Our management team is led by Steve Lebowitz, our Chairman and CEO, Drew Sheinman, our President and Chief Marketing Officer and Austin Ramos, our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. The team combines experienced investment professionals with deep brand-marketing and management expertise. Our ability to develop and execute differentiated and comprehensive brand marketing strategies, complemented by the management team’s comprehensive network of marketing and business development resources, we believe will allow us to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns in the branded consumer space. Our differentiated investment strategy is underpinned by our long-established network of transaction sources ranging from industry executives, private owners, sports and entertainment influencers, private equity funds, and investment bankers, in addition to the extensive global industry and geographical reach of the other members of our sponsor group.
Steve Lebowitz is a founding partner and the managing partner of Brand Velocity Partners (“BVP”), a private equity firm. Steve combines financial expertise with a disruptive approach to value-add strategies in private equity. In his career in private equity, Steve has achieved a gross internal rate of return of 36.7% and a gross cash-on-cash return of 4.4x (30.6% and 3.4x net) across over 20 platform and bolt-on acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Lebowitz was a Co-Founder and a Managing Partner of a lower-middle market private equity fund focused on the consumer sectors. Mr. Lebowitz was previously a corporate lawyer at Kirkland and Ellis, and Cahill Gordon & Reindel. He received a BA in East Asian Studies with honors from Harvard College in 1992 and a JD from Harvard Law School in 1995. Mr. Lebowitz was the New York State High School Chess Champion in 1988.
Drew Sheinman is a founding partner of BVP and has more than 20 years of leadership experience developing innovative, successful revenue programs and new business ventures in the entertainment, sports and media industries. Previously, Mr. Sheinman was the Senior Vice President of Brand Ventures at Endeavor (formerly known as WME | IMG), where he created a new business model to direct celebrity talent into entrepreneurship. He also launched The Football Greats Alliance for over 22,000 retired football players in partnership with the NFL. Prior to that, Mr. Sheinman served as Director of Business Development for the Coca-Cola Company, where he innovated the new practice of “experiential branding” with the creation of The Coca-Cola Olympic City, a theme park in partnership with the International Olympic Committee. Mr. Sheinman has also served as Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer for the Breeders’ Cup World Championship, President of Simon Brand Ventures, and VP Business Development for Madison Square Garden, the Baltimore Orioles, and the New York Mets. Mr. Sheinman’s franchises broke attendance and revenue records, and achieved industry recognition for innovation. Other of his groundbreaking accomplishments include establishing a new profit center revenue model for the commercial real estate industry and the creation of sports as entertainment business ventures including MTV Rock n’ Jock, and the entertainment and sports industry’s first-ever interactive FanFest for Major League Baseball and The Coca-Cola Company. Mr. Sheinman has been featured in media including CNN, CNBC, ABC News, New York Times, NY Post, Business Week, Sports Illustrated, Sports Business Journal, and Boston Globe.
Austin Ramos, a founding partner of BVP, is focused on building sustainable, scalable businesses through an operationally focused, hands-on approach to value-added investing. Austin comes from a third-generation family business and founded RunCap Partners, a lower-middle market investment business of an affiliated family office. Previously, Mr. Ramos served as CEO of Omniboard, a technology and services provider offering three tools—data-extraction hardware, enterprise platform software, and a 24/7/365 call center—and an electrical contractor installation service that together allow building managers to remotely monitor and control their major electricity-consuming devices. Prior to Omniboard, Austin worked as an Associate directly with BVP Managing Partner Steve Lebowitz at a private equity firm Steve co-founded. Before that, Austin was an analyst at private equity firm Fundamental Capital. Austin graduated from UCLA with a focus on Economics and Political Science. He is a former four-time All-American long-distance runner, UCLA record holder (3000m), and Adidas-sponsored professional athlete.
Our management team’s objective is to generate attractive returns and create value for our shareholders by developing and executing a differentiated and comprehensive marketing strategy and utilizing our management team’s deep marketing, financial, and operational resources. While our approach is growth-oriented and will focus on industries where we have differentiated insights, we will also seek to rigorously drive change through a comprehensive value creation plan framework. We will favor opportunities with certain elements of downside protection while improving the risk-reward by driving change and accelerating the target’s growth initiatives. Our management team has successfully applied this approach in the past and has deployed capital successfully in all market cycles. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.
Our Board of Advisors
Our Board of Advisors bring with them a diverse and complementary set of experience, skillsets, and networks to our management team.
Gerry Byrne is the Vice Chairman of PMC. PMC owns leading entertainment, fashion, art and digital media brands including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Vibe, Deadline Hollywood, IndieWire, TVLine, WWD, She Knows Media, The Robb Report and Art in America. Mr. Byrne’s decades of accomplishments as a media executive, entrepreneur and community leader are highlighted by a long run as publisher of Variety where he dramatically transformed that business into a powerful, diversified, global media brand. The start-up publisher of both Electronic Media and Crain’s New York Business, Mr. Byrne also successfully created The Quill Awards for NBC before he led a division of Nielsen that included The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard. Adweek and Backstage.
Tracy Deforge is a founder of The Players’ Impact, a venture platform for professional athletes, focused on the growth of early-stage companies, venture investment and pioneering business initiatives. An attorney by training, an entrepreneur in spirit, and an executive leader through her experience, her career has focused for more than a decade on start-up companies and sports and media technology offerings. Ms. Deforge’s background provides management expertise, startup business initiatives, legal affairs experience and managing operations. Ms. Deforge has been starting, growing, and selling companies for over 17 years. Her roles and positions throughout her career saw her intimately involved in all aspects of entrepreneurship, from envisioning the concept, business planning, hiring, operations build out, fundraising, strategic partnerships, outsourcing, finances, marketing, and more.
Craig Dubitsky is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of hello products and Chief Innovation Strategist of Colgate-Palmolive. hello, the world’s first naturally friendly oral care brand, was acquired by Colgate in January of 2020. hello has become the fastest-growing oral care brand in the United States, with its products now available in over 45,000 Food, Drug, and Mass retailers. In addition, Mr. Dubitsky was named to the Advertising Age Creativity 50, and by The Internationalist as one of the 100 Most Inspirational Marketers in the World.
Whitney Johnson is one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world according to Thinkers50 and an expert on helping high growth organizations develop individuals. Ms. Johnson ranked #3 on the 2019 Global Gurus’ Top 30 Organizational Culture Professionals, and in 2018, Whitney was selected as a Linkedin Influencer Top Voice (with more than 1.6 million followers). Ms. Johnson has codified her disruption frameworks in her critically-acclaimed Disrupt Yourself book and Build an “A” Team (Harvard Business Press, 2018). Ms. Johnson is also the host of the weekly Disrupt Yourself Podcast at whitneyjohnson.com.
Eli Manning was regarded as one of the NFL’s most elite quarterbacks throughout the course of his 16-year career with the New York Giants. Known for his incredible work ethic, iron-man mentality and natural leadership skills - he led his team to Super Bowl wins in both 2008 and 2012, earning Super Bowl MVP honors each time. The former number one selection in the 2004 NFL Draft, Eli’s accomplishments extend well beyond the field, as he was recognized as the co-recipient of the 2016 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for his work in the community. He lends his time to numerous charitable efforts, including Tackle Kids Cancer with the Hackensack
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University Medical Center, March of Dimes, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, American Red Cross and Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Katrina relief. He also has raised millions for The Eli and Abby Manning Children’s Clinics and the Manning Family Fund - launched in partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
LaDainian Tomlinson is one of the most prolific running backs in NFL history. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017, he is the 5th leading rusher (13,684 career yards) and its second-most prolific scorer (145 career rushing touchdowns) in NFL history. Notably, Mr. Tomlinson was named the Associated Press’ NFL Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year in 2006, and his accolades extend beyond the football field as he was named the Walter Payton co-NFL Man of the Year in 2006. Mr. Tomlinson is currently an analyst on NFL Network, leads the Tomlinson Touching Lives Foundation, and serves as a special assistant to the Los Angeles Chargers ownership group, helping the organization to further develop fan engagement and expand its community outreach in Southern California.
Steve Vargas is a Lead Analyst on Nasdaq’s ESG advisory services team which advises corporate issuers on all ESG issues including disclosure, ratings agencies, frameworks (SASB, GRI, TCFD, UN SDG’s) and ESG investor engagement. Steve advises issuers on ESG ratings agency and disclosure evaluations to guidance on ESG investor outreach, planning and intelligence. Prior to Nasdaq, Steve spent time in financial data consulting with stints at Thomson Reuters’ Global Business Consulting practice and at Bloomberg in their data analytics division. Steve holds the SASB FSA credential, Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA UK and has completed coursework from the GRI.
Members of our Board of Advisors will assist our management team with sourcing and evaluating targets and developing plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire following the consummation of this offering. However, unlike our management team, our advisors are not responsible for managing our day-to-day affairs and have no authority to engage in substantive discussions with business combination targets on our behalf. Our advisors are neither paid nor reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses in connection with the search of business combination targets before or after the consummation of our initial business combination. We have not currently entered into formal arrangements or agreements with the members of our Board of Advisors to provide services to us and they will have no fiduciary obligations to present business opportunities to us.
Our Sponsor
Our sponsor, Brand Velocity Acquisition Sponsor LLC, is led by our management team of Steve Lebowitz, Drew Sheinman and Austin Ramos and is an affiliate of Brand Velocity Partners.
Brand Velocity Partners is an innovative private equity firm focused on acquiring businesses well-positioned to benefit from BVP’s deep, in-house marketing resources and influencer networks. BVP has a long-term and exclusive relationship with Source Communications, an award-winning full-service brand marketing agency which develops and executes differentiated marketing strategies for the companies with which BVP works. In Source’s 38-year history, they have driven value for brands including Subway, Netflix, HP, Amtrak, among others. BVP also leverages its vast sports and entertainment networks to create accretive deals with athletes, teams, leagues, celebrities, and other businesses. In addition, BVP’s collection of industry leaders (the “Accelerators”) from different facets of marketing (e.g., digital, research, analytics, brand-building, behavioral decision making, and influencer connectivity) augment best-in-class solutions for BVP portfolio companies. Accelerators include Whitney Johnson (one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world as named by Thinkers50 and a member of our Board of Advisors); Ian Schafer (co-founder & CEO of Kindred, founder and former CEO of award-winning global ad agency Deep Focus, and a world-recognized social media expert); Sanjay Sood (faculty chairman and professor of marketing and behavioral decision making at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management); and Edwin Wong (senior vice president at Vox Media, previous roles at Pinterest, Veoh, and Yahoo, and leading expert in digital consumer behavior). BVP was founded in 2019 by Steve Lebowitz, Drew Sheinman, Austin Ramos,
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and Larry Rothstein, and has invested in portfolio companies such as Original Footwear, Magma Products, and BBQGuys.com.
The past performance by members of our management team, Board of Advisors and our sponsor group and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (1) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (2) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of members of our management team or our sponsor group or their respective affiliates or any related investment’s performance as indicative of our future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a target business with the potential to accelerate its growth by leveraging our management team’s deep marketing experience, business development capabilities, and resources. Our management team’s relevant experience includes:
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| • | | Both investing in and operating branded, consumer-facing businesses across sectors; |
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| • | | Sourcing, structuring, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing, and selling businesses; |
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| • | | Developing and managing growth-oriented companies by defining and executing against compelling business strategies; |
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| • | | Building successful brands with a comprehensive brand strategy and go-to-market approach; |
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| • | | Securing numerous partnership deals with renowned consumer influencers to accelerate brand reach and consumer loyalty; |
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| • | | Fostering relationships with sellers, capital providers, and target management teams; and |
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| • | | Executing complex transactions across various market cycles and geographies. |
Given our management team’s extensive brand-building and investment experience, we believe we will be able to enhance the value of a business combination target by driving operational excellence in:
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| • | | Consumer, brand, and marketplace research; |
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| • | | Audience engagement strategies; |
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| • | | Media campaign assessment; |
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| • | | Intellectual Property and brand licensing; |
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| • | | Content development and distribution; |
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| • | | Digital/social engagement; |
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| • | | Influencer approach and strategy; |
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| • | | Experiential design and development; |
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| • | | Talent outreach and deal-sourcing; |
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| • | | Public relations; |
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| • | | Human talent development; |
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| • | | Sports and entertainment connectivity, and |
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| • | | Strategic partnerships. |
We believe that our management team is well positioned to identify attractive business combination opportunities with a compelling industry backdrop and an opportunity for strong growth. We plan to leverage our management team and sponsor group’s networks of potential transaction sources where we believe our industry relationships, knowledge, and experience could positively impact existing businesses or assets. Each member of our management team has developed, over the course of their individual career, a broad network of contacts and corporate
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relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. We plan to leverage relationships with our long-established network of transaction sources ranging from industry executives, private owners, sports and entertainment influencers, private equity funds, and investment bankers, in addition to the extensive global industry and geographical reach of the other members of our sponsor group, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities.
Initial 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, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to focus on target businesses that we believe:
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| • | | Have an established and growing brand that delivers a consistent and authentic message; |
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| • | | Operate with a defensible market position underpinned by differentiated offerings and compelling value propositions; |
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| • | | Have the potential to expand through new, distinct products and/or services; |
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| • | | Have a consistent, stable demand for products and/or services offered; |
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| • | | Have established track records of steady, sustainable, profitable performance; |
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| • | | Have strong management teams supporting ongoing growth; and |
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| • | | Have the opportunity to accelerate growth through our management team’s marketing and operating experiences and resources. |
These criteria and guidelines 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 criteria and guidelines as well as other considerations, factors, and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that 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 and guidelines in our initial business combination’s related shareholder communications which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation or tender offer materials that we would file with the SEC.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions held in trust) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with 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 that is a member of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or 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 such independent determination of fair market value, 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, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board of directors determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. As any such opinion, if obtained, would only state that the fair market value meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of the target or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required by Schedule 14A of the Securities Exchange
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Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, any proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we will file with the SEC in connection with our initial business combination will include such opinion.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the outstanding 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 shareholders 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 business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act.
Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the 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. 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 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 shareholders 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 outstanding 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 valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial 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 the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting
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firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have not individually selected a target business. Our management team is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination. However, 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.
Members of our management team and our directors will directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares 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 and contractual duties to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity subject to his or her fiduciary duties. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, or contractual obligations, he, she or it will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our founders, officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
In addition, our sponsor, officers, directors and any of their respective affiliates may sponsor or form, or, in the case of individuals, serve as a director or officer of, other blank check 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. Our 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 management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. See “Risk Factors—Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, including other blank check companies, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
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.
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Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to a traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than a typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a special purpose acquisition company, including our lack of an operating history and our potential need to seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination, negatively.
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 shareholder 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 and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $193,000,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $221,950,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of up to $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the
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underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in each case, after estimated offering expenses of $1,300,000 (and prior to any post-IPO working capital expenses), 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 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.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
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, the sale of the private placement warrants, our equity, debt or a combination of these or other sources as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination.
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, 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 ordinary shares, 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-business combination 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. Additionally, we have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business, other than our officers and directors. 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.
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Sources of Target Businesses
Our process of identifying acquisition targets will leverage our management team’s unique industry experiences, proven deal sourcing capabilities and broad and deep network of relationships, including executives and management teams, private equity groups and other institutional investors, large business enterprises, lenders, investment bankers and other investment market participants, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We expect that the collective experience, capability and network of our directors and officers, combined with their individual and collective reputations in the investment community, will help to create prospective business combination opportunities.
In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since some of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors.
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 us (other than as outlined below) for services rendered 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). However, commencing on the date of this prospectus, we will pay $15,000 per month to an affiliate of our sponsor for administrative and support services and our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination. In the future, we, upon consultation with the compensation committee of our board of directors, may decide to compensate our executive officers and other employees. Any such payments prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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, and other entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, 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
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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, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operation, legal and other information that will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
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 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.
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’s 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
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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.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
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Type of Transaction | | Whether Shareholder 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 listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
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| • | | we issue (other than in a public offering for cash) ordinary shares that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of Class A ordinary shares 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 security holders (as defined by rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 1% or more (or 5% or more if the related party involved is classified as such solely because such person is a substantial security holder); or |
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| • | | the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and other reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
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| • | | the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
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| • | | the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
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| • | | the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; |
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| • | | other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
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| • | | additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
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Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
If we seek shareholder 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 shareholders, 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. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of 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. 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 public 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.
In the event that our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. 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 be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) 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 or (iii) 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. Any such transactions with respect to 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 ordinary shares 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 quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, initial shareholders, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, initial shareholders, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of tender offer or 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 transaction, they would identify and contact potential selling or redeeming shareholders 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 shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will be restricted from purchasing shares if such
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purchases do not 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 would be reported by such person pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, 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 the initial business combination, including interest (net of taxes paid or payable), 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 $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption right will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our initial shareholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsor with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares 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, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder 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 shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company
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where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on , we will be required to comply with rules.
If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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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. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, our initial shareholders 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 shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the option to purchase additional units is not exercised) of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction, in order to have such initial business combination approved. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. In addition, our initial shareholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (a) that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (including extending the deadline for completing our initial business combination).
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
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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. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A ordinary shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event 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
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of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders 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 shareholder 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 shareholders’ 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 shareholders 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 shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection With a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
In connection with any vote held to approve a proposed business combination, public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case no later than two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares.
Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker 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
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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.
In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares must also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent at least two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. 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 shareholders 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 business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such 24-month 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 10 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our initial shareholders 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 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial shareholders 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 24-month time period.
Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees will have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated
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memorandum and articles of association (i) that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (including extending the deadline for completing our initial business combination), unless we provide our public shareholders 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 (net of taxes paid or payable), 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 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). 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. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.
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 $700,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. We will depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to provide us with additional cash to pay any tax obligations that we may owe. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, 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 sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. 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 shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.00. 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 (except 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 shareholders, 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 the company, 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 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 underwriters of this offering will not execute an agreement 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
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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) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per 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 underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that 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. 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. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per 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 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 $10.00 per public 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 (except 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 shareholders. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $700,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants 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). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,300,000, 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, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $700,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a bankruptcy or winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the
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extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per public share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. 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 shareholders 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 shareholders 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 24 months from the closing of this offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (a) that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (including extending the deadline for completing our initial business combination) or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
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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 do not complete our initial business combination within 24 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 shareholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. In either case, our public shareholders 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 $10.00 per share), including interest (net of taxes paid or payable), 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 and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination. | | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, 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 shareholders, 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 be required to comply with such rules. | | If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 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 $10.00 per share), including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), 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 |
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Impact to remaining shareholders | | The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining shareholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable. | | If the permitted purchases described above are made, there would be no impact to our remaining shareholders 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 shareholders, who will be our only remaining shareholders 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 underwriters will not exercise their option to purchase additional units. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.
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| | Terms of Our Offering | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
Escrow of offering proceeds | | $200,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with acting as trustee. | | Approximately $176,400,000 of the offering proceeds 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 | | $200,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants 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. |
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| | Terms of Our Offering | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds | | Interest income (if any) on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to shareholders is reduced by (i) any income 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 insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation. | | Interest income 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. |
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business | | We must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions held in trust) 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. |
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| | Terms of Our Offering | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
Trading of securities issued | | The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such day is not a business day, on the next succeeding business day) unless the representative of the underwriters 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. If the option to purchase additional units 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 option to purchase additional units. The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. | | No trading of the units or the underlying Class A ordinary shares 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 later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering. | | 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. |
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| | Terms of Our Offering | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
Election to remain an investor | | We will provide our public shareholders 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 (net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement to hold a shareholder vote. If we are not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and do not otherwise decide to hold a shareholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, 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 shareholder 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 shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. | | 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 shareholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45 business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the shareholder. 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. |
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| | Terms of Our Offering | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
Business combination deadline | | If we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 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 10 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law | | 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 |
Release of funds | | Except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes, if any, 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 do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (a) that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (including extending the deadline for completing our initial business combination). | | 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. |
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| | Terms of Our Offering | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights | | In connection with any vote held to approve a proposed business combination, public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case no later than two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. | | Many blank check companies provide that a shareholder can vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating that such shareholder is seeking to exercise its redemption rights. After the business combination is approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for delivery of its share certificates to verify ownership. |
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| | Terms of Our Offering | | Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering |
Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% of the Class A ordinary shares that are part of the units sold in this offering if we hold a shareholder vote | | If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our consent. However, we would not restrict our shareholders’ 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 shareholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such shareholders in connection with an initial business combination. |
Competition
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other special purpose acquisition 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 greater technical, human and other resources 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 shareholder 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.
Conflict of Interest
Our management team, in their capacities as directors, officers or employees of our sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by our sponsor, or third parties, before they present such opportunities 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 it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. For more information, see the section entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”
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In addition, our officers or directors may be investors, or have other direct or indirect interests, in a business with which we may enter into a business combination agreement and/or in certain funds or other persons that may purchase shares in this offering or that may otherwise purchase shares of our Class A ordinary shares in the public market.
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, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. See “Risk Factors—Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, including other blank check companies, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Indemnity
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) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per 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. In the event that 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. 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. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 62 Magnolia Ave., Larchmont, New York 10538. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have three executive officers: Steve Lebowitz, Drew Sheinman and Austin Ramos. These individuals are not 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.
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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We will register our units, Class A ordinary shares 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 shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required 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 acquire 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, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event 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. 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 acquisition.
Prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, 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 a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and have received, a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
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
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shareholder 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 ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
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:
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Name | | Age | | Position |
Stephen Lebowitz | | | | 50 | | | Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
Drew Sheinman | | | | 63 | | | Director, President and Chief Marketing Officer |
Austin Ramos | | | | 36 | | | Director, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer |
| | | | Director |
| | | | Director |
| | | | Director |
Executive Officers and Directors
Steve Lebowitz has served as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman since our inception in March 2021. Mr. Lebowitz has been a Partner at BVP since its founding in 2019. Previously, from 2002 to 2019, Mr. Lebowitz was a Co-Founder and a Managing Partner of Topspin Partners, a lower-middle market private equity fund focused on the consumer sectors. Prior to his time at Topspin, Mr. Lebowitz was a corporate attorney at Kirkland and Ellis, and Cahill Gordon & Reindel.
We believe Mr. Lebowitz’s financial expertise and significant private equity experience make him well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Drew Sheinman has served as our President and Chief Marketing Officer since our inception in March 2021. Mr. Sheinman has been a Partner at BVP since its founding in 2019. Previously, from 2015 to 2018, Mr. Sheinman was the Senior Vice President of Brand Ventures at Endeavor (formerly known as WME | IMG), a private holding company for talent and media agencies, where he created a new business model to direct celebrity talent into entrepreneurship.
We believe Mr. Sheinman’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his particular knowledge and expertise in a number of areas, including his extensive experience in the entertainment, sports and media industries and deep brand marketing and management expertise.
Austin Ramos has served as our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer since our inception in March 2021. Mr. Ramos has been a Partner at BVP since its founding 2019. Previously, from 2014 to 2017, Mr. Ramos served as Chief Executive Officer of Omniboard, a technology and services provider offering three tools—data-extraction hardware, enterprise platform software, and a 24/7/365 call center—and an electrical contractor installation service that together allow building managers to remotely monitor and control their major electricity-consuming devices. Prior to Omniboard, Austin worked as an Associate at Topspin Partners, a private equity firm, from 2012 to 2014. In 2011, Mr. Ramos founded RunCap Partners, a lower-middle market investment business of an affiliated family office. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Ramos was an analyst at private equity firm Fundamental Capital.
We believe Mr. Ramos’s significant private equity and executive experience make him well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being appointed in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on . The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of , will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of , will expire at our second annual general meeting. The
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term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of and , will expire at our third annual general meeting.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. 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.
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 will be authorized to appoint persons to the offices as set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairmen of the board, chief executive officers, a president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent; however, we have one year from the date of this offering to have a majority of our board members be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect to have two “independent directors” as defined in the listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our board of directors has determined that , and are “independent directors” as defined in the listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Pursuant to phase-in rules for newly listed companies, we have one year from the date on which we are first listed on to for a majority of our board of directors to be independent. 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 has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay $15,000 per month to an affiliate of our sponsor for administrative and support services provided to us. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination. In the future, we, upon consultation with the compensation committee of our board of directors, may decide to compensate our executive officers and other employees. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using 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 related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing 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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders 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
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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 our executive officers and directors may remain directors or 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 three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of and Rule 10A 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 require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance 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. , and will serve as members of our audit committee. Under the listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent, subject to the exception described below. , and are independent. Because we expect to list our securities on in connection with our initial public offering, we have one year from the date of this offering for our audit committee to have at least three members, all of whom must be independent.
will serve as the Chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate, and our board of directors has determined that and each qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules. The primary purposes of our audit committee are to assist the board’s oversight of:
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| • | | the integrity of our financial statements; |
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| • | | our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; |
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| • | | the qualifications, engagement, compensation, independence and performance of our independent registered public accounting firm; |
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| • | | our process relating to risk management and the conduct and systems of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures; and |
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| • | | the performance of our internal audit function. |
The audit committee will be governed by a charter that complies with the rules of .
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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 our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be , and , with serving as chairman of the compensation committee. , and are independent. Because we expect to list our securities on in connection with our initial public offering, we have one year from the date of this offering for our compensation committee to be comprised fully of independent directors.
The primary purposes of our compensation committee are to assist the board in overseeing our management compensation policies and practices, including:
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| • | | determining and approving the compensation of our executive officers; and |
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| • | | reviewing and approving incentive compensation and equity compensation policies and programs. |
The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, 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 and the SEC.
The compensation committee will be governed by a charter that complies with rules.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a nominating and corporate governance committee. The members of our nominating and corporate governance will be , and , with serving as chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee. , and are independent. Because we expect to list our securities on in connection with our initial public offering, we have one year from the date of this offering for our nominating and corporate governance committee to be comprised fully of independent directors.
The primary purposes of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be to assist the board in:
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| • | | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
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| • | | developing, recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
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| • | | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
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| • | | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The nominating and corporate governance committee will be governed by a charter that complies with rules.
Director Nominations
The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our shareholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for appointment at the next annual general meeting (or, if applicable, an extraordinary general meeting). Our shareholders that wish to nominate a director for appointment to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
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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 shareholders.
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
Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct (our “Code of Ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us and will be posted on our website. 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.
Corporate Governance Guidelines
Our board of directors will adopt corporate governance guidelines in accordance with the corporate governance rules of that serve as a flexible framework within which our board of directors and its committees operate. These guidelines will cover a number of areas including board membership criteria and director qualifications, director responsibilities, board agenda, roles of the chairman of the board, chief executive officer and presiding director, meetings of independent directors, committee responsibilities and assignments, board member access to management and independent advisors, director communications with third parties, director compensation, director orientation and continuing education, evaluation of senior management and management succession planning. A copy of our corporate governance guidelines will be posted on our website.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
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| • | | duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
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| • | | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
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| • | | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
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| • | | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
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| • | | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
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| • | | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This
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can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity subject to his or her fiduciary duties. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, or contractual obligations, he, she or it will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our founders, officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
In addition, our sponsor, officers, directors and any of their respective affiliates may sponsor or form, or, in the case of individuals, serve as a director or officer of, other blank check 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. Our 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 management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. See “Risk Factors—Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, including other blank check companies, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and director nominees have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations as of the date of this prospectus:
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Individual | | Entity | | Entity’s Business | | Affiliation |
Stephen Lebowitz | | Brand Velocity Partners | | Private Equity | | Managing and Founding Partner |
Drew Sheinman | | Brand Velocity Partners | | Private Equity | | Founding Partner |
Austin Ramos | | Brand Velocity Partners | | Private Equity | | Founding Partner |
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
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| • | | 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. |
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| • | | Our sponsor purchased founder shares prior to the date of this prospectus and will purchase private placement warrants in a transaction that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our initial shareholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which |
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| | | they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsor with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering. Additionally, our initial shareholders have agreed to waive 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 the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (ii) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination (except as described in the section entitled “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). The private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our executive officers and director nominees will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they 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. |
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| • | | 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 or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction 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, 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 (other than as outlined below) for services rendered prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. However, commencing on the date of this prospectus, we will pay $15,000 per month to an affiliate of our sponsor for administrative and support services and our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination. In the future, we, upon consultation with the compensation committee of our board of directors, may decide to compensate our executive officers and other employees. Any such payments prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote 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
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We will enter into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We expect to 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.
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 have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
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PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:
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| • | | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued outstanding ordinary shares; |
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| • | | each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees; and |
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| • | | all our executive officers and directors 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 ordinary shares 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.
In March 2021, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares in exchange for a payment of $25,000 from our sponsor to cover for certain expenses on behalf of us, or approximately $0.004 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 the sponsor paid for the founder shares by the number of founder shares issued. Up to 750,000 founder shares will be surrendered to us by our sponsor for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised. The total number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding after this offering and the expiration of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units will equal 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in this prospectus. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time (assuming the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full). The post-offering percentages in the following table assume that the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional units and that our sponsor has surrendered to us for no consideration 750,000 founder shares.
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Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | | Number of Shares Owned(2) | | Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Ordinary Shares |
| Before Offering | | After Offering |
Brand Velocity Acquisition Sponsor LLC | | | | | | 100.0 | % | | | | | % | |
Stephen Lebowitz | | | | | | — | % | | | | | — | % | |
Drew Sheinman | | | | | | — | % | | | | | — | % | |
Austin Ramos | | | | | | — | % | | | | | — | % | |
| | | | | | — | % | | | | | — | % | |
| | | | | | — | % | | | | | — | % | |
| | | | | | * | % | | | | | * | % | |
All officers, directors and director nominees as a group (six individuals) | | | | | | * | % | | | | | * | % | |
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| * | | Less than one percent. |
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| (1) | | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 62 Magnolia Ave., Larchmont, New York 10538. |
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| (2) | | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” |
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| (3) | | Our executive officers are the three managers of our sponsor’s board of managers. Each manager has one vote, and the approval of a majority is required to approve an action of our sponsor. Under the so-called “rule of three,” if voting and dispositive decisions regarding an entity’s securities are made by three or more individuals, and a voting or dispositive decision requires the approval of a majority of those individuals, then none of the individuals is deemed a beneficial owner of the entity’s securities. This is the situation with regard to our sponsor. Based upon the foregoing analysis, no individual manager of our sponsor exercises voting or dispositive control over any of the securities held by our sponsor, even those in which he directly holds a pecuniary interest. Accordingly, none of them will be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of such shares. |
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| (4) | | Includes up to 750,000 founder shares that will be surrendered to us for no consideration by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised. |
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| (5) | | Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this individual as a result of his or her partnership interest in our sponsor or its affiliates. |
Immediately after this offering and the expiration of the option to purchase additional units, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 20% of the then outstanding ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering) and will have the right to appoint all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to appoint any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial shareholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,400,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($6,000,000 in the aggregate or $6,600,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions described below. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. Otherwise, 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.
Our sponsor and our officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the letter agreement entered into by our initial shareholders, directors and officers. Pursuant to such letter agreement, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed not to transfer,
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assign or sell (i) any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (b) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination and (ii) any of their private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The foregoing restrictions are not applicable to transfers (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or their affiliates, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of that is a member 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 any forward purchase agreement or similar arrangement or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the applicable securities were originally purchased, (f) by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware or the limited liability company agreement of our sponsor upon dissolution of the sponsor, (g) in the event of the company’s liquidation prior to the completion of a business combination, (h) to the Company for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, or (i) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares 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 (f) 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.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering. The holders 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. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
In March 2021, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares in exchange for a payment of $25,000 from our sponsor to cover certain expenses on behalf of us, or approximately $0.004 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 the sponsor paid for the founder shares by the number of founder shares issued. Up to 750,000 founder shares will be surrendered to us by our sponsor for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised. The total number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding after this offering and the expiration of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units will equal 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in this prospectus. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time (assuming the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full).
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,400,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($6,000,000 in the aggregate or $6,600,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he, she or it will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity.
We will pay an affiliate of our sponsor $15,000 per month for administrative and support services provided to us, commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on .
Other than these fees, 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 related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing an initial business combination. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor may loan us funds 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 December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan would be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the estimated $1,300,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses.
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In addition, 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 on a non-interest basis. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds held in the trust account released to us. In the event that 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. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, 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.
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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. 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 general 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 warrants, which is described under the heading “Principal Shareholders—Registration Rights.”
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a charter, providing for the review, approval and/or ratification of “related party transactions,” which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee shall be provided with the details of each new, existing, or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee’s discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction.
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 Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which will be adopted prior to the consummation of this offering, we will be authorized to issue 220,000,000 ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value each, including 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, as well as 1,000,000 preference shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes the material terms of our shares as set out more particularly in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles its holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share 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 company’s Class A ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder.
The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units are expected to begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such day is not a business day, on the next succeeding business day) unless the representative of the underwriters inform 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 Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase a multiple of three units, the number of warrants issuable to you upon separation of the units will be rounded down to the nearest whole number of warrants.
In no event will the Class A ordinary shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance of the company sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds 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. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units 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 underwriters’ option to purchase additional units.
Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.
Ordinary Shares
Prior to the date of this prospectus, there were 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding, all of which were held of record by our initial shareholders so that our initial shareholders will own 20% of the sum of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding after this offering and the expiration of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units (assuming our initial shareholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Up to 750,000 of the founder shares will be surrendered by our sponsor for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised. Upon the closing of this offering, 25,000,000 of our ordinary shares will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the
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underwriters’ option to purchase additional units and the corresponding surrender for no consideration of 750,000 founder shares by our initial shareholders) including:
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| • | | 20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the units issued as part of this offering; and |
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| • | | 5,000,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our initial shareholders. |
If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time (assuming the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full).
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Except as described below, holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders except as required by law. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules, an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares that are voted, and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; such actions include amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. 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 appointed in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors. However, only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint directors in any election held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, meaning that holders of Class A ordinary shares will not have the right to appoint any directors until after the completion of our initial business combination. 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. The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. Our shareholders 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 memorandum and articles of association will authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, 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 Class A ordinary shares which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our shareholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on . There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In
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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.
We will provide our public shareholders 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 (net of taxes paid or payable), 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 $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial shareholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsor with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering.
Unlike many blank check companies that hold shareholder 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 shareholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, 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 memorandum and articles of association will require these tender offer documents to 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, a shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, 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 shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. 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 shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes and abstentions will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require that at least five days’ notice will be given of any general meeting.
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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 shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our shareholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such shareholders will continue to hold that number of shares
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exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our initial shareholders 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 shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the option to purchase additional units is not exercised) of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction, in order to have such initial business combination approved. The other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsor with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all.
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 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 10 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. Our initial shareholders 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 if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial shareholders 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. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders 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 ordinary shares. Our shareholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that we will provide our public shareholders 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), 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 ordinary shares and, except as described below, are identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that (i) prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, including in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and holders of a majority of our Class B ordinary shares may remove a
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member of the board of directors for any reason; (ii) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions contained in a letter agreement that our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into with us, as described in more detail below; (iii) pursuant to such letter agreement, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to (A) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (1) that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (2) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (including extending the deadline for completing our initial business combination) and (C) waive 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 24 months from the closing of this offering (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); (iv) the founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, as described below; and (v) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, the anchor investors, our initial shareholders, directors and officers 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 other members of our management team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsor with respect to any public shares acquired by them in or after this offering.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, on a one-for-one basis. However, if additional Class A ordinary shares or any other equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of this offering plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor upon conversion of working capital loans, provided that such conversion of Class B ordinary shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (ii) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination (except as described in the section entitled “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares.
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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. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
Register of Members
Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there will be entered therein:
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| • | | the names and addresses of the members, a statement of the shares held by each member, and of the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid, on the shares of each member and the voting rights of shares; |
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| • | | the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and |
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| • | | the date on which any person ceased to be a member. |
Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e., the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members will be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. Upon the closing of this public offering, the register of members will be immediately updated to reflect the issue of shares by us. Once our register of members has been updated, the shareholders recorded in the register of members will be deemed to have legal title to the shares set against their name. However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position. Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
Preference Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will authorize 1,000,000 preference shares and provide that preference shares 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 shareholder approval, issue preference shares with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the ordinary shares and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preference shares without shareholder 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 preference shares outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any preference shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No preference shares are being issued or registered in this offering.
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Warrants
Public Shareholders’ Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of one year from the closing of this offering and 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as discussed in the immediately succeeding paragraph. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A ordinary shares. 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. Accordingly, unless you purchase a multiple of three units, the number of warrants issuable to you upon separation of the units will be rounded down to the nearest whole number of warrants. 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 ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares 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, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary share 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 Class A ordinary share underlying such unit.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the registration statement to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b) (1) of the Securities Act, 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, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when 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, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary
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shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “Fair Market Value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the Fair Market Value and (B) 0.361. The “Fair Market Value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
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| • | | in whole and not in part; |
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| • | | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
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| • | | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and |
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| • | | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-Dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. 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. As a result, we may redeem warrants even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
We have established the $18.00 (as adjusted) 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 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 ordinary shares may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants:
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| • | | in whole and not in part; |
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| • | | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “Fair Market Value” of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined below) except as otherwise described below; |
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| • | | if, and only if, the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per public share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-Dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and |
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| • | | if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”), |
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| | | the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
Beginning on the date the notice of redemption is given until the warrants are redeemed or exercised, holders may elect to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The numbers in the table below represent the number of Class A ordinary shares that a warrant holder will receive upon such cashless exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “Fair Market Value” of our Class A ordinary shares on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined for these purposes based on volume weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final Fair Market Value no later than one business day after the 10-trading day period described above ends.
Pursuant to the warrant agreement, references above to Class A ordinary shares shall include a security other than Class A ordinary shares into which the Class A ordinary shares have been converted or exchanged for in the event we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination. The numbers in the table below will not be adjusted when determining the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon exercise of the warrants if we are not the surviving entity following our initial business combination.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant or the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below. If the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. The number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted in the same manner and at the same time as the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant. If the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted, (a) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the fifth paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” and the denominator of which is $10.00 and (b) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the second paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution Adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price less the decrease in the exercise price of a warrant pursuant to such exercise price adjustment.
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Redemption Date (period to expiration of warrants) | | Fair Market Value of Class A Ordinary Shares |
| ≤10.00 | | 11.00 | | 12.00 | | 13.00 | | 14.00 | | 15.00 | | 16.00 | | 17.00 | | ≥18.00 |
60 months | | | | 0.261 | | | | | 0.281 | | | | | 0.297 | | | | | 0.311 | | | | | 0.324 | | | | | 0.337 | | | | | 0.348 | | | | | 0.358 | | | | | 0.361 | |
57 months | | | | 0.257 | | | | | 0.277 | | | | | 0.294 | | | | | 0.310 | | | | | 0.324 | | | | | 0.337 | | | | | 0.348 | | | | | 0.358 | | | | | 0.361 | |
54 months | | | | 0.252 | | | | | 0.272 | | | | | 0.291 | | | | | 0.307 | | | | | 0.322 | | | | | 0.335 | | | | | 0.347 | | | | | 0.357 | | | | | 0.361 | |
51 months | | | | 0.246 | | | | | 0.268 | | | | | 0.287 | | | | | 0.304 | | | | | 0.320 | | | | | 0.333 | | | | | 0.346 | | | | | 0.357 | | | | | 0.361 | |
48 months | | | | 0.241 | | | | | 0.263 | | | | | 0.283 | | | | | 0.301 | | | | | 0.317 | | | | | 0.332 | | | | | 0.344 | | | | | 0.356 | | | | | 0.361 | |
45 months | | | | 0.235 | | | | | 0.258 | | | | | 0.279 | | | | | 0.298 | | | | | 0.315 | | | | | 0.330 | | | | | 0.343 | | | | | 0.356 | | | | | 0.361 | |
42 months | | | | 0.228 | | | | | 0.252 | | | | | 0.274 | | | | | 0.294 | | | | | 0.312 | | | | | 0.328 | | | | | 0.342 | | | | | 0.355 | | | | | 0.361 | |
39 months | | | | 0.221 | | | | | 0.246 | | | | | 0.269 | | | | | 0.290 | | | | | 0.309 | | | | | 0.325 | | | | | 0.340 | | | | | 0.354 | | | | | 0.361 | |
36 months | | | | 0.213 | | | | | 0.239 | | | | | 0.263 | | | | | 0.285 | | | | | 0.305 | | | | | 0.323 | | | | | 0.339 | | | | | 0.353 | | | | | 0.361 | |
33 months | | | | 0.205 | | | | | 0.232 | | | | | 0.257 | | | | | 0.280 | | | | | 0.301 | | | | | 0.320 | | | | | 0.337 | | | | | 0.352 | | | | | 0.361 | |
30 months | | | | 0.196 | | | | | 0.224 | | | | | 0.250 | | | | | 0.274 | | | | | 0.297 | | | | | 0.316 | | | | | 0.335 | | | | | 0.351 | | | | | 0.361 | |
27 months | | | | 0.185 | | | | | 0.214 | | | | | 0.242 | | | | | 0.268 | | | | | 0.291 | | | | | 0.313 | | | | | 0.332 | | | | | 0.350 | | | | | 0.361 | |
24 months | | | | 0.173 | | | | | 0.204 | | | | | 0.233 | | | | | 0.260 | | | | | 0.285 | | | | | 0.308 | | | | | 0.329 | | | | | 0.348 | | | | | 0.361 | |
21 months | | | | 0.161 | | | | | 0.193 | | | | | 0.223 | | | | | 0.252 | | | | | 0.279 | | | | | 0.304 | | | | | 0.326 | | | | | 0.347 | | | | | 0.361 | |
18 months | | | | 0.146 | | | | | 0.179 | | | | | 0.211 | | | | | 0.242 | | | | | 0.271 | | | | | 0.298 | | | | | 0.322 | | | | | 0.345 | | | | | 0.361 | |
15 months | | | | 0.130 | | | | | 0.164 | | | | | 0.197 | | | | | 0.230 | | | | | 0.262 | | | | | 0.291 | | | | | 0.317 | | | | | 0.342 | | | | | 0.361 | |
12 months | | | | 0.111 | | | | | 0.146 | | | | | 0.181 | | | | | 0.216 | | | | | 0.250 | | | | | 0.282 | | | | | 0.312 | | | | | 0.339 | | | | | 0.361 | |
9 months | | | | 0.090 | | | | | 0.125 | | | | | 0.162 | | | | | 0.199 | | | | | 0.237 | | | | | 0.272 | | | | | 0.305 | | | | | 0.336 | | | | | 0.361 | |
6 months | | | | 0.065 | | | | | 0.099 | | | | | 0.137 | | | | | 0.178 | | | | | 0.219 | | | | | 0.259 | | | | | 0.296 | | | | | 0.331 | | | | | 0.361 | |
3 months | | | | 0.034 | | | | | 0.065 | | | | | 0.104 | | | | | 0.150 | | | | | 0.197 | | | | | 0.243 | | | | | 0.286 | | | | | 0.326 | | | | | 0.361 | |
0 months | | | | — | | | | | — | | | | | 0.042 | | | | | 0.115 | | | | | 0.179 | | | | | 0.233 | | | | | 0.281 | | | | | 0.323 | | | | | 0.361 | |
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued for each warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.277 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.298 Class A ordinary shares for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable on a cashless basis in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). Finally, as reflected in the table above, if the warrants are out of the money and about to expire, they cannot be exercised on a cashless basis in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, since they will not be exercisable for any Class A ordinary shares.
This redemption feature differs from the warrant redemption features used in some other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the private placement warrants) when the trading price for the Class A ordinary shares exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at or above $10.00 per public share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00.” Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in
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connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of the of this prospectus. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed. We will be required to pay the applicable redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A ordinary shares are trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer Class A ordinary shares than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for Class A ordinary shares if and when such Class A ordinary shares were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional Class A ordinary shares will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the warrant agreement (for instance, if we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination), the warrants may be exercised for such security. At such time as the warrants become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, the Company (or surviving company) will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register under the Securities Act the security issuable upon the exercise of the warrants.
Redemption Procedures. A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event 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 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the Class A ordinary shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-Dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is increased by a capitalization or share dividend paid in Class A ordinary shares to all or substantially all holders of Class A ordinary shares, or by a split-up of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such capitalization or share dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding Class A ordinary shares. A rights offering made to all or substantially all holders of ordinary shares entitling holders to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a price less than the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) will be deemed a share dividend of a number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the product of (i) the number of Class A ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares) and (ii) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per Class A ordinary share paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A ordinary shares, in determining the price payable for Class A ordinary shares, 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) “historical fair market value” means the volume weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the Class A ordinary shares trade 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 all or substantially all of the holders of Class A ordinary shares on account of such Class A ordinary shares (or other securities into which the warrants are then convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) any cash dividends or cash distributions which, when combined on a per share basis with all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the Class A ordinary shares during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution, does not exceed $0.50 (as adjusted to appropriately reflect any other adjustments and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the exercise price or to the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (including extending the deadline for completing our initial business combination), or (e) 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 Class A ordinary share in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share split or reclassification of Class A ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share split, reclassification or similar event, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding Class A ordinary shares.
Whenever the number of Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of Class A ordinary shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional ordinary shares 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 ordinary share (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 or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to 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, the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds
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$10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding Class A ordinary shares (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the Class A ordinary shares immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of Class A ordinary shares or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection with redemption rights held by shareholders of the company as provided for in the company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or as a result of the redemption of Class A ordinary shares by the company if a proposed initial business combination is presented to the shareholders of the company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the outstanding Class A ordinary shares, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a shareholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Class A ordinary shares held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustment (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A ordinary shares in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A ordinary shares in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants.
The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between , as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in
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accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders 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, at least 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. 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 holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive Class A ordinary shares. After the issuance of Class A ordinary shares 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 shareholders.
No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. 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 Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder.
We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement 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 we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors—Our warrant agreement will designate 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.” This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
Private Placement Warrants
Except as described below, 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. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except pursuant to limited exceptions as described under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with the initial purchasers of the private placement warrants) and they will not be redeemable by us (except as described under “—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees (except as otherwise set forth herein). Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. Any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants.
In connection with a redemption of our warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00, holders of private placement warrants who exercise their shares on a cashless basis would receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table set forth
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under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants.” If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis at any time other than in connection with such a redemption of warrants by us, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “Sponsor Fair Market Value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the Sponsor Fair Market Value. The “Sponsor Fair Market Value” shall mean the average reported closing price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 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. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that restrict insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods. 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 shareholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the Class A ordinary shares received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
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. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares 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, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time (assuming the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full). 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.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is . We have agreed to indemnify in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, 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 claims and losses due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.
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
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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.
Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to U.S. corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands exempted company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).
Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (a) a special resolution (usually a majority of 662/3% in value of the voting shares voted at a general meeting) of the shareholders of each company; or (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (i.e., a company that owns at least 90% of the issued shares of each class in a subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation. Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (ii) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (iii) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; and (iv) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted. Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands exempted company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidated is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived, (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company, and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (iii) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (iv) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
Where the above procedures are adopted, the Companies Act provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid a payment of the fair value of his shares upon their dissenting to the merger
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or consolidation if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, that procedure is as follows: (a) the shareholder must give his written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for his shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (b) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (c) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of his shares; (d) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (b) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (e) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree a price within such 30-day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30-day period expires, the company (and any dissenting shareholder) must file a petition with the Cayman Islands Grand Court to determine the fair value and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenters holding shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date or where the consideration for such shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or shares of the surviving or consolidated company.
Moreover, Cayman Islands law has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement” which may be tantamount to a merger. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting, or meeting summoned for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it satisfies itself that:
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| • | | we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with; |
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| • | | the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question; |
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| • | | the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and |
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| • | | the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a “fraud on the minority.” |
If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights (providing rights to receive payment
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in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares), which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of U.S. corporations.
Squeeze-out Provisions. When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares to whom the offer is made within four months, the offer or may, within a two-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.
Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction and/or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements of an operating business.
Shareholders’ Suits. Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands counsel, is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the availability for such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:
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| • | | a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or beyond the scope of its authority; |
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| • | | the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes which have actually been obtained; or |
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| • | | those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority.” |
A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
Special Considerations for Exempted Companies. We are an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted
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company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
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| • | | an exempted company does not have to file an annual return of its shareholders with the Registrar of Companies; |
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| • | | an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection; |
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| • | | an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting; |
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| • | | an exempted company may issue shares with no par value; |
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| • | | an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 20 years in the first instance); |
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| • | | an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; |
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| • | | an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and |
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| • | | an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company. |
“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).
Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution under Cayman Islands law where it has been approved by either (i) the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s shareholders entitled to vote and so voting at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given, or (ii) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that special resolutions must be approved either by at least two-thirds of our shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide, among other things, that:
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| • | | If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 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 10 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law; |
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| • | | 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 memorandum and articles of association to extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering; |
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| • | | In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view; |
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| • | | If a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other 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; |
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| • | | We must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination; |
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| • | | If our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (i) that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity (including extending the deadline for completing our initial business combination), we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their ordinary shares 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 (net of taxes paid or payable) 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 solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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.
The Companies Act permits a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands to amend its memorandum and articles of association with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of such company’s outstanding ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting or by way of unanimous written resolution. A company’s articles of association may specify that the approval of a higher majority is required but, provided the approval of the required majority is obtained, any Cayman Islands exempted company may amend its memorandum and articles of association regardless of whether its memorandum and articles of association provides otherwise. Accordingly, although we could amend any of the provisions relating to our proposed offering, structure and business plan which are contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we view all of these provisions as binding obligations to our shareholders and neither we, nor our officers or directors, will take any action to amend or waive any of these provisions unless we provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares.
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Anti-Money Laundering—Cayman Islands
If any person in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects, or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting, that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or money laundering or is involved with terrorism or terrorist financing and property and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the regulated sector or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report will not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.
Cayman Islands Data Protection
We have certain duties under the Data Protection Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands (the “DPA”) based on internationally accepted principles of data privacy.
Privacy Notice
Introduction
This privacy notice puts our shareholders on notice that through your investment in the Company you will provide us with certain personal information which constitutes personal data within the meaning of the DPA (“personal data”).
In the following discussion, the “Company” refers to us and our affiliates and/or delegates, except where the context requires otherwise.
Investor Data
We will collect, use, disclose, retain and secure personal data to the extent reasonably required only and within the parameters that could be reasonably expected during the normal course of business. We will only process, disclose, transfer or retain personal data to the extent legitimately required to conduct our activities of on an ongoing basis or to comply with legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject. We will only transfer personal data in accordance with the requirements of the DPA, and will apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of the personal data and against the accidental loss, destruction or damage to the personal data.
In our use of this personal data, we will be characterized as a “data controller” for the purposes of the DPA, while our affiliates and service providers who may receive this personal data from us in the conduct of our activities may either act as our “data processors” for the purposes of the DPA or may process personal information for their own lawful purposes in connection with services provided to us.
We may also obtain personal data from other public sources. Personal data includes, without limitation, the following information relating to a shareholder and/or any individuals connected with a shareholder as an investor: name, residential address, email address, contact details, corporate contact information, signature, nationality, place of birth, date of birth, tax identification, credit history, correspondence records, passport number, bank account details, source of funds details and details relating to the shareholder’s investment activity.
Who This Affects
If you are a natural person, this will affect you directly. If you are a corporate investor (including, for these purposes, legal arrangements such as trusts or exempted limited partnerships)
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that provides us with personal data on individuals connected to you for any reason in relation your investment in the Company, this will be relevant for those individuals and you should transmit the content of this Privacy Notice to such individuals or otherwise advise them of its content.
How the Company May Use a Shareholder’s Personal Data
The Company, as the data controller, may collect, store and use personal data for lawful purposes, including, in particular:
(i) where this is necessary for the performance of our rights and obligations under any purchase agreements;
(ii) where this is necessary for compliance with a legal and regulatory obligation to which we are subject (such as compliance with anti-money laundering and FATCA/CRS requirements); and/or
(iii) where this is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests and such interests are not overridden by your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms.
Should we wish to use personal data for other specific purposes (including, if applicable, any purpose that requires your consent), we will contact you.
Why We May Transfer Your Personal Data
In certain circumstances we may be legally obliged to share personal data and other information with respect to your shareholding with the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority or the Tax Information Authority. They, in turn, may exchange this information with foreign authorities, including tax authorities.
We anticipates disclosing personal data to persons who provide services to us and their respective affiliates (which may include certain entities located outside the United States, the Cayman Islands or the European Economic Area), who will process your personal data on our behalf.
The Data Protection Measures We Take
Any transfer of personal data by us or our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates outside of the Cayman Islands shall be in accordance with the requirements of the DPA.
We and our duly authorized affiliates and/or delegates shall apply appropriate technical and organizational information security measures designed to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data, and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
We shall notify you of any personal data breach that is reasonably likely to result in a risk to your interests, fundamental rights or freedoms or those data subjects to whom the relevant personal data relates.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors and also include provisions providing for advance notice procedures, inability of shareholders to call a general meeting and removal of directors only for cause and only by the board 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 general meetings.
In addition, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, including in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and holders of a majority of our Class B ordinary shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our
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amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint or remove directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution which shall include the affirmative vote of a majority of our Class B ordinary shares.
Our authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and preference shares are 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 Class A ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
Immediately after this offering we will have 25,000,000 (or 28,750,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) ordinary shares outstanding. Of these shares, the Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering (20,000,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised and 23,000,000 shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any Class A ordinary shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding founder shares (5,000,000 founder shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised and 5,750,000 founder shares if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) and all of the outstanding private placement warrants (4,000,000 warrants if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised and 4,400,000 warrants if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) 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 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 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares 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 ordinary shares then outstanding, which will equal 250,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 287,500 if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional units); or |
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| • | | the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A ordinary shares 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
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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 shareholders will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering. The holders 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. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of Securities
We intend to apply to have our units listed on under the symbol “ ” commencing on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on . Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on under the symbols “ ” and “ ,” respectively. The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded following the completion of our initial business combination.
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TAXATION
The following summary of certain Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to an investment in our units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant, which we refer to collectively as our securities, is based upon laws and relevant interpretations thereof in effect as of the date of this prospectus, all of which are subject to change. This summary does not deal with all possible tax considerations relevant to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and warrants, such as the tax consequences under state, local and other tax laws.
Prospective investors should consult their advisors on the possible tax consequences of investing in our securities under the laws of their country of citizenship, residence or domicile.
Cayman Islands Tax Considerations
The following is a discussion on certain Cayman Islands income tax consequences of an investment in the securities of the Company. The discussion is a general summary of present law, which is subject to prospective and retroactive change. It is not intended as tax advice, does not consider any investor’s particular circumstances, and does not consider tax consequences other than those arising under Cayman Islands law.
Under Existing Cayman Islands Laws
Payments of dividends and capital in respect of our securities will not be subject to taxation in the Cayman Islands and no withholding will be required on the payment of a dividend or capital to any holder of the securities nor will gains derived from the disposal of the securities be subject to Cayman Islands income or corporate tax. The Cayman Islands currently has no income, corporate or capital gains tax and no estate duty, inheritance tax or gift tax.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of the warrants. An instrument of transfer in respect of a warrant is stamp able if executed in or brought into the Cayman Islands.
No stamp duty is payable in respect of the issue of our Class A ordinary shares or on an instrument of transfer in respect of such shares.
The Company has been incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability and, as such, has received an undertaking from the Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands in the following form:
The Tax Concessions Act
(2018 Revision)
Undertaking as to Tax Concessions
In accordance with the provision of Section 6 of The Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision), the Financial Secretary undertakes with Brand Velocity Acquisition Corp (the “Company”):
1. That no law which is hereafter enacted in the Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to the Company or its operations; and
2. In addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable:
2.1 On or in respect of the shares, debentures or other obligations of the Company; or
2.2 by way of the withholding in whole or part, of any relevant payment as defined in Section 6(3) of the Tax Concessions Act (2018 Revision).
These concessions shall be for a period of 20 years from the date hereof.
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United States Federal Income Tax Considerations
General
The following discussion summarizes certain U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units (each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant) that are purchased in this offering by U.S. Holders (as defined below) and Non-U.S. Holders (as defined below). Because the components of a unit are generally 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 ordinary share and warrant components of the unit. As a result, the discussion below with respect to holders of Class A ordinary shares and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants that constitute the units).
This discussion is limited to certain U.S. federal income tax considerations to beneficial owners of our securities who are initial purchasers of a unit pursuant to this offering and hold the unit and each component of the unit as a capital asset under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
This discussion assumes that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will trade separately and that any distributions made (or deemed made) by us on our Class A ordinary shares and any consideration received (or deemed received) by a holder in consideration for the sale or other disposition of our securities will be in U.S. dollars. This discussion is general in nature and does not purport to be a complete description of the U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of a unit by a prospective investor in light of its particular circumstance or status, or to prospective investors subject to special treatment under the U.S. federal income tax laws, including:
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| • | | our sponsor, founders, officers or directors or other holders of our Class B ordinary shares or private placement warrants; |
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| • | | banks, financial institutions or financial services entities; |
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| • | | broker-dealers; |
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| • | | taxpayers that are subject to the mark-to-market accounting rules; |
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| • | | tax-exempt entities; |
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| • | | S-corporations; |
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| • | | governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof; |
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| • | | insurance companies; |
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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 United States; |
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| • | | persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our shares; |
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| • | | persons that acquired our securities pursuant to an exercise of employee share options, in connection with employee share incentive plans or otherwise as compensation or in connection with services; |
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| • | | persons that hold our securities as part of a straddle, constructive sale, hedging, conversion or other integrated or similar transaction; or |
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| • | | U.S. Holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar. |
The discussion below is based upon the provisions of the Code, the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof, all as of the date hereof. Those authorities may be repealed, revoked, modified or subject to differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis, so as to result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below. Furthermore, this discussion does not address any aspect of U.S. federal
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non-income tax laws, such as gift, estate or Medicare contribution tax laws, or state, local or non-U.S. tax laws or considerations under any applicable income tax treaty.
We have not sought, and do not expect to seek, a ruling from the 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.
As used herein, the term “U.S. Holder” means a beneficial owner of units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (i) an individual citizen or resident of the United States; (ii) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is created or organized (or treated as created or organized) in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; (iii) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or (iv) a trust if (A) 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 have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or (B) it has in effect a valid election to be treated as a U.S. person.
If a beneficial owner of our securities is not described as a U.S. Holder and is not an entity treated as a partnership or other pass-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such owner will be considered a “Non-U.S. Holder.” The U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable specifically to Non-U.S. Holders are described below under the heading “Non-U.S. Holders.”
This discussion does not consider the tax treatment of partnerships or other pass-through entities or persons who hold our securities through such entities. If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is the beneficial owner of our securities, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner in the partnership generally will depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partner and the partnership. Partnerships holding our securities and partners in such partnerships should consult their own tax advisors.
THIS DISCUSSION IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF CERTAIN U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES AND IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR CAREFUL TAX PLANNING. EACH PROSPECTIVE INVESTOR IN OUR SECURITIES SHOULD CONSULT ITS OWN TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES TO SUCH INVESTOR OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, AND NON-U.S. TAX LAWS, AS WELL AS ANY APPLICABLE INCOME TAX TREATY.
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. We intend to treat, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the acquisition of a unit as the acquisition of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant, a whole one of which is exercisable to acquire one Class A ordinary share. By purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for applicable tax purposes. As a result, 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 Class A ordinary share and the one-third 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, and should consult his or her tax adviser regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant should constitute the shareholder’s initial tax basis in such share or one-third of one warrant. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition
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should be allocated between the Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition (as determined by the holder based on all relevant facts and circumstances). Neither the separation of the Class A ordinary share and the one-third of one warrant constituting a unit nor the combination of thirds of warrants into a single warrant should be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The foregoing treatment of the units, the Class A ordinary shares 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 should consult its tax advisor 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
Taxation of Distributions
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will be required to include in gross income as dividends the amount of any distribution paid on our Class A ordinary shares to the extent the distribution is paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles). Such dividends paid by us will be taxable to a corporate U.S. Holder at the regular corporate rate and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction generally allowed to domestic corporations in respect of dividends received from other domestic corporations. Distributions in excess of such earnings and profits generally will be applied against and reduce the U.S. Holder’s basis in its Class A ordinary shares (but not below zero) and, to the extent in excess of such basis, will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such Class A ordinary shares (see “—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants” below).
With respect to non-corporate U.S. Holders, dividends generally will be taxed at the lower applicable long-term capital gains rate (see “—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants” below) only if our Class A ordinary shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States (such as ) and certain holding period and other requirements are met, including that the Company is not treated as a PFIC during the taxable year in which the dividend is paid or in the preceding taxable year. It is unclear whether certain redemption rights described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the applicable holding period requirements are not satisfied, a non-corporate U.S. Holder may be subject to tax on the dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential income tax rate that applies to qualified dividend income. U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the availability of such lower rate for any dividends paid with respect to our Class A ordinary shares.
Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss on the sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants (including on our dissolution and liquidation if we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period).
Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for such Class A ordinary shares or warrants exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether certain redemption rights described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose.
The amount of gain or loss recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition generally will be equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any
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property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares or warrants based upon the then relative fair market values of the Class A ordinary shares and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A ordinary shares or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A ordinary shares or warrants generally will equal the U.S. Holder’s acquisition cost (that is, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to one Class A ordinary share or one-third of one warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) reduced, in the case of Class A ordinary shares, by any prior distributions treated as a return of capital. Long-term capital gain realized by a non-corporate U.S. Holder is currently eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. See “—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant” below for a discussion regarding a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A ordinary share acquired pursuant to the exercise of a warrant. The deduction of capital losses is subject to certain limitations. A U.S. Holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the allocation of remaining tax basis.
Redemption of Class A Ordinary Shares
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, in the event that a U.S. Holder’s Class A ordinary shares are redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities—Ordinary Shares” or if we purchase a U.S. Holder’s Class A ordinary shares in an open market transaction (referred to herein as a redemption), the treatment of the redemption for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether it qualifies as sale of the Class A ordinary shares under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as described under “—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Ordinary Shares and Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under “—Taxation of Distributions.” Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of our shares treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any shares constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as described in the following paragraph) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after such redemption. The redemption of Class A ordinary shares generally will be treated as a sale of the Class A ordinary shares (rather than as a distribution) if such redemption (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 our Class A Ordinary shares actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also our shares that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to shares owned directly, shares 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 shares the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include Class A ordinary shares 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 shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of Class A ordinary shares must, among other requirements, be less than 80 percent of the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption. Prior to our initial business combination, the Class A ordinary shares may not be treated as voting shares for this purpose and, consequently, this substantially disproportionate test may not be applicable. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (i) all of our shares actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (ii) all of our shares 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 shares owned by certain family members and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other shares of ours. The redemption
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of the Class A ordinary shares will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend with respect to a U.S. Holder if it 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 shareholder 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 are satisfied, then the redemption may be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under “—Taxation of Distributions” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A ordinary shares will be added to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining shares, or, if it has none, to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other shares constructively owned by it. A U.S. Holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the allocation of remaining tax basis.
Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant
Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below and except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the acquisition of a Class A ordinary share on the exercise of a warrant for cash. A U.S. Holder’s initial tax basis in a Class A ordinary share received upon exercise of the warrant generally will equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrant (as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary share will commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant. 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 law. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, a cashless exercise may not be taxable, 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 situation, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received generally would equal the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrants. If the cashless exercise was not a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary share will commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A ordinary shares would include the holding period of the warrants.
It is also possible that a cashless exercise may be treated as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. Holder may be deemed to have surrendered a number of warrants having a value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. Subject to the PFIC rules discussed below, the U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in such warrants. In this case, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received would equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary share would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant.
Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, 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, a U.S. Holder should consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.
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While not free from doubt, a redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of Warrants for Class A Ordinary Shares” should be treated as a “recapitalization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, subject to the PFIC rules described below, a U.S. Holder should not recognize any gain or loss on the redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares. In such event, a U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the Class A ordinary shares received in the redemption generally should equal the U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the warrants redeemed and the holding period for the Class A ordinary shares received should include the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the surrendered warrants. However, there is some uncertainty regarding this tax treatment and it is possible such a redemption could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized in a manner similar to that discussed above for a cashless exercise of warrants. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder should consult its tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of a redemption of warrants for Class A ordinary shares.
Subject to the PFIC rules described below, if we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ 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 Ordinary Shares and Warrants.” We intend to treat the exercise of a warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant for $0.01 as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption of Warrants for Class A Ordinary Shares” as if we redeemed such warrant for shares as described in the immediately preceding paragraph. However if the redemption were instead to be characterized for U.S. federal income tax purposes as an exercise of the warrant (which we do not expect), then the tax treatment would instead be treated as described above in the first paragraph under “—U.S. Holders—Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.”
Possible Constructive Distributions
The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of Class A ordinary shares 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—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ 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 increases such U.S. Holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of Class A ordinary shares that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease to the exercise price) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property to the holders of our Class A ordinary shares which is taxable to the U.S. Holders of such Class A ordinary shares as described under “—Taxation of Distributions” above. 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.
Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules
A foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) corporation will be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes if either (i) at least 75% of its gross income in a taxable year, including its pro rata share of the gross income of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, is passive income or (ii) at least 50% of its assets in a taxable year (ordinarily determined based on fair market value and averaged quarterly over the year), including its pro rata share of the assets of any corporation in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the shares by value, are held for the production of, or produce, passive income. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of passive assets.
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Because we are a blank check company, with no current active business, we believe that it is likely that we will meet the PFIC asset or income test for our current taxable year. However, pursuant to a start-up exception, a corporation will not be a PFIC for the first taxable year the corporation has gross income (the “start-up year”), if (i) no predecessor of the corporation was a PFIC; (ii) the corporation satisfies the IRS that it will not be a PFIC for either of the two taxable years following the start-up year; and (iii) the corporation is not in fact a PFIC for either of those years. The applicability of the start-up exception to us is uncertain and will not be known until after the close of our current taxable year (or possibly not until after the close of the first two taxable years following our start-up year, as described under the start-up exception). After the acquisition of a company or assets in a business combination, we may still meet one of the PFIC tests depending on the timing of the acquisition and the amount of our passive income and assets as well as the passive income and assets of the acquired business. If the company that we acquire in a business combination is a PFIC, then we will likely not qualify for the start-up exception and will be a PFIC for our current taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Accordingly, there can be no assurance with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any future taxable year.
Although our PFIC status is determined annually, an initial determination that our company is a PFIC will generally apply for subsequent years to a U.S. Holder who held Class A ordinary shares or warrants while we were a PFIC, whether or not we meet the test for PFIC status in those subsequent years. If we are determined to be a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants and, in the case of our Class A ordinary shares, the U.S. Holder did not make either a qualified electing fund (“QEF”) election or a mark-to-market election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder held (or was deemed to hold) Class A ordinary shares, as described below, such U.S. Holder generally will be subject to special rules with respect to (i) any gain recognized by the U.S. Holder on the sale or other disposition of its Class A ordinary shares or warrants and (ii) any “excess distribution” made to the U.S. Holder (generally, any distributions to such U.S. Holder, other than the taxable year in which the U.S. Holder’s holding period in the Class A ordinary shares begins, during a taxable year of the U.S. Holder that are greater than 125% of the average annual distributions received by such U.S. Holder in respect of the Class A ordinary shares during the three preceding taxable years of such U.S. Holder or, if shorter, the portion of such U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary shares before the current taxable year).
Under these rules:
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| • | | the U.S. Holder’s gain or excess distribution will be allocated ratably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A ordinary shares or warrants; |
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| • | | the amount allocated to the U.S. Holder’s taxable year in which the U.S. Holder recognized the gain or received the excess distribution, or to the period in the U.S. Holder’s holding period before the first day of our first taxable year in which we are a PFIC, will be taxed as ordinary income; |
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| • | | the amount allocated to other taxable years (or portions thereof) of the U.S. Holder and included in its holding period will be taxed at the highest tax rate in effect for that year and applicable to the U.S. Holder; and |
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| • | | an additional tax equal to the interest charge generally applicable to underpayments of tax will be imposed on the U.S. Holder with respect to the tax attributable to each such other taxable year of the U.S. Holder. |
In general, if we are determined to be a PFIC, a U.S. Holder may avoid the PFIC tax consequences described above in respect of our Class A ordinary shares (but not our warrants) by making a timely and valid QEF election (if eligible to do so) to include in income its pro rata share of our net capital gains (as long-term capital gain) and other earnings and profits (as ordinary income), on a current basis, in each case whether or not distributed, in the taxable year of the U.S. Holder in which or with which our taxable year ends. A U.S. Holder generally may make a separate
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election to defer the payment of taxes on undistributed income inclusions under the QEF rules, but if deferred, any such taxes will be subject to an interest charge.
A U.S. Holder may not make a QEF election with respect to its warrants to acquire our Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if a U.S. Holder sells or otherwise disposes of such warrants (other than upon exercise of such warrants) and we were a PFIC at any time during the U.S. Holder’s holding period of such warrants, any gain recognized generally will be treated as an excess distribution, taxed as described above. If a U.S. Holder that exercises such warrants properly makes a QEF election with respect to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (or has previously made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares), the QEF election will apply to the newly acquired Class A ordinary shares. Notwithstanding such QEF election, the adverse tax consequences relating to PFIC shares, adjusted to take into account the current income inclusions resulting from the QEF election, will continue to apply with respect to such newly acquired Class A ordinary shares (which generally will be deemed to have a holding period for purposes of the PFIC rules that includes the period the U.S. Holder held the warrants), unless the U.S. Holder makes a purging election. The purging election creates a deemed sale of such shares at their fair market value and any gain recognized on such deemed sale will be treated as an excess distribution, as described above. As a result of the purging election, the U.S. Holder will have a new basis and holding period in the Class A ordinary shares acquired upon the exercise of the warrants for purposes of the PFIC rules. A U.S. Holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the application of the rules governing purging elections to its particular circumstances.
The QEF election is made on a shareholder-by-shareholder basis and, once made, can be revoked only with the consent of the IRS. A U.S. Holder generally makes a QEF election by attaching a completed IRS Form 8621 (Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund), including the information provided in a PFIC annual information statement, to a timely filed U.S. federal income tax return for the tax year to which the election relates. Retroactive QEF elections generally may be made only by filing a protective statement with such return and if certain other conditions are met or with the consent of the IRS. U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a retroactive QEF election under their particular circumstances.
In order to comply with the requirements of a QEF election, a U.S. Holder must receive a PFIC annual information statement from us. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a QEF election, but there is no assurance that we will timely provide such required information. There is also no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of our status as a PFIC in the future or of the required information to be provided.
If a U.S. Holder has made a QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares, and the excess distribution rules discussed above do not apply to such shares (because of a timely QEF election for our first taxable year as a PFIC in which the U.S. Holder holds (or is deemed to hold) such shares or a purge of the PFIC taint pursuant to a purging election, as described above), any gain recognized on the sale of our Class A ordinary shares generally will be taxable as capital gain and no additional interest charge will be imposed under the PFIC rules. As discussed above, if we are a PFIC for any taxable year, a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares that has made a QEF election will be currently taxed on its pro rata share of our earnings and profits, whether or not distributed for such year. A subsequent distribution of such earnings and profits that were previously included in income generally should not be taxable when distributed to such U.S. Holder. The tax basis of a U.S. Holder’s shares in a QEF will be increased by amounts that are included in income, and decreased by amounts distributed but not taxed as dividends, under the above rules. In addition, if we are not a PFIC for any taxable year, such U.S. Holder will not be subject to the QEF inclusion regime with respect to our Class A ordinary shares for such taxable year.
Alternatively, if we are a PFIC and our Class A ordinary shares constitute “marketable stock,” a U.S. Holder may avoid the adverse PFIC tax consequences discussed above if such U.S. Holder, at the close of the first taxable year in which it holds (or is deemed to hold) our Class A ordinary
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shares, makes a mark-to-market election with respect to such shares for such taxable year. Such U.S. Holder generally will include for each of its taxable years as ordinary income the excess, if any, of the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of such year over its adjusted basis in its Class A ordinary shares. The U.S. Holder also will recognize an ordinary loss in respect of the excess, if any, of its adjusted basis of its Class A ordinary shares over the fair market value of its Class A ordinary shares at the end of its taxable year (but only to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election). The U.S. Holder’s basis in its Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted to reflect any such income or loss amounts, and any further gain recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of its Class A ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary income. Any loss recognized on a sale or other taxable disposition of the Class A ordinary shares will be treated as ordinary loss to the extent of the net amount of previously included income as a result of the mark-to-market election and thereafter as capital loss. Currently, a mark-to-market election may not be made with respect to warrants.
The mark-to-market election is available only for “marketable stock,” generally, stock that is regularly traded on a national securities exchange that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including (on which we intend to list the Class A ordinary shares), or on a foreign exchange or market that the IRS determines has rules sufficient to ensure that the market price represents a legitimate and sound fair market value. If made, a mark-to-market election would be effective for the taxable year for which the election was made and for all subsequent taxable years unless the ordinary shares ceased to qualify as “marketable stock” for purposes of the PFIC rules or the IRS consented to the revocation of the election. U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the availability and tax consequences of a mark-to-market election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares under their particular circumstances.
If we are a PFIC and, at any time, have a foreign subsidiary that is classified as a PFIC, U.S. Holders generally would be deemed to own a portion of the shares of such lower-tier PFIC, and generally could incur liability for the deferred tax and interest charge described above if we receive a distribution from, or dispose of all or part of our interest in, the lower-tier PFIC or the U.S. Holders otherwise were deemed to have disposed of an interest in the lower-tier PFIC. We will endeavor to cause any lower-tier PFIC to provide to a U.S. Holder the information that may be required to make or maintain a QEF election with respect to the lower-tier PFIC. There can be no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of the status of any such lower-tier PFIC. In addition, we may not hold a controlling interest in any such lower-tier PFIC and thus there can be no assurance we will be able to cause the lower-tier PFIC to provide such required information. U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax issues raised by lower-tier PFICs.
A U.S. Holder that owns (or is deemed to own) shares in a PFIC during any taxable year of the U.S. Holder, may have to file an IRS Form 8621 (whether or not a QEF or mark-to-market election is made) and such other information as may be required by the U.S. Treasury Department. Failure to do so, if required, will extend the statute of limitations until such required information is furnished to the IRS.
The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF and mark-to-market elections are very complex and are affected by various factors in addition to those described above. Accordingly, U.S. Holders of our Class A ordinary shares and warrants should consult their own tax advisors concerning the application of the PFIC rules to our securities under their particular circumstances.
Tax Reporting
Certain U.S. Holders may be required to file an IRS Form 926 (Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation) to report a transfer of property (including cash) to us. Substantial penalties may be imposed on a U.S. Holder that fails to comply with this reporting requirement and the period of limitations for assessment and collection of U.S. federal income taxes will be extended in the event of a failure to comply. Furthermore, certain U.S. Holders who are individuals and certain entities will be required to report information with respect to such U.S. Holder’s investment in “specified foreign financial assets” on IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets), subject to certain exceptions. An interest in the Company constitutes a
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specified foreign financial asset for these purposes. Persons who are required to report specified foreign financial assets and fail to do so may be subject to substantial penalties and the period of limitations for assessment and collection of U.S. federal income taxes will be extended in the event of a failure to comply. Potential investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the foreign financial asset and other reporting obligations and their application to an investment in our Class A ordinary shares and warrants.
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 ordinary shares or warrants (other than a partnership or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) 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 United States 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 United States 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 sale or other disposition of our securities.
Dividends (including constructive dividends) paid or deemed paid to a Non-U.S. Holder in respect of our Class A ordinary shares generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax, unless the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States). In addition, a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain attributable to a sale or other disposition of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants unless such gain is effectively connected with its conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base that such holder maintains in the United States).
Dividends (including constructive dividends) and gains that are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, are attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the United States) generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the same regular U.S. federal income tax rates applicable to a comparable U.S. Holder and, in the case of a Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, also may be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a 30% rate or a lower applicable income tax treaty rate.
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UNDERWRITING
Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, the underwriters below have agreed to purchase from us on a firm commitment basis the following respective number of units at a public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus:
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Underwriters | | Number of Units |
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC | | | | 20,000,000 | |
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Total | | | | 20,000,000 | |
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The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to approval of legal matters by counsel and to other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to purchase all of the units (other than those covered by the option to purchase additional units described below) if they purchase any of the units.
Units sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. If all of the units are not sold at the initial offering price, the underwriters may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The underwriters have advised us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.
If the underwriters sell more units than the total number set forth in the table above, we have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. To the extent the option is exercised, the underwriters must purchase a number of additional units approximately proportionate to their initial purchase commitment. Any units issued or sold under the option will be sold on the same terms and conditions as the other units that are the subject of this offering.
We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of the representative of the underwriters, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, Class A ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, Class A ordinary shares; provided, however, that we may (i) issue and sell the private placement warrants, (ii) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ option to purchase additional units (if any), (iii) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the founder shares and the private placement warrants or the warrants and Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and (iv) issue securities in connection with an initial business combination. However, the foregoing shall not apply to the forfeiture of any founder shares pursuant to their terms or any transfer of founder shares to any current or future independent director of the Company (as long as such current or future independent director is subject to the terms of the letter agreement, filed herewith, at the time of such transfer; and as long as, to the extent any Section 16 reporting obligation is triggered as a result of such transfer, any related Section 16 filing includes a practical explanation as to the nature of the transfer). The representative of the underwriters in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.
Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their (i) founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (b) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and
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other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination (except as described in the section entitled “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”) and (ii) private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under “Principal Shareholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the underwriters.
The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.
We intend to apply to have our units listed on under the symbol “ ” commencing on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on under the symbols “ ” and “ ” respectively.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units.
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| No Exercise | | Full Exercise |
Per Unit(1) | | | $ | | 0.55 | | | | $ | | 0.55 | |
Total(1) | | | $ | | 11,000,000 | | | | $ | | 12,650,000 | |
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| (1) | | $0.20 per unit, or $4,000,000 in the aggregate (or $4,600,00 in the aggregate if the option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), is payable upon the closing of this offering. $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 in the aggregate (or $8,050,000 in the aggregate if the option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions will be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on and concurrently with completion of an initial business combination. |
Certain of the underwriters may offer and sell the units through one or more of their respective affiliates or other registered broker-dealers or selling agents. The offering of the shares by the underwriters is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the underwriters have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account and (ii) that the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon (which interest will be net of taxes paid or payable) to the public shareholders.
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In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell units in the open market. Purchases and sales in the open market may include short sales, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the option to purchase additional units, and stabilizing purchases.
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| • | | Short sales involve secondary market sales by the underwriters of a greater number of units than it is required to purchase in the offering. |
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| • | | “Covered” short sales are sales of units in an amount up to the number of units represented by the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. |
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| • | | “Naked” short sales are sales of units in an amount in excess of the number of units represented by the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units. |
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| • | | Covering transactions involve purchases of units either pursuant to the option to purchase additional units or in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover short positions. |
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| • | | To close a naked short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering. |
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| • | | To close a covered short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed or must exercise the option to purchase additional units. In determining the source of units to close the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the option to purchase additional units. |
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| • | | Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase units so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum. |
Purchases to cover short positions and stabilizing purchases, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own accounts, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. They may also cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that would otherwise exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The underwriters may conduct these transactions in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. If the underwriters commence any of these transactions, they may discontinue them at any time.
We estimate that the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $1,300,000, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions. We have agreed to pay for the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters’ legal counsel, not to exceed $ . We have also agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make because of any of those liabilities.
We are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, but we may do so at our discretion. However, the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses provide financial advisory services to us in connection with a business combination or assist us in raising additional capital in the future including by acting as a placement agent in a private offering or underwriting or arranging debt financing. If the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay the underwriters 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 underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriters prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which it is affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination. Any fees we may pay the underwriters or their affiliates for services rendered to us after this offering may be contingent on the completion of a business combination
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and may be paid in other than cash. The underwriters or their affiliates that provide these services to us may have a potential conflict of interest given that the underwriters are entitled to the deferred portion of their underwriting compensation for this offering only if an initial business combination is completed within the specified timeframe.
In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.
A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by the underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and the underwriters participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The underwriters may allocate a number of units for sale to its online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.
The units are offered for sale in the United States and other jurisdictions where it is lawful to make such offers.
The underwriters have represented and agreed that they have not offered, sold or delivered and will not offer, sell or deliver any of the units directly or indirectly, or distribute this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, in or from any jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations thereof and that will not impose any obligations on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement. Sales of shares of common stock made outside of the United States may be made by affiliates of the underwriters.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Canada
The units may be sold only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the units must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.
Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.
Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area
The units are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, “MiFID II”); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97 (as amended, the “Insurance Distribution Directive”), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in
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point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the “Prospectus Regulation”). Consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended, the “PRIIPs Regulation”) for offering or selling the units or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the units or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the Dubai International Financial Centre
This prospectus relates to an Exempt Offer in accordance with the Offered Securities Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). This prospectus is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Offered Securities Rules of the DFSA. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with Exempt Offers. The DFSA has not approved this prospectus nor taken steps to verify the information set forth herein and has no responsibility for the prospectus. The securities to which this prospectus relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the securities offered should conduct their own due diligence on the securities. If you do not understand the contents of this prospectus you should consult an authorized financial advisor.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Australia
No placement document, prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”), in relation to the offering. This prospectus does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act 2001 (the “Corporations Act”), and does not purport to include the information required for a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act.
Any offer in Australia of the securities may only be made to persons (the “Exempt Investors”) who are “sophisticated investors” (within the meaning of section 708(8) of the Corporations Act), “professional investors” (within the meaning of section 708(11) of the Corporations Act) or otherwise pursuant to one or more exemptions contained in section 708 of the Corporations Act so that it is lawful to offer the securities without disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act.
The securities applied for by Exempt Investors in Australia must not be offered for sale in Australia in the period of 12 months after the date of allotment under the offering, except in circumstances where disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act would not be required pursuant to an exemption under section 708 of the Corporations Act or otherwise or where the offer is pursuant to a disclosure document which complies with Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act. Any person acquiring securities must observe such Australian on-sale restrictions.
This prospectus contains general information only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It does not contain any securities recommendations or financial product advice. Before making an investment decision, investors need to consider whether the information in this prospectus is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances, and, if necessary, seek expert advice on those matters.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Switzerland
The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document 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 document nor any
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other offering or marketing material relating to the securities or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the company, or the shares has been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (FINMA), and the offer of securities has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (“CISA”). The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of securities.
Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom
The units are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the United Kingdom (“UK”). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 2017/565 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“EUWA”); (ii) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”) and any rules or regulations made under the FSMA to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA. Consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA (the “UK PRIIPs Regulation”) for offering or selling the units or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the UK has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the units or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the UK may be unlawful under the UK PRIIPs Regulation.
Notice to Prospective Investors in France
Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units described in this prospectus has been submitted to the clearance procedures of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers or by the competent authority of another member state of the European Economic Area and notified to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
The units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units has been or will be:
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| • | | released, issued, distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed to the public in France; or |
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| • | | used in connection with any offer for subscription or sale of the units to the public in France. |
Such offers, sales and distributions will be made in France only:
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| • | | to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs), in each case investing for their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with, Article L.411-2, D.411-1, D.411-2, D.734-1, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Code monétaire et financier; |
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| • | | to investment services providers authorized to engage in portfolio management on behalf of third parties; or |
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| • | | in a transaction that, in accordance with article L.411-2-II-1°-or-2°-or 3° of the French Code monétaire et financier and article 211-2 of the General Regulations (Règlement Général) of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, does not constitute a public offer (appel public à l’épargne). |
The units may be resold directly or indirectly, only in compliance with Articles L.411-1, L.411-2, L.412-1 and L.621-8 through L.621-8-3 of the French Code monétaire et financier.
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Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong
The units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the units may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan
The units and underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) and, accordingly, will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan, or for the benefit of any Japanese Person or to others for re- offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to any Japanese Person, except in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines promulgated by relevant Japanese governmental or regulatory authorities in effect at the relevant time. For the purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese Person” will mean any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.
Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore
This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the units may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA, in each case subject to compliance with conditions set forth in the SFA.
Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is:
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| • | | a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or |
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| • | | a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except: |
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| • | | to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less |
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| | | than S$200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA; |
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| • | | where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or |
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| • | | where the transfer is by operation of law. |
Cayman Islands
No offer or invitation to subscribe for our securities may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands.
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LEGAL MATTERS
Sidley Austin LLP, New York, New York will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to units and warrants. Maples and Calder will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus with respect to the ordinary shares and matters of Cayman Islands law. In connection with this offering, Shearman & Sterling LLP, New York, New York advised the underwriters in connection with the offering of the securities.
EXPERTS
The financial statements of Brand Velocity Acquisition Corp. as of March 3, 2021 and for the period from March 2, 2021 (inception) through March 3, 2021 included in this Prospectus and in the Registration Statement have been so included in reliance on the report of BDO USA, LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, appearing elsewhere herein and in the Registration Statement, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting. The report on the financial statements contains an explanatory paragraph regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
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
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Stockholders and Board of Directors
Brand Velocity Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Brand Velocity Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of March 3, 2021, the related statements of operations, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from March 2, 2021 (inception) through March 3, 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 March 3, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from March 2, 2021 (inception) through March 3, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern Uncertainty
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, as of March 3, 2021, the Company does not have sufficient cash and working capital to sustain its operations and the Company’s ability to execute its business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed initial public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
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/ BDO USA, LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
McLean, Virginia
March 12, 2021
F-2
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
BALANCE SHEET
As of March 3, 2021
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ASSETS: | | |
Prepaid legal expenses | | | $ | | 12,665 | |
Deferred offering costs associated with proposed public offering | | | | 46,438 | |
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Total Assets | | | $ | | 59,103 | |
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LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY: | | |
Current liabilities: | | |
Accounts payable | | | $ | | — | |
Accrued offering and formation costs | | | | 46,438 | |
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Total current liabilities | | | | 46,438 | |
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Commitments and Contingencies (Note 5) | | |
Shareholders’ Equity: | | |
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding | | | | — | |
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding | | | | — | |
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares outstanding(1) | | | | 575 | |
Additional paid-in capital | | | | 24,425 | |
Accumulated deficit | | | | (12,335 | ) | |
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Total shareholders’ equity | | | | 12,665 | |
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Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | | | $ | | 59,103 | |
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| (1) | | This number includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 of Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
For the period from March 2, 2021 (inception) through March 3, 2021
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Formation costs | | | $ | | 12,335 | |
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Net loss | | | | (12,335 | ) | |
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Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1) | | | | 5,000,000 | |
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Basic and diluted net loss per share | | | $ | | (0.00 | ) | |
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| (1) | | This number excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
For the period from March 2, 2021 (inception) through March 3, 2021
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Total | | Additional Paid-In Capital | | Accumulated Deficit | | Shareholders’ Equity |
| Class A | | Class B |
| Shares | | Amount | | Shares(1) | | Amount |
March 2, 2021 (inception) | | | | — | | | | $ | | — | | | | | — | | | | $ | | — | | | | $ | | — | | | | $ | | — | | | | $ | | — | |
Issuance of ordinary shares to Sponsor | | | | — | | | | | — | | | | | 5,750,000 | | | | | 575 | | | | | 24,425 | | | | | — | | | | | 25,000 | |
Net loss | | | | — | | | | | — | | | | | — | | | | | — | | | | | — | | | | | (12,335 | ) | | | | | (12,335 | ) | |
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March 3, 2021 | | | | — | | | | $ | | — | | | | | 5,750,000 | | | | $ | | 575 | | | | $ | | 24,425 | | | | $ | | (12,335 | ) | | | | $ | | 12,665 | |
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| (1) | | This number includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 of Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
For the period from March 2, 2021 (inception) through March 3, 2021
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Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | | |
Net loss | | | $ | | (12,335 | ) | |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | |
Prepaid legal expenses | | | | 12,335 | |
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Net cash used in operating activities | | | | — | |
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Net increase in cash | | | | — | |
Cash—beginning of the period | | | | — | |
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Cash—end of the period | | | $ | | — | |
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Supplemental disclosure of noncash financing activities: | | |
Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering and formation costs | | | $ | | 46,438 | |
Payment of deferred offering costs by the Sponsor | | | $ | | 24,425 | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1—Description of Organization, Business Operations, Going Concern and Basis of Presentation
Brand Velocity Acquisition Corp (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Cayman Islands on March 2, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
As of March 3, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from March 2, 2021 (inception) through March 3, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering 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 on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering (as defined below). The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s sponsor is Brand Velocity Acquisition Sponsor LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability corporation (the “Sponsor”). The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering (the “Proposed Public Offering”) of 20,000,000 units of the Company (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 23,000,000 Units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 4,000,000 warrants of the Company (or 4,400,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor 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) (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in Trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company only intends to complete a 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 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 and the sale of forward purchase units, 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 United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
The Company will provide the holders (the “Public Shareholders”) of the Company’s outstanding shares of Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, sold in the Proposed Public Offering (the “Public Shares”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public
F-7
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholders’ meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholders’ approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then held in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 5). These Public Shares will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” If the Company seeks shareholders’ approval, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. The Company will not redeem the Public Shares in connection with a Business Combination in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If a shareholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholders’ vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholders’ approval of the transaction is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain shareholders’ approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem the Public Shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks shareholders’ approval in connection with a Business Combination, the initial shareholders (as defined below) have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 4) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination. In addition, the initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination.
The Certificate of Incorporation will provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company. The holders of the Founder Shares (the “initial shareholders”) have agreed not to propose an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (the “Combination Period”) and the Company’s shareholders have not amended the Certificate of Incorporation to extend such Combination Period, the Company 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 subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes, if any (less up to
F-8
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
$100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
The initial shareholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the initial shareholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission (see Note 5) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within in the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.00. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party (except for the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement (a “Target”), reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.00 per Public Share or (ii) the 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 the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or Target that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Proposed Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Going Concern Consideration
As of March 3, 2021, the Company had a working capital deficiency of $ (33,773). Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through the Proposed Public Offering. The Company cannot assure that its plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial Business Combination will be successful. In addition, management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and its effect on the Company’s financial position, results its operations and/or search for a target company. See further discussion of the Company’s assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic below.
These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the twelve months following the issuance of these financial statements. The
F-9
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from its inability to consummate the Proposed Public Offering or its inability to continue as a going concern.
COVID-19
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus (the “COVID-19 outbreak”). In March 2020, the WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve. Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholders’ approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
F-10
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Deferred Offering Costs Associated with the Proposed Public Offering
Deferred offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering and that will be charged to shareholders’ equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.
Net Loss Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. At March 3, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Deferred tax assets were deemed immaterial as of March 3, 2021.
FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of March 3, 2021. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of March 3, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
F-11
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
The Company’s management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Note 3—Proposed Public Offering
Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 20,000,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A ordinary shares, and one-third of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 6).
The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Proposed Public Offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.
Note 4—Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
In March 2021, the Sponsor acquired 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “founder shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our Sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. Up to 750,000 founder shares will be surrendered to us by our Sponsor for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised.
The founder shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the completion of our initial business combination, at a ratio such that the number of shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of all shares of Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering (including any over-allotment shares if the underwriters exercise their overallotment option), plus (ii) the total number of shares of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion of the founder shares plus (iii) the total number of shares of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities (as defined herein) or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding (x) any shares of Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination, and (y) any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, its affiliates or any member of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of shares of our Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors.
Private Placement Warrants
The Sponsor will agree to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 Private Placement Warrants (or 4,400,000 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, or approximately $6,000,000 in the aggregate (or $6,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that
F-12
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A ordinary shares at a price of $11.50 per ordinary share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants and the sale of forward purchase units to the Sponsor will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable (except as described below in Note 6 under “Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.
The purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants (except to permitted transferees) until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans, but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,100,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. To date, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Note 5—Commitments & Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any (and any shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement will provide that we will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriters will be entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $4,000,000 in the aggregate (or $4,600,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. An additional fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $7,000,000 in the aggregate (or approximately $8,050,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from
F-13
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Note 6—Shareholders’ Equity
Class A Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of March 3, 2021, there were no shares of Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding.
Class B Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 shares of Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. On March 3, 2021, 5,000,000 shares of Class B ordinary shares were outstanding.
Holders of the Class A ordinary shares and holders of the Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders, except as required by law or stock exchange rule; provided that only holders of the Class B ordinary shares shall have the right to vote on the election of the Company’s directors prior to the initial Business Combination.
Preference shares—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share, with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of March 3, 2021, there were no shares of preference shares issued or outstanding.
Warrants—Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Public Warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A ordinary shares 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 holders are permitted to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under certain circumstances as a result of (i) the Company’s failure to have an effective registration statement by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial Business Combination or (ii) a notice of redemption described under “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00”). The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of its initial Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the Company’s initial Business Combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, the Company will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and the Company will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, 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 is available. Notwithstanding the above, if the Company’s shares of Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, 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
F-14
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
event the Company so elects, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
The warrants have an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments, and will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A ordinary shares (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions) and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates the 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 $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described under “Redemption of warrants for shares of Class A ordinary shares” and “Redemption of warrants for cash” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants, except that, so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by the Company, (ii) they (including the shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination, (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) are subject to registration rights.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00: Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
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| • | | in whole and not in part; |
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| • | | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
|
| • | | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and |
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| • | | if, and only if the last reported sale price of Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted). |
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. Any such exercise would not be on a cashless basis and would require the exercising warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00: Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
F-15
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
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| • | | in whole and not in part; |
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| • | | at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis after receiving notice of redemption but prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of Class A ordinary shares to be determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of shares of Class A ordinary shares; |
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| • | | if, and only if the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted); and |
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| • | | if, and only if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted), the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants. The “fair market value” of Class A ordinary shares shall mean the volume-weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of our Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). |
In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
Note 7—Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date March 12, 2021. Based on this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
F-16
20,000,000 Units
Brand Velocity Acquisition Corp
Preliminary Prospectus
, 2021
Book-Running Manager
Credit Suisse
Until , 2021 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade our ordinary shares, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to its unsold allotments or subscriptions.
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:
| | |
SEC expenses | | | $ | | 25,093 | |
FINRA expenses | | | | 35,000 | |
Accounting fees and expenses | | | | 50,000 | |
Printing and engraving expenses | | | | 30,000 | |
listing and filing fees | | | | 75,000 | |
Legal fees and expenses | | | | 300,000 | |
Director & Officer liability insurance premiums | | | | 750,000 | |
Miscellaneous | | | | 34,907 | |
| | |
Total | | | $ | | 1,300,000 | |
| | |
Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and officers.
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We will enter into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We expect to 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.
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 have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.
On March 2, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares, or approximately $0.004 per share, to Brand Velocity Acquisition Sponsor LLC, our sponsor (up to 750,000 of which will be surrendered to us by our sponsor for no consideration after the closing of this offering depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised), or approximately $0.001 per share. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The
II-1
total number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding after this offering and the expiration of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units will equal 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder thereof, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in this prospectus. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a share capitalization or a share repurchase or redemption or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding at such time (assuming the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional units in full).
Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 4,000,000 private placement warrants (or 4,400,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($6,000,000 in the aggregate or $6,600,000 if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. These issuances will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.
Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) Exhibits. The list of exhibits preceding the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated herein by reference.
| | |
Exhibit | | Description |
| | 1.1* | | | Form of Underwriting Agreement |
| | 3.1 | | | Memorandum and Articles of Association |
| | 3.4* | | | Form of Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association |
| | 4.1* | | | Specimen Unit Certificate |
| | 4.2* | | | Specimen Ordinary Share Certificate |
| | 4.3* | | | Specimen Warrant Certificate |
| | 4.4* | | | Form of Warrant Agreement between [•] and the Registrant |
| | 5.1* | | | Opinion of Maples and Calder |
| | 5.2* | | | Opinion of Sidley Austin LLP |
| | 10.1* | | | Form of Letter Agreement among the Registrant and its officers, directors, director nominees and the Sponsor |
| | 10.2 | | | Promissory Note, dated March 2, 2021 issued to the Registrant |
| | 10.3* | | | Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between [•] and the Registrant |
| | 10.4* | | | Form of Registration Rights Agreement among the Registrant and certain security holders |
| | 10.6* | | | Form of Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor |
| | 10.7* | | | Form of Indemnity Agreement |
| | 10.8 | | | Securities Subscription Agreement, dated as of March 2, 2021, between the Registrant and the Sponsor |
| | 10.9* | | | Form of Administrative Support Agreement by and between the Registrant and [•] |
| | 14.1* | | | Form of Code of Ethics |
| | 23.1 | | | Consent of BDO USA, LLP |
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| | |
Exhibit | | Description |
| | 23.2* | | | Consent of Maples and Calder (included in Exhibit 5.1) |
| | 23.3* | | | Consent of Sidley Austin LLP (included in Exhibit 5.2) |
| | 24.1* | | | Power of Attorney (included on signature page to the initial filing of this Registration Statement) |
| | 99.1* | | | Form of Audit Committee Charter |
| | 99.2* | | | Form of Compensation Committee Charter |
| | 99.3* | | | Form of Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter |
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| * | | To be filed by amendment |
Item 17. Undertakings.
(a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.
(b) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
(c) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:
(1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.
(2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Larchmont, State of New York, on the 12th day of March, 2021.
BRAND VELOCITY ACQUISITION CORP
By: | | /s/ Stephen Lebowitz Stephen Lebowitz Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Austin Ramos his true and lawful attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution and resubstitution for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign any and all amendments including pre- and post-effective amendments to this registration statement, any subsequent registration statement for the same offering which may be filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and pre- or post-effective amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact or his substitute, each acting alone, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue thereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| | | | |
Name | | Position | | Date |
/s/ Stephen Lebowitz | | Chief Executive Officer and Director | | March 12, 2021 |
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Stephen Lebowitz | | (Principal Executive Officer) | | |
/s/ Drew Sheinman | | President, Chief Marketing Officer | | March 12, 2021 |
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Drew Sheinman | | and Director | | |
/s/ Austin Ramos | | Chief Financial Officer and Director | | March 12, 2021 |
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Austin Ramos | | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | | |