UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
| ☒ | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended March 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________________
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Cayman Islands | 001-39983 | 98-1567976 |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (Commission File Number) | (IRS Employer Identification No.) |
2 Rousseau Street San Francisco, California | 94112 | |
| (Address Of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
(415) 404-6356
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
| Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, and one-half of one redeemable warrant | KRNLU | Nasdaq Capital Market |
| Class A ordinary shares included as part of the units | KRNL | Nasdaq Capital Market |
| Redeemable warrants included as part of the units | KRNLW | Nasdaq Capital Market |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
| Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ |
| Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☒ No ☐
As of June 4, 2021, 30,475,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 7,618,750 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, were issued and outstanding, respectively.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
Form 10-Q
For the Quarter Ended March 31, 2021
| Page | ||
| PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION | ||
| Item 1. | 1 | |
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| Item 2. | 18 | |
| Item 3. | 22 | |
| Item 4. | 22 | |
| PART II. OTHER INFORMATION | ||
| Item 1. | 23 | |
| Item 1A. | 23 | |
| Item 2. | 24 | |
| Item 3. | 25 | |
| Item 4. | 25 | |
| Item 5. | 25 | |
| Item 6. | 25 | |
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
| (Unaudited) | ||||||||
| Assets: | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | 853,921 | $ | - | ||||
| Prepaid expenses | 800,711 | 7,291 | ||||||
| Total current assets | 1,654,632 | 7,291 | ||||||
| Investments held in Trust Account | 304,754,173 | - | ||||||
| Deferred offering costs associated with the initial public offering | - | 323,450 | ||||||
| Total Assets | $ | 306,408,805 | $ | 330,741 | ||||
| Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity: | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 16,739 | $ | 25,848 | ||||
| Accrued expenses | 70,000 | 263,000 | ||||||
| Accrued expenses - related party | 20,000 | - | ||||||
| Note payable - related party | - | 40,000 | ||||||
| Advance from related party | 13,095 | - | ||||||
| Total current liabilities | 119,834 | 328,848 | ||||||
| Deferred underwriting commissions | 10,666,250 | - | ||||||
| Warrant liabilities | 37,660,375 | - | ||||||
| Total liabilities | 48,446,459 | 328,848 | ||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies | ||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 25,296,234 and 0 shares subject to possible redemption at $10.00 per share as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively | 252,962,340 | - | ||||||
| Shareholders' Equity: | ||||||||
| Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | - | - | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 5,178,766 and 0 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 25,296,234 and 0 shares subject to possible redemption) as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively | 517 | - | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 7,618,750 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 | 762 | 762 | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 11,716,346 | 24,238 | ||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (6,717,619 | ) | (23,107 | ) | ||||
| Total shareholders' equity | 5,000,006 | 1,893 | ||||||
| Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity | $ | 306,408,805 | $ | 330,741 | ||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 (Unaudited) | ||||
| Operating expenses | ||||
| General and administrative expenses | $ | 432,147 | ||
| Administrative fees - related party | 20,000 | |||
| Loss from Operations | (452,147 | ) | ||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | 175,000 | |||
| Loss on issuance of Private Placement Warrants | (5,162,500 | ) | ||
| Offering costs associated with issuance of warrants | (1,259,038 | ) | ||
| Income from investments held in Trust Account | 4,173 | |||
| Net loss | $ | (6,694,512 | ) | |
| Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A ordinary shares, basic and diluted | 30,475,000 | |||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A ordinary shares | $ | 0.00 | ||
| Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B ordinary shares, basic and diluted | 7,232,292 | |||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class B ordinary shares | $ | (0.93 | ) | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
For The Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 (Unaudited)
| Ordinary Shares | Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Paid-in | Accumulated | Shareholders' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - December 31, 2020 | - | $ | - | 7,618,750 | $ | 762 | $ | 24,238 | $ | (23,107 | ) | $ | 1,893 | |||||||||||||||
| Sale of units in initial public offering, less allocation to derivative warrant liabilities | 30,475,000 | 3,047 | - | - | 280,824,077 | - | 280,827,124 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Offering costs | - | - | - | - | (16,172,159 | ) | - | (16,172,159 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | (25,296,234 | ) | (2,530 | ) | - | - | (252,959,810 | ) | - | (252,962,340 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | - | - | - | - | - | (6,694,512 | ) | (6,694,512 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - March 31, 2021 (unaudited) | 5,178,766 | $ | 517 | 7,618,750 | $ | 762 | $ | 11,716,346 | $ | (6,717,619 | ) | $ | 5,000,006 | |||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 (Unaudited) | ||||
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||
| Net loss | $ | (6,694,512 | ) | |
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | (175,000 | ) | ||
| Loss on issuance of Private Placement Warrants | 5,162,500 | |||
| Income from Investments held in Trust Account | (4,173 | ) | ||
| Offering costs associated with issuance of warrants | 1,259,038 | |||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||
| Prepaid expenses | (793,420 | ) | ||
| Accrued expenses | 3,956 | |||
| Accrued expenses - related party | 20,000 | |||
| Net cash used in operating activities | (1,221,611 | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||
| Cash deposited in Trust Account | (304,750,000 | ) | ||
| Net cash used in investing activities | (304,750,000 | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||
| Proceeds from note payable to related party | 32,000 | |||
| Repayment of note payable to related party | (77,000 | ) | ||
| Proceeds received from initial public offering | 304,750,000 | |||
| Proceeds received from private placement | 8,750,000 | |||
| Offering costs paid | (6,629,468 | ) | ||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 306,825,532 | |||
| Net increase in cash | 853,921 | |||
| Cash - beginning of the period | - | |||
| Cash - end of the period | $ | 853,921 | ||
| Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: | ||||
| Offering costs included in accounts payable | $ | 12,385 | ||
| Accrued offering costs | $ | 70,000 | ||
| Offering costs included in note payable | $ | 5,000 | ||
| Offering costs included in advance from related party | $ | 13,095 | ||
| Reversal of accrued offering costs | $ | 263,000 | ||
| Deferred underwriting commissions | $ | 10,666,250 | ||
| Initial value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | 290,803,650 | ||
| Change in value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | 37,841,310 | ||
| Initial value of derivative warrant liabilities | $ | 37,835,375 | ||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operations
Kernel Group Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on November 10, 2020. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses that the Company has not yet identified (“Business Combination”).
As of March 31, 2021, the Company had not yet commenced operations. All activity for the period from November 10, 2020 (inception) through March 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.
The Company’s sponsor is Kernel Capital Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on February 2, 2021. On February 5, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 30,475,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), including 3,975,000 additional Units to cover the underwriters’ over-allotment (the “Over-Allotment Units”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of approximately $304.8 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.4 million, of which approximately $10.7 million was for deferred underwriting commissions (Note 6).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 8,750,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $8.8 million (Note 4).
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, approximately $304.8 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and will be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of its Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. The Company’s initial Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time the Company signs a definitive agreement in connection with the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target business 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 of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Company will provide its holders of the Public Shares (the “Public Shareholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company. The Public Shareholders 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 share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 6). These Public Shares will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which will be adopted by the Company upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering (the “Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transactions is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a Public Shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the holders of the Founder Shares prior to this Initial Public Offering (the “Initial Shareholders”) 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 a Business Combination. In addition, the Initial Shareholders agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination. In addition, the Company agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial Business Combination without the prior consent of the Sponsor.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% or more of the Class A ordinary shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors agreed not to propose an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow the redemption of its Public Shares in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or February 5, 2023, (the “Combination Period”) or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination 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 taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
In connection with the redemption of 100% of the Company’s outstanding Public Shares for a portion of the funds held in the Trust Account, each holder will receive a full pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay the Company’s taxes payable (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses).
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Initial Shareholders agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Initial Shareholders should acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Company’s Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution in the Trust Account will be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the Trust Account. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses 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. There can be no guarantee that the Company will be successful in obtaining such waivers from its targeted vendors and service providers.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of March 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $0.9 million in its operating bank account, and a working capital of approximately $1.5 million.
The Company’s liquidity needs to date have been satisfied through a contribution of $25,000 from Sponsor to cover for certain expenses in exchange for the issuance of the Founder Shares, the loan of $77,000 from the Sponsor under the Note (see Note 5), and the proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. The Company repaid approximately $13,000 of the Note on February 5, 2021 and repaid the remaining amount due on the Note of approximately $64,000 on February 10, 2021. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide the Company Working Capital Loans (see Note 5). As of March 31, 2021, there were no amounts outstanding under any Working Capital Loan.
Based on the foregoing, management believes that the Company will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors to meet its needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, the Company will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.
Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X of the SEC. Certain information or footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP. In the opinion of management, the unaudited condensed financial statements reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments necessary for the fair statement of the balances and results for the periods presented. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected through December 31, 2021.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in the Current Report on Form 8-K and the final prospectus filed by the Company with the SEC on February 11, 2021 and February 4, 2021, respectively.
Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements
In April 2021, the Company identified a misstatement in its accounting treatment for warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering (the “Public Warrants”) and the Private Placement Warrants (collectively, the “Warrants”) as presented in its audited balance sheet as of February 5, 2021 included in its Current Report on Form 8-K, filed February 11, 2021. The Warrants were reflected as a component of equity as opposed to liabilities on the balance sheet. Pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 250, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections, and Staff Accounting Bulletin 99, "Materiality") ("SAB 99") issued by the SEC, the Company determined the impact of the error was immaterial. The following balance sheet items were impacted from the error correction as of February 11, 2021: an increase of $37.8 million in warrant liabilities; a decrease of $37.8 million in the amount of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption; an increase of $6.4 million in additional paid-in capital; and an increase of $6.4 million in accumulated deficit.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statement with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires 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 financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation coverage limit of $250,000. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.
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 had no cash equivalents as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
Investments Held in Trust Account
The Company’s portfolio of investments held in trust is comprised solely of 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 investments in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities, or a combination thereof. The Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of these investments are included in interest income held in Trust Account in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements”, approximates the carrying amounts represented in the condensed balance sheet.
Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
| • | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
| • | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| • | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The 15,237,500 warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering (the “Public Warrants”) and the 8,750,000 Private Placement Warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815. Accordingly, the Company recognizes the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised. The fair value of warrants issued in connection with the Private Placement has been estimated using Monte-Carlo simulations at each balance sheet date. The fair value of the warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering was initially measured using a Monte-Carlo simulation model at each measurement date and subsequently been measured based on the market price when separately listed and traded.
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the Initial Public Offering that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs are allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities are expensed as incurred, presented as non-operating expenses in the condensed statement of operations. Offering costs associated with the Class A ordinary shares issued were charged to shareholders’ equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had 25,296,234 and 0, respectively of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s condensed balance sheets.
Income Taxes
The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes”. ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman federal income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statement. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Net Income (Loss) per Ordinary Shares
Net income (loss) per ordinary share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering (including the consummation of the over-allotment option) and the Private Placement Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 30,475,000 Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted loss per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such warrants would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method.
The Company’s unaudited condensed statement of operations includes a presentation of loss per share for ordinary shares subject to redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income per ordinary share. Net loss per share, basic and diluted for Class A ordinary shares for the three months ended March 31, 2021 is calculated by dividing the loss on marketable securities, income on investments held in Trust Account of approximately $4,000, by the weighted average number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the period.
Net income (loss) per ordinary share, basic and diluted, for Class B ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the net income (loss), adjusted for income or loss attributed to Class A ordinary shares, by the weighted average number of shares of Class B ordinary shares outstanding for the period.
At March 31, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then participate in the earnings. As a result, diluted income per ordinary share is the same as basic net income per ordinary share for the period presented.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“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. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
The Company’s management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards updates, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s condensed financial statements.
Note 3 — Initial Public Offering
On February 5, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 30,475,000 Units, including 3,975,000 Over-Allotment Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of approximately $304.8 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.4 million, of which approximately $10.7 million was for deferred underwriting commissions.
Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 6).
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 4 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On November 19, 2020, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 for certain expenses on behalf of the Company in exchange for issuance of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”). On January 11, 2021, the Company effected a 1 for 1.25 forward stock split of the Founder Shares that increased the number of outstanding Founder Shares from 5,750,000 to 7,187,500 shares, and the Sponsor transferred an aggregate of 75,000 Founder Shares to the independent directors and an aggregate of 50,000 Founder Shares to the advisors. On February 2, 2021, the Company effected a 1 for 1.06 forward stock split of the Founder Shares that increased the number of outstanding Founder Shares from 7,187,500 to 7,618,750 shares and resulted in the Sponsor holding 7,493,750 Founder Shares. The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to an aggregate of 993,750 Founder Shares to the extent that the option to purchase additional Units was not exercised in full by the underwriters or was reduced, so that the Founder Shares would represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. On February 5, 2021, the underwriter fully exercised its over-allotment option; thus, these 993,750 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
The Initial Shareholders agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination and (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 8,750,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $8.8 million.
Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable except as described below in Note 7 and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
Related Party Transactions
On November 19, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 to be used for the payment of costs related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Note was non-interest bearing, unsecured and due upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Company borrowed $77,000 outstanding under the Note. The Company repaid approximately $13,000 on February 5, 2021 and repaid the remaining amount of approximately $64,000 on February 10, 2021. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had no borrowings under the Note.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date that the Company’s securities were first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination or its liquidation, the Company agreed to pay the Sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company incurred expenses of $20,000 under this agreement. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had accrued approximately $20,000 and $0, respectively, for services in connection with such agreement on the accompanying condensed balance sheets.
In addition, the Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on the Company’s behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. The audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by the Company to the Sponsor, officers or directors, or the Company’s or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial Business Combination will be made from funds held outside the Trust Account.
Note 5 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) were entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement signed upon the effective date of the Initial Public Offering. The holders of these securities were entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the final date of the prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 3,975,000 additional Units at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. On February 5, 2021, the underwriter fully exercised its over-allotment option.
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, approximately $6.1 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or approximately $10.7 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on 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 this condensed financial statement. The condensed financial statement does not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 6 — Shareholders’ Equity
Preference Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. At March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Class A Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. As of March 31, 2021, there were 5,178,766 Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding, excluding 25,296,234 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption. As of December 31, 2020, there were no Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding.
Class B Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. On November 19, 2020, the Company issued 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor. On January 11, 2021, the Company effected a 1 for 1.25 forward stock split of the Class B ordinary shares, resulting in an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. On February 2, 2021, the Company effected a 1 for 1.06 forward stock split of the Class B ordinary shares that increased the number of outstanding Class B ordinary shares from 7,187,500 to 7,618,750 shares. Of the 7,618,750 Class B ordinary shares outstanding, up to 993,750 Class B ordinary shares were subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Class B ordinary shares would collectively represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Initial Public Offering. On February 5, 2021, the underwriter fully exercised its over-allotment option; thus, these 993,750 Class B ordinary shares were no longer subject to forfeiture. There were 7,618,750 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
Class A ordinary shareholders and Class B ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Except as described below, holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the shareholders except as required by law.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial Business Combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of the Initial Public Offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities (as defined herein) or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor, its affiliates or any member of the management team upon conversion of Working Capital Loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one.
Note 7—Warrants
As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had 15,237,500 and 0 Public Warrants and 8,750,000 and 0 Private Placement Warrants outstanding, respectively.
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Public Warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or the Company permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under certain circumstances). The Company agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty (20) business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, the Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The warrants have an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments, and will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such 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 the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its 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, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except (i) that the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions, (ii) except as described below, the Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the Sponsor or such its permitted transferees and (iii) the Sponsor or its permitted transferees will have the option to exercise the Private Placement Warrants on a cashless basis and have certain registration rights. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00:
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may call the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and |
| • | if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the “closing price”) of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00:
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of Class A ordinary shares to be determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and |
| • | if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted), the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above. |
The “fair market value” of Class A ordinary shares for the above purpose shall mean the volume weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. In no event will the warrants be exercisable on a cashless basis in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
Note 8 — Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of March 31, 2021 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques that the Company utilized to determine such fair value. As of December 31, 2020, there were no assets or liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis.
| Fair Value Measured as of March 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | ||||||||||
| Assets | ||||||||||||
| Investments held in Trust Account - money market fund | $ | 304,754,173 | $ | - | $ | - | ||||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities - public warrants | 23,922,875 | - | ||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities - private warrants | - | - | 13,737,500 | |||||||||
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the beginning of the reporting period. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 fair value measurement in March 2021, upon trading of the Public Warrants in an active market. There were no other transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 during the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Level 1 assets include investments in money market funds that invest solely in U.S. Treasury securities. The Company uses inputs such as actual trade data, benchmark yields, quoted market prices from dealers or brokers, and other similar sources to determine the fair value of its investments.
KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.
NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For periods where no observable traded price was available, the fair value of the Public and Private Placement Warrants, issued in connection with the Public Offering, the Company utilizes a binomial Monte-Carlo simulation to estimate the fair value of the public warrants at each reporting period and Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model to estimate the fair value of the private warrants at each reporting period, with changes in fair value recognized in the statement of operations.
The change in the fair value of the derivative warrant liabilities, measured using Level 3 inputs, for three months ended March 31, 2021 is summarized as follows:
| Warrant liabilities at January 1, 2021 | $ | - | ||
| Issuance of Public and Private Warrants | 37,835,375 | |||
| Public Warrants transfer to Level 1 | (23,922,875 | ) | ||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | (175,000 | ) | ||
| Warrant liabilities at March 31, 2021 | $ | 13,737,500 |
The estimated fair value of the derivative warrant liabilities is determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in a Monte-Carlo simulation and Black-Scholes Option Pricing model are assumptions related to expected stock-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its ordinary shares based on historical volatility of select peer companies that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates remaining at zero.
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs as their measurement dates:
| February 5, 2021 | March 31, 2021 | |||||||
| Exercise price | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | ||||
| Stock Price | $ | 10.30 | $ | 9.98 | ||||
| Term (in years) | 6.59 | 6.44 | ||||||
| Volatility | 19.60 | % | 20.20 | % | ||||
| Risk-free interest rate | 0.76 | % | 1.27 | % | ||||
Note 9 — Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred up to the date unaudited condensed financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company determined that, except as disclosed in Note 2, there have been no events that have occurred that would require adjustments to the disclosures in the unaudited condensed financial statements.
| Item 2. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. |
References to the “Company,” “Kernel Group Holdings, Inc..,” “Kernel,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Kernel Group Holdings, Inc. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim condensed 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.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other SEC filings.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on November 10, 2020. We were formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). We are an emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
Our sponsor is Kernel Capital Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for our Initial Public Offering was declared effective on February 2, 2021. On February 5, 2021, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 30,475,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), including 3,975,000 additional Units to cover the underwriters’ over-allotment (the “Over-Allotment Units”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of approximately $304.8 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.4 million, of which approximately $10.7 million was for deferred underwriting commissions (Note 6).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 8,750,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $8.8 million (Note 4).
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, approximately $304.8 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and will be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of its Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. Our initial Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time we sign a definitive agreement in connection with the initial Business Combination. However, we will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target business 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 of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act.
If we are unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes that were paid by us or are payable by us, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of March 31, 2021, we had approximately $0.9 million in its operating bank account, and working capital of approximately $1.5 million.
Our liquidity needs to date have been satisfied through a contribution of $25,000 from Sponsor to cover for certain expenses in exchange for the issuance of the Founder Shares, the loan of $77,000 from the Sponsor under the Note (see Note 5), and the proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. We repaid approximately $13,000 of the Note on February 5, 2021 and repaid the remaining amount due on the Note of approximately $64,000 on February 10, 2021. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide the Company Working Capital Loans (see Note 5). As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2021, there were no amounts outstanding under any Working Capital Loan.
Based on the foregoing, management believes that we will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors to meet its needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on our financial position, results of our operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the condensed financial statements. The condensed financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Results of Operations
Our entire activity since inception up to March 31, 2021 was in preparation for our formation and the Initial Public Offering. We will not be generating any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial Business Combination.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, we had net loss of approximately $6.7 million, which consisted of approximately $4,000 of income from investments held in trust account, offset by a $5.0 million non-operating loss resulting from the change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities and approximately $452,000 in general and administrative expenses, and approximately $1.3 million in offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities.
Contractual Obligations
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination or its liquidation, we agreed to pay the Sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company incurred expenses of $20,000 under this agreement. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had accrued approximately $20,000 and $0, respectively, for services in connection with such agreement on the accompanying condensed balance sheets.
Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) were entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement signed upon the effective date of the Initial Public Offering. The holders of these securities were entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
We granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the final date of the prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 3,975,000 additional Units at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. On February 5, 2021, the underwriter fully exercised its over-allotment option.
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, approximately $6.1 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or approximately $10.7 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Critical Accounting Policies
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The 17,225,000 warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering (the “Public Warrants”) and the 8,750,000 Private Placement Warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815. Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised. The initial fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering and the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants have been estimated using a binomial lattice model in a risk-neutral framework.
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
We account for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, 25,296,234 and 0, respectively, of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.
Net Income (Loss) per Ordinary Share
Net income (loss) per ordinary share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering (including the consummation of the over-allotment option) and the Private Placement Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 30,475,000 Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted loss per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such warrants would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method.
The Company’s unaudited condensed statement of operations includes a presentation of loss per share for ordinary shares subject to redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income per ordinary share. Net loss per share, basic and diluted for Class A ordinary shares for the three months ended March 31, 2021 is calculated by dividing the loss on marketable securities, income on investments held in Trust Account of approximately $4,000, by the weighted average number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the period.
Net income (loss) per ordinary share, basic and diluted, for Class B ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the net income (loss), adjusted for income or loss attributed to Class A ordinary shares, by the weighted average number of shares of Class B ordinary shares outstanding for the period.
At March 31, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then participate in the earnings. As a result, diluted income per ordinary share is the same as basic net income per ordinary share for the period presented.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“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. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
The Company’s management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards updates, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s condensed financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of March 31, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our Initial Public Offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
| Item 3. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk |
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item. As of March 31, 2021, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. The net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, including amounts in the Trust Account, will be invested in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception and we do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed.
| Item 4. | Controls and Procedures |
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2021, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation and in light of the SEC Staff Statement, our Certifying Officers concluded that, solely due to the Company’s misapplication of the accounting for the Company’s warrants as liabilities, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of March 31, 2021. In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our unaudited interim financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”) present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
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.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2021 covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting as the circumstances that led to the revision of our financial statements had not yet been identified. Management has implemented remediation steps to address the material weakness and to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards.
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
| Item 1. | Legal Proceedings |
None.
| Item 1A. | Risk Factors |
As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, there have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in our final prospectus filed with the SEC on February 4, 2021, except for the below risk factor. We may disclose changes to such factors or disclose additional factors from time to time in our future filings with the SEC.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results and thus may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities.
On April 12, 2021, the staff of the SEC (the “SEC Staff”) issued a public statement entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”) (the “SEC Staff Statement”). In the SEC Staff Statement, the SEC Staff expressed its view that certain terms and conditions common to SPAC warrants may require the warrants to be classified as liabilities on the SPAC’s balance sheet as opposed to equity. As a result of the SEC Staff Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our 15,237,500 Public Warrants and 8,750,000 Private Placement Warrants, and determined to classify the warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings.
As a result, included on our condensed balance sheet as of March 31, 2021 contained elsewhere in this Quarterly Report are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our warrants. ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statement of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors, which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting 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 result a material adverse effect on our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
Following the issuance of the SEC Staff Statement, after consultation with our independent registered public accounting firm, management identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for the warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering. Our internal control over financial reporting did not result in the proper accounting classification of the warrants, which, due to its impact on our financial statements, we determined to be a material weakness.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. Any failure to maintain internal control over our financial reporting could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results from operations on a timely and accurate basis, which could delay or disrupt our efforts to consummate an initial business combination. If our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we may also be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our ability to consummate an initial business combination. We have expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards and continue to evaluate other steps to remediate the material weakness.
In addition, as a result of such material weakness, the change in accounting for our 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 weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this 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.
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 shareholders 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 shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of income taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
| Item 2. |
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the Private Placement of 8,750,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $8.8 million.
In connection with the Initial Public Offering, our sponsor had agreed to loan us an aggregate of up to $300,000 pursuant to the Note. This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. As of March 31, 2021, the loan balance was $0.
Of the gross proceeds received from the Initial Public Offering and the full exercise of the option to purchase additional Shares, $304,750,000 was placed in the Trust Account. The net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the Private Placement are invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less and 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.
We paid a total of approximately $6.7 million in underwriting discounts and commissions related to the Initial Public Offering. In addition, the underwriters agreed to defer $10.7 million in underwriting discounts and commissions.
| Item 3. | Defaults upon Senior Securities |
None.
| Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures. |
Not applicable.
| Item 5. | Other Information. |
None.
| Item 6. | Exhibits. |
Exhibit Number | Description | |
| Certification of Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | ||
| Certification of Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | ||
| Certification of Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | ||
| Certification of Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | ||
| 101.INS | XBRL Instance Document | |
| 101.SCH | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |
| 101.CAL | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |
| 101.DEF | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |
| 101.LAB | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | |
| 101.PRE | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document |
| * | These certifications are furnished to the SEC pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and are deemed not filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, nor shall they be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing. |
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| Dated: June 8, 2021 | KERNEL GROUP HOLDINGS, INC. | |
| By: | /s/ Mark Gross | |
| Name: | Mark Gross | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
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