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As of March 31, 2022, there were
PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I
FORM 10-K
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains statements that are forward-looking and as such are not historical facts. This includes, without limitation, statements under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations. These statements constitute projections, forecasts and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following risks, uncertainties and other factors:
● | our being a company with no operating history and no operating revenues; |
● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
● | our ability to complete our initial Business Combination (as defined below); |
● | our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses; |
● | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial Business Combination; |
● | our directors and officers allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial Business Combination; |
● | the ability of our directors and officers to generate a number of potential Business Combination opportunities; |
● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial Business Combination; |
● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
● | our ability to consummate an initial Business Combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, global hostilities or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases); |
● | 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 (as defined below) or available to us from interest income on the Trust Account balance; |
● | the Trust Account not being subject to claims of third parties; |
● | our financial performance; and |
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● | the other risk and uncertainties discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). |
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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PART I.
References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) to “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company” are to PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I, a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “Sponsor” refer to PWP Forward Sponsor I LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. References to our “initial stockholders” refer to our Sponsor and directors, each of whom are holders of our Founder Shares.
Item 1. | Business. |
Overview
We believe our management team is well positioned to identify attractive business combination opportunities that have growth potential and is capable of creating value for investors. The members of our management team have extensive experience undertaking whole company and carve-out mergers and acquisitions, assessing IPO-readiness, and directing transformational growth strategies. They have extensive capabilities in deal sourcing, valuation, diligence and execution. We believe this mix of experience and capabilities, combined with the resources of Perella Weinberg Partners (“PWP”), a leading, global independent advisory firm, will enable us to employ a differentiated strategy to identify investment targets.
We intend to focus our search on companies that are founded by, led by, or enrich the lives of women (“Women Forward Companies”) that would benefit from the expertise of our officers, directors and advisory board members. As a Women Forward Company ourselves, we believe that we can serve as a like-minded partner for the Women Forward Companies that we target, providing us with an advantage in the market for those businesses.
Our management team is led by Stacia Ryan, our Chief Executive Officer, and Joseph R. Perella, our Chair of the Board of Directors. Ms. Ryan and Mr. Perella are both Partners at PWP with long-standing careers focused on identifying, evaluating and effecting strategic and financing transactions across a range of industries.
We are a blank check company led by women and focused on improving access to public financing for Women Forward Companies. We were formed as a Delaware corporation on September 9, 2020 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar transaction with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). While we may pursue an initial Business Combination in any industry or geographic location, we intend to focus our search on Women Forward Companies. Our Sponsor is PWP Forward Sponsor I LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. PWP is an indirect investor in our Sponsor. On October 6, 2020, our Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover for certain offering costs on behalf of us in exchange for issuance of 5,750,000 shares of our Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, (the “Founder Shares”).
The registration statement for our initial public offering was declared effective March 9, 2021 (the “Initial Public Offering”). On March 12, 2021, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 20,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $200.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $11.9 million, of which $7.0 million and approximately $378,000 was for deferred underwriting commissions and deferred legal fees, respectively. On March 16, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option, forfeited the remaining option, and on March 18, 2021, purchased an additional 1,163,433 Units (the “Over-Allotment Units”), generating gross proceeds of approximately $11.6 million and incurring additional offering costs of approximately $640,000, of which approximately $407,000 was for deferred underwriting fees (the “Over-Allotment”).
Simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 4,000,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $6.0 million. Simultaneously with the closing of the Over-Allotment on March 18, 2021, the Company consummated the second closing of the Private Placement, resulting in the purchase of an additional 155,124 Private Placement Warrants by the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $233,000.
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Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $200.0 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds from the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. The proceeds have been, and will continue to be invested only in U.S. “government securities,” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by us, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below. In connection with the closing of the Over-Allotment on March 18, 2021, an aggregate of approximately $11.6 million of the net proceeds of the sale of the Over-Allotment Units and the additional Private Placement was placed in the Trust Account, for a total amount of approximately $211.6 million.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that we will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully, if at all. We must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, we only intend to complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
We intend to effectuate our initial Business Combination using cash from the proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt. As of December 31, 2021, we had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021 related to our formation, Initial Public Offering, and the search for a target business. We will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial Business Combination, at the earliest. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.
We will provide the holders of the Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion. The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then held in the Trust Account (initially at $10.00 per Public Share). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Stockholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. These Public Shares are recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (“ASC 480”). If we seek stockholder approval, we will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. The Company will not redeem the Public Shares in connection with a Business Combination in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or legal reasons, we will offer to redeem the Public Shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If we seek stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the holders of the Founder Shares (the “initial stockholders”) agreed to vote their Founder Shares and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination. In addition, the initial stockholders agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination.
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If we are unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or March 12, 2023 (the “Combination Period”), and our stockholders have not amended the Certificate of Incorporation to extend such Combination Period, we will (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Effecting a Business Combination
Our Business Strategy
We intend to concentrate our efforts on Women Forward Companies and complete an initial Business Combination with a company that focuses on certain areas including, but not limited to, health and wellness, consumer products and services, financial services and education and professional development. We believe there are many potential targets that meet these criteria that could become attractive public companies with long-term growth potential and attractive competitive positioning.
We are leveraging the broad expertise and unique networks of PWP and our officers, directors, and advisory board members in an effort to identify and execute an initial Business Combination that we believe would enhance the overall value of our target. We hope such a Business Combination would inspire and enable other women to seek greater participation in public financial markets and serve as business leaders and investors.
Our expertise and these networks have been developed through:
● | Extensive experience sourcing, structuring, acquiring, operating, integrating and selling businesses; |
● | Significant expertise operating and executing transactions across a wide range of sectors, including consumer, retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials and technology, media and telecom, across multiple geographies and under varying economic and financial market conditions; |
● | Experience identifying and recruiting first-class talent; |
● | Expertise in accessing the capital markets, including determining financing solutions; |
● | Global network of relationships with potential target management teams and financing sources; and |
● | Experience advising companies and boards on complex matters ranging from operational strategy to strategic growth opportunities. |
Beyond the immediate networks of PWP and our officers, directors, and advisory board members, we expect to find potential target businesses through other sources connected to these extensive networks. Such sources may include private equity firms, other investment banking firms, legal firms, consultants, and accounting firms. Our Sponsor may offer incentives, including an indirect interest in our Sponsor, to PWP employees or others who materially contribute to the identification or execution of our initial Business Combination.
We further believe that our mission and unique perspective as a Women Forward Company ourselves will enhance our attractiveness to potential target companies aligned with our mission. We believe that target companies will see the value in working with us as they embark on the path toward public ownership. To those companies, we are a like-minded partner with a broad support network which enhances our marketability to them.
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Business Combination Criteria
We are focused on identifying companies that we believe would benefit from becoming publicly traded entities. We believe that our SPAC strategy creates a compelling alternative for a growing company in a traditionally underfunded area to become a public entity and thus gain liquidity, diversify funding sources, and benefit from public market participation.
We have developed the following high-level investment criteria that we intend to use to screen and evaluate target businesses. We will seek to acquire a business that has strong business fundamentals and the following characteristics:
● | Is an exceptional Women Forward Company; |
● | Would benefit from access to the public capital markets; |
● | Could leverage our knowledge of the target industry to create a synergistic opportunity and partnership; |
● | Offers an attractive potential return for our stockholders, weighing potential growth opportunities and operational improvements in the target business against any identified downside risks; |
● | Has a strong management team whose goals align with long-term value creation and our distinct mission; |
● | Generates stable, strong growth metrics with compelling future growth; |
● | Has a clear path to creating long-term cash flow; and |
● | Can improve financial performance through organic and/or inorganic growth opportunities that we identify in our analysis and due diligence |
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 on other considerations, factors and criteria that our board of directors 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 would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Sponsor
Our Sponsor is indirectly controlled by a board of managers comprised of individuals that include Partners and employees of PWP. We have and will continue to leverage PWP’s resources, such as their far-reaching global network of investment bankers and relationships with potential transaction sources, to further enable us to evaluate a broad range of opportunities. Our Sponsor may offer incentives including an indirect interest in our Sponsor to PWP employees or others who materially contribute to the identification or execution of our initial Business Combination.
Our Advisory Board
Our advisory board provides executive, corporate strategy, investor, marketing and communications experience. We believe our advisory board members’ skills as investors, consumer and healthcare strategists, investment advisors, executive search consultants, communications executives and corporate advisors further supports our ability to identify and drive value in our initial Business Combination through their sourcing channels, relationship networks and leadership experience.
We believe that the experience and capabilities of our management, combined with the full resources of PWP, our board of directors and advisory board, make us an attractive partner to potential target businesses, enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities, enhance our ability to complete a successful Business Combination and be accretive to the value of the business upon the completion of the initial Business Combination. We also believe the representation of our advisory board helps advance our mission.
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Our Competitive Strengths
We believe PWP’s reputation, sourcing, valuation, diligence and execution capabilities, as well as those of our officers, directors and advisory board members will provide us with a significant pipeline of opportunities from which to evaluate and select a business that will benefit from our expertise and create value for our stockholders.
Our competitive strengths include the following:
● | Motivation to Fulfill Our Purpose and Our Mission. The team we have assembled to execute an initial Business Combination, including our officers, directors, advisory board members, underwriters, legal advisors, auditors and accountants, have all expressed dedication to our women focused mission and therefore understand the wider significance and impact of successfully fulfilling our purpose and goals. |
● | Compelling Sourcing Avenues and Strategic Industry Relationships. We believe the PWP platform offers unique sourcing prospects bolstered by a broad network of global relationships. As of December 31, 2021, the firm has 60 advisory partners and has advised on over $1 trillion of mergers and acquisitions transactions with over 1,000 clients since inception. Our officers, directors and advisory board members will support the sourcing prospects and target selection process through their extensive networks and leadership experience. |
● | Deep Industry Insights. PWP and our officers, directors and advisory board members have long and successful track records in key sectors, including health and wellness, consumer products and services, financial services, and education and professional development. PWP’s bankers are leaders in their fields, and we will harness their broad and longstanding relationships to identify attractive investment opportunities. |
● | Significant Corporate and Transaction Experience. PWP’s platform consists of experienced bankers with deep technical knowledge across mergers and acquisitions, strategic advisory, financial restructuring and capital structure and financing advisory. The firm’s Partners have a strong track record of identifying, valuing, completing diligence on, and executing Business Combinations for clients. This, coupled with our directors’ and advisory board members’ deep expertise across corporate strategy, investment, and corporate transactions helps position us to find and evaluate a target, to execute on an acquisition that we believe will be well-received by the public markets, and to provide future guidance to the target and create long-term value for our stockholders. |
● | Early-Mover and Women Forward Advantage. We believe we are the first SPAC to explicitly state a Women Forward mission, under women’s leadership and working with professional services teams that are women-led or have a meaningful female presence. We also believe that as a Women Forward Company ourselves, we will make an attractive partner for a potential target business aligned with our mission. We think this unique positioning will give us an advantage in the market for target businesses that will help drive the identification of high-growth companies, the completion of a successful Business Combination and the creation of long-term value for stockholders. |
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we will conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, utilization of independent consultants, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. Our search for a Business Combination, ability to consummate a Business Combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a Business Combination, may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. See “Risk Factors — Our search for a Business Combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a Business Combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets.”
We have not selected any Business Combination target.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial Business Combination with a business that is affiliated with or related to PWP or our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial Business Combination with a business that is affiliated with
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or related to PWP or our Sponsor, officers or directors, either (i) we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial Business Combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view or (ii) we will require that a committee of independent and disinterested directors approve such initial Business Combination.
Conflicts of Interest and Other Considerations
There are potential conflicts of interest that could impact us and our search for, and pursuit of, potential Business Combination opportunities, including potential conflicts associated with the interests and activities of PWP. These potential conflicts are discussed in more detail herein and in other SEC filings and are not intended to be a complete enumeration or explanation of all of the potential conflicts of interest that may arise.
PWP is an indirect investor in our Sponsor. Stacia Ryan, our Chief Executive Officer and one of our directors, is currently associated with PWP as a Partner in its advisory business, and Joseph R. Perella, our Chair of the board of directors, is currently associated with PWP as a Founding Partner and a senior member of the firm’s leadership.
PWP is a leading, global independent advisory firm. It provides strategic and financial advice across many industry sectors and international markets to a wide range of clients globally, including large public and private multinational corporations, mid-sized public and private companies, individual entrepreneurs, private and institutional investors creditor committees, and government institutions. It provides comprehensive independent advisory services to create value through mergers & acquisitions execution, shareholder and defense advisory, capital raising, capital structure and restructuring, capital markets advisory, specialized underwriting and research services for the energy and related industries. PWP Capital Management, a separate business, provides asset management services to its clients, including hedge funds and private equity funds, as well as outsourced CIO services for endowments, foundations, family offices and other long-term investors under the brand “Agility”. As a result, PWP’s activities and dealings may affect us in ways that may disadvantage or restrict us and/or benefit PWP and/or its clients and counterparties. Conflicts may arise from PWP’s indirect investment in our Sponsor, its provision of services both to us (as a capital markets advisor, for which it is receiving a fee) and to its third-party clients, and PWP Capital Management’s provision of asset management services to its third-party clients, as well as from actions undertaken by PWP for its own account. PWP is often engaged as a financial advisor to corporations and other entities and their directors and managers in connection with the sale of those entities, their assets or their subsidiaries, and PWP’s compensation in connection with these engagements may be substantial. Sellers may require PWP to act exclusively on their behalf. In the event that PWP has been retained by the seller of a target business, PWP may be precluded from acting, or may choose not to act, as our advisor if we were to pursue an initial Business Combination with that business, or, alternatively, we may be precluded from pursuing, or choose not to, pursue an initial Business Combination with an entity for which PWP is acting as an advisor. PWP also represents potential buyers of businesses and financing sources. PWP may be incentivized to direct an opportunity to one of these buyers, thereby eliminating or reducing the investment opportunity available to us. Further, PWP Capital Management’s asset management clients and other clients may themselves be, or have affiliates that are, potential sellers or buyers or financing sources of businesses that we may consider as potential target businesses, and therefore, may create similar conflicts as described above. In performing services for other clients and also when acting for its own account, PWP may take commercial steps which may have an adverse effect on us. Any of PWP’s activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on us, and the interests of PWP and/or its clients or counterparties may at times be adverse to ours. See “Risk Factors”, including “Potential conflicts of interest with PWP, other businesses of PWP or other businesses with which our officers or directors may have fiduciary or contractual obligations could negatively impact the performance of an investment in us” and “PWP’s engagement with other entities may limit its ability to participate in certain transactions on our behalf or preclude us from taking certain actions.”
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Our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are also not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies prior to us completing our initial Business Combination. In addition, our officers, directors and advisory board members, in their other endeavors (including any affiliation or relationship they may have with PWP), may choose or be required to present potential Business Combinations to PWP or to third parties before they present such opportunities to us. As a result, if any of our officers, directors or advisory board members becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such Business Combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any Business Combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. Our directors and officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential Business Combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors”, including those entitled “Potential conflicts of interest with PWP, other businesses of PWP or other businesses with which our officers or directors may have fiduciary or contractual obligations could negatively impact the performance of an investment in us”, “Our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented” and “Our directors and officers will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.” See also “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” and “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance – Conflicts of Interest.”
Similarly, if PWP becomes aware of a potential Business Combination opportunity that could be an attractive opportunity for our Company, PWP is not under any obligation to source any potential opportunities for our initial Business Combination or refer any such opportunities to our Company or provide any other services to our Company, other than certain advisory and administrative services. PWP may have fiduciary and/or contractual duties to other entities and, as a result, may have a duty to offer Business Combination opportunities to those entities before other parties, including our Company. Additionally, certain companies with which PWP has a relationship may enter into transactions with, provide goods or services to, or receive goods or services from an entity with which we seek to complete our initial Business Combination. Transactions of these types may present a conflict of interest if PWP may directly or indirectly receive a financial benefit as a result of such transaction. We believe that any such potential conflicts of interest of PWP and any of our officers or directors that are affiliated with PWP will be naturally mitigated by the differing nature of services that PWP typically provides to its clients, as compared to our activities related to pursuing an initial Business Combination.
In addition, each of our Sponsor’s directors and officers directly or indirectly own, and an entity in which PWP is an investor indirectly owns, Founder Shares and/or Private Placement Warrants; accordingly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial Business Combination. Further, such directors and officers may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular Business Combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial Business Combination. Our Sponsor may offer incentives, including an indirect interest in our Sponsor, to PWP employees or others who materially contribute to the identification or execution of our initial Business Combination.
Information regarding performance by, or business associated with, PWP and our officers and directors (including our advisory board members) in their capacities as officers, directors or employees of PWP or in their other endeavors is presented for informational purposes only. Past experience or performance of PWP or our Sponsor, directors or management team (including our advisory board members) or their respective affiliates or related entities is not a guarantee of either (1) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (2) success with respect to any Business Combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of PWP or our Sponsor, directors or management team (including our advisory board members) or their respective affiliates or related entities or any investment’s performance as indicative of the future performance of any investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in PWP. See “Risk Factors — Past performance by PWP and our officers and directors (including our advisory board members) in their capacities as officers, director or employees of PWP or in their other endeavors may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.”
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Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq listing rules require that our initial Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account). We refer to this as the 80% of fair market value test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, either (i) 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 or (ii) a committee of independent and disinterested directors will make such determination. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial Business Combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.
We anticipate structuring our initial Business Combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial Business Combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (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 our initial Business Combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial Business Combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target business or issue a substantial number of new shares to third parties in connection with financing our initial Business Combination. 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 issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial Business Combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of fair market value test. If our initial Business Combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of fair market value test.
Competition
We have encountered, and expect to continue to encounter, intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities (domestic and international) including, without limitation, PWP, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources are relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for Business Combination targets has increased compared to recent years and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing Business Combinations. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. Our Sponsor or any of its affiliates or related entities (including PWP) may make additional investments in us, although our Sponsor and its affiliates and related entities have no obligation or other duty to do so. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we are obligated to pay cash for our shares of Class A common stock, it will potentially reduce the resources available to us for our initial Business Combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a Business Combination.
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Human Capital
We currently have one officer and do not have any full-time employees. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial Business Combination. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial Business Combination and the current stage of the Business Combination process.
Available Information
Our corporate website is www.pfaci.com. The information contained on the websites referenced in this Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, our references to website URLs are intended to be inactive textual references only.
Item 1.A. | Risk Factors. |
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, including our financial statements and related notes, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Risks Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our initial Business Combination, which means we may complete our initial Business Combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial Business Combination unless the Business Combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange rules or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, Nasdaq listing rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any Business Combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a Business Combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such Business Combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed Business Combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial Business Combination even if holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock do not approve of the Business Combination we consummate.
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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial Business Combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
Unlike many other blank check companies in which the initial stockholders agree to vote their Founder Shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public stockholders in connection with an initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their Founder Shares and any Public Shares held by them in favor of our initial Business Combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ Founder Shares, we would need 7,936,288, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or 1,322,716, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 21,163,433 Public Shares sold in the Initial Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial Business Combination in order to have such initial Business Combination approved. Our directors and officers have also entered into the letter agreement, imposing similar obligations on them with respect to Public Shares acquired by them, if any. We expect that our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock at the time of any such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if such persons agreed to vote their Founder Shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential Business Combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash unless we seek stockholder approval of such Business Combination.
Since our board of directors may complete a Business Combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the Business Combination, unless we seek such stockholder approval. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential Business Combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial Business Combination.
The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential Business Combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a Business Combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a Business Combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the Business Combination. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a Business Combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial Business Combination. If we are able to consummate an initial Business Combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay and the payment of the deferred underwriting commissions. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our Public Shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial Business Combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related Business Combination and may instead search for an alternate Business Combination (including, potentially, with the same target). Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a Business Combination transaction with us.
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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable Business Combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial Business Combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights; therefore, we will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial Business Combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to meet such requirements or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the Trust Account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable Business Combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial Business Combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial Business Combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial Business Combination would be unsuccessful increases. If our initial Business Combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the Trust Account until we liquidate the Trust Account. If you need immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the Trust Account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate, or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a Business Combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential Business Combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial Business Combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a Business Combination will be aware that we must complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a Business Combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial Business Combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial Business Combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial Business Combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation. In July 2021, the SEC charged a SPAC for misleading disclosures, which could have been corrected with more adequate due diligence and obtained substantial relief against the SPAC and its sponsor. Although we will invest in due diligence efforts and commit management time and resources to such efforts, there can be no assurance that our due diligence will unveil all potential issues with a target business and that we or our sponsor will not become subject to regulatory actions related to such efforts.
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We may not be able to complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our Public Shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our Sponsor, directors and officers have agreed that we must complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial Business Combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial Business Combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein, including as a result of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, global hostilities or a significant outbreak of infectious diseases. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic continues both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the pandemic on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial Business Combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, global hostilities or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. It may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within such time period or during any Extension Period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than $10.00 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
Our search for a Business Combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a Business Combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in, a widespread health crisis that has, and in the future could, adversely affected the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a Business Combination could be, or may already have been, materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a Business Combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 or other events continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors, limit the ability to conduct due diligence, or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a Business Combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of and perceptions to COVID-19 variants and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue, our ability to consummate a Business Combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a Business Combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, global hostilities or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases), including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, global hostilities or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities.
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Global or regional conditions may adversely affect our business and our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial Business Combination.
Adverse changes in global or regional economic conditions periodically occur, including recession or slowing growth, changes, or uncertainty in fiscal, monetary or trade policy, higher interest rates, tighter credit, inflation, lower capital expenditures by businesses, increases in unemployment and lower consumer confidence and spending. Adverse changes in economic conditions can harm global business and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial Business Combination. Such adverse changes could result from geopolitical and security issues, such as armed conflict and civil or military unrest, political instability, human rights concerns and terrorist activity, catastrophic events such as natural disasters and public health issues (including the COVID-19 pandemic), supply chain interruptions, new or revised export, import or doing-business regulations, including trade sanctions and tariffs or other global or regional occurrences.
In particular, in response to Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and several other countries are imposing far-reaching sanctions and export control restrictions on Russian entities and individuals. This rising conflict and the resulting market volatility could adversely affect global economic, political and market conditions. Additionally, tensions between the United States and China have led to increased tariffs and trade restrictions. The United States has imposed economic sanctions on certain Chinese individuals and entities and restrictions on the export of U.S.-regulated products and technology to certain Chinese technology companies. These and other global and regional conditions may adversely impact our business and our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial Business Combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public stockholders or warrant holders, which may influence a vote on a proposed Business Combination and reduce the public “float” 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, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase Public Shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial Business Combination. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial Business Combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial Business Combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire Public Shares, vote their Public Shares in favor of our initial Business Combination or not redeem their Public Shares. However, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of our initial Business Combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of our 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 warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial Business Combination. This 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 securities and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our Public Shares in connection with our initial Business Combination or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial Business Combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our Public Shares in connection with our initial Business Combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem Public Shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer or proxy materials documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.
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You are not entitled to certain protections afforded to investors of some other blank check companies.
We are exempt from certain rules promulgated by the SEC related to certain blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial Business Combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if the Initial Public Offering was subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the Trust Account to us unless and until the funds in the Trust Account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial Business Combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation 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 redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. 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. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial Business Combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial Business Combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for Business Combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial Business Combination. If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, including, without limitation, PWP, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for Business Combination targets has increased compared to recent years and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing Business Combinations. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. Our Sponsor or any of its affiliates or related entities (including PWP) may make additional investments in us, although our Sponsor and its affiliates and related entities have no obligation or other duty to do so. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we are obligated to pay cash for our shares of Class A common stock, it will potentially reduce the resources available to us for our initial Business Combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a Business Combination. If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets for an initial Business Combination. This could increase the costs associated with completing our initial Business Combination and result in our inability to find a suitable target or to consummate an initial Business Combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial Business Combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial Business Combination, as well as many additional special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering, including many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, effort and resources to identify a suitable target for an initial Business Combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial Business Combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close Business Combinations or operate targets post-Business Combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find a suitable target or consummate our initial Business Combination and may result in our inability to consummate an initial Business Combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
If the funds not being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we may be unable to complete our initial Business Combination.
The funds available to us outside of the Trust Account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of the Initial Public Offering, assuming that our initial Business Combination is not completed during that time. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and sale of Private Placement Warrants held outside the Trust Account and potential loans from certain of our affiliates are discussed in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” However, our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses. Any such event in the future may negatively impact the analysis regarding our ability to continue as a going concern at such time.
Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed Business Combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we enter into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we 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 in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless. See Risk Factors “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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.
Recently, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
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The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial Business Combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-Business Combination entity might need to incur greater expense and/or accept less favorable terms. Furthermore, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-Business Combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, after completion of any initial Business Combination, our directors and officers could be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to such initial Business Combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-Business Combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-Business Combination entity and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial Business Combination on terms favorable to our investors.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the Trust Account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the Trust Account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver only 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 we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason. Upon redemption of our Public Shares, if we have not completed our initial Business Combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial Business Combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the Trust Account, due to claims of such creditors.
Our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third-party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not 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. Our Sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the Trust Account, the funds available for our initial Business Combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial Business Combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your Public Shares. None of our directors or officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our Sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the Trust Account are reduced below the lesser of (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the Trust Account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The proceeds held in the Trust Account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations 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. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the Trust Account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share. Negative interest rates could also reduce the amount of funds we have available to complete our initial Business Combination.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith by paying public stockholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the Trust Account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our public stockholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.
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If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial Business Combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
● | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
● | restrictions on the issuance of securities; |
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial Business Combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
● | registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations to which we are currently not subject. |
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. The proceeds held in the Trust Account may be invested by the trustee only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a Business Combination. 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 in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless.
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.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements, our Business Combination may be contingent on our ability to comply with certain laws and regulations and any post-Business Combination company may be subject to additional laws and regulations. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time, including as a result of changes in economic, political, social and government policies, and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination, and results of operations.
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If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within 24 months of the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, our public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our Trust Account.
If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public stockholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs, as further described herein. Any redemption of public stockholders from the Trust Account shall be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to windup, liquidate the Trust Account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public stockholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution are subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond the initial 24 months before the redemption proceeds of our Trust Account become available to them and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our Trust Account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial Business Combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and then only in cases where investors have properly sought to redeem their shares of Class A common stock. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public stockholders be entitled to distributions if we have not completed our initial Business Combination within the required time period and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior thereto.
Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our Public Shares in the event we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our Public Shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24th month from the closing of the Initial Public Offering (or the end of any Extension Period) in the event we do not complete our initial Business Combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we do not intend to comply 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 ten years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, consultants, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our Public Shares in the event we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the required time period is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, 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.
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We may not hold an annual stockholder meeting until after the consummation of our initial Business Combination. Our public stockholders will not have the right to elect or remove directors prior to the consummation of our initial Business Combination.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial Business Combination (unless required by Nasdaq) and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of our initial Business Combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL. Until we hold an annual meeting of stockholders, public stockholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss Company affairs with management. In addition, prior to our Business Combination (a) as holders of our Class A common stock, our public stockholders will not have the right to vote on the election of our directors and (b) holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock may remove a member of our board of directors for any reason.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees may make it more difficult to complete our initial Business Combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with the Initial Public Offering, at or after the time of our initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their Founder Shares after those shares convert to shares of our Class A common stock. In addition, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial Business Combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the shares of common stock owned by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees, our Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued in connection with working capital loans are registered for resale.
Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or geography or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial Business Combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
We may seek to complete a Business Combination with an operating company of any size (subject to our satisfaction of the 80% of fair market value test) and in any industry, sector or geography. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial Business Combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a Business Combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial Business Combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or development stage entity. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to our investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a Business Combination target. Accordingly, any stockholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a stockholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial Business Combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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We may seek acquisition opportunities in acquisition targets that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a Business Combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if such Business Combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors relevant to such acquisition. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial Business Combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Any due diligence in connection with an initial Business Combination may not reveal all relevant considerations or liabilities of a target business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The due diligence undertaken with respect to a potential initial Business Combination may not reveal all relevant facts that may be necessary to evaluate such transaction or to formulate a business strategy. Furthermore, the information provided during due diligence may not be adequate or accurate. As part of the due diligence process, we will also make subjective judgments regarding the results of operations, financial condition and prospects of a potential initial Business Combination, and these judgments may be inaccurate.
Due diligence conducted in connection with an initial Business Combination may not result in the initial Business Combination being successful. If the due diligence investigation fails to identify material information regarding an opportunity, or if we consider such material risks to be commercially acceptable relative to the opportunity, and we proceed with an initial Business Combination, the Company may subsequently incur substantial impairment charges or other losses. In addition, following an initial Business Combination, we may be subject to significant, previously undisclosed liabilities of the acquired business that were not identified during due diligence and which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial Business Combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial Business Combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial Business Combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial Business Combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective Business Combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we 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 in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early-stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial Business Combination with an early-stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm regarding fairness. Consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our Company from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial Business Combination with an affiliated entity and a committee of independent and disinterested directors has not approved our initial Business Combination, we are not required to obtain an opinion that the price we are paying is fair to our Company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial Business Combination.
We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred shares to complete our initial Business Combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial Business Combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial Business Combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 80,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2021, there were 58,836,567 and 14,709,142 authorized but unissued shares of Class A and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon conversion of the Class B common stock. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. As of December 31, 2021, there were no preferred shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock, and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial Business Combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial Business Combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock to redeem the warrants or upon conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial Business Combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to our initial Business Combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the Trust Account or (2) vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial Business Combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:
● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of public investors, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock; |
● | may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock; |
● | could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present directors and officers; |
● | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; |
● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Units, Class A common stock and/or warrants; and |
● | may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
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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 anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial Business Combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial Business Combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may engage in a Business Combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with PWP, our Sponsor, directors or officers which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
We may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with or competitive with PWP, our Sponsor, directors and officers and their respective affiliates. Certain of our directors and officers also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including those described under “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance,” “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest” and “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions — Administrative Services Agreement.” Such entities may compete with us for Business Combination opportunities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a Business Combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors.
Despite our agreement that either (i) we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the fairness to our Company from a financial point of view or (ii) we will require that a committee of independent and disinterested directors approve our initial Business Combination, in the case of an initial Business Combination with one or more domestic or international business affiliated with PWP, our Sponsor, directors or officers, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the Business Combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our initial stockholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial Business Combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular Business Combination target is appropriate for our initial Business Combination.
Our initial stockholders hold 5,290,858 Founder Shares as of the date of this Annual Report, including 4,935,858 held by our Sponsor. The Founder Shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial Business Combination.
In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 4,155,124 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock, for a purchase price of $6,232,686 that will also be worthless if we do not complete a Business Combination. Each Private Placement Warrant may be exercised for one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.
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The Founder Shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units except that: (1) prior to our initial Business Combination, only holders of our Founder Shares have the right to vote on the election of directors and holders of a majority of our Founder Shares may remove a member of our board of directors for any reason; (2) the Founder Shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions; (3) our initial stockholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive: (i) their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial Business Combination; (ii) their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to amend 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 to redeem 100% of our Public Shares if we do not complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity; and (iii) their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Public Shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame); (4) the Founder Shares will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below; and (5) the Founder Shares are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial Business Combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their Founder Shares and any Public Shares held by them purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of our initial Business Combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to or waiver of the letter agreement or registration rights agreement prior to our initial Business Combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to or waivers of such agreements in connection with the consummation of our initial Business Combination. Any such amendments or waivers would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
The personal and financial interests of our Sponsor, directors and officers may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target Business Combination, completing an initial Business Combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial Business Combination. This risk may become more acute as the deadline for completing our initial Business Combination nears.
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 ordinary at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share.
Our Sponsor has invested in us an aggregate of $6,257,686, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the Founder Shares and the $6,232,686 purchase price for the Private Placement Warrants. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial Business Combination, the 4,935,858 Founder Shares held by our Sponsor would have an aggregate implied value of $49,358,580. Even if the trading price of our ordinary shares was as low as $1.27 per share, and the Private Placement Warrants were worthless, the value of the founder shares would be equal to the Sponsor’s initial investment in us. As a result, our Sponsor is likely to be able to make a substantial profit on its investment in us at a time when our public shares have lost significant value and our warrants are worthless. Accordingly, our management team, some of whom own interests in our Sponsor, may be more willing to pursue a Business Combination with a riskier or less-established target business than would be the case if our Sponsor had paid the same per share price for the founder shares as our public shareholders paid for their public shares.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a Business Combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
We may choose to incur substantial debt (including from PWP or its affiliates) to complete our initial Business Combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the Trust Account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the Trust Account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial Business Combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
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● | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
● | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
● | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
● | our inability to pay dividends on our common stock; |
● | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
● | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
● | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may be able to complete only one Business Combination with the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, which would cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
We may effectuate our initial Business Combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial Business Combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial Business Combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous financial, economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several Business Combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
● | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
● | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous financial, economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial Business Combination.
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We may attempt to simultaneously complete Business Combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial Business Combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other Business Combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial Business Combination. With multiple Business Combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial Business Combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a Business Combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial Business Combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial Business Combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a Business Combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a Business Combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our Public Shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial Business Combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial Business Combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Public Shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed Business Combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the Business Combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate Business Combination (including, potentially, with the same target).
In order to effectuate an initial Business Combination, blank check companies have, in the past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments, including our warrant agreement, in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial Business Combination that some of our stockholders or warrant holders may not support.
In order to effectuate an initial Business Combination, blank check companies have, in the past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of Business Combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial Business Combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial Business Combination in order to effectuate our initial Business Combination. To the extent any such amendment would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through the registration statement related to the Initial Public Offering, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
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Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-Business Combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial Business Combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-Business Combination activity, without approval by holders of a certain percentage of the company’s shares. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by holders holding between 90% and 100% of the company’s Public Shares. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions (other than amendments relating to the election or removal of directors prior to our initial Business Combination, which require the approval by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting) related to pre-Business Combination activity (including the requirement to not release the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants placed into the Trust Account except in specified circumstances and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our issued and outstanding common stock, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our issued and outstanding common stock. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders, and, prior to our initial Business Combination, the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock is required to approve the election or removal of directors. We may not issue additional securities that can vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial Business Combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our initial stockholders, who beneficially own 20% of our common stock, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which governs our pre-Business Combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete our initial Business Combination with which you do not agree.
Our initial stockholders have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our Public Shares if we do not complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our Sponsor, directors and officers. Our public stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, this agreement and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our Sponsor, directors or officers for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our public stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial Business Combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular Business Combination.
If the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants available to us prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial Business Combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial Business Combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial Business Combination, we may be required to seek additional financing (including pursuant to a specified future issuance or otherwise from PWP or its affiliate) or to abandon the proposed Business Combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. None of PWP or its affiliates is obligated to provide, or seek, any such financing or, except as expressly set forth herein, to provide any other services to us. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial Business Combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular Business Combination and seek an alternative target business candidate.
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In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial Business Combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our directors, officers or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial Business Combination. 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 in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our initial stockholders will control the election of our board of directors until consummation of our initial Business Combination and will hold a substantial interest in us. As a result, they will elect all of our directors prior to our initial Business Combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial stockholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. In addition, prior to our initial Business Combination, holders of the Founder Shares will have the right to elect all of our directors and may remove members of our board of directors for any reason. Holders of our Public Shares will have no right to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over the election of directors prior to our initial Business Combination.
In addition, as a result of their substantial ownership in our Company, our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on other actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of Class A common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, this will increase their influence over these actions. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will exert significant influence over actions requiring a stockholder vote at least until the completion of our initial Business Combination.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial Business Combination.
Unlike some blank check companies, if
● | we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), |
● | the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial Business Combination on the date of the completion of our initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and |
● | the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock during the 20-trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, |
then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 and $10.00 per share redemption trigger prices applicable to our warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% and 100%, respectively, of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial Business Combination with a target business.
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Our warrants and Founder Shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial Business Combination.
We have issued warrants to purchase 4,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, at a price of $11.50 per whole share (subject to adjustment), as part of the Units and, simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we issued in the Private Placement an aggregate of 4,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Our initial stockholders currently hold 5,290,858 shares of Class B common stock. The shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our Sponsor, an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our directors and officers make any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate a Business Combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants or conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the Business Combination. Therefore, our warrants and Founder Shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a Business Combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the Units except that, so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except under certain limited circumstances); (2) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial Business Combination; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial Business Combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a Business Combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial Business Combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. 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 comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial Business Combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
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If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial Business Combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such combination, and if we effect such initial Business Combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
While we intend to focus our search for a target business operating in the United States, if our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial Business Combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border Business Combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial Business Combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign market, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial Business Combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting (including how relevant governments respond to such factors), including any of the following:
● | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets; |
● | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
● | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
● | laws governing the manner in which future Business Combinations may be effected; |
● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
● | longer payment cycles; |
● | changes in local regulations as part of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic; |
● | tax consequences, such as tax law changes, including termination or reduction of tax and other incentives that the applicable government provides to domestic companies, and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls, including devaluations and other exchange rate movements; |
● | rates of inflation, price instability and interest rate fluctuations; |
● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
● | cultural and language differences; |
● | employment regulations; |
● | healthcare and data privacy regulations; |
● | energy shortages; |
● | crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, global hostilities and other forms of social instability; |
● | deterioration of political relations with the United States; |
● | obligatory military service by personnel; |
● | government appropriation of assets |
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We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such combination or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our Company or our Company’s directors, officers or other employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our Company, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, employee or agent of our Company to our Company or our stockholders, or any claim for aiding and abetting any such alleged breach, (3) action asserting a claim against our Company or any director or officer of our Company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or (4) action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer of our Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine except for, as to each of (1) through (4) above, any claim (a) as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination) or (b) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this paragraph will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or otherwise arising under federal securities laws, for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “foreign action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.
This forum selection clause may discourage claims or limit stockholders’ ability to submit claims in a judicial forum that they find favorable and may result in additional costs for a stockholder seeking to bring a claim. While we believe the risk of a court declining to enforce this forum selection clause is low, if a court were to determine the forum selection clause to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs in conjunction with our efforts to resolve the dispute in an alternative jurisdiction, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the staff of the SEC issued a public statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (‘SPACs’)” (the “SEC Staff Statement”). Specifically, the SEC Staff Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our Warrants. As a result of the SEC Staff Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our 4,232,686 Public Warrants and 4,155,124 Private Placement Warrants and determined to classify the Warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings.
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As a result, included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 contained in these financial statements derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our Warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging, provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statements of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors, which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our Warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to develop and 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.
As described elsewhere herein, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting and reporting of complex financial instruments.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material weakness. These remediation measures may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
As a result of such material weakness relating to the accounting for the Warrants and Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, we face potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.
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Risks Relating to the Post-Business Combination Company
Subsequent to our completion of our initial Business Combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write down or write off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a stockholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial Business Combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
After our initial Business Combination, our results of operations and prospects could be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political, social and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial Business Combination and if we effect our initial Business Combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial Business Combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial Business Combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will complete such Business Combination only if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial Business Combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post Business Combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial Business Combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target or issue a substantial number of new shares to third parties in connection with financing our initial Business Combination. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger portion of our shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.
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We may have limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial Business Combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial Business Combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a stockholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial Business Combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
The directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial Business Combination. The departure of a Business Combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial Business Combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial Business Combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
If our management following our initial Business Combination is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial Business Combination, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers of our Company, and the management of the target business at the time of the Business Combination could remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with U.S. securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
Risks Relating to PWP and our Management Team
We are dependent upon our directors and officers and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, specifically, upon Stacia Ryan, our Chief Executive Officer. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our directors and officers, at least until we have completed our initial Business Combination. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial Business Combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial Business Combination. The loss of our or a target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial Business Combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial Business Combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial Business Combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
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In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial Business Combination. The departure of a Business Combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial Business Combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial Business Combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular Business Combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial Business Combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular Business Combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with the Company after the completion of our initial Business Combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the Business Combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the Business Combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the Business Combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial Business Combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential Business Combination, as we do not expect that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial Business Combination. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial Business Combination.
Our directors and officers will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.
Our directors and officers are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a Business Combination and their other responsibilities. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our Business Combination. Certain of our directors and officers are engaged in several other business endeavors for which they may be entitled to compensation and our directors and officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. In particular, Stacia Ryan, our Chief Executive Officer and one of our directors, and Joseph R. Perella, our Chair of the board of directors, are currently associated with PWP, (although there is no assurance that either of them will remain associated with PWP). Our independent directors also serve as officers or board members for other entities. If our directors’ and officers’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial Business Combination. See “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” for a discussion of certain of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs.
Our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial Business Combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies, including in connection with their initial Business Combinations, prior to us completing our initial Business Combination, and any such involvement may result in conflicts of interests as described above. Moreover, entities in which our directors and officers are affiliated with may enter into agreements or other arrangements with businesses, which agreements or arrangements may limit or restrict our ability to enter into a Business Combination with such business.
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Our officers and directors (including our advisory board members), in their other endeavors (including any affiliation, relationship or other interest they may have in or with PWP and any other special purpose acquisition company in which they may become involved), may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and such other entities and he or she may choose or be required to present potential Business Combinations to PWP or to third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such Business Combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any Business Combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. Our directors and officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential Business Combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.
For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance,” “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest” and “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions — Administrative Services Agreement.”
Our directors, officers, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a Business Combination with a target business that is affiliated with PWP or our Sponsor, directors or officers. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
In particular, Perella Weinberg Partners is a leading, global independent advisory firm. It provides strategic and financial advice across many industry sectors and international markets to a wide range of clients, including large public and private multinational corporations, mid-sized public and private companies, individual entrepreneurs, private and institutional investors, and government institutions. It provides comprehensive independent advisory services to create value through mergers & acquisitions, strategic advisory, financial restructuring, capital structure advisory, and private capital advisory initiatives. PWP Capital Management, a separate business, provides asset management services to its clients, including to hedge funds and private equity funds, as well as outsourced CIO services for endowments, foundations, family offices and other long-term investors under the brand Agility. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable Business Combination for us and companies to which PWP provides services.
Our letter agreements with our initial shareholders, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreements with our initial shareholders, officers and directors contains provisions relating to, among other things, restrictions on transfer of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial Business Combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreements. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
Potential conflicts of interest with PWP, other businesses of PWP or other businesses with which our officers or directors may have fiduciary or contractual obligations could negatively impact the performance of an investment in us.
There are potential conflicts of interest that could impact our Company and our search for, and pursuit of, potential Business Combination opportunities, including potential conflicts associated with the interests and activities of PWP. These potential conflicts are discussed in more detail elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and are not, and are not intended to be, a complete enumeration or explanation of all of the potential conflicts of interest that may arise.
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PWP is an indirect investor in our Sponsor. In addition, Stacia Ryan, our Chief Executive Officer and one of our directors, is currently associated with PWP as a Partner in its advisory business, and Joseph R. Perella, our Chair of the board of directors, is currently associated with PWP as a Founding Partner and a senior member of the firm’s leadership.
Perella Weinberg Partners is a leading, global independent advisory firm. It provides strategic and financial advice across many industry sectors and international markets to a wide range of clients, including large public and private multinational corporations, mid-sized public and private companies, individual entrepreneurs, private and institutional investors, and government institutions. It provides comprehensive independent advisory services to create value through mergers & acquisitions, strategic advisory, financial restructuring, capital structure advisory, and private capital advisory initiatives. PWP Capital Management, a separate business, provides asset management services to its clients, including to hedge funds and private equity funds, as well as outsourced CIO services for endowments, foundations, family offices and other long-term investors under the brand Agility. As a result, PWP’s activities and dealings may affect us in ways that may disadvantage or restrict us and/or benefit PWP and/or its clients and counterparties. Conflicts may arise from PWP’s sponsorship of our Company, its provision of services both to us (including as a financial advisor, for which it is receiving a fee) and to its third-party clients (including as an advisory firm through Perella Weinberg Partners and as an asset manager through PWP Capital Management), as well as from actions undertaken by PWP for its own account. PWP is often engaged as a financial advisor to corporations and other entities and their directors and managers in connection with the sale of those entities, their assets or their subsidiaries, and PWP’s compensation in connection with these engagements may be substantial. Sellers may require PWP to act exclusively on their behalf. In the event that PWP has been retained by the seller of a target business, PWP may be precluded from, or may choose not to, act as our advisor if we were to pursue an initial Business Combination with that business, or, alternatively, we may be precluded from, or choose not to, pursue an initial Business Combination with an entity for which PWP is acting as an advisor. PWP also represents potential buyers of businesses and financing sources. PWP may be incentivized to direct an opportunity to one of these buyers, thereby eliminating or reducing the investment opportunity available to us. Further, PWP’s asset management clients and other clients may themselves be, or have affiliates that are, potential sellers or buyers or financing sources of businesses that we may consider as potential target businesses, and therefore may create similar conflicts as described above. In performing services for other clients and also when acting for its own account, PWP may take commercial steps which may have an adverse effect on us. Any of PWP’s activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on us, and the interests of PWP and/or its clients or counterparties may at times be adverse to ours.
Our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are also not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies prior to us completing our initial Business Combination. In addition, our officers and directors (including our advisory board members), in their other endeavors (including any affiliation or relationship they may have with PWP), may choose or be required to present potential Business Combinations to PWP or to third parties before they present such opportunities to us. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such Business Combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any Business Combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. Our directors and officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential Business Combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.
PWP may become aware of a potential Business Combination opportunity that could be an attractive opportunity for our Company. However, PWP is not under any obligation to source any potential opportunities for our initial Business Combination or refer any such opportunities to our Company or provide any other services to our Company. PWP may have fiduciary and/or contractual duties to other entities and, as a result, may have a duty to offer Business Combination opportunities to those entities before other parties, including our Company. Additionally, certain companies with which PWP has a relationship may enter into transactions with, provide goods or services to, or receive goods or services from an entity with which we seek to complete our initial Business Combination. Transactions of these types may present a conflict of interest if PWP may directly or indirectly receive a financial benefit as a result of such transaction. Our Sponsor may offer incentives including an indirect interest in our Sponsor to PWP employees or others who materially contribute to the identification or execution of our initial Business Combination.
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PWP’s engagement with other entities may limit its ability to participate in certain transactions on our behalf or preclude us from taking certain actions.
We engaged PWP for services as a capital markets advisor in connection with our initial public offering. PWP is often engaged as a financial advisor to corporations and other entities and their directors and managers in connection with the sale of those entities, their assets or their subsidiaries, and PWP’s compensation in connection with these engagements may be substantial. Sellers may require PWP to act exclusively on their behalf. In the event that PWP has been retained by the seller of a target business, PWP may be precluded from, or may choose not to, act as our financial advisor in the future if we were to pursue an initial Business Combination with that business. Alternatively, we may be precluded from, or choose not to, pursue an initial Business Combination with an entity for which PWP is acting as an advisor. PWP also represents potential buyers of businesses and financing sources. PWP may be incentivized to direct an opportunity to one of these buyers, thereby eliminating or reducing the investment opportunity available to us.
In addition, we expect to pay PWP a fee for its services as our capital markets advisor, a portion of which is contingent upon the completion of our initial Business Combination. Therefore, PWP may have additional financial interests in the completion of the initial Business Combination. These financial interests may influence the advice that PWP provides us as our capital markets advisor, which advice would contribute to our decision on whether to pursue a Business Combination with any particular target.
Risks Relating to Our Securities
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the Trust Account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your Public Shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the Trust Account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial Business Combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any Public Shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend 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 to redeem 100% of our Public Shares if we do not complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our Public Shares if we have not completed an initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, 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. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the Trust Account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your Public Shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial Business Combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public stockholders). Additionally, in connection with our initial Business Combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the applicable exchange’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If any of our securities are delisted from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
● | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
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● | a determination that our Class A common stock are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
● | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or pre-empts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Our Units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants currently qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are pre-empted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under such statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities, which may adversely impact our ability to consummate our initial Business Combination.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the issuance of the underlying Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available.
Pursuant to terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial Business Combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file a registration statement covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial Business Combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of shares of Class A common stock that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our shares of Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of Units will have paid the full Unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our Private Placement Warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of the Units. In such an instance, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the shares of Class A common stock underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying shares of Class A common stock. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in the prospectus related to the Initial Public Offering, or defective provision or (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the interest of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment; provided that any amendment that solely affects the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement solely with respect to the Private Placement Warrants shall also require at least 50% of the then outstanding Private Placement Warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant if, among other things, the last reported sale price of Class A common stock 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 (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above could force you to: (1) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of shares of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our shares of Class A common stock. Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the warrants are “out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of the shares of Class A common stock had your warrants remained outstanding. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of shares of Class A common stock received is capped at 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
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Our management’s ability to require holders of our Public Warrants to exercise such Public Warrants on a cashless basis will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the Public Warrants than they would have received had they been able to exercise their public warrants for cash.
If we call our Public Warrants for redemption after the redemption criteria described elsewhere in this Annual Report have been satisfied, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its Warrant (including any warrants held by our sponsor, officers, directors or their permitted transferees) to do so on a “cashless basis.” If our management chooses to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his, her or its Warrant for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our Company.
Because each unit contains one-fifth of one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the Units may be worth less than Units of other blank check companies.
Each Unit contains one-fifth of one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units, and only whole warrants will trade. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of Class A common stock and one whole warrant or a greater fraction of one whole warrant to purchase one share. We have established the components of the Units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a Business Combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for a fifth of the number of shares compared to Units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive Business Combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this Unit structure may cause our Units to be worth less than if they included one whole warrant or a greater fraction of one whole warrant to purchase one whole share.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our Company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “NY foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (a “NY enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such NY enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the NY foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our Company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
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Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors, the ability of our board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination only holders of our shares of Class B common stock, which are held by our initial stockholders, are entitled to vote on the election of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
General Risk Factors
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $942,000 in our operating bank account and working capital of approximately $914,000. Although the Company has sufficient liquidity to meet its anticipated obligations for the next year, the mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern (as discussed under “Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”). The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to continue as a going concern.
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating history and no operating revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a newly incorporated company with no operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial Business Combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a Business Combination and may be unable to complete our initial Business Combination. If we fail to complete our initial Business Combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Past performance by PWP and our officers and directors (including our advisory board members) in their capacities as officers, directors or employees of PWP or in their other endeavors may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance by, or business associated with, PWP and our officers and directors (including our advisory board members) in their capacities as officers, directors or employees of PWP or in their other endeavors is presented for informational purposes only. Past experience or performance of PWP or our Sponsor, directors or management team (including our advisory board members) or their respective affiliates or related entities is not a guarantee of either (1) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (2) success with respect to any Business Combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of PWP or our Sponsor, directors or management team (including our advisory board members) or their respective affiliates or related entities or any investment’s performance as indicative of the future performance of any investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in PWP.
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We may engage the underwriters from our Initial Public Offering or any of their affiliates to provide additional services to us. The underwriters are entitled to receive deferred commissions that will be released from the trust only on a completion of an initial Business Combination. These financial incentives may cause the underwriters to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after the Initial Public Offering.
We may engage the underwriters from our Initial Public Offering or any of their affiliates to provide additional services to us, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We may pay the underwriters or any of their affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial Business Combination. The fact that the underwriters or any of their affiliates’ financial interests are tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial Business Combination.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early-stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of any second quarter of a fiscal year, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 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. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
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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 or the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Item 1.B. | Unresolved Staff Comments. |
None.
Item 2. | Properties. |
We currently maintain our executive offices at 767 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10153. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee that we pay an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3.Legal Proceedings.
We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us or any of our officers or directors in their corporate capacity.
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures.
None.
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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 began trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) on March 10, 2021. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-fifth of one redeemable warrant to purchase one share of Class A common stock. On April 29, 2021, we announced that holders of the Units may elect to separately trade the Class A common stock and redeemable warrants included in the Units commencing on April 30, 2021. Any Units not separated continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “FRWAU” Any underlying Class A common stock and redeemable warrants that were separated trade on Nasdaq under the symbols “FRW” and “FRWAW,” respectively.
(b) Holders
As of March 31, 2022, there was one holder of record of our Units, one holder of record of our separately traded Class A common stock, and two holders of record of our redeemable warrants.
(c) Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our Class A 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 share 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) Performance Graph
The performance graph has been omitted as permitted under rules applicable to smaller reporting companies.
(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
On March 12, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 20,000,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $200,000,000. Citigroup acted as the book-running manager, and Siebert Williams Shank & Co., Telsey Advisory Group and Tigress Financial Partners acted as co-managers for the Initial Public Offering. The securities sold in the Initial Public Offering were registered under the Securities Act on a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-253371). The SEC declared the registration statements effective on March 9, 2021.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the Private Placement of 4,000,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $6.0 million. Simultaneously with the closing of the Over-Allotment, of 1,163,433 Units, we consummated the second closing of the Private Placement, resulting in the purchase of an aggregate of an additional 155,124 Private Placement Warrants by the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $233,000. These issuances were made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
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The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering except that, so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except under certain limited exceptions); (2) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial Business Combination; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.
Of the gross proceeds received from the Initial Public Offering and Over-Allotment, $211,634,330 was placed in the Trust Account. The net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the Private Placement are invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less and 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.
We paid a total of approximately $4.2 million in underwriting discounts and commissions related to the Initial Public Offering. In addition, the underwriters agreed to defer $7.4 million in underwriting discounts and commissions.
On October 6, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover for certain offering costs on behalf of us in exchange for issuance of 5,750,000 shares of our Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share. The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriters, so that the Founder Shares would represent 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. On March 16, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,163,433 Over-Allotment Units and forfeited the remaining option; thus, an aggregate of 459,142 shares of Class B common stock were forfeited accordingly.
There has been no material change in the planned use of the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as is described in the Company’s final prospectus related to the Initial Public Offering. For a description of the use of the proceeds generated from the Initial Public Offering, see “Item 1. Business.”
Item 6. | Selected Financial Data |
As a “smaller reporting company,” we are not required to provide the information called for by this Item.
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Item 7. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. |
References to the “Company,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factor Summary,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on September 9, 2020 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). Our sponsor is PWP Forward Sponsor I, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (our “Sponsor”).
Our registration statement for our Initial Public Offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) became effective on March 9, 2021. On March 12, 2021, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 20,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $200.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $11.9 million, of which $7.0 million and approximately $378,000 were for deferred underwriting commissions and deferred legal fees, respectively. On March 16, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option, forfeited the remaining option and on March 18, 2021, purchased an additional 1,163,433 Units (the “Over-Allotment Units”) generating gross proceeds of approximately $11.6 million and incurring additional offering costs of approximately $640,000, of which approximately $407,000 was for deferred underwriting fees (the “Over-Allotment”).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 4,000,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $6.0 million. Simultaneously with the closing of the Over-Allotment on March 18, 2021, we consummated the second closing of the Private Placement, resulting in the purchase of an aggregate of an additional 155,124 Private Placement Warrants by the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to us of approximately $233,000.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Over-Allotment and the Private Placement, $211.6 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and have been, and will continue to be invested only in U.S. “government securities,” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
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Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that we will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. We must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, we only intend to complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
If we are unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or March 12, 2023 (the “Combination Period”), and our stockholders have not amended the Certificate of Incorporation to extend such Combination Period, we will (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
On April 29, 2021, the Company announced that, commencing on April 30, 2021, the holders of the Company’s Units may elect to separately trade the shares of Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants. Any Units not separated continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “FRWAU.” Any underlying shares of Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants that were separated trade on Nasdaq under the symbols “FRW” and “FRWAW,” respectively. No fractional warrants were issued upon separation of the Units and only whole warrants trade.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Prior to the completion of the Initial Public Offering, our liquidity needs were satisfied through the payment by our Sponsor of $25,000 for certain offering costs on our behalf in exchange for the issuance of the Founder Shares (as defined below), and loan proceeds from our Sponsor of $300,000. The loan was repaid in full with the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement. Subsequent to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement, our liquidity needs were satisfied with the proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor may, but is not obligated to, provide the Company Working Capital Loans (as defined below). To date, there are no amounts outstanding under any Working Capital Loans.
Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation and 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 we be required to liquidate after March 12, 2023. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that although it is reasonably possible that the pandemic could have a negative effect on our financial position, results of our operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. Accordingly, the financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Results of Operations
Our entire activity since inception through December 31, 2021 related to our formation, the preparation for the Initial Public Offering, and since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial Business Combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest earned on cash equivalents held in Trust Account. We expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
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For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had net income of approximately $2.6 million, which consisted of a gain of approximately $4.7 million resulting from the change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities and income from investments held in Trust Account of approximately $11,000, which was partially offset by a loss from operations of approximately $1.8 million and non-operating expenses of approximately $397,000 for offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities. The loss from operations consisted of approximately $1.5 million general and administrative expenses, $100,000 of general and administrative expenses - related party, and approximately $200,000 in franchise tax expense.
For the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of approximately $11,000, which primarily consisted of general and administrative expenses.
Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On October 6, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain offering costs on behalf of the Company in exchange for issuance of 5,750,000 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, (the “Founder Shares”). The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriters, so that the Founder Shares would represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. On March 16, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,163,433 Over-Allotment Units and forfeited the remaining option; thus, an aggregate of 459,142 shares of Class B common stock were forfeited accordingly.
The initial stockholders agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination; and (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the initial stockholders with respect to any Founder Shares. Our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, may seek one or more amendments to or waivers of such agreements in connection with the consummation of our initial Business Combination. Any such amendments or waivers would not require approval from our stockholders and may result in the completion of our initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 4,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $6.0 million. Concurrent with the closing of the Over-Allotment, the Company issued 155,124 Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor in a private placement, generating gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $233,000.
Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
The purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants (except to permitted transferees) until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
Related Party Loans
On October 6, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $500,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company borrowed $300,000 under the Note and repaid this in full upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement.
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In addition, 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 proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lenders’ discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on the Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of the Initial Business Combination or our liquidation, we agreed to pay an entity related to the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services.
The Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to the Sponsor, directors, officers or us or any of their affiliates.
Contractual Obligations
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares), are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. These holders are entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we would not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
We granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Initial Public Offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. On March 16, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option and forfeited the remaining option, and on March 18, 2021, purchased an additional 1,163,433 Units.
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $4.0 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. An additional fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $7.0 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
In connection with the consummation of the Over-Allotment on March 18, 2021, the underwriters were entitled to an additional fee of approximately $233,000 paid upon closing, and approximately $407,000 in deferred underwriting commissions.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (“ASC 480”) and FASB ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). 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.
The warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering and exercise of the over-allotment (the “Public Warrants”) and the Private Placement Warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815. Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjusts 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 the Company’s statements of operations. The initial fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering and the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants were estimated using a binomial / lattice model that assumed optimal exercise of the Company’s redemption option, including the make-whole table, per the warrant agreement, at the earliest possible date. (see “Fair Market Value of Shares of Class A Common Stock” table in Exhibit 4.2 “Description of the Company’s Securities”). As the transfer of Private Placement Warrants to anyone who is not a permitted transferee would result in the Private Placement Warrants having substantially the same terms as the Public Warrants, the Company determined that the fair value of each Private Placement Warrant is equivalent to that of each Public Warrant. The fair value of the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants as of December 31, 2021 is based on observable listed prices for such warrants. The Private Placement Warrants have the same value as the Public Warrants since they are also subject to the make-whole table, per the warrant agreement. Derivative warrant liabilities are classified as non-current liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
Class A Common Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC 480. Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) 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. The Company’s Class A common stock features 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, 21,163,433 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Immediately upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company recognized the accretion in carrying value of redeemable shares from initial book value to redemption amount. The change in carrying value of redeemable shares resulted in charges against additional paid in capital and credits to accumulated deficit in connection with the reclassification of Class A common stock to temporary equity.
Net income (loss) per common shares
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” 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. Net income (loss) per common share is calculated by dividing the net income (loss) by the weighted average shares of common stock outstanding for the respective period.
The calculation of diluted net income (loss) does not consider the effect of the Public Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 21,163,433 shares of Class A common stock in the calculation of diluted income (loss) per share, because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the year ended December 31, 2021. Accretion associated with the redeemable Class A common stock is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
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Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 47020) 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 the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. We adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021. Adoption of the ASU did not impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Contractual Obligations
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our Initial Public Offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Item 7.A. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk. |
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
Item 8. | Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. |
This information appears following Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
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Item 9. | Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure. |
None.
Item 9.A. | Controls and Procedures. |
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in Company reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer has concluded our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2021, due to a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, the Company’s management has concluded that the Company’s internal control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex equity and equity-linked instruments issued by the Company was not effectively designed or maintained. This material weakness resulted in the restatement of the Company’s interim financial statements for the quarters ended March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021, and September 30, 2021. As a result, our management performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Form 10-K present fairly, in all material respects, the Company’s financial position, result of operations and cash flows of the periods presented.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control 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 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
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting, except as described below.
Our Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer performed additional accounting and financial analyses and other post-closing procedures including consulting with subject matter experts related to the accounting for certain complex equity and equity-linked instruments issued by the Company and the impact on earnings per share. The Company’s management has expended, and will continue to expend, a substantial amount of effort and resources for the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to properly identify and evaluate the appropriate accounting technical pronouncements and other literature for all significant or unusual transactions, we have expanded and will continue to improve these processes to ensure that the nuances of such transactions are effectively evaluated in the context of the increasingly complex accounting standards.
Item 9.B. | Other Information. |
None.
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PART III.
Item 10. | Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance. |
Our current directors and executive officer are as follows:
Name |
| Age |
| Title |
Stacia Ryan | 46 | Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer | ||
Joseph R. Perella | 80 | Chair of the Board of Directors | ||
Stefanie Jay | 43 | Director | ||
Courtney Leimkuhler | 42 | Director | ||
Sonalee Parekh | 49 | Director |
Stacia Ryan has served as our Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer since September 21, 2020 and a director since our inception. Ms. Ryan has more than 20 years of investment banking and mergers and acquisitions experience. During her career, Ms. Ryan has helped numerous companies in the consumer and retail industry find strategic or financing solutions to meet their business objectives. Ms. Ryan currently serves as a Partner of PWP, Co-Head of the Consumer and Retail Group and Co-Chair of PWP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a position she has held since 2018. Prior to joining PWP, she was at Morgan Stanley from 1998 to 2018, most recently serving as Managing Director and a senior member of the global consumer and retail investment banking group. During her tenure at Morgan Stanley, she executed a variety of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions as well as equity and debt underwritings. Ms. Ryan earned a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia.
Ms. Ryan is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her extensive investment banking experience in the consumer and retail industries.
Joseph R. Perella has served as our Chair of the board of directors since March 2021. Mr. Perella is a Founding Partner of PWP and served as PWP’s Chief Executive Officer from 2006 until 2014 and as Chairman from 2014 to 2019. Following the completion of the Business Combination between PWP and FinTech Acquisition Corp. IV in 2021, Mr. Perella began serving as Chairman Emeritus of the post-Business Combination company. Mr. Perella has approximately 49 years of investment banking experience. Prior to co-founding PWP in 2006, Mr. Perella was a member of Morgan Stanley’s Management Committee (from 1993 until 2005) and held several senior positions at the firm, including Vice Chairman, Chairman of Institutional Securities and Investment Banking, and Worldwide Head of the Investment Banking Division. In 1988, Mr. Perella co-founded Wasserstein Perella & Co., Inc. and was Chairman of the Board until September 1993. From 1972 to 1988, Mr. Perella held senior positions at First Boston and was the founder of its Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Mr. Perella earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Perella is well qualified to serve as the chair of our board of directors due to his significant leadership, operating and investment banking experience.
Stefanie Jay has served as our director since March 2021. Ms. Jay has served as Senior Vice President, Chief Business and Strategy Officer at eBay Inc. since May 2021, leading global strategy, analytics, business operations, communications and eBay Ventures. Ms. Jay served as Vice President and General Manager of Walmart Connect from 2017 until January 2021, where she was responsible for driving and scaling Walmart’s in-store and digital advertising business, achieving accelerated revenue growth. Ms. Jay joined Walmart Global eCommerce in 2015 to lead corporate development and strategy, including Walmart’s strategic investment in China’s JD.com, various strategic partnerships and the acquisition of Jet.com. Prior to Walmart, Ms. Jay spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs as a senior member of the consumer, retail and healthcare investment banking group focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. She also led global client strategy for Goldman Sachs’ CEO and executive team. In 2021, Ms. Jay joined the board of MiniLuxe, a digital-first, socially responsible lifestyle brand and talent empowerment platform for the nail industry. Ms. Jay earned a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University.
Ms. Jay is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her significant experience in business strategy and investment banking in the consumer, retail and healthcare space.
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Courtney Leimkuhler has served as our director since March 2021. Ms. Leimkuhler is the founder and managing partner of Springbank Collective, an early-stage investment firm focused on building the infrastructure to close the gender gap. Before founding Springbank in 2019, Ms. Leimkuhler was an executive at Marsh from 2013 to 2017, a leading corporate insurance broker. She served as the Chief Financial Officer of Marsh, where she oversaw strategic planning as well as mergers and acquisitions, and also acted as the interim Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Ms. Leimkuhler spent a decade at the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) from before its initial public offering through the sale of the public company in 2013. At the NYSE, she served as a member of the Management Committee and the Head of Corporate Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions. Ms. Leimkuhler began her career at Goldman Sachs. Ms. Leimkuhler was a director of Coverwallet from 2019 until its acquisition by Aon in 2020, and currently serves as a director of Orchard and an advisor to New Front and Betterment. Ms. Leimkuhler earned an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Ms. Leimkuhler is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her venture capital and investment experience as well as her public company experience in the financial industry.
Sonalee Parekh has served as our director since March 2021. Ms. Parekh is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at HPE, a Fortune 500 technology company. As Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Ms. Parekh is responsible for corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, business integration and performance management. In her role as Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, Ms. Parekh works directly with many of the world’s largest institutional investors and asset managers and leads HPE’s socially responsible investing strategy. Prior to HPE, Ms. Parekh held senior leadership roles at several global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs from 2003 to 2009, Barclays Capital from 2009 to 2014, Royal Bank of Canada from 2014 to 2016 and Jefferies International from 2016 to 2019 where she was most recently the Managing Director of Global Capital Markets and Global Head of Senior Relationship Management until April 2019. Ms. Parekh currently serves as a board advisor to Bidstack Group and is a director for Indie Semiconductor. Ms. Parekh earned a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University.
Ms. Parekh is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her significant experience in corporate transactions and senior leadership in the technology sector.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing rules require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our Initial Public Offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person that, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). We have three “independent directors” as defined in Nasdaq rules and applicable SEC rules. Our board has determined that each of Stefanie Jay, Courtney Leimkuhler and Sonalee Parekh is an independent director under applicable SEC and Nasdaq rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Number, Terms of Office and Election of Officers and Director
Our board of directors consists of five members. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors elected prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Mr. Perella and Ms. Parekh, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Ms. Leimkuhler and Ms. Jay, will expire at our second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Ms. Ryan, will expire at our third annual meeting of stockholders.
Prior to our Initial Business Combination, holders of our Founder Shares will have the right to elect all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason, and holders of our Public Shares will not have the right to vote on the election of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended if approved by holders of a majority of at least 90% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting. Approval of our initial Business Combination will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the stockholders, prior to our initial Business Combination, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board of directors, or by holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B common stock.
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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 Chair of the Board, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, a Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, a Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee; a compensation committee; and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Each of our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee are composed solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter that was approved by our board of directors and has the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website.
Audit Committee
The members of our audit committee are Stefanie Jay, Courtney Leimkuhler and Sonalee Parekh. Ms. Leimkuhler serves as chair of the audit committee.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
● | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; |
● | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
● | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
● | reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
● | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
● | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
● | obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) 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; |
● | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; |
● | 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 |
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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
The members of our Compensation Committee are Stefanie Jay, Courtney Leimkuhler and Sonalee Parekh. Ms. Parekh serves as chair of the compensation committee.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibility of the compensation committee, including:
● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
● | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive-compensation and equity-based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Stefanie Jay, Courtney Leimkuhler and Sonalee Parekh. Ms. Jay serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
● | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board of directors, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual stockholder meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
● | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
● | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of our company; and |
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● | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and is directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial Business Combination, holders of our Public Shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct (our “Code of Ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics as an exhibit to this Annual Report. We have also posted a copy of our Code of Ethics and the charters of our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee on our website at https://pfaci.com/governance/. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this Annual Report. You are able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of our Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
Our management team is responsible for the management of our affairs. As described above and below, our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our Sponsor, investors in our Sponsor and our directors and officers are also not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies prior to us completing our initial Business Combination. In addition, our officers and directors (including our advisory board members), in their other endeavors (including any affiliation or relationship they may have with PWP), may choose or be required to present potential Business Combinations to PWP or to third parties before they present such opportunities to us. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such Business Combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any Business Combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis. Our directors and officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential Business Combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors,” including those entitled “Potential conflicts of interest with PWP, other businesses of PWP or other businesses with which our officers or directors may have fiduciary or contractual obligations could negatively impact the performance of an investment in us,” “Our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented” and “Our directors and officers will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.”
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Specifically, Stacia Ryan, our Chief Executive Officer and one of our directors, and Joseph R. Perella, our Chair of the board of directors, are currently associated with PWP and will not be independent of PWP (although there is no assurance that either of them will remain associated with PWP). As a result, each of Ms. Ryan and Mr. Perella has, and in the future may have, additional fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, in addition to his or her obligations and duties as a member of our management team, including as a result of his or her association with PWP, which could result in potential conflicts of interest. Additionally, all PWP personnel are subject to firm-wide policies and procedures regarding confidential and proprietary information, information barriers, private investments, outside business activities and personal trading.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers (including our advisory board members) will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue Business Combination opportunities or complete our initial Business Combination.
In addition, we believe that any such potential conflicts of interest of PWP and any of our officers or directors that are affiliated with PWP will be naturally mitigated by the differing nature of services that PWP typically provides to its clients, as compared to our activities related to pursuing an initial Business Combination.
Our directors and officers may become involved with subsequent special purpose acquisition companies similar to our Company. Potential investors should also be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:
● | None of our directors or officers is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities (including the activities of PWP). |
● | In the course of their other business activities, our directors and officers may become aware of investment and business opportunities that may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. For a complete description of our management’s other affiliations, see below. |
● | Our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial Business Combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares if we fail to consummate our initial Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period. However, if our initial stockholders (or any of our directors, officers or affiliates) acquire Public Shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if we fail to consummate our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial Business Combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of our Public Shares, and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the Founder Shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until the earlier of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial Business Combination; and (2) subsequent to our initial Business Combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20-trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial Business Combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial Business Combination. Since our Sponsor and directors and officers may directly or indirectly own our securities following our Initial Public Offering, our directors and officers may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial Business Combination. |
● | Our directors and officers may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular Business Combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial Business Combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular Business Combination. |
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● | Our directors and officers may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular Business Combination if the retention or resignation of any such directors and officers was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial Business Combination. |
The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
● | the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity; |
● | the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and |
● | it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation. |
Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our directors and officers have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our directors or officers in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have, and there will not be any expectancy that any of our directors or officers will offer any such corporate opportunity of which he or she may become aware to us. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our directors and officers currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
Individual |
| Entity |
| Entity’s Business |
| Affiliation |
Stacia Ryan | Perella Weinberg Partners | Financial services | Partner | |||
Joseph R. Perella | Perella Weinberg Partners | Financial services | Partner | |||
Courtney Leimkuhler | Springbank Collective | Venture capital | Founder and Managing Partner | |||
Orchard | Proptech | Director | ||||
New Front | Insurtech | Advisor | ||||
Betterment | Financial services | Advisor | ||||
Sonalee Parekh | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | Technology | Senior Vice President | |||
Bidstack Group | Advertising | Board Advisor | ||||
Indie Semiconductor | Technology | Board Member | ||||
Stefanie Jay | MiniLuxe | Consumer | Board Member |
Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such Business Combination opportunity to such entity before we can pursue such opportunity. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.
We believe that any such potential conflicts of interest of PWP and any of our officers or directors that are affiliated with PWP will be naturally mitigated by the differing nature of services that PWP typically provides to its clients, as compared to our activities related to
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pursuing an initial Business Combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any Business Combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial Business Combination with a business that is affiliated with or related to PWP or our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial Business Combination with a business that is affiliated with or related to PWP or our Sponsor, officers or directors, either (i) we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial Business Combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view or (ii) we will require that a committee of independent and disinterested directors approve such initial Business Combination.
In addition, our Sponsor or any of its affiliates (including PWP) may make additional investments in our Company in connection with the initial Business Combination, although our Sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our Sponsor or any of its affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence our Sponsor’s motivation to complete an initial Business Combination.
In the event that we submit our initial Business Combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any Founder Shares (and their permitted transferees will agree) and Public Shares held by them in favor of our initial Business Combination.
Item 11. | Executive Compensation. |
None of our directors or officers have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of our initial Business Combination and our liquidation, we will pay PWP a total of $10,000 per month for administrative and support services. Our Sponsor, directors and officers, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our Sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates.
After the completion of our initial Business Combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other compensation from the combined company. All compensation will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed Business Combination. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers after the completion of our initial Business Combination will be determined by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors.
We are not party to any agreements with our directors and officers that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, and we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial Business Combination should be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential Business Combination.
Item 12. | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters. |
The following table sets forth information available to us at March 31, 2022, with respect to our common stock held by:
● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock; |
● | each of our directors and officers; and |
● | all our directors and officers as a group. |
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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 March 31, 2022.
Class A Common Stock | Class B Common Stock(1) |
| |||||||
Approximate | Approximate |
| |||||||
Percentage of | Percentage of |
| |||||||
Class Issued | Class Issued |
| |||||||
and | and |
| |||||||
Beneficially | Outstanding | Beneficially | Outstanding |
| |||||
Owned | Common Stock | Owned | Common Stock |
| |||||
Beneficial Owner(2) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
PWP Forward Sponsor I LLC (our Sponsor)(3) |
| 4,935,858 |
| 18.7 | % | 4,935,858 |
| 100 | % |
PFAC Holdings I LLC(3) |
| 4,935,858 |
| 18.7 | % | 4,935,858 |
| 100 | % |
Stacia Ryan(4) |
| 110,000 |
| * |
| 110,000 |
| * | |
Joseph R. Perella(4) |
| 40,000 |
| * |
| 40,000 |
| * | |
Stefanie Jay(4) |
| 40,000 |
| * |
| 40,000 |
| * | |
Courtney Leimkuhler(4) |
| 40,000 |
| * |
| 40,000 |
| * | |
Sonalee Parekh(4) |
| 40,000 |
| * | 40,000 |
| * | ||
All directors and executive officers as a group (5 individuals) (4) |
| 270,000 |
| 1.0 | % | 270,000 |
| 1 | % |
Magnetar Financial LLC(5) |
| 1,493,979 |
| 7.9 | % | — |
|
|
* | Less than one percent. |
(1) | Interests shown consist solely of Founder Shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. Such Founder Shares will convert into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities” in our prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) (File No. 333-253371). |
(2) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I, 767 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10153. |
(3) | PWP Forward Sponsor I LLC, our Sponsor, is the record holder of the shares of Class B common stock reported herein. The sole member of our Sponsor, PFAC Holdings I LLC (“Holdings”), by virtue of its control over our Sponsor, may be deemed to beneficially own shares held by our Sponsor. Holdings, in which PWP (who owns 14.07% of Holdings) and certain PWP partners and employees (including Dietrich Becker, Andrew Bednar, Joseph R. Perella and Peter A. Weinberg, who each own 2.93% of Holdings) are investors, is controlled by an independent board of managers. |
(4) | Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this individual as a result of his or her ownership interest in Holdings or our Sponsor. |
(5) | According to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on January 28, 2022, each of Magnetar Financial LLC, Magnetar Capital Partners LP, Supernova Management LLC and Alec N. Litowitz share voting and dispositive power with regard to 1,493,979 shares of Class A common stock of the Company. The business address for each is 1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor, Evanston, Illinois 60201. |
Our initial stockholders beneficially own approximately 20.0% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares and have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial Business Combination as a result of holding all of the Founder Shares. Holders of our Public Shares will not have the right to appoint any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial Business Combination. In addition, because of their ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions.
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In connection with the closing of the purchase of the Over-Allotment Units, the Company sold an additional 155,124 Private Placement Warrants (the “Over-Allotment Private Placement Warrants”) to the Sponsor at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $233,000. If we do not complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of our Public Shares, and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering except that, so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees: (1) they will not be redeemable by us (except under certain limited exceptions); (2) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial Business Combination, as described below; (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (4) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights, as described below.
Our Sponsor and our directors and officers are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our securities, including as a result of Founder Shares being transferred by our Sponsor to an entity in which PWP and certain employees or partners of PWP have interests but do not control. See “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” and “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interests.”
Item 13. | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. |
Founder Shares
On October 6, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover for certain offering costs on behalf of the Company in exchange for issuance of 5,750,000 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, (the “Founder Shares”). The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriters, so that the Founder Shares would represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. On March 16, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option, forfeited the remaining option, and on March 18, 2021, purchased an additional 1,163,433 Units; thus, an aggregate of 459,142 shares of Class B common stock was forfeited accordingly.
The initial stockholders agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination; and (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the initial stockholders with respect to any Founder Shares. Our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, may seek one or more amendments to or waivers of such agreements in connection with the consummation of our initial Business Combination. Any such amendments or waivers would not require approval from our stockholders and may result in the completion of our initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 4,000,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $6.0 million. Concurrent with the closing of the Over-Allotment, the Company issued 155,124 Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor in a private placement, generating gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $233,000.
Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
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The purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants (except to permitted transferees) until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
If we do not complete an initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our Public Shares, subject to the requirements of applicable law, and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (as defined below), if any (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares), are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. These holders are entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company would not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Related Party Notes
On October 6, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $500,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company borrowed $300,000 under the Note and repaid this in full upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement.
In addition, 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 proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lenders’ discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date that the Company’s securities were first listed on the Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the Company’s liquidation, the Company agreed to pay an entity related to the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services. During the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company incurred $100,000 of such fees. The amount payable of $100,000 has been included in accounts payable on the balance sheet.
The Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on the Company’s behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. The Company’s audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to the Sponsor, directors, officers or the Company’s or any of their affiliates.
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Item 14. | Principal Accounting Fees and Services. |
Fees for professional services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm for the last two fiscal years include:
| For the Year |
| For the Year | |||
ended December | ended December | |||||
31, 2021 | 31, 2020 | |||||
Audit Fees(1) | $ | 148,835 | $ | — | ||
Tax Fees(2) |
| 8,240 |
| — | ||
Total | $ | 157,075 | $ | — |
(1) | Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. |
(2) | Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. |
Policy on Board Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of the Independent Auditors
The audit committee is responsible for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of the independent auditors. In recognition of this responsibility, the audit committee shall review and, in its sole discretion, pre-approve all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors as provided under the audit committee charter.
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PART IV.
Item 15. | Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules. |
(a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K: Financial Statements: See “Item 8. Index to Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” herein. |
(b) | Exhibits: The exhibits listed in the accompanying index to exhibits are filed, furnished or incorporated by reference as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. |
Exhibit |
| Description of Exhibits |
---|---|---|
3.1 (1) | Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company. | |
4.1 (1) | ||
4.2* | ||
10.1 (1) | ||
10.2 (1) | ||
10.3 (1) | ||
|
| |
10.4 (1) | ||
10.5 (1) | ||
10.6 (1) | Indemnity Agreement, dated March 9, 2021, between the Company and Stacia Ryan. | |
10.7 (1) | Indemnity Agreement, dated March 9, 2021, between the Company and Joseph R. Perella. | |
10.8 (1) | Indemnity Agreement, dated March 9, 2021, between the Company and Stefanie Jay. | |
10.9 (1) | Indemnity Agreement, dated March 9, 2021, between the Company and Courtney Leimkuhler. | |
10.10 (1) | Indemnity Agreement, dated March 9, 2021, between the Company and Sonalee Parekh. | |
14.01* | Code of Ethics and Business Conduct of PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I. | |
31.1* | ||
32.1(2) |
69
Exhibit |
| Description of Exhibits |
101.INS* | Inline XBRL Instance Document | |
101.SCH* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |
101.CAL* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |
101.DEF* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |
101.LAB* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | |
101.PRE* | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | |
104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101) |
* | Filed herewith. |
(1) | Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 12, 2021. |
(2) | This certification is furnished to the SEC pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and is deemed not filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing. |
Item 16. | Form 10-K Summary. |
None.
70
PWP FORWARD ACQUISITION CORP. I
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID Number | F-1 |
F-2 | |
F-3 | |
F-4 | |
F-5 | |
F-6 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination and the Company has determined that the mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution, should the Company be unable to complete a business combination, raises 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/
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
March 31, 2022
F-1
PWP FORWARD ACQUISITION CORP. I
BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, 2021 |
| December 31, 2020 | |||
Assets: | ||||||
Current assets: | ||||||
Cash | $ | | $ | | ||
Prepaid expenses |
| |
| — | ||
Total current assets | | | ||||
Investments held in Trust Account |
| |
| — | ||
Deferred offering costs | — | | ||||
Total Assets | $ | | $ | | ||
Liabilities, Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) |
|
|
| |||
Current liabilities: | ||||||
Accounts payable | $ | | $ | | ||
Accrued expenses | | | ||||
Franchise tax payable | | | ||||
Notes payable- related party |
| — |
| | ||
Total current liabilities |
| |
| | ||
Deferred legal fees | | — | ||||
Derivative warrant liabilities | | — | ||||
Deferred underwriting commissions | | — | ||||
Total Liabilities | | | ||||
|
|
| ||||
Commitments and Contingencies |
|
|
| |||
Class A common stock, $ | | — | ||||
|
|
| ||||
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 Possible Redemption and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) | $ | | $ | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-2
PWP FORWARD ACQUISITION CORP. I
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the period from | ||||||
For the Year Ended | September 9, 2020 | |||||
December 31, | (inception) through | |||||
| 2021 |
| December 31, 2020 | |||
General and administrative expenses |
| $ | | $ | | |
General and administrative expenses - related party | | — | ||||
Franchise tax expenses | | | ||||
Loss from operations | ( | ( | ||||
Other income (expense) | ||||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | | — | ||||
Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities | ( | — | ||||
Income from investments held in Trust Account | | — | ||||
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 |
| |
| | ||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class B common stock | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
PWP FORWARD ACQUISITION CORP. I
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Common Stock | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Additional Paid-In | Accumulated | Stockholders’ | |||||||||||||||
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Equity (Deficit) | ||||||
Balance — September 9, 2020 (inception) | | $ | | | $ | | $ | | $ | | $ | | |||||||
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsors | | | | | |||||||||||||||
Net loss |
| |
| | | |
| |
| ( |
| ( | |||||||
Balance - December 31, 2020 | | $ | | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | |
Common Stock | Total | ||||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Additional Paid-In | Accumulated | Stockholders’ | |||||||||||||||
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Equity (Deficit) | ||||||
Balance — December 31, 2020 | — | $ | — | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | | |||||||
Excess cash received over the fair value of the private warrants | — | — | — | — | | — | | ||||||||||||
Accretion of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption amount (Note 7) | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||
Forfeiture of Class B common stock | — | — | ( | ( | | — | — | ||||||||||||
Net income | — | — | — | — | — | | | ||||||||||||
Balance — December 31, 2021 |
| — | $ | — | | $ | | $ | — | $ | ( | $ | ( |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
PWP FORWARD ACQUISITION CORP. I
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the period from | ||||||
For the Year | September 9, 2020 | |||||
Ended December | (inception) through | |||||
| 31, 2021 |
| December 31, 2020 | |||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
|
| ||||
Net income (loss) | $ | | $ | ( | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities | | — | ||||
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ( | — | ||||
Income from investments held in Trust Account | ( | — | ||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Prepaid expenses | ( | — | ||||
Accounts payable |
| ( |
| | ||
Accrued expenses | | — | ||||
Franchise tax payable | | | ||||
Deferred legal fees | | — | ||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
| ( |
| ( | ||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||
Cash deposited in Trust Account | ( | — | ||||
Net cash used in investing activities | ( | — | ||||
|
|
|
| |||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Repayment of note payable to related party | ( | | ||||
Proceeds received from initial public offering and over-allotment exercise, gross | | — | ||||
Proceeds received from private placements |
| |
| — | ||
Reimbursement from underwriter |
| |
| — | ||
Offering costs paid |
| ( |
| — | ||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
| |
| | ||
|
| |||||
Net increase in cash |
|
| ||||
Cash — beginning of the period |
|
| — | |||
Cash — end of the period | $ | | $ | | ||
|
|
| ||||
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities: |
|
| ||||
Offering costs included in accounts payable | $ | | $ | — | ||
Offering costs included in accrued expenses | $ | | $ | — | ||
Reversal of accrued expenses | $ | | $ | — | ||
Reclassification of outstanding accounts payable to deferred legal fees | $ | | $ | — | ||
Deferred legal fees in connection with the initial public offering | $ | | $ | — | ||
Deferred underwriting commissions | $ | | $ | — | ||
Deferred offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B common stock | $ | — | $ | | ||
Deferred offering costs included in accounts payable | $ | — | $ | | ||
Deferred offering costs included in accrued expenses | $ | — | $ | |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
PWP FORWARD ACQUISITION CORP. I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 - Description of Organization, Business Operations and Basis of Presentation
PWP Forward Acquisition Corp. I (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on September 9, 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 (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) described below and the search for a target business. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.
The Company’s sponsor is PWP Forward Sponsor I LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective March 9, 2021. On March 12, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Over-Allotment and the Private Placement, $
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete
F-6
The Company will provide the holders of the Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then held in the Trust Account (initially at $
The 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended [the “Exchange Act”]), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of
The holders of the Founder Shares (the “initial stockholders”) agreed not to propose an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem
F-7
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within
The initial stockholders agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the initial stockholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission (see Note 5) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period; in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $
Prior to the completion of the Initial Public Offering, the Company’s liquidity needs were satisfied through the payment by the Company’s Sponsor of $
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern,” management has determined that the mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for at least one year from the date that these financial statements are issued.
F-8
Note 2 - Summary of 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 (“GAAP”) for financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of 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 independent registered public accounting firm 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 an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that 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 GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and 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. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage limit of $
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. As of December 31, 2021, there were
F-9
Investments held in Trust Account
The Company’s portfolio of investments is comprised solely of U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or investments in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities and generally have a readily determinable fair value, or a combination thereof. When the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are comprised of U.S. government securities, the investments are classified as trading securities. When the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are comprised of money market funds, the investments are recognized at fair value. Trading securities and investments in money market funds are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of these securities is included in income from investments held in Trust Account in the accompanying statements of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
● | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets; |
● | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
● | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
As of December 31, 2021, the carrying values of accounts payable, accrued expenses, and franchise taxes payable approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of the instruments.
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 FASB ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is reassessed at the end of each reporting period.
F-10
The warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering and exercise of the over-allotment (the “Public Warrants”) and the Private Placement Warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815. Accordingly, the Company recognizes the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjusts 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 the Company’s statements of operations. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants were initially measured at fair value using a binomial / lattice model that assumes optimal exercise of the Company’s redemption option, including the make-whole table, per the warrant agreement, at the earliest possible date (see “Fair Market Value of Shares of Class A Common Stock” in Exhibit 4.2 “Description of the Company’s securities”). As the transfer of Private Placement Warrants to anyone who is not a permitted transferee would result in the Private Placement Warrants having substantially the same terms as the Public Warrants, the Company determined that the fair value of each Private Placement Warrant is equivalent to that of each Public Warrant. The fair value of the Public and Private Placement Warrants at December 31, 2021, is based on observable listed prices for such warrants. The Private Placement Warrants have the same value as the Public Warrants since they are also subject to the make-whole table, per the warrant agreement. Derivative warrant liabilities are classified as non-current liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
Offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the Initial Public Offering that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs were allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities were expensed as incurred and are presented as nonoperating expenses in the statements of operations. Upon the completion of the initial public offering, costs associated with the issuance of Class A common stock were charged against the carrying value of the Class A shares. In connection with the reclassification of Class A common stock to temporary equity, the offering costs were reclassified to accumulated deficit in the statements of changes in Stockholders’ Equity. The Company classifies deferred underwriting commissions as non-current liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
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 480. Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) 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. The Company’s Class A common stock features 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, the 21,163,433 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Effective with the closing of the Initial Public Offering (including exercise of the over-allotment option), the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount, which resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital (to the extent available) and accumulated deficit.
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”). Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
F-11
ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by tax authorities. There were
Net Income (Loss) Per Common Stock
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” 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. Net income (loss) per common share is calculated by dividing the net income (loss) by the weighted average shares of common stock outstanding for the respective period.
The calculation of diluted net income (loss) per common stock does not consider the effect of the Public Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants to purchase an aggregate of
The following table reflects presents a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used to compute basic and diluted net income (loss) per share for each class of common stock:
For the Year Ended | ||||||
December 31, 2021 | ||||||
| Class A |
| Class B | |||
Basic and diluted net income per common stock: | ||||||
Numerator: | ||||||
Allocation of net income | $ | | $ | | ||
Denominator: | ||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average common stock outstanding | | | ||||
Basic and diluted net income per common stock | | |
For the period from September 9, 2020 | ||||||
(inception) through December 31, 2020 | ||||||
| Class A |
| Class B | |||
Basic and diluted net loss per common stock: |
|
|
|
| ||
Numerator: |
|
|
|
| ||
Allocation of net loss | $ | — | $ | ( | ||
Denominator: |
|
|
|
| ||
Basic and diluted weighted average common stock outstanding |
| — |
| | ||
Basic and diluted net loss per common stock | — | $ | — |
F-12
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 47020) 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 the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Note 3 - Initial Public Offering
On March 12, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of
Each Unit consists of
Note 4 - Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On October 6, 2020, the Sponsor paid $
The initial stockholders agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A)
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of
F-13
The excess amount of the purchase price over the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants of $
Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for
The purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants (except to permitted transferees) until
Related Party Loans
On October 6, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $
In addition, 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 proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lenders’ discretion, up to $
Administrative Services Agreement
Commencing on the date that the Company’s securities were first listed on the Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the Company’s liquidation, the Company agreed to pay an entity related to the Sponsor a total of $
The Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on the Company’s behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. The Company’s audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to the Sponsor, directors, officers or the Company’s or any of their affiliates.
F-14
Note 5 - Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares and Private Placement Shares are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and stockholder rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands that the Company registers such securities, subject to specified conditions. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the consummation of the Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements. However, the registration and stockholder rights agreement will provide that the Company will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriters a
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $
In connection with the closing of the Over-Allotment on March 18, 2021, the underwriters were entitled to an additional fee of approximately $
Deferred Legal Fees
The Company engaged a legal counsel firm for legal advisory services, and the legal counsel agreed to defer a portion of their fees (“Deferred Legal Fees”). The deferred fee will become payable in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination. As of December 31, 2021, the Company has deferred legal fees of approximately $
Note 6 – Derivative Warrant Liabilities
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had
F-15
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Public Warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a)
The warrants have an exercise price of $
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $
● | in whole and not in part; |
● | at a price of $ |
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● | upon a minimum of |
● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of Class A common stock for any |
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above 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 throughout the
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $
● | in whole and not in part; |
● | at $ |
● | if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $ |
● | if the Reference Value is less than $ |
The “fair market value” of Class A common stock shall mean the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock during the
In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
Note 7 — Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company’s Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of future events. The Company is authorized to issue
The Class A common stock subject to possible redemption reflected on the balance sheets is reconciled on the following table:
Gross proceeds from Initial Public Offering and Over-Allotment |
| $ | |
Less: |
|
| |
Fair value of Public Warrants at issuance (including Over-Allotment) |
| ( | |
Offering costs allocated to Class A common stock subject to possible redemption |
| ( | |
Plus: |
|
| |
Accretion on Class A common stock subject to possible redemption amount |
| | |
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ | |
F-17
Note 8 — Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)
Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue
Class A Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue
Class B Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue
As of December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, there were
The Class B common stock will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of the initial Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, 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 event that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of the initial Business Combination, the ratio at which the shares of Class B common stock will convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of the Class B common stock agree to waive such anti-dilution 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,
F-18
Note 9 — Income Taxes
The Company’s taxable income primarily consists of interest income on the Trust Account. The Company’s general and administrative expenses are generally considered start-up costs and are not currently deductible. There was
The income tax provision (benefit) consists of the following:
|
| For the period from September 9, | ||||
For the Year Ended | 2020 (inception) through | |||||
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||
Current | ||||||
Federal | $ | — | $ | — | ||
State | — | — | ||||
Deferred | ||||||
Federal | ( | ( | ||||
State | — | — | ||||
Change in valuation allowance | | | ||||
Income tax provision | $ | — | $ | — |
As of December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, the Company had a U.S. federal net operating loss carryover of $
The Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows:
|
| For the period from September 9, | ||||
| For the Year Ended |
| 2020 (inception) through | |||
December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||
Deferred tax assets: |
|
| ||||
Start-up/Organization costs | $ | | $ | | ||
Net operating loss carryforwards | | |||||
Total deferred tax assets | | | ||||
Valuation allowance |
| ( | ( | |||
Deferred tax asset, net of allowance | $ | — | $ | — |
In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or 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 assets, 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 period from September 9, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the change in the valuation allowance was $
There were
F-19
A reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate (benefit) to the Company’s effective tax rate (benefit) is as follows:
|
| For the period from September 9, 2020 |
| |||
For the Year Ended | (inception) through |
| ||||
| December 31, 2021 |
| December 31, 2020 |
| ||
Statutory federal income tax rate | | % |
| | % | |
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities | ( | % | % | |||
Transaction costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities | | % | % | |||
Loss upon issuance of private placement warrants | % | % | ||||
Change in valuation allowance | | % |
| ( | % | |
Income Taxes Benefit | % |
| % |
NOTE 10. — Fair Value Measurements
At issuance, the Company utilized a binomial / lattice model to estimate the fair value of the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants, including the warrants issued in connection with the Over-Allotment. The binomial / lattice model assumed optimal exercise of the Company’s redemption option, including the make whole table, at the earliest possible date.
The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants was determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in an option pricing simulation are assumptions related to expected stock-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimated the volatility of its ordinary shares based on historical volatility of select peer companies that matched the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate was 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 was assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term. The dividend rate was based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipated remaining at zero.
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs at their initial measurement date:
| March 12, 2021 |
| ||
Exercise price | $ | | ||
Volatility |
| | % | |
Term |
| | ||
Risk-free rate |
| | % |
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value 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:
Description | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | ||||||
Assets: | |||||||||
Investments held in Trust Account |
| $ | | $ | — | $ | — | ||
Liabilities: | |||||||||
Derivative liabilities - Public Warrants | $ | | $ | — | $ | — | |||
Derivative liabilities - Private Placement Warrants | $ | — | $ | | $ | — |
F-20
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the beginning of the reporting period. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants was transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 measurement in May 2021, when the Public Warrants were separately listed and traded in an active market. The estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants was transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 2 measurement in May 2021. As the transfer of Private Placement Warrants to anyone who is not a permitted transferee would result in the Private Placement Warrants having substantially the same terms as the Public Warrants, the Company determined that the fair value of each Private Placement Warrant is equivalent to that of each Public Warrant. The fair value of the Public and Private Placement Warrants at December 31, 2021, is based on observable listed prices for such warrants. The Private Placement Warrants have the same value as the Public Warrants since they are also subject to the make-whole table, per the warrant agreement.
Level 1 assets include investments in money market funds or U.S. Treasury securities. The Company uses inputs such as actual trade data, benchmark yields, quoted market prices from dealers or brokers, and other similar sources to determine the fair value of its investments.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recognized a gain resulting from changes in the fair value of derivative warrant liabilities of approximately $
The change in the Level 3 fair value of the derivative warrant liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2021, is summarized as follows:
Derivative warrant liabilities as of January 1, 2021 |
| $ | — |
Level 3 - fair value of derivative warrant liabilities at issuance, including Over-Allotment | | ||
Transfer of Public Warrants to Level 1 |
| ( | |
Transfer of Private Placement Warrants to Level 2 |
| ( | |
Balance as of December 31, 2021 | $ | |
Note 11 — 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 other subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
F-21
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.
PWP FORWARD ACQUISITION CORP. I | ||
/s/ Stacia Ryan | ||
Date: March 31, 2022 | By: | Stacia Ryan |
Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial 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.
/s/ Stacia Ryan | ||
Name: | Stacia Ryan | |
Title: | Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer and Director | |
(Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer) | ||
Date: | March 31, 2022 | |
/s/ Joseph R. Perella | ||
Name: | Joseph R. Perella | |
Title: | Chair of the Board of Directors | |
Date: | March 31, 2022 | |
/s/ Stefanie Jay | ||
Name: | Stefanie Jay | |
Title: | Director | |
Date: | March 31, 2022 | |
/s/ Courtney Leimkuhler | ||
Name: | Courtney Leimkuhler | |
Title: | Director | |
Date: | March 31, 2022 | |
/s/ Sonalee Parekh | ||
Name: | Sonalee Parekh | |
Title: | Director | |
Date: | March 31, 2022 |
F-22