UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
For
the fiscal year ended
For the transition period from _________ to _________
Commission
file number:
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code:
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of Each Class: | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered: | ||
| Units, each consisting of one share of Class A Common Stock and one-third of one Redeemable Warrant | TWLVU | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
| Redeemable Warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 | TWLVW | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes
☐
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange
Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file
such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to
Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to submit and post such files).
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 definition 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 | ☐ |
| ☒ | 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 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered
public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes
The
aggregate market value of the Class A common stock outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the
registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for the Class A common stock on June 30, 2021, as reported on the Nasdaq Capital
Market was $
As
of March [●], 2022 there were
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Report (as defined below), including, without limitation, statements under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act (as defined below) and Section 21E of the Exchange Act (as defined below). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, including, but not limited to:
| ● | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities; |
| ● | 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; or |
| ● | our financial performance. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. Future developments affecting us may not 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. 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.
Unless otherwise stated in this Report, or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| ● | “board of directors” or “board” are to the board of directors of the Company; |
| ● | “Class A common stock” are to the shares of Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share; |
| ● | “Class B common stock” are to the shares of Class B common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share; |
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| ● | “common stock” are to the Class A common stock and the Class B common stock; |
| ● | “Continental” are to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, trustee of our trust account (as defined below) and warrant agent of our public warrants (as defined below); |
| ● | “DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law; |
| ● | “DWAC System” are to the Depository Trust Company’s Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian System; |
| ● | “Exchange Act” are to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; |
| ● | “founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issuable upon the conversion thereof as provided herein; |
| ● | “GAAP” are to the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; |
| ● | “IFRS” are to the International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board; |
| ● | “initial business combination” are to a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses; |
| ● | “initial public offering” are to the initial public offering that was consummated by the Company on March 2, 2021; |
| ● | “initial stockholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering (or their permitted transferees); |
| ● | “Investment Company Act” are to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended; |
| ● | “JOBS Act” are to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012; |
| ● | “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors; |
| ● | “Nasdaq” are to the Nasdaq Stock Market; |
| ● | “PCAOB” are to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States); |
| ● | “placement units” are to the units purchased by our sponsor and the representative in the private placement, each placement unit consisting of one placement share and one-third of one placement warrant; |
| ● | “placement shares” are to the shares of our common stock included within the placement units purchased by our sponsor and the representative in the private placement; |
| ● | “placement warrants” are to the warrants included within the placement units purchased by our sponsor and the representative in the private placement; |
| ● | “private placement” are to the private placement of 890,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $8,900,000, which occurred simultaneously with the completion of our initial public offering; |
| ● | “public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market); |
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| ● | “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 our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market, including warrants that may be acquired by our sponsor or its affiliates in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market) and to any placement warrants sold as part of the placement units or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans in each case that are sold to third parties that are not initial purchasers or executive officers or directors (or permitted transferees) following the consummation of our initial business combination; |
| ● | “Registration Statement” are to the Form S-1 initially filed with the SEC February 1, 2021 (File No. 333-252599), as amended; |
| ● | “Report” are to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021; |
| ● | “representative” is to Mizuho Securities USA LLC, which is the representative of the underwriters in our initial public offering; |
| ● | “representative shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock issued to the representative of the underwriters upon the consummation of our initial public offering; |
| ● | “Sarbanes-Oxley Act” are to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; |
| ● | “SEC” are to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; |
| ● | “Securities Act” are to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; |
| ● | “sponsor” is to Twelve Seas Sponsor II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; |
| ● | “trust account” are to the U.S.-based trust account in which an amount of $345,000,000 from the net proceeds of the sale of the units (as defined below) in the initial public offering and placement units was placed following the closing of the initial public offering; |
| ● | “units” are to the units sold in our initial public offering, which consist of one public share and one-third of one public warrant; |
| ● | “warrants” are to our redeemable warrants, which includes the public warrants as well as the placement warrants and any warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans to the extent they are no longer held by the initial holders or their permitted transferees; |
| ● | “we,” “us,” “Company” or “our Company” are to Twelve Seas Investment Company II; and |
| ● | “Withum” are to WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm. |
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a blank check company formed as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of effecting our initial business combination. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geographic location, we have focused and will continue to focus our search on companies located outside the United States, primarily in the Pan-Eurasian region, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. We will also consider prospective targets located in the United States, but which are owned by non-U.S. shareholders, including sovereign wealth funds, family offices or industrial conglomerates headquartered in the Pan-Eurasian region. Our management team has an extensive track record of creating value for stockholders by acquiring attractive businesses at disciplined valuations, investing in growth while fostering financial discipline and ultimately improving financial results.
Initial Public Offering
On March 2, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 30,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock, and one-third of one redeemable warrant of the Company, with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per whole share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $300,000,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 800,000 units to our sponsor and the representative at a purchase price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating gross proceeds of $8,000,000.
A total of $300,000,000, comprised of $294,000,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering and $6,000,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the placement units was placed in the trust account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee.
On March 8, 2021, the underwriters exercised their over-allotment option in full, and the closing of the issuance and sale of the additional 4,500,000 units (the “over-allotment units”) occurred on March 10, 2021, generating gross proceeds of $45,000,000. In connection with the closing of the purchase of the over-allotment units, the Company sold an additional 90,000 placement units to the sponsor at a price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating an additional $900,000 of gross proceeds.
It is the job of our sponsor and management team to complete our initial business combination. Our management team is led by Neil Richardson, our Chairman, and Dimitri Elkin, our Chief Executive Officer, who have many years of experience in private equity and investment banking. We must complete our initial business combination by March 2, 2023, 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering. If our initial business combination is not consummated by March 2, 2023, then our existence will terminate, and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account.
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Geographic Opportunity
We may acquire a business in any industry and in any geographic location. We have and are considering prospective targets within the United States, as well as outside of the United States, including in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. We believe that considering non-US opportunities provides us with a competitive advantage over other US-listed SPACs and will enable us to identify an attractive business combination candidate that will thrive as a publicly traded company.
Despite its recent advances, the SPAC market remains largely a US phenomenon, both with respect to the location of the stock exchanges on which SPACs are listed, and the location of companies that enter into business combinations with SPACs. SPAC issuance outside the US remains scant, and out of more than two-hundred and fifty SPACs currently listed on NASDAQ and NYSE, the majority were established to pursue US targets. Of the nearly eighty business combinations completed or announced by US-listed SPACs since 2015, 80% involved domestic US companies.
At the same time, foreign companies represent an important part of the US equity market. The reasons that attract international businesses to the US are well known. US public markets are the world’s largest, most active and deepest. American stock market regulatory regime is both efficient and fair. Being listed in the US brings companies more international name recognition and a more diverse group of investors, which can be especially beneficial for companies based in smaller foreign countries that lack developed capital markets.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the number of foreign companies listed on US exchanges has steadily increased. Out of the thirteen hundred-plus IPOs that have taken place on NYSE and NASDAQ over the past decade, over one quarter were done by foreign companies. Chinese companies accounted for half of these foreign IPOs, and the other half came from a diverse set of geographies including Western and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. Of approximately five thousand public companies currently listed in the US, over 800 hundred are foreign companies, with a combined market capitalization of over $1 trillion.
The international opportunity has already attracted the attention of US-listed SPACs. In 2019, at least six SPACs went public with a non-US geographic focus on Latin America, Asia, and Western Europe. In the same year, out of the twenty-two completed SPAC business combinations, eight involved non-US targets from Europe, Middle East, Asia and Latin America.
We believe that the non-US opportunity for a US-listed SPAC such as ours will continue to broaden as SPACs gain greater acceptance by potential targets and investors alike. Competition for targets from other US SPACs should remain less intense outside the US, while the benefits of the SPAC process can often be more material to foreign companies, many of whom face uncertain economic and business environment that can derail a traditional IPO.
We believe that the strong performance of the US SPAC market in the spring and summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis will serve as further evidence that US-listed SPACs present an attractive alternative to the traditional IPO process for potential targets, including foreign issuers seeking a US listing.
We believe that our Pan-Eurasian strategy will be further helped by the ongoing political uncertainty in the United Kingdom, a popular listing destination for many European or Middle Eastern companies. We believe that in a post-Brexit world, some of these Pan-Eurasian companies would now consider merging with us to achieve a US listing. Brooge Holdings’ merger with Twelve Seas Investment Company, which we discuss in more details later, can serve as an illustration to this point: prior to announcing its merger with Twelve Seas Investment Company in April 2019, Brooge Holdings unsuccessfully attempted a listing in London in the Fall of 2018.
Competitive Differentiation
Our mission is to create attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders. We intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business that will benefit from their involvement by utilizing the following differentiating factors to our advantage:
We believe that specializing in non-US opportunities will provide us with a competitive advantage over other US-listed SPACs and will enable us to identify an attractive business combination candidate that will thrive as a publicly traded company.
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We have focused and will continue to focus our search efforts on the Pan-Eurasian region that includes developed economies of Western Europe, developing markets of Eastern Europe and Asia and frontier markets of the Middle East. Our management team has experience with cross-border investments in many of the countries across the target region, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, and others. Because we have limited experience in China, and because China-focused SPACs have historically performed poorly, as a general rule will not pursue opportunities related to China. However, we will explore opportunities in the South East Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.
While the Pan-Eurasian region is a target rich area, our non-US geographic focus presents a number of unique challenges. In addition to all the common issues involved in assessing the attractiveness of an investment opportunity for a SPAC and executing a business combination, we will face additional cross-border obstacles and risks, including:
| ● | Diverse and fluid legal and regulatory regimes |
| ● | Currency risk and capital controls restrictions |
| ● | Cultural and linguistic barriers |
| ● | Political risks and restrictions on foreign investments |
| ● | Inconsistent law enforcement and weaker legal protection of investor rights |
| ● | Impact of geopolitical tensions, including various sanctions implemented by US and European Union |
Our management team has been involved in the investment in the Pan-Eurasian region since the early 1990s, and possesses a rich base of experience including:
| ● | Identifying, negotiations and executing cross-border transactions in a variety of sectors, including consumer, industrial, transportation, infrastructure and many others |
| ● | Cultivating relationship with local industrial and financial groups |
| ● | Organizing complex debt and equity financings for target companies |
| ● | Executing follow-on acquisitions and divestitures |
| ● | Overseeing portfolio companies and helping improve corporate governance and transparency |
| ● | Serving as directors and executives of portfolio companies |
| ● | Attracting world class management talent |
| ● | Partnering, where necessary, with corporate co-investors, including multinationals |
| ● | Steering companies towards an exit, either via strategic sale or via an IPO |
We believe our collective experience equips us to identify and evaluate attractive foreign candidates for an initial business combination. We have focused and will continue to focus on identifying targets that can appeal to fundamental equity investors in the United States. If necessary, we would be available to work with the company to create stockholder value after the business combination is concluded.
We believe the collective experience of our management team and their affiliates will lead to many potential acquisition opportunities. Members of our management team and their affiliates have reached out and will continue to reach out to the network of relationships to articulate the parameters of our search for a target company and have begun the rigorous process of pursuing and reviewing promising opportunities.
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Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We have used and will continue to 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 seek to acquire one or more businesses that we believe:
| ● | have equity value between $500 million and $2 billion; |
| ● | have a compelling business reason to be listed in the United States. We are seeking to acquire targets that can become a global player in their business segment, and which can benefit from the access to the deep US capital markets; |
| ● | desire to benefit from the speed and the certainty of closure, and sellers who would be attracted to the possibility to receiving further consideration in the form of a share earnout available in a SPAC merger; |
| ● | offer attractive risk-adjusted equity returns for our stockholders, and that can demonstrate a clear plan for stockholder value creation, including revenue growth, cost reduction and margin expansion, add-on acquisitions, or other prospects for upside; |
| ● | have a strong set of public comparables; |
| ● | are at a financial performance inflection point and have a clear potential of delivering strong earnings and cashflow growth in the short to medium term. We will give special consideration to companies that are capable of paying an attractive dividend immediately after the closing of an initial business combination; |
| ● | are led by management teams who, because of their prior achievements and current performance and the ability to articulate a compelling future vision, can develop a following among US fundamental investors. |
We have not and will not focus on any particular sector. The universe of businesses we are considering include the following sectors:
| ● | Business services; |
| ● | Consumer, including education; |
| ● | Financials, including insurance; |
| ● | Healthcare; |
| ● | Telecom and Media, including telecom infrastructure; |
| ● | Technology; and |
| ● | Oil & Gas, including services and infrastructure. |
We have used and will continue to 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.
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 team 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 the Registration Statement, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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We may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination. We intend to acquire a company with an enterprise value significantly above the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units. Depending on the size of the transaction or the number of public shares we become obligated to redeem, we may potentially utilize several additional financing sources, including but not limited to the issuance of additional securities to the sellers of a target business, debt issued by banks or other lenders or the owners of the target, a private placement to raise additional funds, or a combination of the foregoing. 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. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient to meet our obligations or our working capital needs, we may need to obtain additional financing.
Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of 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. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way 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, or (ii) in such a way so 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 an initial 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 initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our 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 taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions 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.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating prospective business combinations, we conduct a thorough due diligence review process that encompasses, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate. We also seek to utilize the expertise of our management team in analyzing companies and evaluating operating projections, financial projections and determining the appropriate return expectations given the risk profile of the target business.
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 opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
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Certain of our officers and directors presently have 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 to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides 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, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Our officers and directors may become officers or directors of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Exchange Act, even prior to us entering into a definitive agreement for our initial business combination.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure as a public company makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As a public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives that are better aligned with stockholders’ interests than it would as a private company. A target business can further benefit by augmenting its profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our shares of Class A common stock (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our shares of Class A common 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 expeditious and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, marketing and road show efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with an initial business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed initial business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek stockholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm 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.
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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering (March 2, 2021), (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th.
Financial Position
With funds available for an initial business combination in the amount of $345,017,951 as of December 31, 2021, before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, 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 or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until we consummate our initial business combination. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of our initial public offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. 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 initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A 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.
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 addition, we intend to target businesses larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, and may as a result be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender offer documents disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by applicable law or stock exchange requirements, 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.
Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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Sources of Target Businesses
Target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and investment professionals, as a result of being solicited by us by calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read our prospectus in connection with our initial public offering or this Report and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as our sponsor and their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors and our sponsor and their affiliates. We may engage the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee, advisory fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors be paid any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation by the company prior to, or in connection with any services rendered for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination target in connection with a contemplated initial business combination except as set forth herein. We pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and will reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an initial business combination candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the initial business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, 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 are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an initial business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing 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 officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of 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. The fair market value of our initial business combination will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation, a valuation based on trading multiples of comparable public businesses or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. 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 virtually have 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.
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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 taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective business target, we conduct a thorough due diligence review, which encompasses, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
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. In addition, we have focused and will continue to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
| ● | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and |
| ● | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following an initial 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.
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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 applicable law or applicable stock exchange listing requirements, 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 |
||
| Purchase of assets | No | ||
| Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company | No | ||
| Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company | No | ||
| Merger of the company with a target | Yes |
Under Nasdaq’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| ● | we issue shares of Class A common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
| ● | any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by Nasdaq 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 stock 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
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, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination.
There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. 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 nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or 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 initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
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Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates 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 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 our initial business combination, whether or not such stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates will only purchase public shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
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) and Rule 10b-5 of 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) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We expect that any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.
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 Class A 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. As of December 31, 2021, the amount in the trust account was approximately $10.00 per public share. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and placement shares and any public shares held by them 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 of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial 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 Nasdaq 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. If we structure an initial business combination with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed initial business combination. 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 requirements 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 Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.
If 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. |
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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 present and entitled to vote at the meeting to approve the initial business combination when a quorum is present are voted in favor of the initial 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 initial stockholders will count toward this quorum and pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares and placement shares held by them and any public shares acquired during or after our initial public offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, placement shares and representative shares, we would need only 10,712,501, or 35.7%, of the 34,500,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the placement shares and representative shares to be issued to the representative are voted in favor of the transaction) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). 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 initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, 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.
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 initial business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A 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 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. 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.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides 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. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial business combination, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of our initial public offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
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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 initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides 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 more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” Such restriction shall also be applicable to our affiliates. 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 initial business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with an initial 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 initial business combination.
Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with 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 up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The proxy materials 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 up to two days prior to the vote on the initial business combination 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 $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many special purpose acquisition 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 initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the initial 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 initial 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 initial 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 initial business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date of the stockholder meeting. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public 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.
If our initial proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until March 2, 2023.
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Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, or March 2, 2023, to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (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 liquidating 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above 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 initial business combination within the 24-month time period.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, and our representative has entered into an agreement, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares and (along with the representative) placement shares and representative shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination by March 2, 2023. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors or representative acquire public shares in or after our initial public offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination by March 2, 2023.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement 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 allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by March 2, 2023 or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes 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. If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
If we do not consummate our initial business combination by the deadline set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, 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 approximately $751,090 of proceeds held outside the trust account as of December 31, 2021, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. We will depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to pay any tax obligations we may owe. 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 our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, 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 $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. 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.
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Although we seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to 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. Withum, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of our initial public offering, will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (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 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.
We have sought and will continue to seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. As of December 31, 2021, we have up to $751,090 from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the placement units 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. As of December 31, 2021, the amount held outside the trust account was $751,090.
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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 initial business combination by March 2, 2023 may be considered a liquidating 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 initial business combination by March 2, 2023, is not considered a liquidating 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 liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination by March 2, 2023, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (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 liquidating 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above 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 March 2, 2023 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.
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, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to 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) $10.00 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 the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. 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 $10.00 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 some or 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, 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.
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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, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by March 2, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination by March 2, 2023, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a 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 initial 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 as described above. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial 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 business combinations. 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 we do. 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 initial business combination of a target business. Furthermore, our 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.
Employees
We currently have two officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary, in the exercise of their respective business judgement, to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they devote in any time period varies based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. We do not have an employment agreement with any member of our management team.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
Our units, Class A common stock, and warrants are registered under the Exchange Act, and as a result, we 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, including this Report, will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
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, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential targets we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
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We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to 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 business combination. We have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering (March 2, 2021), (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our shares of Class A common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, below is a partial list of material risks, uncertainties and other factors that could have a material effect on the Company and its operations:
| ● | we are a blank check company with no revenue or basis to evaluate our ability to select a suitable business target; |
| ● | we may not be able to select an appropriate target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination in the prescribed time frame; |
| ● | our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses may not be realized; |
| ● | we may not be successful in retaining or recruiting required officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
| ● | our officers and directors may have difficulties allocating their time between the Company and other businesses and may potentially have conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
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| ● | we may not be able to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or reduce the number of stockholders requesting redemption; |
| ● | we may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time; |
| ● | you may not be given the opportunity to choose the initial business target or to vote on the initial business combination; |
| ● | trust account funds may not be protected against third party claims or bankruptcy; |
| ● | an active market for our public securities’ may not develop and you will have limited liquidity and trading; |
| ● | the availability to us of funds from interest income on the trust account balance may be insufficient to operate our business prior to the business combination; |
| ● | our financial performance following a business combination with an entity may be negatively affected by their lack an established record of revenue, cash flows and experienced management; |
| ● | there may be more competition to find an attractive target for an initial business combination, which could increase the costs associated with completing our initial business combination and may result in our inability to find a suitable target; |
| ● | 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; |
| ● | we may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability; |
| ● | we may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after the initial public offering, which may include acting as a financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after the initial public offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination; |
| ● | we may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all; |
| ● | Our warrants are accounted for as derivative liabilities and are recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination; |
| ● | since our initial stockholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to any public shares they may acquire during or after our initial public offering), and because our sponsor, officers and directors may profit substantially even under circumstances in which our public stockholders would experience losses in connection with their investment, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination; |
| ● | changes in laws or regulations or how such laws or regulations are interpreted or applied, or a failure to comply with any laws or regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations; |
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| ● | the value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our common stock at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share; |
| ● | we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. If we are unable to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results; and |
| ● | resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| ● | we only have until March 2, 2023 to consummate a Business Combination and it is uncertain that we will be able to consummate a Business Combination at this time. There is also uncertainty of the availability of financing to meet our liquidity needs to operate for at least the next 12 months from the issuance of the financial statements, assuming that a Business Combination is not consummated during that time. |
For the complete list of risks relating to our operations, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our Registration Statement.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.
Item 2. Properties.
Our executive offices are located at 228 Park Avenue S., Suite 89898, New York, NY 10003 and our telephone number is (323) 667-3211. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
To the knowledge of our management team, there is no litigation currently pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
| (a) | Market Information |
Our units, public shares and public warrants are each traded on the Nasdaq under the symbols TWLVU, TWLV and TWLVW, respectively. Our units commenced public trading on February 26, 2021, and our public shares and public warrants commenced separate public trading on April 19, 2021.
| (b) | Holders |
On March [●], 2022, there were three holders of record of our units, two holders of record of shares of our Class A common stock and one holder of record of our warrants.
| (c) | 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 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. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
| (d) | Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans |
None.
| (e) | Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities |
None.
| (f) | Use of Proceeds from the Initial Public Offering |
On March 2, 2021, pursuant to the Registration Statement, which was declared effective on February 25, 2021, the Company consummated its initial public offering of 30,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one public share and one-third of one public warrant, with each whole public warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one public share for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $300,000,000. The representative acted as sole book-runner and representative of the underwriters of the initial public offering.
A total of $300,000,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering and the sale of the placement units, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental, acting as trustee. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act.
On March 8, 2021, the underwriters exercised their over-allotment option in full, and the closing of the issuance and sale of the additional 4,500,000 units occurred on March 10, 2021, generating gross proceeds of $45,000,000. In connection with the closing of the purchase of the over-allotment units, the Company sold an additional 90,000 placement units to the sponsor at a price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating an additional $900,000 of gross proceeds.
| (g) | Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers |
None.
Item 6. [Reserved.]
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to the “Company,” “us,” “our” or “we” refer to Twelve Seas Investment Company II. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and related notes included herein.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Report including, without limitation, statements under this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward- looking statements. When used in this Report, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or the Company’s management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company’s management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward- looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in our filings with the SEC. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on the Company’s behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities through December 31, 2021 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for our initial public offering, described below, and, after our initial public offering, identifying a target company for our initial business combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial business combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held in the trust account. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. For the year ended December 31, 2021, there was $17,951 interest earned from the trust account.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a loss from operations of $1,072,037 which consisted of formation and operating costs, and net income of $1,838,172, which included warrant issuance costs of $260,113 offset by a net gain from the change in the fair value of warrants of $3,152,371, and interest income of $17,951. We are required to revalue our liability-classified warrants at the end of each reporting period and reflect in the statement of operations a gain or loss from the change in fair value of the warrant in the period in which the change occurred.
For the period from July 21, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a loss from operations of $951 which consisted of formation and operating costs.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On March 2, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 30,000,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $300,000,000. In connection with the initial public offering, the underwriters were granted a 30-day option from the date of the prospectus to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional units to cover over-allotment, if any. On March 8, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option, generating gross proceeds of $45,000,000.
Simultaneously with the initial closing and over-allotment closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 890,000 Private Placement Units to the Sponsor at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $8,900,000.
Following the IPO, the exercise of the over-allotment option and the sale of the placement units, a total of $345,000,000 was placed in the trust account.
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As of December 31, 2021, we had marketable securities held in the trust account of $345,017,951. Interest income on the balance in the trust account may be used by us to pay taxes. For the year ended December 31, 2021, there was $17,951 interest income earned from the trust account.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used in operating activities was $782,100.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less income taxes payable), to complete our initial business combination. 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.
As of December 31, 2021 we had cash of $751,090 held outside the trust account. We intend to use the funds held outside the trust account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete our initial business combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with our initial business combination, the initial stockholders or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. 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 $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants identical to the private placement warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating our initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Contractual Obligations
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities. On February 25, 2021, we entered into an administrative support agreement commencing on the Effective Date of the IPO, March 2, 2021, pursuant to which we have agreed to pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon the earlier of the completion of our initial business combination and the Company’s liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. For the year ended December 31, 2021, we incurred and paid expenses of $100,000 under this agreement.
We have engaged Mizuho as an advisor in connection with our initial business combination to assist us in holding meetings with our stockholders to discuss the potential business combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce us to potential investors that are interested in purchasing our securities in connection with our initial business combination, assist us in obtaining stockholder approval for the initial business combination and assist us with our press releases and public filings in connection with the initial business combination. We will pay Mizuho a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of our initial business combination in an amount equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of our initial public offering ($12,075,000).
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Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Class A Common stock subject to possible redemption
We account for Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A Common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including Class A common stock that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity (deficit). Our Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity (deficit) section of our balance sheets.
Derivative warrant liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
We account for our 11,796,667 common stock warrants issued in connection with our initial public offering (11,500,000) and private placement (296,667) as derivative warrant liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40. Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statements of operations. The fair value of Placement warrants issued by the Company in connection with our initial public offering and private placement has been estimated using Monte-Carlo simulations at each measurement date. The fair value of public warrants issued with our initial public offering was initially measured using Monte-Carlo simulations and then measured based trading price once they commenced trading on March 29, 2021.
Offering costs associated with the Initial Public Offering
We allocated with the requirements of the ASC 340-10-S99-1 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A - “Expenses of Offering”. Offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are related to the Public Offering.
We allocated the offering costs between common stock and public warrants using relative fair value method, the offering costs allocated to the public warrants will be expensed immediately, and offering costs allocated to common stock were charged to temporary equity upon the completion of our initial public offering.
Net income (loss) per share of common stock
We compute net income (loss) per common stock by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common stock outstanding for the period. We have two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. This presentation assumes a business combination as the most likely outcome. Accretion associated with the redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
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Recent accounting standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2024 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. We are reviewing the impact adoption would have, if any, on its financial statements.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
Through December 31, 2021, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities, activities relating to our initial public offering and since the initial public offering, the search for a target business with which to consummate an initial business combination. We have engaged in limited operations and have not generated any revenues. We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception on July 21, 2020. We do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed.
The net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental, acting as trustee, have been invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
Reference is made to pages F-1 through F-23 comprising a portion of this Report, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective, due to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting for complex financial instruments. As a result, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Form 10-K present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
Management has implemented remediation steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards. We plan to further improve this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications and consideration of additional staff with the requisite experience and training to supplement existing accounting professionals.
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Management’s Annual Report on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have commenced our remediation efforts in connection with the identification of the material weakness discussed above and have taken the following steps during the year ended December 31, 2021:
We have implemented procedures intended to ensure that we identify and apply the applicable accounting guidance to all complex transactions.
We are establishing additional monitoring and oversight controls designed to ensure the accuracy and completeness of our condensed financial statements and related disclosures.
While we took considerable action to remediate the material weakness, such remediation has not been fully evidenced. Accordingly, we continue to test our controls implemented in the fourth quarter to assess whether our controls are operating effectively. While there can be no assurance, we believe our material weakness will be remediated during the course of fiscal 2022.
Other than the changes discussed above, there have been no changes to our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2021 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.
Not applicable.
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PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Directors and Executive Officers
As of the date of this Report, our directors and officers are as follows:
| Name | Position | |
| Neil Richardson | Chairman | |
| Dimitri Elkin | Chief Executive Officer and Director | |
| Jonathan Morris | Chief Financial Officer and Director | |
| Anthony Steains | Director | |
| Bob Foresman | Director |
The experience of our directors and executive officers is as follows:
Mr. Neil Richardson, 65, has served as our chairman since March 2021. From December 2017 until December 2019, he served as Chairman of Twelve Seas Investment Company. Since January 2012, Mr. Richardson has been the Chairman of North Sea Capital, an independent family office involved in private equity and other investments. From 2004 to 2012, Mr. Richardson was a Founding Partner for Lion Capital, a London-based private equity firm specializing in consumer industry investments globally. From 1994 to 2004, Mr. Richardson was with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, a leading global private equity firm, where he was a General Partner. From 1986 to 1994, Mr. Richardson was a Managing Director with Credit Suisse First Boston, an investment banking firm. From 1980 to 1986, Mr. Richardson was a manager with Bain & Company, a consulting firm. Mr. Richardson previously served as director of multiple corporate entities including Newsquest, Wincorp Nixdorf, Tenovis, Aurum, American Apparel and Twelve Seas Investment Company. Mr. Richardson is an investor in Twelve Seas Limited, a private equity advisory company, and currently serves as a director of that company. Mr. Richardson graduated from Oxford University. We believe Mr. Richardson is well-qualified to serve as the Chairman of the board given his significant directorship experience, in-depth knowledge of the capital markets and lengthy investing experience.
Mr. Dimitri Elkin, 53, has been our Chief Executive Officer and Director since inception. From December 2017 until December 2019, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Twelve Seas Investment Company. Since April 2013, Mr. Elkin has been a Founding Partner of Twelve Seas Limited. From 2007 to April 2013, Mr. Elkin served as General Partner of UFG Private Equity, a mid-market regional buyout firm based in Moscow. From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Elkin was a Founding Partner at GIC Capital, a U.S. private equity firm. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Elkin served as an investment executive at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., heading its activities in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Elkin served as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Elkin previously served as director of multiple corporate entities, including Kamaz, Imperial Porcelain Company, Russian Alcohol, and Twelve Seas Investment Company. Mr. Elkin graduated from Moscow State University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. We believe Mr. Elkin is well-qualified to serve as a director given his extensive experience in banking, finance and investment.
Mr. Jonathan Morris, 45, has been our Chief Financial Officer since inception and a Director since November 2020. Mr. Morris has over 23 years of experience as a finance executive as a principal, operator and advisor. Mr. Morris has led principal investments and structuring at a large private family office. Mr. Morris served at Blackstone Group, Inc., from 2012 to 2016, and was on the board of directors of SunGard AS, from 2014 to 2016. From 2005 to 2012 he was in the TMT Investment Banking Group of Credit Suisse. Mr. Morris began his career in 1997 within the private equity division of Lombard, Odier et Cie, private bank in Switzerland. Mr. Morris currently serves as Chief Development Officer of TLG Acquisition One Corp and as CFO of FreeCast Inc and Hush Aerospace. Mr. Morris holds bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Georgetown University.
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Mr. Anthony Steains, 55, has served as an independent director since March 2021. Mr. Steains has over 25 years of investment banking experience. Mr. Steains is the founder of Comprador Limited, a Hong Kong based corporate finance advisory firm specializing in complex cross-border mergers & acquisitions and corporate restructurings, and has served as Chairman and CEO since April 2015, following the transfer of Blackstone’s (NYSE: BX) Asia M&A advisory business to Comprador Limited. Prior to founding Comprador, Mr. Steains was a Senior Managing Director for Blackstone and established Blackstone Advisory Partners in 2008. Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Steains was Head of the Asia Corporate Finance Group at Lehman Brothers and was formerly Head of Merger & Acquisitions for Deutsche Bank in Asia. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Steains served as Head of Mergers & Acquisitions in Asia for ING Barings. Mr. Steains is the Senior Independent Director of Capital & Counties Properties PLC (LON: CAPC), a United Kingdom-based property investment and development company. Mr. Steains received a Bachelor of Business from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of London. We believe Mr. Steains is well-qualified to serve as a director of the company given his investment banking and corporate activities.
Bob Foresman, 53, has served as an independent director since March 2021. Mr. Foresman served as an advisor to the Company until his appointment to the board. He has, since July 2020, served as a director of Ascendant Digital Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: ACND), a blank check company which consummated its initial public offering of $414,000,000 in July 2020. Mr. Foresman served as vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank (NYSE: UBS), based in New York, from October 2016 to April 2020. Mr. Foresman was also chairman of OOO UBS Bank in Russia as well as UBS Group country head for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States region (“CIS”) from January 2018 to April 2020. Prior to joining UBS, Mr. Foresman was the Barclays Group (OTC: BCLYF) country head (from December 2009 to April 2016) for Russia and the wider region, where he represented and coordinated the activities of Barclays Group in the region, including investment banking and wealth management. Prior to his work at Barclays, Mr. Foresman was deputy chairman of Renaissance Capital (from August 2006 to November 2009, chairman of the management committee for Russia and the CIS at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (from January 2001 to June 2006) and head of investment banking for Russia and the CIS at ING Barings (from August 1997 to December 2000). Mr. Foresman also ran the Ukrainian Privatization Advisory office of the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”) from June 1993 to November 1995 in Kyiv and worked on private equity and project finance transactions as an investment officer at IFC’s head office in Washington, DC, from December 1995 to July 1997. Mr. Foresman served as an independent non-executive director of TMK Group (MCX: TRMK), a producer of steel pipes for the oil & gas industry, from June 2012 to June 2019. Mr. Foresman also currently serves of the board of Miami Steel, a micro steel mill project in South Florida. Mr. Foresman has been a member of the Board of Counselors of the East West Institute since September 2012; a member of the advisory board of Harvard University’s David Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies since January 2016; and a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations since March 2015. Mr. Foresman graduated from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences in 1993 and Bucknell University in 1990. Mr. Foresman also received a certificate from the Moscow Energy Institute in 1989.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
We currently have five directors. Our board of directors is 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 two-year term. In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Richardson, Foresman, and Steains will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Elkin and Richardson, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretaries and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and Nasdaq rules require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
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Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Richardson, Foresman, and Steains serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. Richardson chairs the audit committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of Messrs. Richardson, Foresman, and Steains meet the independent director standard under Nasdaq listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined Mr. Richardson qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
| ● | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| ● | pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
| ● | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm, including but not limited to, as required by applicable laws and regulations; |
| ● | 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 public accounting firm describing (i) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures, (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 and (iii) all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and us to assess the independent registered public accounting firm’s independence; |
| ● | 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 |
| ● | reviewing with management, the independent registered public 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
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Steains and Richardson serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Messrs. Steains and Richardson are independent and Mr. Steains chairs the compensation committee.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| ● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, if any is paid by us, 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 on an annual basis the compensation, if any is paid by us, of all of our other officers; |
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| ● | reviewing on an annual basis 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 officers and employees; |
| ● | if required, 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. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Director Nominations
We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Messrs. Steains and Richardson. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
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). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.
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.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit and compensation committee charters as exhibits to the Registration Statement. You can review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. 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.
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Compliance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file with the SEC initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our common stock and other equity securities. These executive officers, directors, and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by SEC regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms filed by such reporting persons. Based solely on our review of such forms furnished to us and written representations from certain reporting persons, we believe that during the year ended December 31, 2021, all reports applicable to our executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners were filed in a timely manner in accordance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
None of our officers has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. We pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. No compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors or any affiliate of our sponsor, officers or directors, prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such payments, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed initial business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March [●], 2022 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of common stock, by:
| ● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock; |
| ● | each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns our common stock; and |
| ● | all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
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In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 44,290,000 shares of our common stock, consisting of (i) 35,665,000 shares of our Class A common stock and (ii) 8,625,000 shares of our Class B common stock, issued and outstanding as of March [●], 2022. On all matters to be voted upon, holders of the shares of Class A common stock and shares of Class B common stock vote together as a single class. Currently, all of the shares of Class B common stock are convertible into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis.
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 warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Report.
| Class A Common Stock | Class B Common Stock | Approximate | ||||||||||||||||||
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Percentage Stock | |||||||||||||||
| Twelve Seas Sponsor II LLC (2) | 660,000 | 1.85 | % | 8,625,000 | 100 | % | 20.96 | % | ||||||||||||
| Neil Richardson (3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Dimitri Elkin (2) | 660,000 | 1.85 | % | 8,625,000 | 100 | % | 20.96 | % | ||||||||||||
| Jonathan Morris (2) | 660,000 | 1.85 | % | 8,625,000 | 100 | % | 20.96 | % | ||||||||||||
| Anthony Steains (3) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Bob Foresman | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| All executive officers and directors as a group (5 individuals) | 660,000 | 1.85 | % | 8,625,000 | 100 | % | 20.96 | % | ||||||||||||
| Other 5% Stockholders | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Karpus Investment Management (4) | 3,449,134 | 9.67 | % | — | — | 7.79 | % | |||||||||||||
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is 2685 Nottingham Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027. |
| (2) | Twelve Seas Sponsor II LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the securities reported herein. Dmitri Elkin and Jonathan Morris are the managing members of our sponsor. By virtue of this relationship, Dmitri Elkin and Jonathan Morris may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the securities held of record by our sponsor. Dmitri Elkin and Jonathan Morris disclaim any such beneficial ownership except to the extent of his pecuniary interest. |
| (3) | Each of these individuals holds a direct or indirect interest in our sponsor. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly. |
| (4) | According to a Schedule 13G filed on February 14, 2022, Karpus Investment Management acquired 3,229,733 shares of Class A common stock. The business address for the reporting person is 183 Sully’s Trail, Pittsford, New York 14534. |
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Changes in Control
None.
32
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
In August 2020, we issued an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares to our sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash, or approximately $0.004 per share. In January 2021, we effected a stock dividend of 0.25 for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, resulting in our initial stockholders holding an aggregate of 7,187,500 founder shares. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of our initial public offering (excluding the placement units and underlying securities and the representative shares). On February 25, 2021, the Company effected a stock dividend of 0.2 for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, resulting in the initial stockholders holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares. This number included up to 1,125,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters. On March 8, 2021, the underwriter exercised its over-allotment option in full, hence, the 1,125,000 founder shares are no longer subject to forfeiture since then. The founder shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
Our sponsor and the representative purchased an aggregate of 800,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $8,000,000. On March 8, 2021, the underwriters exercised their over-allotment option in full, and the closing of the issuance and sale of the additional 4,500,000 units occurred on March 10, 2021, generating gross proceeds of $45,000,000. In connection with the closing of the purchase of the over-allotment units, the Company sold an additional 90,000 placement units to the sponsor at a price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating an additional $900,000 of gross proceeds. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder shares, placement shares, placement warrants or representative shares, which will expire worthless if we do not consummate a business combination by March 2, 2023.
We pay Twelve Seas Capital, Inc., an affiliate of our sponsor, a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors or any affiliate of our sponsor, officers or directors prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
On July 21, 2020, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to the sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the initial public offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and due at the earlier of March 31, 2021 or the closing of the initial public offering. The loan was not repaid upon the closing of the initial public and is due on demand. As of March 2, 2021, the Company had incurred an aggregate of $201,061 of offering expenses from the initial public offering under the promissory note. The Company repaid $163,561 on March 25, 2021 and owes $37,500 as of December 31, 2021. There are no remaining borrowings available to the Company and the balance is due on demand.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds on a non-interest bearing basis as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units. Other than as described above, the terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
33
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 and director compensation.
The holders of the founder shares, placement units, representative shares and units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and in each case holders of their component securities, as applicable) will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed prior to or on the effective date of our initial public offering. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we 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 us.
We have entered 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 secure 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 have purchased a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Related Party Policy
We have adopted a code of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our code of ethics, conflict of interest situations include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company. A form of the code of ethics was filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter, is responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present is required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee constitutes a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee is required to approve a related party transaction. A form of the audit committee charter was filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. We also require each of our directors and executive officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained 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. Furthermore, no finder’s fees, reimbursements, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors or any affiliate of our sponsor, officers or directors prior to, for services rendered to us prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of our initial public offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
| ● | Repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses; |
| ● | Payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support; |
34
| ● | Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and |
| ● | Repayment of non-interest bearing loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which (other than as described above) have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units. |
Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Richardson, Foresman, and Steains are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Withum, for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Withum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees of Withum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-Q for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 totaled approximately $79,000 and 69,000, respectively. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. During the year ended December 31, 2021 we did not pay Withum any audit-related fees.
Tax Fees. We were billed $7,725 and $4,120 by Withum for tax services, planning or advice for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Withum for any other services for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
35
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules.
| (a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Report: |
| (1) | Financial Statements |
| (2) | Financial Statement Schedules |
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial and not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes beginning on F-1 on this Report.
| (3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary.
Not applicable.
36
TWELVE SEAS INVESTMENT COMPANY II
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of
Twelve Seas Investment Company II
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Twelve Seas Investment Company II (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the period from July 21, 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, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the period from July 21, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Restatement of Financial Statement
As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the March 2, 2021 financial statement has been restated to correct certain misstatements.
Going Concern
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, if the Company is unable to raise additional funds to alleviate liquidity needs and complete a business combination by March 2, 2023 then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. 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 audits. 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 audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits 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 audits, 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 audits 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 audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2020.
March 31, 2022
PCAOB ID Number
F-2
TWELVE
SEAS INVESTMENT COMPANY II
BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||
| Assets: | ||||||||
| Current Assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | $ | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses | ||||||||
| Total current assets | ||||||||
| Deferred offering costs | ||||||||
| Marketable Securities held in Trust Account | ||||||||
| Total Assets | $ | $ | ||||||
| Liabilities, Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
| Promissory note – related party | ||||||||
| Total current liabilities | ||||||||
| Warrant liabilities | ||||||||
| Total liabilities | ||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies (See Note 9) | ||||||||
| Common Stock subject to possible redemption, | — | |||||||
| Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit): | ||||||||
| Preferred stock, $ | ||||||||
| Class A common stock, $ | ||||||||
| Class B common stock, $ | ||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Total stockholders’ equity (deficit) | ( | ) | ||||||
| Total Liabilities, Class A Common Stock Subject to Redemption and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
TWELVE
SEAS INVESTMENT COMPANY II
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| For
the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For
the period from July 21, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
| Formation and operating costs | $ | $ | ||||||
| Loss from Operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Other income (expense): | ||||||||
| Interest earned on cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account | ||||||||
| Offering costs allocated to warrants | ( | ) | ||||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | ||||||||
| Total other income | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A common stock | ||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A common stock | $ | $ | ||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B common stock | ||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class B common stock | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
TWELVE
SEAS INVESTMENT COMPANY II
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)
| Common Stock | Additional | Total Stockholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Paid-in | Accumulated | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | (Deficit) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of July 21, 2020 (inception) | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of Founder Shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of December 31, 2020 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sale of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of representative shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accretion of Class A common stock subject to redemption | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
TWELVE
SEAS INVESTMENT COMPANY II
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| For
the Year Ended December 31, 2021 | For
the period from July 21, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 | |||||||
| Cash flows from operating activities: | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
| Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
| Offering costs allocated to warrants | ||||||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ||||||
| Formation costs paid by related party | ||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses | ( | ) | ||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | ||||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||||
| Investment of cash in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | ( | ) | ||||||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
| Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriters’ discount | ||||||||
| Proceeds from issuance of Private Placement | ||||||||
| Proceeds from sale of Founder Shares to Sponsor | ||||||||
| Proceeds from promissory note – related party | ||||||||
| Repayment of promissory note – related party | ( | ) | ||||||
| Payment of offering costs | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | ||||||||
| Net change in cash | ||||||||
| Cash, beginning of period | ||||||||
| Cash, end of the period | $ | $ | ||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: | ||||||||
| Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor under the promissory note | $ | $ | ||||||
| Deferred underwriting commissions charged to additional paid in capital | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
TWELVE
SEAS INVESTMENT COMPANY II
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 — Organization and Business Operations
Twelve Seas Investment Company II (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on July 21, 2020. The Company was 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 (“Business Combination”). The Company has not selected any specific business combination target and the Company has not, nor has anyone on its behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to the Business Combination.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from July 21, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021, relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (“IPO”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the IPO.
The Company’s sponsor is Twelve Seas Sponsor II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”).
The
registration statement for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on February 25, 2021 (the “Effective Date”). On
March 2, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO of
The
underwriters had a 45-day option from the date of the IPO (March 2, 2021) to purchase up to an additional
Simultaneously
with the closing of the IPO, the Company completed the private sale (the “Private Placement”) of an aggregate of
On
March 2, 2021, the Company also issued the underwriter (and/or its designees) (the “Representative”)
Transaction
costs amounted to $
As
of December 31, 2021, $
Following the closing of the IPO and the over-allotment option, which
was fully exercised,
F-7
The
Company will have 24 months from the closing of the IPO, or until March 2, 2023, to consummate a Business Combination (the “Combination
Period”). However, if the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will
redeem
The
Company will only proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $
The Sponsor, officers and directors and Representatives have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private shares, and Public Shares in connection with the completion of the initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private shares, and Public Shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares and private shares if the Company fails to complete the initial business combination within the Combination Period.
The
Company’s Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services
rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of
intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below
the lesser of (i) $
Risks and Uncertainties
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus (the “COVID-19 outbreak”). In March 2020, the WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve. The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Company’s financial position will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak and related advisories and restrictions. These developments and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the financial markets and the overall economy are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. If the financial markets and/or the overall economy are impacted for an extended period, the Company’s financial position may be materially adversely affected. Additionally, the Company’s ability to complete an initial Business Combination may be materially adversely affected due to significant governmental measures being implemented to contain the COVID-19 outbreak or treat its impact, including travel restrictions, the shutdown of businesses and quarantines, among others, which may limit the Company’s ability to have meetings with potential investors or affect the ability of a potential target company’s personnel, vendors and service providers to negotiate and consummate an initial Business Combination in a timely manner. The Company’s ability to consummate an initial Business Combination may also be dependent on the ability to raise additional equity and debt financing, which may be impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting market downturn. Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations, close of the Initial Public Offering and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
F-8
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As
of December 31, 2021, the Company had $
Through
December 31, 2021, the Company’s liquidity needs were satisfied through receipt of $
Going Concern
The Company anticipates that the $
The Company can raise additional capital through Working Capital Loans from the initial stockholders, the Company’s officers, directors, or their respective affiliates (which is described in Note 6), or through loans from third parties. None of the sponsor, officers or directors are under any obligation to advance funds to, or to invest in, the Company. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of its business plan, and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.
In connection with the Company’s assessment
of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standard Board’s Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”)
2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” the Company has until
March 2, 2023 to consummate a Business Combination. However, if the Company is unable to complete a business combination within the Combination
Period, the Company will redeem
Management has determined that the uncertainty of availability of new financing to meet its liquidity needs and mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after March 2, 2023.
Note 2 — Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements
The
Company previously accounted for its outstanding Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants (collectively, with the Public Warrants,
the “Warrants”) issued in connection with its Initial Public Offering as components of equity instead of as derivative liabilities.
The warrant agreement governing the Warrants includes a provision that provides for potential changes to the settlement amounts dependent
upon the characteristics of the holder of the warrant. In addition, the warrant agreement includes a provision that in the event of a
tender offer or exchange offer made to and accepted by holders of more than
In further consideration of the SEC Statement, the Company’s management further evaluated the Warrants under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Subtopic 815-40, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity. ASC Section 815-40-15 addresses equity versus liability treatment and classification of equity-linked financial instruments, including warrants, and states that a warrant may be classified as a component of equity only if, among other things, the warrant is indexed to the issuer’s common stock. Under ASC Section 815-40-15, a warrant is not indexed to the issuer’s common stock if the terms of the warrant require an adjustment to the exercise price upon a specified event and that event is not an input to the fair value of the warrant. Based on management’s evaluation, the Company’s audit committee, in consultation with management, concluded that the Company’s Private Placement Warrants are not indexed to the Company’s common stock in the manner contemplated by ASC Section 815-40-15 because the holder of the instrument is not an input into the pricing of a fixed-for-fixed option on equity shares. In addition, based on management’s evaluation, the Company’s audit committee, in consultation with management, concluded that the tender offer provision fails the “classified in stockholders’ equity” criteria as contemplated by ASC Section 815-40-25.
F-9
In accordance with ASC Topic 340, Other Assets and Deferred Costs, as a result of the classification of the warrants as derivative liabilities, the Company expensed a portion of the offering costs originally recorded as a reduction in equity. The portion of offering costs that was expensed was determined based on the relative fair value of the Public Warrants and shares of Class A common stock included in the Units.
As a result of the above, the Company should have classified the Warrants as derivative liabilities in its previously issued financial statement as of March 2nd, 2021. Under this accounting treatment, the Company is required to measure the fair value of the Warrants at the end of each reporting period as well as re-evaluate the treatment of the warrants and recognize changes in the fair value from the prior period in the Company’s operating results for the current period.
In
connection with the preparation of the Company’s financial statements as of September 30, 2021, management determined it should
restate its previously reported financial statements. The Company determined that at the closing of the Company’s Initial Public
Offering (including the sale of the shares issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment) it had improperly
classified its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption at the closing of the Company’s Initial Public Offering and
the closing of the sale of shares pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment, it had improperly classified certain
of its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption. The Company previously determined the Class A common stock subject to possible
redemption to be equal to the redemption value of per Class A common stock while also taking into consideration a redemption
cannot result in net tangible assets being less than $
In accordance with SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 99, “Materiality,” and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 108, “Considering the Effects of Prior Year Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in Current Year Financial Statements,” the Company evaluated the changes and has determined that the related impact was material to the previously issued audited balance sheet included in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K as of March 2, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 8, 2021 (the “Affected Financial Statement”) and such the Affected Financial Statement should no longer be relied upon. Therefore, the Company, in consultation with its Audit Committee, concluded that its Affected Financial Statement should be restated to classify the warrants as derivative liabilities and report all Public Shares as temporary equity. As such the Company is reporting this restatement to the Affected Financial Statement in this Current Report on Form 10K.
The impact of the restatement on the Company’s balance sheet is reflected in the following table:
| As Previously Reported | Adjustment | As Restated | ||||||||||
| Balance Sheet as of March 2, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Class A common stock | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||
| Accumulated deficit | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||
| Total Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||
F-10
Note 3 — Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company Status
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012, (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that 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 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.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and warrant liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these financial statements is the determination of the fair value of the warrant liability. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company had no cash equivalents as of December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020.
Marketable Securities Held in Trust Account
The funds in the Trust Accounts are invested in
United States government securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, having a
maturity of
Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s certain assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The fair values of cash, prepaid assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses are estimated to approximate the carrying values as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 due to the short maturities of such instruments.
F-11
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial
instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution,
which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation Coverage of $
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” for its financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at least annually.
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
| Level 1 — | Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Valuation adjustments and block discounts are not being applied. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these securities does not entail a significant degree of judgment. |
| Level 2 — | Valuations based on (i) quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, (ii) quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets, (iii) inputs other than quoted prices for the assets or liabilities, or (iv) inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by market through correlation or other means. |
| Level 3 — | Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. |
See Note 8 for additional information on assets and liabilities measured at fair value.
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
Derivative assets and liabilities are classified on the balance sheets as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument is required within 12 months of the balance sheet date. The Company has determined that both the private and public warrants are a derivative instrument.
The Company evaluated the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants (collectively, “Warrants”, which are discussed in Note 4, Note 5 and Note 7) in accordance with ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity”, and concluded that a provision in the Warrant Agreement related to certain tender or exchange offers precludes the Warrants from being accounted for as components of equity. As the Warrants meet the definition of a derivative as contemplated in ASC 815, the Warrants are recorded as derivative liabilities on the Balance Sheets and measured at fair value at inception (on the date of the IPO) and at each reporting date in accordance with ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, with changes in fair value recognized in the Statements of Operations in the period of change.
F-12
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of the ASC 340-10-S99-1. Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the IPO that were directly related to the IPO. Offering costs were allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the IPO based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with warrant liabilities were expensed as incurred, presented as non-operating expenses in the statements of operations. Offering costs associated with the Class A common stock, including the cost of the Class A warrants, were charged to Class A common stock subject to possible redemption upon the completion of the IPO.
Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
The
Company accounts for its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480, “Distinguishing
Liabilities from Equity.” Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as liability instruments
and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including Class A common stock that features
redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not
solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A common stock is classified
as stockholders’ equity (deficit). The Company’s Class A common stock feature certain redemption rights that are considered
to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31,
2021,
Additionally, the Company has issued Class A Representative Shares (see Note 9). The Representative has waived their redemption rights, and as such these shares remain in permanent equity (deficit).
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. This method would view the end of the reporting period as if it were also the redemption date for the security.
Immediately upon the closing of the IPO, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable common stock are affected by charges against additional paid-in capital and accumulated deficit.
As of December 31, 2021, the Class A common stock reflected in the balance sheets are reconciled in the following table:
| Gross Proceeds | $ | |||
| Less: | ||||
| Proceeds allocated to public warrants | ( | ) | ||
| Issuance costs related to Class A common stock | ( | ) | ||
| Plus: | ||||
| Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | ||||
| Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ |
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”). ASC 740 requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carry forwards. ASC 740 additionally requires a valuation allowance to be established when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.
ASC 740 also clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise’s financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statements recognition and measurement of a tax position 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. ASC 740 also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim period, disclosure and transition.
F-13
The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 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 has identified the United States as its only “major” tax jurisdiction.
The Company may be subject to potential examination by federal and state taxing authorities in the areas of income taxes. These potential examinations may include questioning the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with federal and state tax laws. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Net Income (Loss) Per Common Stock
The
Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. Net income (loss)
per common stock is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common stock outstanding for the period.
The Company has two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Income and losses are
shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Accretion associated with the redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded
from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value. The calculation of diluted income (loss) per share does not
consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the (i) IPO and (ii) the private placement since the exercise of the warrants
is contingent upon the occurrence of future events. The warrants are exercisable to purchase
The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per common stock (in dollars, except per share amounts):
| For the Year Ended | For the Period from July 21, 2020 (Inception) Through | |||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Class A | Class B | |||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income (loss) per common stock | ||||||||||||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||||||||||
| Allocation of net income (loss), as adjusted | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||||||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income (loss) per common stock | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||||||||
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2024 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The Company is reviewing the impact adoption would have, if any, on its financial statements.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
F-14
Note 4 — Initial Public Offering
On
March 2, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO of
The
underwriters had a 45-day option from the date of the IPO (March 2, 2021) to purchase up to an additional
Note 5 — Private Placement
Simultaneously
with the closing of the IPO, the Sponsor and the Representatives purchased an aggregate of
In
connection with the closing of the purchase of the Over-Allotment Units, the Company sold an additional
The
Company’s Sponsor, officers, directors, and Representative agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their
founder shares, private shares, and public shares in connection with the completion of the Company’s initial business combination,
(ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to the founder shares, private shares, and public shares in connection with a stockholder
vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance
or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem
Note 6 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
In
August 2020, the Company issued
The
Sponsor agreed not to transfer, assign or sell its founder shares until the earlier to occur of (A)
F-15
Promissory Note — Related Party
On
July 21, 2020, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an
aggregate principal amount of $
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection
with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may,
but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a
Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company.
Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination
does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans
but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Up to $
Administrative Service Fee
On February 25, 2021, the Company entered into
an agreement, commencing on the Effective Date of the IPO, March 2, 2021, to pay an affiliate of the Company’s Sponsor a monthly
fee of an aggregate of $
Note 7 — Warrant Liabilities
The
Company has outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of
Each
whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of the Company’s Class A common stock at a price of $
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and the Company will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of residence of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available.
F-16
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file, and within 60 business days following a Business Combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A 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, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption
of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise the redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities or sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption
of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
| ● | at a price of $0.10 per warrant provided that the holder will be able to exercise their warrants on cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the Class A common stock; |
| ● | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; |
| ● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and |
F-17
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, as described above, its management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement.
The
warrant agreement contains an Alternative Issuance provision that if less than
The Company believes that the Alternative Issuance provision and the adjustments to the exercise price of the warrants is based on a variable that is not an input to the fair value of a “fixed-for-fixed” option as defined under FASB ASC Topic No. 815 – 40, and thus the warrants are not eligible for an exception from derivative accounting.
The
accounting treatment of derivative financial instruments requires that the Company record a derivative liability upon the closing of
the IPO. Accordingly, the Company has classified each warrant as a liability at its fair value and the warrants were allocated a portion
of the proceeds from the issuance of the Units equal to its fair value determined by the Monte Carlo simulation. This
liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability
will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statements of operations. The Company
will reassess the classification at each balance sheet date. If the classification changes as a result of events during the period, the
warrants will be reclassified as of the date of the event that causes the reclassification. As such, the Company recorded $
F-18
Note 8 — Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2021 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques that the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
| December 31, 2021 | Quoted Prices In Active Markets (Level 1) | Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | |||||||||||||
| Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
| Marketable Securities held in Trust Account | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
| Warrant liability – Public Warrants | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liability – Private Warrants | ||||||||||||||||
| $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||
There were no assets or liabilities that are measured on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2020.
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2 and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period. The subsequent measurement of the public warrants for the year ended December 31, 2021 is classified as Level 1 due to the use of an observable market quote in an active market. For the year ended December 31, 2021, below table shows a transfer of Public Warrants to level 1.
The change in fair value of the Level 3 warrant liabilities is summarized as follows:
| Fair Value, January 1, 2021 | $ | |||
| Initial measurement on March 2, 2021 | ||||
| Over-allotment | ||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | ( | ) | ||
| Less: Transfer of public warrant liabilities to Level 1 | ( | ) | ||
| Warrant liabilities as of December 31, 2021 | $ |
The
estimated fair value of the warrant liability at March 2, 2021, was determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in a Monte Carlo
options pricing model are assumptions related to expected stock-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and
dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its common stock based on projected volatility of comparable public
companies that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S.
Treasury zero-coupon yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants.
The expected life of the warrants is based on management assumptions regarding the timing and likelihood of completing a business
combination. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates to remain at zero. Based on
management’s observation, there is an
The subsequent measurement of private warrants is determined using Level 3 inputs. The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements of the Company’s private warrant liabilities as of March 2, 2021 (date of issuance) and December 31, 2021.
| March 2, 2021 | December 31, 2021 | |||||||
| Exercise price | $ | $ | ||||||
| Stock price | $ | $ | ||||||
| Volatility | ||||||||
| Expected life of the options to convert | ||||||||
| Risk-free rate | ||||||||
| Dividend yield | —% | |||||||
| Likelihood of completing a business combination | ||||||||
The primary significant unobservable input used in the fair value measurement of the Company's private warrants is the expected volatility of the common stock. Significant increases (decreases) in the expected volatility in isolation would result in a significantly higher (lower) fair value measurement.
F-19
Note 9 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of its securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on February 25, 2021. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company registers 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.
Underwriters Agreement
The
underwriters had a 45-day option from March 2, 2021 to purchase up to an additional
On
March 2, 2021, the Company paid an underwriting discount of $
On
March 10, 2021,
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
The
Company has engaged Mizuho as an advisor in connection with its business combination to assist the Company in holding meetings with its
stockholders to discuss the potential business combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce the Company to potential
investors that are interested in purchasing the Company’s securities in connection with its initial business combination, assist
the Company in obtaining stockholder approval for the business combination and assist the Company with its press releases and public
filings in connection with the business combination.
Representative Shares
On
March 2, 2021, the Company issued the underwriter (and/or its designees) (the “Representative”)
Note 10 — Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)
Preferred
Stock — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class A
Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
F-20
Class B
Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
The
Company’s initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell its founder shares until the earlier to occur of (A) one
year after the completion of the Company’s initial business combination or (B) subsequent to the Company’s initial business
combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $
The
shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of the Company’s Class A common stock at the time
of its initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations,
recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A
common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the IPO and related to
the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of
Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree
to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock
issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis,
Holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s stockholders, with each share of common stock entitling the holder to one vote.
Note 11 — Income Tax
The Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows:
| December 31, 2021 | ||||
| Deferred tax asset | ||||
| Organizational costs/Start-up costs | $ | |||
| Federal net operating loss | ||||
| Total deferred tax asset | ||||
| Valuation allowance | ( | ) | ||
| Deferred tax asset, net of allowance | $ | |||
F-21
The income tax provision consists of the following:
| December 31, 2021 | ||||
| Federal | ||||
| Current | $ | |||
| Deferred | ||||
| State | ||||
| Current | ||||
| Deferred | ||||
| Change in valuation allowance | ( | ) | ||
| Income tax provision | $ | |||
Deferred taxes as of December 31, 2020 and the provision for income taxes for the period from July 21, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 were de minimis.
The Company’s federal and state net operating
loss carryforward as of December 31, 2021 amounted to $
In
assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all
of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of
future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible.
Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies
in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty
exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the
year ended December 31, 2021, the change in the valuation allowance was $
Reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate at December 31, 2021 is as follows:
| Statutory federal income tax rate | % | |||
| State taxes, net of federal tax benefit | ||||
| Permanent book/tax differences: | ||||
| Offering expenses related to warrant issuance | % | |||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | ( | )% | ||
| Change in valuation allowance | % | |||
| Other | % | |||
| Income tax provision |
The Company’s effective tax rates for the periods presented differ from the expected (statutory) rates due to the recording of full valuation allowances on deferred tax assets and permanent differences.
The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction in various state and local jurisdictions and is subject to examination by the various taxing authorities, since inception.
Additionally,
the Company has also incurred $
F-22
Note 12 — Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements, other than as described below.
In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. Further, the impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of these financial statements and the specific impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of these financial statements.
F-23
EXHIBIT INDEX
* |
Filed herewith. |
| ** | Furnished herewith |
| (1) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed with the SEC on February 1, 2021. |
| (2) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A, filed with the SEC on February 19, 2021. |
| (3) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on March 3, 2021. |
37
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| March 31, 2022 | TWELVE SEAS INVESTMENT COMPANY II | |
| By: | /s/ Dimitri Elkin | |
| Name: | Dimitri Elkin | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |
| (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Name | Position | Date | ||
/s/ Dimitri Elkin |
Chief Executive Officer and Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Dimitri Elkin | (Principal Executive Officer) | |||
/s/ Jonathan Morris |
Chief Financial Officer and Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Jonathan Morris | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |||
/s/ Neil Richardson |
Chairman | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Neil Richardson | ||||
/s/ Anthony Steains |
Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Anthony Steains | ||||
/s/ Bob Foresman |
Director | March 31, 2022 | ||
| Bob Foresman | ||||
38