424B4 1 d424b4.htm PROSPECTUS Prospectus
Table of Contents

Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4)
SEC File No.: 333-134694

 

PROSPECTUS

$36,000,000

RHAPSODY ACQUISITION CORP.

4,500,000 units

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp. is a newly formed blank check company organized for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with an operating business. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry. We do not have any specific business combination under consideration and we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to such a transaction.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit that we are offering has a price of $8.00 and consists of one share of our common stock and one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $5.00. Each warrant will become exercisable on the later of our completion of a business combination and October 3, 2007, and will expire on October 2, 2010, or earlier upon redemption.

We have granted EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., the representative of the underwriters for this offering, a 45-day option to purchase up to 675,000 units (over and above the 4,500,000 units referred to above) solely to cover over-allotments, if any. The over-allotment will be used only to cover the net syndicate short position resulting from the initial distribution. We have also agreed to sell to EarlyBirdCapital, for $100, as additional compensation, an option to purchase up to a total of 450,000 units at $8.80 per unit. The units issuable upon exercise of this option are identical to those offered by this prospectus. The purchase option and its underlying securities have been registered under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Eric S. Rosenfeld, Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer and Colin D. Watson, four of our directors, and Gotham Capital V LLC, an entity controlled by Joel Greenblatt, our special advisor, have committed to purchase from us 1,136,364 warrants at $1.10 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250,000). These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. All of the proceeds we receive from the purchases will be placed in the trust fund described below. The “insider warrants” to be purchased will be identical to the warrants underlying the units being offered by this prospectus except that if we call the warrants for redemption, the insider warrants may be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by these purchasers or their affiliates. The insider warrants have been registered for resale under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, but the purchasers have agreed that the insider warrants will not be sold or transferred by them until after we have completed a business combination.

There is presently no public market for our units, common stock or warrants. The units will be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol RPSDU on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the common stock and warrants will be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbols RPSD and RPSDW, respectively. We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board.

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “ Risk Factors” beginning on page 10 of this prospectus for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

    

Public

offering price

  

Underwriting discount

and commissions(1)

   Proceeds, before
expenses, to us

Per unit

   $8.00    $0.48    $7.52

Total

   $36,000,000    $2,160,000    $33,840,000

 

(1) Includes a non-accountable expense allowance in the amount of 0.5% of the gross proceeds, or $0.04 per unit ($180,000 in total), payable to EarlyBirdCapital. The non-accountable expense allowance is not payable with respect to the units sold upon exercise of the over-allotment option. Of the underwriting discount and commissions, $360,000 ($0.08 per unit) is being deferred by the underwriters and will not be payable by us to the underwriters unless and until we consummate a business combination.

$32,900,000 of the net proceeds of this offering (including $360,000 of underwriting discounts and commissions payable to the underwriters in this offering which is being deferred by them until we consummate a business combination), plus the additional aggregate $1,250,000 we will receive from the purchase of the insider warrants being made by Messrs. Rosenfeld, Schlemm, Bauer and Watson and Gotham Capital V simultaneously with the consummation of this offering, for an aggregate of $34,150,000 (or approximately $7.59 per unit sold to the public in this offering), will be deposited into a trust account at Lehman Brothers Inc., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.

We are offering the units for sale on a firm-commitment basis. EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., acting as representative of the underwriters, expects to deliver our securities to investors in the offering on or about October 10, 2006.

EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.

October 3, 2006


Table of Contents

Table Of Contents

 

     Page

Prospectus Summary

   1

Summary Financial Data

   9

Risk Factors

   10

Use of Proceeds

   22

Dilution

   26

Capitalization

   28

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

   29

Proposed Business

   31

Management

   42

Principal Stockholders

   48

Certain Transactions

   50

Description of Securities

   52

Underwriting

   57

Legal Matters

   61

Experts

   61

Where You Can Find Additional Information

   61

Index to Financial Statements

   F-1

 



Table of Contents

Prospectus Summary

This summary highlights certain information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. For a more complete understanding of this offering, you should read the entire prospectus carefully, including the risk factors and the financial statements. Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus:

 

    references to “we,” “us” or “our company” refer to Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.;

 

    “initial shares” refers to the 1,125,000 shares of common stock that our initial stockholders originally purchased from us for $25,000 in April 2006;

 

    “insider warrants” refers to the 1,136,364 warrants we are selling privately to four of our directors and an entity controlled by our special advisor upon consummation of this offering;

 

    the term “public stockholders” means the holders of the shares of common stock which are being sold as part of the units in this public offering (whether they are purchased in the public offering or in the aftermarket), including any of our existing stockholders to the extent that they purchase such shares; and

 

    the information in this prospectus assumes that the representative of the underwriters will not exercise its over-allotment option.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information. We are not making an offer of these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted.

We are a blank check company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware on April 24, 2006. We were formed with the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with an operating business. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry.

We do not have any specific business combination under consideration and we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to such a transaction. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with our company. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.

Our initial business combination must be with a target business whose fair market value is at least equal to 80% of our net assets (all of our assets, including the funds held in the trust account, less our liabilities) at the time of such acquisition, although this may entail simultaneous acquisitions of several operating businesses. If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses and such businesses 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 acquisitions, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete the business combination. With multiple acquisitions, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent integration of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business.

The target business that we acquire may have a fair market value substantially in excess of 80% of our net assets. In order to consummate such an acquisition, we may issue a significant amount of our debt or equity securities to the sellers of such business and/or seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities. Since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not entered into any such fund raising arrangement and have no current intention of doing so.

Our principal executive offices are located at 10 East 53rd Street, 35th Floor, New York, New York 10022 and our telephone number is (212) 319-7676.

 

1


Table of Contents

The Offering

 

Securities offered

4,500,000 units, at $8.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

    one share of common stock; and

 

    one warrant.

 

 

The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Each of the common stock and warrants may trade separately on the 90th day after the date of this prospectus unless EarlyBirdCapital determines that an earlier date is acceptable (based upon its assessment of the relative strengths of the securities markets and small capitalization companies in general, and the trading pattern of, and demand for, our securities in particular). In no event will EarlyBirdCapital allow separate trading of the common stock and warrants until we file an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including an audited balance sheet, upon the consummation of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date the units commence trading. The audited balance sheet will reflect our receipt of the proceeds from the exercise of the over-allotment option if the over-allotment option is exercised prior to the filing of the Form 8-K. If the over-allotment option is exercised after our initial filing of a Form 8-K, we will file an amendment to the Form 8-K to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option. We will also include in this Form 8-K, or amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Form 8-K, information indicating if EarlyBirdCapital has allowed separate trading of the common stock and warrants prior to the 90th day after the date of this prospectus.

 

Securities sold privately to insiders simultaneously with consummation of this offering

1,136,364 insider warrants at $1.10 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250,000) will be sold to Eric S. Rosenfeld, Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer and Colin D. Watson, four of our directors, and Gotham Capital V LLC, an entity controlled by Joel Greenblatt, our special advisor, pursuant to written subscription agreements between us, EarlyBirdCapital and such purchasers. There are no third-party beneficiaries to these agreements. These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. The insider warrants will be identical to the warrants underlying the units being offered by this prospectus except that if we call the warrants for redemption as described below, the insider warrants may be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as such warrants are held by these purchasers or their affiliates. Additionally, these purchasers have agreed, pursuant to the subscription agreements, that the insider warrants will not be sold or transferred by them until after we have completed a business combination. EarlyBirdCapital has no intention of waiving these restrictions on transferability.

 

2


Table of Contents

Common stock:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

1,125,000 shares

 

Number to be outstanding after this offering

5,625,000 shares

Warrants:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

0 warrants

 

Number to be sold to insiders

1,136,364 warrants

 

Number to be outstanding after this offering and sale to insiders

5,636,364 warrants

 

Exercisability

Each warrant is exercisable for one share of common stock.

 

Exercise price

$5.00

 

Exercise period

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

    the completion of a business combination with a target business, and

 

    October 3, 2007.

 

 

The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on October 2, 2010 or earlier upon redemption.

 

Redemption

We may redeem the outstanding warrants (including any of the insider warrants and any outstanding warrants issued upon exercise of the unit purchase option issued to EarlyBirdCapital):

 

    in whole and not in part,

 

    at a price of $.01 per warrant at any time while the warrants are exercisable (which will occur only if a registration statement relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and current),

 

    upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, and

 

    if, and only if, the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $11.50 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption.

 

 

The redemption criteria for our warrants have been established at a price which is intended to provide warrant holders a reasonable premium to the initial exercise price and provide a sufficient degree of liquidity to cushion the market reaction to our redemption call.

 

3


Table of Contents
 

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, the holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants.

 

 

If we call the warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, Messrs. Rosenfeld, Schlemm, Bauer and Watson and Gotham Capital V would still be entitled to exercise their insider warrants as described above for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. As a result, they may have a conflict of interest in determining when to call the warrants for redemption as they would potentially be able to avoid any negative price pressure on the price of the warrants and common stock due to the redemption through a cashless exercise.

Proposed OTC Bulletin Board symbols for our:

 

Units

RPSDU

 

Common stock

RPSD

 

Warrants

RPSDW

 

Offering proceeds to be held in trust

$32,900,000 of the proceeds of this offering plus the $1,250,000 we will receive from the sale of the insider warrants (for an aggregate of $34,150,000 or approximately $7.59 per unit sold to the public in this offering) will be placed in a trust account at Lehman Brothers, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee pursuant to an agreement to be signed on the date of this prospectus. This amount includes $360,000 of underwriting discounts and commissions payable to the underwriters in the offering. The underwriters have agreed that such amount will not be paid unless and until we consummate a business combination. Except as set forth below, these proceeds will not be released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our liquidation. Therefore, unless and until a business combination is consummated, the proceeds held in the trust account will not be available for our use for any expenses related to this offering or expenses which we may incur related to the investigation and selection of a target business and the negotiation of an agreement to acquire a target business.

 

4


Table of Contents
 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we have not consummated a business combination by October 3, 2007, there can be released to us, from time to time, interest earned on the funds in the trust account of up to an aggregate of $200,000 to fund expenses related to investigating and selecting a target business, income and other taxes and our other working capital requirements. With this exception, expenses incurred by us may be paid prior to a business combination only from the net proceeds of this offering not held in the trust account (initially, approximately $800,000).

 

 

None of the warrants may be exercised until after the consummation of a business combination and, thus, after the proceeds of the trust account have been disbursed. Accordingly, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

 

Limited payments to insiders

There will be no fees or other cash payments paid to our existing stockholders, officers, directors, special advisors or their affiliates prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of a business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is) other than:

 

    repayment of a $90,000 non-interest bearing loan made by Eric S. Rosenfeld;

 

    payment of $7,500 per month to Crescendo Advisors II LLC for office space and related services; and

 

    reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and business combinations.

 

Certificate of Incorporation

As discussed below, there are specific provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that may not be amended prior to our consummation of a business combination, including our requirements to seek stockholder approval of such a business combination and to allow our stockholders to seek conversion of their shares if they do not approve of such a business combination. While we have been advised that such provisions limiting our ability to amend our certificate of incorporation may not be enforceable under Delaware law, we view these provisions, which are contained in Article Seventh of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as obligations to our stockholders and will not take any action to amend or waive these provisions.

 

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that we will continue in existence only until October 3, 2008. If we have not completed a business combination by such date, our corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating, pursuant to Section 278 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. This has the same effect as if our board of directors and stockholders had formally voted to approve our dissolution

 

5


Table of Contents
 

pursuant to Section 275 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Accordingly, limiting our corporate existence to a specified date as permitted by Section 102(b)(5) of the Delaware General Corporation Law removes the necessity to comply with the formal procedures set forth in Section 275 (which would have required our board of directors and stockholders to formally vote to approve our dissolution and liquidation and to have filed a certificate of dissolution with the Delaware Secretary of State). In connection with any proposed business combination we submit to our stockholders for approval, we will also submit to stockholders a proposal to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to provide for our perpetual existence, thereby removing this limitation on our corporate life. We will only consummate a business combination if stockholders vote both in favor of such business combination and our amendment to provide for our perpetual existence. The approval of the proposal to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to provide for our perpetual existence would require the affirmative vote of a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock. We view this provision terminating our corporate life by October 3, 2008 as an obligation to our stockholders and will not take any action to amend or waive this provision to allow us to survive for a longer period of time except in connection with the consummation of a business combination.

 

Stockholders must approve business combination

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we will seek stockholder approval before we effect any business combination, even if the nature of the acquisition would not ordinarily require stockholder approval under applicable state law. We view this requirement as an obligation to our stockholders and will not take any action to amend or waive this provision in our certificate of incorporation. We will publicly announce the record date for determining the shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting to approve our business combination at least two business days prior to such record date. In connection with the vote required for any business combination, all of our existing stockholders, including all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote the shares of common stock owned by them immediately before this offering in accordance with the majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders. We will proceed with a business combination only if (i) a majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders are voted in favor of the business combination and (ii) public stockholders owning less than 20% of the shares sold in this offering exercise their conversion rights described below. Accordingly, it is our understanding and intention in every case to structure and consummate a business combination in which approximately 19.99% of the public stockholders may exercise their conversion rights and the business combination will still go forward.

 

6


Table of Contents

Conversion rights for stockholders voting to reject a business combination

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, public stockholders voting against a business combination will be entitled to convert their stock into a pro rata share of the trust account, including any interest earned on their portion of the trust account less any amount distributed to us, if the business combination is approved and completed. We view this requirement as an obligation to our stockholders and will not take any action to amend or waive this provision in our certificate of incorporation. Our existing stockholders will not have such conversion rights with respect to any shares of common stock owned by them, directly or indirectly, whether included in their initial shares or purchased by them in this offering or in the aftermarket (nor will they seek appraisal rights with respect to such shares if appraisal rights would be available to them). Public stockholders who convert their stock into their share of the trust fund will continue to have the right to exercise any warrants they may hold.

 

 

Investors in this offering who do not sell, or who receive less than $0.41 of net sales proceeds for, the warrant included in the units, and persons who purchase common stock in the aftermarket at a price in excess of $7.59 per share, may have a disincentive to exercise their conversion rights because the amount they would receive upon conversion could be less than their original or adjusted purchase price.

 

Liquidation if no business combination

As described above, if we have not consummated a business combination by October 3, 2008, our corporate existence will cease by operation of law and we will promptly distribute only to our public stockholders the amount in our trust account (including any accrued interest) plus any remaining net assets. At that time, pursuant to Section 281 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, we will adopt a plan that will provide for our payment, based on facts known to us at such time, of (i) all existing claims, (ii) all pending claims and (iii) all claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. Accordingly, we would be required to provide for any creditors known to us at that time as well as provide for any claims that we believe could potentially be brought against us within the subsequent 10 years prior to distributing the funds held in the trust to our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims of creditors to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more). Furthermore, while we will seek to have all vendors and service providers (which would include any third parties we engaged to assist us in any way in connection with our search for a target business) and prospective target businesses execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account, there is no guarantee that

 

7


Table of Contents
 

they will execute such agreements. Nor is there any guarantee that, even if such entities execute such agreements with us, they will not seek recourse against the trust account. A court could also conclude that such agreements are not legally enforceable. Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, has agreed that he will be personally liable to ensure that the proceeds in the trust account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or claims of vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us. However, we cannot assure you that he will be able to satisfy those obligations, if he is required to do so. As a result, we cannot assure you that the per-share distribution from the trust fund, if we liquidate, will not be less than $7.59, plus interest then held in the trust fund.

We anticipate the distribution of the funds in the trust account to our public stockholders will occur within 10 business days from the date our corporate existence ceases. Our existing stockholders have waived their rights to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to their initial shares. We will pay the costs of liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account. If such funds are insufficient, our initial stockholders have agreed to advance us the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than approximately $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment for such expenses.

 

Escrow of existing stockholders’ shares

On the date of this prospectus, all of our existing stockholders, including all of our officers and directors, will place their initial shares into an escrow account maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as escrow agent. Subject to certain limited exceptions, (such as transfers to relatives and trusts for estate planning purposes, while remaining in escrow), these shares will not be transferable during the escrow period and will not be released from escrow until one year after our consummation of a business combination or earlier if, following a business combination, we engage in a subsequent transaction resulting in our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash or other securities.

Risks

In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. In addition, this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and, therefore, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. Additionally, our initial security holders’ initial equity investment is below that which is required under the guidelines of the North American Securities Administrators’ Association, Inc. and we do not satisfy such association’s policy regarding unsound financial condition. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10 of this prospectus.

 

8


Table of Contents

Summary Financial Data

The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data are presented.

 

     August 31, 2006
     Actual     As Adjusted

Balance Sheet Data:

    

Working capital (deficiency)

   $ (84,125 )   $ 34,973,207

Total assets

   $ 128,786     $ 34,973,207

Total liabilities

   $ 105,579       —  

Value of common stock which may be converted to cash

     —       $ 6,826,585

Stockholders’ equity

   $ 23,207     $ 28,146,622

(1) Includes the $1,250,000 we will receive from the sale of the insider warrants as well as the $360,000 of deferred underwriting fees which are payable only upon consummation of a business combination, but excludes the $100 purchase price for the purchase option to be issued to EarlyBirdCpital.

The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units we are offering by this prospectus and the insider warrants, including the application of the related gross proceeds and the payment of the estimated remaining costs of this public offering and the repayment of the accrued and other liabilities required to be repaid.

The working capital deficiency excludes $107,332 of costs related to this offering which were paid or accrued prior to August 31, 2006. These deferred offering costs have been recorded as a long-term asset and are reclassified against stockholders’ equity in the “as adjusted” information.

The working capital and total assets amounts include $33,790,000 of the amount to be held in the trust account, which will be available to us only upon the consummation of a business combination within the time period described in this prospectus. The total amount to be placed in trust includes an additional $360,000 ($0.08 per share) of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions payable to the underwriters in the offering only if we consummate a business combination. If a business combination is not so consummated, the trust account, and all accrued interest earned thereon less up to $200,000 that may be released to us to fund our working capital requirements following the one year anniversary of the date of this prospectus, will be distributed solely to our public stockholders (subject to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors).

We will not proceed with a business combination if public stockholders owning 20% or more of the shares sold in this offering vote against the business combination and exercise their conversion rights. Accordingly, we may effect a business combination if public stockholders owning up to approximately 19.99% of the shares sold in this offering exercise their conversion rights. If this occurs, we would be required to convert to cash up to approximately 19.99% of the 4,500,000 shares sold in this offering, or 899,550 shares of common stock, at an initial per-share conversion price of approximately $7.59 (for a total of approximately $6,826,585), without taking into account interest then held in the trust account. This amount represents $7.51 per share from the proceeds of the offering and the private placements and $0.08 per share of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions. Payment of a portion of the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions to the converting stockholders does not reduce the amount payable to the underwriters if we consummate a business combination ($360,000). The actual per-share conversion price will be equal to:

 

    the amount in the trust account, including all accrued interest after distribution of interest income on the trust account balance to us as described above, as of two business days prior to the proposed consummation of the business combination,

 

    divided by the number of shares of common stock sold in the offering.

 

9


Table of Contents

Risk Factors

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the material risks described below, which we believe represent all the material risks related to the offering, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units.

Risks associated with our business

We are a development stage company with no operating history and, accordingly, you will not have any basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. Moreover, our financial statements contain a statement indicating that our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on us raising funds in this offering.

We are a recently incorporated development stage company with no operating results to date. Therefore, our ability to commence operations is dependent upon obtaining financing through the public offering of our securities. Since we do not have an operating history, you will have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective, which is to acquire an operating business. We have not conducted any discussions and we have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective acquisition candidates. We will not generate any revenues until, at the earliest, after the consummation of a business combination. The report of our independent registered public accountants on our financial statements includes an explanatory paragraph stating that our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on the consummation of this offering. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our ability to continue as a going concern.

If we are forced to liquidate before a business combination and distribute the trust account, our public stockholders will receive less than $8.00 per share and our warrants will expire worthless.

If we are unable to complete a business combination within two years from the date of this prospectus and are forced to liquidate our assets, the per-share liquidation distribution will be less than $8.00 because of the expenses of this offering, our general and administrative expenses and the anticipated costs of seeking a business combination. Furthermore, there will be no distribution with respect to our outstanding warrants which will expire worthless if we liquidate before the completion of a business combination.

You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of blank check companies.

Since the net proceeds of this offering are intended to be used to complete a business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, since we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful consummation of this offering and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors of blank check companies such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Because we are not subject to Rule 419, our units will be immediately tradable and we have a longer period of time to complete a business combination than we would if we were subject to such rule.

Because there are numerous companies with a business plan similar to ours seeking to effectuate a business combination, it may be more difficult for us to do so.

Since August 2003, based upon publicly available information, approximately 69 similarly structured blank check companies have completed initial public offerings in the United States. Of these companies, only 9 companies have consummated a business combination, while 33 other companies have announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination, but have not consummated such business

 

10


Table of Contents

combination. Accordingly, there are approximately 60 blank check companies with more than $4.5 billion in trust that are seeking to carry out a business plan similar to our business plan. Furthermore, there are a number of additional offerings for blank check companies that are still in the registration process but have not completed initial public offerings and there are likely to be more blank check companies filing registration statements for initial public offerings after the date of this prospectus and prior to our completion of a business combination. While some of those companies must complete a business combination in specific industries, a number of them may consummate a business combination in any industry they choose. Therefore, we may be subject to competition from these and other companies seeking to consummate a business plan similar to ours. Because of this competition, we cannot assure you that we will be able to effectuate a business combination within the required time periods.

We may depend on interest earned on the trust account to fund our search for a target business or businesses and to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering, only approximately $800,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. This amount may not be sufficient to fund our working capital requirements for the entire period prior to a business combination. We therefore may depend to a degree on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to provide us with additional working capital we will need to identify one or more target businesses and to complete our initial business combination. While we are entitled to have released to us for such purposes interest income of up to a maximum of $200,000 following the one year anniversary of the date of this prospectus, a substantial decline in interest rates may result in our having insufficient funds available with which to structure, negotiate or close an initial business combination. In such event, we would need to borrow funds from our initial stockholders to operate or may be forced to liquidate.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in trust could be reduced and the per-share liquidation price received by stockholders will be less than $7.59 per share.

Our placing of funds in trust may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors and service providers we engage and prospective target businesses we negotiate with, execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements. Nor is there any guarantee that, even if such entities execute such agreements with us, they will not seek recourse against the trust account. A court could also conclude that such agreements are not legally enforceable. Accordingly, the proceeds held in trust could be subject to claims which could take priority over those of our public stockholders. If we liquidate before the completion of a business combination and distribute the proceeds held in trust to our public stockholders, Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, has agreed that he will be personally liable to ensure that the proceeds in the trust account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or claims of vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us. Because we will seek to have all vendors and prospective target businesses execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account, we believe the likelihood of Mr. Rosenfeld having any such obligations is minimal. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we have questioned Mr. Rosenfeld on his financial net worth and reviewed his financial information and believe he will be able to satisfy any indemnification obligations that may arise. However, we cannot assure you that he will be able to satisfy those obligations, if he is required to do so. Therefore, we cannot assure you that the per-share distribution from the trust fund, if we liquidate, will not be less than $7.59, plus interest then held in the trust fund.

Additionally, if we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return to our public stockholders at least $7.59 per share.

 

11


Table of Contents

Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will continue in existence only until twenty four months from the date of this prospectus. If we have not completed a business combination by such date and amended this provision in connection thereto, pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating. Under Sections 280 through 282 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to make liquidating distributions to our stockholders as soon as reasonably possible after the expiration of the twenty four month period and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. Because we will not be complying with those procedures, we are required, pursuant to Section 281 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, to adopt a plan that will provide for our payment, based on facts known to us at such time, of (i) all existing claims, (ii) all pending claims and (iii) all claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. Accordingly, we would be required to provide for any creditors known to us at that time or those that we believe could be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years prior to distributing the funds held in the trust to stockholders. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that third parties will not seek to recover from our stockholders amounts owed to them by us.

If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, because we intend to distribute the proceeds held in the trust account to our public stockholders promptly after October 3, 2008, this may be viewed or interpreted as giving preference to our public stockholders over any potential creditors with respect to access to or distributions from our assets. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

An effective registration statement may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise his, her or its warrants and causing such warrants to be practically worthless.

No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless at the time a holder seeks to exercise such warrant, a prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrant is current and the common stock has been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to meet these conditions and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so, and if we do not maintain a current prospectus related to the

 

12


Table of Contents

common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will be unable to exercise their warrants and we will not be required to settle any such warrant exercise. If the prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon the exercise of the warrants is not current or if the common stock is not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside, the warrants may have no value, the market for the warrants may be limited and the warrants may expire worthless.

An investor will only be able to exercise a warrant if the issuance of common stock upon such exercise has been registered or qualified or is deemed exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants.

No warrants will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless the common stock issuable upon such exercise has been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. Because the exemptions from qualification in certain states for resales of warrants and for issuances of common stock by the issuer upon exercise of a warrant may be different, a warrant may be held by a holder in a state where an exemption is not available for issuance of common stock upon an exercise and the holder will be precluded from exercise of the warrant. At the time that the warrants become exercisable (following our completion of a business combination), we expect to either become listed on a national securities exchange, which would provide an exemption from registration in every state, or we would register the warrants in every state (or seek another exemption from registration in such states). Accordingly, we believe holders in every state will be able to exercise their warrants as long as our prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is current. However, we cannot assure you of this fact. As a result, the warrants may be deprived of any value, the market for the warrants may be limited and the holders of warrants may not be able to exercise their warrants if the common stock issuable upon such exercise is not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside.

Since we have not yet selected a particular industry or target business with which to complete a business combination, we are unable to currently ascertain the merits or risks of the industry or business in which we may ultimately operate.

We may consummate a business combination with a company in any industry we choose and are not limited to any particular industry or type of business. Accordingly, there is no current basis for you to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the particular industry in which we may ultimately operate or the target business which we may ultimately acquire. To the extent we complete a business combination with a financially unstable company or an entity in its development stage, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations of those entities. If we complete a business combination with an entity in an industry characterized by a high level of risk, we may be affected by the currently unascertainable risks of that industry. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular industry or target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a target business.

We may issue shares of our capital stock or debt securities to complete a business combination, which would reduce the equity interest of our stockholders and likely cause a change in control of our ownership.

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 15,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering and the purchase of the insider warrants (assuming no exercise of the over-allotment option), there will be 2,838,636 authorized but unissued shares of our common stock available for issuance (after appropriate reservation for the issuance of the shares upon full exercise of our outstanding warrants and the unit purchase option granted to the underwriter) and all of the 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock available for issuance. Although we have no commitment as of the date of this offering, we are likely to issue a substantial number of additional shares of our common or preferred stock, or a combination of common and preferred stock, to

 

13


Table of Contents

complete a business combination. The issuance of additional shares of our common stock or any number of shares of our preferred stock:

 

    may significantly reduce the equity interest of investors in this offering;

 

    may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if we issue preferred stock with rights senior to those afforded to our common stock;

 

    will likely cause a change in control if a substantial number of our shares of common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and

 

    may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock.

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:

 

    default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after a business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;

 

    acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

 

    our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; and

 

    our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding.

Our ability to successfully effect a business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following a business combination.

Our ability to successfully effect a 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 such as Eric S. Rosenfeld, David Sgro, our chief financial officer, and Arnaud Ajdler, our secretary and a member of our board of directors, may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following a 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 a 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 public company which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following a 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 to us.

Our key personnel will be able to remain with the company after the consummation of a 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 the company after the consummation of the business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with the company after the consummation of a business combination will not be the main determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination.

 

14


Table of Contents

Our 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 consummate a business combination.

Our officers and directors are not required to commit their full time to our affairs, which could create a conflict of interest when allocating their time between our operations and their other commitments. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the consummation of a business combination. All of our executive officers are engaged in several other business endeavors and are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our affairs. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote more substantial amounts of time to such affairs, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs and could have a negative impact on our ability to consummate a business combination. We cannot assure you that these conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

While our officers and directors do not currently have any contractual obligations to present potential business combination opportunities to any other company, including other “blank check” companies, such individuals are affiliated with other businesses and as a result may have similar fiduciary obligations for presenting business opportunities to such entities as well as to our company. While we do not believe such businesses would be evaluating the same type of potential target businesses that we would, as they are mainly operating companies with established operations, a situation could arise where the same target business could be an attractive acquisition candidate for us and one or more of such other businesses. Additionally, our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities, including other “blank check” companies, engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. We cannot assure you that these conflicts will be resolved in our favor. As a result, a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, potentially depriving us of an attractive business combination.

All of our officers and directors own shares of our common stock issued prior to this offering and several of our directors and an entity controlled by our special advisor will own warrants after this offering. These securities will not participate in liquidation distributions. Therefore, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for a business combination.

All of our officers and directors own shares of our common stock that were issued prior to this offering and Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, Messrs. Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer and Colin D. Watson, each a member of our board of directors, and Gotham Capital V, an entity controlled by Joel Greenblatt, our special advisor, are purchasing insider warrants upon consummation of this offering. Such individuals have waived their right to receive distributions with respect to their initial shares upon our liquidation if we are unable to consummate a business combination. The shares acquired prior to this offering, as well as the insider warrants, and any warrants purchased by our officers or directors in this offering or in the aftermarket will be worthless if we do not consummate a business combination. The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest.

 

15


Table of Contents

If our common stock becomes subject to the SEC’s penny stock rules, broker-dealers may experience difficulty in completing customer transactions and trading activity in our securities may be adversely affected.

If at any time we have net tangible assets of $5,000,000 or less and our common stock has a market price per share of less than $5.00, transactions in our common stock may be subject to the “penny stock” rules promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Under these rules, broker-dealers who recommend such securities to persons other than institutional accredited investors must:

 

    make a special written suitability determination for the purchaser;

 

    receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction prior to sale;

 

    provide the purchaser with risk disclosure documents which identify certain risks associated with investing in “penny stocks” and which describe the market for these “penny stocks” as well as a purchaser’s legal remedies; and

 

    obtain a signed and dated acknowledgment from the purchaser demonstrating that the purchaser has actually received the required risk disclosure document before a transaction in a “penny stock” can be completed.

If our common stock becomes subject to these rules, broker-dealers may find it difficult to effectuate customer transactions and trading activity in our securities may be adversely affected. As a result, the market price of our securities may be depressed, and you may find it more difficult to sell our securities.

After our business combination, we will be solely dependent on a single business and a limited number of products or services.

Our business combination must be with a business with a fair market value of at least 80% of our net assets at the time of such acquisition, although this may entail the simultaneous acquisitions of several operating businesses at the same time. By consummating a 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, or

 

    dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.

Alternatively, if our business combination entails the simultaneous acquisitions of several operating businesses at the same time from different sellers, we would face additional risks, including difficulties and expenses incurred in connection with the subsequent integration of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies into a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.

The ability of our stockholders to exercise their conversion rights may not allow us to effectuate the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

When we seek stockholder approval of any business combination, we will offer each public stockholder (but not our existing stockholders) the right to have his, her or its shares of common stock converted to cash if the stockholder votes against the business combination and the business combination is approved and completed. Such holder must both vote against such business combination and then exercise his, her or its conversion rights to receive a pro rata portion of the trust account. Accordingly, if our business combination requires us to use substantially all of our cash to pay the purchase price, because we will not know how many stockholders may exercise such conversion rights, we may either need to reserve part of the trust account for possible payment upon such conversion, or we may need to arrange third party financing to help fund our business combination in

 

16


Table of Contents

case a larger percentage of stockholders exercise their conversion rights than we expect. Since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing. Therefore, we may not be able to consummate a business combination that requires us to use all of the funds held in the trust account as part of the purchase price, or we may end up having a leverage ratio that is not optimal for our business combination. This may limit our ability to effectuate the most attractive business combination available to us.

Because of our limited resources and structure, we may not be able to consummate an attractive business combination.

We expect to encounter intense competition from entities other than blank check companies having a business objective similar to ours, including venture capital funds, leveraged buyout funds and operating businesses competing for acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe that there are numerous potential target businesses that we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering, our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses 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, the obligation we have to seek stockholder approval of a business combination may delay the consummation of a transaction. Additionally, our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. Because only 9 of the 69 blank check companies that have gone public in the United States since August 2003 have either consummated a business combination or entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination, it may indicate that there are fewer attractive target businesses available to such entities like our company or that many privately held target businesses are not inclined to enter into these types of transactions with publicly held blank check companies like ours. If we are unable to consummate a business combination with a target business within the prescribed time periods, we will be forced to liquidate.

We may be unable to obtain additional financing, if required, to complete a business combination or to fund the operations and growth of the target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering will be sufficient to allow us to consummate a business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business, we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of the business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, or the obligation to convert into cash a significant number of shares from dissenting stockholders, we will be required to seek additional financing. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to consummate a particular business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, if we consummate a business combination, we may require additional financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after a business combination.

Our existing stockholders, including our officers and directors, control a substantial interest in us and thus may influence certain actions requiring a stockholder vote.

Upon consummation of our offering, our existing stockholders (including all of our officers and directors) will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase

 

17


Table of Contents

any units in this offering). Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. It is unlikely that there will be an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of a business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the consummation of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our existing stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our existing stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the consummation of a business combination.

Our existing stockholders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.0222 per share, for their initial shares and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our common stock.

The difference between the public offering price per share and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to the investors in this offering. Our existing stockholders acquired their initial shares of common stock at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Assuming the offering is completed, you and the other new investors will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 25.5% or $2.04 per share (the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $5.96, and the initial offering price of $8.00 per unit).

Our outstanding warrants and option may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and make it more difficult to effect a business combination.

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 4,500,000 shares of common stock as part of the units offered by this prospectus and the insider warrants to purchase 1,136,364 shares of common stock. We will also issue an option to purchase 450,000 units to the representative of the underwriters which, if exercised, will result in the issuance of an additional 450,000 warrants. To the extent we issue shares of common stock to effect a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares upon exercise of these warrants and option could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle in the eyes of a target business. Such securities, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our common stock and reduce the value of the shares issued to complete the business combination. Accordingly, our warrants and option may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business. Additionally, the sale, or even the possibility of sale, of the shares underlying the warrants and option could have an adverse effect on the market price for our securities or on our ability to obtain future financing. If and to the extent these warrants and option are exercised, you may experience dilution to your holdings.

Our management’s ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis will cause holders to receive fewer shares of common stock upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to exercise their warrants for cash.

If we call our warrants for redemption after the redemption criteria described elsewhere in this prospectus have been satisfied, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” If our management chooses to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, the number of shares of common stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his warrant for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company.

If our existing stockholders or the purchasers of the insider warrants exercise their registration rights with respect to their initial shares or insider warrants and underlying securities, it may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and the existence of these rights may make it more difficult to effect a business combination.

Our existing stockholders are entitled to demand that we register the resale of their initial shares at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which their shares are released from escrow. Additionally, the

 

18


Table of Contents

purchasers of the insider warrants are entitled to demand that we register the resale of their insider warrants and underlying shares of common stock at any time after we consummate a business combination. If such individuals exercise their registration rights with respect to all of their securities, then there could be an additional 2,261,364 shares of common stock and 1,136,364 warrants eligible for trading in the public market. The presence of these additional securities trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the existence of these rights may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business, as the stockholders of the target business may be discouraged from entering into a business combination with us or will request a higher price for their securities because of the potential effect the exercise of such rights may have on the trading market for our common stock.

Investors in this offering may engage in resale transactions only in those states that we have registered this offering and a limited number of other jurisdictions where an applicable exemption from registration exists.

We have applied to register our securities, or have obtained or will seek to obtain an exemption from registration, in Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, New York and Rhode Island. If you are not an “institutional investor,” you must be a resident of these jurisdictions to purchase our securities in the offering. Institutional investors in every state except Idaho may purchase units in this offering pursuant to exemptions provided to such entities under the Blue Sky laws of various states. The definition of an “institutional investor” varies from state to state but generally includes financial institutions, broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies and other qualified entities. Under the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, the resale of the units and, once they become separately transferable, the common stock and warrants comprising the units are exempt from state registration requirements. However, each state retains jurisdiction to investigate and bring enforcement actions with respect to fraud or deceit, or unlawful conduct by a broker or dealer, in connection with the sale of securities. Although we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict resales of securities issued by blank check companies generally, certain state securities commissioners view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the resale of securities of blank check companies in their state.

If we are deemed to be an investment company, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete a business combination.

A company that, among other things, is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, trading or holding certain types of securities would be deemed an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Since we will invest the proceeds held in the trust fund, it is possible that we could be deemed an investment company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act of 1940. To this end, the proceeds held in trust may be invested by the trustee only in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, we intend to meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

If we are, however, deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, we may be subject to certain restrictions that may make it more difficult for us to complete a business combination, including:

 

    restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

 

    restrictions on the issuance of securities.

 

19


Table of Contents

In addition, we may have imposed upon us certain burdensome requirements, including:

 

    registration as an investment company;

 

    adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

    reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy, compliance policies and procedures and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.

Compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expense for which we have not allotted.

Our directors may not be considered “independent” under the policies of the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc.

No salary or other compensation will be paid to our directors for services rendered by them on our behalf prior to or in connection with a business combination. Accordingly, we believe our non-executive directors would be considered “independent” as that term is commonly used by the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. and the American Stock Exchange LLC. Such exchanges define “independent” as a person, other than an officer or employee of the company or any parent or subsidiary, having no relationship which would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Equity ownership of non-executive directors is not relevant to the definition of independence. However, under the policies of the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc., an international organization devoted to investor protection, because each of our directors own shares of our securities and may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf (such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations), state securities administrators could argue that all of such individuals are not “independent.” If this were the case, they would take the position that we would not have the benefit of any independent directors examining the propriety of expenses incurred on our behalf and subject to reimbursement. Additionally, there is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses that could be incurred and there will be no review of the reasonableness of the expenses by anyone other than our board of directors, which would include persons who may seek reimbursement, or a court of competent jurisdiction if such reimbursement is challenged. Although we believe that all actions taken by our directors on our behalf will be in our best interests, whether or not they are deemed to be “independent,” we cannot assure you that this will actually be the case. If actions are taken, or expenses are incurred that are actually not in our best interests, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations, and a material adverse effect on the prices of our securities held by public stockholders.

Because our initial stockholders’ initial equity investment for their initial shares was only $25,000, our offering may be disallowed by state administrators that follow the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. Statement of Policy on development stage companies.

Pursuant to the Statement of Policy Regarding Promoter’s Equity Investment promulgated by The North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc., any state administrator may disallow an offering of a development stage company if the initial equity investment by a company’s promoters does not equal a certain percentage of the aggregate public offering price. Our promoters’ initial investment of $25,000 for their initial shares is less than the required $1,010,000 minimum amount pursuant to this policy. Accordingly, a state administrator would have the discretion to disallow our offering if it wanted to. We cannot assure you that our offering would not be disallowed pursuant to this policy. If the offering were disallowed, it would further restrict your ability to engage in resale transactions with respect to our securities. Additionally, if we are unable to complete a business combination, our promoters’ loss will be limited to their initial investment. Conversely, if we are able to complete a business combination, the shares of common stock acquired prior to this offering will be worth significantly more than $25,000.

 

20


Table of Contents

Because of our current financial condition, our offering may be disallowed by state administrators following the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. Statement of Policy Regarding Unsound Financial Condition.

Pursuant to the Statement of Policy Regarding Unsound Financial Condition promulgated by the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc., any state administrator may disallow an offering if the financial statements of the company contain a footnote or the independent auditor’s report contains an explanatory paragraph regarding the company’s ability to continue as a going concern and the company has, among other things, an accumulated deficit and no revenues from operations. The report of BDO Seidman LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, contains a going concern explanatory paragraph and we have no revenues from our operations and an accumulated deficit. Accordingly, a state administrator would have the discretion to disallow our offering if it wanted to. We cannot assure you that our offering would not be disallowed pursuant to this policy. If the offering were disallowed, it would further restrict your ability to engage in resale transactions with respect to our securities.

 

21


Table of Contents

Use of Proceeds

We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering, in addition to the funds we will receive from the sale of the insider warrants (all of which will be deposited into the trust fund), will be as set forth in the following table:

 

     Without Over-
Allotment Option
   

Over-Allotment

Option Exercised

 

Gross proceeds

    

From offering

   $ 36,000,000.00     $ 41,400,000.00  

From private placement of insider warrants

   $ 1,250,000.00     $ 1,250,000.00  
                

Total gross proceeds

   $ 37,250,000.00     $ 42,650,000.00  
                

Offering expenses(1)

    

Underwriting discount (5.5% of gross proceeds, 4.5% of which is payable at closing and 1.0% of which is payable upon consummation of a business combination)

     1,620,000.00 (2)     1,863,000.00 (2)

Underwriting non-accountable expense allowance (0.5% of gross proceeds)

     180,000.00       180,000.00  

Legal fees and expenses (including blue sky services and expenses)

     350,000.00       350,000.00  

Miscellaneous expenses

     24,653.90       24,653.90  

Printing and engraving expenses

     65,000.00       65,000.00  

Accounting fees and expenses

     42,500.00       42,500.00  

SEC registration fee

     8,966.34       8,966.34  

NASD filing fee

     8,879.76       8,879.76  

Net proceeds before payment of deferred underwriting fees

    

Held in trust

     34,150,000.00       39,278,250.00  

Not held in trust

     800,000.00       828,750.00  
                

Total net proceeds

   $ 34,950,000.00     $ 40,107,000.00  
                

 

Use of net proceeds not held in trust

          

Payment of administrative fee to Crescendo Advisors II ($7,500 per month for 24 months)

   $ 180,000    (22.50 )%   $ 180,000    (21.72 )%

Legal, accounting and other third-party expenses attendant to the due diligence investigation, structuring and negotiation of a business combination

     250,000    (31.25 )%     250,000    (30.17 )%

Due diligence of prospective target businesses by officers, directors, existing stockholders or special advisors

     50,000    (6.25 )%     50,000    (6.03 )%

Legal and accounting fees relating to SEC reporting obligations

     100,000    (12.50 )%     100,000    (12.07 )%

Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses, D&O insurance, taxes, general corporate purposes, dissolution obligations and reserves

     220,000    (27.50 )%     248,750    (30.01 )%
                          

Total

   $ 800,000    (100.0 )%   $ 828,750    (100.0 )%
                          

(1) As of the date hereof, approximately $70,000 of the offering expenses, including the SEC registration fee, the NASD filing fee and a portion of the non-accountable expense allowance and legal and audit fees, have been paid from the funds we received from Mr. Rosenfeld described below. These funds will be repaid out of the proceeds of this offering not being placed in trust upon consummation of this offering.
(2) For purposes of presentation, the underwriting discounts are reflected as the amount payable to the underwriters upon consummation of the offering. An additional $360,000, or $414,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, all of which will be deposited in trust following the consummation of the offering, is payable to the underwriters only if and when we consummate a business combination.

 

22


Table of Contents

In addition to the offering of units by this prospectus, Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, Messrs. Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer and Colin D. Watson, each a member of our board of directors, and Gotham Capital V, an entity controlled by Joel Greenblatt, our special advisor, have committed to purchase the insider warrants (for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250,000) from us. These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. We will not pay any discounts or commissions with respect to the purchase of the insider warrants. All of the proceeds we receive from these purchases will be placed in the trust fund described below.

$32,900,000, or $38,028,250 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, of net proceeds of this offering, plus the $1,250,000 we will receive from the sale of the insider warrants, will be placed in a trust account at Lehman Brothers, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, New York, New York, as trustee. This amount includes a portion of the underwriting discounts and commissions payable to the underwriters in this offering. The underwriters have agreed that such amount will not be paid unless and until we consummate a business combination and have waived their right to receive such payment upon our liquidation if we are unable to complete a business combination. The funds held in trust will be invested only in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 having a maturity of 180 days or less, or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, so that we are not deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Except with respect to $200,000 of interest income that may be released to us following the one year anniversary of the date of this prospectus, the proceeds held in trust will not be released from the trust account until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or our liquidation. The proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we complete a business combination.

The payment to Crescendo Advisors II, an affiliate of Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, of a monthly fee of $7,500 is for general and administrative services including office space, utilities and secretarial support. This arrangement is being agreed to by Crescendo Advisors II for our benefit and is not intended to provide Mr. Rosenfeld compensation in lieu of a salary. We believe, based on rents and fees for similar services in the New York metropolitan area, that the fee charged by Crescendo Advisors II is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. This arrangement will terminate upon completion of a business combination or the distribution of the trust account to our public stockholders. Other than the $7,500 per month administrative fee, no compensation of any kind (including finder’s, consulting or other similar fees) will be paid to any of our existing officers, directors, stockholders, special advisors, or any of their affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of the business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. Reimbursement for such expenses will be paid by us out of the funds not held in trust and currently allocated to “Legal, accounting and other expenses attendant to the due diligence investigations, structuring and negotiation of a business combination,” “Due diligence of prospective target businesses” and “Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses, D&O insurance, taxes and reserves.” Since the role of present management after a business combination is uncertain, we have no ability to determine what remuneration, if any, will be paid to those persons after a business combination.

We intend to use the excess working capital (approximately $220,000, or $248,750 if the over-allotment is exercised in full) for director and officer liability insurance premiums (approximately $80,000), with the balance of $140,000 (or $168,750 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) being held in reserve for tax payments and in the event due diligence, taxes, legal, accounting and other expenses of structuring and negotiating business combinations exceed our estimates, as well as for reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our existing stockholders in connection with activities on our behalf as described above. In addition to the foregoing, interest earned on the funds in the trust account of up to $200,000 may be released to us to fund our working

 

23


Table of Contents

capital requirements if we have not consummated a business combination by the one year anniversary of the date of this prospectus. Such amount would be added to our excess working capital. We believe that the excess working capital will be sufficient to cover the foregoing expenses and reimbursement costs. We could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds available to us 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 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, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, conducting due diligence with respect to, or completing a business combination with, a potential target business.

The net proceeds of this offering not held in the trust account and not immediately required for the purposes set forth above will be held as cash or cash equivalents or will be invested only in United States “government securities” so that we are not deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act. The income derived from investment of these net proceeds during this period will be used to defray our general and administrative expenses, as well as costs relating to compliance with securities laws and regulations, including associated professional fees, until a business combination is completed.

The allocation of net proceeds not held in trust represents our best estimate of the intended uses of these funds. In the event that our assumptions prove to be inaccurate, we may reallocate some of such proceeds within the above described categories.

We will likely use substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering, including the funds held in the trust account, to acquire a target business and to pay our expenses relating thereto, including the up to $360,000 fee payable to EarlyBirdCapital, the representative of the underwriters, upon the consummation of a business combination for acting as our investment banker on a non-exclusive basis to assist us in structuring a business combination and negotiating its terms (but not for purposes of locating potential target candidates for our business combination). The funds used to pay the representative will not be available to us to use in connection with or following the business combination. To the extent that our capital stock is used in whole or in part as consideration to effect a business combination, the proceeds held in the trust account which are not used to consummate a business combination will be disbursed to the combined company and will, along with any other net proceeds not expended, be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business. Such working capital funds could be used in a variety of ways including continuing or expanding the target business’ operations, for strategic acquisitions and for marketing, research and development of existing or new products. Such funds could also be used to repay any operating expenses or finders’ fees which we had incurred prior to the completion of our business combination if the funds available to us outside of the trust fund were insufficient to cover such expenses.

To the extent we are unable to consummate a business combination, we will pay the costs of liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account. If such funds are insufficient, our initial stockholders have agreed to advance us the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than approximately $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment of such expenses.

Eric S. Rosenfeld has advanced to us a total of $90,000 which was used to pay a portion of the expenses of this offering referenced in the line items above for SEC registration fee, NASD filing fee and legal and audit fees and expenses. The loan will be payable without interest on the earlier of May 15, 2007 or the consummation of this offering. The loan will be repaid out of the proceeds of this offering available to us.

 

24


Table of Contents

We believe that, upon consummation of this offering, we will have sufficient available funds (which includes amounts we can receive from the trust account) to operate for the next 24 months, assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time.

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account (including interest earned on his, her or its portion of the trust account) only in the event of our liquidation or if that public stockholder converts such shares into cash in connection with a business combination which the public stockholder voted against and which we consummate. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

 

25


Table of Contents

Dilution

The difference between the public offering price per share of common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering by this prospectus or the insider warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the insider warrants. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of common stock which may be converted into cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our common stock.

At August 31, 2006, our net tangible book value was a deficiency of $84,125, or approximately $(0.07) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 4,500,000 shares of common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, and the deduction of underwriting discounts and estimated expenses of this offering, and the sale of the insider warrants, our pro forma net tangible book value at August 31, 2006 would have been $28,146,622 or $5.96 per share, representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value of $6.03 per share to the existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $2.04 per share or 25.5% to new investors not exercising their conversion rights. For purposes of presentation, our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering is approximately $6,826,585 less than it otherwise would have been because if we effect a business combination, the conversion rights to the public stockholders (but not our existing stockholders) may result in the conversion into cash of up to approximately 19.99% of the aggregate number of the shares sold in this offering at a per-share conversion price equal to the amount in the trust account (which includes $360,000 in deferred underwriting discounts and commissions) as of two business days prior to the consummation of the proposed business combination, inclusive of any interest, divided by the number of shares sold in this offering.

The following table illustrates the dilution to the new investors on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units and the insider warrants:

 

Public offering price

     $ 8.00

Net tangible book value before this offering

   (0.07 )  

Increase attributable to new investors

   6.03    
        

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering

       5.96
        

Dilution to new investors

     $ 2.04
        

The following table sets forth information with respect to our existing stockholders and the new investors:

 

     Shares Purchased     Total Consideration    

Average

Price

Per Share

     Number    Percentage     Amount    Percentage    

Existing stockholders

   1,125,000    20.00 %   $ 25,000    0.07 %   $ 0.02

New investors

   4,500,000    80.00 %   $ 36,000,000    99.93 %   $ 8.00
                          
   5,625,000    100.00 %   $ 36,025,000    100.00 %  
                          

 

26


Table of Contents

The pro forma net tangible book value after the offering is calculated as follows:

 

Numerator:

  

Net tangible book value before this offering

   $ (84,125 )

Proceeds from this offering and sale of insider warrants

     34,950,000 (1)

Offering costs excluded from net tangible book value before this offering

     107,332  

Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to conversion to cash ($34,150,000 x 19.99%)

     (6,826,585 )
        
   $ 28,146,622  
        

Denominator:

  

Shares of common stock outstanding prior to this offering

     1,125,000  

Shares of common stock included in the units offered

     4,500,000  

Less: Shares subject to conversion (4,500,000 x 19.99%)

     (899,550 )
        
     4,725,450  
        

(1) Includes deferred underwriting discounts and commissions ($0.08 per share) which may be distributed to public stockholders if they seek conversion of their shares upon consummation of a business combination.

 

27


Table of Contents

Capitalization

The following table sets forth our capitalization at August 31, 2006 and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units and insider warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

     August 31, 2006  
     Actual    

As

Adjusted(1)

 

Note payable to stockholder

   $ 90,000     $ —    
                

Total debt

   $ 90,000     $ —    
                

Common stock, $.0001 par value, -0- and 899,550 shares which are subject to possible conversion, shares at conversion value

     —       $ 6,826,585  
                

Stockholders’ equity:

    

Preferred stock, $.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding

     —         —    

Common stock, $.0001 par value, 15,000,000 shares authorized; 1,125,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual; 4,725,450 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 899,550 shares subject to possible conversion), as adjusted

     113       473  

Additional paid-in capital

     24,887       28,147,942  

Deficit accumulated during the development stage

     (1,793 )     (1,793 )
                

Total stockholders’ equity

   $ 23,207     $ 28,146,622  
                

Total capitalization

   $ 113,207     $ 34,973,207 (2)
                

(1) Includes the $1,250,000 we will receive from the sale of the insider warrants.
(2) Includes the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions ($0.08 per share) which may be distributed to public stockholders if they seek conversion of their shares upon consummation of a business combination.

If we consummate a business combination, the conversion rights afforded to our public stockholders (but not our existing stockholders) may result in the conversion into cash of up to approximately 19.99% of the aggregate number of shares sold in this offering at a per-share conversion price equal to the amount in the trust account (which includes $360,000 in deferred underwriting discounts and commissions), inclusive of any interest thereon not previously released to us for working capital requirements, as of two business days prior to the proposed consummation of a business combination divided by the number of shares sold in this offering.

 

28


Table of Contents

Management’s Discussion and Analysis

of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

We were formed on April 24, 2006 to serve as a vehicle to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with an operating business. We intend to utilize cash derived from the proceeds of this offering, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, capital stock and debt, in effecting a business combination. The issuance of additional shares of our capital stock:

 

    may significantly reduce the equity interest of our stockholders;

 

    may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if we issue preferred stock with rights senior to those afforded to our common stock;

 

    will likely cause a change in control if a substantial number of our shares of common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and most likely will also result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and

 

    may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock.

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:

 

    default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after a business combination are insufficient to pay our debt obligations;

 

    acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we have made all principal and interest payments when due if the debt security contains covenants that required the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves and we breach any such covenant without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

 

    our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; and

 

    our inability to obtain additional financing, if necessary, if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain additional financing while such security is outstanding.

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our entire activity since inception has been to prepare for our proposed fundraising through an offering of our equity securities.

We estimate that the net proceeds from the sale of the units, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $680,000, including $180,000 which represents the non-accountable expense allowance of 0.5% of the gross proceeds, and underwriting discounts of approximately $1,980,000, or $2,277,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be approximately $33,340,000, or $38,443,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. However, the underwriters have agreed that 1.0% of the underwriting discounts and commissions due will not be payable unless and until we consummate a business combination. Accordingly, $32,900,000, or $38,028,250 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, of the net proceeds of this offering will be held in trust and the remaining $800,000, or $828,750 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, will not be held in trust. An additional $1,250,000 will also be deposited into trust upon consummation of this offering from the sale of the insider warrants described below. If we have not consummated a business combination by the one year anniversary of the date of this prospectus, there can be released to us from the trust account interest earned on the funds in the trust account of up to $200,000 to fund expenses related to investigating and selecting a target business, income and other taxes and our working capital requirements. We intend to use substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering, including the funds held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions), to acquire a target business and to pay our expenses relating thereto, including the up to $360,000 fee payable to EarlyBirdCapital, the representative of the underwriters, upon the consummation of a business combination for acting as our investment banker on a non-exclusive basis to assist us in structuring a business combination and negotiating its terms (but not for purposes of locating potential target candidates for our business combination). The funds used to pay the representative

 

29


Table of Contents

will not be available to us to use in connection with or following the business combination. To the extent that our capital stock is used in whole or in part as consideration to effect a business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account as well as any other net proceeds not expended will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business. Such working capital funds could be used in a variety of ways including continuing or expanding the target business’ operations, for strategic acquisitions and for marketing, research and development of existing or new products. Such funds could also be used to repay any operating expenses or finders’ fees which we had incurred prior to the completion of our business combination if the funds available to us outside of the trust fund were insufficient to cover such expenses.

We believe that, upon consummation of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with the up to $200,000 of interest income that may be released to us from the trust account if we have not consummated a business combination by the one year anniversary of the date of this prospectus, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing business due diligence on prospective target businesses, traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses, reviewing corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, selecting the target business to acquire and structuring, negotiating and consummating the business combination. We anticipate that we will incur approximately $180,000 for the administrative fee payable to Crescendo Advisors II ($7,500 per month for two years), $250,000 of expenses for legal, accounting and other third-party expenses attendant to the due diligence investigations, structuring and negotiating of a business combination, $50,000 of expenses for the due diligence and investigation of a target business by our officers, directors, existing stockholders and special advisors, $100,000 of expenses in legal and accounting fees relating to our SEC reporting obligations, and $220,000 (or $248,750 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses, taxes and reserves, including approximately $80,000 for director and officer liability insurance premiums. The additional $200,000 we may receive from the trust account would be added to our general working capital. We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, we may need to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities if such funds are required to consummate a business combination that is presented to us, although we have not entered into any such arrangement and have no current intention of doing so.

We are obligated, commencing on the date of this prospectus, to pay to Crescendo Advisors II, an affiliate of Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, a monthly fee of $7,500 for general and administrative services.

On May 15, 2006, Eric S. Rosenfeld advanced an aggregate of $90,000 to us for payment of offering expenses on our behalf. The loan will be payable without interest on the earlier of May 15, 2007 or the consummation of this offering. The loan will be repaid out of the proceeds of this offering not being placed in trust.

Eric S. Rosenfeld, Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer, Colin D. Watson and Gotham Capital V have also committed to purchase 1,136,364 warrants at $1.10 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250,000) from us. These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering.

We have agreed to issue to the representative of the underwriters, for $100, an option to purchase up to a total of 450,000 units. We estimate that the fair value of this option is approximately $1,665,000 ($3.70 per Unit underlying such option) using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The fair value of the option granted to the representative is estimated as of the date of grant using the following assumptions: (1) expected volatility of 49.83%, (2) risk-free interest rate of 4.70% and (3) expected life of 5 years.

 

30


Table of Contents

Proposed Business

Introduction

We are a recently organized Delaware blank check company incorporated on April 24, 2006 in order to serve as a vehicle for the acquisition of an operating business. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry.

Effecting a business combination

General

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any substantive commercial business for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to utilize cash derived from the proceeds of this offering, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these in effecting a business combination. Although substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering are intended to be applied generally toward effecting a business combination as described in this prospectus, the proceeds are not otherwise being designated for any more specific purposes. Accordingly, investors in this offering are investing without first having an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any one or more business combinations. A business combination may involve the acquisition of, or merger with, a company which does not need substantial additional capital but which desires to establish a public trading market for its shares, while avoiding what it may deem to be adverse consequences of undertaking a public offering itself. These include time delays, significant expense, loss of voting control and compliance with various Federal and state securities laws. In the alternative, we may seek to consummate a business combination with a company that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth. While we may seek to effect business combinations with more than one target business, we will probably have the ability, as a result of our limited resources, to effect only a single business combination.

We have not identified a target business or target industry

To date, we have not selected any target business or target industry on which to concentrate our search for a business combination. None of our officers, directors, promoters and other affiliates has engaged in discussions on our behalf with representatives of other companies regarding the possibility of a potential merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with us, nor have we, nor any of our agents or affiliates, been approached by any candidates (or representatives of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us. Additionally, we have not contacted any of the prospective target businesses that Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation, the only other blank check company that our principals have been involved with, had considered and rejected. We do not intend to contact any of such targets unless we became aware that the operations, profits or prospects of such target business have improved significantly. We have also not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate such an acquisition candidate. We have also not conducted any research with respect to identifying the number and characteristics of the potential acquisition candidates. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will be able to locate a target business or that we will be able to engage in a business combination with a target business on favorable terms.

Subject to the limitations that a target business has a fair market value of at least 80% of our net assets at the time of the acquisition, as described below in more detail, we will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate. We have not established any other specific attributes or criteria (financial or otherwise) for prospective target businesses. Accordingly, there is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete a business combination. To the extent we effect a business combination with a financially unstable company or an entity in its early stage of development or growth, including entities without established records of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business and operations of financially unstable and early stage or potential emerging growth companies. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

 

31


Table of Contents

Sources of target businesses

We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers, venture capital funds, private equity funds, leveraged buyout funds, management buyout funds and other members of the financial community. 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 they think we may be interested in on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates 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. 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. In no event, however, will any of our existing officers, directors, stockholders or special advisors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of a business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). If we determine to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our officers, directors, special advisors or stockholders, we would do so only if we obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view. However, as of the date of this prospectus, there are no affiliated entities that we would consider as a business combination target.

Selection of a target business and structuring of a business combination

Our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective target business. We have not established any other specific attributes or criteria (financial or otherwise) for prospective target businesses. In evaluating a prospective target business, our management will consider, among other factors, the following:

 

    financial condition and results of operation;

 

    growth potential;

 

    experience and skill of management and availability of additional personnel;

 

    capital requirements;

 

    competitive position;

 

    barriers to entry;

 

    stage of development of the products, processes or services;

 

    degree of current or potential market acceptance of the products, processes or services;

 

    proprietary features and degree of intellectual property or other protection of the products, processes or services;

 

    regulatory environment of the industry; and

 

    costs associated with effecting the business combination.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular business combination will be based, to the extent relevant, on the above factors as well as other considerations deemed relevant by our management in effecting a business combination consistent with our business objective. In evaluating a prospective target business, we will conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and inspection of facilities, as well as review of financial and other information which is made available to us. This due diligence review will be

 

32


Table of Contents

conducted either by our management or by unaffiliated third parties we may engage, although we have no current intention to engage any such third parties. We will also seek to have all prospective target businesses execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account. If any prospective target business refused to execute such agreement, we would cease negotiations with such target business.

The time and costs required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete the business combination cannot presently be ascertained with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which a business combination is not ultimately completed will result in a loss to us and reduce the amount of capital available to otherwise complete a business combination.

We have engaged EarlyBirdCapital, the representative of the underwriters, on a non-exclusive basis, to act as our investment banker to assist us in structuring a business combination and negotiating its terms (but not for purposes of locating potential target candidates for our business combination). We anticipate that these services will include assisting us with valuing and structuring any proposed offer to be made to a target business and negotiating a letter of intent and/or definitive agreement with any potential target business. We will pay the representative a cash fee at the closing of our business combination of 1.0% of the total consideration paid in connection with the business combination, with a maximum fee to be paid of $360,000.

Fair market value of target business

The target business that we acquire must have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of our net assets at the time of such acquisition, although we may acquire a target business whose fair market value significantly exceeds 80% of our net assets. In order to consummate such an acquisition, we may issue a significant amount of our debt or equity securities to the sellers of such businesses and/or seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities. Since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not entered into any such fund raising arrangement and have no current intention of doing so. The fair market value of the target will be determined by our board of directors based upon standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as actual and potential sales, earnings and cash flow and book value. If our board is not able to independently determine that the target business has a sufficient fair market value, we will obtain an opinion from an unaffiliated, independent investment banking firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that fair market value meets the 80% of net assets threshold, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders, although copies will be provided to stockholders who request it. We will not be required to obtain an opinion from an investment banking firm as to the fair market value if our board of directors independently determines that the target business complies with the 80% threshold.

Lack of business diversification

Our business combination must be with a target business or businesses which satisfies the minimum valuation standard at the time of such acquisition, as discussed above, although this process may entail the simultaneous acquisitions of several operating businesses at the same time. Therefore, at least initially, the prospects for our success may be entirely dependent upon the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations of entities operating in multiple industries or multiple areas of a single industry, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses. By consummating a business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

 

    subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to a business combination, and

 

33


Table of Contents
    result in our dependency upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses and such businesses 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 acquisitions, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete the business combination. With multiple acquisitions, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business.

Limited ability to evaluate the target business’ management

Although we intend to scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting a business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of the target business’ management will prove to be correct. In addition, we cannot assure you that the future management will have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of our officers and directors, if any, in the target business following a business combination cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that Eric S. Rosenfeld, David Sgro or Arnaud Ajdler will remain in a senior management or advisory position with us following a business combination, it is unlikely that they will devote their full time efforts to our affairs subsequent to a business combination. Moreover, they would only be able to remain with the company after the consummation of a business combination 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 them to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to the company after the consummation of the business combination. While the personal and financial interests of Messrs. Rosenfeld, Sgro and Ajdler may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, their ability to remain with the company after the consummation of a business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. Additionally, we cannot assure you that our officers and directors will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.

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 any such additional managers we do recruit will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

Opportunity for stockholder approval of business combination

Prior to the completion of a business combination, we will submit the transaction to our stockholders for approval, even if the nature of the acquisition is such as would not ordinarily require stockholder approval under applicable state law. In connection with any such transaction, we will also submit to our stockholders for approval a proposal to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to provide for our corporate life to continue perpetually following the consummation of such business combination. Any vote to extend the corporate life to continue perpetually following the consummation of a business combination will be taken only if the business combination is approved. We will only consummate a business combination if stockholders vote both in favor of such business combination and our amendment to extend our corporate life.

In connection with seeking stockholder approval of a business combination, we will furnish our stockholders with proxy solicitation materials prepared in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which, among other matters, will include a description of the operations of the target business and audited historical financial statements of the business. We will publicly announce the record date for determining

 

34


Table of Contents

the shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting to approve our business combination at least two business days prior to such record date.

In connection with the vote required for any business combination, all of our existing stockholders, including all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote their respective initial shares in accordance with the majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders. This voting arrangement shall not apply to shares included in units purchased in this offering or purchased following this offering in the aftermarket by any of our existing stockholders, officers and directors. Accordingly, they may vote these shares on a proposed business combination any way they choose. We will proceed with the business combination only if a majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders are voted in favor of the business combination and public stockholders owning less than 20% of the shares sold in this offering both exercise their conversion rights and vote against the business combination.

Conversion rights

At the time we seek stockholder approval of any business combination, we will offer each public stockholder the right to have such stockholder’s shares of common stock converted to cash if the stockholder votes against the business combination and the business combination is approved and completed. Our existing stockholders will not have such conversion rights with respect to any shares of common stock owned by them, directly or indirectly, whether included in their initial shares or purchased by them in this offering or in the aftermarket (nor will they seek appraisal rights with respect to such shares if appraisal rights would be available to them). The actual per-share conversion price will be equal to the amount in the trust account, inclusive of any interest (calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the proposed business combination), divided by the number of shares sold in this offering. Without taking into any account interest then held in the trust account, the initial per-share conversion price would be $7.59, or $0.41 less than the per-unit offering price of $8.00. An eligible stockholder may request conversion at any time after the mailing to our stockholders of the proxy statement and prior to the vote taken with respect to a proposed business combination at a meeting held for that purpose, but the request will not be granted unless the stockholder votes against the business combination and the business combination is approved and completed. Any request for conversion, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date of the meeting. It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to stockholders entitled to convert their shares who elect conversion will be distributed promptly after completion of a business combination. Public stockholders who convert their stock into their share of the trust account still have the right to exercise any warrants they still hold.

We will not complete any business combination if public stockholders, owning 20% or more of the shares sold in this offering, both exercise their conversion rights and vote against the business combination. Accordingly, it is our understanding and intention in every case to structure and consummate a business combination in which approximately 19.99% of the public stockholders may exercise their conversion rights and the business combination will still go forward.

Investors in this offering who do not sell, or who receive less than $0.41 of net sales proceeds for, the warrant included in the units, or persons who purchase common stock in the aftermarket at a price in excess of $7.59 per share, may have a disincentive to exercise their conversion rights because the amount they would receive upon conversion could be less than their original or adjusted purchase price.

Liquidation if no business combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will continue in existence only until October 3, 2008. This provision may not be amended except in connection with the consummation of a business combination. If we have not completed a business combination by such date, our corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating, pursuant to Section 278 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. This has the same effect as if our board of directors and stockholders had formally voted to approve our dissolution pursuant to Section 275 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Accordingly, limiting our corporate existence to a specified date as permitted by Section 102(b)(5) of the

 

35


Table of Contents

Delaware General Corporation Law removes the necessity to comply with the formal procedures set forth in Section 275 (which would have required our board of directors and stockholders to formally vote to approve our dissolution and liquidation and to have filed a certificate of dissolution with the Delaware Secretary of State). We view this provision terminating our corporate life by October 3, 2008 as an obligation to our stockholders and will not take any action to amend or waive this provision to allow us to survive for a longer period of time except in connection with the consummation of a business combination.

If we are unable to complete a business combination by October 3, 2008, we will distribute to all of our public stockholders, in proportion to their respective equity interests, an aggregate sum equal to the amount in the trust account, inclusive of any interest, plus any remaining net assets (subject to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors as described below). We anticipate notifying the trustee of the trust account to begin liquidating such assets promptly after such date and anticipate it will take no more than 10 business days to effectuate such distribution. Our initial stockholders have waived their rights to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to their initial shares. There will be no distribution from the trust account with respect to our warrants which will expire worthless. We will pay the costs of liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust fund. If such funds are insufficient, our initial stockholders have agreed to advance us the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than approximately $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment of such expenses.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the initial per-share liquidation price would be $7.59, or $0.41 less than the per-unit offering price of $8.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors (which could include vendors and service providers we have engaged to assist us in any way in connection with our search for a target business and that are owed money by us, as well as target businesses themselves) which could have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. Eric S. Rosenfeld has personally agreed, pursuant to an agreement with us and EarlyBirdCapital that, if we liquidate prior to the consummation of a business combination, he will be personally liable to pay debts and obligations to target businesses or vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us in excess of the net proceeds of this offering not held in the trust account. We cannot assure you, however, that he would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, the actual per-share liquidation price could be less than $7.59, plus interest, due to claims of creditors.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of the expiration of our existence and our liquidation or if they seek to convert their respective shares into cash upon a business combination which the stockholder voted against and which is completed by us. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, as stated above, it is our intention to make liquidating distributions to our stockholders as soon as reasonably possible after October 3, 2008 and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability

 

36


Table of Contents

of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date. Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law requires us to adopt a plan that will provide for our payment, based on facts known to us at such time, of (i) all existing claims, (ii) all pending claims and (iii) all claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. Accordingly, we would be required to provide for any claims of creditors known to us at that time or those that we believe could be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years prior to our distributing the funds in the trust account to our public stockholders. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors and service providers (such as accountants, lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) and potential target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers and prospective target businesses execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account. As a result, we believe the claims that could be made against us will be limited, thereby lessening the likelihood that any claim would result in any liability extending to the trust. We therefore believe that any necessary provision for creditors will be reduced and should not have a significant impact on our ability to distribute the funds in the trust account to our public stockholders. Nevertheless, we cannot assure you of this fact as there is no guarantee that vendors, service providers and prospective target businesses will execute such agreements. Nor is there any guarantee that, even if they execute such agreements with us, they will not seek recourse against the trust fund. A court could also conclude that such agreements are not legally enforceable. As a result, if we liquidate, the per-share distribution from the trust fund could be less than $7.59 due to claims or potential claims of creditors.

If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return to our public stockholders at least $7.59 per share. Additionally, if we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, because we intend to distribute the proceeds held in the trust account to our public stockholders promptly after October 3, 2008, this may be viewed or interpreted as giving preference to our public stockholders over any potential creditors with respect to access to or distributions from our assets. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours. There are approximately 60 blank check companies that have completed initial public offerings in the United States with more than $4.5 billion in trust that are seeking to carry out a business plan similar to our business plan. Furthermore, there are a number of additional offerings for blank check companies that are still in the registration process but have not completed initial public offerings and there are likely to be more blank check companies filing registration statements for initial public offerings after the date of this prospectus and prior to our completion of a business combination. Additionally, we may be subject to competition from entities other than blank check companies having a business objective similar to ours, including venture capital firms, leverage buyout firms and operating businesses looking to expand their operations through the acquisition of a target business. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these

 

37


Table of Contents

competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than us and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there may be numerous potential target businesses that we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering, our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Further, the following may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses:

 

    our obligation to seek stockholder approval of a business combination may delay the completion of a transaction;

 

    our obligation to convert into cash shares of common stock held by our public stockholders to such holders that both vote against the business combination and exercise their conversion rights may reduce the resources available to us for a business combination; and

 

    our outstanding warrants and option, and the potential future dilution they represent.

Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. Our management believes, however, that our status as a public entity and potential access to the United States public equity markets may give us a competitive advantage over privately-held entities having a similar business objective as ours in acquiring a target business with significant growth potential on favorable terms.

If we succeed in effecting a business combination, there will be, in all likelihood, intense competition from competitors of the target business. We cannot assure you that, subsequent to a business combination, we will have the resources or ability to compete effectively.

Facilities

We maintain our principal executive offices at 10 East 53rd Street, 35th Floor, New York, New York. The cost for this space is included in the $7,500 per-month fee Crescendo Advisors II will charge us for general and administrative services commencing on the effective date of this prospectus pursuant to a letter agreement between us and Crescendo Advisors II. We believe, based on rents and fees for similar services in the New York metropolitan area, that the fee charged by Crescendo Advisors II is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. We consider our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers, adequate for our current operations.

Employees

We have three executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters and intend to devote only as much time as he deems necessary to our affairs. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for the business combination and the stage of the business combination process the company is in. Accordingly, once management locates a suitable target business to acquire, they will spend more time investigating such target business and negotiating and processing the business combination (and consequently spend more time to our affairs) than they would prior to locating a suitable target business. We presently expect Messrs. Rosenfeld, Sgro and Ajdler to devote an average of approximately 10 hours per week to our business. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the consummation of a business combination.

Periodic Reporting and Audited Financial Statements

We have registered our units, common stock and warrants under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.

 

38


Table of Contents

We will not acquire a target business if audited financial statements based on United States generally accepted accounting principles cannot be obtained for the target business. Additionally, we will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

Comparison to offerings of blank check companies

The following table compares and contrasts the terms of our offering and the terms of an offering of blank check companies under Rule 419 promulgated by the SEC assuming that the gross proceeds, underwriting discounts and underwriting expenses for the Rule 419 offering are the same as this offering and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the terms of a Rule 419 offering will apply to this offering.

 

   

Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds

  $32,900,000 of the net offering proceeds plus the $1,250,000 we will receive from the sale of the insider warrants will be deposited into a trust account at Lehman Brothers, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.   $30,456,000 of the offering proceeds would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.

Investment of net proceeds

  The $32,900,000 of net offering proceeds plus the $1,250,000 we will receive from the sale of the insider warrants held in trust will only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940.   Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act of 1940 or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.

Limitation on Fair Value or Net Assets of Target Business

 

 

The initial target business that we acquire must have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of our net assets at the time of such acquisition.

 

 

We would be restricted from acquiring a target business unless the fair value of such business or net assets to be acquired represented at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

 

39


Table of Contents
   

Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Trading of securities issued

  The units may commence trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin to trade separately on the 90th day after the date of this prospectus unless EarlyBirdCapital informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading (based upon its assessment of the relative strengths of the securities markets and small capitalization companies in general, and the trading pattern of, and demand for, our securities in particular), provided we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K, which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the proceeds of this offering, including any proceeds we receive from the exercise of the over-allotment option, if such option is exercised prior to the filing of the Form 8-K. We will also include in this Form 8-K, or amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Form 8-K, information indicating if EarlyBirdCapital has allowed separate trading of the common stock and warrants prior to the 90th day after the date of this prospectus.   No trading of the units or the underlying common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

Exercise of the warrants

  The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of the completion of a business combination and one year from the date of this prospectus and, accordingly, will be exercised only after the trust fund has been terminated and distributed.   The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.

Election to remain an investor

  We will give our stockholders the opportunity to vote on the business combination. In connection with seeking stockholder approval, we will send each stockholder a proxy statement containing information required by the SEC. A stockholder following the procedures described in this prospectus is given the right to convert his or her shares into his or her pro rata share of the trust account. However, a stockholder
  A prospectus containing information required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company, in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of the post-effective amendment, to decide whether he or she elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his or her investment. If the company

 

40


Table of Contents
   

Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

  who does not follow these procedures or a stockholder who does not take any action would not be entitled to the return of any funds.   has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account would automatically be returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all of the deposited funds in the escrow account must be returned to all investors and none of the securities will be issued.

Business combination deadline

  Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our corporate existence will cease 24 months from the date of this prospectus except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating. However, if we complete a business combination within this time period, we will amend this provision to allow for our perpetual existence following such business combination.   If an acquisition has not been consummated within 18 months after the effective date of the initial registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account would be returned to investors.

Interest earned on the funds in the trust account

 

If we have not consummated a business combination by October 3, 2007, there can be released to us, from time to time, interest earned on the funds in the trust account of up to an aggregate of $200,000 to fund expenses related to investigating and selecting a target business, income and other taxes and our other working capital requirements. The remaining interest earned on the funds in the trust account will not be released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our liquidation upon failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.
 

 

All interest earned on the funds in the trust account will be held in trust for the benefit of public stockholders until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our liquidation upon failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

Release of funds

  Except with respect to interest earned on the funds in the trust account, up to $200,000, that may be released to us, the proceeds held in the trust account will not be released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our liquidation upon failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.   The proceeds held in the escrow account would not be released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

41


Table of Contents

Management

Directors and Executive Officers

Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:

 

Name

   Age   

Position

Eric S. Rosenfeld

   49   

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and President

David Sgro

   30    Chief Financial Officer

Arnaud Ajdler

   30    Secretary and Director

Leonard B. Schlemm

   53    Director

Jon Bauer

   49    Director

Colin D. Watson

   64    Director

Eric S. Rosenfeld has been our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president since our inception. Mr. Rosenfeld has been the president and chief executive officer of Crescendo Partners, L.P., a New York-based investment firm, since its formation in November 1998. He has also been the senior managing member of Crescendo Advisors II LLC, the entity providing us with general and administrative services, since its formation in August 2000. From its inception in April 2004 until June 2006, Mr. Rosenfeld was the chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation, an OTC Bulletin Board-listed blank check company formed to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with an operating business. Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation completed its business combination with Hill International, Inc. in June 2006 and since such time Mr. Rosenfeld has served as a director of the company. Prior to forming Crescendo Partners, Mr. Rosenfeld had been managing director at CIBC Oppenheimer and its predecessor company Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. since 1985. He was also chairman of the board of Spar Aerospace Limited, a company that provides repair and overhaul services for aircraft and helicopters used by governments and commercial airlines, from May 1999 through November 2001, until its sale to L-3 Communications. He served as a director of Hip Interactive, a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company that distributes and develops electronic entertainment products, from November 2004 until July 2005. Mr. Rosenfeld also served as a director of AD OPT Technologies Inc., which was a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company from April 2003 to November 2004, when it was acquired by Kronos Inc. Mr. Rosenfeld also served as a director and head of the special committee of Pivotal Corporation, a Canadian based customer relations management software company that was sold to chinadotcom in February 2004. Mr. Rosenfeld is currently chairman of the board of CPI Aerostructures, Inc., an American Stock Exchange-listed company engaged in the contract production of structural aircraft parts principally for the United States Air Force and other branches of the U.S. armed forces. He became chairman in January 2005 and a director in April 2003. He has been the chairman of the board of Computer Horizons Corp., a Nasdaq listed company, providing IT professional services with a concentration in sourcing and managed services since October 2005. He has been a director of Sierra Systems Group, Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed information technology, management consulting and systems integration firm based in Canada since October 2003, a director of Emergis Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company that enables the electronic processing of transactions in the finance and healthcare industries, since July 2004, and was a director of Geac Computer Corporation Limited, a Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq listed software company that was recently acquired by another company, from October 2005 through March 2006. Mr. Rosenfeld is a regular guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and has served on numerous panels at Queen’s University Business Law School Symposia, McGill Law School, the World Presidents’ Organization and the Value Investing Congress. He is a faculty member at the Director’s College. He has also been a regular guest host on CNBC. Mr. Rosenfeld received an A.B. in economics from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

David D. Sgro, CFA has been our chief financial officer since our inception. Mr. Sgro has been a Vice President of Crescendo Partners, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, since December 2005 and an investment

 

42


Table of Contents

analyst from May 2005 to December 2005. From June 1998 to May 2003, he worked as an analyst and then senior analyst at Management Planning, Inc., a firm engaged in the valuation of privately held companies. Simultaneously, Mr. Sgro worked as an associate with MPI Securities, Management Planning, Inc.’s boutique investment banking affiliate. From June 2004 to August 2004, Mr. Sgro worked as an analyst at Brandes Investment Partners. Mr. Sgro received a B.S. in Finance from The College of New Jersey and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. In 2001, he became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder.

Arnaud Ajdler has been our secretary and a member of our board of directors since our inception. From April 2004 until its merger with Hill International in June 2006, he served as the chief financial officer and secretary and a member of the board of directors of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation. He has continued to serve as a member of the board of directors of Hill International since June 2006. Since October 2005, Mr. Ajdler is also assistant to the chairman of the board and a board observer to Computer Horizon Corp., a NASDAQ listed company. He has also been a member of the board of directors of The Topps Company, Inc., a Nasdaq listed designer and marketer of confectionary and entertainment products, since August 2005. Mr. Ajdler has been a Managing Director of Crescendo Partners, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, since December 2005, a Senior Vice President from December 2004 to December 2005 and an investment analyst from September 2003 to December 2004. From January 2000 to July 2001, he worked as a management consultant at Mercer Management Consulting, an international strategy consulting firm, before completing his M.B.A. at Harvard Business School in June 2003. He also worked as an investment analyst at Tilson Capital, a New York-based hedge fund, from July to September 2003, as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank, an international financial service provider, from June to August 2002, and as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group from June to August 1999. Mr. Ajdler received a B.S. in engineering from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, an S.M. in Aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A from the Harvard Business School.

Leonard B. Schlemm has been a member of our board of directors since our inception. He has been chairman of Sila Holdings, a Cyprus holding company which owns one of the largest chains of fitness centers in Russia, since March 1997 and the president of The Atwater Club, a private racquet club in Montreal, since February 2002. He also served as chairman of the board of AD OPT Technologies from November 2002 until April 2004. From November 1999 until its merger with Netpulse Communications and E-Zone Networks in November 2000, he served as chairman of the board of Xystos Media Networks, an interactive media company with three million users under long-term contract. Mr. Schlemm was a co-founder of 24 Hour Fitness, one of the world’s largest privately owned and operated fitness center chains and was its chairman from September 1986 until July 1997. From June 1996 to January 1999, Mr. Schlemm served as a member of the board of directors of Forza Limited, a European fitness equipment distribution company. Mr. Schlemm was a member of the board of directors of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation from its inception in April 2004 until its merger in June 2006. Mr. Schlemm received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University (great distinction) and an M.B.A. from Harvard University (with distinction). He also received his Chartered Accountant designation in Canada in 1975.

Jon Bauer has been a member of our board of directors since our inception. Since May 1995, Mr. Bauer has been the managing member and chief investment officer of Contrarian Capital Management, a multi-strategy distressed securities money management firm. From July 1986 to May 1995, he was managing director at Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. where he founded the High Yield Department. Mr. Bauer was a member of the board of directors of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation from its inception in April 2004 until its merger in June 2006. Mr. Bauer received a B.A. (with honors) from Rutgers College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Colin D. Watson has been a member of our board of directors since our inception. From November 2003 through December 2004, Mr. Watson had been president and chief executive officer of Vector Aerospace Corporation, a company engaged in the aviation repair and overhaul industry. He is also a director of Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, Rogers Communications, Great Lakes Carbon, B Split 11 Corporation, Cygnal Technologies Corporation, Northstar Aerospace and Vector Aerospace. From April 1996 until January 2002, Mr. Watson

 

43


Table of Contents

served in various positions with Spar Aerospace. In December 2001, he retired from the office of vice-chairman of Spar Aerospace, a position he had held since January 2001. From January 2000 to December 2000, he was vice-chairman and chief executive officer of Spar Aerospace and from April 1996 until December 1999, he was its president and chief executive officer. From April 1974 to April 1996, Mr. Watson was president and chief executive officer of Rogers Cable TV, one of Canada’s largest cable providers, and a director of Rogers Communications Inc. as well as director, president and chief executive officer of Rogers Cable TV. Mr. Watson is a member of the Chairman’s Advisory Council of Harbourfront Centre and Sunnybrook Foundation, respectively, and is a past Chairman of the Toronto Film Festival. Mr. Watson was a member of the board of directors of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation from its inception in April 2004 until its merger in June 2006. Mr. Watson received a Ba.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering) from UBC and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Colin D. Watson, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Leonard B. Schlemm and Jon Bauer, will expire at the second annual meeting. The term of the third class of directors, consisting of Eric Rosenfeld and Arnaud Ajdler, will expire at the third annual meeting.

Special Advisor

Joel Greenblatt is our special advisor who will advise us concerning our acquisition of a target business. Mr. Greenblatt is the managing partner of Gotham Capital III, L.P., an investment partnership he founded in April 1985, and a managing member of Gotham Capital V LLC. He was also a special advisor to Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation until its merger in June 2006. He is the former chairman of the board and a former board member of Alliant Techsystems, a New York Stock Exchange-listed aerospace and defense contractor. Since 1996, he has been on the adjunct faculty of Columbia Business School where he teaches “Value and Special Situations Investing.” Mr. Greenblatt is the author of “You Can Be A Stock Market Genius” (Simon & Schuster, 1997) and “The Little Book That Beats the Market” (John Wiley & Sons, 2005). He received a B.S. (summa cum laude) and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

These individuals will play a key role in identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, selecting the target business, and structuring, negotiating and consummating its acquisition. We believe that the skills and expertise of these individuals, their collective access to acquisition opportunities and ideas, their contacts, and their transactional expertise should enable them to successfully identify and effect an acquisition.

Prior Involvement of Principals in Blank Check Companies

Except for David Sgro, each of our officers and directors has been a principal of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation, a blank check company that completed an offering similar to this offering and executed a business plan similar to our business plan.

Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation, a blank check company with an objective to acquire an operating business, completed its initial public offering on June 30, 2004 and raised gross proceeds of $40.8 million at an offering price of $6.00 per unit. From its inception until it merged with Hill International, Inc. in June 2006, Mr. Rosenfeld had been the chairman, chief executive officer and president of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation and Arnaud Ajdler had been the chief financial officer, secretary and a member of the board of directors of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation. Each has continued to be a director of Hill International since June 2006. From its inception until its merger in June 2006, each of Messrs. Schlemm, Bauer and Watson had been a member of the board of directors of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation. As Messrs. Rosenfeld and Ajdler are continuing to serve as directors of Hill International, in the future, they will receive any cash fees and stock awards that the board of directors determines to pay to its non-executive directors. No compensation has been

 

44


Table of Contents

paid to any of these individuals for their services to Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation. However, Crescendo Advisors II, an affiliate of Mr. Rosenfeld’s, received a $7,500 per month fee from Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation for use of office space and administrative services from the effective date of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation’s initial public offering through the date of the merger with Hill International.

Prior to Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation’s initial public offering, these individuals purchased the following shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000.

 

Name

   Number of Shares

Eric S. Rosenfeld

   1,080,000

Rosenfeld 1991 Children’s Trust

   120,000

Leonard B. Schlemm

   60,000

Colin D. Watson

   60,000

Jon Bauer

   60,000

Arnaud Ajdler

   60,000

Subsequent to Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation’s initial public offering, Messrs. Rosenfeld, Schlemm and Gotham Capital V, an affiliate of Joel Greenblatt, our special advisor and a special advisor to Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation, purchased 750,000 warrants, 40,800 warrants and 212,500 warrants, respectively, at $0.65 per warrant for a total purchase price of $487,500, $26,520 and $138,125, respectively.

Executive Compensation

No executive officer has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date of this prospectus through the acquisition of a target business, we will pay Crescendo Advisors II, an affiliate of Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, a fee of $7,500 per month for providing us with office space and certain office and secretarial services. However, this arrangement is solely for our benefit and is not intended to provide Mr. Rosenfeld compensation in lieu of a salary. Other than the $7,500 per month administrative fee, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, including our directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of a business combination. However, such 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. There is no limit on the amount of these out-of-pocket expenses and there will be no review of the reasonableness of the expenses by anyone other than our board of directors, which includes persons who may seek reimbursement, or a court of competent jurisdiction if such reimbursement is challenged. Because of the foregoing, we will generally not have the benefit of independent directors examining the propriety of expenses incurred on our behalf and subject to reimbursement.

Conflicts of Interest

Potential investors should be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:

 

    None of our officers and directors is required to commit their full time to our affairs and, accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities.

 

   

While our officers and directors do not currently have any contractual obligations to present potential business combination opportunities to any other company, including other “blank check” companies, such individuals are affiliated with other businesses and as a result may have similar fiduciary obligations for presenting business opportunities to such entities as well as to our company. As a result, in the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to our company as

 

45


Table of Contents
 

well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

    Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities, including other blank check companies, engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by our company.

 

    The initial shares owned by our officers and directors will be released from escrow only if a business combination is successfully completed, and the insider warrants purchased by our officers and directors and any warrants which they may purchase in this offering or in the aftermarket will expire worthless if a business combination is not consummated. Additionally, our directors will not receive liquidation distributions with respect to any of their initial shares. Furthermore, while the insider warrants have been registered for resale under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, the purchasers have agreed that such securities will not be sold or transferred by them until after we have completed a business combination. For the foregoing reasons, our board may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate to effect a business combination with.

 

    The ability of Eric S. Rosenfeld, Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer, Colin D. Watson and Gotham Capital V to exercise their insider warrants on a cashless basis may cause them to have a conflict of interest in determining when to call the warrants for redemption as they would potentially be able to avoid any negative price pressure on the price of the warrants and common stock due to the redemption through a cashless exercise.

 

    Our officers and directors may enter into consulting or employment agreements with the company as part of a business combination pursuant to which they may be entitled to compensation for their services to be rendered to the company after the consummation of a business combination. The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, timely completing a business combination and securing the release of their stock from escrow.

 

    Our directors and officers may purchase shares of common stock as part of this offering or in the aftermarket and would be entitled to vote such shares as they choose on a proposal to approve a business combination.

In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:

 

    the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

 

    the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

 

    it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. In addition, conflicts of interest may arise when our board evaluates a particular business opportunity with respect to the above-listed criteria. We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

In order to minimize potential conflicts of interest which may arise from multiple corporate affiliations, each of our officers has agreed, until the earliest of a business combination, our liquidation or such time as he or she ceases to be an officer, to present to our company for our consideration, prior to presentation to any other entity, any business opportunity which may reasonably be required to be presented to us under Delaware law, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations he might have.

 

46


Table of Contents

In connection with the vote required for any business combination, all of our existing stockholders, including all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote their respective shares of common stock which were owned prior to this offering in accordance with the vote of the public stockholders owning a majority of the shares of our common stock sold in this offering. In addition, they have agreed to waive their respective rights to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to their initial shares. Any common stock acquired by existing stockholders in the offering or aftermarket will be considered part of the holdings of the public stockholders. Except with respect to the conversion rights afforded to public stockholders, these existing stockholders will have the same rights as other public stockholders with respect to such shares, including voting rights in connection with a potential business combination. Accordingly, they may vote such shares on a proposed business combination any way they choose.

To further minimize potential conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate a business combination with an entity which is affiliated with any of our existing stockholders unless we obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view. We currently do not anticipate entering into a business combination with an entity affiliated with any of our existing stockholders. Furthermore, in no event will any of our existing officers, directors, stockholders or special advisors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of a business combination.

 

47


Table of Contents

Principal Stockholders

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of October 3, 2006 and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus (assuming no purchases of units offered by this prospectus), by:

 

    each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock;

 

    each of our officers and directors; and

 

    all our 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 shares of common stock beneficially owned by them.

 

    

Prior to Offering and

Insider Purchases

   

After Offering and

Insider Purchases

 

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)

   Amount and
Nature of
Beneficial
Ownership
   

Approximate
Percentage

of Outstanding
Common Stock

    Amount and
Nature of
Beneficial
Ownership
   

Approximate
Percentage

of Outstanding

Common Stock

 

Eric S. Rosenfeld

   871,840 (2)   77.5 %   871,840 (3)   15.5 %

Arnaud Ajdler

   50,632     4.5 %   50,632     *  

Leonard B. Schlemm(4)

   40,632     3.6 %   40,632 (5)   *  

Jon Bauer(6)

   40,632     3.6 %   40,632 (5)   *  

Colin D. Watson(7)

   40,632     3.6 %   40,632 (5)   *  

David Sgro

   20,000     1.8 %   20,000     *  

All directors and executive officers as a group (six individuals)

   1,064,368     94.6 %   1,064,368 (8)   18.9 %

 * Less than 1%.
(1) Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each of the individuals is 10 East 53rd Street, 35th Floor, New York, New York 10022.
(2) Includes 106,840 shares of common stock held by the Rosenfeld 1991 Children’s Trust, of which Mr. Rosenfeld’s wife is the sole trustee.
(3) Does not include 863,636 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants held by Mr. Rosenfeld that are not exercisable and will not become exercisable within 60 days.
(4) The business address of Mr. Schlemm is c/o The Atwater Club, 3505 Avenue Atwater, Montreal, Quebec H3W 1Y2.
(5) Does not include 68,182 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants held by such individual that are not exercisable and will not become exercisable within 60 days.
(6) The business address of Mr. Bauer is 411 W. Putnam Ave., Ste 225, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.
(7) The business address of Mr. Watson is 72 Chestnut Park Rd., Toronto, Ontario, M4W1W8.
(8) Does not include 1,136,364 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants held by such individuals that are not exercisable and will not become exercisable within 60 days.

Immediately after this offering, our existing stockholders, which include all of our officers and directors, collectively, will beneficially own 20% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (assuming none of them purchase any units offered by this prospectus). None of our existing stockholders, officers and directors has indicated to us that he intends to purchase our securities in the offering. Because of the ownership block held by our existing stockholders, such individuals may be able to effectively exercise control over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions other than approval of a business combination.

All of the initial shares outstanding prior to the date of this prospectus will be placed in escrow with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as escrow agent, until one year after the consummation of a

 

48


Table of Contents

business combination. The initial shares may be released from escrow earlier than this date if, within the first year after we consummate a business combination, we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. During the escrow period, the holders of these shares will not be able to sell or transfer their securities except to their spouses and children or trusts established for their benefit, but will retain all other rights as our stockholders, including, without limitation, the right to vote their shares of common stock and the right to receive cash dividends, if declared. If dividends are declared and payable in shares of common stock, such dividends will also be placed in escrow. If we are unable to effect a business combination and liquidate, none of our existing stockholders will receive any portion of the liquidation proceeds with respect to their initial shares.

Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, Messrs. Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer and Colin D. Watson, each a member of our board of directors, and Gotham Capital V, an entity controlled by Joel Greenblatt, our special advisor, have committed to purchase an aggregate of 1,136,364 insider warrants (for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250,000) from us. These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. The insider warrants will be identical to the warrants underlying the units being offered by this prospectus except that if we call the warrants for redemption, the insider warrants may be exercisable on a cashless basis at the holder’s option (except in the case of a forced cashless exercise upon our redemption of the warrants, as described below) so long as such warrants are held by these purchasers or their affiliates. Additionally, they have agreed that the insider warrants will not be sold or transferred by them until after we have completed a business combination.

Eric S. Rosenfeld is our “promoter” as that term is defined under the Federal securities laws.

 

49


Table of Contents

Certain Transactions

In April 2006, we issued 1,125,000 shares of our common stock to the individuals set forth below for $25,000 in cash, at a purchase price of approximately $0.02 per share, as follows:

 

Name

   Number of Shares   

Relationship to Us

Eric S. Rosenfeld

   765,000   

Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President

Rosenfeld 1991 Children’s Trust

   106,840   

Trustee is wife of Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President

Arnaud Ajdler

   50,632    Secretary and Director

Leonard B. Schlemm

   40,632    Director

Jon Bauer

   40,632    Director

Colin D. Watson

   40,632    Director

Joel Greenblatt

   40,632    Special Advisor

David Sgro

   20,000    Chief Financial Officer

Greg Monahan

   20,000    Stockholder

If the underwriter determines the size of the offering should be increased or decreased, a stock dividend or a contribution back to capital, as applicable, would be effectuated in order to maintain our existing stockholders’ ownership at a percentage of the number of shares to be sold in this offering.

The holders of the majority of these shares will be entitled to demand that we register these shares pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the date of this prospectus. The holders of the majority of these shares may elect to exercise these registration rights at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which these shares of common stock are released from escrow. In addition, these stockholders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our consummation of a business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, Messrs. Leonard B. Schlemm, Jon Bauer and Colin D. Watson, each a member of our board of directors, and Gotham Capital V, an entity controlled by Joel Greenblatt, our special advisor, have committed, pursuant to written subscription agreements with us and EarlyBirdCapital, to purchase the insider warrants (for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250,000, or $1.10 per warrant) from us. These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. The purchase price for the insider warrants will be delivered to Graubard Miller, our counsel in connection with this offering, who will also be acting solely as escrow agent in connection with the private sale of insider warrants, at least 24 hours prior to the date of this prospectus to hold in a non-interest bearing account until we consummate this offering. Graubard Miller will deposit the purchase price into the trust fund simultaneously with the consummation of the offering. The insider warrants will be identical to the warrants underlying the units being offered by this prospectus except that if we call the warrants for redemption, the insider warrants may be exercisable on a cashless basis at the holder’s option (except in the case of a forced cashless exercise upon our redemption of the warrants) so long as such warrants are held by these purchasers or their affiliates. Additionally, the purchasers have agreed that the insider warrants will not be sold or transferred by them until after we have completed a business combination. The holders of the majority of these insider warrants (or underlying shares) will be entitled to demand that we register these securities pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the date of this prospectus. The holders of the majority of these securities may elect to exercise these registration rights with respect to such securities at any time after we consummate a business combination. In addition, these holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to such date. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

 

50


Table of Contents

Crescendo Advisors II, an affiliate of Eric S. Rosenfeld, our chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president, has agreed that, commencing on the effective date of this prospectus through the acquisition of a target business, it will make available to us a small amount of office space and certain office and secretarial services, as we may require from time to time. We have agreed to pay Crescendo Advisors II $7,500 per month for these services. Mr. Rosenfeld is the senior managing member and 100% owner of Crescendo Advisors II, and, as a result, he will benefit from the transaction to the extent of his interest in Crescendo Advisors II. However, this arrangement is solely for our benefit and is not intended to provide Mr. Rosenfeld compensation in lieu of a salary. We believe, based on rents and fees for similar services in the New York metropolitan area, that the fee charged by Crescendo Advisors II is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. However, as our directors may not be deemed “independent,” we did not have the benefit of disinterested directors approving this transaction.

As of the date of this prospectus, Eric S. Rosenfeld has advanced to us an aggregate of $90,000 to cover expenses related to this offering. The loan will be payable without interest on the earlier of May 15, 2007 or the consummation of this offering. We intend to repay this loan from the proceeds of this offering not being placed in trust.

We will reimburse our existing stockholders, officers, directors, special advisors or their affiliates for any reasonable out-of-pocket business expenses incurred by them in connection with certain activities on our behalf such as identifying and investigating possible target businesses and business combinations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us, which will be reviewed only by our board or a court of competent jurisdiction if such reimbursement is challenged.

Other than the $7,500 per-month administrative fee and reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses payable to our officers and directors, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s fees, consulting fees or other similar compensation, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or special advisors who owned our common stock prior to this offering, or to any of their respective affiliates, prior to or with respect to the business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).

All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates, including loans by our officers and directors, will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions or loans, including any forgiveness of loans, will require prior approval by a majority of our uninterested “independent” directors (to the extent we have any) or the members of our board who do not have an interest in the transaction, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our disinterested “independent” directors (or, if there are no “independent” directors, our disinterested directors) determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.

 

51


Table of Contents

Description of Securities

General

We are authorized to issue 15,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $.0001, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $.0001. As of the date of this prospectus, 1,125,000 shares of common stock are outstanding, held by eight stockholders of record. No shares of preferred stock are currently outstanding.

Units

Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock. The common stock and warrants will begin to trade separately on the 90th day after the date of this prospectus unless EarlyBirdCapital informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading (based upon its assessment of the relative strengths of the securities markets and small capitalization companies in general and the trading pattern of, and demand for, our securities in particular), provided that in no event may the common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet upon the consummation of this offering. The audited balance sheet will reflect proceeds we receive from the exercise of the over-allotment option, if the over-allotment option is exercised prior to the filing of the Form 8-K. If the over-allotment option is exercised after our initial filing of a Form 8-K, we will file an amendment to the Form 8-K to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option. We will also include in this Form 8-K, or amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Form 8-K information indicating if EarlyBirdCapital has allowed separate trading of the common stock and warrants prior to the 90th day after the date of this prospectus.

Common stock

Our stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. In connection with the vote required for any business combination, all of our existing stockholders, including all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote their respective shares of common stock owned by them immediately prior to this offering in accordance with the majority of the shares of our common stock voted by our public stockholders. This voting arrangement shall not apply to shares included in units purchased in this offering or purchased following this offering in the aftermarket by any of our existing stockholders, officers and directors. Additionally, our existing stockholders, officers and directors will vote all of their shares in any manner they determine, in their sole discretion, with respect to any other items that come before a vote of our stockholders.

We will proceed with the business combination only if a majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders are voted in favor of the business combination and public stockholders owning less than 20% of the shares sold in this offering both exercise their conversion rights discussed below and vote against the business combination.

Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares eligible to vote for the election of directors can elect all of the directors.

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we do not consummate a business combination by October 3, 2008, our corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating. If we are forced to liquidate prior to a business combination, our public stockholders are entitled to share ratably in the trust fund, including any interest, and any net assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities. Our existing stockholders have waived their rights to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to their initial shares.

Our stockholders have no conversion, preemptive or other subscription rights and there are no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to the common stock, except that public stockholders have the right to have

 

52


Table of Contents

their shares of common stock converted to cash equal to their pro rata share of the trust account if they vote against the business combination and the business combination is approved and completed. Public stockholders who convert their stock into their share of the trust account still have the right to exercise the warrants that they received as part of the units.

Preferred stock

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of 1,000,000 shares of blank check preferred stock with such designation, rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by our board of directors. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering. Accordingly, our board of directors is empowered, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of common stock. However, the underwriting agreement prohibits us, prior to a business combination, from issuing preferred stock which participates in any manner in the proceeds of the trust account, or which votes as a class with the common stock on a business combination. We may issue some or all of the preferred stock to effect a business combination. In addition, the preferred stock could be utilized as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of us. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future.

Warrants

No warrants are currently outstanding. Each warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $5.00 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of:

 

    the completion of a business combination; and

 

    one year from the date of this prospectus.

The warrants will expire four years from the date of this prospectus at 5:00 p.m., New York City time.

We may call the warrants for redemption (including the insider warrants and any warrants issued upon exercise of the unit purchase option issued to EarlyBirdCapital),

 

    in whole and not in part,

 

    at a price of $.01 per warrant at any time while the warrants are exercisable (which will occur only if a registration statement relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and current),

 

    upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder, and

 

    if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the common stock equals or exceeds $11.50 per share, for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to warrant holders.

The redemption criteria for our warrants have been established at a price which is intended to provide warrant holders a reasonable premium to the initial exercise price and provide a sufficient degree of liquidity to cushion the market reaction to our redemption call.

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant (including the insider warrants) to do so on a “cashless basis.” If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the

 

53


Table of Contents

information necessary to calculate the number of shares of common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after a business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, Messrs. Rosenfeld, Schlemm, Bauer and Watson and Gotham Capital V would still be entitled to exercise their insider warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by Messrs. Rosenfeld, Schlemm, Bauer and Watson and Gotham Capital V or their affiliates is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain insiders, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the shares of common stock received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.

The exercise price and number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices.

The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price, by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of common stock. After the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

No warrants will be exercisable unless at the time of exercise a prospectus relating to common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is current and the common stock has been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to meet these conditions and use our best efforts to maintain a current prospectus relating to common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so and, if we do not maintain a current prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will be unable to exercise their warrants and we will not be required to settle any such warrant exercise. If the prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon the exercise of the warrants is not current or if the common stock is not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside, we will not be required to net cash settle or cash settle the warrant exercise, the warrants may have no value, the market for the warrants may be limited and the warrants may expire worthless.

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round up to the nearest whole number the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.

 

54


Table of Contents

Purchase Option

We have agreed to sell to the underwriter an option to purchase up to a total of 450,000 units at $8.80 per unit. The units issuable upon exercise of this option are identical to those offered by this prospectus.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a 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 a business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our then board of directors. It is the present intention of our board of directors to retain all earnings, if any, for use in our business operations and, accordingly, our board does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future.

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our securities and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 10004.

Shares Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after this offering, we will have 5,625,000 shares of common stock outstanding, or 6,300,000 shares if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. Of these shares, the 4,500,000 shares sold in this offering, or 5,175,000 shares if the over-allotment option is exercised, will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining shares are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering. None of those shares would be eligible for sale under Rule 144 prior to April 24, 2007. However, as described below, the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken the position that these securities would not be eligible for transfer under Rule 144. Furthermore, all of the 1,125,000 initial shares have been placed in escrow and will not be transferable until one year after our consummation of a business combination and will be released prior to that date only upon a subsequent transaction resulting in our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash or other securities. The insider warrants have been registered for resale under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. However, Messrs. Rosenfeld, Schlemm, Bauer and Watson and Gotham Capital V have agreed that the insider warrants will not be sold or transferred by them until after we have completed a business combination.

Rule 144

In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock for at least one year would be entitled to sell within any three-month period a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of either of the following:

 

    1% of the number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 56,250 shares immediately after this offering (or 63,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full); and

 

    if the common stock is listed on a national securities exchange or on The Nasdaq Stock Market, the average weekly trading volume of the common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.

Sales under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

Rule 144(k)

Under Rule 144(k), a person who is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of or at any time during the three months preceding a sale, and who has beneficially owned the restricted shares proposed to

 

55


Table of Contents

be sold for at least two years, including the holding period of any prior owner other than an affiliate, is entitled to sell their shares without complying with the manner of sale, public information, volume limitation or notice provisions of Rule 144.

SEC Position on Rule 144 Sales

The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken the position that promoters or affiliates of a blank check company and their transferees, both before and after a business combination act as “underwriters” under the Securities Act when reselling the securities of a blank check company acquired prior to the consummation of its initial public offering. Accordingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission believes that those securities can be resold only through a registered offering and that Rule 144 would not be available for those resale transactions despite technical compliance with the requirements of Rule 144.

Registration Rights

The holders of our initial shares issued and outstanding on the date of this prospectus, as well as the holders of the insider warrants (and underlying securities), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands that we register such securities. The holders of the majority of the initial shares can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which these shares of common stock are to be released from escrow. The holders of a majority of the insider warrants (or underlying securities) can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time after we consummate a business combination. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our consummation of a business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

 

56


Table of Contents

Underwriting

In accordance with the terms and conditions contained in the underwriting agreement, we have agreed to sell to each of the underwriters named below, and each of the underwriters, for which EarlyBirdCapital, Inc is acting as representative, has individually agreed to purchase on a firm commitment basis the number of units set forth opposite their respective name below:

 

Underwriters

   Number of Units

EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.

   3,900,000

Legend Merchant Group, Inc.

   300,000

GunnAllen Financial

   300,000
    

Total

   4,500,000
    

A copy of the underwriting agreement has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Offering Size

We determined with the underwriters to raise $36 million in this offering based on the following factors:

Principals’ prior transactional experience. Except for David Sgro, each of our officers and directors was a principal of Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation, a blank check company that completed a $36 million initial public offering in June 2004 ($40.8 million with the over-allotment). In June 2006, our principals led Arpeggio Acquisition Corporation to consummate a business combination with Hill International, Inc. Based on this prior experience, we determined with the underwriters that a valuation of $36 million was appropriate.

Overall market conditions. We also determined the size of the offering based on the underwriters’ evaluation of current overall market conditions for similar offerings. This included the underwriters’ determination as to their ability to solicit investors for an offering of this size. Given the current market for blank check offerings, it was determined that a valuation of $36 million was appropriate.

State Blue Sky Information

We will offer and sell the units to retail customers only in Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, New York and Rhode Island. In New York and Hawaii, we have relied on exemptions from the state registration requirements. In the other states, we have applied to have the units registered for sale and will not sell the units to retail customers in these states unless and until such registration is effective (including in Colorado, pursuant to 11-51-302(6) of the Colorado Revised Statutes).

If you are not an institutional investor, you may purchase our securities in this offering only in the jurisdictions described directly above. Institutional investors in every state except in Idaho may purchase the units in this offering pursuant to exemptions under the Blue Sky laws of various states. The definition of an “institutional investor” varies from state to state but generally includes financial institutions, broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies and other qualified entities.

We will file periodic and annual reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Therefore, under the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, the resale of the units, from and after the effective date,

 

57


Table of Contents

and the common stock and warrants comprising the units, once they become separately transferable, are exempt from state registration requirements. However, states are permitted to require notice filings and collect fees with regard to these transactions, and a state may suspend the offer and sale of securities within such state if any such required filing is not made or fee is not paid. As of the date of this prospectus, the following states either do not presently require any notice filings or fee payments or have not yet issued rules or regulations indicating whether notice filings or fee payments will be required:

 

    Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, the Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Additionally, the following states currently permit the resale of the units, and the common stock and warrants comprising the units, once they become separately transferable, if the proper notice filings have been submitted and the required fees have been paid:

 

    The District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.

As of the date of this prospectus, we have not determined in which, if any, of these states we will submit the required filings or pay the required fee. Additionally, if any of these states that has not yet adopted a statute relating to the National Securities Markets Improvement Act adopts such a statute in the future requiring a filing or fee or if any state amends its existing statutes with respect to its requirements, we would need to comply with those new requirements in order for the securities to continue to be eligible for resale in those jurisdictions.

Under the National Securities Markets Improvement Act, the states retain the jurisdiction to investigate and bring enforcement actions with respect to fraud or deceit, or unlawful conduct by a broker or dealer, in connection with the sale of securities. Although we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict resales of securities issued by blank check companies generally, certain state securities commissioners view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the resale of securities of blank check companies in their states.

Aside from the exemption from registration provided by the National Securities Markets Improvement Act, we believe that the units, from and after the effective date, and the common stock and warrants comprising the units, once they become separately transferable, may be eligible for sale on a secondary market basis in various states based on the availability of another applicable exemption from state registration requirements, in certain instances subject to waiting periods, notice filings or fee payments.

Pricing of Securities

We have been advised by the representative that the underwriters propose to offer the units to the public at the offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. They may allow some dealers concessions not in excess of $0.22 per unit and the dealers may reallow a concession not in excess of $0.10 per unit to other dealers.

Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the representative. Factors considered in determining the prices and terms of the units, including the common stock 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;

 

58


Table of Contents
    our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;

 

    our capital structure;

 

    an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies;

 

    general conditions of the securities markets at the time of the offering; and

 

    other factors as were deemed relevant.

However, although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities for an operating company in a particular industry since we have no operating results and are not limited to operate in any specific industry.

Over-Allotment Option

We have granted to the representative of the underwriters an option, exercisable during the 45-day period commencing on the date of this prospectus, to purchase from us at the offering price, less underwriting discounts, up to an aggregate of 675,000 additional units for the sole purpose of covering over-allotments, if any. The over-allotment option will only be used to cover the net syndicate short position resulting from the initial distribution. The representative of the underwriters may exercise the over-allotment option if it sells more units than the total number set forth above.

Commissions and Discounts

The following table shows the public offering price, underwriting discount to be paid by us to the underwriters and the proceeds, before expenses, to us. This information assumes either no exercise or full exercise by the representative of the underwriters of its over-allotment option.

 

     Per unit    Without option    With option

Public offering price

   $ 8.00    $ 36,000,000    $ 41,400,000

Discount(1)

   $ 0.44    $ 1,980,000    $ 2,277,000

Non-accountable Expense Allowance(2)

   $ 0.04    $ 180,000    $ 180,000

Proceeds before expenses(3)

   $ 7.52    $ 33,840,000    $ 38,943,000

(1) 1.0% of the underwriting discounts will not be payable unless and until we complete a business combination. The underwriters have waived their right to receive such payment upon our liquidation if we are unable to complete a business combination.
(2) The non-accountable expense allowance is not payable with respect to the units sold upon exercise of the over-allotment option.
(3) The offering expenses are estimated at $500,000.

No discounts or commissions will be paid on the sale of the insider warrants.

Purchase Option

We have agreed to sell to the representative, for $100, an option to purchase up to a total of 450,000 units. The units issuable upon exercise of this option are identical to those offered by this prospectus. This option is exercisable at $8.80 per unit, and may be exercised on a cashless basis, commencing on the later of the consummation of a business combination and one year from the date of this prospectus and expiring five years from the date of this prospectus. The option and the 450,000 units, the 450,000 shares of common stock and the 450,000 warrants underlying such units, and the 450,000 shares of common stock underlying such warrants, have been deemed compensation by the NASD and are therefore subject to a 180-day lock-up pursuant to Rule 2710(g)(1) of the NASD Conduct Rules. Additionally, the option may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated for a one-year period (including the foregoing 180-day period) following the date of this

 

59


Table of Contents

prospectus except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in the offering and their bona fide officers or partners. Although the purchase option and its underlying securities have been registered under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, the option grants to holders demand and “piggy back” rights for periods of five and seven years, respectively, from the date of this prospectus with respect to the registration under the Securities Act of the securities directly and indirectly issuable upon exercise of the option. We will bear all fees and expenses attendant to registering the securities, other than underwriting commissions which will be paid for by the holders themselves. We will have no obligation to net cash settle the exercise of the purchase option or the warrants underlying the purchase option. The holder of the purchase option will not be entitled to exercise the purchase option or the warrants underlying the purchase option unless a registration statement covering the securities underlying the purchase option is effective or an exemption from registration is available. If the holder is unable to exercise the purchase option or underlying warrants, the purchase option or warrants, as applicable, will expire worthless.

The exercise price and number of units issuable upon exercise of the option may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the option will not be adjusted for issuances of common stock at a price below its exercise price.

Regulatory Restrictions on Purchase of Securities

Rules of the SEC may limit the ability of the underwriter to bid for or purchase our units before the distribution of the units is completed. The distribution of the units in this offering will be completed once all the units have been sold, all stabilizing transactions have been completed and all penalty bids have either been reclaimed or withdrawn. However, the underwriters may engage in the following activities in accordance with the rules:

 

    Stabilizing Transactions. The underwriters may make bids or purchases for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the price of our units, as long as stabilizing bids do not exceed the offering price of $8.00.

 

    Over-Allotments and Syndicate Coverage Transactions. The underwriters may create a short position in our units by selling more of our units than are set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. If the underwriters create a short position during the offering, the underwriters may engage in syndicate covering transactions by purchasing our units in the open market. The representative may also elect to reduce any short position by exercising all or part of the over-allotment option.

 

    Penalty Bids. The representative may reclaim a selling concession from a selected dealer when the units originally sold by the selected dealer is purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover short positions.

Stabilization and covering transactions may cause the price of our securities to be higher than they would be in the absence of these transactions. The imposition of a penalty bid might also have an effect on the prices of our securities if it discourages resales of our securities.

Neither we nor the underwriters make any representation or prediction as to the effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of our securities. These transactions may occur on the OTC Bulletin Board, in the over-the-counter market or on any trading market. If any of these transactions are commenced, they may be discontinued without notice at any time.

Other Terms

We have engaged the representative of the underwriters to act as our non-exclusive investment banker in connection with our business combination. We will pay the representative a cash fee at the closing of our business combination for assisting us in structuring and negotiating the terms of the transaction of 1% of the total

 

60


Table of Contents

consideration paid in connection with the business combination, up to a maximum of $360,000. Such fees are considered by the NASD to be underwriter’s compensation in connection with this offering. Except as set forth above, we are not under any contractual obligation to engage any of the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, any of the underwriters may, among other things, introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital, as needs may arise in the future. If any of the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters prior to the date which is 90 days after the date of this prospectus, unless the National Association of Securities Dealers determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriter’s compensation in connection with this offering.

Indemnification

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against some liabilities, including civil liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make in this respect.

Legal Matters

The validity of the securities offered in this prospectus is being passed upon for us by Graubard Miller, New York, New York. We have paid Graubard Miller a retainer of $25,000 for such services. Graubard Miller has agreed that the balance of the legal fees that we will owe to it for these services will be paid by us only upon the successful consummation of this offering. Blank Rome LLP, is acting as counsel for the underwriter in this offering.

Experts

The financial statements included in this prospectus and in the registration statement have been audited by BDO Seidman, LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, to the extent and for the period set forth in their report (which contains an explanatory paragraph regarding our ability to continue as a going concern) appearing elsewhere in this prospectus and in the registration statement. The financial statements and the report of BDO Seidman, LLP are included in reliance upon their report given upon the authority of BDO Seidman, LLP as experts in auditing and accounting.

Where You Can Find Additional Information

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1, which includes exhibits, schedules and amendments, under the Securities Act, with respect to this offering of our securities. Although this prospectus, which forms a part of the registration statement, contains all material information included in the registration statement, parts of the registration statement have been omitted as permitted by rules and regulations of the SEC. We refer you to the registration statement and its exhibits for further information about us, our securities and this offering. The registration statement and its exhibits, as well as our other reports filed with the SEC, can be inspected and copied at the SEC’s public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. The public may obtain information about the operation of the public reference room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains a web site at http://www.sec.gov which contains the Form S-1 and other reports, proxy and information statements and information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

 

61


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Index to Financial Statements

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

   F-2
Financial statements   

Balance Sheet

   F-3

Statement of Operations

   F-4

Statement of Stockholders’ Equity

   F-5

Statement of Cash Flows

   F-6

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

   F-7

Notes to Financial Statements

   F-8 – F-11

 

F-1


Table of Contents

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Rhapsody Acquisition Corp. (a corporation in the development stage) as of August 31, 2006, and the related statements of operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from April 24, 2006 (inception) to August 31, 2006. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Rhapsody Acquisition Corp. as of August 31, 2006, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from April 24, 2006 (inception) to August 31, 2006 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming Rhapsody Acquisition Corp. will continue as a going concern. The Company has no operations and as discussed in Note 2, is in the process of raising capital through a Proposed Offering. This raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

/s/ BDO Seidman, LLP

BDO Seidman, LLP

New York, New York

September 26, 2006

 

F-2


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Balance Sheet

 

     August 31, 2006  

ASSETS

  

Current assets—Cash

   $ 21,454  

Deferred offering costs (Note 3)

     107,332  
        

Total assets

   $ 128,786  
        

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

  

Current liabilities:

  

Accrued expenses

   $ 579  

Accrued offering costs

     15,000  

Note payable to stockholder (Note 4)

     90,000  
        

Total liabilities

   $ 105,579  

Commitments (Note 5)

  

Stockholders’ equity (Notes 5 & 6)

  

Preferred stock, $.0001 par value

  

Authorized 1,000,000 shares; none issued

     —    

Common stock, $.0001 par value

  

Authorized 15,000,000 shares

  

Issued and outstanding 1,125,000 shares

     113  

Additional paid-in capital

     24,887  

Deficit accumulated during the development stage

     (1,793 )
        

Total stockholders’ equity

     23,207  
        

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

   $ 128,786  
        

 

See notes to Financial Statements.

 

F-3


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Statement of Operations

For the period April 24, 2006 (inception) to August 31, 2006

 

Formation Costs

   $ 421  

General and Administrative Costs

     1,590  
        

Operating loss

     (2,011 )

Interest Income

     218  
        

Income Before Taxes

     (1,793 )

Taxes

     0  
        

Net Loss

   $ (1,793 )
        

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding

     1,125,000  
        

Basic and Diluted Net Loss per Share

   $ (0.00 )
        

See notes to Financial Statements.

 

F-4


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Statement of Stockholders’ Equity

For the period April 24, 2006 (inception) to August 31, 2006

 

     Common Stock    Addition paid-in
capital
  

Deficit
Accumulated
During the

Development Stage

    Stockholders’ Equity  
     Shares    Amount        

Common shares issued to initial stockholders

   1,125,000    $ 113    $ 24,887      —       $ 25,000  

Net Loss

   —        —        —      $ (1,793 )     (1,793 )
                                   

Balance at August 31, 2006

   1,125,000    $ 113    $ 24,887    $ (1,793 )   $ 23,207  
                                   

 

 

See notes to Financial Statements

 

F-5


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Statement of Cash Flows

For the period April 24, 2006 (inception) to August 31, 2006

 

Cash flow from operating activities

  

Net loss

   $ (1,793 )

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:

  

Change in operating assets and liabilities:

  

Increase in accrued expenses

     579  
        

Net cash used in operating activities

     (1,214 )
        

Cash flows from financing activities

  

Proceeds from sale of shares of common stock to founding stockholders

     25,000  

Proceeds from note payable, stockholder

     90,000  

Deferred offering costs

     (92,332 )
        

Net cash provided by financing activities

     22,668  
        

Net increase in cash

     21,454  

Cash at beginning of period

     —    

Cash at end of period

   $ 21,454  
        

Supplemental disclosure of non-cash financing activities:

  

Accrued offering costs

   $ 15,000  

 

See notes to Financial Statements

 

F-6


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Income taxes

The Company follows Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109 (“SFAS No. 109”), “Accounting for Income Taxes” which is an asset and liability approach that have been recognized in the Company’s financial statements. The Company has a net operating loss carryforward of approximately $1,800 available to reduce any future income taxes. The tax benefit of this loss, approximately $720, has been fully offset by a valuation allowance due to the uncertainty of its realization.

Net loss per share

Net loss per share is computed on the basis of the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period.

Use of estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the report amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Recently issued accounting standards

Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.

 

F-7


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Notes to Financial Statements

1. Organization and Business Operations

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on April 24, 2006 as a blank check company whose objective is to acquire an operating business.

At August 31, 2006, the Company had not yet commenced any operations. All activity through August 31, 2006 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed public offering described below. The Company has selected March 31 as its fiscal year-end.

The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering of up to 4,500,000 units (“Units”) which is discussed in Note 2 (“Proposed Offering”). The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of this Proposed Offering, although substantially all of the net proceeds of this Proposed Offering are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a business combination with an operating business (“Business Combination”). Furthermore, there is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination. Upon the closing of the Proposed Offering, management has agreed that at least $7.59 per Unit sold in the Proposed Offering will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940 until the earlier of (i) the consummation of its first Business Combination and (ii) liquidation of the Company. The placing of funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third party claims against the Company. Although the Company will seek to have all vendors, prospective target businesses or other entities it engages, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements. The Company’s Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President has agreed that he will be personally liable under certain circumstances to ensure that the proceeds in the Trust Account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or vendors or other entities that are owed money by the Company for services rendered contracted for or products sold to the Company. However, there can be no assurance that he will be able to satisfy those obligations. The remaining net proceeds (not held in the Trust Account) may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses. Additionally, if the Company is unable to consummate a Business Combination by the one year anniversary of the effective date of the Proposed Offering, up to an aggregate of $200,000 of interest earned on the Trust Account balance may be released to the Company to fund working capital requirements. The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for the acquisition of a target business, is required to submit such transaction for stockholder approval. In the event that stockholders owning 20% or more of the shares sold in the Proposed Offering vote against the Business Combination and exercise their conversion rights described below, the Business Combination will not be consummated. All of the Company’s stockholders prior to the Proposed Offering, including all of the officers and directors of the Company (“Initial Stockholders”), have agreed to vote their 1,125,000 founding shares of common stock in accordance with the vote of the majority in interest of all other stockholders of the Company (“Public Stockholders”) with respect to any Business Combination. After consummation of a Business Combination, these voting safeguards will no longer be applicable.

With respect to a Business Combination which is approved and consummated, any Public Stockholder who voted against the Business Combination may demand that the Company convert his or her shares. The per share conversion price will equal the amount in the Trust Account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the proposed Business Combination, divided by the number of shares of common stock held by Public Stockholders at the consummation of the Proposed Offering. Accordingly, Public Stockholders holding

 

F-8


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Notes to Financial Statements—(Continued)

 

19.99% of the aggregate number of shares owned by all Public Stockholders may seek conversion of their shares in the event of a Business Combination. Such Public Stockholders are entitled to receive their per share interest in the Trust Account computed without regard to the shares held by Initial Stockholders.

The Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation will be amended prior to the Proposed Offering to provide that the Company will continue in existence only until 24 months from the Effective Date of the Proposed Offering. If the Company has not completed a Business Combination by such date, its corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up its affairs and it will liquidate. In the event of liquidation, it is likely that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Fund assets) will be less than the initial public offering price per share in the Proposed Offering (assuming no value is attributed to the Warrants contained in the Units to be offered in the Proposed Offering discussed in Note 2).

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at August 31, 2006, the Company has no operations. Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this uncertainty are discussed in Note 2. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful or successful within the target business acquisition period. These factors, among others, indicate that the Company may be unable to continue operations as a going concern.

2. Proposed Public Offering

The Proposed Offering calls for the Company to offer for public sale up to 4,500,000 Units at a proposed offering price of $8.00 per Unit (plus up to an additional 675,000 units solely to cover over-allotments, if any). Each Unit consists of one share of the Company’s common stock and one Redeemable Common Stock Purchase Warrant (“Warrants”). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase from the Company one share of common stock at an exercise price of $5.00 commencing the later of the completion of a Business Combination and one year from the effective date of the Proposed Offering and expiring four years from the effective date of the Proposed Offering. The Company may redeem the Warrants, at a price of $.01 per Warrant upon 30 days’ notice while the Warrants are exercisable, only in the event that the last sale price of the common stock is at least $11.50 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending on the third day prior to the date on which notice of redemption is given. If the Company redeems the Warrants as described above, management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his Warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, the holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering his Warrants for that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the Warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Common Stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to holders of Warrants. In accordance with the warrant agreement relating to the Warrants to be sold and issued in the Proposed Offering, the Company is only required to use its best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of the registration statement covering the Warrants. The Company will not be obligated to deliver securities, and there are no contractual penalties for failure to deliver securities, if a registration statement is not effective at the time of exercise. Additionally, in the event that a registration is not effective at the time of exercise, the holder of such Warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such Warrant and in no event (whether in the case of a registration statement not being effective or otherwise) will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrant exercise. Consequently, the Warrants may expire unexercised and unredeemed.

 

F-9


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Notes to Financial Statements—(Continued)

 

The Company will pay the underwriters in the Proposed Offering an underwriting discount of 5.5% of the gross proceeds of the Proposed Offering and a non-accountable expense allowance of 0.5% of the gross proceeds of the Proposed Offering. However, the underwriters have agreed that 1.0% of the underwriting discounts will not be payable unless and until the Company completes a Business Combination and have waived their right to receive such payment upon the Company’s liquidation if it is unable to complete a Business Combination. The Company will also issue a unit purchase option, for $100, to EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., the representative of the underwriters in the Proposed Offering (“EBC”), to purchase 450,000 Units at an exercise price of $8.80 per Unit. The Units issuable upon exercise of this option are identical to the Units being offered in the Proposed Offering. The Company intends to account for the fair value of the unit purchase option, inclusive of the receipt of the $100 cash payment, as an expense of the Proposed Offering resulting in a charge directly to stockholders’ equity. The Company estimates that the fair value of this unit purchase option is approximately $1,665,000 ($3.70 per Unit) using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The fair value of the unit purchase option granted to the underwriter is estimated as of the date of grant using the following assumptions: (1) expected volatility of 49.83%, (2) risk-free interest rate of 4.70% and (3) expected life of 5 years. The unit purchase option may be exercised for cash or on a “cashless” basis, at the holder’s option (except in the case of a forced cashless exercise upon the Company’s redemption of the Warrants, as described above), such that the holder may use the appreciated value of the unit purchase option (the difference between the exercise prices of the unit purchase option and the underlying Warrants and the market price of the Units and underlying securities) to exercise the unit purchase option without the payment of any cash. The Company will have no obligation to net cash settle the exercise of the unit purchase option or the Warrants underlying the unit purchase option. The holder of the unit purchase option will not be entitled to exercise the unit purchase option or the Warrants underlying the unit purchase option unless a registration statement covering the securities underlying the unit purchase option is effective or an exemption from registration is available. If the holder is unable to exercise the unit purchase option or underlying Warrants, the unit purchase option or Warrants, as applicable, will expire worthless.

3. Deferred Offering Costs

Deferred offering costs consist principally of legal and underwriting fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Offering and that will be charged to stockholders’ equity upon the receipt of the capital raised. Should the Proposed Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs as well as additional expenses to be incurred will be charged to operations.

4. Note Payable, Stockholder

The Company issued a $90,000 principal amount unsecured promissory note to the Company’s Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President on May 15, 2006. The note is non-interest bearing and is payable on the earlier of May 15, 2007 or the consummation of the Proposed Offering. Due to the short-term nature of the note, the fair value of the note approximates its carrying amount.

5. Commitments

The Company presently occupies office space provided by an affiliate of the Company’s Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President. Such affiliate has agreed that, until the Company consummates a Business Combination, it will make such office space, as well as certain office and secretarial services, available to the Company, as may be required by the Company from time to time. The Company has agreed to pay such affiliate $7,500 per month for such services commencing on the effective date of the Proposed Offering.

 

F-10


Table of Contents

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

(a corporation in the development stage)

Notes to Financial Statements—(Continued)

 

Pursuant to letter agreements dated May 30, 2006 with the Company and the underwriter, the Initial Stockholders have waived their right to receive distributions with respect to their founding shares upon the Company’s liquidation.

Four of the Initial Stockholders and one affiliate of an Initial Stockholder have committed to purchase 1,136,364 Warrants (“Insider Warrants”) at $1.10 per Warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250,000) privately from the Company. These purchases will take place simultaneously with the consummation of the Proposed Offering. All of the proceeds received from these purchases will be placed in the Trust Account. The Insider Warrants to be purchased by such purchasers will be identical to the Warrants underlying the Units being offered in the Proposed Offering except that if the Company calls the Warrants for redemption, the Insider Warrants may be exercisable on a “cashless basis,” at the holder’s option (except in the case of a forced cashless exercise upon the Company’s redemption of the Warrants, as described above), so long as such securities are held by such purchasers or their affiliates. Furthermore, the purchasers have agreed that the Insider Warrants will not be sold or transferred by them until after the Company has completed a Business Combination.

The Initial Stockholders and holders of the Insider Warrants (or underlying securities) will be entitled to registration rights with respect to their founding shares or Insider Warrants (or underlying securities), as the case may be, pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the Proposed Offering. The holders of the majority of the founding shares are entitled to demand that the Company register these shares at any time commencing three months prior to the first anniversary of the consummation of a Business Combination. The holders of the Insider Warrants (or underlying securities) are entitled to demand that the Company register such securities at any time after the Company consummates a Business Combination. In addition, the Initial Stockholders and holders of the Insider Warrants (or underlying securities) have certain “piggy-back” registration rights on registration statements filed after the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination.

EBC will be engaged by the Company to act as the Company’s non exclusive investment banker in connection with a proposed Business Combination. For assisting the Company in structuring and negotiating the terms of a Business Combination, the Company will pay EBC a cash transaction fee equal to 1% of the total consideration paid in connection with the Business Combination, with a maximum fee to be paid of $360,000. Additionally, the Company has agreed to pay the fees and issue the securities to the underwriters in the Proposed Offering as described in Note 2 above.

6. Preferred Stock

The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Board of Directors.

The agreement with the underwriters prohibits the Company, prior to a Business Combination, from issuing preferred stock which participates in the proceeds of the Trust Account or which votes as a class with the Common Stock on a Business Combination.

 

F-11


Table of Contents

Until January 1, 2007, all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

No dealer, salesperson or any other person is authorized to give any information or make any representations in connection with this offering other than those contained in this prospectus and, if given or made, the information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by us. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security other than the securities offered by this prospectus, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities by anyone in any jurisdiction in which the offer or solicitation is not authorized or is unlawful.

$36,000,000

Rhapsody Acquisition Corp.

4,500,000 Units

PROSPECTUS

EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.

October 3, 2006