S-1/A 1 fs12021a2_hnracquisition.htm REGISTRATION STATEMENT

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 7, 2022

Registration No. 333-252548

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

____________________________________

Amendment No. 2

TO
FORM S
-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

____________________________________

HNR ACQUISITION CORP

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

____________________________________

Delaware

 

6770

 

85- 4359124

(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

___________________________________

3730 Kirby Drive, Suite 1200
Houston, TX 77098
Telephone: (713) 834
-1145
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

____________________________________

Donald H. Goree
3730 Kirby Drive, Suite 1200
Houston, TX 77098
Telephone: (713) 834
-1145
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

____________________________________

Copies to:

Matthew L. Ogurick, Esq.
K&L Gates LLP
599 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Telephone: (212) 536
-3900
Facsimile: (212) 536-3901

 

Mitchell S. Nussbaum, Esq.
David J. Levine, Esq.
Loeb & Loeb LLP
345 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10154
Telephone: (212) 407-4000
Facsimile: (212) 207-4880

____________________________________

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box  

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

Large accelerated filer

 

 

Accelerated filer

 

Non-accelerated filer

 

 

Smaller reporting company

 

       

Emerging growth company

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

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The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED FEBRUARY 7, 2022

HNR Acquisition Corp

$75,000,000

7,500,000 Units

HNR Acquisition Corp is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our “initial business combination.” We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region although we intend to initially focus on transactions with companies and/or assets in the energy industry in North America.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our common stock and one redeemable warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase three quarters of one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share of common stock, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and the first anniversary of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares. We will not issue fractional shares upon exercise of the warrants and no cash will be payable in lieu thereof. As a result, you must purchase warrants in multiples of four in order to obtain full value from the fractional interest. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the warrants at a redemption price of $0.01 per warrant at any time if notice of not less than 30 days is given and the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the day on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. We have also granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,125,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our tax obligations, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

Our sponsor, HNRAC Sponsors LLC (which we refer to as our “sponsor” throughout this prospectus), has committed that it and/or its designees will purchase from us an aggregate of 460,000 units, or “private placement units,” at a price of $10.00 per unit for a total purchase price of $4,600,000 in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsor has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, our sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional private placement units will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The private placement units cannot be transferred except to certain permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Except for such transfer restrictions and except as otherwise described elsewhere in this prospectus, the private placement units will be identical to the units sold in this offering.

Prior to this offering, our sponsor purchased 2,875,000 shares of common stock (up to 375,000 of which were subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised), which we also refer to as “founder shares.” On February 4, 2022, our sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part. Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has agreed to not transfer any of its ownership interest in the founder shares (except to certain permitted transferees) until the earlier of (i) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

There is presently no public market for our units, common stock or warrants. We have applied to list our units on the NYSE American, under the symbol “HNRAU.” If approved for listing, we anticipate that our units will be listed on the NYSE American on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE American. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading after the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the underwriter informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. At the time that the common stock and warrants comprising the units begin separate trading, holders will hold the separate securities and no longer hold units (without any action needing to be taken by the holders), and the units will no longer trade.

We have applied to have our common stock and warrants listed on the NYSE American under the symbols “HNRA” and “HNRAW,” respectively. Following the date the common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE American.

We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements.

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 26 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.

Neither the SEC 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.

 

Per Unit

 

Total

Public offering price

 

$

10.00

 

$

75,000,000

Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)

 

$

0.20

 

$

1,500,000

Proceeds, before expenses, to us

 

$

9.80

 

$

73,580,000

____________

(1)         The underwriter has agreed to defer until consummation of our initial business combination $2,250,000 of its underwriting commissions (or $2,587,500 if the underwriter’s overallotment option is exercised in full), which equals 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the units sold to the public. The underwriter will also receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount. See “Underwriting” for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriter.

Upon consummation of this offering, an aggregate of $76,500,000 (or approximately $87,975,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) or $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. Except as described in this prospectus, these funds will not be released from the trust account until the earlier of the completion of our initial business combination and our redemption of our public shares upon our failure to consummate a business combination within the required period. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

The underwriter is offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriter expects to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about             , 2022.

EF HUTTON

division of Benchmark Investments, LLC

The date of this prospectus is           , 2022

 

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SUMMARY

This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, references to:

•        “founder shares” are to shares of our common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering;

•        “initial stockholders” are to our stockholders prior to this offering;

•        “management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors;

•        “private placement shares” are to the shares of common stock sold as part of the private placement units;

•        “private placement units” are to the units issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering;

•        “private placement warrants” are to the warrants sold as part of the private placement units;

•        “public shares” are to shares of our common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

•        “public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

•        “public warrants” are to the redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market) and to any warrants included in the private placement units or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, that are sold to third parties that are not our sponsor or executive officers or directors (or permitted transferees) following the consummation of our initial business combination;

•        “sponsor” is to HNRAC Sponsors LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, an entity controlled by Houston Natural Resources, Inc.; and

•         “we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to HNR Acquisition Corp, a Delaware corporation.

Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase three quarters of one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and the first anniversary of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares. We will not issue fractional shares upon exercise of the warrants and no cash will be payable in lieu thereof. As a result, you must purchase warrants in multiples of four in order to obtain full value from the fractional interest.

Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriter will not exercise the underwriter’s over-allotment option.

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Our Company

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated on December 9, 2020 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region. While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to focus on assets used in exploring, developing, producing, transporting, storing, gathering, processing, fractionating, refining, distributing or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil or refined products in North America.

We intend to identify and acquire a business that could benefit from a hands-on owner with extensive operational experience in the energy sector in North America and that presents potential for an attractive risk-adjusted return profile under our stewardship. The largest oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and BP, are projected to sell a combined $100 billion in oil and gas assets around the world as they focus on top-performing regions, according to a new analysis from consulting firm Rystad (October 2020). Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing such potential acquisitions across the upstream and midstream energy sectors. In addition, our team has significant hands-on experience working with private companies in preparing for and executing an initial public offering and serving as active owners and directors by working closely with these companies to continue their transformations and to create value in the public markets. We believe that our management team is well positioned to identify attractive risk-adjusted returns in the marketplace and that their contacts and transaction sources, ranging from industry executives, private owners, private equity funds, and investment bankers, will enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities.

We will seek to capitalize on the extensive experience of each of the members of our management team who have more than 40 years average experience in the energy industry. Mr. Donald H. Goree, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer has over 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry involving exploration and production, oil and gas pipeline construction and operations, natural gas gathering, processing and gas liquification. Mr. Goree was the Founder and President of Goree Petroleum Inc., a corporation engaged in oil and gas exploration and production in premiere basins throughout the United States for 35 years. Currently, Mr. Goree is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Houston Natural Resources, Inc., a global natural resource corporation located in Houston, Texas and the controlling member of our sponsor. Mr. Goree also previously served as Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Global Xchange Solutions AG., a publicly-reporting, private equity, investment bank and market-making firm, based in Zurich, Switzerland, with offices in Frankfurt, Germany and London, United Kingdom. Global Xchange Solutions sponsored listings of private companies to the London Stock Exchange, AIM, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Berlin Stock Exchange and the Börse Stuttgart, and provided public company development and market development advice. Mr. Goree also previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Azur Holdings, Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, OTC-listed luxury real estate developer of mid-rise waterfront condominiums. Mr. Donald W. Orr, our President, is a degreed geologist with over 42 years of experience in petroleum geology and production operations. Mr. Orr began his career as a junior geologist with Texas Oil and Gas Corporation in 1976, and was elevated within two years to a supervisory role overseeing over five geologists on his team, most of whom had more experience than Mr. Orr. In February 1979, Mr. Orr helped form American Shoreline, Inc., an independent oil and gas company. Mr. Orr formerly held a position with Seven Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Weatherford International plc in 2005, where he helped pioneered numerous innovations in underbalanced drilling, or UBD, including drilling with unconventional materials and devising the methodology for unlocking the productive capacity of the Buda Lime through the use of UBD. In June 2009, Mr. Orr founded XNP Resources, LLC, an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources. Shortly thereafter, XNP Resources teamed up with Tahoe Energy Partners, LLC in 2012 to acquire oil and gas leases for drilling in the Rocky Mountain region. At Mr. Orr’s direction, XNP Resources began acquiring a strategic leasehold position in the Sand Wash Basin in Colorado. XNP Resources was able to secure a major leasehold position in the heart of what has become the highly competitive Niobrara Shale formation in western Colorado. Since 2014, Mr. Orr has been developing an unconventional resource play in Alaska that contains over 600 billion cubic feet of gas in stacked coal reservoirs. More recently, Mr. Orr assembled a team of oil and gas professionals in order to study certain oil provinces in Columbia. S.A.

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The past performance of the members of our management team is not a guarantee that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team as indicative of our future performance. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful. None of our officers and directors has experience with special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs.

Business Strategy

Our acquisition and value creation strategy will be to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, build a company in the energy industry in North America that complements the experience of our management team and can benefit from their operational expertise and/or executive oversight. Our acquisition strategy will leverage our management team’s network of potential proprietary and public transaction sources where we believe a combination of our relationships, knowledge and experience in the energy industry could effect a positive transformation or augmentation of existing businesses or properties to improve their overall value proposition.

We plan to utilize the network and industry experience of our management team and business partners in seeking an initial business combination and employing our acquisition strategy. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team and their affiliates have developed a broad network of contacts and industry relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through our management team’s extensive experience in both investing and operating in the energy industry. In addition to our industry and lending community relationships, we plan to leverage relationships with management teams of public and private companies, capital market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, restructuring advisers, attorneys and accounting firms, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target business and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing opportunities with value creation potential.

The primary strategies our management team will use to identify a potential business combination to generate favorable returns include seeking to:

•        Acquire and operate quality, producing assets, with high working interests, in a well-known basin with a large oil and gas reserve base and production, proved reserve and cash flow upside at an attractive valuation.

•        Provide development capital and expertise to partner with companies with high quality assets, established infrastructure and core acreage positions at attractive economics.

•        Leverage proved developed reserves while targeting multiple productive pay zones to increase upside potential.

•        Target producing assets with significant opportunities for cost improvements and application of new technology.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with this strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire companies that we believe:

•        are well positioned to benefit from increased levels of production from key domestic basins;

•        have significant proved developed producing reserves in a well-known basin with proven development opportunities;

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•        have significant proved undeveloped reserves in a well-known basin with proven development opportunities;

•        have the ability to generate significant current free cash flow;

•        have potential to generate significant growth in shareholder value following our initial business combination;

•        are at an inflection point, such as requiring additional management expertise, are able to innovate through new operational techniques and technology, or where we believe we can drive improved financial performance;

•        have developed leading positions within the energy industry, based on our evaluation of several factors, including growth profile, competitive environment, profitability profile and sustainability of business plan;

•        can utilize the extensive networks, operational experience and insights our management team has built in the energy industry;

•        are fundamentally sound but we believe can achieve better results by leveraging the operating and financial experience of our management team and their affiliates;

•        exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital, and a need for capital to achieve the company’s growth strategy, that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review; and

•        can offer attractive risk-adjusted returns on investments for our stockholders.

We will seek to acquire the target on terms and in a manner that leverage our management team’s experience investing within the energy industry. Potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.

Our Acquisition Process

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. In conducting our due diligence review, we intend to leverage the experience of members of our management team on an efficient and cost effective basis as we deploy them to review matters related to their specific areas of functional expertise.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, or any of our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K.

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Members of our management team will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement units following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination target if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our executive officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combination targets and monitoring the related due diligence.

Initial Business Combination

So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American, our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriters fees and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Although our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of the fair market value of the target business, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

We currently anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders

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prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

JOBS Act

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Act, for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. Accordingly, the information we provide to you may be different than you might get from other public companies in which you hold securities.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the closing of this offering, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

References in this prospectus to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Founder Shares

On December 24, 2020, we issued an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.01 per share, to our sponsor. The founder shares issued to our sponsor included an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part. On February 4, 2022, our sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such founder shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, so that our sponsor and its permitted transferees together would continue to own approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming our sponsor or its permitted transferees do not purchase units in this offering). Our sponsor has agreed to not transfer any of its ownership interest in the founder shares (except to certain permitted transferees) until the earlier of (i) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or

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earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Corporate Information

Our executive offices are located at 3730 Kirby Drive, Suite 1200, Houston, Texas 77098, and our telephone number is (713) 834-1145.

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THE OFFERING

In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled “Risk Factors.”

Securities offered

 

7,500,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

•   one share of common stock; and

•   one redeemable warrant, each whole warrant to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock.

Proposed NYSE American symbols

 

Units: “HNRAU”

Common Stock: “HNRA”

Warrants: “HNRAW”

Trading commencement and separation of common stock and warrants

 



The units will begin trading promptly after the date of this prospectus. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading after the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the underwriter informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. At the time that the common stock and warrants comprising the units begin separate trading, holders will hold the separate securities and no longer hold units (without any action needing to be taken by the holders), and the units will no longer trade.

Separate trading of the common stock and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K

 




In no event will 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 at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. We will also include in the Current Report on Form 8-K, or amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Current Report on Form 8-K, information indicating if the underwriter has allowed separate trading of the common stock and warrants on or prior to the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus.

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Units:

   

Number outstanding before this offering

 


0

Number outstanding after this offering and the private placement

 


7,960,000(1)(2)

Common stock:

   

Number outstanding before this offering

 


2,501,250(3)

Number outstanding after this offering and the private placement

 


10,135,000(1)(4)

Warrants:

   

Number outstanding before this offering

 


0

Number outstanding after this offering and the private placement

 


7,960,000(1)(5)

Exercisability

 

Each warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase three quarters of one share of our common stock, as compared to units issued by some other similar special purpose acquisition companies which contain whole warrants exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination as compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses.

The warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares. We will not issue fractional shares upon exercise of the warrants and no cash will be payable in lieu thereof. As a result, you must purchase warrants in multiples of four in order to obtain full value from the fractional interest.

Exercise price

 

$11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein.

In addition, if (i) we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and,

____________

(1)      Assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option.

(2)      Consists of 7,500,000 units to be sold in this offering and 460,000 private placement units to be sold in the private placement occurring simultaneously with this offering.

(3)      This number consists solely of the founder shares and includes up to 326,250 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised. Except as otherwise specified, the rest of this prospectus has been drafted to give effect to the full forfeiture of these 326,250 shares.

(4)      Consists of 7,500,000 shares of common stock included in the units to be sold in this offering, 460,000 private placement shares and 2,175,000 founder shares, and assumes the full forfeiture of the 326,250 founder shares subject to forfeiture.

(5)      Consists of 7,500,000 warrants included in the units to be sold in this offering and 460,000 private placement warrants.

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in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or its affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance (the “Newly Issued Price”)), (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for funding our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the volume weighted average trading price of our common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price shall be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described in the section “Redemption of warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

If (x) a registration statement covering the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination and (ii) the issuance of the underlying securities is exempt from registration under the Securities Act, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis.

Exercise period

 

The warrants offered in this offering will become exercisable on the later of:

•   30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and

•   the first anniversary of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

Redemption of warrants

 

We may redeem the outstanding warrants in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant at any time after the warrants become exercisable, upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, if, and only if, the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period commencing at any time after the warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption; and if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the common stock underlying such warrants.

If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption, each warrant holder can exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the common stock may fall below the $18.00 trigger price as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

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If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, each 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 five 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.

Founder shares

 

On December 24, 2020, our sponsor purchased 2,875,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. The 2,875,000 founder shares issued to our sponsor included an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares of common stock subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part. On February 4, 2022, our sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to us by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our sponsor and its permitted transferees at approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering (assuming our sponsor or its permitted transferees do not purchase units in this offering).

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The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:

•   the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;

•   our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive (i) its redemption rights with respect to all shares of our common stock then owned by it in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to our sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part (although it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock are voted in favor of the initial business combination. Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has agreed to vote all shares of our common stock having voting rights that it then owns in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to the founder shares, we could need as little as 2,893,514, or approximately 28.55%, of our public shares to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we could need as little as 359,764 of our public shares, or approximately 7.1% of our public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved; and

•   the founder shares are subject to registration rights.

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Transfer restrictions on founder
shares

 


Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has agreed to not transfer, assign or sell any of its interests in the founder shares (except to permitted transferees) until the earlier to occur of (i) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after the our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units”). We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the “lock-up”.

Private placement units

 

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, that it and/or its designees will purchase an aggregate of 460,000 private placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit for a total purchase price of $4,600,000 in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsor has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, our sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional private placement units will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option.

The private placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering except that (i) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) cannot be transferred (except to certain permitted transferees) until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will be entitled to registration rights.

The purchase price of the private placement units will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement units held in the trust will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will expire worthless.

Proceeds to be held in
trust account

 


The rules of the NYSE American provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the $79,600,000 in gross proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement units, or $91,300,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, $76,500,000 ($10.20 per unit), or approximately $87,975,000 ($10.20 per unit) if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $2,300,000 (or $2,525,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering (including the upfront underwriting discount).

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Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, the proceeds from this offering will not be released from the trust account until the earlier of the completion of our initial business combination and our redemption of all of our public shares upon our failure to consummate a business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

Anticipated expenses and funding sources

 


Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $800,000 in working capital. Additionally, in order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering if the funds available to us are insufficient, our sponsor or its affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan or advance to us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts, but no other proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment or reimbursement. The terms of such loans or advances by our sponsor or its affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans or advances.

Conditions to completing our initial business combination

 


There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination (although our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may not issue securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-business combination activity). The NYSE American rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriters fees and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We will be required to comply with such rule so long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.

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The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Although our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of the fair market value of the target business, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test, provided that in the event that the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.

Permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates

 


If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, other initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

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We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Our sponsor, other initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates will not make any purchases if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) of, or Rule 10b-5 under, the Exchange Act.

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

 



We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to all shares of our common stock then owned by it in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

Manner of conducting redemptions

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under the NYSE American rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American, we would be required to comply with such rules.

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If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

•   conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

•   file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will:

•   conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and

•   file proxy materials with the SEC.

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our sponsor will count towards this quorum and has agreed to vote all shares of our common stock having voting rights that it then owns in favor of our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital

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or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 10% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote

 




Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to an aggregate of 10% or more of the shares sold in this offering. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us, our sponsor or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding an aggregate of 20% or more of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to less than 10% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold 10% or more of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our business combination.

Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination

 



On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us, other than the funds that the trustee will use to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination.” We will use the remaining funds to pay the underwriter its deferred commission, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination.

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If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

Ability to extend time to complete business combination

 


We will have until 12 months from the closing of this offering to consummate our initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months, we may, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to two times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 18 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. Pursuant to the terms of the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our initial shareholders or their affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account for each three-month extension, $750,000, or $862,500 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, up to an aggregate of $1,500,000 (or $1,725,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), or approximately $0.20 per share. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant at the option of the lender. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial stockholders contains a provision pursuant to which our sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans out of the funds held in the trust account in the event that we do not complete a business combination. In the event that we receive notice from our sponsor five days prior to the applicable deadline of its wish for us to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. If we choose to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination as set forth herein, you will not have the ability to vote or redeem your shares in connection with either of the three-month extensions. However, if we seek to complete a business combination during an extension period, investors will still be able to vote and redeem their shares in connection with that business combination.

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Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination

 



We will have only 12 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part to complete our initial business combination (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus). If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 12-month period (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the required period.

Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has waived its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to our sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. However, if our sponsor or its permitted transferees acquires public shares in this offering or in the aftermarket, it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame.

The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

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Our executive officers, directors, sponsor and sponsor’s permitted transferees each have agreed, pursuant to written letter agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).

Limited payments to insiders

 

There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements, non-cash payments or cash payments made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to, or in order to effectuate the consummation of, an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is), other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

•   payment of $10,000 per month for up to 12 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part to HNRAC Sponsors LLC, our sponsor, for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services;  

•   Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination.

There is no cap or ceiling on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination. Our audit committee will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval.

Audit Committee

 

Prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement, we will have established and will maintain an audit committee to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled “Management — Committees of the Board of Directors — Audit Committee.”

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Conflicts of Interest

 

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Indemnity

 

Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a creditor or a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be released to us to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims.

We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, and our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. We believe the likelihood of our sponsor having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all creditors, vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.

Summary of Risk Factors

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section titled “Risk Factors,” that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may adversely affect our ability to effect a business combination, and may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to:

•        we are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues;

•        our ability to continue as a “going concern”;

•        we may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame;

•        you will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances;

•        negative interest rate for securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account;

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•        our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us;

•        if third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share (or, if both three-month extensions occur, less than $10.40 per share);

•        subsequent to completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges;

•        dependence on key personnel;

•        conflicts of interest of our sponsor, officers and directors;

•        past performance by our management team may not be indicative of future performance of your investment in us;

•        we may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business;

•        our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination;

•        the absence of a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree;

•        we may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after our consummation of a business combination;

•        we may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you;

•        our competitors have advantages over us in seeking business combinations;

•        we may be unable to obtain additional financing;

•        our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock;

•        we may issue additional equity and/or debt securities to complete our initial business;

•        our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us;

•        you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our common stock;

•        if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, who controls a substantial interest in us, has agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote;

•        if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our common stock;

•        ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure, and will increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful;

•        lack of protections normally afforded to investors of blank check companies;

•        deviation from acquisition criteria;

•        possibility of losing the ability to redeem all shares equal to or in excess of 10% of our common stock if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules;

•        the NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange;

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•        we will likely only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services;

•        we are not registering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise such warrants;

•        shares being redeemed and warrants becoming worthless;

•        lack of working capital;

•        events which may result in the per-share amount held in our trust account dropping below $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per public share;

•        our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor;

•        if, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced;

•        registration rights may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our common stock;

•        because we are not limited to a particular industry or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations;

•        we may seek acquisition opportunities in companies that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise;

•        because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business or businesses in the energy industry, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with that industry;

•        our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants;

•        impact of COVID-19 and related risks;

•        if we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations; and

•        changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

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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 is presented.

 

September 30, 2021

   

Actual

 

As Adjusted

Balance Sheet Data:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working capital (deficit)(1)

 

$

(154,760

)

 

$

582,040

 

Total assets(2)

 

$

177,840

 

 

$

77,414,640

 

Total liabilities

 

$

154,850

 

 

$

2,341,650

 

Value of common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination ($10.20 per share)(3)

 

$

288

 

 

$

76,500,000

 

Total stockholders’ equity(4)

 

$

22,990

 

 

$

(1,427,010

)

____________

(1)      The “as adjusted” calculation equals $76,500,000 in cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, plus $800,000 in cash held outside the trust account

(2)      The “as adjusted” calculation equals $76,500,000 in cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, plus $800,000 in cash held outside the trust account.

(3)      The “as adjusted” calculation represents the value of shares of common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination (approximately $10.20 per share).

(4)      Excludes 7,500,000 shares of common stock purchased in the public market which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of shares of common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination (approximately $10.20 per share).

The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units in this offering, the sale of the private placement units, and the payment of the estimated expenses of this offering. The “as adjusted” total assets amount includes the $76,500,000 held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, which amount will be available to us only upon the completion of our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

If no business combination is completed within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to our sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such 12-month time period (or within an 18-month period if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus).

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”

As of September 30, 2021, we had $90 in cash and a working capital deficit (excluding deferred offering costs) of $154,760. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our finance and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable state law or the rules of the NYSE American or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the NYSE American rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by law, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see the section entitled “Proposed Business — Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

Unlike many other blank check companies in which the initial stockholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public stockholders in connection with an initial business combination, our initial stockholder, including our sponsor, have agreed to vote all shares of our common stock having voting rights that it then owns in favor of our initial business combination. Our initial stockholders will own 22.48% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering (assuming our sponsor does not purchase any units in this offering). As a result, in addition to the founder shares, we could need as little as 2,893,514, or approximately 28.55%, of the 7,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we could need as little as 359,764 of the 7,500,000 public shares, or approximately 7.1% of the shares sold as part of the units in this offering, to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved.

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Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our sponsor agreed to vote its shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination.

At the time of your investment in us, you may not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure, or may incentivize us to structure a transaction whereby we issue shares to new investors and not to sellers of target businesses, such that our sponsor will receive additional shares.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.

If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you

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could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

We must complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a

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minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of a business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business — Business Strategy — Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights.”

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) our redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

The NYSE American may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

We have applied to have our units listed on the NYSE American. If approved for listing, we anticipate that our units will be listed on the NYSE American on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We have applied to have our common stock and warrants listed on the NYSE American. Following the date the common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the common stock and warrants will be listed on the NYSE American. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE American rules, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on the NYSE American in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE American prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE American’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE American’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE American. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $4,600,000. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

If the NYSE American delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

•        a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

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•        reduced liquidity for our securities;

•        a determination that our common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

•        a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

•        a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

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

Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $4,600,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement units 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 in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold 10% or more of our common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares equal to or in excess of 10% of our common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to an aggregate of 10% or more of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our business combination, and as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares equal to or exceeding 10%. In order to dispose of such shares, you would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share, on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of

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the private placement units, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, if we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of common stock redeemed and, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination, we make purchases of our common stock, the resources available to us for our initial business combination will potentially be reduced. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least 12 months following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part (or at least 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus), we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least 12 months following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part (or at least 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus), assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least 12 months following the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part (or at least 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus); however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, only approximately $800,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses (excluding underwriting discounts and commissions) exceed our estimate of $800,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses (excluding underwriting discounts and commissions) are less than our estimate of $800,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.

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Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues that may be present inside a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, less than $10.40) per share.

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all creditors, vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. We are not aware of any product or service providers who have not or will not provide such waiver other than the underwriter of this offering.

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by our a creditor or a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust

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account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, and our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share or (ii) other than due to the failure to obtain a waiver from a creditor or vendor 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, such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that 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. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that 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, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

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

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including, without limitation, restrictions on the nature of our investments, and restrictions on the issuance of our securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including, without limitation, registration as an investment company; adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.

In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading in securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in United States government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in United States Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to consummate a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

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

Under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, or the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL 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 redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 12th month (or following the 18th month if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part in the event we do not complete our business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. 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 (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, 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 likely be

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barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. 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 beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after our consummation of a business combination and you will not be entitled to any of the corporate protections provided by such a meeting.

In accordance with the NYSE American corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE American. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus, we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of a business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We are not registering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise such warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise such warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.

We are not registering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file, and within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, to have declared effective, a registration statement relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants, and to maintain a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder or an exemption from registration or qualification is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of common stock included in the units. We may not redeem the warrants when a holder may not exercise such warrants.

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The grant of registration rights to our sponsor in respect of its founder shares and private placement units and the grant of registration rights to holders of other securities may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register their founder shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register their private placement units (and their constituent securities, as well as shares of common stock underlying such constituent securities), and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, may demand that we register such warrants or the common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our common stock that is expected when the above-described securities owned by our sponsor or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

Because we are not limited to a particular industry or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations.

Although we expect to focus our search for a target business in the energy industry, we may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

Because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business or businesses in the energy industry, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with this industry.

We intend to initially focus our search for a target business in the energy industry. Accordingly, we may pursue a target business in these sectors or any other sector within the energy industry. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business or sector, we cannot provide specific risks of any business combination. However, risks inherent in investments in the energy industry include, but are not limited to, the following:

•        Volatility of oil and natural gas prices;

•        Price and availability of alternative fuels, such as solar, coal, nuclear and wind energy;

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•        Competitive pressures in the utility industry, primarily in wholesale markets, as a result of consumer demand, technological advances, greater availability of natural gas and other factors;

•        Significant federal, state and local regulation, taxation and regulatory approval processes as well as changes in applicable laws and regulations;

•        The speculative nature of and high degree of risk involved in investments in the upstream, midstream and energy services sectors, including relying on estimates of oil and gas reserves and the impacts of regulatory and tax changes;

•        Drilling, exploration and development risks, including encountering unexpected formations or pressures, premature declines of reservoirs, blow-outs, equipment failures and other accidents, cratering, sour gas releases, uncontrollable flows of oil, natural gas or well fluids, adverse weather conditions, pollution, fires, spills and other environmental risks, any of which could lead to environmental damage, injury and loss of life or the destruction of property;

•        Proximity and capacity of oil, natural gas and other transportation and support infrastructure to production facilities;

•        Availability of key inputs, such as strategic consumables, raw materials and drilling and processing equipment;

•        The supply of and demand for oilfield services and equipment in the United States and internationally;

•        Available pipeline, storage and other transportation capacity;

•        Changes in global supply and demand and prices for commodities;

•        Impact of energy conservation efforts;

•        Technological advances affecting energy production and consumption;

•        Overall domestic and global economic conditions;

•        Availability of, and potential disputes with, independent contractors;

•        Natural disasters, terrorist acts and similar dislocations;

•        Impact of COVID-19 on demand, labor markets, and other macro-economic factors affecting the energy industry, and

•        Value of U.S. dollar relative to the currencies of other countries.

We may seek acquisition opportunities in companies that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

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Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that meets all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We may seek acquisition opportunities with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Unless we complete our business combination with an affiliated entity, or our board cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying for a target is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and/or disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from either an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

We may issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination, and any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.0001

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per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 80,810,000 (assuming that the underwriter has not exercised the underwriter’s over-allotment option) authorized but unissued shares of common stock available for issuance, which amount takes into account shares of common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants, including the private warrants to be issued in the private placement. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common stock, and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination (although our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may not issue securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-business combination activity). However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

•        may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;

•        may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

•        could cause a change in control if a substantial number of common stock is 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 units, common stock and/or warrants.

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our executive officers and directors, at least until we have completed our business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

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Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

Our ability to successfully effect our business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.

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 our business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.

Our key personnel may be able to remain with the company after the completion of our business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. 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 us after the completion of our business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’ management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.

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Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which they may be entitled to substantial compensation and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers.”

Certain of our executive officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us following our initial business combination and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our executive officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us following our initial business combination. See a description of our executive officers’ and directors’ current affiliations under the headings “Management” and “Management — Conflicts of Interest” below.

Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Management — Directors and Executive Officers,” “Management — Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not currently intend to do so. We also do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers and directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management — Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities.

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Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business — Effecting our initial business combination — Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest may still exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

Since our sponsor will lose some or all of its investment in us if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

Upon the closing of this offering, our sponsor and its permitted transferees will together hold 2,501,250 founder shares as of the date of this prospectus (up to 326,250 of which are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part). Our sponsor and its permitted transferee each has agreed to not transfer any of its ownership interest therein (except to certain permitted transferees) until the earlier of (i) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to the our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive (i) its redemption rights with respect to all shares of our common stock then owned by it in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to our sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, although it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame.

Our sponsor has also committed to purchase an aggregate of 460,000 private placement units (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised) for a purchase price of $4,600,000, or $10.00 per unit. Our sponsor has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, our sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering. The private placement units cannot be transferred except to certain permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

The founder shares and the private placement units (together with the securities included in the private placement units) will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. This and other personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 12-month (or within an 18-month if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) anniversary of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.

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Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will not be eligible to be reimbursed for their out-of-pocket expenses if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

Our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination. These financial interests of our sponsor, executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination and completing an initial business combination.

We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

We may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

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

•        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;

•        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 inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

•        using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

•        limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

•        increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and

•        limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

We will likely only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.

The net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units will provide us with $76,500,000 (or approximately $87,975,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our business combination.

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We may effectuate our business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

•        solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or

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

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

We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence 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. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.

Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

We may structure a business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.

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We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (such that we become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.

In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination and increased redemption thresholds. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments in order to effectuate our initial business combination.

Certain agreements related to this offering may be amended without stockholder approval.

Certain agreements, including the underwriting agreement relating to this offering, the investment management trust agreement between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the letter agreements between us and each of our executive officers, directors, sponsor and sponsor’s permitted transferees, the registration rights agreement among us and our sponsor, the administrative services agreement between us and our sponsor may be amended without stockholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendment may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.

Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.

In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.

The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business

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combination entity might need to incur greater expense and/or accept less favorable terms. Furthermore, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

In addition, after completion of any initial business combination, our directors and officers could be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to such initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.

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

We have not yet identified any prospective target business, and thus, cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units prove to be insufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

Upon the closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming our sponsor does not purchase units in this offering).

Accordingly, it may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. If our sponsor purchases any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its influence.

Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is and will be divided into two classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of two years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only half of the board of directors will be considered for election and our sponsor, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our business combination.

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Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.01 per share for the founder 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 (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the common stock and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 105.4% (or $10.54 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $(0.54) and the effective initial offering price of $10.00 per unit.

We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of the common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period commencing at any time after the warrants become exercisable and ending on the third business day prior to proper notice of such redemption provided that on the date we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time we redeem the warrants, we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.

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 public 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 (including any private warrants) 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 we do not file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will only be able to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis.”

If we do not file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at the time that holders wish to exercise such warrants, they will only be able to exercise them on a “cashless basis” provided that an exemption from registration is available. As a result, the number of shares of common stock that holders will receive upon exercise of the warrants will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his warrant for cash. Further, if an exemption from registration is not available, holders would not be able to exercise on a cashless basis and would only be able to exercise their warrants for cash if a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is available. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our reasonable best efforts to meet these conditions and to file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of 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. If we are unable to do so, the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company may be reduced or the warrants may expire worthless.

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An investor will only be able to exercise a warrant if the issuance of shares 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 shares of 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. If the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside, the warrants may be deprived of any value, the market for the warrants may be limited and they may expire worthless if they cannot be sold.

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder (i) to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or to cure, correct or supplement any defective provision, or (ii) to add or change any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the interests of the registered holders of the warrants. The warrant agreement requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

If:

•        we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock,

•        the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and

•        the Market Value is below $9.20 per share,

then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

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

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares of our common stock (or up to 8,625,000 shares of common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing private placement warrants exercisable to purchase an aggregate of 460,000 shares of our common stock as part of the private placement units. Our sponsor has

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also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, our sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units (which will include private placement warrants) on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering. To the extent we issue shares of common stock to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of common stock upon exercise of these rights and warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, if and when exercised, would increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our common stock and reduce the value of the shares of common stock issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.

Prior to 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 underwriter. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriter, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriter believed it reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the common stock and warrants included in the units, include:

•        the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;

•        prior offerings of those companies;

•        our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;

•        a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

•        our capital structure;

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

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

•        other factors as were deemed relevant.

Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.

There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

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Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.

Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (i) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (ii) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.

This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.

Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, or international financial reporting standards depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, which could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments

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not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the closing of this offering, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.

Further, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an “emerging growth company,” can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an “emerging growth company” nor an “emerging growth company” which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2023. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an “emerging growth company,” we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widespread health crisis and is adversely affecting the economies and financial markets in the United States and worldwide, and could adversely affect the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, continue to limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

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Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common stock and could entrench management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any claim (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

If we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

If we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:

•        higher costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;

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•        rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

•        laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

•        tariffs and trade barriers;

•        regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

•        local or regional economic policies and market conditions;

•        unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;

•        longer payment cycles;

•        tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

•        currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

•        rates of inflation;

•        challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

•        cultural and language differences;

•        employment regulations;

•        underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;

•        corruption;

•        protection of intellectual property;

•        social unrest, crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, regime changes, political upheaval, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars;

•        deterioration of political relations with the United States; and

•        government appropriation of assets.

We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we are unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

General Risk Factors

We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

We are a newly formed company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our business combination. If we fail to complete our business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

Past performance by our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance of our management team is neither a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination nor of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns

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we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful. None of our officers and directors has experience with SPACs.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements contained in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of United States federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:

•        our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

•        our ability to complete our initial business combination;

•        our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses;

•        our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

•        our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

•        our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

•        our pool of prospective target businesses;

•        the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities;

•        our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

•        the lack of a market for our securities;

•        the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;

•        the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or

•        our financial performance following this offering.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

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MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

This prospectus contains estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry and our business, as well as data regarding market size, estimates and forecasts prepared by our management. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties and actual events or circumstances may differ materially from events and circumstances that are assumed in this information. Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this industry, business, market and other data from reports, research surveys, studies and similar data prepared by market research firms and other third parties, industry and general publications, government data and similar sources. In some cases, we do not expressly refer to the sources from which these data are derived.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We are offering 7,500,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement units will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

Without
Over-Allotment
Option

 

Over-Allotment
Option
Exercised

Gross proceeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross proceeds from units offered this offering

 

$

75,000,000

 

 

$

86,250,000

 

Gross proceeds from private placement units offered in the private placement

 

 

4,600,000

 

 

 

5,050,000

 

Total gross proceeds

 

$

79,600,000

 

 

$

91,300,000

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Offering expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underwriting commissions (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(1)

 

$

1,500,000

 

 

$

1,725,000

 

Legal fees and expenses

 

 

325,000

 

 

 

325,000

 

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

40,000

 

 

 

40,000

 

Printing and engraving expenses

 

 

10,000

 

 

 

10,000

 

SEC Registration Fee

 

 

8,000

 

 

 

8,000

 

FINRA Filing Fee

 

 

17,750

 

 

 

17,750

 

Directors and officers insurance

 

 

200,000

 

 

 

200,000

 

NYSE American listing and filing fees

 

 

85,000

 

 

 

85,000

 

Miscellaneous expenses

 

 

114,250

 

 

 

114,250

 

Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)

 

$

800,000

 

 

$

800,000

 

Proceeds after offering expenses

 

$

77,300,000

 

 

$

88,750,000

 

Held in trust account

 

$

76,500,000

 

 

$

87,975,000

 

% of public offering size

 

 

102.0

%

 

 

102.0

%

Not held in trust account

 

$

800,000

 

 

$

800,000

 

____________

(1)      The underwriter has agreed to defer until consummation of our initial business combination $2,500,000 of its underwriting commissions (or approximately $2,587,500 if the underwriter’s overallotment option is exercised in full), which equals 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the units sold to the public. The underwriter will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

The following table shows the use of the approximately $800,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account.(1)

 

Amount

 

% of Total

Legal, accounting, due diligence and other third party expenses attendant

 

$

350,000

 

43.8

%

Legal and accounting fees relating to SEC reporting obligations

 

 

100,000

 

12.5

%

NYSE American continued listing fees

 

 

80,000

 

10.0

%

Payment for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services ($10,000 per month for up to 18 months)

 

 

180,000

 

22.5

%

Miscellaneous expenses (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income)

 

 

90,000

 

11.2

%

Total

 

$

800,000

 

100

%

__________

(1)     These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and, as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses,

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would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account to pay taxes. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan or advance to us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts, but no other proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment or reimbursement. The terms of such loans or advances by our sponsor or its affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans or advances.

The rules of the NYSE American provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, $76,500,000, or $87,975,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full (in each case, at $10.20 per unit) will be placed in a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $1,147,500 per year, assuming an interest rate of 1.50% per year. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, and the proceeds from this offering will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, interest earned on the trust account may not be sufficient to pay taxes.

The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will pay (commencing on the effective date of this registration statement) our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for up to 12 months (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. None of the $10,000 per month payment will be received by our officers or directors or their affiliates (other than our sponsor). We believe these types of arrangements are customary among many SPACs. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan or advance to us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account

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released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts, but no other proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment or reimbursement. The terms of such loans or advances by our sponsor or its affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans or advances.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may also purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to all shares of our common stock then owned by it in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to the sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. However, if our sponsor acquires public shares in or after this offering, it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

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 our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of the offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in an amount as to maintain the ownership of our sponsor and its permitted transferees prior to this offering at approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

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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 pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement units, 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 private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. 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 redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our common stock.

At September 30, 2021, our net tangible book value was $(154,760), or approximately ($0.0538) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the forfeiture of 373,750 shares of common stock by our sponsor on February 4, 2022, the sale of 7,500,000 shares of common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, the sale of 460,000 private placement shares included in the private placement units, and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at September 30, 2021 would have been $(1,427,010) or $(0.5416) per share, representing an immediate decrease in net tangible book value of $0.488 per share to our sponsor as of the date of this prospectus (as decreased by the value of 7,500,000 common shares that may be redeemed for cash). For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) by $10.54 because holders of up to approximately 105.42% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per-share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of shares of common stock sold in this offering).

The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement units:

Public offering price

 

 

 

 

 

$

10.00

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

 

$

(0.0538

)

 

 

 

 

Decrease attributable to public stockholders

 

$

(0.4877

)

 

 

 

 

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement units

 

 

 

 

 

$

(0.5416

)

Dilution to public stockholders

 

 

 

 

 

$

10.5416

 

Percentage of dilution to public stockholders

 

 

 

 

 

 

105.42

%

The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and the public stockholders:

 

Shares
Purchased

 

Total
Consideration

 

Average
Price 
per Share

   

Number

 

Percentage

 

Amount

 

Percentage

 

Initial stockholders(1)

 

2,175,000

 

22.48

%

 

$

25,000

 

0.03

%

 

$

0.01

Public stockholders

 

7,500,000

 

77.52

%

 

 

75,000,000

 

99.97

%

 

$

10.00

   

9,675,000

 

100.00

%

 

$

75,025,000

 

100.00

%

 

 

 

____________

(1)      Assumes the full forfeiture of 326,250 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised.

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

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

 

$

(154,760

)

Net proceeds from this offering and the private placement

 

 

77,300,000

 

Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before
this offering

 

 

177,750

 

Less: deferred underwriters’ commissions payable

 

 

(2,250,000

)

Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption

 

 

(76,500,000

)

   

$

(1,427,010

)

Denominator:

   

 

Shares of common stock outstanding prior to this offering

 

2,501,250

 

Shares of common stock forfeited if over-allotment option is not exercised

 

(326,250

)

Shares of common stock included in the units offered hereby

 

7,500,000

 

Shares of common stock included in the private placement units(2)

 

460,000

 

Less: shares subject to redemption

 

(7,500,000

)

   

2,635,000

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization at September 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of 7,500,000 units in this offering for $75,000,000 (or $10.00 per unit) and the sale of 460,000 private placement units for $4,600,000 (or $10.00 per unit) and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

September 30, 2021

   

Actual

 

As Adjusted(1)

Due to related party

 

$

63,200

 

 

$

 

Deferred underwriting commissions payable

 

 

 

 

 

2,250,000

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, 7,500,000 shares subject to redemption(2)

 

 

 

 

 

76,500,000

 

Stockholders’ equity:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued or outstanding (actual and as adjusted)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); 2,501,250 shares issued and outstanding (actual); 2,635,000 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 7,500,000 shares subject to redemption (as adjusted))

 

 

288

 

 

 

264

 

Additional paid-in capital(4)

 

 

24,712

 

 

 

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(2,010

)

 

 

(1,427,274

)

Total stockholders’ equity

 

 

22,990

 

 

 

(1,427,010

)

Total capitalization

 

$

22,990

 

 

$

77,386,190

 

____________

(1)      Assumes the full forfeiture of 326,250 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised.

(2)      Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. The “as adjusted” amount of common stock, subject to redemption equals the “as adjusted” total assets of $76,500,000, less the “as adjusted” total stockholder’s equity. The value of common stock that may be redeemed is equal to $10.20 per share (which is the assumed redemption price) multiplied by 7,500,000 shares of common stock, which is the maximum number of shares of common stock that may be redeemed for $10.20 per share and still maintain $5,000,001 of net tangible assets.

(3)      $0.30 per unit, or $2,250,000 ($2,587,500 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, will be payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions.

(4)      The “as adjusted” additional paid-in capital calculation is equal to the “as adjusted” total stockholder’s equity of $5,000,001 minus the common stock par value.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement units, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a business combination:

•        may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;

•        may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

•        could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our 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;

•        may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and

•        may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock and/or warrants.

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

•        default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial 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 such covenants;

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

•        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 inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

•        using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

•        limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

•        increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and

•        limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

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As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at September 30, 2021, we had deferred offering costs of $177,750 and an accumulated deficit of $2,010. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 we incurred approximately $2,010 for such formation and organizational activities and approximately $0 for costs of preparing for this offering.

Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor.

We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $800,000 and underwriting commissions of $1,500,000, or $1,725,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $2,250,000, or $2,587,500 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), and (ii) the sale of the private placement units for a purchase price of $4,600,000, or $5,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be $77,500,000, or $88,975,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full. Of this amount, $76,500,000, or $87,975,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be held in the trust account. The remaining $800,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $800,000 we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $800,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes. Delaware franchise tax is based on our authorized shares or on our assumed par and non-par capital, whichever yields a lower result. Under the authorized shares method, each share is taxed at a graduated rate based on the number of authorized shares with a maximum aggregate tax of $200,000 per year. Under the assumed par value capital method, Delaware taxes each $1,000,000 of assumed par value capital at the rate of $400; where assumed par value would be (x) our total gross assets following this offering, divided by (y) our total issued shares of common stock following this offering, multiplied by (z) the number of our authorized shares following this offering. Based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding and our estimated total gross proceeds after the completion of this offering, our annual franchise tax obligation is expected to be capped at the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation of $200,000. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

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Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us $800,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily 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 expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately:

•        $350,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations;

•        $100,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements;

•        $80,000 for NYSE American listing fees;

•        $180,000 for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services ($10,000 per month for up to 18 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part); and

•        $90,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses.

These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan or advance to us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. The terms of such loans or advances by our sponsor or its affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans or advances. We may need to obtain additional financing either to consummate our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. We do not have a maximum debt leverage ratio or a policy with respect to how much debt we may incur. The amount of debt we will be willing to incur will depend on the facts and circumstances of the proposed business combination and market conditions at the time of the potential business combination. At this time, we are not party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising additional funds through the sale of our securities or the incurrence of debt. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only consummate such financing simultaneously with the consummation of our initial business combination. In the current economic environment, it has become especially difficult to obtain acquisition financing. Additionally, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

Controls and Procedures

We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.

Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested, our systems of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of

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internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:

•        staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;

•        reconciliation of accounts;

•        proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;

•        evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

•        documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and

•        documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financial reporting.

When required by Section 404 and once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’ internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

Related Party Transactions

On December 24, 2020, our sponsor purchased 2,875,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, up to 375,000 of which founder shares were subject to forfeiture. On February 4, 2022, our sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable with respect to our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares at approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering (assuming our sponsor or its permitted transferees do not purchase units in this offering). Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has agreed not transfer any of their respective ownership interest therein (except to certain permitted transferees) until the earlier of (i) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Through September 30, 2021, our sponsor has paid certain offering costs on our behalf, totaling $63,200. The amount owed to our sponsor is unsecured, due on demand and non-interest bearing.

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We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will pay HNRAC Sponsors LLC, our sponsor, $10,000 per month for up to 18 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services. None of the $10,000 per month payment will be received by our officers or directors or their other affiliates (other than our sponsor).

Our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 460,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, our sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering. The private placement units cannot be transferred except to certain permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Such permitted transferees will include our executive officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to them. Any permitted transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as our sponsor. The private placement units are otherwise identical to the units sold in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period, except that that (i) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) cannot be transferred (except to certain permitted transferees) until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will be entitled to registration rights. If the private placement warrants included in the private placement units are held by holders other than our sponsor or any of its permitted transferees, such warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our sponsor on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. Our sponsor, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, will be entitled under the registration rights agreements to make up to two demands in the case of the founder shares, excluding short form registration demands, and one demand in the case of the private placement units, the working capital loan warrants and, in each case, the underlying or constituent securities, that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement will provide that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering if the funds available to us are insufficient, our sponsor or its affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan or advance to us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts, but no other proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment or reimbursement. The terms of such loans or advances by our sponsor or its affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans or advances.

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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results

As of September 30, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have conducted no operations to date.

JOBS Act

The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.

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PROPOSED BUSINESS

Our Company

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated on December 9, 2020 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region. While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to focus on assets used in exploring, developing, producing, transporting, storing, gathering, processing, fractionating, refining, distributing or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil or refined products in North America.

We intend to identify and acquire a business that could benefit from a hands-on owner with extensive operational experience in the energy sector in North America and that presents potential for an attractive risk-adjusted return profile under our stewardship. The largest oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and BP, are projected to sell a combined $100 billion in oil and gas assets around the world as they focus on top-performing regions according to a new analysis from consulting firm Rystad (October 2020). Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing such potential acquisitions across the upstream and midstream energy sectors. In addition, our team has significant hands-on experience working with private companies in preparing for and executing an initial public offering and serving as active owners and directors by working closely with these companies to continue their transformations and to create value in the public markets.

We believe that our management team is well positioned to identify attractive risk-adjusted returns in the marketplace and that their contacts and transaction sources, ranging from industry executives, private owners, private equity funds, and investment bankers, will enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities.

We will seek to capitalize on the extensive experience of each of the members of our management team who have more than 40 years average experience in the energy industry. Mr. Donald H. Goree, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer has over 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry involving exploration and production, oil and gas pipeline construction and operations, natural gas gathering, processing and gas liquification. Mr. Goree was the Founder and President of Goree Petroleum Inc., a corporation engaged in oil and gas exploration and production in premiere basins throughout the United States for 35 years. Currently, Mr. Goree is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Houston Natural Resources, Inc., a global natural resource corporation located in Houston, Texas and the controlling member of our sponsor. Mr. Goree also previously served as Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Global Xchange Solutions AG., a publicly reporting corporation, private equity, investment bank and market-making firm, based in Zurich, Switzerland, with offices in Frankfurt, Germany and London, United Kingdom. Global Xchange Solutions sponsored listings of private companies to the London Stock Exchange, AIM, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Berlin Stock Exchange and the Börse Stuttgart, and provided public company development and market development advice. Mr. Goree also previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Azur Holdings, Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, OTC-listed luxury real estate developer of mid-rise waterfront condominiums. Mr. Donald W. Orr, our President, is a degreed geologist with over 42 years of experience in petroleum geology and production operations. Mr. Orr began his career as a junior geologist with Texas Oil and Gas Corporation in 1976, and was elevated within two years to a supervisory role overseeing over five geologists on his team, most of whom had more experience than Mr. Orr. In 1979, Mr. Orr helped form American Shoreline, Inc., an independent oil and gas company. Mr. Orr formerly held a position with Seven Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Weatherford International plc in 2005, where he pioneered numerous innovations in underbalanced drilling, or UBD, including drilling with unconventional materials and devising the methodology for unlocking the productive capacity of the Buda Lime through the use of UBD. In June 2009, Mr. Orr founded XNP Resources, LLC, an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources. Shortly thereafter, XNP Resources teamed up with Tahoe Energy Partners, LLC to acquire oil and gas leases for drilling in the Rocky Mountain region. At Mr. Orr’s direction, XNP Resources began acquiring a strategic leasehold position in the Sand Wash Basin in Colorado. XNP Resources was able to secure a major leasehold position in the heart of what has become the highly competitive Niobrara Shale formation in western Colorado. Since 2014, Mr. Orr has been developing an unconventional resource play in Alaska that contains over 600 billion cubic feet of gas in stacked coal reservoirs. More recently, Mr. Orr assembled a team of oil and gas professionals in order to study certain oil provinces in Columbia. S.A.

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The past performance of the members of our management team is not a guarantee that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team as indicative of our future performance. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful. None of our officers and directors has experience with SPACs.

Business Strategy

Our acquisition and value creation strategy will be to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, build a company in the energy industry in North America that complements the experience of our management team and can benefit from their operational expertise and/or executive oversight. Our acquisition strategy will leverage our management team’s network of potential proprietary and public transaction sources where we believe a combination of our relationships, knowledge and experience in the energy industry could effect a positive transformation or augmentation of existing businesses or properties to improve their overall value proposition.

We plan to utilize the network and industry experience of our management team and business partners in seeking an initial business combination and employing our acquisition strategy. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team and their affiliates have developed a broad network of contacts and industry relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through our management team’s extensive experience in both investing and operating in the energy industry. In addition to our industry and lending community relationships, we plan to leverage relationships with management teams of public and private companies, capital market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, restructuring advisers, attorneys and accounting firms, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target business and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing opportunities with value creation potential.

The primary strategies our management team will use to identify a potential business combination to generate favorable returns include seeking to:

•        Acquire and operate quality, producing assets, with high working interests, in a well-known basin with a large oil and gas reserve base and production, proved reserve and cash flow upside at an attractive valuation.

•        Provide development capital and expertise to partner with companies with high quality assets, established infrastructure and core acreage positions at attractive economics.

•        Leverage proved developed reserves while targeting multiple productive pay zones to increase upside potential.

•        Target producing assets with significant opportunities for cost improvements and application of new technology.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with this strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire companies that we believe:

•        are well positioned to benefit from increased levels of production from key domestic basins;

•        have significant proved developed producing reserves in a well-known basin with proven development opportunities;

•        have significant proved un-developed reserves in a well-known basin with proven development opportunities;

•        have the ability to generate significant current free cash flow;

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•        have potential to generate significant growth in shareholder value following our initial business combination;

•        are at an inflection point, such as requiring additional management expertise, are able to innovate through new operational techniques and technology, or where we believe we can drive improved financial performance;

•        have developed leading positions within the energy industry, based on our evaluation of several factors, including growth profile, competitive environment, profitability profile and sustainability of business plan;

•        can utilize the extensive networks, operational experience and insights our management team has built in the energy industry;

•        are fundamentally sound but we believe can achieve better results by leveraging the operating and financial experience of our management team and their affiliates;

•        exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital, and a need for capital to achieve the company’s growth strategy, that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review; and

•        can offer attractive risk-adjusted returns on investments for our stockholders.

We will seek to acquire the target on terms and in a manner that leverage our management team’s experience investing within the energy industry. Potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.

Our Acquisition Process

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. In conducting our due diligence review, we intend to leverage the experience of members of our management team on an efficient and cost effective basis as we deploy them to review matters related to their specific areas of functional expertise.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, or any of our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from either an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

Members of our management team will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement units following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination target if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

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We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our executive officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combination targets and monitoring the related due diligence.

Initial Business Combination

So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American, our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriters fees and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Although our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of the fair market value of the target business, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

We currently anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. If the business combination

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involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets

We believe our management team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, such individuals have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring, financing and selling businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of such individuals in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.

In addition, members of our management team have developed contacts from serving on the boards of directors of several companies in diverse sectors, as described more fully in “Management.”

This network is expected to provide us with a robust and consistent flow of acquisition opportunities which we expect to be proprietary or where a limited group of investors will be invited to participate in the sale process. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinion that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

As more fully discussed in “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our executive officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which such officer or director has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, such officer or director may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations to several entities that may present a conflict of interest. As a result of these duties and obligations, situations may arise in which business opportunities may be given to one or more of these other entities prior to being presented to us.

Status as a Public Company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As a public company, we will offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

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While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, without an operating history, and the uncertainty relating to our ability to obtain stockholder approval of our proposed initial business combination and retain sufficient funds in our trust account in connection therewith, negatively.

Emerging Growth Company

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. Accordingly, the information we provide to you may be different than you might get from other public companies in which you hold securities.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the closing of this offering, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

Financial Position

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $76,500,000 assuming no redemptions (or $87,975,000 assuming no redemptions if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.

Effecting our Initial Business Combination

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement units, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination or used for redemptions of purchases of our common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

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We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.

In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination

The NYSE American rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriters fees and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American, we will be required to comply with such rule. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community. Although our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of the fair market value of the target business, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinion that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our business combination.

To the extent we effect our business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.

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The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.

Lack of business diversification

For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business.

Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

•        subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and

•        cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.

Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.

We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

Stockholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

Type of Transaction

 

Whether Stockholder Approval is Required under Delaware Law

Purchase of assets

 

No

Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company

 

No

Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company

 

No

Merger of the company with a target

 

Yes

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Under the NYSE American’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

•        we issue shares of common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our common stock then outstanding (other than in a public offering);

•        any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by the NYSE American rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding common shares or voting power of 5% or more; or

•        the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.

Permitted purchases of our securities

In the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, we are not aware of any current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

The purpose of such purchases would be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and all other applicable federal securities laws.

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Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) of, and Rule 10b-5 under, the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) of, or Rule 10b-5 under, the Exchange Act.

Ability to Extend Time to Complete Business Combination

We will have until 12 months from the closing of this offering to consummate our initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months, we may, by resolution of our board if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to two times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 18 months to complete a business combination), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. Pursuant to the terms of the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our initial shareholders or their affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account for each three-month extension, $750,000, or $1,150,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, up to an aggregate of $1,500,000 (or $1,725,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), or approximately $0.20 per share. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant at the option of the lender. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial stockholders contains a provision pursuant to which our sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans out of the funds held in the trust account in the event that we do not complete a business combination. In the event that we receive notice from our sponsor five days prior to the applicable deadline of its wish for us to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. If we choose to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination as set forth herein, you will not have the ability to vote or redeem your shares in connection with either of the three-month extensions. However, if we seek to complete a business combination during an extension period, investors will still be able to vote and redeem their shares in connection with that business combination.

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share.

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under the NYSE American rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval

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while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American, we would be required to comply with such rules.

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

•        conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

•        file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

Upon the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

•        conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and

•        file proxy materials with the SEC.

In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our sponsor will count toward this quorum and has agreed to vote all shares of our common stock having voting rights that it then owns in favor of our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to all shares of our common stock then owned by it in connection with the completion of a business combination.

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek stockholder approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us, our sponsor or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding an aggregate of 10% or more of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to less than 10% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass the cost on to the redeeming holder. However, the fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption

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rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our business combination.

If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.

Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination

We will have only 12 months (or only 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our business combination within such period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the time period.

Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has waived its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to the sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. However, if our sponsor acquires public shares after this offering, it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time period.

Our executive officers, directors, sponsor and sponsor’s permitted transferees have agreed, pursuant to written letter agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable)

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divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above), we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $80,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.14. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.14. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all creditors, vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a creditor or a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, and our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. We believe the likelihood of our sponsor having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all creditors, vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.

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In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share.

We will have access to up to $800,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses (excluding underwriting discounts and commissions) exceed our estimate of $800,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses (excluding underwriting discounts and commissions) are less than our estimate of $800,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL 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.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within prescribed time is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution. If we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 12th month (or within the 18th month if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) 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 of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

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Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. 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 (such as lawyers and investment bankers) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all creditors, vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account.

As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes, and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that 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 $10.20 (or, if both three-month extensions occur, $10.40) per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that 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, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public 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.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) our redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

•        prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (i) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) or (ii) provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to tender their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) in each case subject to the limitations described herein;

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•        we will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation and, solely if we seek stockholder approval, a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination;

•        if our initial business combination is not consummated within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and

•        prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination.

In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the shares of common stock voted by our stockholders at a duly held stockholders meeting.

Comparison of redemption or purchase prices in connection with our initial business combination and if we fail to complete our business combination.

The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

 

Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination

 

Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates

 

Redemptions if we fail to Complete an Initial Business Combination

Calculation of redemption price

 

Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per share), including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. Such purchases will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions.

 

If we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per share), including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

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Redemptions in Connection with our Initial Business Combination

 

Other Permitted Purchases of Public Shares by our Affiliates

 

Redemptions if we fail to Complete an Initial Business Combination

   

if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.

       

Impact to remaining stockholders

 

The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the interest withdrawn in order to pay taxes (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account) and the deferred underwriting commissions.

 

If the permitted purchases described above are made, there will be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.

 

The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our sponsor, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions.

Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419

The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriter will not exercise the underwriter’s over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.

 

Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds

 

The rules of the NYSE American provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. $76,500,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.

 

Approximately $88,200,000 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering less allowable underwriting commissions, expenses and company deductions under Rule 419, 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.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Investment of net proceeds

 

$76,500,000 of the net offering proceeds and the proceeds from the sale of the private placement units held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.

 

Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.

Receipt of interest on escrowed funds

 

Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable, and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation.

 

Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.

Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business

 

The NYSE American rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriters fees and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American, we will be required to comply with such rule.

 

The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

Trading of securities issued

 

The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading after the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the underwriter informs us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. At the time that the common stock and warrants comprising the units begin separate trading, holders will hold the separate securities and no longer hold units (without any action needing to be taken by the holders), and the units will no longer trade. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K,

 

No trading of the units or the common stock and warrants included in the units would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   

a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. We will also include in the Current Report on Form 8-K, or amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Current Report on Form 8-K, information indicating if the underwriter has allowed separate trading of the common stock and warrants on or prior to the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus.

   

Exercise of the warrants

 

The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

 

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 provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest, which interest shall be net of taxes payable, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting.

 

A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   

Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

   

Business combination deadline

 

If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

If an acquisition has not been completed within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

Release of funds

 

Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, the proceeds from this offering will not be released from the trust account until the earlier of (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, subject to applicable law.

 

The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 10% or more of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect Excess Shares (an aggregate of 10% or more of the shares sold in this offering). Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell Excess Shares in open market transactions.

 

Most blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.

 

In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our

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obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

Facilities

We currently maintain our executive offices at 3730 Kirby Drive, Suite 1200, Houston, Texas 77098. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee that we will pay to our sponsor for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services. We believe that the amount we will pay under the administrative services agreement is comparable to the cost of similar services that we could obtain from unaffiliated persons. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Employees

We currently have two executive officers. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

We will register our units, common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public auditors. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The address of the website is www.sec.gov.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or 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 U.S. GAAP. 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 U.S. GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. 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.

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting

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standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. Accordingly, the information we provide to you may be different than you might get from other public companies in which you hold securities.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the closing of this offering, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

Legal Proceedings

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.

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MANAGEMENT

Directors and Executive Officers

Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:

Name

 

Age

 

Title

Donald H. Goree

 

64

 

Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman

Donald W. Orr

 

69

 

President and Director

Joseph V. Salvucci, Sr.

 

65

 

Independent Director

Diego Rojas

 

67

 

Independent Director

Joseph V. Salvucci, Jr.

 

37

 

Independent Director

Donald H. Goree founded our company and has served as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since our inception. Mr. Goree is also the founder of Houston Natural Resources, Inc., a global natural resource corporation located in Houston, Texas and controlling member of our sponsor, and has served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since January 2018. Mr. Goree is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Houston Natural Resources Corp., positions he has held since April 2020. Mr. Goree has over 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry involving exploration and production, oil and gas pipeline construction and operations, natural gas gathering, processing and gas liquification. In 2003, Mr. Goree founded Global Xchange Solutions AG., a publicly reporting corporation, private equity, investment bank and market-making firm, based in Zurich, Switzerland, with offices in Frankfurt, Germany and London, United Kingdom, and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Global Xchange Solutions from 2002 to 2012. Global Xchange Solutions sponsored listings of private companies to the London Stock Exchange, AIM, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Berlin Stock Exchange and the Börse Stuttgart, and provided public company development and market development advice. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Goree served as Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Azur Holdings, Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, OTC-listed luxury real estate developer of mid-rise waterfront condominiums. From 2012 to 2019, Mr. Goree served as the Managing Director of Rhone Merchant House Ltd., a firm which provides merchant banking and investment banking services to a small and elite list of clients. Mr. Goree has an Executive Master of Business and Entrepreneurship degree from the Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business. We believe Mr. Goree is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors based on our review of his experience, qualifications, attributes and skills, including co-founding our company and other companies and his executive leadership experience in the oil and gas industry.

Donald W. Orr has served as our President and a member of our Board of Directors since January 2021. Mr. Orr is a geologist with over 42 years of experience in petroleum geology and production operations. Mr. Orr began his career as a junior geologist with Texas Oil and Gas Corporation in 1976. In February 1979, Mr. Orr helped form American Shoreline, Inc., an independent oil and gas company. Mr. Orr was previously held the title of Senior Geologist at Seven Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Weatherford International plc from June 2005 to August 2008, where he helped pioneered numerous innovations in UBD (underbalanced drilling), including drilling with unconventional materials and devising the methodology for unlocking the productive capacity of the Buda Lime through the use of UBD. In June 2009, Mr. Orr founded XNP Resources, LLC, an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources. Shortly thereafter, XNP Resources teamed up with Tahoe Energy Partners, LLC in 2012 to acquire oil and gas leases for drilling in the Rocky Mountain region. At Mr. Orr’s direction, XNP Resources began acquiring a strategic leasehold position in the Sand Wash Basin in Colorado. XNP Resources was able to secure a major leasehold position in the heart of what has become the highly competitive Niobrara Shale formation in western Colorado. Since 2014, Mr. Orr has been developing an unconventional resource play in Alaska that contains over 600 billion cubic feet of gas in stacked coal reservoirs. More recently, Mr. Orr assembled a team of oil and gas professionals in order to study certain oil provinces in Columbia. S.A. Mr. Orr also serves as President and on the Board of Directors of Houston Natural Resources, Inc. Mr. Orr has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Texas A&I University, with a minor in Mathematics.

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Joseph V. Salvucci, Sr. has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2021. Mr. Salvucci acquired PEAK Technical Staffing USA (“PEAK”), peaktechnical.com in 1986 and has grown the business to be a premier provider of USA-based contract engineers and technical specialists, on assignment worldwide through a comprehensive, customer focused, enterprise-wide Managed Staffing Solution. During his 35 year tenure as owner of the company, PEAK has expanded from Pittsburgh to do business in all 50 States, Canada, Europe, South America, India, and the Philippines. Mr. Salvucci is also active in several professional and charitable organizations. He served 10 years on the board of directors culminating as President of the National Technical Services Association, a trade association representing 300,000 contractors on assignment in the technical staffing industry, later merging with the American Staffing Association. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization Gold, formerly known as the World Presidents Organization (WPO), and has served as a member of the WPO International Board, as well as chairman of East Central US (ECUS) Region and Pittsburgh chapters. As a 1976 Civil Engineering graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he was member of the Triangle (Engineering) Fraternity and its Alumni Association. He earned the Triangle Fraternity Distinguished Alumnus Citation in 2011 and currently serves on the Board of Directors. After earning the rank of Eagle Scout in 1970, he has remained active with the Boy Scouts of America, having served as Chairman of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Eagle Scout Association, earning the NOESA (National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award) and the Silver Beaver Award and is currently VP of Development and a board member of the Laurel Highlands Council in Western Pennsylvania. He was awarded the Manifesting the Kingdom Award by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2011. He was awarded the “Big Mac Award” from the Ronald McDonald Charities. He earned his BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976 and attended Harvard Business School’s OPM 33. We believe Mr. Salvucci is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors based on our review of his extensive executive experience, qualifications, attributes and skills, including founding and growing PEAK into a global staffing enterprise.

Diego Rojas has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2021. Mr. Rojas has 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry with most of that experience in energy operations onshore, offshore and internationally. He began his career in 1975 with Exxon Company USA in their Southeast Division headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana, and eventually became District Engineering Manager for Exxon’s Offshore District, with responsibility for more than 75 engineers, 200 offshore platforms and 2,000 wells. After leaving Exxon, Mr. Rojas led several independent companies both in the United States and Latin America, including Enercap Corp (formerly, DCR Petroleum), which he founded in 1983, and served as Principal Owner until 1985. Prior to DRC Petroleum, Mr. Rojas was an independent acquisitions and operations consultant involved in exploration and production (E&P) and services company activities. From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Rojas served as Vice President of King Ranch Capital, where he managed King Ranch Capital’s acquisitions group. For the past five years Mr. Rojas has served as a consultant with Enerlat, a private consulting company which he controls. Mr. Rojas graduated with honors from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. We believe Mr. Rojas is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors based on our review of his experience, qualifications, attributes and skills, including his management experience and his considerable experience in the oil and gas industry.

Joseph V. Salvucci, Jr. has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2021. Mr. Salvucci began his career with PEAK in November 2010 and is currently serving as the President and Chief Operating Officer overseeing nine branches with several hundred employees, and the Marketing and Recruiting Process Enhancement departments. Joseph also oversees strategic initiatives, including Staff Training, Career Pathing, and Organic Growth. A graduate of Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania, Mr. Salvucci earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with emphasis in Finance, and studied Business in London. Before joining PEAK, Mr. Salvucci worked with Merrill Lynch in various banking and brokerage back-office functions from 2007 to 2009. In addition to his responsibilities as President/COO of PEAK, Mr. Salvucci serves on the board of Temporary Services Insurance Limited, a Workers’ Compensation company serving staffing companies. We believe Mr. Salvucci is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors based on our review of his extensive experience, qualifications, attributes and skills, including his education and expertise in finance, and his management and executive experience as President and COO of PEAK.

Family Relationships

There are no family relationships between any of our officers and directors, except that Mr. Joseph V. Salvucci Jr. and Mr. Joseph V. Salvucci Sr. are father and son.

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Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

Our board of directors has five directors. Our board of directors will be divided into two classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a one-year term. The class I directors will consist of Diego Rojas and Joseph V. Salvucci, Jr., and their term will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The class II directors will consist of Donald H Goree, Donald W. Orr and Joseph V. Salvucci, Sr. and their term will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination.

Our officers are elected by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Director Independence

The NYSE American listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Of the current members of our board of directors, Messrs. Salvucci Sr., Rojas and Salvucci Jr. would each be considered an “independent director” under the NYSE American listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

None of our executive officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us.

On December 12, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company agreed to compensate the directors of the Company through the issuance of shares of the Company equal in value to $100,000 per director, which shall be payable and issued subject to one year of continued service to the Company commencing after the completion of the initial business combination (and which shall be pro-rated for any period less than one year of service). Commencing on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part through the earlier of 12 months (or up to 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) after such effective date or the consummation of our initial business combination, we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for providing us with office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services. However, this arrangement is solely for our benefit and is not intended to provide our officers or directors compensation in lieu of a salary. Our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination. Our audit committee will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval.

Other than the $10,000 per month administrative fee for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services, and the reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, no compensation or fees of any kind will be paid to our sponsor, or members of our management team or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. It is unlikely the amount of such

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compensation will be known at the time, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined by a compensation committee consisting solely of independent directors.

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after the initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Each committee will operate under a charter that has been approved by our board of directors and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee will be available on our website. Our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee will be composed solely of independent directors.

Audit Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee will be Messrs. Salvucci Sr. and Salvucci Jr., and Mr. Salvucci Jr. will serve as chairman of the audit committee. As a smaller reporting company under the NYSE American listing standards, we are required to have at least two members on the audit committee. The rules of the NYSE American and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each of Messrs. Salvucci Sr. and Salvucci Jr. qualifies as an independent director under applicable rules. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Salvucci Jr. qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

•        the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;

•        pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

•        reviewing and discussing with the independent registered accounting firm all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;

•        setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered accounting firm;

•        setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

•        obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered accounting firm describing (i) the independent registered accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within, the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;

•        reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

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•        reviewing with management, the independent registered accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Compensation Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors consisting of three members. The members of our Compensation Committee will be Messrs. Rojas and Salvucci, Jr. Mr. Salvucci, Jr. will serve as chairman of the compensation committee. Under the NYSE American listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members on the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent.

We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

•        reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;

•        reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other executive officers;

•        reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;

•        implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;

•        assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

•        approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees;

•        producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

•        reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE American and the SEC.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a nominating and corporate governance committee. The members of our nominating and corporate governance will be Messrs. Rojas and Salvucci Jr. Mr. Rojas will serve as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.

The primary purposes of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be to assist the board in:

•        identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors;

•        developing, recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines;

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•        coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and

•        reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary.

The nominating and corporate governance committee will be governed by a charter that complies with the rules of the NYSE American.

Director Nominations

Our nominating and corporate governance committee will recommend to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of the stockholders. The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders).

We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors, except that Donald W. Orr, our President and Board member, serves on the Board of Directors of Houston Natural Resources, Inc., an entity of which Donald H. Goree, our Chairman of the Board, serves as Chief Executive Officer.

Code of Ethics

Prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. The Code of Ethics and the charter of each committee will be available on our website. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

Conflicts of Interest

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these fiduciary obligations under applicable law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

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

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

•        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 us as 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. For a complete description of our management’s other affiliations, see “— Directors and Executive Officers.”

•        Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive (i) its redemption rights with respect to all shares of our common stock then owned by it in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to the sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part (although its will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares it holds if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we do not complete our initial business combination within the allotted time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will expire worthless. TExcept for transfers to permitted transferees, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until the earlier of (i) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. The private placement units (and their constituent securities) cannot be transferred except to certain permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Given these characteristics of certain of our securities held by our sponsor, our sponsor may have a conflict of interest with respect to whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.

•        Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

•        Our sponsor, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination.

The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.

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.

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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. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have. We do not believe that these contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We will also provide a summary of any such opinion or report to shareholders in connection with any vote on an initial business combination in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination in accordance with Section 1015(b) of Regulation S-K.

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor has agreed to vote all shares of our common stock having voting rights that it then owns in favor of our initial business combination.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted by the DGCL.

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also permit us to maintain insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will obtain a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.

These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

We believe that these provisions, the directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and the indemnification agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.

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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, 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 executive officers and directors; and

•        all our executive officers and directors as a group.

Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement units (and their constituent securities) as these securities are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus. The post-offering ownership percentage column below assumes that the underwriter has exercised the underwriter’s over-allotment option and that there are 11.631,250 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)

 

Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2)

 

Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Common Stock

Before
Offering

 

After
Offering
(3)

Donald H. Goree

 

 

 

 

 

Donald W. Orr(4)

 

 

 

 

 

Joseph V. Salvucci, Sr.

 

 

 

 

 

Diego Rojas

 

 

 

 

 

Joseph V. Salvucci, Jr.(5)

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

__

 

 

 

 

JVS Alpha Property, LLC(6)

 

940,000

 

37.58

%

 

8.08

%

Dante Caravaggio, LLC(7)

 

400,000

 

15.99

%

 

3.45

%

HNRAC Sponsors LLC(8)

 

359,375

 

14.37

%

 

3.09

%

RLR Energy Partners, LLC(9)

 

225,000

 

8.99

%

 

1.93

%

John Robberson

 

150,000

 

5.99

%

 

1.29

%

____________

(1)      Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is 3730 Kirby Drive, Suite 1200, Houston, Texas 77098.

(2)      Consists solely of founder shares.

(3)      Based on 11,631,250 shares of common stock outstanding immediately after this offering (assumes the underwriter’s over-allotment option has been exercised, and that 505,000 shares of common stock underlying 505,000 private placement units have been issued).

(4)      Mr. Orr, as Manager of HNRAC Sponsors LLC, has voting and dispositive control over the securities held by such entity, however he disclaims any beneficial ownership of such shares.

(5)      Mr. Salvucci Jr. has sole voting and dispositive control over the securities held by JVS Alpha Property, LLC, however he disclaims any beneficial ownership of such shares.

(6)      JVS Alpha Property, LLC’s Manager is Joseph V. Salvucci, Jr., who has voting and dispositive control over the shares held by such entity.

(7)      Dante Caravaggio, LLC’s Manager is Dante Caravaggio, who has sole voting and dispositive control over the shares.

(8)      HNRAC Sponsors LLC’s Manager is Donald W. Orr, who has sole voting and dispositive control over the shares.

(9)      RLR Energy Partners, LLC’s Manager is Ryan Cunningham, who has sole voting and dispositive control over the shares.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase from us an aggregate of 460,000 private placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit for a total purchase price of $4,600,000 in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsor has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, our sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional private placement units will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with

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the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The private placement units cannot be transferred except to certain permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The purchase price of the private placement units will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement units held in the trust will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will expire worthless. The private placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering except that (i) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) cannot be transferred (except to certain permitted transferees, as described below) until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will be entitled to registration rights. If the private placement warrants included in the private placement units are held by holders other than our sponsor or any of its permitted transferees, such warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

Our sponsor and our executive officers and directors may be deemed to be “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.

Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units

The founder shares, the private placement units, and the securities included in the private placement units are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the letter agreement between us and our sponsor. Those lock-up provisions provide that: (i) the founder shares will not be transferable (except to certain permitted transferees, as described below) until the earlier of (x) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property; and (ii) the private placement units cannot be transferred (except to certain permitted transferees, as described below) until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

Notwithstanding the restriction on transfers of the founder shares and private placement units, such securities may be transferred (i) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or any affiliates or family members of members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor (or their employees), (ii) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization, (iii) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual, (iv) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (v) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased, (vi) if a holder is an entity, as a distribution to its partners, shareholders, officers or members upon its liquidation, or (vii) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; provided, however, that in each case, the permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions to the extent and for the duration that such terms remain in effect at the time of the transfer and by the same agreements entered into by our sponsor with respect to such securities (including provisions relating to voting, the trust account and liquidation distributions described elsewhere in this prospectus).

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, the private placement units (and their constituent securities, as well as any shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such constituent securities) and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any (and any shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to one or more registration rights agreements to be signed prior to or on the closing date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale. The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands in the case of the founder shares, excluding short form demands, and one demand in the case of the private placement units (and their constituent securities), the working capital loan warrants (if any) and, in each case, the underlying shares, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of our initial

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business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, on the earlier of (x) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) in the case of the private placement units (and their constituent securities, as well as any shares of common stock underlying such constituent securities), the date of the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

On December 24, 2020, our sponsor purchased 2,875,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, up to 375,000 founder shares of which were subject to forfeiture. On February 4, 2022, our sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable with respect to our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our sponsor (and its permitted transferees) at approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering (assuming our sponsor does not purchase units in this offering). Our sponsor has agreed not transfer any of its ownership interest in the founder shares (except to certain permitted transferees) until the earlier of (i) 180 days following of the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 460,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, our sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 per unit sold to the public in this offering. The private placement units cannot be transferred except to certain permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Such permitted transferees will include our executive officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to them. Any permitted transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as our sponsor. The private placement units are otherwise identical to the units sold in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period, except that that the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will be entitled to registration rights. If the private placement warrants included in the private placement units are held by holders other than our sponsor or any of its permitted transferees, such warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

As more fully discussed in “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our executive officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

Through September 30, 2021, our sponsor has paid certain offering costs on our behalf, totaling $63,200. The amount owed to our sponsor is unsecured, due on demand and non-interest bearing.

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for up to 12 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services. None of the $10,000 per month payment will be received by our officers or directors or their affiliates (other than our sponsor). In the event the consummation of our initial business combination takes the maximum 18 months, our sponsor will be paid a total of $180,000 ($10,000 per month) for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services, and will be entitled to be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses relating to certain activities it conducts on our behalf, as discussed below.

Our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates,

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with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination.

In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering if the funds available to us are insufficient, our sponsor or its affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan or advance to us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts, but no other proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment or reimbursement. The terms of such loans or advances by our sponsor or its affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans or advances.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive officer and director compensation.

We will enter into one or more registration rights agreements with respect to the founder shares, the private placement units and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans (if any). See the discussion under the heading “Principal Stockholders — Registration Rights” for additional details.

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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock will consist of 100,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

Units

Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of common stock and one redeemable warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase three quarters of one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and the first anniversary of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the warrants at a redemption price of $0.01 per warrant at any time if notice of not less than 30 days is given and the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the day on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares. We will not issue fractional shares upon exercise of the warrants and no cash will be payable in lieu thereof. As a result, you must purchase warrants in multiples of four in order to obtain full value from the fractional interest.

The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading after the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless the underwriter informs us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. At the time that the common stock and warrants rights comprising the units begin separate trading, holders will hold the separate securities and no longer hold units (without any action needing to be taken by the holders), and the units will no longer trade.

In no event will 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 at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering which will include this audited balance sheet, which is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. If the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. We will also include in the Current Report on Form 8-K, or amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Current Report on Form 8-K, information indicating if the underwriter has allowed separate trading of the common stock and warrants on or prior to the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus.

Common Stock

Upon the closing of this offering and the private placement, 10,135,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 326,250 founder shares by our sponsor), including:

•        7,500,000 shares of our common stock included in the units being offered in this offering;

•        2,175,000 founder shares held by our sponsor and its permitted transferees; and

•        460,000 private placement shares.

If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares prior to this offering at approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable

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provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Our board of directors will be divided into two classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of one year 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 voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors (prior to consummation of our initial business combination). Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.

Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination.

In accordance with the NYSE American corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first full fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE American. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share. Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to all shares of our common stock then owned by it in connection with the completion of our business combination. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to an aggregate of 10% or more of the shares of common stock sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss on their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination, and, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares equal to or exceeding 10%. In order to dispose such shares, such stockholders would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination, our sponsor has agreed to vote all shares of our common stock having voting rights that it then owns in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to the founder shares, we could need as little as 2,893,514, or 29%, of our public shares to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised). Furthermore, assuming only the minimum number of stockholders required to be present at the stockholders’ meeting held to approve our initial business combination are present at such meeting, we would need only 2,893,514 of the 7,500,000 public shares, or approximately 29% of the shares sold as part of the units in this offering, to be voted in favor of our initial business combination in order to have such transaction approved (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised). In addition, in the event that our board of directors amends our bylaws to reduce the number of shares required to be present at a meeting of our stockholders, we would need even fewer public shares to be voted in favor of our initial business combination to have such transaction approved.

Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitations described in the preceding paragraph).

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares and, solely with respect to the sponsor, the private placement shares, if we fail to complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. However, if our sponsor or permitted transferees acquire public shares after this offering, it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame.

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their

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pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

Founder Shares

On December 24, 2020, we issued an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.01 per share, to our sponsor. On February 4, 2022, our sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part. The founder shares now include an aggregate of up to 326,250 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that our sponsor and its permitted transferees will continue to own approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming our sponsor or its permitted transferees do not purchase units in this offering). Our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has agreed to not transfer any of its ownership interest in the founder shares (except to certain permitted transferees, as described below) until the earlier of (i) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Notwithstanding the restriction on transfers of the founder shares, such shares may be transferred (i) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or any affiliates or family members of members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor (or their employees), (ii) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization, (iii) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual, (iv) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (v) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased, (vi) if a holder is an entity, as a distribution to its partners, shareholders, officers or members upon its liquidation, or (vii) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; provided, however, that in each case, the permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions to the extent and for the duration that such terms remain in effect at the time of the transfer and by the same agreements entered into by our sponsor with respect to the founder shares (including provisions relating to voting, the trust account and liquidation distributions described elsewhere in this prospectus).

Other than the transfer restrictions described above, the founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares have registration rights and (ii) our sponsor and its permitted transferees each has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which each has agreed to waive (x) its redemption rights with respect to the founder shares (and all other shares of our common stock then owned by it) in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (y) its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares (and with respect to our sponsor, the private placement shares) if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part (although it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame).

If we submit our business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor has agreed to vote all of its founder shares (and all other shares of our common stock having voting rights that it then owns) in favor of our initial business combination.

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Preferred Stock

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. 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. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.

Warrants

No warrants are currently outstanding.

Each warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. However, no warrants will be exercisable for cash unless we have an effective and current registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. In the event of such cashless exercise, each 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” for this purpose will mean the average reported last sale price of the shares of common stock for the 5 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date of exercise. The warrants will expire on the fifth anniversary of our completion of an initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

The private warrants, as well as any warrants we issue to our sponsor, officers, directors, initial stockholders or their affiliates in payment of working capital loans made to us, will be identical to the warrants being offered by this prospectus.

We may call the warrants for redemption, in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant,

•        at any time after the warrants become exercisable,

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

•        if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the shares of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations), for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period commencing at any time after the warrants become exercisable and ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to warrant holders; and

•        if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock underlying such warrants.

The right to exercise will be forfeited unless the warrants are exercised prior to the date specified in the notice of redemption. On and after the redemption date, a record holder of a warrant will have no further rights except to receive the redemption price for such holder’s warrant upon surrender of such warrant.

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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 differential between the then- prevailing share price and the warrant exercise price so that if the share price declines as a result of our redemption call, the redemption will not cause the share price to drop below the exercise price of the warrants.

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, each 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” for this purpose shall mean the average reported last sale price of the shares of common stock for the 5 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.

The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder (i) to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or to cure, correct or supplement any defective provision, or (ii) to add or change any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the interests of the registered holders of the warrants. The warrant agreement requires the approval, by written consent or vote, of the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.

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, extraordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of shares of common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices.

In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor, initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by them prior to such issuance), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the Newly Issued Price.

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 shares 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.

Warrant holders may elect to be subject to a restriction on the exercise of their warrants such that an electing warrant holder would not be able to exercise their warrants to the extent that, after giving effect to such exercise, such holder would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% of the shares of common stock outstanding.

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.

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We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors — Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.” This exclusive forum provision shall not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act, any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.

Private Placement Units

The private placement units are identical to the units sold in this offering except that (i) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) cannot be transferred (except to certain permitted transferees, as described in more detail under “Principal Stockholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units”) until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will be entitled to registration rights (as described under “Principal Stockholders — Registration Rights”). If the private placement warrants included in the private placement units are held by holders other than our sponsor or any of its permitted transferees, such warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

The purchase price of the private placement units will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement units held in the trust will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement units (and their constituent securities) will expire worthless.

If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) 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 (ii) 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 warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent.

The reason that we have agreed that the private placement warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following an initial business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that 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 or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of their warrants freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering if the funds available to us are insufficient, our sponsor or its affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan or advance to us funds, as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay or reimburse, as applicable, such loaned or advanced amounts, but no other proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment or reimbursement. To the extent that our sponsor or its affiliates extend any such loan, the terms of such loan may allow the conversion of a fixed portion of such loan into units at the option of the lender. Any such units would be identical to the private placement units issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans or advances by our sponsor or its affiliates, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans or advances.

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We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors — Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.” This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.

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 cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of the offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend with respect to our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares prior to this offering at approximately 22.48% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

Listing of our Securities

We have applied to list our units, common stock and warrants on the NYSE American under the symbols “HNRAU”, “HNRA” and “HNRAW”, respectively. If approved for listing, we expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE American on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Following the date the shares of our common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our common stock and warrants will be listed separately. At the time that the common stock and warrants comprising the units begin separate trading, holders will hold the separate securities and no longer hold units (without any action needing to be taken by the holders), and the units will no longer trade. We cannot guarantee that any of our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE American.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Provisions Relating to this Offering

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

•        if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but

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not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

•        prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination;

•        so long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE American, our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination; and

•        we will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination.

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

We will be subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers upon completion of this offering. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:

•        a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”;

•        an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or

•        an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.

A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:

•        our board of directors approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction;

•        after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or

•        on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our board of directors will be classified into two classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.

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Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

Exclusive Forum for Certain Lawsuits

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and certain other actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit or make more costly a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Special Meeting of Stockholders

Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chairman.

Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations

Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by the company secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day prior to the anniversary of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.

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Action by Written Consent

Subsequent to the consummation of the offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by our common stockholders must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders other than with respect to our common stock.

Classified Board of Directors

Our board of directors will initially be divided into two classes, Class I and Class II, with members of each class serving staggered one-year terms. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors. Subject to the terms of any preferred stock, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by vote of a majority of our directors then in office.

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after this offering we will have 10,135,000 shares of common stock outstanding (or 11,631,250 shares if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). The 7,500,000 shares (or 8,625,000 shares if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) sold in this offering 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 2,175,000 founder shares (or 2,501,250 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) and 460,000 private placement units (or 505,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) and their constituent securities, as well as shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such constituent securities, are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus. These restricted securities will be subject to registration rights as more fully described below under “— Registration Rights.”

Rule 144

Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.

Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

•        1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 101,350 shares immediately after this offering (or 116,313 if the underwriter exercises the underwriter’s over-allotment option in full); or

•        the average weekly reported 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 by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

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Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies

Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:

•        the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;

•        the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

•        the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and materials required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; and

•        at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.

As a result, our sponsor will be able to sell its founder shares and the constituent securities of the private placement units (as well as any shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of such constituent securities) pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, the private placement units (and their constituent securities, as well as any shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such constituent securities) and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any (and any shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to one or more registration rights agreements to be signed prior to or on the closing date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale. The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands in the case of the founder shares, excluding short form demands, and one demand in the case of the private placement units (and their constituent securities), the working capital loan warrants (if any) and, in each case, the underlying shares, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, on the earlier of (x) 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after our initial business combination and (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) in the case of the private placement units (and their constituent securities, as well as any shares of common stock underlying such constituent securities), the date of the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

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UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following is a discussion of U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Because the components of a unit are separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying common stock, rights and warrant components of the unit, as the case may be. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of common stock and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying common stock and warrants that comprise the units). This discussion applies only to securities that are held as a capital asset for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering.

This discussion does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, including the alternative minimum tax, the Medicare tax on certain investment income and the different consequences that may apply if you are subject to special rules that apply to certain types of investors, including but not limited to:

•      financial institutions;

•      insurance companies;

•      dealers or traders subject to a mark-to-market method of accounting with respect to the securities;

•      persons holding the securities as part of a “straddle,” hedge, integrated transaction or similar transaction;

•      U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar;

•      partnerships or other pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and any beneficial owners of such entities; and

•      tax-exempt entities.

If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our securities, the tax treatment of a partner, member or other beneficial owner in such partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner, member or other beneficial owner, the activities of the partnership and certain determinations made at the partner, member or other beneficial owner level. If you are a partner, member or other beneficial owner of a partnership holding our securities, you are urged to consult your tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our securities.

This discussion is based on the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, or the Code, and administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and final, temporary and proposed Treasury regulations as of the date hereof, changes to any of which subsequent to the date of this prospectus may affect the tax consequences described herein. This discussion does not address any aspect of state, local or non-U.S. taxation, or any U.S. federal taxes other than income taxes (such as gift and estate taxes).

You are urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the application of U.S. federal tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences arising under the laws of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction.

Personal Holding Company Status

We could be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation generally will be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).

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Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts, more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not be a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.

Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit

No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of our common stock and one warrant to acquire three quarters of one share of our common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you will agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one share of common stock and one warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. The price allocated to each share of common stock and one warrant should be the shareholder’s tax basis in such share or warrant, as the case may be. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share of common stock and the warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated among the common stock and the warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The separation of shares of common stock and warrants comprising units should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

The foregoing treatment of the shares of common stock and warrants and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit). The balance of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a “U.S. holder.” A U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of common stock or warrants who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

•      an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States;

•      a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia;

•      an estate the income of which is includible in gross income for United States federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or

•      a trust (i) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a United States court and which has one or more United States persons (within the meaning of the Code) who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) that has in effect a valid election under applicable Treasury regulations to be treated as a United States person.

Taxation of Distributions.    If we pay distributions to U.S. holders of shares of our common stock, such distributions generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in our common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated

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as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the common stock common stock and will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below.

Dividends we pay to a U.S. holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. holder generally will constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at the maximum tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be.

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.    Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our common stock or warrants which, in general, would include a redemption of common stock or warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities as described below, and including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period, a U.S. holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in the common stock or warrants. Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holder’s holding period for the common stock or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. holders will be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. holder is an amount equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the common stock or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the common stock or the warrants based upon the then fair market values of the common stock and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its common stock or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its common stock or warrants generally will equal the U.S. holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of common stock or one warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. holder’s initial basis for common stock received upon exercise of warrants) less, in the case of a share of common stock, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital.

Redemption of Common Stock.    In the event that a U.S. holder’s common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities — Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. holder’s common stock in an open market transaction, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as sale of the common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of common stock, the U.S. holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions.” Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. holder as a result of owning warrants) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of common stock generally will be treated as a sale of the common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. holder. These tests are explained more fully below.

In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. holder, as well as any stock the U.S. holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include common stock which could be acquired pursuant to

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the exercise of the warrants. In order to meet the substantially disproportionate test, the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately following the redemption of common stock must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder immediately before the redemption. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. holder’s interest if either (i) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed or (ii) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. holder are redeemed and the U.S. holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. holder does not constructively own any other stock. The redemption of the common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if a U.S. holder’s conversion results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. However, the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” A U.S. holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.

If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. holder in the redeemed common stock will be added to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.

Exercise or Lapse of a Warrant.    Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. holder generally will not recognize taxable gain or loss the acquisition of common stock upon exercise of a warrant for cash. The U.S. holder’s tax basis in the share of our common stock received upon exercise of the warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. holder’s purchase price for units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “— Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price. The U.S. holder’s holding period for the common stock received upon exercise of the warrants will begin on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrants and will not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant.

The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be tax-free, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either tax-free situation, a U.S. holder’s basis in the common stock received would equal the holder’s basis in the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event, a U.S. holder’s holding period in the common stock would be treated as commencing on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the common stock would include the holding period of the warrant.

It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. holder would recognize gain or loss with respect to the portion of the exercised warrants treated as surrendered to pay the exercise price of the warrants, or (the “surrendered warrants”). The U.S. holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the common stock represented by the surrendered warrants and the sum of the U.S. holder’s tax basis in the surrendered warrants and the aggregate exercise price of the surrendered warrants (if they had been exercised in a regular exercise). In this case, a U.S. holder’s tax basis in the common stock received would equal the sum of the U.S. holder’s initial investment in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. holder’s purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “— Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the aggregate exercise price of such warrants. A U.S. holder’s holding period for the common stock would commence on the date following the date of exercise (or possibly the date of exercise) of the warrant.

Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.

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Possible Constructive Distributions.    The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. U.S. holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment to the number of such shares or to such exercise price increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our common stock, in each case which is taxable to the holders of such shares as a distribution. A U.S. holder would be subject to tax on any such constructive distribution in the same manner as if the U.S. holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.

Non-U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a “Non-U.S. holder.” A Non-U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units who or that is not a U.S. Holder or a partnership (or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership) for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Taxation of Distributions.    In general, any distributions we make to a Non-U.S. holder of shares of our common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States, we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such Non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E). Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the common stock, which will be treated as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits.

Dividends we pay to a Non-U.S. holder that are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or if a tax treaty applies are attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder) will generally not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, provided such Non-U.S. holder complies with certain certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an applicable IRS Form W-8). Instead, such dividends will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident, subject to an applicable tax treaty providing otherwise. A Non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate).

Exercise of a Warrant.    The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a Non-U.S. holder’s exercise of a warrant, or the lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. holder generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a warrant by a U.S. holder, as described under “U.S. Holders — Exercise or Lapse of a Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described below in “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.”

Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.    A Non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain realized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation

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in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:

•      the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the Non-U.S. holder within the United States (or if a tax treaty applies are attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder);

•      The Non-U.S. holder is an individual present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and certain other conditions are met; or

•      we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the Non-U.S. holder held our common stock, and, in the case where shares of our common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the Non-U.S. holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such Non-U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares of our common stock. There can be no assurance that our common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.

Unless an applicable tax treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates as if the Non-U.S. holder were a U.S. resident. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a Non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower treaty rate). Gain described in the second bullet point above will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. federal income tax rate.

If the third bullet point above applies to a Non-U.S. holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our common stock or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our common stock or warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a United States real property holding corporation in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a United States real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50 percent of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Redemption of Common Stock.    The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. holder’s common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Common Stock” generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. holder’s common stock, as described under “U.S. Holders — Redemption of Common Stock” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. holder will be as described above under “Non-U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” and “Non-U.S. holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants,” as applicable.

Possible Constructive Distributions.    The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. Non-U.S. holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment to the number of such shares or to such exercise price increases the warrantholders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as other securities, to the holders of shares of our common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our common stock, in each case which is taxable to the holders of such shares as a distribution. A Non-U.S. holder would be subject to tax on any such constructive distribution in the same manner as if the Non-U.S. holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.

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Information Reporting and Backup Withholding.    Information returns will be filed with the IRS in connection with payments of dividends and the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants. A Non-U.S. holder may have to comply with certification procedures to establish that it is not a United States person in order to avoid information reporting and backup withholding requirements. The certification procedures required to claim a reduced rate of withholding under a tax treaty will generally satisfy the certification requirements necessary to avoid the backup withholding as well. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a Non-U.S. holder will be allowed as a credit against such holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

FATCA Withholding Taxes.    Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance promulgated thereunder (commonly referred as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” or “FATCA”) generally impose withholding at a rate of 30% in certain circumstances on dividends (including constructive distributions) and certain other payments paid to certain foreign financial institutions (including certain investment vehicles) and certain other non-U.S. entities unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied, or an exemption applies. Such an exemption must typically be evidenced by delivery of a properly executed IRS Form W-8BEN-E. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and the entity’s jurisdiction may modify these requirements. If FATCA withholding is imposed, a Non-U.S. holder that is not a foreign financial institution generally will be entitled to a refund of any amounts withheld by filing a U.S. federal income tax return (which may entail significant administrative burden).

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UNDERWRITING

EF Hutton, division of Benchmark Investments, LLC, or the underwriter, is acting as the underwriter of this offering. We have entered into an underwriting agreement dated as of the date of this prospectus with the underwriter. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, we have agreed to sell to the underwriter named below, and the underwriter named below has agreed to purchase, at the public offering price per unit less the underwriting discounts set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, the number of units listed next to its name in the following table:

Underwriter

 

Number of
Units

EF Hutton, division of Benchmark Investments, LLC

   

Total

 

7,500,000

The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriter to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to approval of legal matters by counsel and to other conditions. The underwriter is obligated to purchase all of the units (other than those covered by the underwriter’s over-allotment option described below) if it purchases any of the units.

Option to Purchase Additional Units

If the underwriter sells more units than the total number set forth in the table above, we have granted to the underwriter an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 1,125,000 additional units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriter may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with this offering. Any units issued or sold under the option will be issued and sold on the same terms and conditions as the other units that are the subject of this offering.

Determination of Offering Price

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the underwriter.

The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management team, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, common stock or warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, common stock or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.

Listing of Securities

We expect our units to be listed on the NYSE American under the symbol “HNRAU” and, once the common stock and warrants begin separate trading, to have our common stock and warrants listed on the NYSE American under the symbols “HNRA” and “HNRAW”, respectively.

Underwriting Discounts

Units sold by the underwriter to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. After the initial public offering, the underwriter may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The offering of the units by the underwriter is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriter’s right to reject any order in whole or in part. The underwriter does not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.

The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriter in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. In addition to the underwriting discount, we have agreed to pay up to $100,000 (less $50,000 previously paid as advance) of the fees and expenses of the underwriter, including FINRA-related fees and the fees

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and expenses of the underwriter’s legal counsel. The fees and expenses of the underwriter that we have agreed to reimburse are not included in the underwriting discounts set forth in the table below. The underwriting discount and reimbursable expenses the underwriter will receive were determined through arms’ length negotiations between us and the underwriter.

 

Paid by
HNR Acquisition Corp

   

No Exercise

 

Full Exercise

Per Unit(1)

 

$

0.50

 

$

0.50

Total(1)

 

$

3,750,000

 

$

4,312,500

____________

(1)      The underwriter has agreed to defer until consummation of our initial business combination $2,250,000 of its underwriting commissions (or $2,587,500 if the underwriter’s overallotment option is exercised in full), which equals 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the units sold to the public.

The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

No discounts or commissions will be paid on the sale of the private placement units.

We estimate that the total expenses of this offering, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions, will be $800,000. This includes $100,000 of the fees and expenses of the underwriter. These expenses are payable by us.

Right of First Refusal

We have granted to the underwriter, a right of first refusal for a period beginning on the closing of our business combination and ending 18 months from the closing of our initial business combination and in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110 (the “ROFR Period”) to act as sole investment banker, sole book-runner, and/or sole placement agent, at the underwriter’s sole discretion, for all future public and private equity and debt offering, including all equity linked financings, of our company or any successor to or any current or future subsidiary of our company, during the ROFR Period. In accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(E)(i), such right of first refusal shall not have a duration of more than three years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Indemnification

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriter against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriter may be required to make because of any of those liabilities.

Regulatory Restrictions on Purchase of Securities

In connection with the offering, the underwriter may purchase and sell units in the open market. Purchases and sales in the open market may include short sales, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the underwriter’s over-allotment option, and stabilizing purchases.

•      Short sales involve secondary market sales by the underwriter of a greater number of units than they are required to purchase in the offering.

•      “Covered” short sales are sales of units in an amount up to the number of units represented by the underwriter’s over-allotment option.

•      “Naked” short sales are sales of units in an amount in excess of the number of units represented by the underwriter’s over-allotment option.

•      Covering transactions involve purchases of units either pursuant to the underwriter’s over-allotment option or in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover short positions.

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•      To close a naked short position, the underwriter must purchase shares in the open market after the distribution has been completed. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriter is concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering.

•      To close a covered short position, the underwriter must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed or must exercise the underwriter’s over-allotment option. In determining the source of shares to close the covered short position, the underwriter will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the underwriter’s over-allotment option.

•      Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase units so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

Purchases to cover short positions and stabilizing purchases, as well as other purchases by the underwriter for its own accounts, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. They may also cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that would otherwise exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The underwriter may conduct these transactions in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. If the underwriter commences any of these transactions, it may discontinue them at any time.

The underwriter and its respective affiliates are full-service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include securities trading, commercial and investment banking, financial advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, financing and brokerage activities. The underwriter and its affiliates may in the future engage in investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates, including in connection with acting in an advisory capacity or as a potential financing source in conjunction with our potential acquisition of a company. They may in the future receive customary fees and commissions for these transactions.

In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriter and its affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriter and its affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

Other than as described above, we are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriter to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, the underwriter may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If the underwriter provides services to us after this offering, we may pay the 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 the underwriter and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriter prior to the date that is 90 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriter’s compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriter of this offering or any entity with which it is affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.

Electronic Distribution

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available by e-mail or on the web sites or through online services maintained by the underwriter or its affiliates. In those cases, prospective investors may view offering terms online and may be allowed to place orders online. The underwriter may agree with us to allocate a specific number of common shares for sale to online brokerage account holders. Any such allocation for online distributions will be made by the underwriter on the same basis as other allocations. Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on the underwriter’s websites and any information contained in any other website maintained by the underwriter is not part of this prospectus, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or the underwriter and should not be relied upon by investors.

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Sales Outside the United States

No action has been taken in any jurisdiction (except in the United States) that would permit a public offering of the units, or the possession, circulation or distribution of this prospectus or any other material relating to us or the units in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Accordingly, the units may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, and none of this prospectus or any other offering material or advertisements in connection with the units may be distributed or published, in or from any country or jurisdiction except in compliance with any applicable rules and regulations of any such country or jurisdiction.

The underwriter may arrange to sell the units offered hereby in certain jurisdictions outside the United States, either directly or through affiliates, where they are permitted to do so.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Australia

No placement document, prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document has been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”), in relation to the offering. This prospectus does not constitute a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act 2001 (the “Corporations Act”), and does not purport to include the information required for a prospectus, product disclosure statement or other disclosure document under the Corporations Act.

Any offer in Australia of the units may only be made to persons (the “Exempt Investors”) who are “sophisticated investors” (within the meaning of section 708(8) of the Corporations Act), “professional investors” (within the meaning of section 708(11) of the Corporations Act) or otherwise pursuant to one or more exemptions contained in section 708 of the Corporations Act so that it is lawful to offer the units without disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act.

The units applied for by Exempt Investors in Australia must not be offered for sale in Australia in the period of 12 months after the date of allotment under the offering, except in circumstances where disclosure to investors under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act would not be required pursuant to an exemption under section 708 of the Corporations Act or otherwise or where the offer is pursuant to a disclosure document which complies with Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act. Any person acquiring units must observe such Australian on-sale restrictions.

This prospectus contains general information only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. It does not contain any securities recommendations or financial product advice. Before making an investment decision, investors need to consider whether the information in this prospectus is appropriate to their needs, objectives and circumstances, and, if necessary, seek expert advice on those matters.

Notice to Prospective Investors in the Dubai International Financial Centre

This prospectus relates to an Exempt Offer in accordance with the Offered Securities Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority, or the DFSA. This prospectus is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Offered Securities Rules of the DFSA. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with Exempt Offers. The DFSA has not approved this prospectus nor taken steps to verify the information set forth herein and has no responsibility for the prospectus. The securities to which this prospectus relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the securities offered should conduct their own due diligence on the securities. If you do not understand the contents of this prospectus you should consult an authorized financial advisor.

Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area

The units are not intended to be offered or sold to and should not be offered or sold to any retail investor in the European Economic Area, or the EEA. For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one or more of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU, as amended (“MiFID II”); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2002/92/EC, as amended (the “Insurance Mediation Directive”), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in the Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended, the “Prospectus Directive”). No key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014, as amended (the “PRIIPs Regulation”) for offering

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or selling the units or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared. Offering or selling the units or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPS Regulation. This prospectus has been prepared on the basis that any offer of the units in any member state of the EEA will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive from a requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of units. This prospectus is not a prospectus for the purpose of the Prospectus Directive.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Switzerland

The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the securities or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.

Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the Company, or the securities have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (FINMA), and the offer of securities has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (“CISA”).The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of securities.

Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom

This prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as a “relevant person”). The units are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to purchase or otherwise acquire such units will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

Notice to Prospective Investors in France

Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units described in this prospectus has been submitted to the clearance procedures of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers or by the competent authority of another member state of the European Economic Area and notified to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. The units have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the units has been or will be:

•      released, issued, distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed to the public in France; or

•      used in connection with any offer for subscription or sale of the units to the public in France.

Such offers, sales and distributions will be made in France only:

•      to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs), in each case investing for their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-2, D.411-1, D.411-2, D.734-1, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Code monétaire et financier;

•      to investment services providers authorized to engage in portfolio management on behalf of third parties; or

•      in a transaction that, in accordance with Articles L.411-2-II-1b or 2b or 31b of the French Code monétaire et financier and article 211-2 of the General Regulations (Règlement Général) of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, does not constitute a public offer (appel public à l’épargne).

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The units may be resold directly or indirectly, only in compliance with Articles L.411-1, L.411-2, L.412-1 and L.621-8 through L.621-8-3 of the French Code monetaire et financier.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong

The units may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the units may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to units which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan

The units have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) and, accordingly, will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan, or for the benefit of any Japanese Person or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to any Japanese Person, except in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines promulgated by relevant Japanese governmental or regulatory authorities in effect at the relevant time. For the purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese Person” shall mean any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore

This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the units may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA, in each case subject to compliance with conditions set forth in the SFA.

Where the units are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is:

•      shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:

•      to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less than $200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA;

•      where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or

•      where the transfer is by operation of law.

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Notice to Canadian Residents

Resale Restrictions

The distribution of units in Canada is being made only in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia on a private placement basis exempt from the requirement that we prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each province where trades of these securities are made. Any resale of the units in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws which may vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of the securities.

Representations of Canadian Purchasers

By purchasing units in Canada and accepting delivery of a purchase confirmation, a purchaser is representing to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:

•      the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase the units without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under those securities laws as it is an “accredited investor” as defined under National Instrument 45-106 — Prospectus Exemptions,

•      the purchaser is a “permitted client” as defined in National Instrument 31-103 — Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations,

•      where required by law, the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent, and

•      the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions.

Statutory Rights of Action

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) such as this document contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser of these securities in Canada should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

Enforcement of Legal Rights

All of our directors and officers as well as the experts named herein may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of those persons may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.

Taxation and Eligibility for Investment

Canadian purchasers of units should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the units in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the units for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.

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LEGAL MATTERS

K&L Gates LLP, New York, New York, is acting as our counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this offering. Loeb & Loeb LLP, New York, New York, is acting as counsel to the underwriter.

EXPERTS

The financial statements of HNR Acquisition Corp at December 31, 2020 and for the period from December 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, included in this prospectus have been audited by MaloneBailey, LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report, thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of HNR Acquisition Corp to continue as a going concern as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on such report given on the authority of such firm 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 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.

Upon the effectiveness of this registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. You may also read and copy any document we file with the SEC at its public reference facility at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549.

You may also obtain copies of the documents at prescribed rates by writing to the Public Reference Section of the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference facilities.

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of
HNR Acquisition Corp

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of HNR Acquisition Corp (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, and the related statements of operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the period from December 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from December 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Going Concern Matter

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a net capital deficiency that raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ MaloneBailey, LLP

www.malonebailey.com

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.

Houston, Texas

February 4, 2022

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
BALANCE SHEET
December 31, 2020

ASSETS

 

 

 

Cash

 

$

25,000

Deferred offering costs

 

 

75,000

Total assets

 

$

100,000

   

 

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

 

 

 

Current liabilities –

 

 

 

Accrued offering costs

 

$

75,000

Total current liabilities

 

 

75,000

   

 

 

Commitments and contingencies

 

 

Stockholder’s equity:

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 authorized shares, 2,875,000 shares issued and outstanding

 

 

288

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 authorized shares, -0- shares issued and outstanding

 

 

Additional paid-in-capital

 

 

24,712

Accumulated deficit

 

 

Total stockholder’s equity

 

 

25,000

Total liabilities and stockholder’s equity

 

$

100,000

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM DECEMBER 9, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020

Expenses:

 

 

 

Formation and operating costs

 

 

Net Loss

 

$

Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding – basic and diluted

 

 

2,875,000

Net loss per share of common stock – basic and diluted

 

$

0.00

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY
FOR THE PERIOD FROM DECEMBER 9, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020

 


Common Stock

 

Additional
Paid-in
Capital

 

Accumulated
Deficit

 

Total
Stockholder’s
Equity

   

Shares

 

Amount

 

Balance – December 9, 2020 (inception)

 

 

$

 

$

 

$

 

$

Issuance of Founder Shares to Sponsor

 

2,875,000

 

 

288

 

 

24,712

 

 

 

 

25,000

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance – December 31, 2020 (audited)

 

2,875,000

 

$

288

 

$

24,712

 

$

 

$

25,000

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM DECEMBER 9, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020

Cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

   

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

 

 

Proceeds from stock sale to Sponsor

 

$

25,000

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

$

25,000

   

 

 

Net increase in cash

 

$

25,000

Cash at December 9, 2020 (inception)

 

 

Cash at end of period

 

$

25,000

   

 

 

Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:

 

 

 

Deferred offering costs

 

$

75,000

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Organization and General:

HNR Acquisition Corp (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on December 9, 2020. The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the “Securities Act,” as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”).

As of December 31, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from December 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”) described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of the Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31st as its year end.

Sponsor and Proposed Financing:

The Company’s ability to commence operations and finance a Business Combination are contingent on obtaining adequate financial resources from the $75,000,000 Proposed Public Offering for 7,500,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit (as defined below) (see Note 3) and a private placement for units (the “Private Placement Units”) to HNRAC Sponsors LLC (the “Sponsor”) and EF Hutton that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering (see Note 4). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering and the private placement, $76,500,000 (or $87,975,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full — Note 3) will be held in the Trust Account (discussed below).

The Trust Account:

Funds from the Proposed Public Offering will initially be placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”). The Trust Account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of one hundred eighty (180) days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 which invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Funds will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below. The remaining proceeds outside the Trust Account may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses.

The Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, other than the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes, none of the funds held in the Trust Account will be released until the earlier of: (i) the completion of the Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its public shares if it does not complete its initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity; or (iii) the redemption of 100% of the shares of common stock included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering if the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (subject to the requirements of law).

Business Combination:

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering, although substantially all of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination with (or acquisition of) a Target Business. As used herein, “Target Business” means one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS (cont.)

equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of the signing of a definitive agreement in connection with the Business Combination. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.

The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for a Business Combination, will either (i) seek stockholder approval of the Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose in connection with which stockholders holding common stock may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the Business Combination, for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest but less taxes payable, or (ii) provide stockholders holding common stock with the opportunity to sell their shares to the Company by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount in cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to commencement of the tender offer, including interest but less taxes payable. As a result, shares of common stock will be recorded at their redemption amount and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering, in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share of common stock ($75,000,000 held in the Trust Account divided by 7,500,000 public shares of common stock).

The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of the Business Combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares in a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require the Company to seek stockholder approval unless a vote is required by law or under the NYSE American rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval, it will complete its Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. However, in no event will the Company redeem its public shares of common stock in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of the Business Combination. In such case, the Company would not proceed with the redemption of its public shares of common stock and the related Business Combination, and instead may search for an alternate Business Combination.

The Company will only have 12 months (or up to 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) from the closing date of the Proposed Public Offering to complete its initial Business Combination. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within this period of time, it shall (i) cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible, but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares of common stock for a per share pro rata portion of the Trust Account, including interest, but less taxes payable (less up to $100,000 of such net interest to pay dissolution expenses); and (iii) as promptly as possible following such redemption, dissolve and liquidate the balance of the Company’s net assets to its remaining stockholders, as part of its plan of dissolution and liquidation. The initial stockholders have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have waived their right to participate in any redemption with respect to their initial shares; however, if the initial stockholders or any of the Company’s officers, directors or affiliates acquire shares of common stock in or after the Proposed Public Offering, they will be entitled to a pro rata share of the Trust Account, with respect to such public shares, upon the Company’s redemption or liquidation in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the required time period.

In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be less than the initial public offering price per Unit in the Proposed Public Offering.

In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, the Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS (cont.)

the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to have all third parties, including, but not limited to, all vendors, service providers (excluding its independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which the Company does business execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claims of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Public Stockholders.

Going Concern Consideration

At December 31, 2020, the Company had $25,000 in cash and a working capital deficit of $50,000. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Management plans to address this uncertainty through the Proposed Public Offering as discussed in Note 3. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation:

The financial statements of the Company are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Emerging Growth Company

Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Net Loss Per Shares of Common Stock:

Net loss per share of common stock is computed by dividing net loss applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 326,250 shares of common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter (see Note 3). At December 31, 2020, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings or losses of the Company under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted loss per share of common stock is the same as basic loss per share of common stock for the period presented.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (cont.)

Financial Instruments:

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, approximates the carrying amounts represented on the balance sheet.

Use of Estimates:

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand and on deposit at banking institutions as well as all highly liquid short-term investments with original maturities of 90 days or less.

Deferred Offering Costs:

Deferred offering costs of approximately $75,000 at December 31, 2020, consist principally of costs incurred in connection with preparation for the Proposed Public Offering. These costs consist of legal and accounting costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering. These costs, together with the underwriter discount, will be charged to additional paid in capital upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering or charged to operations if the Proposed Public Offering is not completed.

Income Taxes:

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2020. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties at December 31, 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals, or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

The provision for income taxes was deemed to be de minimis for the period for the period from December 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements:

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

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 3 — PUBLIC OFFERING

Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale up to 7,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “Units”). Each Unit consists of one (1) share of the Company’s common stock, $0.0001 par value and one (1) warrant to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock (the “Warrants”). Under the terms of a proposed warrant agreement, the Company has agreed to use its best efforts to file a new registration statement under the Securities Act, following the completion of the Business Combination. Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50. Each Warrant will become exercisable on the later of: (i) one (1) year after the date that the registration statement for the Offering (the “Registration Statement”) is declared effective by the SEC and (ii) the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination and will expire five years after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. However, if the Company does not complete its initial Business Combination on or prior to the 12-month (or within 18-months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus) period allotted to complete the Business Combination, the Warrants will expire at the end of such period. If the Company is unable to deliver registered shares of common stock to the holder upon exercise of Warrants issued in connection with the 7,500,000 public units during the exercise period, there will be no net cash settlement of these Warrants and the Warrants will expire worthless, unless they may be exercised on a cashless basis in the circumstances described in the warrant agreement. Once the Warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Warrants in whole and not in part at a price of $0.01 per Warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, only in the event that the last sale price of the Company’s shares of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the Warrant holders.

The Company has granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to fifteen percent (15%) of additional Units to cover any over-allotments, at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

The Warrants that would be issued in connection with the Units that may be issued upon exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option are identical to the public Warrants and have no net cash settlement provisions.

The Company expects to pay an underwriting discount of five percent (5%) of the gross proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering, of which (i) two percent (2.0%) will be paid at the closing of the offering in cash and (ii) three percent (3%) will be paid at the consummation of the Business Combination in cash.

In addition, for a period of 18 months from the closing of the Business Combination offering, EF Hutton shall have an irrevocable right of first refusal to act as a sole investment banker, sole book-runner, and/or sole placement agent, at EF Hutton’s sole discretion, for each and every future public and private equity and debt offering, including all equity linked financings on terms and conditions customary to EF Hutton for such transactions.

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Founder Shares

On December 24, 2020, the Company issued an aggregate of 2,875,000 shares of common stock to the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2020, the $25,000 payment due to the Company was recorded to the par value and additional paid-in-capital sections of the balance sheet. On February 4, 2022, the Sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares held by initial stockholders issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, so that the initial stockholders will own 22.48% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the initial shareholders do not purchase any Units in the Proposed Public Offering and excluding the representative and consultant shares).

The Founder Shares are identical to the common stock included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering except that the Founder Shares are convertible under the circumstances described below and subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below. The holders of the Founder Shares have agreed to forfeit up to 326,250

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (cont.)

Founder Shares to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the initial stockholders will own 22.48% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the initial shareholders do not purchase any Units in the Proposed Public Offering and excluding the representative and consultant shares). If the Company increases or decreases the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, the Company will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of the Company’s initial stockholders prior to the Proposed Public Offering at approximately 22.48% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock upon the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering.

The Company’s initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier of (A) 180 days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, or earlier if, subsequent to the Company’s initial Business Combination, the last sale price of the Company’s common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after the Company’s initial Business Combination or (B) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after the initial Business Combination that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Private Placement Units

The Sponsor, together with such other members, if any, of the Company’s executive management, directors, advisors or third party investors as determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion, shall agree to purchase, in the aggregate, units (“Private Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in a private placement (“Private Placement”) that will occur immediately prior to the Proposed Public Offering in such amounts as is required to maintain the amount in the Trust Account at $10.20 per Unit sold. The purchase price of the Private Placement Units will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account pending completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination. The Private Placement Units (including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Units) will not be transferable, assignable, or salable until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination and they will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the original holders or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Units are held by someone other than the original holders or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Units will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Warrants included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering. Otherwise, the Private Placement Units have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the Warrants being sold as part of the Units in the Proposed Public Offering.

If the Company does not complete a Business Combination, then the proceeds will be part of the liquidating distributions to the public stockholders and the Warrants issued to the Sponsor will expire worthless.

Registration Rights

The holders of the Founder Shares and the Private Placement Units and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Units or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed on or before the date of the prospectus for the Proposed Public Offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands in the case of the founder shares, excluding short form registration demands, and one demand in the case of the private placement warrants, the working capital loan warrants and, in each case, the underlying shares that the Company register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by the Company. In the case of the private placement warrants, representative shares issued to EF Hutton, the demand registration rights provided will not be exercisable for longer than five years from the effective date of the registration statement in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(iv) and the piggyback registration

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (cont.)

right provided will not be exercisable for longer than seven years from the effective date of the registration statement in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(v). The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Related Party Loans and Costs

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). The notes may be repaid upon completion of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,000,000 of the notes may be converted upon completion of a Business Combination into private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant. Such units would be identical to the Private Placement Units. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans.

We will have until 12 months from the closing of this offering to consummate our initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months, we may, by resolution of our board if requested by the Sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to two times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 18 months to complete a business combination), subject to the Sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. Pursuant to the terms of the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our initial shareholders or their affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account for each three-month extension, $750,000, or $862,500 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, up to an aggregate of $1,500,000 (or $1,725,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), or approximately $0.20 per share. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant at the option of the lender. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial stockholders contains a provision pursuant to which the Sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans out of the funds held in the trust account in the event that we do not complete a business combination. In the event that we receive notice from the Sponsor five days prior to the applicable deadline of its wish for us to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. The Sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. If we choose to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination as set forth herein, you will not have the ability to vote or redeem your shares in connection with either of the three-month extensions. However, if we seek to complete a business combination during an extension period, investors will still be able to vote and redeem their shares in connection with that business combination.

In addition, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s or Sponsor’s officers and directors may provide the Company with uncompensated advisory services.

Administrative Service Agreement

The Company has agreed to pay $10,000 a month for office space, utilities and secretarial support provided by Houston Natural Resources, Inc., an affiliate of the Sponsor. The administrative services will commence on the date the securities are first listed on NYSE and will terminate upon the earlier of the consummation by the Company of an initial Business Combination or the liquidation of the Company.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 5 — STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

Common Stock

At December 31, 2020, the authorized common stock of the Company was 100,000,000 shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. At December 31, 2020, the authorized preferred stock of the Company was 1,000,000 with a par value of $0.0001. Upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering, the Company will likely (depending on the terms of the Business Combination) be required to increase the number of shares of common stock which it is authorized to issue at the same time as its stockholders vote on the Business Combination to the extent the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with its Business Combination. Holders of the Company’s common stock vote together as a single class and are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock.

At December 31, 2020, there were 2,875,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full or in part. On February 4, 2022, the Sponsor forfeited 373,750 shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, so that the Sponsor (and its permitted transferees) will own approximately 22.48% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering.

NOTE 6 — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to January 15, 2021 the date that the financial statements were available to be issued. Based upon this review the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

On December 12, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company agreed to compensate the directors of the Company through the issuance of shares of the Company equal in value to $100,000 per director, which shall be payable and issued subject to one year of continued service to the Company commencing after the completion of the initial business combination (and which shall be pro-rated for any period less than one year of service).

On February 4, 2022, the Sponsor forfeited 373,750 shares of common stock of the Company in exchange for no consideration.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
BALANCE SHEETS

 

September 30, 2021

 

December 31, 2020

   

(Unaudited)

 

(Audited)

ASSETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash

 

$

90

 

 

$

25,000

Deferred offering costs

 

 

177,750

 

 

 

75,000

Total assets

 

 

177,840

 

 

$

100,000

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accrued liabilities

 

$

91,650

 

 

$

75,000

Due to related party

 

 

63,200

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

 

 

154,850

 

 

 

75,000

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 authorized shares, -0- shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 authorized shares,
2,875,000 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020

 

 

288

 

 

 

288

Additional paid-in-capital

 

 

24,712

 

 

 

24,712

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(2,010

)

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity

 

 

22,990

 

 

 

25,000

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

 

$

177,840

 

 

$

100,000

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited financial statements.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)

 

Three Months Ended
September 30, 2021

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2021

Expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formation and operating costs

 

$

1,653

 

 

$

2,010

 

Net Loss

 

$

(1,653

)

 

$

(2,010

)

Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding – basic and diluted

 

 

2,500,000

 

 

 

2,500,000

 

Net loss per share of common stock – basic and diluted

 

$

(0.00

)

 

$

(0.00

)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited financial statements.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Nine Months September 30, 2021

     

Additional
Paid-In
Capital

 

Accumulated
Deficit

 

Total
Stockholder’s
Equity

   

Common Stock

 
   

Shares

 

Amount

 

Balance – December 31, 2020 (Audited)

 

2,875,000

 

$

288

 

$

24,712

 

$

 

 

$

25,000

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(357

)

 

 

(357

)

Balance – March 31, 2021 (Unaudited)

 

2,875,000

 

 

288

 

 

24,712

 

 

(357

)

 

 

24,643

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance – June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)

 

2,875,000

 

 

288

 

 

24,712

 

$

(357

)

 

 

24,643

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1,653

)

 

 

(1,653

)

Balance – September 30, 2021 (Unaudited)

 

2,875,000

 

$

288

 

$

24,712

 

$

(2,010

)

 

$

22,990

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited financial statements.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2021

Cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(2,010

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

 

 

 

 

Accrued liabilities

 

 

1,650

 

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

(360

)

   

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

 

 

 

Proceeds received from related party

 

 

63,200

 

Payment of deferred offering costs

 

 

(87,750

)

Net cash used in financing activities

 

 

(24,550

)

   

 

 

 

Net decrease in cash

 

 

(24,910

)

Cash at beginning of period

 

 

25,000

 

Cash at end of period

 

$

90

 

   

 

 

 

Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:

 

 

 

 

Deferred offering costs

 

$

16,650

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited financial statements.

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Table of Contents

HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Organization and General:

HNR Acquisition Corp (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on December 9, 2020. The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the “Securities Act,” as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”).

As of September 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from December 9, 2020 (inception) through September 30, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”) described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of the Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31st as its year end.

Sponsor and Proposed Financing:

The Company’s ability to commence operations and finance a Business Combination are contingent on obtaining adequate financial resources from the $75,000,000 Proposed Public Offering for 7,500,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit (as defined below) (see Note 3) and a private placement for units (the “Private Placement Units”) to HNRAC Sponsors, LLC (the “Sponsor”) and EF Hutton (formerly Kingswood Capital Markets) (“EF Hutton”) that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering (see Note 4). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering and the private placement, $76,500,000 (or $87,975,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full — Note 3) will be held in the Trust Account (discussed below).

The Trust Account:

Funds from the Proposed Public Offering will initially be placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”). The Trust Account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of one hundred eighty (180) days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 which invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Funds will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below. The remaining proceeds outside the Trust Account may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses.

The Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, other than the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes, none of the funds held in the Trust Account will be released until the earlier of: (i) the completion of the Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its public shares if it does not complete its initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in the prospectus) from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity; or (iii) the redemption of 100% of the shares of common stock included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering if the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (subject to the requirements of law).

Business Combination:

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering, although substantially all of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination with (or acquisition of) a Target Business. As used herein, “Target Business” means one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value

F-19

Table of Contents

HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS (cont.)

equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of the signing of a definitive agreement in connection with the Business Combination. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.

The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for a Business Combination, will either (i) seek stockholder approval of the Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose in connection with which stockholders holding common stock may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the Business Combination, for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest but less taxes payable, or (ii) provide stockholders holding common stock with the opportunity to sell their shares to the Company by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount in cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to commencement of the tender offer, including interest but less taxes payable. As a result, shares of common stock will be recorded at their redemption amount and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering, in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share of common stock ($76,500,000 held in the Trust Account divided by 7,500,000 public shares of common stock).

The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of the Business Combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares in a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require the Company to seek stockholder approval unless a vote is required by law or under the NYSE American rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval, it will complete its Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. However, in no event will the Company redeem its public shares of common stock in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of the Business Combination. In such case, the Company would not proceed with the redemption of its public shares of common stock and the related Business Combination, and instead may search for an alternate Business Combination.

The Company will only have 12 months (or otherwise in accordance with the Company’s Charter) from the closing date of the Proposed Public Offering to complete its initial Business Combination. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within this period of time, it shall (i) cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible, but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares of common stock for a per share pro rata portion of the Trust Account, including interest, but less taxes payable (less up to $100,000 of such net interest to pay dissolution expenses); and (iii) as promptly as possible following such redemption, dissolve and liquidate the balance of the Company’s net assets to its remaining stockholders, as part of its plan of dissolution and liquidation. The initial stockholders have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have waived their right to participate in any redemption with respect to their initial shares; however, if the initial stockholders or any of the Company’s officers, directors or affiliates acquire shares of common stock in or after the Proposed Public Offering, they will be entitled to a pro rata share of the Trust Account, with respect to such public shares, upon the Company’s redemption or liquidation in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the required time period.

In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be less than the initial public offering price per Unit in the Proposed Public Offering.

In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, the Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS (cont.)

each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to have all third parties, including, but not limited to, all vendors, service providers (excluding its independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which the Company does business execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claims of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Public Stockholders.

Going Concern Consideration

At September 30, 2021, the Company had $90 in cash and working capital deficit, excluding deferred offering costs of $154,760. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Management plans to address this uncertainty through the Proposed Public Offering as discussed in Note 3. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation:

The accompanying unaudited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X of the SEC. Certain information or footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes necessary for a complete presentation of financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of a normal recurring nature, which are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, operating results and cash flows for the period presented.

The accompanying unaudited financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 as filed with the SEC on January 29, 2021. The interim results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2021 or for any future periods.

Emerging Growth Company

Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make

F-21

Table of Contents

HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (cont.)

comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Net Loss Per Shares of Common Stock:

Net loss per share of common stock is computed by dividing net loss applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 326,250 shares of common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter (see Note 3). At September 30, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings or losses of the Company under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted loss per share of common stock is the same as basic loss per share of common stock for the period presented.

Financial Instruments:

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, approximates the carrying amounts represented on the balance sheet.

Use of Estimates:

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand and on deposit at banking institutions as well as all highly liquid short-term investments with original maturities of 90 days or less.

Deferred Offering Costs:

Deferred offering costs of approximately $177,750 and $75,000 at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, consist principally of costs incurred in connection with preparation for the Proposed Public Offering. These costs consist of legal and accounting costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering. These costs, together with the underwriter discount, will be charged to additional paid in capital upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering or charged to operations if the Proposed Public Offering is not completed.

Income Taxes:

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

F-22

Table of Contents

HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (cont.)

FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals, or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

The provision for income taxes was deemed to be de minimis for the period for the period from December 9, 2020 (inception) through September 30, 2021.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements:

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

NOTE 3 — PUBLIC OFFERING

Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale up to 7,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “Units”). Each Unit consists of one (1) share of the Company’s common stock, $0.0001 par value and one (1) warrant to purchase three quarters of one share of Common Stock (the “Warrants”). Under the terms of a proposed warrant agreement, the Company has agreed to use its best efforts to file a new registration statement under the Securities Act, following the completion of the Business Combination. Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50. Each Warrant will become exercisable on the later of: (i) one (1) year after the date that the registration statement for the Offering (the “Registration Statement”) is declared effective by the SEC and (ii) the consummation by the Company of a Business Combination and will expire five years after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. However, if the Company does not complete its initial Business Combination on or prior to the 18-month period allotted to complete the Business Combination, the Warrants will expire at the end of such period. If the Company is unable to deliver registered shares of common stock to the holder upon exercise of Warrants issued in connection with the 7,500,000 public units during the exercise period, there will be no net cash settlement of these Warrants and the Warrants will expire worthless, unless they may be exercised on a cashless basis in the circumstances described in the warrant agreement. Once the Warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Warrants in whole and not in part at a price of $0.01 per Warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, only in the event that the last sale price of the Company’s shares of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the Warrant holders.

The Company expects to grant the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to fifteen percent (15%) of additional Units to cover any over-allotments, at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

The Warrants that would be issued in connection with the Units that may be issued upon exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option are identical to the public Warrants and have no net cash settlement provisions.

The Company expects to pay an underwriting discount of five percent (5%) of the gross proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering, of which (i) two percent (2.0%) will be paid at the closing of the offering in cash and (ii) three percent (3%) will be paid at the consummation of the Business Combination in cash.

In addition, for a period of 18 months from the closing of the Business Combination offering, EF Hutton shall have an irrevocable right of first refusal to act as a sole investment banker, sole book-runner, and/or sole placement agent, at EF Hutton’s sole discretion, for each and every future public and private equity and debt offering, including all equity linked financings on terms and conditions customary to EF Hutton for such transactions.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Founder Shares

On December 24, 2020, the Company issued an aggregate of 2,875,000 shares of common stock to the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2020, the $25,000 payment due to the Company was recorded to the par value and additional paid-in-capital sections of the balance sheet. The agreement resulted in an aggregate of 2,875,000 shares of common stock held by the initial stockholders, of which an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment is not exercised in full or in part. On February 4, 2022, the Sponsor forfeited 373,750 shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding ,of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will own 22.48% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the initial shareholders do not purchase any Units in the Proposed Public Offering and excluding the representative and consultant shares).

The Founder Shares are identical to the common stock included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering except that the Founder Shares are convertible under the circumstances described below and subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below. The holders of the Founder Shares have agreed to forfeit up to 326,250 Founder Shares to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the initial stockholders will own 22.48% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the initial shareholders do not purchase any Units in the Proposed Public Offering and excluding the representative and consultant shares). If the Company increases or decreases the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, the Company will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital, as applicable, immediately prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of the Company’s initial stockholders prior to the Proposed Public Offering at 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock upon the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering.

The Company’s initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier of (A) 180 days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, or earlier if, subsequent to the Company’s initial Business Combination, the last sale price of the Company’s common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 90 days after the Company’s initial Business Combination or (B) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after the initial Business Combination that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Private Placement Units

The Sponsor, together with such other members, if any, of the Company’s executive management, directors, advisors or third party investors as determined by the Sponsors in its sole discretion, shall agree to purchase, in the aggregate, 460,000 units (“Private Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit in a private placement (“Private Placement”) that will occur immediately prior to the Proposed Public Offering in such amounts as is required to maintain the amount in the Trust Account at $10.20 per Unit sold. The Sponsor has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, the Sponsor and/or its designees will purchase from us additional private placement units on a pro rata basis in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account $10.20 The purchase price of the Private Placement Units will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account pending completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination. The Private Placement Units (including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Units) will not be transferable, assignable, or salable until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination and they will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the original holders or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Units are held by someone other than the original holders or their permitted transferees, the Private

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 4 — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (cont.)

Placement Units will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Warrants included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering. Otherwise, the Private Placement Units have terms and provisions that are substantially identical to those of the Warrants being sold as part of the Units in the Proposed Public Offering.

If the Company does not complete a Business Combination, then the proceeds will be part of the liquidating distributions to the public stockholders and the Warrants issued to the Sponsor will expire worthless.

Registration Rights

The holders of the Founder Shares and the Private Placement Units and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Units or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed on or before the date of the prospectus for the Proposed Public Offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands in the case of the founder shares, excluding short form registration demands, and one demand in the case of the private placement warrants, the working capital loan warrants and, in each case, the underlying shares that the Company register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by the Company. In the case of the private placement warrants, representative shares issued to EF Hutton, the demand registration rights provided will not be exercisable for longer than five years from the effective date of the registration statement in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(iv) and the piggyback registration right provided will not be exercisable for longer than seven years from the effective date of the registration statement in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(v). The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Related Party Loans and Costs

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). The notes may be repaid upon completion of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,000,000 of the notes may be converted upon completion of a Business Combination into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans.

In addition, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s or Sponsor’s officers and directors may provide the Company with uncompensated advisory services.

Administrative Service Agreement

The Company has agreed to pay $10,000 a month for office space, utilities and secretarial support provided by Houston Natural Resources, Inc., an affiliate of the Sponsor. The administrative services will commence on the date the securities are first listed on NYSE and will terminate upon the earlier of the consummation by the Company of an initial Business Combination or the liquidation of the Company.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP
NOTES TO UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 5 — STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

Common Stock

At September 30, 2021, the authorized common stock of the Company was 100,000,000 shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. At September 30, 2021, the authorized preferred stock of the Company was 1,000,000 with a par value of $0.0001. Upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering, the Company will likely (depending on the terms of the Business Combination) be required to increase the number of shares of common stock which it is authorized to issue at the same time as its stockholders vote on the Business Combination to the extent the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with its Business Combination. Holders of the Company’s common stock vote together as a single class and are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock.

At September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were 2,875,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full or in part. On February 4, 2022, the Sponsor forfeited 373,750 shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part, so that the Sponsor (and its permitted transferees) would own 22.48% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Sponsor advanced cash of $63,200 to the Company to fund its operations. The advances were non interesting bearing and due on demand.

NOTE 6 — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to December 27, 2021 the date that the financial statements were available to be issued. Based upon this review the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

On December 12, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company agreed to compensate the directors of the Company through the issuance of shares of the Company equal in value to $100,000 per director, which shall be payable and issued subject to one year of continued service to the Company commencing after the completion of the initial business combination (and which shall be pro-rated for any period less than one year of service).

On February 4, 2022, the Sponsor forfeited 373,750 shares of common stock of the Company in exchange for no consideration.

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HNR ACQUISITION CORP

7,500,000 Units

____________________

Preliminary Prospectus

____________________

        , 2022

EF HUTTON
division of Benchmark Investments, LLC

Through and including             , 2022 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This delivery is in addition to a dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

 

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PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discounts and commissions) will be as follows. All amounts are estimated except the SEC registration fee and the FINRA filing fee.

SEC Registration Fee

 

$

7,996

FINRA Filing Fee

 

 

17,750

NYSE American listing and filing fees

 

 

85,000

Legal fees and expenses

 

 

325,000

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

40,000

Printing and engraving

 

 

10,000

Directors and officers insurance

 

 

200,000

Miscellaneous expenses

 

 

114,254

Total offering expenses

 

$

800,000

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL. Section 145 of the DGCL concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.

Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.

(a)     A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

(b)    A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

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(c)     To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.

(d)    Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.

(e)     Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former officers and directors or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.

(f)     The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to such provision after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.

(g)    A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.

(h)    For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.

(i)     For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or

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beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.

(j)     The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

(k)    The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of our counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by us is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek nonmonetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.

If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limiting or eliminating the liability of directors, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to further limit or eliminate the liability of directors on a retroactive basis.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our board of directors, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.

The right to indemnification which will be conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our

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corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.

The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other that those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our bylaws include the provisions relating to advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those which will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our board of directors, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

We will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our officers and directors a form of which is to be filed as Exhibit 10.6 to this registration statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

Pursuant to the underwriting agreement to be filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriter and the underwriter has agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

On December 24, 2020, HNRAC Sponsors LLC, our sponsor, purchased from us an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.01 per share. The founder shares purchased by our sponsor included an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part. Such founder shares were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D. On February 4, 2022, our sponsor forfeited 373,750 founder shares and as a result, there are currently 2,501,250 founder shares issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 326,250 of such shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter in full or in part.

Our sponsor has also committed that it and/or its designees will purchase an aggregate of 460,000 private placement units (or 505,000 private placement units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) from us at a price

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of $10.00 per unit for a total purchase price of $4,600,000 (or $5,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. These issuances will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

(a)     Exhibits.    The list of exhibits immediately preceding the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated herein by reference.

(b)    Financial Statements.    See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement.

Item 17. Undertakings.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

(1)    For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

(2)    For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

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EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.

 

Description

1.1*

 

Form of Underwriting Agreement.

3.1**

 

Certificate of Incorporation.

3.2**

 

Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.

3.3**

 

Amended and Restated Bylaws.

4.1*

 

Specimen Unit Certificate.

4.2**

 

Specimen Common Stock Certificate.

4.3*

 

Specimen Warrant Certificate.

4.5*

 

Form of Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.

5.1*

 

Opinion of K&L Gates LLP.

10.1*

 

Form of Insider Letter between the Registrant and each of its executive officers, directors, HNRAC Sponsors LLC and its permitted transferees.

10.2*

 

Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.

10.3*

 

Form of Registration Rights Agreement between the Registrant and certain security holders.

10.4**

 

Securities Subscription Agreement (founder shares), dated December 24, 2020, between the Registrant and HNRAC Sponsors LLC.

10.5*

 

Form of Unit Subscription Agreement between the Registrant and HNRAC Sponsors LLC (private placement units).

10.6**

 

Form of Indemnification Agreement.

10.7**

 

Form of Administrative Services Agreement by and between the Registrant and HNRAC Sponsors LLC.

23.1*

 

Consent of MaloneBailey, LLP.

23.2*

 

Consent of K&L Gates LLP (to be included on Exhibit 5.1).

24**

 

Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this Registration Statement)

107*

 

Filing Fee Table

____________

*        Filed herewith

**      Previously filed.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Houston, State of Texas on the 7th day of February, 2022.

 

HNR ACQUISITION CORP

   

By:

 

/s/ Donald H. Goree

   

Name:

 

Donald H. Goree

   

Title:

 

Chief Executive Officer, Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial and Accounting Officer

Name

 

Position

 

Date

/s/ Donald H. Goree

 

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

February 7, 2022

Donald H. Goree

 

(Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

   

/s/ *

 

Director

 

February 7, 2022

Joseph V. Salvucci, Sr.

       

/s/ *

 

Director

 

February 7, 2022

Diego Rojas

       

/s/ *

 

Director

 

February 7, 2022

Joseph V. Salvucci, Jr.

       

/s/ *

 

President and Director

 

February 7, 2022

Donald W. Orr

       

*By:

 

/s/ Donald H. Goree

   

Name:

 

Donald H. Goree

   

Title:

 

Attorney-in-Fact

   

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