PART I
References in this report to “we,” “us,” “our,” “Company” or “our Company” are to Oyster Enterprises Acquisition Corp., to “management” or our “management team” are to our directors and officers; and to the “sponsor” are to Oyster Enterprises LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. References to “founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as provided herein, and references to “initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering.
General
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation on October 22, 2020, and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this report as our initial business combination. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, we are a “shell company” as defined under the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
On January 22, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (the “IPO”) of 20,000,000 units (the “units”), each unit consisting of one share of Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A common stock”) and one-half of one redeemable warrant of the Company (each, a “warrant”), each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share (subject to adjustment). The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, and the IPO generated gross proceeds of $200,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated a private placement (the “Private Placement”) with our sponsor and Imperial Capital, LLC and I-Bankers Securities, Inc., the underwriters in the IPO (the “underwriters”), of an aggregate of 5,950,000 warrants (the “private placement warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $5,950,000. On January 22, 2021, a total of $200,000,000 of the net proceeds from the IPO and the Private Placement were deposited in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
On January 25, 2021, the underwriters exercised in full the option granted to them by the Company to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units solely to cover over-allotments, which option was granted to them under the underwriting agreement for the IPO. The sale of these 3,000,000 additional units closed on January 28, 2021, generating gross proceeds of $30,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the over-allotment option, we consummated a private placement (the “Additional Private Placement” and, together with the Private Placement, the “Private Placements”) with our sponsor and the underwriters of an aggregate of an additional 600,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $600,000. On January 28, 2021, a total of $30,000,000 of the net proceeds from the closing of the over-allotment option and the Additional Private Placement were deposited into the Trust Account, resulting in a total deposit of $230,000,000 in the Trust Account since the Trust Account was established. The net proceeds deposited into the Trust Account remain on deposit in the Trust Account earning interest and are available for a business combination, assuming no redemptions, after payment of up to $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees, before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination.
Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to us to pay our tax obligations (less up to $100,000 interest to pay dissolution expenses), the proceeds deposited in the Trust Account will not be released from the Trust Account until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 22, 2023, or (ii) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination by January 22, 2023, subject to applicable law. The proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be invested only in U.S. government securities 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 of 1940, as amended, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.