certain circumstances; and New ProKidney’s advance notice provisions in the charter require that shareholders must comply with certain procedures in order to nominate candidates to New ProKidney’s board of directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a shareholders’ meeting.
Transfer Restrictions
The charter provides that no holder of Class B ordinary shares may transfer such shares to any person unless such holder at the same time transfers a corresponding number of Post-Combination ProKidney Common Units to the same person and otherwise in accordance with the provisions of the Second Amended and Restated ProKidney Partnership Agreement. If any outstanding Class B ordinary share ceases to be held by a holder of a corresponding Post-Combination ProKidney Common Units, the Class B ordinary share shall be automatically forfeited to New ProKidney for no consideration and cancelled.
Authorized but Unissued Capital Stock
New ProKidney’s authorized but unissued ordinary shares and preference shares will be available for future issuances without shareholder 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 ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of New ProKidney by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Removal of Directors; Vacancies and Newly Created Directorships
The charter provides that directors may be removed from office by special resolution. The New ProKidney board of directors may appoint any person to be a director, either to fill a vacancy or as an additional director, provided that the appointment does not cause the number of directors to exceed the maximum number set in the charter.
Conflicts of Interest
The charter allows directors to hold any other office or place of profit with New ProKidney (other than the auditor), and may be or become a director or other officer of or otherwise interested in any company promoted by New ProKidney or in which New ProKidney may be interested as a shareholder, and such director shall not be accountable for any remuneration or other benefits received by the director from such interest in the other company. Further, the New ProKidney directors may contract with New ProKidney, as a vendor, purchaser or otherwise, and such director can vote in respect of any contract or transaction in which such director is interested, provided that such interest is disclosed prior to the vote.
Limitations on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
The charter includes a provision that eliminates the personal liability of directors for monetary damages to the corporation or its shareholders for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted under Cayman Island law. The effect of these provisions is to eliminate the rights of New ProKidney and its shareholders, through shareholders’ derivative suits on New ProKidney’s behalf, to recover monetary damages from a director for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, including breaches resulting from grossly negligent behavior. However, exculpation does not apply to any director if the director has breached such director’s duty of loyalty, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized illegal dividends, redemptions or repurchases or derived an improper benefit from his or her actions as a director.
The limitation of liability provision in the charter may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit New ProKidney and its shareholders. In addition, such shareholders’ investments may be adversely affected to the extent New ProKidney pays the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Item 4.01. | Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant. |
On July 11, 2022, the audit committee of the New ProKidney board of directors dismissed Marcum LLP (“Marcum”), SCS’s independent registered public accounting firm prior to the Business Combination, as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm following completion of Marcum’s review of SCS’s financial statements for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, which consists only of the accounts of the pre-Business Combination special purpose acquisition company, SCS, and appointed Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm to audit the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2022.
The reports of Marcum on SCS’s balance sheet as of December 31, 2021, and the statement of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from February 25, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainties, audit scope or accounting principles.
During the audit for the period from February 25, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, and reviews of the unaudited condensed financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2022, there were no disagreements between the Company and Marcum on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial disclosure or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Marcum, would have caused it to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreements in its reports on SCS’s financial statements for such periods.
During the period from February 25, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, there were no “reportable events” (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act), except that for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, based upon an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of its disclosure controls and procedures, the principal executive officer and the principal financial and accounting officer of SCS concluded that its disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective due to its accounting for complex financial instruments. Based on the foregoing, it was determined that SCS had a material weakness as of March 31, 2022 relating to its internal controls over financial reporting.
During the period from February 25, 2022 (inception) to the date the New ProKidney audit committee approved the engagement of EY as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, SCS did not consult with EY on matters that involved the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on SCS’s consolidated financial statements or any other matter that was either the subject of a disagreement or reportable event.
The Company has provided Marcum with a copy of the foregoing disclosures and Marcum provided a letter to the SEC stating that it agrees with the statements made by the Company set forth above. A copy of Marcum’s letter to the SEC, dated July 15, 2022, is filed as Exhibit 16.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.