As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 20, 2021.
Registration No. 333
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE
SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
RF Acquisition Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | | 6770 (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) | | | 61-1991323 (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) | |
111 Somerset, #05-06
Singapore 238164
+65 6904 0766
Singapore 238164
+65 6904 0766
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Puglisi & Associates
850 Library Avenue
Newark, Delaware 19711
Tel: (302) 738-6680
850 Library Avenue
Newark, Delaware 19711
Tel: (302) 738-6680
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
| Simon Luk Winston & Strawn LLP 42nd Floor Bank of China Tower 1 Garden Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2292 2000 | | | Michael J. Blankenship Winston & Strawn LLP 800 Capitol Street, Suite 2400 Houston, Texas 77002 Tel: (713) 651-2600 | | | Mitchell S. Nussbaum Giovanni Caruso Loeb & Loeb LLP 345 Park Avenue New York, New York 10154 Telephone: (212) 407-4000 | |
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. ☐
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non- accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the 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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
| | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title of Each Class of Security Being Registered | | | | Amount Being Registered | | | | Proposed Maximum Offering Price per Security(1) | | | | Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1) | | | | Amount of Registration Fee | | |||||||||
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, one-half of one redeemable warrant, and one right to receive one-tenth of one share of Class A common stock(2) | | | | 11,500,000 Units | | | | | $ | 10.00 | | | | | | $ | 115,000,000 | | | | | | $ | 10,661 | | |
Shares of Class A common stock included as part of the units(3) | | | | 11,500,000 Shares | | | | | | — | | | | | | | — | | | | | | | —(4) | | |
Redeemable Warrants included as part of the units(3) | | | | 5,750,000 Warrants | | | | | | — | | | | | | | — | | | | | | | —(4) | | |
Rights included as part of the units | | | | 11,500,000 Rights | | | | | | — | | | | | | | — | | | | | | | —(4) | | |
Shares of Class A common stock underlying the Redeemable Warrants included as part of the Units | | | | 5,750,000 Shares | | | | | $ | 11.50(5) | | | | | | $ | 66,125,000 | | | | | | $ | 6,130 | | |
EBC founder shares of Class A common stock | | | | 200,000 Shares | | | | | $ | 0.0001 | | | | | | $ | 20 | | | | | | $ | 0.002 | | |
Shares of Class A common stock underlying the Rights included as part of the Units | | | | 1,150,000 Shares | | | | | $ | 10.00 | | | | | | $ | 11,500,000 | | | | | | $ | 1,066 | | |
Total | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | $ | 192,625,020 | | | | | | $ | 17,857 | | |
(1)
Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).
(2)
Includes 1,500,000 units, consisting of (i) 1,500,000 shares of Class A common stock, 750,000 redeemable warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriter to cover over-allotments, if any; and (ii) 1,500,000 rights, with each right entitling the holder to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock upon the closing of the business combination.
(3)
Pursuant to Rule 416, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.
(4)
No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g).
(5)
Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act, based on the price of the warrants.
RF Acquisition Corp. (the “Registrant”) hereby amends this registration statement (the “Registration Statement”) on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED DECEMBER 20, 2021
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS
$100,000,000
RF Acquisition Corp.
10,000,000 Units
RF Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau).
This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock, one-half of one redeemable warrant, and one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. Only whole warrants, shares, and rights are exercisable. No fractional warrants, nor shares, nor rights will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants, shares, and rights will trade. The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or our liquidation, as described herein. The underwriter has a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to 1,500,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any. Accordingly, you must purchase (1) at least two units or you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant, and (2) hold rights in multiples of 10 in order to receive shares for all of your rights upon closing of a business combination.
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Class A common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.
RF Dynamic LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our “sponsor,” and EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., the representative of the underwriters in this offering, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as EarlyBirdCapital,, have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase from us an aggregate of 4,550,000 warrants, or “private warrants,” at $1.00 per warrant (4,050,000 private warrants by our sponsor and 500,000 private warrants by EarlyBirdCapital) for a total purchase price of $4,550,000 in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, they will purchase from us additional private warrants on a pro rata basis (up to a maximum of 450,000 private warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant) in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.10 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional private warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The private warrants are identical to the warrants sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus.
Our initial stockholders currently own an aggregate of 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock (up to 375,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised), which will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to the adjustments described herein.
Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A common stock, rights, or warrants. We expect that our units will be listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “RFACU” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. We expect the shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants comprising the units to begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock, rights, and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “RFAC,” “RFACR,” and “RFACW,” respectively.
We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and 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 32 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 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 | | | | | $ | 100,000,000 | | |
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) | | | | $ | 0.55 | | | | | $ | 5,500,000 | | |
Proceeds, before expenses, to RF Acquisition Corp. | | | | $ | 9.45 | | | | | $ | 94,500,000 | | |
(1)
$0.20 per unit, or $2,000,000 in the aggregate (or $2,300,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), is payable upon the closing of this offering. Includes $0.35 per unit, or $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) payable to EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States and released to EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. only on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriter will receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount, including 200,000 Class A common stock, which we refer here in as to “EBC founder shares”. Please see the section titled “Underwriting” for further information relating to the arrangements agreed to between us and the underwriter.
Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $101,000,000, or $116,150,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.10 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.
The underwriter is offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriter expects to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about , 2022.
Book-Running Manager
EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.
, 2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriter is not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.
i
SUMMARY
This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.
Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:
•
“amended and restated certificate of incorporation” refers to our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be adopted in connection with the closing of this offering;
•
“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock;
•
“Company” refers to RF Acquisition Corp.;
•
“DGCL” refers to the Delaware General Corporation Law as the same may be amended from time to time;
•
“directors” are to our current directors and director nominees;
•
“EarlyBirdCapital” is EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., the underwriter in this offering;
•
“founder shares” are to shares of Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and the shares of Class A common stock that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at the time of our initial business combination as described herein;
•
“initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering;
•
“insiders” are the officers, directors, advisors, and initial stockholders in the Company;
•
“management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors;
•
“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor, insiders, and EarlyBirdCapital each in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering;
•
“public shares” are to shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);
•
“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” will only exist with respect to such public shares;
•
“public warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market), to the private placement warrants if held by third parties other than our sponsor or the underwriter (or permitted transferees), in each case, following the consummation of our initial business combination;
•
“EBC founder shares” are to shares of Class A common stock that were issued to EarlyBirdCapital prior to this offering at $0.0001 per share;
•
“rights” are to the rights sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market), each to receive one-tenth (1/10) of one Class A common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination;
•
“RFAC” are to the Company;
•
“sponsor” are to RF Dynamic LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, an affiliate of the Company;
•
“units” are to units sold in this offering, each consisting of one Class A common stock, one half of one redeemable warrant and one right; and
•
“we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to RF Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation.
Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriter will not exercise its over-allotment option.
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GENERAL
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic region. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau).
OVERVIEW
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geographic location, we intend to search globally for target companies within the Southeast Asian new economy sector or elsewhere. Our management team believes that in recent years, a wide range of technological breakthroughs have accelerated cycles of change, radically impacting industries and business models across the world. The transformative effects of innovation as diverse as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, cybersecurity, and ubiquitous mobile computing have upended industries both large and small.
We believe the current COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the aforementioned trend and is a catalyst for digital migration at a speed and on a scale never seen before. Individuals as well as small and large institutions have been forced to adapt to a new normal of living in a world where physical contact has been hindered and technology has become essential for both personal and business activities on a daily basis. Amidst these changes, we believe legacy business models that fail to adapt will eventually cease to exist while innovators that take advantage of the current situation will be awarded outsized opportunities to lead the upcoming changes.
Our management team believes that this widespread change is occurring everywhere in our lives, but it has been particularly strong in the business world. Major shifts are happening in the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors. We believe the market rewards those who see and understand its trajectory.
Capital markets have responded to this expanding opportunity. Global venture capital investments increased over 500% in the past decade, from $48 billion in 2010 to $295 billion in 2019, according to Crunchbase News. Those dollars are spread widely: more than 32,000 companies received venture funding in 2019 alone, according to Crunchbase News. These backings represent a significant commitment from investors — PWC/CB Insights recorded 219 private financings surpassing $100 million for private investments in 2019, representing over $50 billion deployed.
This confluence of enormous change and plentiful capital has created what we believe is a sizeable opportunity for wealth building, especially as private companies enter the public markets to fuel their next phase of growth. Our management team believes that there is demand from public market investors to locate and invest in a high growth financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, or education sectors company, debut it in the public markets and partner with it, as stockholders, to help the company elevate itself into the next multi-billion-dollar market cap company.
Management Team
Our team possess a wide-ranging set of competencies, including public market experience, financial acumen and an extensive track record of growth and value creation.
Tse Meng Ng, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, is a highly regarded and successful financier and businessman. In February 2019, Mr. Ng co-founded Ruifeng Wealth Management Pte Ltd, a Singapore Capital Markets Services licensed financial institution regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for which he serves as the chief executive officer. The company is a subsidiary of listed 2345 Network Technological Co. Ltd with a market capitalization of around $2 billion, and Mr. Ng and his team provide fund management services to ultra-high net worth individuals. From May 2014 to January 2019, Mr. Ng served as the Managing Director of Credit Agricole, an international full-service banking group. He was voted ‘Outstanding Young Private Banker’ in 2011 by Private Banker International, the leading journal for the
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global wealth management industry. Prior to that, Mr. Ng was a Director at Credit Suisse where he helped form the team that covered the North Asia markets and where he helped contribute the most net new money between 2008-2009. He started his career in 1998 at Citibank N.A where he managed a team of banking staff at a very young age. Mr. Ng earned a B.S. in Business from Nanyang Technological University.
Han Hsiung Lim, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, is an accomplished executive and leader. Mr. Lim retired from an 18-year career in the banking and asset management industry in 2018 and has since managed his own investments in public equities and fixed-income securities. From January 2016 to December 2017, Mr. Lim was a Senior Vice President in the Risk & Performance Management Department at GIC (formerly known as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), which manages Singapore’s foreign reserves. From April 2009 to December 2014, he served as the Head of Credit Risk Management in the Risk & Performance Management Department at GIC where he was responsible for approving, managing and mitigating the firmwide credit exposure of GIC to its trading counterparties. From February 2000 to April 2009, Mr. Lim worked within the Financial Markets Credit Group at DBS Bank, where rose up the ranks to Vice President in 2005 and was responsible for approving, managing and mitigating the firmwide credit exposure of DBS Bank to a portfolio of banks and non-bank financial institutions. He also has experience in managing credit exposure, as he was tasked with avoiding and mitigating DBS Bank’s potential losses during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Mr. Lim has a bachelor of business degree (First Class Honors), with a major in banking and a minor in hospitality, from the Nanyang Technological University.
Our Board
Our officer’s skills are complemented by our directors and advisors, who bring significant operating experience and relationships throughout the global banking and finance industry. In addition to Tse Meng Ng, who is expected to serve as Chairman of our board, and Benjamin Waisbren, Simon Eng Hock Ong, and Vincent Yang Hui are our additional director nominees.
Benjamin Waisbren has served on our board of directors since March 2021. Since 2014, Mr. Waisbren has served as the President of Virtually There Holdings LLC d/b/a Ben Waisbren & Associates, which advises media companies and firms involved in distressed situations. From April 2019 through July 2020, Mr. Waisbren served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer of NanoMech Inc., a nanotechnology company that he led through a Chapter 11 case and its sale to a global company. He is also on the board of Vistas Media Acquisition Company, a Nasdaq listed blank check company, and previously served on the board of Wild Bunch AG, the German-listed, Paris-based award-winning film co-production and distribution company for ten years. Mr. Waisbren also held attorney positions at Lord Bissell & Brook LLP (now Locke Lord LLP) and Winston & Strawn LLP, during and after which he was engaged by the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad money laundering matter. Mr. Waisbren’s impressive legal and business career make him an excellent candidate for our board of directors.
Simon Eng Hock Ong will serve on our board of directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Ong currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Rich Capital Holdings Limited, a company listed on SGX Catalist. Prior thereto, Mr. Ong worked as the Executive Director of Asiaphos Limited from 2012 through June 2019, and remains as with Asiaphos as a Non-Executive Director and as a member of their audit committee. Previously, Mr. Ong also served as Group Finance Manager and as Chief Financial Officer of Hwa Hong Corporation Limited, a company listed on SGX-ST Main Board, and as a director of corporate and financial planning of the King George Development Corporation, a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (formerly known as the Vancouver Stock Exchange). Mr. Ong has a degree in accounting from North East London Polytechnic (now known as the University of East London) and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a Certified Practicing Accountant in Australia. Mr. Ong’s experience working with public companies and his strong background in finance and accounting make him a strong candidate to serve on our board of directors.
Vincent Yang Hui will serve on our board of directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Hui currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of abComo eCommerce Pte Ltd, a multinational influencer platform that he founded in 2020. He also co-founded Long-bridge, an overseas asset investment company, in 2019, and Alphabit Consulting Pte Ltd, a Singapore based technology consulting company. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Hui served as a Business Development Director for the Alibaba Group and Ant Financial. Mr. Hui has a BSc in Information Management and Information Systems from the University of Electronic Science
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and Technology of China and a graduate diploma in systems analysis from the National University of Singpaore. Mr. Hui’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors includes his entreprennuerial experiences and educational background.
Our Advisors
In addition to the management team and board of directors, our team will include Chandra Tjan and Stephen Lee, who shall serve as advisors. None of these individuals have any contractual obligation to us or are otherwise required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs; however, we expect that certain of these individuals will, on average, dedicate a significant amount of their professional time on our affairs.
Chandra Tjan is a heralded entrepreneur with a record of success as a venture capitalist in Southeast Asia. Mr. Tjan started his career as a banker at Citigroup and Credit Suisse in Singapore. After a decade in the banking industry, Mr. Tjan saw a huge opportunity in Indonesia’s technology sector, and in 2009 he co-founded East Ventures, an early stage capital venture firm. During his tenure in Indonesia, Mr. Tjan was responsible for dozens of investments in early-stage start-ups, including the online marketplace Tokopedia and all-in-one travel booking platform Traveloka. In 2015, Chandra co-founded Alpha JWC Ventures, an institutionalised and independent VC fund targeting early-stage tech startups across Southeast Asia, with a strong focus in Indonesia. The firm currently manages approximately $200 million across two funds, making it the largest early-stage fund in Indonesia, with 36 active portfolio companies. With over a decade of experience in tech investment, Mr. Tjan has invested in over 60 companies in Asia and the United States. He currently sits on the board of some of the leading tech companies in Asia, including FundingSocieties, Carro, GudangAda, Bobobox and OnlinePajak. Mr. Tjan graduated from The University of Sydney with a triple major in finance, economics, and management, currently attends the Owner-President Management (OPM) Program at Harvard Business School, a 3-year residential program for business owners and entrepreneurs, and is a member of YPO’s (Young President Organization) global leadership community.
Stephen Lee is an experienced and respected executive with experience across a wide variety of sectors and industries. In 1994, Mr. Lee joined AIF Capital and has been a Partner and Investment Committee Member since 2001. He has been actively involved in deal origination, transaction execution, investment management and portfolio monitoring and represents AIF Capital on the boards of various portfolio companies. His sector investment experience includes manufacturing, industrial, media, pharmaceutical and healthcare, aquaculture, consumer, new materials, telecommunication, logistics and transportation in multiple countries, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore. Mr. Lee has been involved in multiple prominent deals in the Asia-Pacific region, including Aofeng Hi-Tech Company Limited (the largest carbon fiber composite company manufacturer in Asia), Oceanus Group Limited (the Singapore-listed leading aquatic company in Asia), CN Innovations Holdings Limited (the leading smartphone manufacturer in China and Asia), Shandong Buchang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (China’s largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine), Charm Communications Inc. (a leading Chinese media company in China that was previously listed in the United States), Bharti Infratel Limited (India’s largest mobile operator in India), Bestime Pharma (Asia) Limited (leading antibiotics drug manufacturer in China), PT Excelcomindo Pratama (leading mobile operator in Indonesia) and PT Marga Mandalasakti (operators of the longest toll road in Indonesia).
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and consummate an initial business combination with a company with operations or prospects in the Southeast Asian new economy sector or elsewhere. We shall not undertake our initial business combinations with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). We intend to focus on companies that complement the experience of our management team and that can benefit from the management team’s operational expertise. Our selection process will leverage our management team’s broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and proven deal-sourcing capabilities, providing us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Our management and sponsor have experience in:
•
investing and building businesses in the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors with unique market, policy and macroeconomic insights;
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managing and operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting top-notch talent;
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developing and growing companies, both organically and inorganically, and expanding the product ranges and geographic footprints of portfolio businesses;
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executing merger and acquisition strategies to accelerate growth and create integrated value chains;
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sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses in various markets;
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partnering with other industry-leading companies to increase sales and improve the competitive position of companies;
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fostering relationships with users, sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and
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accessing the capital markets, including capital sources in Asia and America, across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership.
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, though we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines:
•
Companies with operations or prospects in the Southeast Asian new economy sectors or elsewhere. Based upon our management team’s experience, we believe we will have increased access to investment opportunities and a competitive advantage in our ability to negotiate a business combination with potential targets in the Southeast Asian new economy. Our management team’s extensive experience and network of contacts provide them with an opportunity to source a target, evaluate a target, consummate a business combination with the target and help grow the target’s business.
•
Strong target management teams. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that have strong management teams with a proven track record of driving growth, building long-term competitive advantage and making sound strategic decisions.
•
Fundamentally sound companies that have the potential to further improve their performance under our ownership. We believe our management team’s experience in our target sectors as well as their network of industry contacts will create opportunities to enhance the revenue and operational efficiencies of the target business, and potentially generate higher returns for our investors.
•
Market leader. We intend to seek a target that has a leading presence across an industry or segment or has leading technology or product capabilities.
•
Appropriate valuations. We intend to be a disciplined and valuation-centric investor that will invest on terms that we believe are attractive relative to market comparables that provide significant upside potential.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. If we decide to enter into a business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we would file with the SEC.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience.
5
Our acquisition criteria, due diligence processes and value creation methods are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. If we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and consummate an initial business combination with a company with operations or prospects in the Southeast Asian new economy sector or elsewhere. We intend to focus on companies that complement the experience of our management team and that can benefit from the management team’s operational expertise. Our selection process will leverage our management team’s and our sponsor’s broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and proven deal-sourcing capabilities, providing us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Our management and sponsor have experience in:
•
investing and building businesses in the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors with unique market, policy and macroeconomic insights;
•
managing and operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting top-notch talent;
•
developing and growing companies, both organically and inorganically, and expanding the product ranges and geographic footprints of portfolio businesses;
•
executing merger and acquisition strategies to accelerate growth and create integrated value chains;
•
sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses in various markets;
•
partnering with other industry-leading companies to increase sales and improve the competitive position of companies;
•
fostering relationships with users, sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and
•
accessing the capital markets, including capital sources in Asia and America, across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership.
Permission Required from the PRC Authorities for this Offering and a Business Combination
As a Delaware corporation with no operations in China, we are not required to obtain permission from any Chinese authorities to operate or to issue the securities being issued in this offering to any investors, including Chinese investors, if any, and we do not expect the permission will be required from the Chinese authorities in connection with our business combination since we will not undertake our initial business combination with any entity that conducts a majority of its business or is headquartered in China (including Hong Kong and Macau).
INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
Nasdaq rules require, and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, that we must complete one or more initial business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to
6
do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In that case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
SOURCING OF POTENTIAL INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION TARGETS
We believe our management team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships will provide us with a substantial number of potential initial business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world, which includes private equity firms, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. This global network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, the reputation of our management team for integrity and fair dealing with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. In addition, members of our management team and board of directors have developed contacts from serving on the boards of directors of public companies. However, we shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau).
This global network has provided our management team with a flow of referrals that has resulted in numerous transactions which were proprietary or where a limited group of investors were invited to participate in the sale process. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us important sources of investment opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business combination candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, executive officers or directors. If we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking
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firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm stating that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team and our independent directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares, common stock, rights, and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
CORPORATE INFORMATION
Our executive offices are located at 111 Somerset, #05-06, Singapore 23864, and our telephone number is +65 6904 0766.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and
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(2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non- affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th.
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THE OFFERING
In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus.
Securities offered
10,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:
•
One share of Class A common stock;
•
One right (each right entitles the holder thereof to receive one-tenth (1/10) of one Class A common stock upon the consummation of a business combination); and
•
One-half of one redeemable warrant.
Proposed Nasdaq symbols
Units: “RFACU”
Class A common stock: “RFAC”
Warrants: “RFACW”
Rights: “RFACR”
Trading commencement and separation of shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants
The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless EarlyBirdCapital informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. In addition, no fractional Class A common stock in connection with an exchange of rights will be issued. Accordingly, unless you hold rights in multiples of tens, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole share of common stock.
Separate trading of the Class A common stock, rights, and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K
In no event will the Class A common stock, rights, and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this
10
offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which closing is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.
Units:
Number outstanding before this offering:
0
Number outstanding after this
offering
offering
10,000,000(1)
Common stock:
Number outstanding before this offering.
3,075,000(2)(3)
Number outstanding after this
offering
offering
12,700,000(1)(3)(4)
Warrants:
Number outstanding before this offering.
0
Number outstanding after this
offering
offering
9,550,000(5)
Exercisability
Each whole warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.
Exercise price
$11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor, our initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our Sponsor, initial stockholders 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 our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day after the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to
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115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per
(1)
Assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 375,000 founder shares by our sponsor for no consideration.
(2)
Includes up to 375,000 founder shares that will be forfeited by our initial stockholders depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised.
(3)
Founder shares are currently classified as shares of Class B common stock, which shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”
(4)
Includes 10,000,000 public shares, 2,500,000 founder shares and 200,000 EBC founder shares.
(5)
Includes 5,000,000 public warrants and 4,550,000 private warrants.
share redemption trigger price described below under “Redemption of Warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
Exercise Period
The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the 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 we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
We are registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, which may be within one year of this offering. However, because the warrants will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of our initial business combination, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act following the consummation of our initial business combination, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A common stock
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issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we 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 our shares of Class A common stock 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, we may, at our 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 we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant (except on a “cashless basis”), the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.
Redemption of warrants
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants for cash (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, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and
•
if, and only if, the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and for certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination as described elsewhere in this prospectus) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.
We will not redeem the warrants for cash unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be
13
exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Cashless exercise
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average reported closing price of the Class A common stock for the five trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Please see “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.
Rights
Number outstanding before this offering
0
Number outstanding after this offering and private placement:
10,000,000
Terms of rights:
Except in cases where we are not the surviving company in a business combination, each holder of a right will automatically receive one-tenth (1/10) of one Class A common stock upon consummation of our initial business combination. In the event we will not be the surviving company upon completion of our initial business combination, each holder of a right will be required to affirmatively convert his, her or its rights in order to receive the one-tenth (1/10) of a share of the new entity underlying each right upon consummation of the business combination. We will not issue fractional shares in connection with an exchange of rights. Fractional shares will either be rounded down to the nearest whole share or otherwise addressed in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporations Law. As a result, you must hold rights in multiples of 10 in order to receive shares for all of your rights upon closing of a business combination. If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we redeem the public shares for the funds held in the trust account, holders of rights will not receive any of such funds for their rights and the rights will expire worthless.
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Founder shares
On January 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 11,500,000 units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering (without giving effect to the private placements and the EBC founder shares). Up to 375,000 of the founder shares will be forfeited by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our initial stockholders, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock upon the consummation of this offering (without giving effect to the private placements and the EBC founder shares).
The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:
•
the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;
•
the founder shares are entitled to registration rights;
•
our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares they hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares they hold in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or
15
pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or any extended period of time that we may have to consummate an initial business combination as a result of an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares and EBC founder shares, we would need 475,001, or approximately 4.75%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming that only a quorum is present at the meeting and the over-allotment option is not exercised and the EBC founder shares issued to EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) are voted in favor of the initial business combination); and
•
the founder shares are automatically convertible into our Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”
Transfer restrictions on founder
shares
shares
Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) 12 months after the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property; except to certain permitted transferees and under certain circumstances as described herein under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private placement warrants.” Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any
16
founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1) the closing price of our Class A common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (2) if we consummate a transaction after our initial business combination which results in our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lockup.
Founder shares conversion and ant-dilution rights
The founder shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. If additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders and without giving effect to the private placements), including the total number of shares of Class A common stock issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities 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 shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination.
Voting Rights
Holders of record of our Class A common stock and holders of record of our Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, with each share of common stock entitling the holder to one vote except as required by law.
Private placement warrants and underlying securities
Our sponsor, insiders and EarlyBirdCapital have agreed that they or, in the case of EarlyBirdCapital, their designees, will purchase an aggregate of 4,550,000 warrants (or 5,000,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant, consisting of 4,050,000 warrants by our sponsor (or 4,450,500 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) and 500,000 warrants by EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) (or 549,500 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in this offering. A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added
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to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing of this offering $101,000,000 (or $116,150,000 if the underwriter exercises its over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants (and the underlying securities) and rights will expire worthless.
Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants and underlying securities
The private placement warrants and the underlying securities will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” Following such period, the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants will be transferable, assignable or salable, except that the private placement warrants will not trade.
The private placement warrants and the underlying securities held by EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the date of the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1).
Proceeds to be held in trust account
The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placements be deposited in a trust account. Of the proceeds we will receive from this offering and the private placements described in this prospectus, $101,000,000, or $116,150,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.10 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, after deducting $2,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon the closing of this offering (or $2,300,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) and an aggregate of $1,550,000 to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, the proceeds from this offering and the private placements will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares
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if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.
Anticipated expenses and funding sources
Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes and/or to redeem our public shares in connection with an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as described above. 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. We estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $101,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.10% per year (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option); however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from such interest withdrawn from the trust account and:
•
the net proceeds of this offering and the private placements not held in the trust account, which initially will be approximately $990,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $560,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and
•
any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination.
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Conditions to completing our initial business combination
Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more initial business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock or shares of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above, provided that if the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as our initial business combination for purposes of seeking stockholder approval or conducting a tender offer, as applicable.
Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our
affiliates
affiliates
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender
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offer rules, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. We expect any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business — Permitted Purchases of our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock, rights, or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the
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completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the fee payable to EarlyBirdCapital in deferred underwriting commissions. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants or rights. Our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares they hold and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, EarlyBirdCapital has agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to the EBC founder shares they hold.
Manner of conducting redemptions
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding Class A common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq we will be required to comply with Nasdaq’s stockholder approval rules.
The requirement that we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of 50.1% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.
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If we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a stockholder meeting, we will:
•
conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and
•
file proxy materials with the SEC.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares they hold and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares and EBC founder shares, we would only need 475,001, or approximately 4.75%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming that only a quorum is present at the meeting, the over-allotment option is not exercised and the EBC founder shares issued to EarlyBirdCapital are voted in favor of the initial business combination). These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders and EarlyBirdCapital, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will:
•
conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and
•
file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination
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and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
We intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included.
The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public stockholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business
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combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 15% or more of the shares in this offering if we hold stockholder vote
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability
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to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination.
Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination
On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds held in the trust account will be used to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination.” We will use the remaining funds to pay EarlyBirdCapital the deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination
Our initial stockholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or any extended period of time that we may have to consummate an initial business combination as a result of an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, if our initial stockholders or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 15-month (or up to 21 months as applicable) time frame.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from
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bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account.
The underwriter will not receive any of its deferred underwriting fee that is held in the trust account if we do not complete our initial business combination.
EarlyBirdCapital, our initial stockholders, and our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per- share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described above under “Limitations on redemptions.” For example, our board of directors may propose such an amendment if it determines that additional time is necessary to complete our initial business combination. In such event, we will conduct a proxy solicitation and distribute proxy materials pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act seeking stockholder approval of such proposal, and in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon stockholder approval of such amendment.
Limited payments to insiders
There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, and, if made prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account.
•
Repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;
•
Payment to our sponsor of $10,000 per month for
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office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team;
•
Payment of customary fees we may elect to make to members of our board of directors for director service;
•
Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination; and
•
Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination.
Audit Committee
We will establish and maintain an audit committee. Among its responsibilities, the audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates and monitor compliance with the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled “Management — Committees of the Board of Directors.”
Indemnity
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.10 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 $10.10 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 our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we believe it is unlikely that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA
The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business as of September 30, 2021, on an actual basis and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of the units in this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants and the other transactions described below as if they occurred on that date. The summary financial data should be read together with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.
| | | September 30, 2021 | | |||||||||
| | | Actual | | | As Adjusted | | ||||||
Balance Sheet Data: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Working capital (deficiency)(1) | | | | $ | (328,027) | | | | | $ | 1,009,361 | | |
Total assets(2) | | | | $ | 347,368 | | | | | $ | 102,009,361 | | |
Total liabilities(3) | | | | $ | 328,027 | | | | | $ | 3,500,000 | | |
Value of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption(4) | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | 101,000,000 | | |
Stockholders’ equity (deficit)(5) | | | | $ | 19,341 | | | | | $ | (2,490,639) | | |
(1)
The “as adjusted” calculation includes $990,000 of cash held outside the trust account, which includes $300,000 to be used to pay for director and officer liability insurance premiums, plus $20 proceeds from EBC founder shares, plus $19,341 of actual stockholders’ at September 30, 2021 (on which the founder shares were issued).
(2)
The “as adjusted” calculation equals $101,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $990,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $20 proceeds from EBC founder shares, plus $19,341 of actual Stockholders’ equity at September 30, 2021.
(3)
The “as adjusted” calculation includes $3,500,000 of deferred underwriting commissions (assuming the over-allotment is not exercised).
(4)
The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” Stockholders’ equity.
(5)
Excludes Class A common stock purchased in the public market which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of the Class A common stock that may be converted in connection with our initial business combination ($10.10 per share).
The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units we are offering, including the application of the related gross proceeds and the payment of the estimated remaining costs from such sale and the repayment of the accrued and other liabilities required to be repaid.
The “as adjusted” working capital and total assets amounts include the $101,000,000 to be held in the trust account, which, except for limited situations described in this prospectus, will be available to us only upon the consummation of a business combination within the time period described in this prospectus.
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RISKS
We are a blank check company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues to date. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus.
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
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Our stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
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Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
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Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
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The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) derivative actions brought on our behalf, (ii) actions asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) actions asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws or (iv) actions asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, which may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers or other employees.
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We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, after the closing of this offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares, rights, or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.
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If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
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Unanticipated changes in our effective tax rate or challenges by tax authorities could harm our future results.
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You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
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Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our rights and warrants will expire worthless.
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If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, the 21 months, following the closing of the offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
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If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
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If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
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If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
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You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis” under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
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RISK FACTORS
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate,
a Business Combination
a Business Combination
Our stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination if the business combination would not require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Even if we seek stockholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see the section entitled “Proposed Business — Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Our initial stockholders will own 20% of our outstanding common stock immediately following the completion of this offering. Our initial stockholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A common stock prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, if we seek stockholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, and EBC founder shares, we would need 475,001, or approximately 4.75%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming that only a quorum is present at the meeting, the over-allotment option is not exercised and the EBC founder shares issued to EarlyBirdCapital are voted in favor of the initial business combination). Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.
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The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with minimum cash requirements for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or make us unable to satisfy a minimum cash condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock results in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at the time of our initial business combination. The per share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the fee payable to EarlyBirdCapital for deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the fee payable to EarlyBirdCapital for deferred underwriting commissions will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widespread health crisis that has resulted in numerous deaths, adversely impacted global commercial activity and contributed to significant volatility in equity and debt markets. The business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many countries and states in the United States have issued orders requiring the closure of, or certain restrictions on the operation of, nonessential businesses and/or requiring residents to stay at home. The COVID-19 pandemic and preventative measures taken to contain or mitigate its spread have caused, and are continuing to cause, business shutdowns or the re-introduction of business shutdowns, cancellations of events and restrictions on travel, significant reductions in demand for certain goods and services, reductions in business activity and financial transactions, supply chain interruptions and overall economic and financial market instability both globally and in the United States. While several countries, as well as certain states in the United States, have relaxed the public health restrictions with a view to partially or fully reopening their economies, recurring COVID-19 outbreaks could lead to the re-introduction of such restrictions. We may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility and decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
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We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, after the closing of this offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, after the closing of this offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity, and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares, rights, or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares, rights, or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. Additionally, at any time or prior to our initial business combination subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material non-public information), our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, or not redeem their public shares at all. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares, rights, or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
If our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum
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net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. We expect any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business — Permitted Purchases of our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock, rights, or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. If a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Submitting Stock Certificates in Connection with Redemption Rights.”
The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.10 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. 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 of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may use to pay our taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds then held in the trust account, plus any interest income (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses). If the balance of the trust account is reduced below $101,000,000 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.10 per share.
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An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse United States federal income tax consequences.
An investment in this offering may result in uncertain United States federal income tax consequences. For instance, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares of Class A common stock suspend the running of a United States holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of shares of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividends” for United States federal income tax purposes. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.
Unanticipated changes in our effective tax rate or challenges by tax authorities could harm our future results.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and may become subject to various non-U.S. jurisdictions as well. Our effective tax rate could be adversely affected by changes in the allocation of our pre-tax earnings and losses among countries with differing statutory tax rates, in certain non-deductible expenses as a result of acquisitions, in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, or in federal, state, local or non-U.S. tax laws and accounting principles, including increased tax rates, new tax laws or revised interpretations of existing tax laws and precedents. Increases in our effective tax rate would adversely affect our operating results. In addition, we may be subject to income tax audits by various tax jurisdictions throughout the world. The application of tax laws in such jurisdictions may be subject to diverging and sometimes conflicting interpretations by tax authorities in these jurisdictions. Although we believe our income tax liabilities are reasonably estimated and accounted for in accordance with applicable laws and principles, an adverse resolution of one or more uncertain tax positions in any period could have a material impact on the results of operations for that period.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent (“Excess Shares”). However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not
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receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants and rights will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants and rights will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, the 21 months, following the closing of the offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of this offering, only $990,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, the 21 months, following such closing; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
If our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $560,000 we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, if the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $560,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase
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or decrease. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive an estimated $10.10 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants and rights will expire worthless.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. The underwriter of this offering as well as our registered independent public accounting firm will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.10 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have 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) $10.10 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 $10.10 per public 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 our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore,
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we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.10 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
If the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per share and 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 $10.10 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.10 per share.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
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restrictions on the nature of our investments; and
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restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
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registration as an investment company with the SEC;
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adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
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reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are not subject to.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering; and (iii) absent an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants and rights will expire worthless.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a
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material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 15th month (or up to 21st month, as applicable) from the closing of this offering If we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the ten years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares If we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
In accordance with Nasdaq’s corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with
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Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and holders of our private placement warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our shares of Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders, EarlyBirdCapital and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the founder shares and the exercise of the representative warrants and the private placement warrants held, or to be held, by them. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders, EarlyBirdCapital or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants and rights will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 380,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 369,800,000 and 17,500,000 (assuming in each case that the underwriter has not exercised their over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 375,000 shares of Class B common stock) authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants, rights, or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B common stock. The Class B common stock is automatically convertible into Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, beyond 21 months, from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or shares of preferred stock:
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may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;
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may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock;
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could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of Class A common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and
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may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock, rights and/or warrants.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will prohibit us from effectuating a business combination with another blank
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check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. If additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders and without giving effect to the private placements), including the total number of shares of Class A common stock issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities 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 shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination, provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. This is different than some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies in which the initial stockholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders and the holders of the EBC founder shares paid a nominal price for the founder shares and EBC founder shares and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our shares of common stock.
The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the share of Class A common stock and none to the warrant and right included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our initial stockholders and the holders of representatives shares acquired the founder shares and the EBC founder shares, respectively, at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the rights and warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 107.4% or $9.76 per share (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering of $(0.67)
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and the initial offering price of $9.09 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one- to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public stockholders seek redemptions from the trust for their public shares. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and for certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination as described elsewhere in this prospectus) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to date on which we give proper notice of redemption to the warrant holders and provided certain other conditions are met. We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale
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under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us (except as described under “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants-Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock”) so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.
Our rights and warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We will be issuing rights to purchase 1,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 1,150,000 shares of our Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus. We will also be issuing warrants to purchase 5,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 5,750,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing 4,550,000 private placement warrants (or up to 5,000,000 private placement warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. To the extent we issue common stock to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants or rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants or rights, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants and rights may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-half of one warrant and one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, and only a whole warrant or share of common stock may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one warrant and one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants, rights, nor shares will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants or rights, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder or right holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one common share, one warrant to purchase one whole share, and one right to receive one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants and rights upon completion of a business combination since (i) the rights will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-tenth of the number of shares and (ii) the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant and whole right to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant or right to purchase one whole share.
There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases). Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
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As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, and because our pool is limited to companies that conduct principal of their business outside of China (including Hong Kong and Macau), fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort, and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
General Risk Factors
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues to date. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability continue as a “going concern.”
As of September 30, 2021, we had zero in cash and a working capital deficit of $328,027. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our finance and acquisition plans. Our plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy
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statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any September 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250,000,000 as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues exceed $100,000,000 during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700,000,000 as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our shares of Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) derivative actions brought on our behalf, (ii) actions asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) actions asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws or (iv) actions asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, which may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers or other employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action
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asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall concurrently be the sole and exclusive forums. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America have exclusive jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
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default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
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acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
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our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;
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our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;
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our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock;
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using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
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limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
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increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and
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limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the private placements, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
Of the net proceeds from this offering and the private placements, $101,000,000 (or $116,150,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our initial business combination and pay related fees and expenses, including up to $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) of services fees payable to EarlyBirdCapital being held in the trust account.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or
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dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of
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the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate. To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions.
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As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. If the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of at least 50.1% of our common stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50.1% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50.1% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, of the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of 50.1% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre- business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of units, rights, and warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 50.1% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 50.1% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange
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rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
EarlyBirdCapital, our initial stockholders, and our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to written agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
Certain agreements related to this offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Each of the agreements related to this offering to which we are a party, other than the warrant agreement and the investment management trust agreement, may be amended without stockholder approval. Such agreements are: the underwriting agreement; the letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors; the registration rights agreement among us, our initial stockholders and EarlyBirdCapital; the private placement warrant purchase agreements between us, our sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital; and the administrative services agreement among us, our sponsor and an affiliate of our sponsor. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. For example, our letter agreement, the private placement warrants purchase agreement and the underwriting agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and other securities held by EarlyBirdCapital, our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors. Amendments to such agreements would require the consent of the applicable parties thereto and would need to be approved by our board of directors, which may do so for a variety of reasons, including to facilitate our initial business combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement. Any amendment entered into in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to such initial business combination, and any other material amendment to any of our material agreements will be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. Any such amendments would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. For example, amendments to the lock-up provision discussed above may result in our initial stockholders and EarlyBirdCapital selling their securities earlier than they would otherwise be permitted, which may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the private placements.
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As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants and rights will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial stockholders purchase any additional Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only if we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
Risk Relating to the Post-Business Combination Company
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write- downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders, right holders, or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Risks Relating to our Management Team
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we
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pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Past performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team or businesses associated with them is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team’s or businesses associated with them as indicative of our future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. If we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact
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on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Management — Officers, Directors and Director Nominees.”
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or ventures may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Management — Officers, Directors and Director Nominees,” “Management — Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Delaware law and we or our stockholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our stockholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
Changes in the market for directors’ and officers’ liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors’ and officers’ liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.
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The increased cost and decreased availability of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management — Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business — Business Combination Criteria” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On January 21, 2021 our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued.
The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 11,500,000 units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering (without giving effect to the private placements). Up to 375,000 of the founder shares will be forfeited by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment is exercised. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital have committed to purchase an aggregate of 4,550,000 private placement warrants (or 5,000,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant for an aggregate purchase price of $4,550,000 (or $5,000,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment
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option is exercised in full). The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 15-month anniversary (or 21-month anniversary, as applicable) of the closing of this offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
Risks Relating to our Securities
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares, rights, or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if our plan to redeem our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering is not completed for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, beyond 21 months, from the closing of this offering before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other
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circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants and rights will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants or rights. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares, rights, or warrants, potentially at a loss.
EarlyBirdCapital may have a conflict of interest in connection with our initial business combination.
We have engaged EarlyBirdCapital to assist us in connection with our initial business combination. We will pay EarlyBirdCapital a cash fee for such services in an aggregate amount equal to up to 3.5% of the total gross proceeds raised in the offering only if we consummate our initial business combination. The private placement warrants purchased by EarlyBirdCapital and/or its designees and the EBC founder shares issued to EarlyBirdCapital and/or its designees will also be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination. These financial interests may result in EarlyBirdCapital having a conflict of interest when providing the services to us in connection with an initial business combination.
Once initially listed, Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock, rights, and warrants on or promptly after their date of separation. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in Nasdaq’s listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally, $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5,000,000 and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders of our securities (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500). We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
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a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
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reduced liquidity for our securities;
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a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
•
a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
•
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock, rights, and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A common stock, rights, and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies
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unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Holders of our Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the completion of an initial business combination.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants or rights unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants or rights is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants or rights will not be entitled to exercise such warrants or rights and such warrants or rights may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants or rights as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A common stock included in the units.
We are registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and rights in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part because the warrants and rights will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, which may be within one year of this offering. However, because the warrants and rights will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of our initial business combination, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act following the consummation of our initial business combination, under the terms of the warrant agreement (as applicable), we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants or rights and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants or rights until the expiration of the rights or the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement and the terms of this Offering. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and rights are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement or this Offering, holders of warrants and rights who seek to exercise their warrants or rights will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
In no event will warrants or rights be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants or rights, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our shares of Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant or right not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants or rights who seek to exercise their
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warrants or rights to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants or rights under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants or rights under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant or rights, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants or rights in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants or rights under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
You may only be able to exercise your warrants on a “cashless basis” under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; (ii) if we have so elected and the shares of Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act; and (iii) if we have so elected and we call the public warrants for redemption. If you exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis, you would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our shares of Class A common stock (as defined in the next sentence) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported closing price of the shares of Class A common stock for the five trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares and the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the shares of common stock owned by our initial stockholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and holders of our private placement warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our shares of Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the shares of Class A common stock into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such warrants or the Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of such warrants.
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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
The determination of the offering price of our units, the size of this offering and terms of the units is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants and rights were negotiated between us and the underwriter. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriter, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriter believed it reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A common stock, rights, and warrants underlying the units, include:
•
the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;
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prior offerings of those companies;
•
our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;
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a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;
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our capital structure;
•
an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies;
•
general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and
•
other factors as were deemed relevant.
Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering size, price and terms of the units is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States (although we will not effect our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China, including Hong Kong and Macau) for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and
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completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
•
costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;
•
rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
•
complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
•
laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
•
exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
•
tariffs and trade barriers;
•
regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
•
local or regional economic policies and market conditions;
•
unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
•
challenges in managing and staffing international operations;
•
longer payment cycles;
•
tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
•
currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
•
rates of inflation;
•
challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
•
cultural and language differences;
•
employment regulations;
•
underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
•
corruption;
•
protection of intellectual property;
•
social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;
•
regime changes and political upheaval;
•
terrorist attacks and wars; and
•
deterioration of political relations with the United States.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States, the laws applicable to such company will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
If we effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States (although we will not effect our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China, including Hong Kong and Macau), the laws of the country in which such company operates will govern almost all of the material agreements relating to its operations. We cannot assure you that the target business will be able to enforce any of its material agreements or that remedies will be available in this new jurisdiction. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and
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interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital. Additionally, if we acquire a company located outside of the United States, it is likely that substantially all of our assets would be located outside of the United States and some of our officers and directors might reside outside of the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties of our directors and officers under Federal securities laws.
Many industries in Asia are subject to government regulations that limit or prohibit foreign investments in such industries, which may limit the potential number of acquisition candidates.
Governments in many Asian countries have imposed regulations that limit foreign investors’ equity ownership or prohibit foreign investments altogether in companies that operate in certain industries. As a result, the number of potential acquisition candidates available to us (excluding China) may be limited or our ability to grow and sustain the business, which we ultimately acquire will be limited.
If a country in Asia (excluding China) enacts regulations in industry segments that forbid or restrict foreign investment, our ability to consummate our initial business combination could be severely impaired.
Many of the rules and regulations that companies face concerning foreign ownership are not explicitly communicated. If new laws or regulations forbid or limit foreign investment in industries in which we want to complete our initial business combination, they could severely impair our candidate pool of potential target businesses. Additionally, if the relevant central and local authorities find us or the target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination to be in violation of any existing or future laws or regulations, they would have broad discretion in dealing with such a violation, including, without limitation:
•
levying fines;
•
revoking our business and other licenses;
•
requiring that we restructure our ownership or operations; and
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requiring that we discontinue any portion or all of our business.
Any of the above could have an adverse effect on our company post-business combination and could materially reduce the value of your investment.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward- looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:
•
our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;
•
our ability to complete our initial business combination, including with respect to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic;
•
our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses;
•
our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;
•
our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;
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our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;
•
our pool of prospective target businesses;
•
the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;
•
our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
•
the lack of a market for our securities;
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the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;
•
the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or
•
our financial performance following this offering.
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward- looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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USE OF PROCEEDS
We are offering 10,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.
| | | Without Over-allotment Option | | | Over-allotment Option Exercised | | ||||||
Gross proceeds | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1) | | | | $ | 100,000,000 | | | | | $ | 115,000,000 | | |
Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement to the sponsor | | | | $ | 4,550,000 | | | | | $ | 5,000,000 | | |
Total gross proceeds | | | | $ | 104,550,000 | | | | | $ | 120,000,000 | | |
Estimated offering expenses(2) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public) | | | | $ | 2,000,000 | | | | | $ | 2,300,000 | | |
Legal fees and expenses | | | | | 300,000 | | | | | | 300,000 | | |
Printing and engraving expenses | | | | | 25,000 | | | | | | 25,000 | | |
Accounting fees and expenses | | | | | 40,000 | | | | | | 40,000 | | |
SEC/FINRA Expenses | | | | | 60,093 | | | | | | 60,093 | | |
Nasdaq listing and filing fees | | | | | 55,000 | | | | | | 55,000 | | |
Miscellaneous | | | | | 79,907 | | | | | | 79,907 | | |
Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) | | | | $ | 560,000 | | | | | $ | 560,000 | | |
Proceeds after estimated offering expenses | | | | $ | 101,990,000 | | | | | $ | 117,140,000 | | |
Held in trust account | | | | $ | 101,000,000 | | | | | $ | 116,150,000 | | |
% of public offering size | | | | | 101% | | | | | | 101% | | |
Not held in trust account | | | | $ | 990,000 | | | | | $ | 990,000 | | |
The following table shows the use of the approximately $990,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account(3):
| | | Amount | | | % of Total | | ||||||
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination(4) | | | | $ | 250,000 | | | | | | 25.2% | | |
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations | | | | | 75,000 | | | | | | 7.6% | | |
Nasdaq and other regulatory fees | | | | | 55,000 | | | | | | 5.6% | | |
Payment for office space, secretarial and administrative services | | | | | 210,000 | | | | | | 21.2% | | |
Directors and Officers insurance premiums | | | | | 300,000 | | | | | | 30.3% | | |
Consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during search for initial business combination target | | | | | 45,000 | | | | | | 4.5% | | |
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses | | | | | 55,000 | | | | | | 5.6% | | |
Total | | | | $ | 990,000 | | | | | | 100.0% | | |
(1)
Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination.
(2)
A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. As of September 30, 2021, we have not drawn on the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $560,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses other than underwriting
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commissions. If the offering expenses are less than set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses.
(3)
These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination.
If we identify a business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. 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. We estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $101,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.10% per year (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option); however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount.
(4)
Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.
The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placements be deposited in a trust account. Of the proceeds we will receive from this offering and the private placements described in this prospectus, $101,000,000, or $116,150,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.10 per unit in either case), will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, after deducting $2,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon the closing of this offering (or $2,300,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) and an aggregate of $1,550,000 to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. EarlyBirdCapital will receive deferred underwriting commissions equal to 3.50% of the gross proceeds of this offering. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills 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. We estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $101,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.10% per year (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option); however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount.
We expect that the interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay income taxes. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes, until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity.
The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment
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of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, beyond 21 months, from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions.
We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective business combination, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.
Subsequent to the closing of this offering, we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of September 30, 2022 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $560,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. If our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. The terms of such working capital loans by our sponsor or its affiliates, or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
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DIVIDEND POLICY
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock upon the consummation of this offering (without giving effect to the private placements). Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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DILUTION
The difference between the public offering price per share of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants or rights included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants and underlying securities, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of rights or warrants, including the private placement warrants which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of shares of Class A common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of shares of outstanding Class A common stock.
At September 30, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $328,027, assuming receipt of the $5,000 stock subscription receivable, or approximately $(0.11) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 11,500,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and sale of EBC founder shares and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at September 30, 2021 would have been $(2,490,639) or $(0.67) per share (or $(3,015,639) or $(0.71) per share if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the 10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash, or 11,500,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $(0.56) per share (or $(0.60) per share if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution to public stockholders from this offering of $9.76 per share or 107.4% (or $9.80 per share or 107.8% if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full).
The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants or rights included in the units or the securities included in the private placement warrants:
| | | Without Over-allotment | | | With Over-allotment | | ||||||
Public offering price(1) | | | | $ | 9.09 | | | | | $ | 9.09 | | |
Net tangible book deficit before this offering | | | | | (0.11) | | | | | | (0.11) | | |
Increase attributable to public shares | | | | $ | (0.56) | | | | | $ | (0.60) | | |
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the private placements | | | | $ | (0.67) | | | | | $ | (0.71) | | |
Dilution to public stockholders | | | | $ | 9.76 | | | | | $ | 9.80 | | |
Percentage of dilution to public stockholders | | | | | 107.4% | | | | | | 107.8% | | |
(1)
Each public unit offered in this offering consists of one share of Class A common stock, one-half of one redeemable warrant and one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of one share of Class A common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination. So the purchase price per share was divided $10.00 by one and one-tenth (1/10) shares, which is $9.09.
For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) by $101,000,000 because holders of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two business days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes), divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering.
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The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and the public stockholders:
| | | Shares Purchased | | | Total Consideration | | | Average Price per Share | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| | | Number | | | Percentage | | | Amount | | | Percentage | | ||||||||||||||||||
Class B common stock | | | | | 2,500,000(1) | | | | | | 18.2% | �� | | | | $ | 25,000 | | | | | | 0.02% | | | | | $ | 0.01 | | |
EBC founder shares | | | | | 200,000 | | | | | | 1.5% | | | | | $ | 20 | | | | | | 0.00% | | | | | $ | 0.0001 | | |
Public stockholders units | | | | | 11,000,000(2) | | | | | | 80.3% | | | | | $ | 100,000,000 | | | | | | 99.98% | | | | | $ | 9.09 | | |
Total | | | | | 13,700,000 | | | | | | 100% | | | | | $ | 100,025,020 | | | | | | 100% | | | | | | | | |
(1)
Assumes that 375,000 founder shares are forfeited after the closing of this offering if the underwriter does not exercise their over-allotment option.
(2)
Assumes the over-allotment option of 1,500,000 has not been exercised. Includes the additional 1,000,000 shares underlying the rights included in the public units.
The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering is calculated as follows:
| | | Without Over-allotment | | | With Over-allotment | | ||||||
Numerator: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net tangible book deficit before this offering | | | | $ | (328,027) | | | | | $ | (328,027) | | |
Net proceeds from this offering and the private placements, net of expenses(1) | | | | $ | 101,990,000 | | | | | $ | 117,140,000 | | |
Net proceeds from EBC founder shares | | | | $ | 20 | | | | | $ | 20 | | |
Plus: Offering costs paid in advanced, excluded from tangible book value before this offering | | | | $ | 347,368 | | | | | $ | 347,368 | | |
Less: Deferred underwriting commissions | | | | $ | (3,500,000) | | | | | $ | (4,025,000) | | |
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption(2) | | | | $ | 101,000,000 | | | | | $ | 116,150,000 | | |
| | | | $ | (2,490,639) | | | | | $ | (3,015,639) | | |
Denominator: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Class B common stock outstanding prior to this offering (founders shares) | | | | | 2,875,000 | | | | | | 2,875,000 | | |
Class B common stock forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised | | | | | (375,000) | | | | | | — | | |
Class A common stock included in the units offered | | | | | 10,000,000 | | | | | | 11,500,000 | | |
Class A common stock underlying the rights to be included in the public units | | | | | 1,000,000 | | | | | | 1,150,000 | | |
Class A EBC founder shares | | | | | 200,000 | | | | | | 200,000 | | |
Less: Shares subject to redemption | | | | | 10,000,000 | | | | | | 11,500,000 | | |
| | | | | 3,700,000 | | | | | | 4,225,000 | | |
(1)
Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $560,000 and underwriting commissions of $2,000,000 (or $2,300,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full). See “Use of Proceeds.”
(2)
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities.”
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CAPITALIZATION
The following table sets forth our capitalization at September 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the sale of our units in this offering, the private placements and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option:
| | | September 30, 2021 | | | |||||||||||
| | | Actual | | | As Adjusted (1) | | | ||||||||
Notes payable and due to related party(2) | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | ||
Deferred underwriting commissions | | | | | — | | | | | | 3,500,000 | | | | ||
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption: 0 and 10,000,000 shares, actual and as adjusted, respectively(4) | | | | | — | | | | | | 101,000,000 | | | | ||
Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Preferred stock $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | ||
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized; 2,875,000 and 2,500,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively(3) | | | | | 288 | | | | | | 250 | | | | ||
Class B common stock subscriptions receivable | | | | | (5,000) | | | | | | — | | | | ||
Additional paid-in capital | | | | | 24,712 | | | | | | — | | | | ||
Accumulated deficit | | | | | (659) | | | | | | (2,490,889) | | | | ||
Total Stockholders’ equity (deficit) | | | | $ | 19,341 | | | | | | (2,490,639) | | | | ||
Total capitalization | | | | $ | 19,341 | | | | | | 102,009,361 | | | |
(1)
Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and the resulting forfeiture of 375,000 founder shares held by our sponsor has occurred.
(2)
Our sponsor may loan us up to $300,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the repayment of any loans made under this note out of the proceeds from this offering and the private placements. As of September 30, 2021, there was $0 outstanding under the promissory note.
(3)
Assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 375,000 Class B common stock held by our sponsor.
(4)
Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable). The value of Class A common stock that may be redeemed is equal to $10.10 per share (which is the assumed redemption price) multiplied by 10,000,000 Class A common stock which is the maximum number of Class A common stock that may be redeemed.
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on January 11, 2021 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic region. However, we shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). We intend to focus our search for an initial business combination on target companies within the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placements, the proceeds of the sale of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to banks or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.
The issuance of additional equity or equity-linked securities in connection with a business combination to the owners of the target or other investors:
•
may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock;
•
may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock;
•
could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;
•
may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and
•
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock, rights, and/or warrants.
Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or the owners of a target, it could result in:
•
default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
•
acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
•
our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;
•
our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;
•
our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock;
•
using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
•
limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
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•
increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and
•
limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
We expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, as of September 30, 2021, we had no cash, and deferred offering costs of $347,368. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through the receipt of a $25,000 capital contribution from our sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our sponsor and up to $300,000 in loans available from our sponsor.
We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $560,000, underwriting commissions of $2,000,000 or $2,300,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $4,550,000 (or $5,000,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be $101,990,000 (or $117,140,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $101,000,000 (or $116,150,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account will be held in cash or 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. The remaining approximately $990,000 will not be held in the trust account. If our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $560,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, if the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $560,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting fee payable to EarlyBirdCapital) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of this offering, to be $200,000, which is the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation per annum, which we may pay from funds from this offering held outside of the trust account or from interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and released to us for this purpose. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amount held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our income taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust
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account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $990,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds to primarily identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. If our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment.
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $250,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $75,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $300,000 for prepaid D&O insurance premiums, $55,000 for listing and regulatory fees, $45,000 for consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses, and approximately $55,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves. We will also pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team subsequent to the closing of this offering.
These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.
Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on
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our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering.
Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Controls and Procedures
We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only if we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.
Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our auditors tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:
•
staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;
•
reconciliation of accounts;
•
proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;
•
evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;
•
documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and
•
documentation of accounting policies and procedures.
Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.
Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested 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. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe
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there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk. However, if the interest rates of U.S. Treasury obligations become negative, we may have less interest income available to us for payment of taxes, and a decline in the value of the assets held in the trust account could reduce the principal below the amount initially deposited in the trust account.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results
As of September 30, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have not conducted any operations to date.
JOBS Act
The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act and 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, our 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 independent registered public accounting firm’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 independent registered public accounting firm’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 this offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
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PROPOSED BUSINESS
General
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic region.
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geographic location, we intend to search globally for target companies within the Southeast Asian new economy sector or elsewhere. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). Our management team believes that in recent years, a wide range of technological breakthroughs have accelerated cycles of change, radically impacting industries and business models across the world. The transformative effects of innovation as diverse as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, cybersecurity, and ubiquitous mobile computing have upended industries both large and small.
We believe the current COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the aforementioned trend and is a catalyst for digital migration at a speed and on a scale never seen before. Individuals as well as small and large institutions have been forced to adapt to a new normal of living in a world where physical contact has been hindered and technology has become essential for both personal and business activities on a daily basis. Amidst these changes, we believe legacy business models that fail to adapt will eventually cease to exist while innovators that take advantage of the current situation will be awarded outsized opportunities to lead the upcoming changes.
Our management team believes that this widespread change is occurring everywhere in our lives, but it has been particularly strong in the business world. Major shifts are happening in the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors. We believe the market rewards those who see and understand its trajectory.
Capital markets have responded to this expanding opportunity. Global venture capital investments increased over 500% in the past decade, from $48 billion in 2010 to $295 billion in 2019, according to Crunchbase News. Those dollars are spread widely: more than 32,000 companies received venture funding in 2019 alone, according to Crunchbase News. These backings represent a significant commitment from investors — PWC/CB Insights recorded 219 private financings surpassing $100 million for private investments in 2019, representing over $50 billion deployed.
This confluence of enormous change and plentiful capital has created what we believe is a sizeable opportunity for wealth building, especially as private companies enter the public markets to fuel their next phase of growth. Our management team believes that there is demand from public market investors to locate and invest in a high growth financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, or education sectors company, debut it in the public markets and partner with it, as stockholders, to help the company elevate itself into the next multi-billion-dollar market cap company.
Management Team
Our team possess a wide-ranging set of competencies, including public market experience, financial acumen and an extensive track record of growth and value creation.
Tse Meng Ng, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, is a highly regarded and successful financier and businessman. In February 2019, Mr. Ng co-found Ruifeng Wealth Management Pte Ltd, a Singapore Capital Markets Services licensed financial institution regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore with a market capitalization of approximately $2 billion, for which he serves as the chief executive officer. The company is a subsidiary of listed 2345 Network Technological Co. Ltd with a market capitalization of around $2 billion, and Mr. Ng and his team provide fund management services to ultra-high net worth individuals. From May 2014 to January 2019, Mr. Ng served as the Managing Director of Credit Agricole, an international full-service banking group. He was voted ‘Outstanding Young Private Banker’ in 2011 by Private Banker
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International, the leading journal for the global wealth management industry. Prior to that, Mr. Ng was a Director at Credit Suisse where he helped form the team that covered the North Asia markets and where he helped contribute the most net new money between 2008-2009. He started his career in 1998 at Citibank N.A where he managed a team of banking staff at a very young age. Mr. Ng earned a B.S. in Business from Nanyang Technological University. Mr. Ng is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his leadership skills and business acumen.
Han Hsiung Lim, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, is an accomplished executive and leader. Mr. Lim retired from an 18-year career in the banking and asset management industry in 2018 and has since managed his own investments in public equities and fixed-income securities. From January 2016 to December 2017, Mr. Lim was a Senior Vice President in the Risk & Performance Management Department at GIC (formerly known as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), which manages Singapore’s foreign reserves. From April 2009 to December 2014, he served as the Head of Credit Risk Management in the Risk & Performance Management Department at GIC where he was responsible for approving, managing and mitigating the firmwide credit exposure of GIC to its trading counterparties. From February 2000 to April 2009, Mr. Lim worked within the Financial Markets Credit Group at DBS Bank, where he rose up the ranks to Vice President in 2005 and was responsible for approving, managing and mitigating the firmwide credit exposure of DBS Bank to a portfolio of banks and non-bank financial institutions. He also has experience in managing credit exposure, as he was tasked with avoiding and mitigating DBS Bank’s potential losses during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Mr. Lim has a bachelor of business degree (First Class Honors), with a major in banking and a minor in hospitality, from the Nanyang Technological University.
Our Board
Our officer’s skills are complemented by our directors and advisors, who bring significant operating experience and relationships throughout the global banking and finance industry. In addition to Tse Meng Ng, who is expected to serve as Chairman of our board, and Benjamin Waisbren, Simon Eng Hock Ong, and Vincent Yang Hui are our additional director nominees.
Benjamin Waisbren has served on our board of directors since March 2021. Since 2014, Mr. Waisbren has served as the President of Virtually There Holdings LLC d/b/a Ben Waisbren & Associates, which advises media companies and firms involved in distressed situations. From April 2019 through July 2020, Mr. Waisbren served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer of NanoMech Inc., a nanotechnology company that he led through a Chapter 11 case and its sale to a global company. He is also on the board of Vistas Media Acquisition Company, a Nasdaq listed blank check company, and previously served on the board of Wild Bunch AG, the German-listed, Paris-based award-winning film co-production and distribution companies for ten years. Mr. Waisbren also held attorney positions at Lord Bissell & Brook LLP (now Locke Lord LLP) and Winston & Strawn LLP, during and after which he was engaged by the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad money laundering matter.
Simon Eng Hock Ong will serve on our board of directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Ong currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Rich Capital Holdings Limited, a company listed on SGX Catalist. Prior thereto, Mr. Ong worked as the Executive Director of Asiaphos Limited from 2012 through June 2019, and remains as with Asiaphos as a Non-Executive Director and as a member of their audit committee. Previously, Mr. Ong also served as Group Finance Manager and as Chief Financial Officer of Hwa Hong Corporation Limited, a company listed on SGX-ST Main Board, and as a director of corporate and financial planning of the King George Development Corporation, a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (formerly known as the Vancouver Stock Exchange). Mr. Ong has a degree in accounting from North East London Polytechnic (now known as the University of East London) and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a Certified Practicing Accountant in Australia.
Vincent Yang Hui will serve on our board of directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Hui currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of abComo eCommerce Pte Ltd, a multinational influencer platform that he founded in 2020. He also co-founded Long-bridge, an overseas asset investment company, in 2019, and Alphabit Consulting Pte Ltd, a Singapore based technology consulting company. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Hui served as a Business Development Director for the Alibaba Group and Ant Financial. Mr. Hui
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has a BSc in Information Management and Information Systems from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and a graduate diploma in systems analysis from the National University of Singpaore.
Our Advisors
In addition to our management team and board of directors, our team will include Chandra Tjan and Stephen Lee, who shall serve as advisors. None of these individuals have any contractual obligation to us or are otherwise required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs; however, we expect that certain of these individuals will, on average, dedicate a significant amount of their professional time on our affairs.
Chandra Tjan is a heralded entrepreneur with a record of success as a venture capitalist in Southeast Asia. Mr. Tjan started his career as a banker at Citigroup and Credit Suisse in Singapore. After a decade in the banking industry, Mr. Tjan saw a huge opportunity in Indonesia’s technology sector, and in 2009 he co-founded East Ventures, an early stage capital venture firm. During his tenure in Indonesia, Mr. Tjan was responsible for dozens of investments in early-stage start-ups, including the online marketplace Tokopedia and all-in-one travel booking platform Traveloka. In 2015, Chandra co-founded Alpha JWC Ventures, an institutionalised and independent VC fund targeting early-stage tech startups across Southeast Asia, with a strong focus in Indonesia. The firm currently manages approximately $200 million across two funds, making it the largest early-stage fund in Indonesia, with 36 active portfolio companies. With over a decade of experience in tech investment, Mr. Tjan has invested in over 60 companies in Asia and the United States. He currently sits on the board of some of the leading tech companies in Asia, including Funding Societies, Carro, GudangAda, Bobobox and OnlinePajak. Mr. Tjan graduated from The University of Sydney with a triple major in finance, economics, and management, currently attends the Owner-President Management (OPM) Program at Harvard Business School, a 3-year residential program for business owners and entrepreneurs, and is a member of YPO’s (Young President Organization) global leadership community.
Stephen Lee is an experienced and respected executive with experience across a wide variety of sectors and industries. In 1994, Mr. Lee joined AIF Capital and has been a Partner and Investment Committee Member since 2001. He has been actively involved in deal origination, transaction execution, investment management and portfolio monitoring and represents AIF Capital on the boards of various portfolio companies. His sector investment experience includes manufacturing, industrial, media, pharmaceutical and healthcare, aquaculture, consumer, new materials, telecommunication, logistics and transportation in multiple countries, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore. Mr. Lee has been involved in multiple prominent deals in the Asia-Pacific region, including Aofeng Hi-Tech Company Limited (the largest carbon fiber composite company manufacturer in Asia), Oceanus Group Limited (the Singapore-listed leading aquatic company in Asia), CN Innovations Holdings Limited (the leading smartphone manufacturer in China and Asia), Shandong Buchang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (China’s largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine), Charm Communications Inc. (a leading Chinese media company in China that was previously listed in the United States), Bharti Infratel Limited (India’s largest mobile operator in India), Bestime Pharma (Asia) Limited (leading antibiotics drug manufacturer in China), PT Excelcomindo Pratama (leading mobile operator in Indonesia) and PT Marga Mandalasakti (operators of the longest toll road in Indonesia).
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and consummate an initial business combination with a company with operations or prospects in the Southeast Asian new economy sector or elsewhere. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). We intend to focus on companies that complement the experience of our management team and that can benefit from the management team’s operational expertise. Our selection process will leverage our management team’s broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and proven deal-sourcing capabilities, providing us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Our management and sponsor have experience in:
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investing and building businesses in the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors with unique market, policy and macroeconomic insights;
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managing and operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting top-notch talent;
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developing and growing companies, both organically and inorganically, and expanding the product ranges and geographic footprints of portfolio businesses;
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executing merger and acquisition strategies to accelerate growth and create integrated value chains;
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sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses in various markets;
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partnering with other industry-leading companies to increase sales and improve the competitive position of companies;
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fostering relationships with users, sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and
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accessing the capital markets, including capital sources in Asia and America, across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership.
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, though we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines:
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Companies with operations or prospects in the Southeast Asian new economy sectors or elsewhere. Based upon our management team’s experience, we believe we will have increased access to investment opportunities and a competitive advantage in our ability to negotiate a business combination with potential targets in the Southeast Asian new economy. Our management team’s extensive experience and network of contacts provide them with an opportunity to source a target, evaluate a target, consummate a business combination with the target and help grow the target’s business.
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Strong target management teams. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that have strong management teams with a proven track record of driving growth, building long-term competitive advantage and making sound strategic decisions.
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Fundamentally sound companies that have the potential to further improve their performance under our ownership. We believe our management team’s experience in our target sectors as well as their network of industry contacts will create opportunities to enhance the revenue and operational efficiencies of the target business, and potentially generate higher returns for our investors.
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Market leader. We intend to seek a target that has a leading presence across an industry or segment or has leading technology or product capabilities.
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Appropriate valuations. We intend to be a disciplined and valuation-centric investor that will invest on terms that we believe are attractive relative to market comparables that provide significant upside potential.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. If we decide to enter into a business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we would file with the SEC.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital allocation experience.
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Our acquisition criteria, due diligence processes and value creation methods are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. If we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and consummate an initial business combination with a company with operations or prospects in the Southeast Asian new economy sector or elsewhere. We intend to focus on companies that complement the experience of our management team and that can benefit from the management team’s operational expertise. Our selection process will leverage our management team’s and our sponsor’s broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise and proven deal-sourcing capabilities, providing us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Our management and sponsor have experience in:
•
investing and building businesses in the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors with unique market, policy and macroeconomic insights;
•
managing and operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting top-notch talent;
•
developing and growing companies, both organically and inorganically, and expanding the product ranges and geographic footprints of portfolio businesses;
•
executing merger and acquisition strategies to accelerate growth and create integrated value chains;
•
sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses in various markets;
•
partnering with other industry-leading companies to increase sales and improve the competitive position of companies;
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fostering relationships with users, sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and
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accessing the capital markets, including capital sources in Asia and America, across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership.
Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq rules require, and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, that we must complete one or more initial business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the
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outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In that case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placements, the proceeds of the sale of equity or equity-linked securities in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to banks or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. However, we shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15
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to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
Sourcing of Potential Initial Business Combination Targets
We believe our management team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships will provide us with a substantial number of potential initial business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world, which includes private equity firms, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. This global network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, the reputation of our management team for integrity and fair dealing with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. In addition, members of our management team and board of directors have developed contacts from serving on the boards of directors of public companies. However, we shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau).
This global network has provided our management team with a flow of referrals that has resulted in numerous transactions which were proprietary or where a limited group of investors were invited to participate in the sale process. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us important sources of investment opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business combination candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.
While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). In addition, commencing on the date of this prospectus, we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team. Any such payments prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than the foregoing, and any customary fees we may elect to make to our directors for director service, there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, executive officers or directors. If we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm stating that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team and our independent directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants (and underlying securities) following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation
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of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Financial Position
With funds available for an initial business combination initially in the amount of $101,000,000 (or $116,150,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Permission Required from the PRC Authorities for this Offering and a Business Combination
As a Delaware corporation with no operations in China, we are not required to obtain permission from any Chinese authorities to operate or to issue the securities being issued in this offering to any investors, including Chinese investors, if any, and we do not expect that permission will be required from the Chinese authorities in connection our business combination since we will not undertake our initial business combination with any entity that conducts a majority of its business or is headquartered in China (including Hong Kong and Macau).
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
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subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and
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cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.
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Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.
TYPE OF TRANSACTION | | | WHETHER STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL IS REQUIRED | | |||
Purchase of assets | | | | | No | | |
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company | | | | | No | | |
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company | | | | | No | | |
Merger of the company with a target | | | | | Yes | | |
Under Nasdaq’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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We issue (other than in a public offering for cash) shares of common stock that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our shares of common stock then outstanding or (b) have voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power then outstanding;
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Any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired and if the number of shares of common stock to be issued, or if the number of shares of common stock in which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of shares of common stock or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any of our directors and officers and (b) 5% of the number of shares of common stock or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial stockholder; or
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The issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.
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Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
If our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, initial stockholders, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our initial stockholders, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders (in the case of Class A common stock) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the stockholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase shares from based on a negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We expect any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable
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in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the fee payable to EarlyBirdCapital for deferred underwriting commissions. Our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with Nasdaq’s stockholder approval rules.
The requirement that we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of 50.1% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.
If we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a stockholder meeting, we will:
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conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and
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file proxy materials with the SEC.
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If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares they hold and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholder’s founder shares and EBC founder shares, we would need 475,001, or approximately 4.75%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming that only a quorum is present at the meeting, the over-allotment option is not exercised and the EBC founder shares issued to EarlyBirdCapital are voted in favor of the initial business combination). These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will:
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conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and
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file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination, which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
We intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming
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public stockholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Stockholder Approval
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Delivering Stock Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights
As described above, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have up to two
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business days prior to the vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. If a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or tendering shares a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to submit or tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, until 21 months, from the closing of this offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will have only 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, only 21 months, from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 15-month period (or 21-month period, as applicable), 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants and rights, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 15-month time period (or 21-month period, as applicable).
EarlyBirdCapital, our initial stockholders, and our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have entered into written agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares and EBC founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering
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or any extended period of time that we may have to consummate an initial business combination as a result of an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, if our initial stockholders, sponsor or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 15-month time period (or 21-month time period, as applicable).
EarlyBirdCapital, our initial stockholders, and our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to written agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $990,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the private placements, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account and any tax payments or expenses for the dissolution of the trust, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.10. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.10. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other
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consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. The underwriter of this offering and our independent registered public accounting firm will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have 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) $10.10 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 $10.10 per public 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 our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.10 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
If the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.10 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 $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.10 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $990,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). If we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. If our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $560,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, if the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $560,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of
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$0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60‑day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.
Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 15th month (or 21st month, as applicable) and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent ten years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.10 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. If an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
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If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.10 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.
Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with Our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete Our Initial Business Combination.
The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering.
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| | | | Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination | | | Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates | | | Redemptions if we fail to Complete an Initial Business Combination | |
| Calculation of redemption price | | | Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. | | | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. | | | If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months , or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. | |
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| | | | Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination | | | Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates | | | Redemptions if we fail to Complete an Initial Business Combination | |
| Impact to remaining stockholders | | | The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of deferred underwriting commissions and interest withdrawn in order to pay our taxes (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account). | | | If the permitted purchases described above are made, there would be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us. | | | The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions. | |
Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419
The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriter will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
| | | | Terms of Our Offering | | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |
| Escrow of offering proceeds | | | $101,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and private placements will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. | | | Approximately $85,050,000 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering, would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account. | |
| Investment of net proceeds | | | $101,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the private placements held in trust 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. | | | Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States. | |
| Receipt of interest on escrowed funds | | | Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or | | | Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination. | |
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| | | | Terms of Our Offering | | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |
| | | | insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. | | | | |
| Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business | | | We must complete one or more initial business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. | | | The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds. | |
| Trading of securities issued | | | The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock, rights, and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless EarlyBirdCapital informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which closing is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over- allotment option. | | | No trading of the units or the underlying Class A common stock, rights, and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account. | |
| Exercise of the warrants | | | The warrants cannot be exercised until the 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. | | | The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account. | |
| Election to remain an investor | | | We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash 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 our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business | | | A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the | |
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| | | | Terms of Our Offering | | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |
| | | | combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. | | | company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued. | |
| Business combination deadline | | | If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, we will 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 100% of 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as | | | If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors. | |
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| | | | Terms of Our Offering | | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |
| | | | stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the requirements of other applicable law. | | | | |
| Release of funds | | | Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes, none of the funds held in trust will be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. | | | The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time. | |
| Delivering stock certificates in connection with the exercise of redemption rights | | | We intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The | | | Many blank check companies provide that a stockholder can vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating that such stockholder is seeking to exercise its redemption rights. After the business combination is approved, the company would contact such stockholder to | |
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| | | | Terms of Our Offering | | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering | |
| | | | Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have up to two business days prior to the vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. | | | arrange for delivery of its share certificates to verify ownership. | |
| Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote | | | If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. However, we would not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. | | | Many blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination. | |
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other special purpose acquisition companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding rights and warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently utilize office space at 111 Somerset, #05-06, Singapore 238164 from our sponsor. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have two executive officers. Neither of our executive officers are obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We will register our units, Class A common stock, rights, and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only if we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
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Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our shares of common stock that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700,000,000 as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
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MANAGEMENT
Officers, Directors and Director Nominees
Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:
Name | | | Age | | | Position | |
Tse Meng Ng | | | 46 | | | Chief Executive Officer, Director | |
Han Hsiung Lim | | | 46 | | | Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Director Nominee | |
Benjamin Waisbren | | | 63 | | | Independent Director | |
Simon Eng Hock Ong | | | 55 | | | Independent Director Nominee | |
Vincent Yang Hui | | | 33 | | | Independent Director Nominee | |
Tse Meng Ng, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, is a highly regarded and successful financier and businessman. In February 2019, Mr. Ng co-founded Ruifeng Wealth Management Pte Ltd, a Singapore Capital Markets Services licensed financial institution regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore with a market capitalization of approximately $2 billion, for which he serves as the chief executive officer. There, Mr. Ng and his team provide fund management services to ultra-high net worth individuals. From May 2014 to January 2019, Mr. Ng served as the Managing Director of Credit Agricole, an international full-service banking group. He was voted ‘Outstanding Young Private Banker’ in 2011 by Private Banker International, the leading journal for the global wealth management industry. Prior to that, Mr. Ng was a Director at Credit Suisse where he helped form the team that covered the North Asia markets and where he helped contribute the most net new money between 2008-2009. He started his career in 1998 at Citibank N.A where he managed a team of banking staff at a very young age. Mr. Ng earned a B.S. in Business from Nanyang Technological University. Mr. Ng is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his leadership skills and business acumen.
Han Hsiung Lim, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, is an accomplished executive and leader. Mr. Lim retired from an 18-year career in the banking and asset management industry in 2018 and has since managed his own investments in public equities and fixed-income securities. From January 2016 to December 2017, Mr. Lim was a Senior Vice President in the Risk & Performance Management Department at GIC (formerly known as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), which manages Singapore’s foreign reserves. From April 2009 to December 2014, he served as the Head of Credit Risk Management in the Risk & Performance Management Department at GIC where he was responsible for approving, managing and mitigating the firmwide credit exposure of GIC to its trading counterparties. From February 2000 to April 2009, Mr. Lim worked within the Financial Markets Credit Group at DBS Bank, where he rose up the ranks to Vice President in 2005 and was responsible for approving, managing and mitigating the firmwide credit exposure of DBS Bank to a portfolio of banks and non-bank financial institutions. He also has experience in managing credit exposure, as he was tasked with avoiding and mitigating DBS Bank’s potential losses during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Mr. Lim has a bachelor of business degree (First Class Honors), with a major in banking and a minor in hospitality, from the Nanyang Technological University.
Benjamin Waisbren has served on our board of directors since March 2021. Since 2014, Mr. Waisbren has served as the President of Virtually There Holdings LLC d/b/a Ben Waisbren & Associates, which advises media companies and firms involved in distressed situations. From April 2019 through July 2020, Mr. Waisbren served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer of NanoMech Inc., a nanotechnology company that he led through a Chapter 11 case and its sale to a global company. He is also on the board of Vistas Media Acquisition Company, a Nasdaq listed blank check company, and previously served on the board of Wild Bunch AG, the German-listed, Paris-based award-winning film co-production and distribution company for ten years. Mr. Waisbren also held attorney positions at Lord Bissell & Brook LLP (now Locke Lord LLP) and Winston & Strawn LLP, during and after which he was engaged by the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad money laundering matter. Mr. Waisbren’s impressive legal and business career make him an excellent candidate for our board of directors.
Simon Eng Hock Ong will serve on our board of directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Ong currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Rich Capital Holdings Limited, a company listed on SGX Catalist. Prior thereto, Mr. Ong worked as the Executive Director of Asiaphos Limited from 2012 through
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June, 2019, and remains as with Asiaphos as a Non-Executive Director and as a member of their audit committee. Previously, Mr. Ong also served as Group Finance Manager and as Chief Financial Officer of Hwa Hong Corporation Limited, a company listed on SGX-ST Main Board, and as a director of corporate and financial planning of the King George Development Corporation, a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (formerly known as the Vancouver Stock Exchange). Mr. Ong has a degree in accounting from North East London Polytechnic (now known as the University of East London) and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a Certified Practicing Accountant in Australia. Mr. Ong’s experience working with public companies and his strong background in finance and accounting make him a strong candidate to serve on our board of directors.
Vincent Yang Hui will serve on our board of directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Hui currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of abComo eCommerce Pte Ltd, a multinational influencer platform that he founded in 2020. He also co-founded Long-bridge, an overseas asset investment company, in 2019, and Alphabit Consulting Pte Ltd, a Singapore based technology consulting company. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Hui served as a Business Development Director for the Alibaba Group and Ant Financial. Mr. Hui has a BSc in Information Management and Information Systems from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and a graduate diploma in systems analysis from the National University of Singapore. Mr. Hui’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors includes his entrepreneurial experiences and educational background.
Our Advisors
In addition to our management team and board of directors, our team will include Chandra Tjan and Stephen Lee, who shall serve as advisors. None of these individuals have any contractual obligation to us or are otherwise required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs; however, we expect that certain of these individuals will, on average, dedicate a significant amount of their professional time on our affairs.
Chandra Tjan is a heralded entrepreneur with a record of success as a venture capitalist in Southeast Asia. Mr. Tjan started his career as a banker at Citigroup and Credit Suisse in Singapore. After a decade in the banking industry, Mr. Tjan saw a huge opportunity in Indonesia’s technology sector, and in 2009 he co-founded East Ventures, an early stage capital venture firm. During his tenure in Indonesia, Mr. Tjan was responsible for dozens of investments in early-stage start-ups, including the online marketplace Tokopedia and all-in-one travel booking platform Traveloka. In 2015, Chandra co-founded Alpha JWC Ventures, an institutionalised and independent VC fund targeting early-stage tech startups across Southeast Asia, with a strong focus in Indonesia. The firm currently manages approximately $200 million across two funds, making it the largest early-stage fund in Indonesia, with 36 active portfolio companies. With over a decade of experience in tech investment, Mr. Tjan has invested in over 60 companies in Asia and the United States. He currently sits on the board of some of the leading tech companies in Asia, including FundingSocieties, Carro, GudangAda, Bobobox and OnlinePajak. Mr. Tjan graduated from The University of Sydney with a triple major in finance, economics, and management, currently attends the Owner-President Management (OPM) Program at Harvard Business School, a 3-year residential program for business owners and entrepreneurs, and is a member of YPO’s (Young President Organization) global leadership community.
Stephen Lee is an experienced and respected executive with experience across a wide variety of sectors and industries. In 1994, Mr. Lee joined AIF Capital and has been a Partner and Investment Committee Member since 2001. He has been actively involved in deal origination, transaction execution, investment management and portfolio monitoring and represents AIF Capital on the boards of various portfolio companies. His sector investment experience includes manufacturing, industrial, media, pharmaceutical and healthcare, aquaculture, consumer, new materials, telecommunication, logistics and transportation in multiple countries, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore. Mr. Lee has been involved in multiple prominent deals in the Asia-Pacific region, including Aofeng Hi-Tech Company Limited (the largest carbon fiber composite company manufacturer in Asia), Oceanus Group Limited (the Singapore-listed leading aquatic company in Asia), CN Innovations Holdings Limited (the leading smartphone manufacturer in China and Asia), Shandong Buchang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (China’s largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine), Charm Communications Inc. (a leading Chinese media company in China that was previously listed in the United States), Bharti Infratel Limited (India’s largest mobile operator in India), Bestime Pharma (Asia) Limited (leading antibiotics drug manufacturer in China), PT Excelcomindo Pratama (leading mobile operator in Indonesia) and PT Marga Mandalasakti (operators of the longest toll road in Indonesia).
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Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
We will have four directors upon completion of this offering. Our board of directors will be divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Mr. Hui, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mr. Waisbren, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Mr. Ong and Mr. Ng, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Director Independence
The rules of Nasdaq require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Benjamin Waisbren, Simon Eng Hock Ong, and Vincent Yang Hui are “independent directors” as defined in Nasdaq rules and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team. In addition, we may elect to pay customary fees to our directors for director service and our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of
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our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of Nasdaq require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Benjamin Waisbren, Simon Eng Hock Ong and Vincent Yang Hui will serve as members of our audit committee, and Simon Eng Hock Ong will chair the audit committee. All members of our audit committee are independent of and unaffiliated with our sponsor and our underwriter.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Vincent Yang Hui qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
•
meeting with our independent registered accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems;
•
monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm;
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verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law;
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inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
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pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed;
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appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm;
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determine the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent registered public accounting firm regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work;
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establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies;
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monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of this offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of this offering; and
•
reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing stockholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval.
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Compensation Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. Benjamin Waisbren, Simon Eng Hock Ong, and Vincent Yang Hui will serve as members of our compensation committee. Benjamin Waisbren will chair the compensation committee.
We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
•
reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;
•
reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers;
•
reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;
•
implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
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assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
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approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;
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producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and
•
reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Director Nominations
We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by our board of directors. Our board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Simon Eng Hock Ong, Han Hsiung Lim, and Vincent Yang Hui. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of the Nasdaq rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, our board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.
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Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees (“Code of Ethics”). A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
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the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;
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the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and
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it would not be fair to our company and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
| Individual | | | Entity | | | Entity’s Business | | | Affiliation | |
| Tse Meng Ng | | | Ruifeng Wealth Management Pte Ltd | | | Finance and Investing | | | CEO and Co-Founder | |
| Benjamin Waisbren | | | Vistas Media Acquisition Corp. | | | Media | | | Independent director | |
| | | | Virtually There Holdings LLC d/b/a Ben Waisbren & Associates | | | Consulting | | | Principal | |
| Han Hsiung Lim | | | | | | | | | | |
| Simon Eng Hock Ong | | | Rich Capital Holdings Limited | | | Finance and Investing | | | Chief Financial Officer | |
| | | | Asiaphos Limited | | | Mining | | | Director | |
| Vincent Yang Hui | | | abComo eCommerce Pte Ltd | | | Online Shopping | | | Founder and Chief Executive Officer | |
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
•
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and
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our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.
•
Our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants (and the underlying securities) will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 60 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants (and private placement-equivalent warrants) and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants and rights, will not be transferable, assignable or saleable by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock, rights, and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
•
Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. If we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm, that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Furthermore, other than the payment of customary fees we may elect to make to members of our board of directors for director service, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, commencing on the date our securities are first listed on Nasdaq, we will also pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote any founder shares they hold and any shares purchased during or after the offering, in favor of our initial business combination.
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Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors.
We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification to be provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors. Except with respect to any public shares they may acquire in this offering or thereafter (if we do not consummate an initial business combination), our officers and directors have agreed to waive (and any other persons who may become an officer or director prior to the initial business combination will also be required to waive) any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and not to seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever, including with respect to such indemnification.
These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
•
each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock;
•
each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees; and
•
all our executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group.
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
On January 21, 2021 our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. Prior to the completion of this offering, we will issue to EarlyBirdCapital and/or designees an aggregate of 200,000 representatives shares at $0.0001 per share. Please see the section entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.” Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of this offering would be a maximum of 11,500,000 units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering (without giving effect to the private placements). Up to 375,000 of the founder shares will be forfeited depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment is exercised. The post-offering percentages in the following table assume that the underwriter does not exercise their over-allotment option, that our sponsor has forfeited 375,000 founder shares, and that there are 12,700,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.
| | | BEFORE OFFERING | | | AFTER OFFERING | | ||||||||||||||||||
NAME AND ADDRESS OF BENEFICIAL OWNER(1) | | | NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED(2)(4) | | | APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF OUTSTANDING COMMON STOCK | | | NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED(2) | | | APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF OUTSTANDING COMMON STOCK | | ||||||||||||
RF Dynamic LLC (our sponsor)(4)(3) | | | | | 2,875,000 | | | | | | 93.5% | | | | | | 2,500,000 | | | | | | 19.7% | | |
Tse Meng Ng(4) | | | | | 2,875,000 | | | | | | 93.5% | | | | | | 2,500,000 | | | | | | 19.7% | | |
Benjamin Waisbren | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Han Hsiung Han | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Simon Eng Hock Ong | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Vincent Yang Hui | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
All executive officers and directors as a group | | | | | 2,875,000 | | | | | | 93.5% | | | | | | 2,500,000 | | | | | | 19.7% | | |
EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.(5) | | | | | 200,000 | | | | | | 6.5% | | | | | | 200,000 | | | | | | 1.6% | | |
*
Less than 1%
(1)
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o 111 Somerset, #05-06, Singapore 238164, Telephone number+65 6904 0766.
(2)
Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. Such shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities.”
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(3)
Includes up to 375,000 founder shares that will be surrendered for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised.
(4)
RF Dynamic LLC is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Tse Meng Ng is the sole member and manager of RF Dynamic LLC and has voting and investment discretion with respect to the common stock held of record by the sponsor. Tse Meng Ng disclaims any beneficial ownership of any shares held by the sponsor except to the extent of his respective pecuniary interest therein.
(5)
The address of EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. is 366 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10017
Immediately after this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own 20% of the then-issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (without giving effect to the private placements). Neither our sponsor nor any of our officers or directors have expressed an intention to purchase any units in this offering. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital, or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering (without giving effect to the private placements and the EBC founder shares). Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions, including approval of our initial business combination.
The holders of the founder shares have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed initial business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or in connection with a tender offer.
Our sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital have agreed that they or, in the case of EarlyBirdCapital, their designees, will purchase an aggregate of 4,550,000 warrants (or 5,000,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per warrant, consisting of 4,050,000 warrants by our sponsor (or 4,450,500 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) and 500,000 warrants by EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) (or 549,500 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full).
Our sponsor, and our executive officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares and private placement warrants (and any shares of Class A common stock underlying such securities or issued upon conversion or exercise thereof) are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us to be entered into by our sponsor, officers and directors and the warrant purchase agreements to be entered into by us, our sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) 12 months after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants (and underlying securities), until after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to the
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completion of our initial business combination; (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; or (h) in the event of our liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) or (g) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreements and by the same agreements entered into by our sponsor with respect to such securities (including provisions relating to voting, the trust account and liquidation distributions described elsewhere in this prospectus).
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants (and underlying securities) and EBC founder shares will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. Notwithstanding the foregoing, these holders may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
We currently utilize office space at 111 Somerset, #05-06, Singapore 238164 from our sponsor. Subsequent to the closing of this offering, we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Other than the payment of customary fees we may elect to make to members of our board of directors for director service, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates. Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor may loan us funds of up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans would be non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of September 30, 2022 or the closing of this offering.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. If the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. The terms of such working capital loans by our sponsor or its affiliates, or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Any of the foregoing payments to our sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares and private placement securities, which is described under the heading “Principal Stockholders — Registration Rights.”
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of 120,000 or 1% of the average of the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or executive officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the
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relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its stockholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or executive officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.
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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
We are a Delaware corporation and our affairs will be governed by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the DGCL. Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which will be adopted prior to the consummation of this offering, we will be authorized to issue 400,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value each, including 380,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, as well as 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes certain terms of our capital stock as set out more particularly in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
Public Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock, one-half of one redeemable warrant, and one right. Each right entitles the holder to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of Class A common stock. Pursuant to this Offering, a rights holder may exercise its rights only for a whole number of shares of the Company's Class A common stock. As a result, you must have 10 rights to receive one share of common stock. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of the shares of Company’s Class A common stock. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. For example, if a warrant holder holds one-half of one warrant to purchase a share of Class A common stock, such warrant will not be exercisable. If a warrant holder holds three one-half warrants, one such whole warrant will be exercisable for one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share and the remaining one-half of a warrant will not be exercisable. The Class A common stock, warrants, and rights comprising the units are expected to begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless EarlyBirdCapital informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock, warrants, and rights commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into Class A common stock, warrants, and rights. No fractional warrants, shares, nor rights will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants, shares, and rights will trade.
In no event will the Class A common stock, warrants, and rights be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at closing of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet promptly after the completion of this offering, which closing is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.
Common Stock
Prior to the date of this prospectus, there were 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding, all of which were held of record by our initial stockholders, and 200,000 Class A common stock outstanding, all of which were held by EarlyBirdCapital. Up to 375,000 of the founder shares will be forfeited by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment is exercised so that our initial stockholders will own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (excluding the EBC founder shares and assuming our initial stockholders does not purchase any units in this offering). Upon the closing of this offering, 12,700,000 of our shares of common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 375,000 founder shares by our sponsor) including:
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10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock underlying units issued as part of this offering;
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2,500,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders;
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200,000 shares of Class A common stock issued to EarlyBirdCapital, which we refer to as the EBC founder shares.
If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock upon the consummation of this offering (without giving effect to the private placements).
Stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the completion of an initial business combination.
Holders of Class A common stock and holders of Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders except as required by law. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or as required by applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 380,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of Class A common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws, unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we pay to EarlyBirdCapital. EarlyBirdCapital, our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into written agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder
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shares and public shares they hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Unlike many special purpose acquisition companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many special purpose acquisition companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of our initial business combination. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding and, in order to dispose of such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our sponsor, our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares, EBC founder shares they hold and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, we would need 475,001, or approximately 4.75%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming that only a quorum is present at the meeting, the over-allotment option is not exercised and the EBC founder shares issued to EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) are voted in favor of the initial business combination). Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our
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remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor and our initial stockholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares and EBC founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or any extended period of time that we may have to consummate an initial business combination as a result of an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, if our sponsor or our initial stockholders or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per share price 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
Founder Shares
The founder shares are designated as Class B common stock and, except as described below, are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares they hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares they hold in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (C) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or any extended period of time that we may have to consummate an initial business combination as a result of an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period, and (iii) the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described herein and in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to
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further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as- converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders and without giving effect to the private placements), including the total number of shares of Class A common stock issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities 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 shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 60 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Up to 375,000 founder shares will be forfeited by our sponsor depending on the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.
Preferred Stock
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.
Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement) 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. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We will not be obligated to deliver any Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No
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warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue a share of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless the share of Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.
We are registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of its initial business combination, which may be within one year of this offering. However, because the warrants will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of our initial business combination, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act following the consummation of our initial business combination, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of its initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th) business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we 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 our Class A common stock 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, we may, at our 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 we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the warrants for redemption for cash:
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in whole and not in part;
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at a price of $.01 per warrant;
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upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and
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if, and only if, the closing price of the common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and for certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination as described elsewhere in this prospectus) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before we send to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.
If and when the warrants become redeemable by us for cash, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions
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are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and for certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination as described elsewhere in this prospectus) as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption procedures
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average closing price of the Class A common stock for the five trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, the holders of the private placement warrants and their permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis.
A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing if it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (as specified by the holder) of the Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a share capitalization payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such share capitalization, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of common stock. A rights offering to holders of common stock entitling holders to purchase Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a share capitalization of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) and (ii) the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering and (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for shares of Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of shares of Class A common stock as reported during the five trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the Class A common stock trades on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
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In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such Class A common stock (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, or (d) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share split or reclassification of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our Sponsor, initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our Sponsor, initial stockholders 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 our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day after the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below under “Redemption of Warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 118% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A common stock. After the issuance of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.
No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.
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Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor). The private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
If holders of warrants (and private placement-equivalent warrants) elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) of the Class A common stock over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the five trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. The terms of such working capital loans by our sponsor or its affiliates, or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.
In addition, holders of our private placement warrants are entitled to certain registration rights.
Our sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement warrants until the date that is 180 days after the date we complete our initial business combination, except that, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants” made to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor.
Rights
Except in cases where we are not the surviving company in a business combination, each holder of a right will automatically receive one-tenth (1/10) of one Class A common stock consummation of our initial business combination, even if the holder of a public right converted all Class A common stock held by him, her or it in connection with the initial business combination or an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation with respect to our pre-initial business combination activities. In the event we will not be the surviving company upon completion of our initial business combination, each holder of a right will be required to affirmatively convert his, her or its rights in order to receive the one-tenth (1/10) of one Class A common stock underlying each right upon consummation of the business combination. No additional consideration will be required to be paid by a holder of rights in order to receive his, her or its additional shares of Class A common stock upon consummation of an initial business combination. The shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exchange of the rights will be freely tradable (except to the extent held by affiliates of ours). If we enter into a definitive agreement for a business combination in which we will not be the surviving entity, the definitive agreement will provide for the holders of rights to receive the same per Class A common stock consideration the holders of the shares of Class A common stock will receive in the transaction on an as-converted into Class A common stock basis.
We will not issue fractional shares of Class A common stock in connection with an exchange of rights. Fractional shares will either be rounded down to the nearest whole share. As a result, you must hold rights in
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multiples of 10 in order to receive shares of Class A common stock for all of your rights upon closing of a business combination. If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we liquidate the funds held in the trust account, holders of rights will not receive any of such funds with respect to their rights, nor will they receive any distribution from our assets held outside of the trust account with respect to such rights, and the rights will expire worthless. Further, there are no contractual penalties for failure to deliver securities to the holders of the rights upon consummation of an initial business combination. Additionally, in no event will we be required to net cash settle the rights. Accordingly, the rights may expire worthless.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, then we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock upon the consummation of this offering (without giving effect to the private placements). Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent, Rights Agent, and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our common stock, rights agent for our rights, and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent, rights agent, and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity. Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company has agreed that it has no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account, and has irrevocably waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account that it may have now or in the future. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied, or a claim will only be able to be pursued, solely against us and our assets outside the trust account and not against the any monies in the trust account or interest earned thereon.
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of 50.1% of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:
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If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as
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promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the requirements of other applicable law;
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Prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on our initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, beyond 21 months, from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions;
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Although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our executive officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. If we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;
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If a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act. Whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above;
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So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more initial business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination;
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If our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A common stock upon such approval 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein; and
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We will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
We will be subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers upon completion of this offering. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:
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a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”);
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an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or
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an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.
A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:
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our board of directors approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder;”
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prior to the date of the transaction;
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after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or
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on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the initial business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.
Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Exclusive forum for certain lawsuits
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall concurrently be the sole and exclusive forums. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America have exclusive jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
Special meeting of stockholders
Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chairman.
Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations
Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders, must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by the company secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.
Action by written consent
Subsequent to the consummation of the offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by our common stockholders must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders other than with respect to our Class B common stock.
Classified Board of Directors
Our board of directors will initially be divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with members of each class serving staggered three-year terms (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders). Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors. Subject to the terms of any preferred stock, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by vote of a majority of our directors then in office.
Class B Common Stock Consent Right
For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of our certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.
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Securities Eligible for Future Sale
Immediately after this offering we will have 12,700,000 (or 14,575,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering (10,000,000 Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised and 11,500,000 shares if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any Class A common stock purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding (i) founder shares (2,875,000 founder shares if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full and 2,500,000 founder shares if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised), (ii) private placement warrants (4,550,000 private placement warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised and 5,000,000 private placement warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) and the securities underlying the private placement warrants, and (iii) 200,000 EBC founder shares, will be restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering.
Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares, rights, or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
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Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares, rights, or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three- month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
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1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 127,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 145,750 if the underwriter exercises in full its over-allotment option); or
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the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
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the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;
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the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;
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the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; and
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at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.
As a result, our initial stockholders will be able to sell their founder shares, private placement warrants, and the securities underlying the foregoing, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
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Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the founder shares), private placement warrants (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, on the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 60 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements. Notwithstanding the foregoing, our initial stockholders may not exercise its demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and may not exercise its demand rights on more than one occasion. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of Securities
We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “RFACU” commencing on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock, warrants, and rights will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “RFAC,” “RFACW,” and “RFACR,” respectively.
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U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following is a discussion of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Because the components of a unit are separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying Class A common stock, one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, and one-half of one redeemable warrant components of the unit, as the case may be. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A common stock, rights, and warrants that comprise the units). This discussion applies only to securities that are held as capital assets for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering.
This discussion is a summary only and does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, including but not limited to the alternative minimum tax, the Medicare tax on certain investment income and the different consequences that may apply if you are subject to special rules that apply to certain types of investors, including but not limited to:
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financial institutions or financial services entities;
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broker-dealers;
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governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof;
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regulated investment companies;
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real estate investment trusts;
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expatriates or former long-term residents of the U.S.;
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persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our voting shares;
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insurance companies;
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dealers or traders subject to a mark-to-market method of accounting with respect to the securities;
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persons holding the securities as part of a “straddle,” hedge, integrated transaction or similar transaction;
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U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar;
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partnerships or other pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and any beneficial owners of such entities; and
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tax-exempt entities.
If you are a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of your partners will generally depend on the status of the partners and your activities.
This discussion is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and final, temporary and proposed Treasury regulations as of the date hereof, which are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis, and changes to any of which subsequent to the date of this prospectus may affect the tax consequences described herein. This discussion does not address any aspect of state, local or non-U.S. taxation, or any U.S. federal taxes other than income taxes (such as gift and estate taxes).
We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) as to any U.S. federal income tax consequence described herein. The IRS may disagree with the discussion herein, and its determination may be upheld by a court. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future legislation, regulations, administrative rulings or court decisions will not adversely affect the accuracy of the statements in this discussion. You are urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the application of U.S. federal tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences arising under the laws of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction.
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Personal Holding Company Status
We could be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation generally will be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if:
(i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).
At least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income, depending on the date and size of our initial business combination. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts, more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not be a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.
Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit
No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of our Class A common stock, one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, and one-half of one warrant to acquire one share of our Class A common stock. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one share of Class A common stock, one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, and the one-half of one warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make his or her own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult his or her tax adviser regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each share of Class A common stock, one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, and the one-half of one warrant should be the stockholder’s tax basis in such share, right, or warrant, as the case may be. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share of Class A common stock, one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, and one-half of one warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A common stock, one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, and the one-half of one warrant based on their respective relative fair market values (as determined by each such unit holder on all the relevant facts and circumstances) at the time of disposition. The separation of shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants comprising units should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The foregoing treatment of the shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit). The balance of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a “U.S. holder.” A U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of Class A common stock, rights, or warrants who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
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an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States;
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a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; or
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an estate the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or
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a trust, if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons (as defined in the Code) have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) it has a valid election in effect under Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.
Taxation of Distributions. If we pay distributions in cash or other property (other than certain distributions of our stock or rights to acquire our stock) to U.S. holders of shares of our Class A common stock, such distributions generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock and will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock, Rights, and Warrants” below.
Dividends we pay to a U.S. holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. holder may constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at the maximum tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, then a corporation may not be able to qualify for the dividends received deduction and would have taxable income equal to the entire dividend amount, and non- corporate holders may be subject to tax on such dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential rate that applies to qualified dividend income.
Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock, Rights, and Warrants. Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, rights, or warrants which, in general, would include a redemption of Class A common stock, rights, or warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities as described below, and including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation If we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period, a U.S. holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in the Class A common stock, rights, or warrants. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock, rights, or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the running of the holding period for the Class A common stock is suspended, then non-corporate U.S. holders may not be able to satisfy the one-year holding period requirement for long-term capital gain treatment, in which case any gain on a sale or taxable disposition of the shares, rights, or warrants would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. holders will be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. holder is an amount equal to the difference between the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A common stock, rights, or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A common stock, rights, or the warrants based upon the then fair market values of the Class A common stock, the rights, and the warrants
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included in the units) and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock, rights, or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock, rights, or warrants generally will equal the U.S. holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of Class A common stock, one right to receive one-tenth of one Class A common stock, or one-half of one warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. holder’s initial basis for Class A common stock received upon exercise of warrants) less, in the case of a share of Class A common stock, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital.
Redemption of Class A Common Stock. If a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock in an open market transaction, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption or purchase by us qualifies as a sale of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption or purchase by us qualifies as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock, Rights, and Warrants” above. If the redemption or purchase by us does not qualify as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions”. Whether a redemption or purchase by us qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. holder as a result of owning warrants) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption or purchase by us. The redemption or purchase by us of Class A common stock generally will be treated as a sale of the Class A common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption or purchase by us (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. holder. These tests are explained more fully below.
In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. holder, as well as any stock the U.S. holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately following the redemption of Class A common stock must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately before the redemption. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. holder’s interest if either (i) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed or (ii) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed and the U.S. holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. holder does not constructively own any other shares of our stock. The redemption of the Class A common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if a U.S. holder’s conversion results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” A U.S. holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.
If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. holder in the redeemed Class A common stock will be added to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.
Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant. Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. holder generally will not recognize taxable gain or loss on the acquisition of common
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stock upon exercise of a warrant for cash. The U.S. holder’s tax basis in the share of our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. holder’s purchase price for units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “— Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price. It is unclear whether the U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrants will begin on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrants; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant.
The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be tax-free, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either tax-free situation, a U.S. holder’s basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the holder’s basis in the warrants exercised therefor. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. holder’s holding period in the Class A common stock would be treated as commencing on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrants exercised therefor.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. holder could be deemed to have surrendered warrants equal to the number of shares of Class A common stock having a value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. The U.S. holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the Class A common stock received in respect of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. holder’s tax basis in the warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, a U.S. holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the sum of the fair market value of the Class A common stock received in respect of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. holder’s tax basis in the warrants exercised. It is unclear whether a U.S. holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrant.
Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, including when a U.S. holder’s holding period would commence with respect to the Class A common stock received, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
A redemption of warrants for Class A common stock described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants — Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock” should be treated as a “recapitalization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, a U.S. holder should not recognize any gain or loss on the redemption of warrants for shares of Class A common stock. A U.S. holder’s aggregate tax basis in the shares of Class A common stock received in the redemption should equal the U.S. holder’s aggregate tax basis in the warrants redeemed and the holding period for the shares of Class A common stock received in redemption of the warrants should include the U.S. holder’s holding period for the surrendered warrants.
If we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants — Redemption of warrants for cash” or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or purchase generally will be treated as a taxable disposition to the U.S. holder, taxed as described above under “— Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”
Possible Constructive Distributions. The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable
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Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The U.S. holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment to the number of such shares or to such exercise price increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our common stock, in each case which is taxable to the holders of such shares as a distribution. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if the U.S. holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants, unless the U.S. holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number, a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).
Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
Non-U.S. Holders
This section applies to you if you are a “Non-U.S. holder.” As used herein, the term “Non-U.S. holder” means a beneficial owner of our units, Class A common stock, rights, or warrants who or that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
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a non-resident alien individual (other than certain former citizens and residents of the U.S. subject to U.S. tax as expatriates);
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a foreign corporation or
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an estate or trust that is not a U.S. holder;
but generally does not include an individual who is present in the U.S. for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition. If you are such an individual, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership or sale or other disposition of our securities.
Taxation of Distributions. In general, any distributions we make to a Non-U.S. holder of shares of our Class A common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States, we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such Non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W- 8BEN or W-8BEN-E). Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our Class A common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock, which will be treated as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock, Rights, and Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “U.S. real property holding corporation” (see “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits.
The withholding tax does not apply to dividends paid to a Non-U.S. holder who provides a Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States. Instead, the effectively connected dividends will be subject to regular U.S. income tax
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as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident, subject to an applicable income tax treaty providing otherwise. A Non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate).
Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant. The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a Non-U.S. holder’s exercise of a warrant, or the lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. holder, generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise or lapse of a warrant by a U.S. holder, as described under “U.S. Holders — Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described below in “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.” The U.S. federal income tax treatment for a Non-U.S. holder of a redemption of warrants for Class A common stock described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants — Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock” will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment for a U.S. holder of a redemption of warrants for Class A common stock, as U.S. described above in “U.S. Holders — Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.” The U.S. federal income tax treatment for a Non-U.S. holder of a redemption of warrants for cash described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants — Redemption of warrants for cash” (or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction) would be similar to that described below in Non-U.S. Holders — Gain or Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”
Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock, Rights, and Warrants. A Non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation If we do not complete an initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering, rights, or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our rights or warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:
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the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the Non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder); or
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we are or have been a “U.S. real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the Non-U.S. holder held our Class A common stock, and, in the case where shares of our Class A common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the Non-U.S. holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our Class A common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such Non-U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares of our Class A common stock. There can be no assurance that our Class A common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.
Unless an applicable treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a Non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower treaty rate).
If the second bullet point above applies to a Non-U.S. holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Class A common stock, rights, or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our Class A common stock, rights, or warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a “United States real property holding corporation” in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a U.S. real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50 percent of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
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Redemption of Class A Common Stock. The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. holder’s Class A common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Common Stock” generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. holder’s Class A common stock, as described under “U.S. Holders — Redemption of Class A Common Stock” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. holder will be as described above under “Non-U.S. holders — Taxation of Distributions” and “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock, Rights, and Warrants,” as applicable.
Possible Constructive Distributions. The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a Non-U.S. holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock which is taxable to such holders as a distribution. Any constructive distribution received by a Non-U.S. holder would be subject to U.S. federal income tax (including any applicable withholding) in the same manner as if such Non-U.S. holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest without any corresponding receipt of cash.
Information Reporting and Backup Withholding. Information returns will be filed with the IRS in connection with payments of dividends and the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock, rights, and warrants. A Non-U.S. holder may have to comply with certification procedures to establish that it is not a United States person in order to avoid information reporting and backup withholding requirements. The certification procedures required to claim a reduced rate of withholding under a treaty will satisfy the certification requirements necessary to avoid the backup withholding as well. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a Non-U.S. holder will be allowed as a credit against such holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.
FATCA Withholding Taxes. Provisions commonly referred to as “FATCA” impose withholding of 30% on payments of dividends (including constructive dividends) on our Class A common stock to “foreign financial institutions” (which is broadly defined for this purpose and in general includes investment vehicles) and certain other Non-U.S. entities unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied by, or an exemption applies to, the payee (typically certified as to by the delivery of a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN-E). Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing FATCA may be subject to different rules. Under certain circumstances, a Non-U.S. holder might be eligible for refunds or credits of such withholding taxes, and a Non-U.S. holder might be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return to claim such refunds or credits. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisers regarding the effects of FATCA on their investment in our securities.
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UNDERWRITING
We intend to offer our securities described in this prospectus through the underwriter named below. EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. is acting as the sole book-running manager of the offering and as the representative of the underwriter named below. We will enter into an underwriting agreement with the Representative. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, the underwriter, through the Representative, has agreed to purchase from us, on a firm commitment basis, the number of units listed next to its name in the following table at the public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus:
Underwriter | | | Number of Units | | |||
EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. | | | | | | | |
Total | | | | | 10,000,000 | | |
A copy of the form of underwriting agreement has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.
Listing of Our Securities
We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “RFACU.” Following the date the Class A common stock, rights, and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the Class A common stock, rights, and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “RFAC,” “RFACR,” and “RFACW,” respectively. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing or continue to be listed on Nasdaq after this offering.
Pricing of This Offering
We have been advised by the Representative that the underwriter proposes to offer the units to the public at the offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. They may allow some dealers concessions not in excess of $[ ] per unit and the dealers may also allow a concession not in excess of $[ ] per unit to other dealers.
Prior to this offering there has been no public market for our securities. The public offering price of the units was negotiated between us and the representative of the underwriter. Factors considered in determining the prices and terms of the units include:
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the history of other similarly structured blank check companies;
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prior offerings of those companies;
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our prospects for consummating our initial business combination with an operating business at attractive values;
•
our capital structure;
•
securities exchange listing requirements;
•
market demand;
•
expected liquidity of our securities; and
•
general conditions of the securities markets at the time of the offering.
However, although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities for an operating company in a particular industry since the underwriter is unable to compare our financial results and prospects with those of public companies operating in the same industry.
Over-Allotment Option
We have granted the underwriter an option to purchase up to 1,500,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriter may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, made in connection with this offering. The underwriter has 45 days from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. If the
143
underwriter exercises this option, they will each purchase additional units approximately in proportion to the amounts specified in the table above.
Commissions and Discounts
The following table shows the public offering price, underwriting discount to be paid by us to the underwriter and the proceeds, before expenses, to us. This information assumes either no exercise or full exercise by the representative of the underwriter of its over-allotment option.
| | | Per Unit | | | Without Over-allotment | | | With Over-allotment | | |||||||||
Public offering price | | | | $ | 10.00 | | | | | $ | 100,000,000 | | | | | $ | 115,000,000 | | |
Discount(1) | | | | $ | 0.55 | | | | | $ | 5,500,000 | | | | | $ | 6,325,000 | | |
Proceeds before expenses(2) | | | | $ | 9.45 | | | | | $ | 94,500,000 | | | | | $ | 108,675,000 | | |
(1)
Such proceeds exclude $0.35 per unit, or $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) payable to EarlyBirdCapital for deferred underwriting commissions, to be placed in a trust account located in the United States and released to EarlyBirdCapital only on the completion of an initial business combination.
(2)
The offering expenses are estimated at approximately $560,000.
In addition to the underwriting discount, we may be required to reimburse EarlyBirdCapital for expenses of the underwriter’s legal counsel and certain diligence and other fees, which such fees and expenses are capped at an aggregate of $100,000.
No discounts or commissions will be paid on the sale of the private placement warrants.
Private Placement Warrants
EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) has committed to purchase 500,000 private placement warrants (or 549,500 private placement warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for an aggregate purchase price of $500,000 (or $549,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.00 per warrant. All of these purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering and the over-allotment option, as applicable. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants being sold in this offering. However, EarlyBirdCapital has agreed (A) to vote its founder shares, if any, and any public shares acquired in or after this offering in favor of any proposed business combination, (B) not to propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre- initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, (C) not to convert any shares (including any founder shares) into the right to receive cash from the trust account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve our proposed initial business combination (or sell any shares they hold to us in a tender offer in connection with a proposed initial business combination) or a vote to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, and (D) that the founder shares shall not be entitled to be redeemed for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account if a business combination is not consummated. The private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock that are issuable pursuant to the warrants, have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a 180-day
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lock-up pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1) commencing on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or the commencement of sales in this offering. Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1), these securities will not be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.
Additionally, the private placement warrants purchased by EarlyBirdCapital may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated or be the subject of and hedging during the 180-day lock-up period commencing on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or the commencement of sales in this offering, except to any selected dealer participating in the offering and the bona fide officers or partners of the underwriter and any such participating selected dealer. EarlyBirdCapital has agreed that the private placement warrants it purchases will not be sold or transferred by it (except to certain permitted transferees) until after we have completed an initial business combination. We have granted the holders of private placement warrants, including EarlyBirdCapital, registration rights as described under the section “Description of Securities — Registration Rights” which will at all times be in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(iii)-(v).
EBC founder shares
Prior to the completion of this offering, we will issue to EarlyBirdCapital and its designees 200,000 EBC founder shares at $0.0001 per share. EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any such shares without our prior written consent until the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, EarlyBirdCapital (and/or its designees) has agreed (i) to waive its redemption rights with respect to such shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, or if we decide to extend the period of time to consummate our business combination up to two times by an additional three months each time, at $0.10 per extension, for a total of $0.20 aggregate in trust, within 21 months, from the closing of this offering.
The shares have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the date of the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1). Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1), these securities may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated or the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in the offering and their bona fide officers or partners.
We have granted the holders of these shares the registration rights as described under the section “Shares Eligible for Future Sale—Registration Rights.” In compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G), the EarlyBirdCapital registration rights are limited to demand and “piggy back” rights for periods of five and seven years, respectively, from the effective date of this prospectus and EarlyBirdCapital may only exercise its demand rights on one occasion.
Right of First Refusal
We have granted EarlyBirdCapital a right of first refusal for a period commencing from the consummation of this offering until the consummation of our initial business combination (or the liquidation of the trust account in the event that we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the prescribed time period) to act as book running manager, placement agent and/or arranger for all financings where we seek to raise equity, equity-linked, debt or mezzanine financings relating to or in connection with a business combination.
Regulatory Restrictions on Purchase of Securities
Rules of the SEC may limit the ability of the underwriter to bid for or purchase our units before the distribution of the units is completed. However, the underwriter may engage in the following activities in accordance with the rules:
145
•
Stabilizing Transactions. The underwriter may make bids or purchases solely for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the price of our units, as long as stabilizing bids do not exceed the offering price of $10.00 and the underwriter complies with all other applicable rules.
•
Over-Allotments and Syndicate Coverage Transactions. The underwriter may create a short position in our units by selling more of our units than are set forth on the cover page of this prospectus up to the amount of the over-allotment option. This is known as a covered short position. The underwriter may also create a short position in our units by selling more of our units than are set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and the units allowed by the over-allotment option. This is known as a naked short position. If the underwriter creates a short position during the offering, the representative may engage in syndicate covering transactions by purchasing our units in the open market. The representative may also elect to reduce any short position by exercising all or part of the over-allotment option. Determining what method to use in reducing the short position depends on how the units trade in the aftermarket following the offering. If the unit price drops following the offering, the short position is usually covered with shares purchased by the underwriter in the aftermarket. However, the underwriter may cover a short position by exercising the over-allotment option even if the unit price drops following the offering. If the unit price rises after the offering, then the over-allotment option is used to cover the short position. If the short position is more than the over-allotment option, the naked short must be covered by purchases in the aftermarket, which could be at prices above the offering price.
•
Penalty Bids. The representative may reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.
Stabilization and syndicate covering transactions may cause the price of our securities to be higher than they would be in the absence of these transactions. The imposition of a penalty bid might also have an effect on the prices of our securities if it discourages resales of our securities.
Neither we nor the underwriter make any representation or prediction as to the effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of our securities. These transactions may occur on Nasdaq, in the over- the-counter market or on any trading market. If any of these transactions are commenced, they may be discontinued without notice at any time.
Other Terms
Except as set forth above, we are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriter to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, the underwriter may, among other things, introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital, as needs may arise in the future. If the underwriter provides services to us after this offering, we may pay the underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriter and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriter prior to the date which is 90 days after the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriter’s compensation in connection with this offering.
Indemnification
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriter against some liabilities, including civil liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriter may be required to make in this respect.
Selling Restrictions
Canada
Resale Restrictions
We intend to distribute our securities in the Province of Ontario, Canada (the “Canadian Offering Jurisdiction”) by way of a private placement and exempt from the requirement that we prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in such Canadian Offering Jurisdiction. Any resale of our
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securities in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws that will vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Canadian resale restrictions in some circumstances may apply to resales of interests made outside of Canada. Canadian purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of our securities. We may never be a “reporting issuer”, as such term is defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation, in any province or territory of Canada in which our securities will be offered and there currently is no public market for any of the securities in Canada, and one may never develop. Canadian investors are advised that we have no intention to file a prospectus or similar document with any securities regulatory authority in Canada qualifying the resale of the securities to the public in any province or territory in Canada.
Representations of Purchasers
A Canadian purchaser will be required to represent to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:
•
the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase our securities without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under those securities laws;
•
where required by law, that the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent;
•
the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions; and
•
the purchaser acknowledges and consents to the provision of specified information concerning its purchase of our securities to the regulatory authority that by law is entitled to collect the information.
Rights of Action — Ontario Purchasers Only
Under Ontario securities legislation, certain purchasers who purchase a security offered by this prospectus during the period of distribution will have a statutory right of action for damages, or while still the owner of our securities, for rescission against us if this prospectus contains a misrepresentation without regard to whether the purchaser relied on the misrepresentation. The right of action for damages is exercisable not later than the earlier of 180 days from the date the purchaser first had knowledge of the facts giving rise to the cause of action and three years from the date on which payment is made for our securities. The right of action for rescission is exercisable not later than 180 days from the date on which payment is made for our securities. If a purchaser elects to exercise the right of action for rescission, the purchaser will have no right of action for damages against us. In no case will the amount recoverable in any action exceed the price at which our securities were offered to the purchaser and if the purchaser is shown to have purchased the securities with knowledge of the misrepresentation, we will have no liability. In the case of an action for damages, we will not be liable for all or any portion of the damages that are proven to not represent the depreciation in value of our securities as a result of the misrepresentation relied upon. These rights are in addition to, and without derogation from, any other rights or remedies available at law to an Ontario purchaser. The foregoing is a summary of the rights available to an Ontario purchaser. Ontario purchasers should refer to the complete text of the relevant statutory provisions.
Enforcement of Legal Rights
All of our directors and officers as well as the experts named herein are located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All of our assets and the assets of those persons are located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.
Collection of Personal Information
If a Canadian purchaser is resident in or otherwise subject to the securities laws of the Province of Ontario, the Purchaser authorizes the indirect collection of personal information pertaining to the Canadian purchaser by the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC”) and each Canadian purchaser will be required to acknowledge and agree that the Canadian purchaser has been notified by us (i) of the delivery to the OSC of
147
personal information pertaining to the Canadian purchaser, including, without limitation, the full name, residential address and telephone number of the Canadian purchaser, the number and type of securities purchased and the total purchase price paid in respect of the securities, (ii) that this information is being collected indirectly by the OSC under the authority granted to it in securities legislation, (iii) that this information is being collected for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of the securities legislation of Ontario, and (iv) that the title, business address and business telephone number of the public official in Ontario who can answer questions about the OSC’s indirect collection of the information is the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Corporate Finance, the Ontario Securities Commission, Suite 1903, Box 5520, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 3S8, Telephone: (416) 593-8086, Facsimile: (416) 593-8252.
British Virgin Islands
No offer or invitation to subscribe for units may be made to the public in the British Virgin Islands.
Switzerland
The units may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, or SIX, or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This prospectus has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the units or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the company or the securities have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this prospectus will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, or FINMA, and the offer of securities has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes, or CISA. The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of units.
Italy
This prospectus has not been submitted to the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa, the Italian Securities Exchange Commission (“CONSOB”), for clearance and will not be subject to formal review or clearance by CONSOB.
Accordingly, the units may not be offered, and copies of this prospectus or any other document relating to the units may not be distributed in Italy except:
(a)
to “qualified investors” (investitori qualificati), as defined pursuant to Article 34-ter, first paragraph, letter b), of CONSOB regulation No. 11971 of May 14, 1999, as amended, concerning issuers (“Regulation No. 11971”), but excluding (i) small and medium enterprises and natural persons indicated in Regulation No. 11971 that have not been included in the register of qualified investors, (ii) management companies and financial intermediaries authorized to manage individual portfolios on behalf of third parties and (iii) fiduciary companies managing portfolio investments regulated by Article 60, paragraph 4 of Legislative Decree No. 415 of July 23, 1996; or
(b)
in other circumstances that are exempt from the rules on public offers pursuant to Article 100 of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of February 24, 1998, as amended (the “Italian Financial Act”), and its implementing CONSOB regulations, including Regulation No. 11971.
Any such offer, sale or delivery of the units offered hereby or distribution of copies of this Prospectus, or any other document relating to the offering in the Republic of Italy must be in compliance with the selling restrictions under
(i)
made by soggetti abilitati (including investment firms (imprese di investimento), banks or financial
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intermediaries, as defined by Article 1, first paragraph, letter r), of the Italian Financial Act, to the extent duly authorized to engage in the offering and/or underwriting and/or purchase of financial instruments in the Republic of Italy in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Italian Financial Act, CONSOB Regulation 16190 of October 29, 2007, as amended, Legislative Decree No. 385 of September 1, 1993, as amended (the “Italian Banking Act”) and any other applicable laws and regulations; and
(ii)
in compliance with any other applicable requirements or limitations which may be imposed by CONSOB, the Bank of Italy or any other Italian regulatory authority.
Any investor purchasing the units offered hereby is solely responsible for ensuring that any offer or resale of the units it purchased occurs in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
In accordance with Article 100-bis of the Italian Financial Act, the subsequent resale on the secondary market in the Republic of Italy of the units offered hereby (which were part of an offer made pursuant to an exemption from the obligation to publish a prospectus) constitutes a distinct and autonomous offer that must be made in compliance with the public offer and prospectus requirement rules provided under the Italian Financial Act and the Regulation No. 11971 unless an exemption applies. Failure to comply with such rules may result in the subsequent resale of such units being declared null and void and the intermediary transferring the units may be liable for any damage suffered by the investors.
LEGAL MATTERS
Winston & Strawn LLP is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus. Loeb & Loeb is acting as counsel to the underwriter in connection with the offering of the securities.
EXPERTS
The financial statements of RF Acquisition Corp. as of February 2, 2021 and for the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through February 2, 2021 included in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report, thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of RF Acquisition Corp. to continue as a going concern as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on such report given upon the authority of such firm as experts in auditing and accounting.
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WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.
Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| | | PAGE | | |||
Financial Statements of RF Acquisition Corp.: | | | | | | | |
| | | | F-2 | | | |
| | | | F-3 | | | |
| | | | F-4 | | | |
| | | | F-5 | | | |
| | | | F-6 | | | |
| | | | F-7 | | |
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of
RF Acquisition Corp.
RF Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of RF Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of February 2, 2021, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through February 2, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of February 2, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through February 2, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph — Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1, the Company’s business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed initial public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. The Company has a working capital deficit as of February 2, 2021 and lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans with regard to these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might become necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
Boston, MA
March 1, 2021, except for Note 8, as to which the date is December 20, 2021
March 1, 2021, except for Note 8, as to which the date is December 20, 2021
F-2
RF ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE
SHEETS
SHEETS
| | | September 30, 2021 (unaudited) | | | February 2, 2021 | | ||||||
ASSETS | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Deferred offering costs | | | | $ | 347,368 | | | | | $ | 198,000 | | |
TOTAL ASSETS | | | | $ | 347,368 | | | | | | 198,000 | | |
LIABILITIES AND STOCKOLDERS’ EQUITY | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Current Liabilities | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Accrued expenses | | | | $ | 659 | | | | | $ | 659 | | |
Accrued offering costs | | | | | 327,368 | | | | | | 178,000 | | |
Total Current Liabilities | | | | | 328,027 | | | | | | 178,659 | | |
Commitments and contingencies (Note 6) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Stockholders’ Equity | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 380,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 2,875,000 shares issued and outstanding(1) | | | | | 288 | | | | | | 288 | | |
Additional paid in capital | | | | | 24,712 | | | | | | 24,712 | | |
Class B common stock subscription receivable | | | | | (5,000) | | | | | | (5,000) | | |
Accumulated deficit | | | | | (659) | | | | | | (659) | | |
Total Stockholders’ Equity | | | | | 19,341 | | | | | | 19,341 | | |
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | | | | $ | 347,368 | | | | | $ | 198,000 | | |
(1)
Includes an aggregate of 375,000 shares of common stock that are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment is not exercised in full (Note 5).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements
F-3
RF ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| | | For the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021 (unaudited) | | | For the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through February 2, 2021 | | ||||||
Formation costs and other operating expenses | | | | $ | 659 | | | | | $ | 659 | | |
Net loss | | | | $ | (659) | | | | | $ | (659) | | |
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding(1) | | | | | 2,500,000 | | | | | | 2,500,000 | | |
Basic and diluted net loss per share | | | | $ | (0.00) | | | | | $ | (0.00) | | |
(1)
Excludes an aggregate of 375,000 shares of common stock that are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment is not exercised in full (Note 5).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements
F-4
RF ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
For the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through
September 30, 2021 (unaudited)
and from January 11, 2021 (inception)
through February 2, 2021
For the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through
September 30, 2021 (unaudited)
and from January 11, 2021 (inception)
through February 2, 2021
| | | Common Stock | | | Capital Paid-in Capital | | | Accumulated Deficit | | | Class B Common Stock Subscriptions Receivable | | | Total Stockholder’s Equity | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| | | Shares | | | Amount | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance – January 11, 2021 (inception) | | | | | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | |
Issuance of Class B common stock to sponsors(1) | | | | | 2,875,000 | | | | | | 288 | | | | | | 24,712 | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | 25,000 | | |
Class B common stock subscription receivable | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | (5,000) | | | | | | (5,000) | | |
Net loss | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | (659) | | | | | | — | | | | | | (659) | | |
Balance – February 2, 2021 | | | | | 2,875,000 | | | | | $ | 288 | | | | | $ | 24,712 | | | | | $ | (659) | | | | | | (5,000) | | | | | $ | 19,341 | | |
Net loss | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Balance – September 30, 2021 (unaudited) | | | | | 2,875,000 | | | | | $ | 288 | | | | | $ | 24,712 | | | | | $ | (659) | | | | | $ | (5,000) | | | | | $ | 19,341 | | |
(1)
Includes an aggregate of 375,000 shares of common stock that are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment is not exercised in full (Note 5).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements
F-5
RF ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| | | For the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021 (unaudited) | | | For the period from January 11, 2021 (inception) through February 2, 2021 | | ||||||
Cash flow from operating activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss | | | | $ | (659) | | | | | $ | (659) | | |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Accrued offering expenses | | | | | 659 | | | | | | 659 | | |
Net cash used in operating activities | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Net change in cash | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Cash at the beginning of the period | | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
Cash at the end of the period | | | | $ | — | | | | | $ | — | | |
Non-cash investing and financing activities: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs | | | | $ | 327,368 | | | | | $ | 178,000 | | |
Deferred offering costs paid by sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B common stock | | | | $ | 20,000 | | | | | $ | 20,000 | | |
Issuance of Class B common stock subscription receivable | | | | $ | 5,000 | | | | | $ | 5,000 | | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements
F-6
RF ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Period from January 11, 2021
(inception) through September 30, 2021
(unaudited)
and from January 11, 2021 (inception) through
February 2, 2021
(inception) through September 30, 2021
(unaudited)
and from January 11, 2021 (inception) through
February 2, 2021
NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
RF Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on January 11, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). Although the Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination, the Company intends to focus its search for an initial business combination on companies that are within the financial services, media, technology, retail, interpersonal communication, transportation, and education sectors. The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
All information included in these notes to the financial statements related to the periods after March 1, 2021 is unaudited.
The Company’s sponsor is RF Dynamic LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”).
As of September 30, 2021, and period since January 11, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021, the Company had not yet commenced any operations. All activity for the period January 11, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (the “Proposed 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 Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end. The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering (the “Proposed Public Offering”) of 10,000,000 units (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 11,500,000 units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 4,550,000 warrants (or 5,000,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor, the insiders, and EarlyBirdCapital that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed 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. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of certain advisory fees payable to EarlyBirdCapital) at the time of the agreement to enter into 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 voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor and EarlyBirdCapital, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. “government securities,” within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in money market funds meet