Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4)
Registration No. 333-254502
PROSPECTUS
$200,000,000
Chain Bridge I
20,000,000 Units
Chain Bridge I is a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as our initial business combination. We have not selected any business combination partner and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination partner.
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, terms and limitations as described herein. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any.
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations as described herein. The amount in the trust account will initially be $10.20 per unit and such amount may be increased by $0.10 per unit for each three-month extension of our time to consummate our initial business combination, as described herein. If we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 24 months if we extend the period of time), we will redeem 100% of the public shares for cash, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as described herein. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may, but are not obligated to, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by an additional three months, up to two times (for a total of up to 24 months to complete a business combination), as described in more detail in this prospectus. Our public shareholders will not be offered the opportunity to vote on or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension.
Our sponsor, Chain Bridge Group, and CB Co-Investment LLC (an affiliate of one of the underwriters in this offering) (“CB Co-Investment”) have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 9,500,000 warrants (or 10,550,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $1.00 per warrant, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of this offering for an aggregate purchase price of $9,500,000 (or $10,550,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Among the private placement warrants, 7,875,000 warrants (or 8,775,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by our sponsor and/or its designees and 1,625,000 warrants (or 1,775,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be purchased by CB Co-Investment and/or its designees. Each private warrant is identical to the public warrants sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus.
In addition, CB Co-Investment has agreed to lend us $1,000,000 (or $1,150,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) as of the closing date of this offering at no interest, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as the CB Co-Investment loan. The CB Co-Investment loan shall be repaid upon the closing of our initial business combination or converted into private placement warrants at a conversion price of $1.00 per warrant, at CB Co-Investment’s discretion, provided that any such conversion may not occur until after the 60th day following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Such private placement warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants to be sold to our sponsor and CB Co-Investment concurrently with the closing of this offering. The CB Co-Investment loan is being extended in order to ensure that the amount in the trust account is $10.20 per public share. If we do not complete an initial business combination, we will not repay the CB Co-Investment loan from amounts held in the trust account, and its proceeds will be distributed to our public shareholders; however, the CB Co-Investment loan may be repaid if there are funds available outside the trust account to do so.
Our initial shareholders, including our sponsor and CB Co-Investment, currently own an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (up to 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full) which will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination as described herein. Our sponsor owns 4,660,190 Class B ordinary shares (up to 625,714 of which are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full) and CB Co-Investment owns 933,810 Class B ordinary shares (up to 124,286 of which are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full). Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors.
Franklin Strategic Series — Franklin Growth Opportunities Fund (“Franklin”) entered into a forward purchase agreement with us, whereby Franklin may purchase, in its sole discretion, 4,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 2,000,000 redeemable warrants, for an aggregate purchase price of $40,000,000, in a private placement to close substantially concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The obligations under the forward purchase agreement do not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by our public shareholders. The forward purchase securities sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreement will be identical to the Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants included in the units being sold in this offering, respectively, except that Franklin will have certain registration rights, as described herein. The capital from such private placement would be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, and any excess capital from such private placement would be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. An affiliate of Franklin is a member of our sponsor and, as a result, has an indirect economic interest in a portion of the founder shares owned by our sponsor and the private placement warrants to be issued to our sponsor.
Currently, there is no public market for our securities. We have been approved to list our units on the Nasdaq Global Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “CBRGU”. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on Nasdaq under the symbols “CBRG” and “CBRGW”, respectively, on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Cowen and Company, LLC, and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC inform us of their decision to permit earlier separate trading and we have satisfied certain conditions described herein.
We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting company” under applicable federal securities laws and, as such, will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 43 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
| | | Per Unit | | | Total | |
Public offering price | | | | $ | 10.00 | | | | | $ | 200,000,000 | | |
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) | | | | $ | 0.20 | | | | | $ | 4,000,000 | | |
Proceeds, before expenses, to us | | | | $ | 9.80 | | | | | $ | 196,000,000 | | |
(1)
The underwriters will receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount. See also “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)” for a description of compensation and other items of value payable or granted to the underwriters.
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the proceeds from the CB Co-Investment loan described in this prospectus, $204,000,000, or $234,600,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.20 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a U.S. based trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.
The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriter expects to deliver the units to the purchasers on November 15, 2021.
Joint Book Running Managers
CowenWells Fargo Securities
November 9, 2021