2021 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value. At December 31, 2020 there were no assets or liabilities that were measured at fair value.
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
| | |
| | |
| Significant |
| Significant | ||
| | | | | Quoted Prices | | Other | | Other | |||
| | | | | in Active | | Observable | | Unobservable | |||
| | | | | Markets | | Inputs | | Inputs | |||
Description | | December 31, 2021 | | (Level 1) | | (Level 2) | | (Level 3) | ||||
Assets: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Marketable securities held in Trust Account |
| $ | 287,515,823 | | $ | 287,515,823 |
| $ | — | | $ | — |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Liabilities: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Warrant Liability – Public Warrants | | $ | 11,979,166 | | $ | 11,979,166 | | $ | — | | $ | — |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Warrant Liability – Private Placement Warrants | | $ | 6,458,333 | | $ | — | | $ | — | | $ | 6,458,333 |
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2 and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period in which a change in valuation technique or methodology occurs. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 measurement during the year ended December 31, 2021.
The Warrants are measured at fair value on a recurring basis. The Public Warrants were initially valued using a Modified Monte Carlo Simulation. As of December 31, 2021, the Public Warrants were valued using the instrument’s publicly listed trading price as of the consolidated balance sheet date, which is considered to be a Level 1 measurement due to the use of an observable market quote in an active market.
The Private Placement Warrants were valued using a Modified Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model, which is considered to be a Level 3 fair value measurement. The primary unobservable input utilized in determining the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants is the expected volatility of our common stock. The expected volatility of the Company’s common stock was determined based on the implied volatility of the Public Warrants.
The key inputs into the Modified Montel Carlo Simulation and the Modified Black-Scholes Option Pricing model for Warrants were as follows:
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | February 8, 2021 | | December 31, |
| |||||
| | Initial Measurement | | 2021 |
| |||||
| | Public | | Private | | Private |
| |||
Input |
| Warrants |
| Warrants |
| Warrants |
| |||
Risk-free interest rate |
| | 0.48 | % | | 0.48 | % | | 1.26 | % |
Expected term (years) |
| | 5.00 |
| | 5.00 |
| | 5.00 | |
Expected volatility |
| | 21.0 | % | | 21.0 | % | | 18.12 | % |
Exercise price | | $ | 11.50 | | $ | 11.50 | | $ | 11.50 | |
Stock Price | | $ | 10.00 | | $ | 10.00 | | $ | 9.90 | |
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The following table presents the changes in the fair value of Level 3 warrant liabilities:
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | Private | | | | | Warrant |
| ||
|
| Placement |
| Public |
| Liabilities |
| |||
Fair value as of January 1, 2021 |
| $ | — |
| $ | — |
| $ | — | |
Initial measurement on February 8, 2021 | | | 5,838,333 | | | 10,733,333 | | | 16,571,666 | |
Change in fair value | | | 620,000 | | | 1,245,833 | | | 1,865,833 | |
Transfer to Level 1 | | | — | | | (11,979,166) | | | (11,979,166) | |
Fair value as of December 31, 2021 |
| $ | 6,458,333 |
| $ | — |
| $ | 6,458,333 | |
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2 and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period in which a change in valuation technique or methodology occurs. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 fair value measurement during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $11,979,166.
NOTE 10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the consolidated balance sheet date up to the date that the consolidated financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events, other than noted below, that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.
On January 29, 2022, the Company entered into a Subscription Agreement with the Subscriber, pursuant to which the Subscriber agreed to purchase, and the Company agreed to sell the Subscriber, 5,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value of $0.0001 per share (the “Additional Pipe Shares”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase price of $50,000,000 in a private placement. Pursuant to the Subscription Agreement, the Additional PIPE Shares will be sold upon the same terms and conditions as those set forth in those certain Subscription Agreements entered into between the Company and certain other investors on September 8, 2021 in connection with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement among the Company, the Merger Sub and Energy Vault. The closing of the sale of the Additional PIPE Shares pursuant to the Subscription Agreement is contingent upon, among other customary closing conditions, the concurrent consummation of the Proposed Transactions. The purpose of the sale of the Additional PIPE Shares is to raise additional capital for use by the combined company following the closing of the Proposed Transactions.
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