| ☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
| ☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Cayman Islands | N/A | |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) | |
4001 Kennett Pike, Suite 302 Wilmington, Delaware | 19807 | |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | Zip Code |
Title of Each Class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered | ||
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share | FRBN | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
Redeemable warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 | FRBNW | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant | FRBNU | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ | |||
| Emerging growth company | ☒ | |||||
| Auditor Firm Id: PCAOB ID 688 | Auditor Name: Marcum LLP Auditor | Location: New York, New York |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page | ||||||
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
Item 1. | 1 | |||||
Item 1A. | 15 | |||||
Item 1B. | 58 | |||||
Item 2. | 58 | |||||
Item 3. | 58 | |||||
Item 4. | 58 | |||||
| 59 | ||||||
Item 5. | 59 | |||||
Item 6. | 61 | |||||
Item 7. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 62 | ||||
Item 7A. | 68 | |||||
Item 8. | 68 | |||||
Item 9. | Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure | 68 | ||||
Item 9A. | 68 | |||||
Item 9B. | 70 | |||||
Item 9C. | Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections | 70 | ||||
| 71 | ||||||
Item 10. | 71 | |||||
Item 11. | 78 | |||||
Item 12. | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters | 79 | ||||
Item 13. | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence | 83 | ||||
Item 14. | 85 | |||||
| 86 | ||||||
Item 15. | 86 | |||||
Item 16. | 87 | |||||
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CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”), references to:
“additional forward purchase shares” are to an aggregate of up to 1,000,000 Class A ordinary shares that we expect the FPA Purchaser will purchase pursuant to a forward purchase agreement;
“amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association adopted in connection with our initial public offering;
“Class A ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share;
“Class B ordinary shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share;
“Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time;
“directors” are to our current directors;
“firm forward purchase shares” are to an aggregate of 1,000,000 Class A ordinary shares that we expect the FPA Purchaser will purchase pursuant to the forward purchase agreements;
“Forbion Cooperatief” are to Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund I Cooperatief U.A., a cooperative association (coöperatie) with exempted liability incorporated in the Netherlands, who is affiliated with our sponsor and purchased 2,000,000 of our units in our initial public offering;
“forward purchase agreements” are to the two forward purchase agreements that provide for the sale of the forward purchase shares to an affiliate of our sponsor in a private placement that in each case may close simultaneously with the closing of our initial business combination, in each case on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein;
“forward purchase shares” are to the firm forward purchase shares and additional forward purchase shares to be issued pursuant to a forward purchase agreement;
“founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to an affiliate of our sponsor in a private placement and subsequently transferred to our sponsor and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”);
“FPA Purchaser” are to our sponsor;
“IPO” or “initial public offering” are to our initial public offering of units consummated on December 14, 2021;
“IPO prospectus” are to the prospectus included in our registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-261308), which was declared effective by the SEC on December 9, 2021;
“letter agreement” refers to the letter agreement entered into between us and our sponsor, directors, and officers on December 9, 2021;
“management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors;
“Nasdaq” are to the Nasdaq Global Market;
“ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares;
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“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering and upon conversion of working capital loans and extension loans, if any, which private placement warrants, working capital warrants and extension warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units sold in our initial public offering, subject to certain limited exceptions;
“public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market);
“public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor, officers and directors to the extent our sponsor, officers or directors purchase public shares, provided their status as a “public shareholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;
“sponsor” is to Forbion Growth Sponsor FEAC I B.V., a private limited liability company incorporated in the Netherlands;
“warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market) and the private placement warrants;
“we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” are to Forbion European Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company; and
“$,” “US$” and “U.S. dollar” each refer to the United States dollar.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
Some of the statements contained in this Annual Report may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report may include, for example, statements about:
| • | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| • | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
| • | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| • | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
| • | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| • | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to uncertainty resulting from changes in geopolitical conditions and global economic uncertainty, including as a result of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other macroeconomic factors, including the impact thereof on the status of debt and equity markets; |
| • | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| • | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
| • | the lack of a market for our securities; |
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| • | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| • | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; and |
| • | our financial performance. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report and other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in filings made with the SEC. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report as our initial business combination.
Our sponsor is Forbion Growth Sponsor FEAC I B.V. (the “sponsor”). Our sponsor is part of the Forbion group, a life sciences specialist venture fund manager with headquarters in Naarden, the Netherlands, and offices in Munich, Germany, and Singapore (“Forbion”). Forbion has established itself as one of the leading brands within the European life sciences industry, supported by a successful track record and strong reputation with co-investors, entrepreneurs, and large pharmaceutical companies. With 46 employees and a large network of dedicated advisors, Forbion boasts one of the largest teams of specialist investors in Europe, combining investment expertise in private and public markets with hands-on operational expertise in drug development, clinical development, and commercialization. With direct access to the expertise of Forbion, we intend to draw upon Forbion’s broad experience, network, and team-based, multidisciplinary investment process to optimize the sourcing, evaluation, and growth acceleration of prospective target companies. We believe that access to the Forbion network would enable the members of our management team to find high-quality investment opportunities and achieve liquidity in such investments.
Company History
On August 12, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP paid $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, in consideration for 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “founder shares”), par value $0.0001. On November 23, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP transferred 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the sponsor in exchange for $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. On December 9, 2021, we issued an additional 287,500 Class B ordinary shares to the sponsor resulting from a 1.1 for 1 share dividend. Our founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares, on a one-for-one basis, upon the completion of a business combination. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of our IPO.
On December 14, 2021, we completed our IPO of 11,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “units”), generating gross proceeds of $110,000,000. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to certain adjustments. On December 15, 2021, the underwriters exercised their full over-allotment option and purchased the additional units available to them. The aggregate amount of units sold in our IPO and subsequent exercise of the over-allotment option was 12,650,000 and generated gross proceeds of $126,500,000.
Simultaneously with the consummation of our IPO and full exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriters, we consummated the private placement of 5,195,000 warrants in the aggregate (the “private placement warrants”) to the sponsor, at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant. The sale of the private placement warrants in connection with our IPO and subsequent over-allotment option exercise generated gross proceeds of $7,792,500.
Transaction costs related to our IPO amounted to $5,793,160 consisting of $1,800,000 of underwriting commissions, $3,150,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, and $843,160 of other offering costs. The underwriters’ exercise of their full over-allotment option generated an additional $907,500 in transaction costs for aggregate transaction costs of $6,700,660 consisting of $2,130,000 of underwriting commissions, $3,727,500 of deferred underwriting commissions and $843,160 of other offering costs. In addition, $1,641,236 of cash was held outside of the trust account (as defined below) and is available for working capital purposes.
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Following the closing of our IPO on December 14, 2021, $113,492,500 from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants was deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee (the “trust account”). This amount was comprised of $10.25 per unit for the 11,000,000 units sold in our IPO in addition to a $742,500 deposit in advance from the sponsor related to the underwriters’ exercise of the full over-allotment option which took place the following day on December 15, 2021. Following the closing of our IPO and the exercise of the underwriters’ full over-allotment option, $129,662,500 ($10.25 per unit) was held in the trust account.
On February 1, 2022, we announced that, commencing February 1, 2022, holders of the 12,650,000 units sold in our IPO and subsequent over-allotment option exercise may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and the warrants included in the units. Those units not separated continued to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “FRBNU” and the Class A ordinary shares and warrants that were separated trade under the symbols “FRBN” and “FRBNW,” respectively.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of Nasdaq require that our initial business combination occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% fair market value test. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Even though our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no restriction on our doing so.
We may 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 issued and 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 voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock or shares of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test.
Emerging Growth Company Status and Other Corporate Information
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and
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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 our IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or 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 $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
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 received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is thereafter 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 any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concession Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated on August 9, 2021. Our executive offices are located at 4001 Kennett Pike, Suite 302 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 and our telephone number is +1 302 273 0765.
The Company is effectively managed in the Netherlands, and consequently, the Company is considered a Dutch tax resident under Dutch tax law. This means, inter alia, that the Company is subject to Dutch corporate income tax on its worldwide net income (main rate: 25.8% in 2022) and that the Company is generally required to withhold Dutch dividend withholding tax at a rate of 15% from dividends distributed by it, subject to possible relief under Dutch domestic law, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or an applicable Dutch income tax treaty depending on a particular public shareholder’s individual circumstances. Further, certain specific Dutch tax rules may apply to the Company and its public shareholders based on their individual circumstances.
In 2022, the Company realized a loss for Dutch corporate income tax purposes pursuant to which no Dutch corporate income tax will be due with respect to the year ended December 31, 2022.
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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. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase shares, if any, our equity, debt or a combination of these 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.
We have up to 18 months from the closing of our IPO to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination two times by an additional three months each time (for a total of up to 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as further described below. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on December 9, 2022, in order for the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination to be extended, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon five business days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account, for each three-month extension, $1,265,000 ($0.10 per unit) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, providing a total possible period of 24 months within which we can complete a business combination. Any such payment would be made in the form of non-interest bearing loans. If we complete our initial business combination, we will, at the lender’s option, repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us or convert a portion or all of the total loan amounts into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the private placement warrants. If we do not complete a business combination, we will repay such loans only from any funds held outside of the trust account. In the event that we receive notice from our sponsor five business days prior to the applicable deadline of its wish for us to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within such time period, we will redeem 100% of our issued and outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein under “Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination,” and then seek to dissolve and liquidate.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may use 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 yet. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify promising late-stage opportunities in the life sciences industry in Europe. Accordingly, there is no current basis for our investors 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.
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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.
Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will 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 our IPO 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 that they become aware of 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 finder’s fees 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 their respective affiliates paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). We have agreed to pay our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative, and support services and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-business combination company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management team’s operational and capital planning experience. 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, and negotiation with, a prospective target
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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 will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with 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.
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 negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and |
| • | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
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 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 United States Securities and Exchange Commission (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 requirements, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under the Nasdaq listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| • | We issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then-outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
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| • | Any of our directors, officers or substantial security holder (as defined by the Nasdaq 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 issued and 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 |
| • | The issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
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, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or 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 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 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, 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 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 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 purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A 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, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, 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 only 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 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 purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
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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, regardless of whether such shareholder votes on such proposed initial business combination, and if they do vote, regardless of whether they vote for or against such proposed 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. Furthermore, as it is expected that we are and will continuously be considered a Dutch tax resident, any redemption proceeds (including interest income on the trust account) distributed to our shareholders in excess of the paid-up capital for Dutch tax purposes may be subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.25 per public share and such amount will be increased for each three-month extension by $0.10 if we choose to extend our time to consummate an initial business combination, as described herein. 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 rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder 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, 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 sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
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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 requirements 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 and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and 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 requirements or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. So long as we maintain a listing for our securities on the Nasdaq, we are required to comply with the Nasdaq 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:
| • | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| • | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
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 obtain the approval by way 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. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 4,743,750, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted) of the 12,650,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. In the event that Forbion Cooperatief (who is affiliated with our sponsor) votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination, a smaller portion of affirmative votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. Forbion Cooperatief may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public shareholders. Assuming Forbion Cooperatief votes all of its 2,000,000 public shares in favor of approval of our initial business combination, we would need 2,743,750, or 21.7% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted), of the 12,650,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our 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 sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
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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:
| • | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and |
| • | other information about 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, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, 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, in order 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 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 such initial 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 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 more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as “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 our initial public 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 our initial public 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
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 prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, 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 up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote 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 a beneficial holder must identify itself
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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 initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve 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 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.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, we would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of our shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to us for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the general meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
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 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination).
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we have only 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering to consummate an initial business combination (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”). If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) to
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consummate an initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination by such date, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and any withholding taxes) 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); 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or prior to up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination , subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”). Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our sponsor and our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) (although they are 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).
Our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the 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 or director, 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 $1,480,000 held outside the trust account plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
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If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the funds held 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 $10.25 (assuming the period of time to consummate an initial business combination is not extended as provided for herein). The proceeds funds held 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 $10.25. 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, 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 perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third-party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. 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. UBS Securities LLC and Kempen & Co. USA, Inc. have not executed an agreement with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account in connection with our initial public offering. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.25 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 $10.25 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public 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) $10.25 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 $10.25 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, 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 $10.25 per public share.
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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, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $1,641,236 following our initial public 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 $620,000, 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 hold outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $620,000, the amount of funds we hold 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 funds 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 extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.25 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 or insolvency 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 are 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 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances does 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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Conflicts of Interest
Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. 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, 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 expect these duties to 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.
Our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any other blank check company would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, 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.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 4001 Kennett Pike, Suite 302 Wilmington, Delaware 19807. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have two executive officers. 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.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
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General Risk Factors
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to “emerging growth companies” or “smaller reporting companies,” this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor 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 nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We are also subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman
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Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court 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, 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.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
We may be subject to an excise tax under the newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 in connection with redemptions of our Class A Ordinary Shares in certain circumstances.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into U.S. federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations occurring on or after January 1, 2023. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its shareholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the excise tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax. The Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service recently have issued preliminary guidance regarding the application of this excise tax, but there can be no assurance that this guidance will be finally adopted in its current form.
In the event the Company were to redomicile to the United States, any redemption or other repurchase that occurs in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise, may be subject to the excise tax. However, even if the Company were to redomicile to the United States, whether and to what extent the Company would be subject to the excise tax in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the Business Combination, extension or otherwise, (ii) the structure of a Business Combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances in connection with a Business Combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a Business Combination but issued within the same taxable year of a Business Combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by the Company and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a Business Combination and in the Company’s ability to complete a Business Combination.
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We may reincorporate, or merge with the target or another entity located, in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such transaction may result in taxes imposed on shareholders or warrant holders. Pending any such reincorporation or merger, it is expected that our company is and will continue to be considered a Dutch tax resident entity, which may have consequences relating to USD/EUR exchange rates.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, reincorporate, or merge with the target or another entity located, in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Any tax liability of the shareholder or warrant holder may attach prior to the redemption of our Class A ordinary shares.
Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their direct or indirect ownership of us or the target company after the business combination.
Prior to completion of our initial business combination, it is expected that our company will be considered a Dutch tax resident entity. If so, it would be taxed by reference to euros such that any appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the euro could be considered taxable income. As a result, there is risk that in such circumstances we may be required to withhold on any distributions from the trust account or have liability if no withholding is made. Furthermore, as it is envisaged that we are and will continuously be considered a Dutch tax resident, any dividend distributions (including interest income) to our shareholders are in principle subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
We believe that we were a passive foreign investment company (a “PFIC”) for our 2021 and 2022 taxable years, and we may also be a PFIC for our current taxable year, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. investor in our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. investor may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and additional reporting requirements. We believe that we did not qualify for the PFIC “start-up exception” (as described in our IPO prospectus under the caption “Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules”) for our taxable year ended December 31, 2021. Therefore, we believe that we were a PFIC for our 2021 and 2022 taxable years. In addition, even if our business combination is completed during our current taxable year, it is possible that we will be a PFIC for our current taxable year depending on the timing and structure of the business combination and the nature of the income, assets and activities of the company with which we combine, the details of which are currently uncertain. If we are a PFIC during any taxable year during which a U.S. investor owns our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, we will generally continue to be treated as a PFIC with respect to such U.S. investor’s Class A ordinary shares or warrants even if we are not a PFIC for any subsequent taxable year, unless the U.S. investor makes a “deemed sale” election.
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A U.S. shareholder (but not warrant holder) that made a timely “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”) election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares may be able to mitigate the adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences under the PFIC rules by including in its income the U.S. shareholder’s pro rata share of our earnings on a current basis, whether or not they are distributed. We provided a PFIC annual information statement in order to enable our U.S. shareholders to make and maintain QEF elections with respect to our 2021 taxable year, and we will endeavor to provide such statement with respect to our 2022 taxable year (which we may post on our website) upon request. However, there can be no assurance that we will timely provide the required information to make a QEF election, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases.
We urge U.S. investors to consult their tax advisors regarding the application of the PFIC rules, and the availability, advisability and consequences of making any election that may be available under the PFIC rules (including the possible combination of a “deemed sale” and QEF election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares, if a timely QEF election had not been made previously). For a more detailed explanation of these and other elections, as well as other aspects of the PFIC rules, see the section of our IPO prospectus captioned “Taxation —United States Federal Income Tax Considerations —Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”
An investment in our securities may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in our securities may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. See the section in our IPO prospectus titled “Taxation-United States Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a summary of material U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisers with respect to the tax consequences of owning and disposing of our securities.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early-stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Risks Relating To Our Search For, And Consummation Of Or Inability To Consummate, A Business Combination
We have no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are an incorporated exempted company, incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
In addition, in connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC205-40, Presentation of Financial Statements—Going Concern”, management has determined that we have and will continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of an initial business combination, which raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we
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are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Moreover, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Past performance by our management team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in our securities.
Information regarding performance is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience or performance of our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (ii) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of the future performance of an investment in our securities or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. Our management has no experience in operating special purpose acquisition companies.
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would typically not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Please see the section entitled “Item 1. Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management may consider the availability of funds from the sale of the forward purchase shares, which may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If for any reason the FPA Purchaser does not consummate the purchase of all or some of the forward purchase shares, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
We entered into a two forward purchase agreements with the FPA Purchaser concurrently with the closing of our IPO, pursuant to which the FPA Purchaser agreed to purchase the forward purchase shares, in each case in a private placement that may close simultaneously with the closing of our initial business combination. The funds from the sale of the forward purchase shares, if any, are expected to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, and to pay expenses in connection with our initial business combination and may be used for working capital in the post-business combination company. The obligations under the forward purchase agreements do not depend on whether any public shareholders elect to redeem their shares in connection with our initial business combination. However, if the sale of the forward purchase shares does not close, for example, by reason of the failure of the FPA Purchaser to fund the purchase price for some or all of the forward purchase shares, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination. In addition, if the purchase of some or all of the forward purchase shares fails for any reason, the post-business combination company may not have enough cash available for working capital. The FPA Purchaser’s obligations to purchase forward purchase shares will be subject to certain conditions, including that our initial business combination must be consummated substantially concurrently with the purchase of the forward purchase shares and, in the case of the additional forward purchase shares, a requirement, among other things, that such initial business combination is reasonably acceptable to the FPA Purchaser. Additionally, the FPA Purchaser’s obligations to purchase the forward purchase shares is subject to termination prior to the closing of the sale of such securities by mutual written consent of us and
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such party, or automatically: (i) if our initial business combination is not consummated within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”); or (ii) if we become subject to any voluntary or involuntary petition under the United States federal bankruptcy laws or any state insolvency law, in each case which is not withdrawn within sixty (60) days after being filed, or a receiver, fiscal agent or similar officer is appointed by a court for business or property of us, in each case which is not removed, withdrawn or terminated within sixty (60) days after such appointment. In the event of any such failure to fund by the FPA Purchaser, any obligation is so terminated or any such condition is not satisfied and not waived by such party, we may not be able to obtain additional funds to account for such shortfall on terms favorable to us or at all and may be unable to consummate our initial business combination. Any such shortfall would also reduce the amount of funds that we have available for working capital of the post-business combination company.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
As of the date of this Annual Report our sponsor owns 3,162,500 Class B ordinary shares, which are automatically convertible into our Class A ordinary shares as more fully described in Exhibit 4.1 “Description of Securities”. Our sponsor and members of our management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval by way 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. As a result, in addition to our sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 4,743,750, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted) of the 12,650,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering and following the exercise in full of the over-allotment option to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. In the event that Forbion Cooperatief votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination, a smaller portion of affirmative votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. As a result of the units purchased by it, Forbion Cooperatief may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public shareholders. Assuming Forbion Cooperatief votes all of its 2,000,000 public shares in favor of approval of our initial business combination, we would need 2,743,750, or 21.7% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted), of the 12,650,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our sponsor and each member of our management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
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The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If a large number of shares are submitted for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 18 months (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) after the closing of our IPO may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”). Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the time frame described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
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Our sponsor has the right, but not the obligation, to extend the term we have to consummate our initial business combination by two additional three-month periods without providing our shareholders with voting or redemption rights relating thereto.
If we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, and subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below, our time to consummate a business combination shall be extended two times for an additional three months each time, for a total of up to 24 months to complete a business combination. This will occur as long as our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, deposits into the trust account, for each three-month extension, $1,265,000 ($0.10 per unit). Any such payment would be made in the form of a noninterest bearing loan. If we complete our initial business combination, we will, at the option of the lender, repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us or convert a portion or all of the total loan amounts into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the private placement warrants. If we do not complete a business combination, we will repay such loans only from any funds held outside of the trust account.
Our public shareholders are not entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension. As a result, we may conduct such an extension even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such an extension and will not be able to redeem their shares in connection therewith. This feature is different than the traditional special purpose acquisition company structure, in which any extension of the period to complete a business combination requires a vote of our shareholders and shareholders have the right to redeem their public shares in connection with such vote.
Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. Our sponsor may decide not to extend the term we have to consummate our initial business combination, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, and the warrants will be worthless.
Our search for a business combination, and any target with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by changes in geopolitical conditions and global economic uncertainty, including as a result of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other macroeconomic factors, including the impact thereof on the status of debt and equity markets.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, is directly and indirectly affected by global macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions and the effect thereof on the industries and markets in which we, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, operate. The outlook for the global economy over the medium term remains uncertain due to a number of factors, including high inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain disruption, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and trade barriers. In addition, we are exposed to risks arising out of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, unfavorable political, military or diplomatic events, including armed conflict (including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related consequences for geopolitical stability, energy supply and prices, and cross-border financial transactions, including as a result of economic sanctions), pandemics and widespread public health crises (including the COVID-19 pandemic and any future pandemics), and the responses to them by governments and markets. Any of these events could materially and adversely affect, directly or indirectly, economies and financial markets worldwide, business operations and the conduct of commerce generally, the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination and our ability to consummate a business combination, including if such events limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or limit the ability to conduct due diligence, or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services provides are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner.
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had an immediate impact on the global economy resulting in higher energy prices and higher inflation with significant disruption to financial markets and supply chains for certain goods and services. Further, in connection with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU, the United States, and certain other governments around the world have responded by imposing various economic sanctions which restrict or prohibit certain business opportunities in Russia and Ukraine. The conflict has continued to escalate without any resolution foreseeable in the near future. The uncertain nature, magnitude, and duration of hostilities stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the potential effects of sanctions limitations, possibility of counter-sanctions, retaliatory cyber-attacks on the world economy and markets, further disruptions to global supply chains and potential shipping delays, have contributed to increased market volatility and uncertainty, which could have an adverse impact on macroeconomic factors that affect our business.
Our ability to consummate a business combination may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing, which may be impacted by any of the events described above, including as a result of increased market volatility and decreased market liquidity, and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, any of the events described above, including the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both.
Any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination), in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public shareholders may receive only $10.25 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”). Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For
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example, the events described in “-Our search for a business combination, and any target with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by changes in geopolitical conditions and global economic uncertainty, including as a result of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other macroeconomic factors, including the impact thereof on the status of debt and equity markets” herein could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the events described in “-Our search for a business combination, and any target with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by changes in geopolitical conditions and global economic uncertainty, including as a result of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other macroeconomic factors, including the impact thereof on the status of debt and equity markets” herein , including terrorist attacks, the current armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, natural disasters, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases, may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. In addition, the current U.S. political environment and the resulting uncertainties regarding actual and potential shifts in U.S. foreign investment, trade, taxation, economic, environmental and other policies under the current administration, as well as the impact of geopolitical tension, such as a deterioration in the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China or the current armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine (including any further escalation thereof) could lead to disruption, instability and volatility in the global markets. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and any withholding tax), 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); 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.25 per public share, or less than $10.25 per public share (assuming we do not extend the period of time to consummate a business combination beyond 18 months), on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “-If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants.
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, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately-negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with 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, officers, advisors or any of their respective 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 are under no obligation or duty to do so and 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 warrants in such transactions.
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In the event that our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately-negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) 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 purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A 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. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Item 1. Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
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 blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess 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 our IPO 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. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances (assuming we do not extend the period of time to consummate a business combination beyond 18 months), on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See “-If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
If the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the 18 months following the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
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The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans.
Management’s plans to address this need for capital through our IPO and potential loans from certain of our affiliates are discussed in the section of this Annual Report titled “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” However, our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses. Any such event in the future may negatively impact the analysis regarding our ability to continue as a going concern at such time.
Of the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $1,480,000 are available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”); however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate, and our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Of the funds available to us, we expect to use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $620,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, unless funded by the proceeds of loans available from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team the amount of funds we hold outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $620,000, the amount of funds we hold outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, its affiliates, members of our management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor their affiliates is under any obligation to us in such circumstances. Any such advances may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. 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. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.25 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “-If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
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The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.25 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account are invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.25 per share. As it is expected that we are and will continuously be considered a Dutch tax resident, any redemption proceeds (including interest income on the trust account) distributed to our shareholders in excess of the paid-up capital for Dutch tax purposes may be subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 or insolvency 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. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| • | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| • | restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
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each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| • | registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
| • | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| • | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to. |
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In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business is to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. Our securities are not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; or (iii) absent our completing an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months form the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, on March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules relating to, among other items, the extent to which SPACs like our company could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act. The SEC’s proposed rules would provide a safe harbor for companies like our company from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3 (a) (1) (A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that they satisfy certain conditions that limit a company’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities. The duration component of the proposed safe harbor rule would require the company to file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC announcing that it has entered into an agreement with the target company (or companies) to engage in an initial business combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement for its initial public offering. The company would then be required to complete its initial business combination no later than 24 months after the effective date of its registration statement for its initial public offering. The SEC has indicated that it believes that there are serious questions concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to special purpose acquisition companies, including a company like ours, that does not complete its initial business combination within the proposed time frame set forth in the proposed safe harbor rule. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made in the future that we have been operating as an unregistered investment
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company. These rules, if adopted, whether in the form proposed or in revised form, may materially adversely affect our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto. It is also possible that the investment of funds from the IPO during our life as a blank check company, and the earning and use of interest from such investment, both of which will likely continue until we consummate an initial business combination, could increase the likelihood of us being found to have been operating as an unregistered investment company more than if we sought to potentially mitigate this risk by holding such funds as cash.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules relating to, among other items, enhancing disclosures in business combination transactions involving SPACs and private operating companies; amending the financial statement requirements applicable to transactions involving shell companies; effectively limiting the use of projections in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; increasing the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940. These rules, if adopted, whether in the form proposed or in revised form, may materially adversely affect our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, 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. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of $18,292.68 and imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
In accordance with the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first full fiscal year end following our listing on the Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. 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.
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Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
We may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector, except that we are not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if 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, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our sponsor will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that 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 issued and outstanding upon completion of our IPO, 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 us 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, deemed issued, or to be issued, or forward purchase shares, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, any of its affiliates or any members of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans and extension loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one. This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.25 per public share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, 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, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third-party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18
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months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.25 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement we entered into concurrently with our IPO, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.25 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 $10.25 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, 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. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.25 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.25 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 $10.25 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.25 per public share.
We may engage one or more of the underwriters of our IPO or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. The underwriters of our IPO are entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage one or more of the underwriters of our IPO or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing transactions. We may pay such underwriter or its
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affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriters’ or their respective affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as an advisor or otherwise with respect to our business combinations and certain other transactions. Any salary or fee in connection with such engagement may be conditioned upon the completion of such transactions. This financial interest in the completion of such transactions may influence the advice such entity provides.
We may engage our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as an advisor or otherwise in connection with our initial business combination and certain other transactions and pay such person or entity a salary or fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard for comparable transactions. Pursuant to any such engagement, such person or entity may earn its salary or fee upon closing of the initial business combination. The payment of such salary or fee would likely be conditioned upon the completion of the initial business combination. Therefore, such persons or entities may have additional financial interests in the completion of the initial business combination. These financial interests may influence the advice such entity provides us, which advice would contribute to our decision on whether to pursue a business combination with any particular target.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or initial shareholders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or initial shareholders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described in this Annual Report in the section titled “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance-Conflicts of Interest.” Our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in “Item 1. Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or initial shareholders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
We may not be able to complete an initial business combination with a U.S. target company if such initial business combination is subject to U.S. foreign investment regulations or review by a U.S. government entity, such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”).
Our sponsor is controlled by, and has substantial ties with, non-U.S. persons domiciled principally in The Netherlands. Acquisitions and investments by non-U.S. Persons in certain U.S. business may be subject to rules or regulations that limit foreign ownership. In addition, CFIUS is an interagency committee authorized to review certain transactions involving investments by foreign persons in U.S. businesses that have a nexus to, amongst other things, critical technologies, critical infrastructure and/or sensitive personal data in order to determine the effect of such transactions on the national security of the United States. For so long as our Sponsor retains a material ownership interest in us, we may be deemed a “foreign person” under such rules and regulations, any proposed
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business combination between us and a U.S. business engaged in a regulated industry or which may affect national security could be subject to such foreign ownership restrictions, CFIUS review and/or mandatory filings. If our potential initial business combination with a U.S. business falls within the scope of foreign ownership restrictions, we may be unable to consummate an initial business combination with such business. In addition, if our potential business combination falls within CFIUS’s jurisdiction, we may be required to make a mandatory filing or determine to submit a voluntary notice to CFIUS, or to proceed with the initial business combination without notifying CFIUS and risk CFIUS intervention, before or after closing the initial business combination. CFIUS may decide to block or delay our initial business combination, impose conditions to mitigate national security concerns with respect to such initial business combination or order us to divest all or a portion of any U.S. business of the combined company if we proceed without first obtaining CFIUS clearance. These potential limitations and risks may limit the attractiveness of a transaction with us or prevent us from pursuing certain initial business combination opportunities that we believe would otherwise be beneficial to us and our shareholders. As a result, the pool of potential targets with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited and we may be adversely affected in competing with other special purpose acquisition companies which do not have similar foreign ownership issues. Moreover, the process of government review, whether by CFIUS or otherwise, could be lengthy. Because we have only a limited time to complete our initial business combination, our failure to obtain any required approvals within the requisite time-period may require us to liquidate. If we liquidate, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata share of amounts held in the trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless. This will also cause you to lose any potential investment opportunity in a target company and the chance of realizing future gains on your investment through any price appreciation in the combined company.
Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after our IPO), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On August 12, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP paid $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, to cover certain of our expenses in consideration for 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On November 23, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP transferred 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to our sponsor in exchange for $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. On December 9, 2021, we issued 287,500 Class B ordinary shares to our sponsor resulting from a share dividend. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by Forbion European Sponsor LLP, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased 5,195,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($7,792,500 in the aggregate), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our IPO. If we do not consummate an initial business within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 18-month anniversary of the closing of our IPO nears, which is the deadline for our consummation of an initial business combination, unless such deadline is extended as described herein.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
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| • | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| • | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
| • | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| • | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| • | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase shares, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase shares will provide us with up to $146,635,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $3,727,500 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account and the expenses of our IPO).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single-target business or multiple-target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| • | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
| • | 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.
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We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association do not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately-negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. 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, 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.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 65% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 65% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination
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or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to the rights of a company’s shareholders, without approval by a certain percentage of our shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our ordinary shares; provided that the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association governing the appointment or removal of directors or to continue our company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at our general meeting which shall include the affirmative vote of a simple majority of our Class B ordinary shares. Our sponsor beneficially owns 3,162,500 Class B ordinary shares as of the date of this Annual Report, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, do not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
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We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
As of the date of this Annual Report, our sponsor owns 3,162,500 Class B ordinary shares. Accordingly, it may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our sponsor purchases any units or any Class A ordinary shares in the open market or in privately-negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is divided into three classes, each of which generally serves for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and to remove directors or to continue our company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination. The forward purchase shares will not be issued until completion of our initial business combination and, accordingly, will not be included in any shareholder vote until such time. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
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Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or 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 have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, and if we fail to establish and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations, prevent fraud and/or file our periodic reports in a timely manner, and eventually consummate an initial business combination.
In conjunction with the audit of our consolidated financial statements, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, which is described below. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim condensed consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weakness identified principally relates to (i) an inadvertent discrepancy between the description of our private placement warrants in the notes to our financial statements in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and our Forms 10-Q for the three month periods ended September 30, 2021, March 31, 2022, June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022 (the “Forms 10-Q”) and in the underlying warrant agreement, and (ii) the inadvertent omission of the signatures of our principal financial officer and principal accounting officer in our Forms 10-Q. This material weakness did not result in a material misstatement to our consolidated financial statements included herein.
While we already have processes in place to ensure that our periodic reports satisfy the applicable reporting and compliance requirements, we will continue to enhance and invest in accounting resources and processes necessary to comply with the reporting and compliance requirements of a public company and include a greater level of supervision needed in relation to our disclosure controls and procedures.
During the documenting and testing of our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we may identify other weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could, in turn, limit our access to capital markets and negatively impact our ability to consummate a business combination. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from Nasdaq, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 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” as such term is defined in the JOBS
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Act, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such initial business combination. See “-We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, and if we fail to establish and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations, prevent fraud and/or file our periodic reports in a timely manner, and eventually consummate an initial business combination.”
Risks Relating To Our Securities
If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such periods before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and subject to any withholding tax), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”) before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares are not entitled to vote on any appointment or removal of directors and to continue our company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and to continue our company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands. Holders of our public shares are not entitled to vote on the appointment of directors or to continue our company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands during such time. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you do not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
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You are not permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the issuance of the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants are not entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless.
While we have registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act as part of the registration statement of which our IPO prospectus forms a part, we do not plan on keeping a prospectus current until required to do so pursuant to the warrant agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the warrant agreement, 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 a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which our IPO prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same 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. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in our registration statement or IPO prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we are required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, 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 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 do not 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. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our IPO. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. 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 Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
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The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you do not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within twenty business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our sponsor may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement that we entered into concurrently with our IPO, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and extension loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. In addition, pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, we agreed that we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file within 45 days after the closing of the initial business combination a registration statement with the SEC for a secondary offering of the forward purchase shares and to cause such registration statement to be declared effective as soon as practicable after it is filed. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our securities that is expected when the securities owned by our sponsor, the holders of our forward purchase shares or its permitted transferees are registered for resale.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. As of the date of this Annual Report, taking into account the exercise in full of the over-allotment option by the underwriters in our IPO, we have 487,350,000 and 46,837,500 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account forward purchase shares or shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, if any. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. As of the date of this Annual Report there are no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redeeming the warrants or upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to or in connection with 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 on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection
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with the completion of an initial business combination. 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. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of our investors, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded to our Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
| • | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| • | may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of your public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination.
We have offered our units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit in our IPO and the amount held in our trust account is $129,662,500, or $10.25 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.25 per public share. However, prior to our IPO, Forbion European Sponsor LLP paid a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.009 per share and on November 23, 2021, our sponsor purchased all founder shares from Forbion European Sponsor LLP for the same amount. As a result, the value of your public shares may be significantly diluted upon the consummation of our initial business combination, when the founder shares are converted into public shares. For example, the following table shows the dilutive effect of the founder shares on the implied value of the public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination, assuming that our equity value at that time is $124,535,000, which is the amount we would have for our initial business combination in the trust account after payment of $3,727,500 of deferred underwriting commissions, no interest is earned on the funds held in the trust account, and no public shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and without taking into account any other potential impacts on our valuation at such time, such as the trading price of our public shares, the business combination transaction costs, any equity issued or cash paid to the target’s sellers or other third parties, or the target’s business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects, as well as the value of our public and private warrants.
Public shares | 12,650,000 | |||
Founder shares | 3,162,500 | |||
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Total shares | 15,812,500 | |||
Total funds in trust available for initial business combination (less deferred underwriting commissions)(2)(3) | $ | 124,535,000 | ||
Public shareholders’ initial investment per share(1) | $ | 10.00 | ||
Implied value per share upon consummation of initial business combination and conversion of founder shares into public shares | $ | 7.88 |
| (1) | While the public shareholders’ investment is in both the public shares and the public warrants, for purposes of this table the full investment amount is ascribed to the public shares only. |
| (2) | Does not take into account other potential impacts on our valuation at the time of the business combination, such as the value of our public and private warrants, the trading price of our public shares, any equity issued or cash paid to the business target’s sellers or other third parties, or the target’s business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects. |
| (3) | Reflects 102.5% of cash raised held in trust account. |
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The value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share.
Our sponsor invested in us an aggregate of approximately $7,817,500, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the approximate $7,792,500 purchase price for the private placement warrants. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, the 3,162,500 founder shares would have an aggregate implied value of $31,162,500. Even if the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares was as low as $2.45 per share, and the private placement warrants were worthless, the value of the founder shares would be approximately equal to the sponsor’s initial investment in us. As a result, our sponsor is likely to be able to recoup its investment in us and make a substantial profit on that investment, even if our public shares have lost significant value. Accordingly, our management team, which owns interests in our sponsor, may have an economic incentive that differs from that of the public shareholders to pursue and consummate an initial business combination rather than to liquidate and to return all of the cash in the trust to the public shareholders, even if that business combination were with a riskier or less established target business. For the foregoing reasons, you should consider our management team’s financial incentive to complete an initial business combination when evaluating whether to redeem your shares prior to or in connection with the initial business combination.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants have been issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder 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 Exhibit 4.1 “Description of Securities”, or defective provision (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement, (iii) providing for the delivery of certain alternative issuances in the case of certain reorganizations or other events or (iv) 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 65% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment 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, 65% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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Our warrant agreement designated the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We waived any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A 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 “Description of Securities-Warrants-Public Shareholders’ Warrants-Redemption Procedures-Anti-dilution Adjustments” in Exhibit 4.1) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met. 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 the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 4,216,667 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered in our IPO. Simultaneously with the closing of our IPO, we issued private placement warrants to purchase an aggregate of 5,195,000 Class A ordinary shares at $1.50 per share. In addition, if the sponsor, its affiliates or a member of our management team makes any working capital loans and extension loans, it may convert up to $1,500,000 of such loans into up to an additional 1,000,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redemption of our warrants.
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To the extent we issue ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-third of one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-third of one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, 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. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-third of the number of shares, compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if a unit included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price (as defined in the warrant agreement) of less than $9.20 per ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described in Exhibit 4.1 in the section titled “Description of Securities-Warrants-Public Shareholders’ Warrants-Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
The determination of the offering price of our units is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.
Prior to our IPO there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of our IPO, management held customary organizational meetings with the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of our IPO, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A ordinary shares and warrants underlying the units, include:
| • | the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies; |
| • | prior offerings of those companies; |
| • | our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values; |
| • | a review of debt-to-equity ratios in leveraged transactions; |
| • | our capital structure; |
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| • | an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; |
| • | general conditions of the securities markets at the time of our IPO; and |
| • | other factors as were deemed relevant. |
Although these factors were considered, the determination of the pricing of our securities was more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares, which have been issued to our sponsor, are entitled to vote on the appointment of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, the Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Only our sponsor, by virtue of holding the founder shares, has the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| • | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of the Nasdaq; |
| • | we have a compensation committee of our board of directors that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
| • | we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board of directors that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not utilize these exemptions and currently comply with the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, 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 describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Item 1. Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination -Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”
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You do not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our IPO (or up to 24 months from the closing of our IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances does a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants do not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are currently listed on Nasdaq. We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain market value of listed securities ($50 million), a minimum number of publicly held shares (1.1 million), a minimum market value of publicly held securities ($15 million), a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 400 public holders) and have at least four registered and active market makers. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we expect to be required to demonstrate compliance with the initial listing requirements of Nasdaq or another national securities exchange, which are generally more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If the Nasdaq delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| • | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| • | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| • | a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| • | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| • | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
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The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on the Nasdaq, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the Nasdaq our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
You are not entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 as at December 31, 2022, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means we have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our IPO would have been subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you may lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
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 provides 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 more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our IPO, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However,
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we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Risks Relating To Our Management Team
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (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 be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination target is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination target, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to our investors than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination target. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained herein regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers.
The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
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Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter depends upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management, director or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with our IPO, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, are entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement, which is described under the section of this Annual Report entitled “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters-Registration and Shareholder Rights.”
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for
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which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see the section in this Annual Report titled “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance-Directors and Executive Officers.”
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses or entities. 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, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to such other blank check companies prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. 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 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.
For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections in this Annual Report titled “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance-Directors and Executive Officers,” “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance-Conflicts of Interest” and “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions, and Director Independence.”
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining
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whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
Risks Relating To The Post-Business Combination Company
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
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Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination 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 us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-business combination company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
Risk Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company or otherwise operate outside the United States, particularly in emerging markets, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| • | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
| • | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| • | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
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| • | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| • | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| • | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| • | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| • | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| • | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| • | longer payment cycles; |
| • | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| • | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| • | rates of inflation; |
| • | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| • | cultural and language differences; |
| • | employment regulations; |
| • | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| • | corruption; |
| • | protection of intellectual property; |
| • | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| • | regime changes and political upheaval, including as a result of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine; |
| • | terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and |
| • | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in any such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among
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other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business combination target.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
We currently utilize office space at 4001 Kennett Pike, Suite 302 Wilmington, Delaware 19807. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. 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.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
(a) Market Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are each traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “FRBNU,” “FRBN” and “FRBNW,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on December 10, 2021. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on February 1, 2022.
(b) Holders
On March 21, 2023, there was one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares, one holder of our Class B ordinary shares and two holders of record of our warrants.
(c) 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. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
(e) Performance Graph
Not applicable.
(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Unregistered Sales
On August 12, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP paid $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, in consideration for 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On November 23, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP transferred 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the sponsor in exchange for $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. On December 9, 2021, we issued an additional 287,500 Class B ordinary shares to the sponsor resulting from a 1.1 for 1 share dividend. As a result our sponsor now owns 3,162,500 founder shares. Our founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares, on a one-for-one basis, upon the completion of a business combination. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of our IPO. 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 founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that 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 issued and outstanding upon completion of our IPO, plus (ii) the total
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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 us 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, deemed issued, or to be issued, or forward purchase shares, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, any of its affiliates or any members of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans and extension loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one. This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
Simultaneously with the consummation of our IPO and full exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriters, we consummated the private placement of 5,195,000 warrants in the aggregate to the sponsor, at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant. The sale of the private placement warrants in connection with our IPO and subsequent over-allotment option exercise generated gross proceeds of $7,792,500. Each private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share.
The proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants were added to the net proceeds from the initial public offering held in the trust account. If we do not complete a business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds in the trust account, as described in more detail herein under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis. The sale of the private placement warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Use of Proceeds
On December 14, 2021, we completed our IPO of 11,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $110,000,000. On December 15, 2021, the underwriters exercised their full over-allotment option and purchased the additional units available to them. The aggregate amount of units sold in our IPO and subsequent exercise of the over-allotment option was 12,650,000 and generated gross proceeds of $126,500,000.
Simultaneously with the consummation of our IPO and full exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriters, we consummated the private placement of 5,195,000 warrants in the aggregate (the “private placement warrants”) to the sponsor, at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant. The sale of the private placement warrants in connection with our IPO and subsequent over-allotment option exercise generated gross proceeds of $7,792,500.
Following the closing of our IPO on December 14, 2021, $113,492,500 from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants was deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee (the “trust account”). This amount was comprised of $10.25 per unit for the 11,000,000 units sold in our IPO in addition to a $742,500 deposit in advance from the sponsor related to the underwriters’ exercise of the full over-allotment option which took place the following day on December 15, 2021. Following the closing of our IPO and the exercise of the underwriters’ full over-allotment option, $129,662,500 ($10.25 per unit) was held in the trust account.
Transaction costs related to our IPO amounted to $5,793,160 consisting of $1,800,000 of underwriting commissions, $3,150,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, and $843,160 of other offering costs. The underwriters’ exercise of their full over-allotment option generated an additional $907,500 in transaction costs for aggregate transaction costs of $6,700,660 consisting of $2,130,000 of underwriting commissions, $3,727,500 of deferred underwriting commissions and $843,160 of other offering costs. In addition, $1,641,236 of cash was held outside of the trust account (as defined below) and is available for working capital purposes.
There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from such use as described in our IPO prospectus.
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(g) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
Item 6. [Reserved]
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the notes thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Report.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on August 9, 2021. We were incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar Business Combination with one or more businesses or entities (the “Business Combination”).
Our sponsor is Forbion Growth Sponsor FEAC I B.V., a Cayman Islands limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for our IPO was declared effective on December 9, 2021. On December 14, 2021, we consummated the IPO of 11,000,000 units (or 12,650,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at $10.00 per unit (the “Units”), which is discussed in Note 3. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant (the “Public Warrants”). Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. On December 15, 2021, the underwriters exercised their full over-allotment option and purchased the additional Units available to them. The aggregate Units sold in the IPO and subsequent over-allotment option exercise were 12,650,000 and generated gross proceeds of $126,500,000.
Simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO, we consummated the private placement of 4,700,000 warrants (or 5,195,000 warrants when the underwriters’ over-allotment option was fully exercised on December 15, 2021) (the “Private Placement Warrants”) to the Sponsor, at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement. The sale of the Private Placement Warrants in connection with the IPO and subsequent over-allotment option exercise generated gross proceeds of $7,792,500.
Our transaction costs related to the IPO amounted to $5,793,160 consisting of $1,800,000 of underwriting commissions, $3,150,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, and $843,160 of other offering costs. The underwriters’ exercise of their full over-allotment option generated an additional $907,500 in transaction costs for aggregate transaction costs of $6,700,660 consisting of $2,130,000 of underwriting commissions, $3,727,500 of deferred underwriting commissions and $843,160 of other offering costs. In addition, $1,641,236 of cash was held outside of the Trust Account (as defined below) and is available for working capital purposes.
On December 15, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option and purchased an additional 1,650,000 Units for additional gross proceeds of $16,500,000. Simultaneously with the exercise of the over-allotment option, the Sponsor purchased an additional 495,000 Private Placement Warrants for additional gross proceeds of $742,500, which were deposited into the Trust Account.
Following the closing of the exercise of the underwriters’ full over-allotment option, an additional $16,170,000 was placed in the Trust Account for aggregate proceeds in the Trust Account of $129,662,500 ($10.25 per Unit). As a result of the underwriters’ over-allotment option exercise, 412,500 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO 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.
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We 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 deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with the initial Business Combination. However, we will complete the initial Business Combination only if the post-Business Combination company in which its public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act (the “Investment Company Act”). There is no assurance that we will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully.
Following the closing of the IPO on December 14, 2021, $113,492,500 from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants were deposited into a trust account (the “Trust Account”). This amount was comprised of $10.25 per Unit for the 11,000,000 Units sold in the IPO in addition to a $742,500 Deposit in Advance from the Sponsor related to the underwriters’ exercise of the full over-allotment option which took place the following day on December 15, 2021. Following the closing of the IPO and the exercise of the underwriters’ full over-allotment option, $129,662,500 ($10.25 per Unit) was held in the Trust Account and will only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to us to pay its income taxes, if any, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as discussed below and subject to the requirements of law and regulation, will provide that the proceeds from the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will not be released from the Trust Account (1) to us, until the completion of the initial Business Combination, or (2) to our public shareholders, until the earliest of (a) the completion of the initial Business Combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholders properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of the Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if we do not complete the initial Business Combination within Combination Period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Class A ordinary shares, and (c) the redemption of the public shares if we have not consummated our Business Combination within Combination Period, subject to applicable law. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (b) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the Trust Account upon the subsequent completion of an initial Business Combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial Business Combination within Combination Period, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. The funds held in the Trust Account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders. As it is expected that we are and will continuously be considered a Dutch tax resident, any redemption proceeds (including interest income on the trust account) distributed to our shareholders in excess of the paid-up capital for Dutch tax purposes may be subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax.
We will provide holders (the “Public Shareholders”) of our Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, sold in the IPO (the “Public Shares”), with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a 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 requirements.
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 the initial Business Combination, regardless of whether such shareholder votes on such proposed Business Combination, and if they do vote, regardless of whether they vote for or against such proposed Business Combination, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then
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on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.25 per public share.
The per share amount that 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 rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of the initial Business Combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming the public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares if a Business Combination does not close.
We have amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we will have only 18 months from the closing of the Public Offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of the IPO if we extend the period of time to consummate a Business Combination, subject to the Sponsor depositing additional funds in the Trust Account) (the “Combination Period”) to consummate our initial Business Combination. If we have not consummated an initial Business Combination within Combination Period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $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); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and its board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial Business Combination within Combination Period.
The Sponsor and each member of its management team have entered into an agreement with Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares (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 modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of the Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if we do not complete the initial Business Combination within Combination Period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Class A ordinary shares and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial Business Combination within Combination Period (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 the initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame).
We have until 18 months from the closing of the Public Offering to complete a Business Combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate a Business Combination within 18 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a Business Combination by up to two additional three-month periods (for a total of 24 months to complete a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). In order to extend the time available for us to consummate a Business Combination, the Sponsor or its affiliate or designees must deposit into the Trust Account, for each additional three-month period, $1,265,000 ($0.10 per Public Share in either case), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline.
Our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (1) $10.25 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of
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the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether the Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that the Sponsor’s only assets are securities of us and, therefore, the Sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked the Sponsor to reserve for such obligations.
Results of Operations
As of December 31, 2022, we had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2022 relates to our formation, IPO and identifying a business combination target. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial Business Combination, at the earliest. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the IPO. We expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had a net income of $30,726, which consisted of interest income of $1,861,925 and bank interest income of $222, offset by operating costs of $1,831,421.
For the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) to December 31, 2021, we had a net loss of $225,437, which consisted of formation and operating costs of $232,346, offset by interest income of $6,909.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs up to December 14, 2021 had been satisfied through a payment from the Sponsor of $25,000 (see Note 5 of the Financial Statements) for the Founder Shares to cover certain offering costs and the loan under an unsecured promissory note from the Sponsor of up to $500,000. At December 31, 2022, we had $314,151 in our operating bank account and a working capital deficit of $381,705, which mainly consisted of the portion of proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants not held in the Trust Account. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide our Working Capital Loans, as defined below (see Note 5 of the Financial Statements). As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no amounts outstanding under any Working Capital Loans.
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC205-40, Presentation of Financial Statements—Going Concern”, management has determined that we have and will continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its acquisition plans which raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial Business Combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our Public Shares upon consummation of our initial Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Accounts. In addition, following our initial Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Further, management has determined that if we are unable to complete a Business Combination by June 14, 2023 (the “Combination Period”), then we will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. However, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the Combination Period two times by an additional three months each time (for a total of up to 24 months to complete a Business Combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as further described herein. The date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution as well as our liquidity condition raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should we be required to liquidate after the Combination Period. We intend to complete a Business Combination before the mandatory liquidation date.
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Risks and Uncertainties and Factors That May Adversely Affect our Results of Operations
Management is currently evaluating the impact of the current global economic uncertainty, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising interest rates, rising inflation, increases in energy prices, supply chain disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict (including the impact of any sanctions imposed in response thereto) and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that any of these could have a negative effect on our financial position, results of 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. We cannot at this time fully predict the likelihood of one or more of the above events, their duration or magnitude or the extent to which they may negatively impact our business and our ability to complete an initial Business Combination.
Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On August 12, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP paid $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”), par value $0.0001. On November 23, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP transferred 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor in exchange for $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. On December 9, 2021, the Company issued 287,500 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor resulting from a 1.1 for 1 share dividend. Up to 412,500 Founder Shares are subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. Prior to the Business Combination, only holders of Class B ordinary shares will be able to vote on the appointment of directors and to continue the Company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands. On December 15, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised their over-allotment and as a result, 412,500 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On August 12, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP agreed to loan us up to $500,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the Public Offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of the Public Offering. The loan was repaid out of the offering proceeds not held in the Trust Account. There were no outstanding balances under the promissory note as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Working Capital Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan our funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If we complete the initial Business Combination, we may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. 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 the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
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Related Party Extension Loans
We may extend the period of time to consummate a Business Combination by up to two additional three-month periods (for a total of 24 months to complete a Business Combination). In order to extend the time available for us to consummate a Business Combination, the Sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account, for each additional three-month period, $1,265,000, ($0.10 per Public Share in either case), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Any such payments would be made in the form of a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note. Such notes would either be paid upon consummation of a Business Combination, or, at the relevant insider’s discretion, converted upon consummation of a Business Combination into additional Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant. The Sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete a Business Combination.
Office Space, Secretarial and Administrative Services
Commencing on the date that the Company’s securities are first listed on the NASDAQ through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the liquidation, the Company agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse the Sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial Business Combination. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company expensed $120,000 in administrative support services. For the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, the Company expensed $7,097 in administrative support services. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had accrued $30,000 and $7,097, respectively, in administrative fees payable to the Sponsor which are included in due to related party on the balance sheets.
Additionally, the Sponsor has agreed to pay an annual salary of $25,000 to each of the independent Board Members for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of the Business Combination. Board members are entitled to reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating, negotiating and completing the Business Combination as well. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company expensed $75,000 for services rendered by the independent Board Members. For the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, the Company expensed $3,699 for the services rendered by the independent Board Members. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had accrued approximately $18,904 and $3,699, respectively, in compensation expense to the independent board members which are included in due to related party on the balance sheets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-term liabilities other than the deferred commission fees, legal fees and related party payables of $3,727,500, $581,265 and $48,904, respectively, payable upon the consummation of a business combination.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. We have identified the following as our critical accounting policies and estimates.
Ordinary Shares Subject to Redemption
We account for our ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as a liability instrument and measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, 12,650,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of our balance sheets.
We recognize changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of Class A ordinary shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
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Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share
We comply with the accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net income (loss) per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of shares of ordinary shares outstanding during the period, excluding ordinary shares subject to forfeiture. At December 31, 2022, we did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of us. As a result, diluted income (loss) per ordinary share is the same as basic income (loss) per ordinary share for the periods presented.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU Topic 2020-06, “Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current US GAAP. ASU 2020-06 also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2022 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. We adopted ASU 2020-06 effective January 1, 2021. The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have an impact on our financial statements.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This information appears following Item 15 of this Annual Report and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in company reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer or persons performing similar functions, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective.
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In conjunction with the audit of our consolidated financial statements, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, which is described below. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim condensed consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weakness identified principally relates to (i) an inadvertent discrepancy between the description of our private placement warrants in the notes to our financial statements in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and our Forms 10-Q for the three month periods ended September 30, 2021, March 31, 2022, June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022 (the “Forms 10-Q”) and in the underlying warrant agreement, and (ii) the inadvertent omission of the signatures of our principal financial officer and principal accounting officer in our Forms 10-Q. This material weakness did not result in a material misstatement to our consolidated financial statements included herein.
While we already have processes in place to ensure that our periodic reports satisfy the applicable reporting and compliance requirements, we will continue to enhance and invest in accounting resources and processes necessary to comply with the reporting and compliance requirements of a public company and include a greater level of supervision needed in relation to our disclosure controls and procedures.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company,
(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and
(3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022.
Management has implemented remediation steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process of our financial statements and accompanying notes and exhibits to ensure that the disclosure contained therein is accurate, complete and properly supported by underlying information and agreements.
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This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report with respect to the effectiveness of our internal controls from our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
Not applicable.
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PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Directors and Executive Officers
Our officers and directors are as follows:
| Name | Age | Position | ||
| Jasper Bos | 47 | Chief Executive Officer | ||
| Cyril Lesser | 46 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
| Sander Slootweg | 53 | Director | ||
| Wouter Joustra | 34 | Director | ||
| Philip Astley-Sparke | 51 | Director | ||
| Hilde Steineger | 57 | Director | ||
| Ton Logtenberg | 64 | Director |
Jasper Bos, Ph.D., our Chief Executive Officer, is a former Merck executive and joined Forbion Growth as a General Partner in May 2021. Before joining Forbion’s Naarden-based headquarters, Jasper was Senior Vice President and Managing Director at M Ventures, leading the venture capital arm of pharmaceutical company Merck, which he joined in 2009. At M Ventures, he led a team of 21 investment professionals and with a fund size of €400 million invested in over 50 portfolio companies spanning biotech, life sciences tools, and tech companies with investment activities ranging from seed-stage to cross-over and IPO. In addition, as Country Speaker Merck Netherlands, he assumed responsibility and liaised between all Merck activities in the Netherlands. His track record as an investor includes the successful exits of Prexton Therapeutics, Epitherapeutics, Galecto, ObsEva, Translate Bio, and F-Star, and has served on multiple boards of privately-owned biotech companies. He has experience in several operational roles in portfolio companies and played a key role in the creation of multiple successful spin-out companies out of Merck. Jasper holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
Cyril Lesser, our Chief Financial Officer, joined Forbion in 2009 as a Controller. Prior to joining Forbion, Cyril was a Senior Account Manager at a trust office where he was responsible for a team dealing with the accounting, financial and tax aspects of several companies. Cyril holds a M.Sc. in International Financial Economics from the University of Amsterdam and a M.Sc. in Fiscal Law from the Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sander Slootweg, who is a non-independent member of our board of directors, is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Forbion. In addition to his leading role in the investment team and the portfolio, he is responsible for fundraising, investor and public relations. On the portfolio management side, he currently serves on the boards of portfolio companies NewAmsterdam Pharma (Chair, NAMS), Azafaros, Replimune (REPL), NorthSea (Chair), Xention and Oxyrane. Significant transactions for which Sander was responsible include Dezima Pharma, acquired by Amgen in 2015 for up to $1.55 billion, and Biovex, sold to Amgen in March of 2011 for up to $1 billion. In recent years, Sander has also served on the boards of Ario Pharma, Pulmagen, Fovea (sold to Sanofi in 2009), uniQure (QURE, IPO on Nasdaq in 2014), Argenta (sold to Galapagos in 2010), Alantos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (sold to Amgen in 2007), Impella (sold to Abiomed in 2005), Pieris (IPO on Nasdaq in 2015) and has acted as the Chairman of the Board of AMT (IPO on Euronext in 2007). Before co-founding Forbion, he was an Investment Director at ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences. His other activities at ABN AMRO included buy-out/growth equities at ABN AMRO Capital, Equity Capital Markets Syndications and Financial Institutions Relationship Management Latin America. Sander holds degrees in Business and Financial Economics from the Free University of Amsterdam and Business Administration from Nyenrode University, The Netherlands.
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Wouter Joustra, who is a non-independent member of our board of directors, joined Forbion in 2019 as a partner, currently serving as a General Partner for the Forbion Growth Fund. At Forbion, Mr. Joustra is responsible for deal origination, general portfolio management and divestment strategies, and focuses on Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Funds, which principally invests in late-stage life sciences companies. Previously Mr. Joustra was a Senior Trader as well as Executive Board member of the Life Sciences & Healthcare Franchise at Kempen, a European boutique investment bank. In this role, Mr. Joustra managed Kempen’s trading portfolio and was involved in deal structuring, equity capital markets transactions as well as larger block trades. Before Gyroscope Therapeutics was acquired by Novartis, Mr. Joustra served as a member of Gyroscope Therapeutics’ board of directors. Mr. Joustra currently serves as a board member of VectivBio (NASDAQ: VECT) and holds a position as a board observer at NewAmsterdam Pharma N.V. (NASDAQ: NAMS). Mr. Joustra holds an M.Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Groningen and a B.Sc. in International Business and Management from the same university.
Philip Astley-Sparke, who is an independent non-executive member of our board of directors, is a co-founder of Replimune Group Inc. (REPL) and has served as a member of the Board since the company’s formation in 2015 and served as Chief Executive Officer since January 2020. Previously, Philip served as Replimune’s Executive Chairman from 2015 to January 2020. From 2016 until June 2021, Philip served as Chairman of uniQure N.V. (QURE), a Nasdaq listed gene therapy company. From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Astley Sparke served as uniQure N.V.’s President of United States operations, where he established its United States infrastructure. Philip served as Vice President and General Manager at Amgen, Inc. until December 2011, following Amgen Inc.’s acquisition of BioVex Group, Inc. in March 2011. Philip was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of BioVex Group, Inc. Prior to BioVex Group, Inc., Philip was a healthcare investment banker at Chase H&Q and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen LLP. Philip previously served as Chairman of the board of directors of Oxyrane Limited, a biotechnology company, from 2012 to 2020. Philip received a B.Sc. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from Bristol University.
Hilde Steineger, Ph.D., who is an independent non-executive member of our board of directors, is Chief Executive Officer at Staten Biotechnology B.V. and Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of NorthSea Therapeutics B.V. Dr. Steineger previously served as Head of Strategic Innovation Management in Nutrition & Health Division of BASF (BASF), and as Head of Global Omega-3 Innovation Management at Pronova BioPharma ASA (PRON), from 2013 to 2015. From 2007 to 2010, Dr. Steineger was Head of Investor Relations and subsequently Vice President Business Development at Pronova BioPharma from 2010 to 2013. She has previously held positions as Senior Associate with Neomed Management and as an equity analyst at Nordea Securities. Dr. Steineger served as a board member of Strongbridge BioPharma PLC (SBBP) from 2013 to 2021 and has previously served as a member of the board of directors of Nordic Nanovector ASA, PCI Biotech AS (PCIB), Algeta ASA, Afiew AS, Weifa AS, Inven2 AS, Alertis AS, Clavis Pharma ASA and Biotech Pharmacon ASA. Dr. Steineger holds a Ph.D. in Medical Biochemistry from University of Oslo and an M.Sc. in Molecular Biology/Biotechnology.
Ton Logtenberg, Ph.D., who is an independent non-executive member of our board of directors, is a co-founder of Crucell N.V. (CRXL), where he served as the Chief Scientific Officer from 2000-2003 and a founder of Merus N.V. (MRUS), where he served as the CEO since 2003 and post IPO, from 2016-2020 as the President, CEO and Principal Financial Officer. In 2022, Ton co-founded Gyes B.V. and since then serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Ton has extensive experience in founding biotech companies and taking them from start-up to public listing on the Nasdaq and Euronext exchanges. Since 2021, Ton is a non-executive director and Chairman of the Board of Synox Therapeutics Ltd. and Mestag Therapeutics Ltd. Ton holds a M.Sc. in Medical Biology and a Ph.D. in Molecular Immunology from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Number, Terms of Office and Election 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 the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Philip Astley-Sparke and Ton Logtenberg, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Sander Slootweg and Hilde Steineger, will expire at our second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Wouter Joustra, will expire at our third annual general meeting.
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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.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into in connection with our IPO, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, is entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office.
Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices 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 provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Philip Astley-Sparke, Hilde Steineger and Ton Logtenberg are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, we have three standing committees—an audit committee in compliance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act, a compensation committee, and a nominating committee, each comprised of independent directors. Under Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1), a company listing in connection with its IPO is permitted to phase in its compliance with the independent committee requirements. We do not rely on the phase-in schedules set forth in Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1).
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee are Philip Astley-Sparke, Hilde Steineger and Ton Logtenberg. Hilde Steineger serves as Chairman of our audit committee.
Our board of directors has determined that each of Philip Astley-Sparke, Hilde Steineger and Ton Logtenberg are independent under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Hilde Steineger qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
| • | meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
| • | monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| • | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
| • | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
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| • | pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
| • | appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| • | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent registered public accounting firm regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
| • | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; |
| • | monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and |
| • | reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Philip Astley-Sparke, Hilde Steineger and Ton Logtenberg, and Philip Astley-Sparke serves as chairman of the compensation committee.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| • | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
| • | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers; |
| • | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| • | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| • | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| • | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees; |
| • | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| • | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter also provides 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 Nasdaq and the SEC.
Nominating Committee
We have established a nominating committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating committee are Philip Astley-Sparke, Hilde Steineger and Ton Logtenberg, and Ton Logtenberg serves as Chairman of the nominating committee.
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The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.
We adopted a nominating committee charter, which provides that persons to be nominated:
| • | should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service; |
| • | should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and |
| • | should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders. |
The nominating committee considers a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.
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.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of our ordinary shares to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. These reporting persons are also required to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely upon a review of such forms, we believe that during the year ended December 31, 2022 there were no delinquent filers.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees (our “Code of Ethics”). Our Code of Ethics is a “code of ethics,” as defined in Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
| (i) | 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; |
| (ii) | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
| (iii) | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
| (iv) | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
| (v) | 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 |
| (vi) | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
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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 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.
Certain of our founders, officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including MP and its affiliates. As a result, if any of our founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she 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 expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination 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.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:
| Individual | Entity | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
| Sander Slootweg | Replimune Group Inc. NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V. NorthSea Therapeutics B.V. Azafaros B.V. | Biotechnology Biotechnology
Biotechnology | Director Director, Board Chairman
Director, Board Chairman Director | |||
| Wouter Joustra | Vectiv Bio New Amsterdam Pharma Company N.V. | Biotechnology Biotechnology | Director Board observer | |||
| Philip Astley-Sparke | Replimune Group Inc. | Biotechnology | Co-founder, Director, Chief Executive Officer | |||
| Hilde Steineger | Staten Biotechnology B.V. NorthSea Therapeutics B.V. | Biotechnology Biotechnology | Chief Executive Officer Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer | |||
| Ton Logtenberg | SynOx Therapeutics Ltd Merus N.V. | Biotechnology Biotechnology | Director, Board Chairman Founder, Chief Executive Officer | |||
Gyes B.V. | Biotechnology | Founder, Chief Executive Officer | ||||
Mestag Therapeutics Ltd. | Biotechnology | Director, Board Chairman | ||||
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Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| • | Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. |
| • | Our sponsor subscribed for founder shares prior to the date of our IPO prospectus and purchased private placement warrants in a transaction that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. |
| • | Our sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. Additionally, our sponsor has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its 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 required time period, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such 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. |
| • | 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 is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. In addition, our founders, sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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For services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, each of our independent board members will receive an annual salary of $25,000 from our sponsor. Other than these payments, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or their respective affiliates be paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee, or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render, in order to effectuate the completion of our initial business combination. Further, we also reimburse our sponsor for office space, administrative, and support services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval by way 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. In such case, our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination.
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 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 entered 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 also purchased 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.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Item 11. Executive Officer and Director Compensation
For services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, each of our independent board members will receive an annual salary of $25,000 from our sponsor. Other than these payments, none of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Until the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we agreed to reimburse our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target
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businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, 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 incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or 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 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 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.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares available to us at March 29, 2023, with respect to our ordinary shares held by:
| • | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
| • | each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns ordinary shares; and |
| • | 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 Annual Report.
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Name and Address of | Number of Class B Ordinary Shares Beneficially Owned(2) | Number of Class A Ordinary Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Issued and Outstanding Ordinary Shares(3) | |||||||||
Five Percent Holders | ||||||||||||
Forbion Growth Sponsor FEAC I B.V. (our sponsor)(4)(5) | 3,162,500 | — | 20.0 | % | ||||||||
Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund I Cooperatief U.A. | — | (5) | 2,000,000 | 12.7 | %(5) | |||||||
Citadel(6) | — | 1,075,058 | 6.79 | % | ||||||||
Highbridge(7) | — | 893,152 | 5.6 | % | ||||||||
Directors, Executive Officers | ||||||||||||
Jasper Bos | — | — | — | |||||||||
Cyril Lesser | — | — | — | |||||||||
Sander Slootweg | — | — | — | |||||||||
Wouter Joustra | — | — | — | |||||||||
Philip Astley-Sparke | — | — | — | |||||||||
Hilde Steineger | — | — | — | |||||||||
Ton Logtenberg | — | — | — | |||||||||
All officers and directors as a group (7 individuals) | — | — | — | |||||||||
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 4001 Kennett Pike, Suite 302 Wilmington, Delaware 19807. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described in Exhibit 4.1 “Description of Securities.” Excludes forward purchase shares that will only be issued, if at all, at the time of our initial business combination. |
| (3) | The percentages reported herein are based upon 15,812,500 of our ordinary shares outstanding as of March 29, 2023, which is the sum of 12,650,000 of our Class A Ordinary Shares and 3,162,500 of our Class B Ordinary Shares (which will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described in Exhibit 4.1 “Description of Securities”). It excludes forward purchase shares that will only be issued, if at all, at the time of our initial business combination. |
| (4) | Forbion Growth Sponsor FEAC I B.V., our sponsor, is the record holder of the Class B ordinary shares reported herein. Jasper Bos, Cyril Lesser, Sander Slootweg and Wouter Joustra who are directors of our sponsor have voting and investment discretion with respect to the shares owned by our sponsor and may be deemed to have indirect shared beneficial ownership of the shares held by our sponsor. Jasper Bos, Cyril Lesser, Sander Slootweg and Wouter Joustra each disclaim beneficial ownership over the founder shares except to the extent of their pecuniary interest therein. |
| (5) | Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund I Cooperatief U.A. (“Forbion Cooperatief”) wholly owns the sponsor and therefore the sponsor and Forbion Cooperatief have shared voting and investment power over the Class B Ordinary Shares held by the sponsor. Together with the 2,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares underlying |
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| the 2,000,000 units held by it, Forbion Cooperatief has shared voting and investment power over 5,162,500 ordinary shares in the aggregate, representing approximately 32.7% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares as of the date hereof. Forbion Growth Management B.V. (“Forbion Management”) is the sole director of Forbion Cooperatief and therefore shares voting and investment power (i) with Forbion Cooperatief over the 2,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares underlying the units held by Forbion Cooperatief and (ii) with Forbion Cooperatief and, indirectly, the sponsor, over the 3,162,500 Class B Ordinary Shares held by the sponsor. Forbion Management exercises voting and investment power through its investment committee (the “Investment Committee”) consisting of S. Slootweg, M. A. van Osch, G. J. Mulder, V. van Houten, D.A.F. Kersten, N.L. Luneborg, W.S.J. Joustra and J.M. Bos. None of the members of the Investment Committee has individual voting and investment power with respect to the ordinary shares, and each such member disclaims beneficial ownership of the ordinary shares except to the extent of his or her proportionate pecuniary interest therein. |
| (6) | Based on information reported on a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 14, 2023 by Citadel Advisors LLC (“Citadel Advisors”), Citadel Advisors Holdings LP (“CAH”), Citadel GP LLC (“CGP”), Citadel Securities LLC (“Citadel Securities”), Citadel Securities Group LP (“CALC4”), Citadel Securities GP LLC (“CSGP”) and Mr. Kenneth Griffin with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares owned by Citadel Multi-Strategy Equities Master Fund Ltd., a Cayman Islands company (“CM”), and Citadel Securities. Citadel Advisors is the portfolio manager for CM. CAH is the sole member of Citadel Advisors. CGP is the general partner of CAH. CALC4 is the non-member manager of Citadel Securities. CSGP is the general partner of CALC4. Mr. Griffin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGP, and owns a controlling interest in CGP and CSGP. Each of Citadel Advisors, CAH and CGP may be deemed to beneficially own 1,075,000 shares. Citadel Securities may be deemed to beneficially own 58 shares. Each of CALC4 and CSGP may be deemed to beneficially own 58 shares. Mr. Griffin may be deemed to beneficially own 1,075,058 shares. Each of Citadel Advisors, CGP, Citadel Securities and CSGP is organized as a limited liability company under the laws of the State of Delaware. Each of CALC4 and CAH is organized as a limited partnership under the laws of the State of Delaware. Mr. Griffin is a U.S. citizen. |
The address of each of such persons and entities is Southeast Financial Center, 200 S. Biscayne Blvd., Suite 3300, Miami, Florida 33131.
| (7) | Based on information reported on a Schedule 13G filed on February 2, 2023 by Highbridge Capital Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Highbridge”), Highbridge is the investment adviser to certain funds and accounts (the “Highbridge Funds”) with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares directly held by the Highbridge Funds. The address of the business office of Highbridge is 277 Park Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, New York 10172. |
Our sponsor beneficially owns 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares and has the right to appoint all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares do 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 sponsor 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 agreed (a) to vote any founder shares and public shares held by it in favor of any proposed business combination and (b) not to redeem any founder shares or public shares held by it in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.
Our sponsor is deemed to be our “promoter” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, the private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the agreement entered into by our sponsor and management team. Our sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell (i) any of their founder shares until the earliest of: (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (b) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalization, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a
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liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) any of their private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued or exercise thereof until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants are not transferable or salable 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 affiliate of our sponsor or any member(s) of our sponsor or any of their affiliates, or any employees of such affiliates; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of such individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of such individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such individual or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death of such person; (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 agreement or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the ordinary shares or warrants were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of the laws of the Cayman Islands or the limited liability partnership agreement of the sponsor upon dissolution of the sponsor; (g) in the event of our liquidation prior to the consummation of a business combination; and in the event that, subsequent to the consummation of an initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization 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; provided, however, that, in the case of clauses (a) through (f), these permitted transferees enter into a written agreement with us agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement between us, our officers and directors and our sponsor entered into in connection with our IPO.
Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants, Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and extension 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 and extension loans) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement we entered into on the effective date of our initial public 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. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, as described in the following paragraph, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Subject to certain exceptions, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell (i) their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) 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 the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) any of their private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor with respect to any founder shares, private placement warrants and Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof.
In addition, pursuant to the registration and shareholder rights agreement, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, is entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
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Equity Compensation Plans
As of December 31, 2022, we had no compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which equity securities were authorized for issuance.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
On August 12, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP paid $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, in consideration for 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On November 23, 2021, Forbion European Sponsor LLP transferred 2,875,000 Class B ordinary shares to the sponsor in exchange for $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. On December 9, 2021, we issued an additional 287,500 Class B ordinary shares to the sponsor resulting from a 1.1 for 1 share dividend. As a result our sponsor now owns 3,162,500 founder shares. Our founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares, on a one-for-one basis, upon the completion of a business combination.
Simultaneously with the consummation of our IPO and full exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriters, we consummated the private placement of 5,195,000 warrants in the aggregate to the sponsor, at a price of $1.50 per private placement warrant. The sale of the private placement warrants in connection with our IPO and subsequent over-allotment option exercise generated gross proceeds of $7,792,500. Each private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our initial public offering except that the private placement warrants (i) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders, (ii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis, (iii) may not be redeemed by us and (iv) are entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Forbion Cooperatief is affiliated with our sponsor and purchased 2,000,000 of our units in our IPO. In the event that Forbion Cooperatief votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination, a smaller portion of affirmative votes from other public shareholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. Forbion Cooperatief may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public shareholders. Assuming Forbion Cooperatief votes all of its 2,000,000 public shares in favor of approval of our initial business combination, we would need 2,743,750, or 21.7% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted), of the 12,650,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved.
If any of our founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 4001 Kennett Pike, Suite 302 Wilmington, Delaware 19807. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
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In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of 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 at a price of $1.5 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. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
We have up to 18 months from the closing of our IPO to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination two times by an additional three months each time (for a total of up to 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as further described below. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on December 9, 2021, in order for the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination to be extended, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon five business days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account, for each three-month extension, $1,265,000 ($0.10 per unit) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, providing a total possible period of 24 months within which we can complete a business combination. Any such payment would be made in the form of non-interest bearing loans. If we complete our initial business combination, we will, at the lender’s option, repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us or convert a portion or all of the total loan amounts into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the private placement warrants. If we do not complete a business combination, we will repay such loans only from any funds held outside of the trust account. In the event that we receive notice from our sponsor five business days prior to the applicable deadline of its wish for us to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within such time period, we will redeem 100% of our issued and outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein under “Item 1—Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination,” and then seek to dissolve and liquidate.
We entered into a registration and shareholder rights agreement pursuant to which our sponsor is entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the private placement warrants, the securities issuable upon conversion of working capital loans and extension loans (if any) and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares, and, upon consummation of our initial business combination, to nominate three individuals for appointment to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement, which is described under the section of this Annual Report entitled “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters—Registration and Shareholder Rights.”
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Related Party Policy
The audit committee of our board of directors adopted 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.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The following is a summary of fees paid to Marcum LLP, for services rendered.
Audit Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $90,000 and $51,500 for the services Marcum performed in connection with the audit of our December 31, 2022 and 2021 financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees” above. These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Marcum LLP any audit-related fees during the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021.
Tax Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
All Other Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from August 21, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
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PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K:
(1) Financial Statements:
| Page | ||||||
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| Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID No. 688) | F-2 | ||||
| F-3 | ||||||
| F-4 | ||||||
| F-5 | ||||||
| F-6 | ||||||
| F-7 |
(2) Financial Statement Schedules:
None.
(3) Exhibits
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be accessed on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
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Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
Not applicable.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this Annual Report on Form 10-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on March 30, 2023.
| FORBION EUROPEAN ACQUISITION CORP. | ||
| By: | /s/ Jasper Bos | |
| Name: Jasper Bos | ||
| Title: Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this Annual Report on Form 10-K has been signed by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacity and on the dates indicated.
Name | Position | Date | ||
/s/ Jasper Bos Jasper Bos | Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) | March 30, 2023 | ||
/s/ Cyril Lesser Cyril Lesser | Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | March 30, 2023 | ||
/s/ Sander Slootweg Sander Slootweg | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
/s/ Wouter Joustra Wouter Joustra | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
/s/ Philip Astley-Sparke Philip Astley-Sparke | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
/s/ Hilde Steineger Hilde Steineger | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
/s/ Ton Logtenberg Ton Logtenberg | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
Page | ||||
| F-2 | ||||
Financial Statements: | ||||
| F-3 | ||||
| F-4 | ||||
| F-5 | ||||
| F-6 | ||||
| F-7 | ||||
/s/ Marcum LLP |
Marcum LLP |
New York, NY |
March 30, 2023 |
December 31, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | |||||||
Assets: | ||||||||
Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | 314,151 | $ | 1,069,298 | ||||
| Prepaid expense | 197,653 | 498,591 | ||||||
Total current assets | 511,804 | 1,567,889 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses– non-current portion | — | 209,052 | ||||||
| Cash and securities held in trust account | 131,531,334 | 129,669,409 | ||||||
Total assets | $ | 132,043,138 | $131,446,350 | |||||
Liabilities, Shares Subject to Redemption and Shareholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accrued offering costs and expenses | $ | 844,605 | $ | 316,651 | ||||
| Due to related party | 48,904 | 10,796 | ||||||
Total current liabilities | 893,509 | 327,447 | ||||||
| Deferred underwriting commissions | 3,727,500 | 3,727,500 | ||||||
Total liabilities | 4,621,009 | 4,054,947 | ||||||
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6) | ||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 12,650,000 shares at redemption value of approximately $10.40 and $10.25 at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively | 131,531,334 | 129,669,409 | ||||||
Shareholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
| Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | — | — | ||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding (excluding 12,650,000 shares subject to possible redemption issued) at December 31, 2022 and 2021 | — | — | ||||||
| Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 3,162,500 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021 | 316 | 316 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital | — | — | ||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (4,109,521 | ) | (2,278,322 | ) | ||||
Total shareholders’ deficit | (4,109,205 | ) | (2,278,006 | ) | ||||
Total Liabilities, Shares Subject to Redemption and Shareholders’ Deficit | $ | 132,043,138 | $131,446,350 | |||||
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022 | For the Period from August 9, 2021 (Inception) through December 31, 2021 | |||||||
| Formation and operating costs | $ | 1,831,421 | $ | 232,346 | ||||
Loss from operations | $ | (1,831,421 | ) | $ | (232,346 | ) | ||
Other income | ||||||||
| Bank Interest Income | 222 | — | ||||||
| Interest earned from Trust Account | 1,861,925 | 6,909 | ||||||
Total other income | 1,862,147 | 6,909 | ||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | 30,726 | $ | (225,437 | ) | |||
| Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | 12,650,000 | 1,558,966 | ||||||
| Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | 0.00 | $ | (0.05 | ) | |||
| Basic and diluted, weighted average shares outstanding – Class B ordinary shares | 3,162,500 | 3,162,500 | ||||||
| Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class B ordinary shares | $ | 0.00 | $ | (0.05 | ) | |||
Class A Ordinary Share | Class B Ordinary Share | Additional | Accumulated | Shareholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Paid-In Capital | Deficit | Deficit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of August 9, 2021 (Inception) | — | $ | — | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Class B ordinary share issued to initial shareholder | — | — | 3,162,500 | 316 | 24,684 | — | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sale of 5,195,000 Private Placement Warrants, net of fair value of warrant | — | — | — | — | 7,792,500 | — | 7,792,500 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Allocated proceeds to public warrants | — | — | — | — | 3,493,159 | — | 3,493,159 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Underwriters’ discount and deferred underwriter discount allocated to warrants | — | — | — | — | (161,749 | ) | — | (161,749 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other offering expenses | — | — | — | — | (23,283 | ) | — | (23,283 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | — | — | — | (225,437 | ) | (225,437 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption to redemption amount | — | — | — | — | (11,125,311 | ) | (2,052,885 | ) | (13,178,196 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2021 | — | — | 3,162,500 | 316 | — | (2,278,322 | ) | (2,278,006 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | — | — | — | — | — | 30,726 | 30,726 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption to redemption amount | — | — | — | — | — | (1,861,925 | ) | (1,861,925 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2022 | — | $ | — | 3,162,500 | $ | 316 | $ | — | $ | (4,109,521 | ) | $ | (4,109,205 | ) | ||||||||||||||
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022 | For the Period from August 9, 2021 (Inception) through December 31, 2021 | |||||||
Cash flows from operating activities: | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ | 30,726 | $ | (225,437 | ) | |||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
| Formation cost paid by Sponsor | — | 6,941 | ||||||
| Interest earned on cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account | (1,861,925 | ) | (6,909 | ) | ||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses | 509,990 | (707,643 | ) | |||||
| Accrued offering costs and expenses | 527,954 | 126,004 | ||||||
| Due from related party | 38,108 | 10,796 | ||||||
Net cash used in operating activities | $ | (755,147 | ) | $ | (796,248 | ) | ||
Cash flows from investing activities: | ||||||||
| Principal deposited in Trust Account | $ | — | $ | (129,662,500 | ) | |||
Net cash used in investing activities | $ | — | $ | (129,662,500 | ) | |||
Cash flows from financing activities: | ||||||||
| Proceeds from initial public offering, net of costs | $ | — | $ | 123,735,546 | ||||
| Proceeds from private placement | — | 7,792,500 | ||||||
| Proceeds from issuance of promissory note to related party | — | 124,577 | ||||||
| Payment of promissory note to related party | — | (124,577 | ) | |||||
Net cash provided by financing activities | $ | — | $ | 131,528,046 | ||||
Net change in cash | (755,147 | ) | 1,069,298 | |||||
| Cash, beginning of the period | 1,069,298 | — | ||||||
Cash, end of the period | $ | 314,151 | $ | 1,069,298 | ||||
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: | ||||||||
| Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares | $ | — | $ | 18,059 | ||||
| Deferred underwriters’ discount payable charged to additional paid in capital | $ | — | $ | 3,727,500 | ||||
| Remeasurement Adjustment of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | 1,861,925 | $ | 13,178,196 | ||||
| Accrued offering costs | $ | — | $ | 190,647 | ||||
| Level 1 — | Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Valuation adjustments and block discounts are not being applied. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these securities does not entail a significant degree of judgment. | |
| Level 2 — | Valuations based on (i) quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, (ii) quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets, (iii) inputs other than quoted prices for the assets or liabilities, or (iv) inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by market through correlation or other means. | |
| Level 3 — | Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. | |
Carrying Value as of December 31, 2022 | Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Gross Unrealized Losses | ||||||||||
| U.S. Treasury Securities | $ | 131,529,959 | $ | 130,537,313 | $ | (992,646 | ) | |||||
| Cash | 1,375 | — | — | |||||||||
| $ | 130,531,334 | $ | 130,537,313 | $ | (992,646 | ) | ||||||
Carrying Value as of December 30, 2021 | Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Gross Unrealized Losses | ||||||||||
| U.S. Treasury Securities | 129,667,924 | 129,665,154 | (2,770 | ) | ||||||||
| Cash | 1,485 | — | — | |||||||||
| $ | 129,669,409 | $ | 129,665,154 | $ | (2,770 | ) | ||||||
| Gross Proceeds from IPO | $ | 129,662,500 | ||
| Less: | ||||
| Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants | (3,493,159 | ) | ||
| Class A ordinary shares issuance costs | (9,678,128 | ) | ||
| Plus: | ||||
| Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value | 13,171,287 | |||
| Interest income | 6,909 | |||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2021 | $ | 129,669,409 | ||
| Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value | 1,861,925 | |||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2022 | 131,531,334 | |||
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022 | For the period from August 9, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 | |||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Class A | Class B | |||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share: | ||||||||||||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||||||||||
| Allocation of net income (loss) | $ | 24,581 | $ | 6,145 | $ | (74,394 | ) | $ | (151,043 | ) | ||||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average shares outstanding including ordinary shares subject to redemption | 12,650,000 | 3,162,500 | 1,558,966 | 3,162,500 | ||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share | $ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | $ | (0.05 | ) | $ | (0.05 | ) | ||||||
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which the Company refer to as the “30-day redemption period”; and |
| • | if, and only if, the last reported sale price (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 “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Redemption Procedures—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) 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 send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
