SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP |BEIJING GENEVA SAN FRANCISCO
- ----------------| 787 SEVENTH AVENUE |BRUSSELS HONG KONG SHANGHAI
SIDLEY | NEW YORK, NY 10019 |CHICAGO LONDON SINGAPORE
212 839 5300 |DALLAS LOS ANGELES SYDNEY
212 839 5599 FAX |FRANKFURT NEW YORK TOKYO
| WASHINGTON, DC
|
sgandhi@sidley.com |FOUNDED 1866
(212) 839-5684
September 28, 2007
Mr. John Reynolds
Assistant Director
Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
100 F Street, NE - Mail Stop 3561
Washington, D.C. 20549
Re: NRDC Acquisition Corp.
Registration Statement on Form S-1
File No. 333-144871
----------------------------------
Dear Mr. Reynolds:
On behalf of our client, NRDC Acquisition Corp., a Delaware
corporation (the "Registrant"), enclosed for review by the Securities and
Exchange Commission, at the request of the staff of the Division of Corporation
Finance (the "Staff") by telephone conversation with Brian Bhandari today, is
an analysis of the fair value of public warrants issued by companies similar to
the Registrant. This analysis, attached as Exhibit A hereto, formed the basis
of the Registrant's determination that the purchase price of its private
placement warrants approximated their fair value.
The Registrant's analysis included first-time special purpose
acquisition companies ("SPACs") whose unit prices equaled $10.00 per unit for
public offerings that were declared effective from July 18, 2006 to August 1,
2007. This analysis excludes one company whose management team had previously
successfully completed an acquisition for another publicly registered SPAC. The
Registrant reviewed the first trading price for these warrants as well as the
price of the warrants as a percentage of the total of the combined warrant
price and the common stock trading price. The implied price for these warrants
at the initial public offering date ranged from $0.53 to $1.35 with an average
of $0.99 per warrant. In addition, the fair value of the private placement
warrants would be further reduced by their illiquidity.
Further, at the Staff's request, the Registrant will include additional
language in the MD&A section similar to that inserted in Note 5 to the
financial statements in its most recent filing.
Sidley Austin LLP is a limited liability partnership practicing in
affiliation with other Sidley Austin partnerships
SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP
- ----------------|
SIDLEY |
Mr. John Reynolds
September 28, 2007
Page 2
******
Should you wish to discuss the enclosed materials at any time, please do
not hesitate to contact me at the number above.
Very truly yours,
Samir A. Gandhi
cc: Blaise Rhodes (SEC)
Cathey Baker (SEC)
Richard A. Baker (NRDC Acquisition Corp.)
Edward F. Petrosky (Sidley Austin LLP)
Floyd I. Wittlin (Bingham McCutchen LLP)
SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP
- ----------------|
SIDLEY |
Mr. John Reynolds
September 28, 2007
Page 3
Exhibit A
---------
Warrant Price Analysis
$10.00 Unit Structure SPACs since 2006 (First Time SPAC Issuers Only)(1)
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pricing Issuer Size First Trade Warrant First Common
Date (w/ Shoe) Date Trade Price Price Unit Price
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
08/01/07 Alternative Asset Mgmt Acquisition $414 08/13/07 $0.86 $9.10 $9.97
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
06/25/07 GSC Acquisition 207 07/09/07 1.45 9.29 10.70
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/24/07 Victory Acquisition 330 06/01/07 1.38 9.35 10.72
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/20/07 Pinpoint Advance 29 06/01/07 1.23 9.60 10.30
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
03/22/07 Alpha Security Group 60 06/14/07 1.05 9.35 10.40
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02/01/07 Dekania 100 05/02/07 0.90 9.35 10.25
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01/30/07 NTR Acquisition 246 02/23/07 0.75 9.25 10.05
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12/21/06 Freedom Acquisition 528 01/29/07 1.15 9.25 10.30
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
07/18/06 Energy Infrastructure 209 10/04/06 0.52 9.25 9.85
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average $236 $1.03 $9.31 $10.28
Count 9
===============================================================================================================================
Implied Implied Warrant/
Warrant Price Warrant Price Synthetic
Pricing At IPO - At IPO - Warrant Common and
Date Method 1(2) Method 2(3) /Unit Price
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
08/01/07 $0.86 $0.86 8.6% 8.6%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
06/25/07 1.36 1.35 13.6% 13.5%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/24/07 1.29 1.29 12.9% 12.9%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/20/07 1.19 1.13 11.9% 11.3%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
03/22/07 1.01 1.01 10.1% 10.1%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
02/01/07 0.88 0.88 8.8% 8.8%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
01/30/07 0.75 0.75 7.5% 7.5%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12/21/06 1.12 1.11 11.2% 11.1%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
07/18/06 0.53 0.53 5.3% 5.3%
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1.00 $0.99 10.0% 9.9%
============================================================================
(1) Excludes Aldabra 2 Acquisition, which was the second SPAC for that management team.
(2) Equals (warrant first trade price)/(unit price) x $10.00 (IPO unit price)
(3) Equals (warrant first trade price)/(warrant first trade price + common price) x $10.00 (IPO unit price)